Battle Scarred

Disclaimer: My friends own Sammy, Charlie, Ryu, Sakura, Chip, Masha, Lan, Aki, Chiharu, Titans North, and Titans Central. I own Winter, Daemeon, Yuki, and Yami…Everything else is owned by the creators of Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!. This be rated T for Teen…cause the characters curse and stuff…enjoy!

Prologue

"I am very displeased. The destruction of Earth is not proceeding as planned," said a low, monotone symbol on the wall. The symbol looked like it was a burning 'S' on the rugged cave wall. "I need to speed this up so Ezran can open up as a portal while Eliza would be forced back to ruling as princess on Azarath."

"Yes, Master," replied a dark silhouette of a man. As he stepped into the light, his appearance became visible. He wore a metallic outfit with an 'S' on his chest. He wore a mask to hide his face-the right half was black, and the left side was copper with an eye hole. In the middle of his forehead was the same 'S' symbol as on the wall. His name was Slade. "I know how to destroy all the Titans. I've already scared off the Titans East. Their headquarters and town are destroyed. They've joined up with Titans West. I have a plan to breakdown Titans North and South." Slade turned to a tube. "Rise, my warrior!"

A blue haired boy in a glass tube filled with water opened his blue eyes.

Chapter 1

"Winter!" cried a boy with goggles around his neck. He had brown spiky hair with some tied in a short ponytail. He also had blue eyes and pointy ears. One of them was pierced. He was leaning over a cliff, crying to a river below. He scanned the river to see if someone was down there, but found no one.

"I'm right behind ya, Sammy!" exclaimed a petite blonde haired girl. She wore matching white three quarter sleeved shirt and long shorts. She had light blue eyes, a light blue cloak, and a light blue jewel that was fixed in the middle of her forehead.

"I-I thought you f-fell down, Winter!" exclaimed Sammy. He was startled by Winter's sudden appearance. "Don't do that!"

"Hey, you two! You're so far behind! Cuh-mon!" hollered a teen that was half man, half robotic. His name was Cyborg. They were all on a training mission. Ahead of the three were the other Titans: Raven, Starfire, Robin, Beastboy, Ryu, Hotspot, Aki, Charlie, Chip, Chiharu, Mas y Menos, Bumblebee, Speedy, Wildebeest, Aqualad, and Daemeon. "Now, come on you two, you guys can't stop," said Cyborg.

"How come AquaDORK and the other Titan Easties have to come train with us? Don't they have their own tower training thingy?" asked Winter. She was helping Sammy up.

Just then a long black haired boy in an aquamarine shirt-black pant swimsuit came over to Winter. He had heard what she said. "Our tower was destroyed. We were forced out by Slade."

"Slade? SLADE?! Is this some bad joke?! Because it's not funny at all!" Winter exclaimed. "Are you telling bad jokes again, Aqualad?" She gave him the evil eye.

At this time, Raven came over. She was a little taller than Winter. She looked the same, except taller and paler with purple eyes and purple hair. She had a red jewel in the middle of her forehead. She wore a dark blue cloak over a black uni-tard. "It's true, I'm sorry to say," she said gloomily.

"I thought he was still dead!" said Winter.

"Nobody told you, because it's attached to another story."

"When did he come back?"

"On my birthday, he sent me the message. And, the prophecy almost came true. Trigan was in control of him. We destroyed Trigan…I think." Raven rubbed the back of her hand. She was imagining the 'S' emblem on it.

Winter patted her older sister's back. "Don't worry, then. Even if he isn't gone, the second and very worst prophecy won't happen until it's given to me. So, the worst won't happen…at least, not yet." She smiled. Raven smiled back.

They started running to catch up with the rest of the group. Winter was in the lead, running, when suddenly she fell off the cliff. "This is NOT funny!" Sammy screamed.

"I'm not joking!" screamed Winter faintly. "Help!"

A fast-flying hover craft came into view. A top of it was a blue haired, blue eyed teen boy. He caught Winter in mid air. After a few seconds, he landed the flying aircraft and set Winter down. Winter jumped a few feet away from the boy.

"Are you alright, m'lady?" asked the boy. He took off his black leather riding gloves.

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Winter. She crossed her arms across her chest and turned to walk away. "Thanks," she muttered softly.

"You so rock, dude!" said Cyborg. Cy gave the boy a huge pat on the back. The boy was almost knocked over the edge of the cliff. "Oops, uh, sorry man."

"That's quite alright. My name's Yuki Aoisora. What's your name, m'lady?" asked the newly introduce Yuki. He took a bow toward Winter.

"My name ain't 'Me lady,' 'kay? It's Winter," said Winter a little on the edgy side. "What are you doin' here, anyway?"

"I think I just saved your life, Winter," said Yuki calmly. Winter started calming herself down a bit.

"Hey, if I were you, I'd go. There are evil villains after us," said Winter. She brushed off her cloak and turned to catch up with the other Titans.

"Wait!" yelled Yuki. He started running to catch up with Winter. Winter, Sammy, Cyborg, Aqualad, and Raven turned around. "Maybe you could help me. I'm looking for my brother."

"What happened?" asked Cyborg.

"My brother and I were fighting against Cardiac. I think you guys fought him before. He had a precious diamond inside of him. When we finally got it out and put it back, Cardiac was still attacking my brother. And there was…a dark silhouette of a man…"

"Slade?!" asked Winter. She interrupted Yuki with her outburst.

He took a deep breath and sighed. "No, not Slade. It was a monster, having blood red skin and white hair. His four eyes glowed red."

"Trigan," Raven whispered. Her eyes were shaded by her hood. "He has returned."

Chapter 2

After a long day of practice, all the Titans crashed at the North Titan Tower. Cyborg, Sammy, and Daemeon were cooking in the kitchen; Robin and Mas y Menos were playing Gamestation 2; Beastboy turned into a dog and curled up on the couch; Winter, with the help of Hotspot, was chasing Aqualad with F.P.O.D.; Raven, Starfire, Charlie, Speedy, Bumblebee, and Wildebeest were playing cards; Chiharu retreated to a quiet corner; Ryu and Sakura were inside the creature room tending to their animals; Chip and Masha were doing more tests on Aki.

"The food is ready and served!" exclaimed Cyborg, Sammy, and Daemeon in unison.

Everybody stopped what they were doing and rushed to a huge dining room table. Everyone sat down-that is, except Yuki. He smiled at the thought of how happy they all were.

"I wish I could just go right in and be so carefree," thought Yuki. He started to walk away when someone pulled on the back of his black jacket. It was Starfire.

"Do you not wish to join in on the devouring of food?" she asked with a smile. She was holding a bottle of mustard with a straw stuck in at the top.

"Um, I'm not all that hungry," replied Yuki. "Maybe later."

"There ain't gonna be anything left!" exclaimed Cyborg as he wolfed down a full rack of ribs.

Ryu was tired, so when food was placed in front of him, he fell face down into it. A bit of food hit Robin. Jokingly, Robin took some of his mashed potatoes on his spoon and flung it at Ryu. Ryu dodged it, unknowingly letting it hit the person sitting next to him-Chip. Chip thought Cyborg hit her, so some airborne mystery meatloaf hit Cyborg. He went and hit Winter, blaming the Titan next to him, Sammy. Winter then got humorously angry.

"FOOD FIGHT!" yelled Winter, and thus it began. It was a food frenzy: Sammy had his goggles over his eyes, which were the only nonfood area; Winter had on a military helmet and was protecting herself with Beastboy, her personal shield; Cyborg was using his arm like a food rocket launcher. Not too long, there were teams. Team one consisted of Winter, Beastboy, Cyborg, Daemeon, Mas y Menos, Bumblebee, and Aqualad (designated decoy). The second team consisted of Robin, Speedy, Hotspot, Ryu, Sakura, Starfire, and Yuki. The third had Sammy, Raven, Wildebeest, Aki, Charlie, Chip, Masha and Chiharu (he actually was not playing…he just stood in a corner and watched). It was an all-out warfare. Tables, couches, sofas and anything else was used as trenches. Bases were any of the rooms. Everything was going great, up until the screen was blinking and showing the newest villains' rampage.

"Who is it?" asked the food saturated Winter. She was brushing off a mixture of ice cream, mustard, mystery meatloaf, and mashed potatoes off herself.

"Si, si¿Quien es el criminal?" asked Mas y Menos.

Robin, Ryu and Hotspot looked at the screen. There were six red dots spread out in three cities: Jump City with Brother Blood and Chan, Urban City containing Killer Moth and Johnny Rancid, and Silver City consisting of Trinium and Cardiac.

"We need to split up into three teams," said Robin. "Two teams of seven and one team of six. Charlie, Chip, Cyborg, Chiharu, Sammy, Wildebeest and I will take down Brother Blood and Chang."

"Right! Aki, Aqualad, Beastboy, Speedy, Starfire, Bumblebee and I will go after Killer Moth and Johnny Rancid," said Hotspot.

"And everyone who's left is coming with me to fight Trinium and Cardiac. Sakura-you stay here," stated Ryu. After that was decided, Ryu, Robin, and Hotspot said "Titans go!" and he Titans split to go after the baddies.

"The decoy worked, Master," said Slade softly. "They don't know what's in store." Slade bowed his head.

"Remember that I want my two daughters alive and unscathed," said the symbol. "Bring them to me." The symbol went out. "I'm coming," said a voice behind the craig wall. Out stepped a tall man, paled skinned, gray eyed, and white haired. He wore a deep red cloak and a red jewel on his forehead.

"Everything is going according to the new schedule. He will bring total destruction to the Titans," said Slade. Darkness engulfed the two of them as they laughed maniacally.

Chapter 3

Winter was standing in front of Trinium. "You're going down Trinini…Trinumi…you're going down, Plasmoverblock!" exclaimed Winter.

"Nice, telling him you're going to beat him is really going to help you defeat him," said Raven sarcastically.

Ryu's team was fighting and winning. They were cornering Trinium when, all of a sudden, they heard a beat. A steady thump thump was growing louder and louder from behind.

Everyone turned to see what was happening. Trinium seized his chance to grab Winter.

"Let me GO!" screamed Winter. She was kicking furiously at Trinium's hand.

Mas y Menos saw and cried in unison, " ¡Invierno se mete en lios!"

Daemeon turned and saw what the twins saw and shouted, "Winter!"

Ryu, Yuki, and Raven turned to see why they were yelling, and saw Trinium almost eat Winter.

"I'm not food!" Winter screamed. She froze all of Trinium, then bashed its hand. Trinium's hand broke into millions of sharp ice shards. Winter started to fall and almost the round, but Raven flew up and caught her.

"We need to work on your fighting skills," said Raven. Raven landed and set Winter down.

"Well, at least I defeated Plasmoverblock," mumbled Winter. Raven and Winter ran back to Cardiac to help with the fight. Ryu, Daemeon, Mas y Menos, and Yuki were pretty much down with Cardiac, though. They were just helping the police put him in a cage.

Yuki stood with his hands in his pockets of his black cargo pants. He was not mentally 'down to Earth' as he watched the cars haul away the heart. "I wonder why Cardiac was here. He didn't really have a reason," thought Yuki.

Ryu was thinking the same question. Everyone was.

Chapter 4

Jump City. Cyborg, Chip, and Chiharu beating Brother Blood black and blue. Robin, Sammy and Charlie pounding Chang silly.

"Curse you, Cyborg! First, you destroy my first headquarters, then you steal my best assistant Bumblebee, and destroy my second and third headquarters. What's next?!" screamed Brother Blood.

Cyborg replied, "A beating from the one and only original Cyborg!"

"I would have said, 'Your life,' but I guess that works the same way," said Chip.

"Are you really that dark?" muttered Chiharu.

"Maybe," said Chip. She became intangible as Brother Blood launched a 'sonic boom.'

"Hey Chang! You're going down!" said Robin confidently. Robin, Sammy, and Charlie dished out a threesome attack-exploding discs, a tsunami dump, and a swirling inferno. Chang was down for the count.

The only bad guy left in Jump City was Brother Blood. He was not truly beaten yet. Cyborg and Robin had an idea.

"I've still got the sonic," said Cyborg. His arm became a sonic canon.

"And I've still got the boom," answered Robin. He took three exploding discs into his right hand.

After they gave their own 'sonic boom' for Blood to chew on, the Titans started heading back to the tower.

Chapter 5

"Why does this Rancid guy just litter my water? I mean, can't anyone recycle anymore, or will MY water have to suffer someone else's trash?!" exclaimed Aqualad.

"Dude, if you haven't noticed, it isn't your water," said Speedy. Beastboy and Hotspot nodded in agreement. The four boys were 'trying' to defeat Johnny Rancid as the three gals-Aki, Bumblebee, and Starfire-were kicking Killer Moth's butt.

Of course, they were not going to beat him unscathed. In fact, Killer Moth actually picked up Aki and threw her. Aki skidded to a stop.

Beastboy noticed her skid and said, "Aw, poor Aki got a rug burn!"

Aki heard this and said, "We're not on a rug."

"Pavement burn? Cement burn?"

"BB-we're in the middle of a fight! Stop cracking jokes and start fighting crime!" They soon finished the fight and went back to the tower to find a certain whiz kid missing…

Chapter 6

In only a couple of minutes, Hotspot's group showed up inside the tower. It was a rainy, dark, cold night, and the seven of them started to shiver a bit. Winter was brushing off something that remotely looked and smelled like Plasmus; Sakura was sitting on the couch healing some of Ryu's wounds; Raven and Chiharu were being their usual "Meh" selves. But there was not a Chip in sight.

"Uh, where's Chip?" Beastboy asked.

"This should do it," said Chip. She was sitting in a chair next to a girl in bed. The girl had a weird helmet on that was attached to a weird machine. The machine was sputtering out data. Chip read it and said, "All your memories are back! Awaken!"

A pair of yellow eyes opened.

"Chip just disappeared. We don't know where she went," said Masha.

"Wow, and usually you know where everyone is and what they're doing," Winter remarked sarcastically.

Some time passed before Ryu broke the silence barrier. "What were they after? They weren't stealing anything. They were just…attacking," he said very confused. Some of the Titans nodded in agreement.

"I think I know," whispered Winter seriously. Her hood was up and her head was down.

"What is it Winter?" asked Raven. She descended from the dark corner. She was half levitating, half walking over to her younger half sister. "What do you know?"

Winter sighed, "I think…it's Trigan. I think he's actually going to destroy the world." Everybody hushed.

"Did you get your message?" whispered Raven to Winter.

She shook her head. "No, not yet."

"Then, there's hope yet that it won't happen." Raven smiled uneasily at her younger sister.

Chapter 7

Time seemed to move slowly inside the tower. Some Titans drifted to sleep here and there, while others went to the kitchen to have a snack. Suddenly, the entrance doors swung open when two silhouettes emerged into the room. One of them was Chip, soaking wet with a big broad smile on her face. The other figure was still in the shadows.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting , but I just went downtown for a stroll. And, while walking, I thought we needed some help. So, I'm proud to introduce-" Chip was interrupted by a burst from Beastboy.

"TERRA!" he cried. He ran over to the shadow and pulled her into the light of the tower. Indeed, it was the long lost Titan whom Beastboy loved. They both hugged, and Starfire was overjoyed.

"Friend, I have missed you so!" Starfire joined in on the hug.

"Hey, you can't have a group hug without me!" exclaimed Cyborg.

After getting tons upon tons of hugs, Terra said, "I've missed you guys. So, Chip here tells me that some pretty whacked stuff has been goin' on. Come on, you gotta tell me what's goin' on. She wouldn't tell me anything! You can tell me-is it Slade?"

Raven emerged from the group and faced her old friend. "Things have gotten worse. There's an even bigger threat than Slade."

"Come on, I've gotta know. I'm goin' to need to know, so I can help!" Terra put her hands on Raven's shoulders.

"It's not that simple," said Winter from behind Raven. Terra looked at Winter, and the at Raven. She did this for a few seconds.

"Who is she-mini you?" asked Terra. She was confused.

"I'm her SISTER!" stated Winter.

"And she's the exact opposite of me," said Raven. Then she added, "She's my half sister."

"Yeah, she's also half the size," added Terra.

"Hey, I'm still growing! Don't call me SHORT!" huffed Winter. She had a sourpuss on her face and turned around to sulk.

"Riiight…so who's the bad guy?" asked Terra.

"He's the incarnation of evil. And, he's my father. Our father," Raven solemnly sighed. Winter added on, "His name is Trigan, and he's really powerful. In fact, if he felt like it, he could destroy us right now."

The mood in the room dropped dramatically. Just then, someone else appeared at the door-someone whom they all were half expecting-Slade.

"Hello, Princess Eliza. I'm a bit early, but I have a birthday present for you." He took Winter's hand and disappeared in an inferno. There was a scorch mark on the ground where they previously were standing.

Chapter 8

"Let go of me!" screamed Winter helplessly. Slade held her high off the ground on top of the tallest building in Silver City.

Slade was saying Winter's prophecy. "Through blood and flesh, though air and ground. Three paths thou can choose-rule, destroy, or kill. They are the only paths, for blood will run like rivers, and friends will perish. Those you have befriended will die because of you! Go, and these things shall happen. The prophecy has been told!" Winter's hair grew long, her clothes ripped and turned black. A mark meaning 'Witherin' appeared on her forehead, both shoulders, her stomach, and her knees. Along with the 'W' symbol, there were Azarath writing around her waist, arms, neck, and legs. Slade laid her down on top of the roof and did his disappearing act once again.

It started to snow, and it became daybreak. There were many search groups looking for Winter. The high flying group for Silver City-Chip, Sakura, and Ryu-were the ones that found her. But they did not really see Winter. They saw red markings in the shape of a 'W' on top of the fresh blanket of snow. Wiping the slush away, they found their Titan friend and brought her back to the tower.

Back at the tower, Raven took her and shut her up in a safe room that was almost identical to the one that was built for Raven a little more than a year ago. Raven cut Winter's hair and changed her back into white, clean, not ripped clothing. She healed some of Winter's scratches, then set her down on the circular bed with white sheets that was provided in the middle of the room. Then, Raven left and Daemeon came to watch over Winter. She woke up a little later, in a daze, then jolted up and searched frantically for something. Daemeon sat on the edge of the bed and held her in an embrace, kissing her forehead, letting her cry.

Winter then looked up at Daemeon through teary eyes and said, "Everything's going to go bad! I've got to let Raven know that I've been told the prophecy!"

Chapter 9

After going outside the safety room and retelling the prophecy to Raven and the rest of the Titans, Raven was mortified. "No!" she exclaimed, "we can't let this happen! We have to stop this from coming true!"

Robin added, "We've stopped Trigan before, haven't we? We'll do it again!"

The rest of the Titans nodded. They had stopped Trigan when Raven was given the prophecy. "I heard that you did, but now he knows how you guys attack! And Slade's working with him. Again!" Winter sobbed.

"Yeah, that may be true," explained Hotspot, "but he doesn't know how we fight." Hotspot pointed to himself, Wildebeest, and Daemeon.

"And he's never fought us," chirped Chip. She meant Titans North.

"So, we have a greater chance. We just have to play our cards correctly," said Cyborg.

"We have the upper hand!" whooped Beastboy.

The Titans started explaining more strategies. Yuki even joined in. Everyone started getting hungry after awhile. Sakura volunteered to go pick some food from the garden that she and Sammy started to grow.

It was getting late. Cyborg called out for twenty pizzas. Ryu was starting to get worried. "Where could Sakura be?" he wondered. He and Winter went out back to see if Sakura was still in the garden.

"Sakura?" called out Ryu and Winter. Winter stepped in a puddle of some sort. She looked down and noticed it was a kind of red water. "Hey Ryu, check this out!" Winter exclaimed.

She showed him when he finally came over. "That's blood," he said. They looked down the trail and saw the blood going towards the forest. "Let's check it out," he stated.

The ran down the forest path and came to a stone table. On top of it was Sakura. "Sakura!" screamed Ryu. He ran to her and noticed she was still alive.

"Ryu?" she said faintly, "is that you?"

"Come on, let's get you back to the tower!" he cried.

"No…" trailed Sakura. Then, her voice began to echo another voice a she said, "Though deaths and chaos, through darkness and fright-though you have befriended them, they'll turn bad in the shadow of the night!" Her body went limp and her pulse faded away.

Winter and Ryu heard a voice from the one that was echoed through Sakura. "Pity. She was very weak."

"Slade!" screamed Ryu. Slade revealed himself. "You killed her, didn't you?!"

"Calm yourself, boy. It wasn't me. But you have another side, don't you? All of you are coins, yet some are double sided, correct?" asked Slade. He disappeared afterwards and left Ryu sobbing over Sakura's dead body.

Chapter 10

"How could this happen?!" said Chip. All the Titans were upset and either crying or fighting back remorse. Chip was enraged. She went back to the lab and found Masha.

Smack. Masha's left cheek was enflamed from Chip's back hand. "Ow! What the heck was that for?!" yelled Masha. He started rubbing the cheek that had been hit.

"It's for not warning Sakura that Slade was here! Now she's dead!" Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"What? How could that happen? I was here, talking with Yuki, and…" Masha trailed off and checked the computer system.

"And WHAT? You were too distracted?!"

"The security is down…but it was fine a few seconds ago…"

"Fix it, jerkwad!"

"I can't…I don't know why…"

"You can't fix it? That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard come out of your mouth!"

"Well maybe I need an upgrade. Let's see you fix it."

"Fine, I will!" Chip kicked him out of a chair and started to fix the system. But it was locked, and she did not know the code. "What's the code?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered.

"Then, if you don't know…and I don't know…who does?"

"How did I do?" asked a figure from the shadows. Slade bowed down to the figure's feet. "Very good," responded Slade.

"Everything's going as planned, I presume?" asked Trigan.

"Uh-huh," said the figure, "and once my brother's gone, I can destroy everything…"

The figure stepped forward and looked exactly like Yuki Aoisora.

Chapter 11

Speedy had left the tower to find Aqualad. He did not want a member of his own Titan group to die. Aqualad, though, was safe-he was making sure all the aquatic creatures were on the good side. "Dude," said Speedy, "you can't just go off by yourself like THAT!"

"Fine!" shouted Aqualad over the tide. "Wait a few seconds and I'll be right out!"

Speedy shook his head and squatted down on the rocks. "Could you hurry up?" yelled Speedy.

He was about to say something else when he felt something on his back. He turned slowly and found himself facing Yuki. "What is it, Yuki?" asked Speedy.

"Oh, nothing. I just want you dead," responded the boy.

He took out a gun and shot Speedy. Aqualad came to shore and cried out in horror that Speedy was now a lifeless corpse.

"How could all of this happen right outside the tower?" yelled Cyborg. "I say we're all sitting ducks!"

Beastboy turned back to himself from a duck and said, "Some of us more than others."

"Maybe it's all my fault…" Winter whispered. Daemeon went right over and comforted her. "It's not your fault," he whispered into her ear.

"It's Trigan's doing. I say the best thing we can do is split up. That way, we have a better chance of gaining the element of surprise," explained Raven.

"I agree-it's our only chance. We still have two other headquarters," agreed Robin.

That was true-they still had North, South, and West. Titans Center, which was where their other Titan group was congregating (though technically not considered 'Titans' yet) and building.

"How're we going to split into 3 groups? We're short two members!" huffed Hotspot.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" questioned Aki shyly.

Everyone looked at the otherwise quiet Aki. "Yeah-that could work," stated Robin. All of them did that, and it ended up like this: the rocks were Wildebeest, Hotspot, Bumblebee, Aki, Beastboy, Chiharu, and Terra; the papers were Winter, Daemeon, Raven, Charlie, Masha, Sammy, Chip and Yuki; and the scissors were Robin, Starfire, Mas, Menos, Aqualad, Cyborg, and Ryu.

"Okay, so we'll go South," said Hotspot. His group congregated behind him, wary of the fear of being left behind.

"We'll go West," explained Robin, everyone becoming eagerly silent.

Chip broke the silence by adding, "Don't let your guards down, you two." The two designated leaders left with their group.

Chip turned to the remaining Titans. "We'll draw lots to see who'll keep watch," she explained. She turned to Winter and lowered her voice, "You'll sleep in the safe room-we have to be extra cautious for you."

"I can help!" testified Winter.

"You can help by staying alive," responded Raven coolly.

Winter was led, once again, to the solitude of the room and left completely in the grey of what was happening.

Chapter 12

Hotspot was leading his group as fast as he could, not noticing Wildebeest falling slightly behind Bumblebee was right beside Hotspot and pointed out the situation. "I'll go and stay next to him-keep him protected," stated Bumblebee. Hotspot nodded, and Bumblebee lagged to fall back next to Wildebeest.

Bang! Bang! Bumblebee and Wildebeest stopped abruptly, their eyes bulging, staring at each other. Bumblebee felt her back and placed her hand on something sticky. She removed her hand from a hole in her back and saw her hands were covered in a red and sticky fluid. Hotspot's group was over the bay, and both Bumblebee and Wildebeest fell in.

Splash! Hotspot looked over his left shoulder and saw two bodies plummet into the water. "NO!" shouted Hotspot. The rest of the group saw this, and were gasping in fright. Hotspot shouted to Chiharu, "Haru-you're in charge to get them safely to the tower!" He disengaged his flame and dove into the water. He got Bumblebee's body quickly, though he could not make out too much because the water was covered in a red cloud. Tossing the body ashore, Hotspot dove right back in. Wildebeest's body was much heavier than that of Bumblebee's, so he struggled quite a bit. But it was not that situation that Hotspot found difficulty in-sharks started surrounding him.

"Damn it," thought Hotspot, "the sharks must have tasted the blood and came to get their meals!" Then he noticed an unusual blemish on all the sharks' heads-there was an 'S'.

"Crap!" Hotspot exclaimed. He swam as fast as he could with Wildebeest still in his hands. Just as he surfaced, he saw Yuki kneeling over Bumblebee.

"Y-Yuki!" cried Hotspot. The blue haired boy stared at Hotspot.

"Yes?" the boy asked coolly.

A shark started knawing frantically at Hotspot's left leg. Hotspot howled in pain. "Help me!" he sobbed.

The boy though, just kicked Hotspot in the face, then grounded his heel in first the left then the right hand.

"I'd rather feed you to the sharks than help you survive and ruin my Master's plans!" laughed the boy.

Hotspot's blood covered the top of the bay, then slowly sifted in the gentle waves.

Chapter 13

"I don't know how to fix it!" Masha explained for the thousandth time to Chip. Both of them kept trying to unlock the system after they heard from Haru that Bumblebee, Wildebeest and Hotspot died. They wanted to make sure that they kept themselves and Winter safe. Just then, they experienced a blackout.

"What in the devil's name…" trailed Chip. Then, she slapped Masha and shouted, "Go fix it!"

Grumbling angrily, Masha turned his index finger into a flashlight so he would not trip over anything as he made his way to the outlet box. As he turned a corner, he accidentally walked into Yuki. "Sorry," muttered Masha as he tried to get by.

"No worries," said the boy, smiling. He took out a butcher's knife and started hacking at Masha. Chip came out and found herself hacked in half, and her ghost get sucked into a small, roundish box.

Then, there was silence.

"What?!" Robin angrily shouted when he heard the news that Chip was dead and Masha was demolished. He was having Cyborg recheck the system, and was relieved when news came back that it was fine. "Tell everyone to come over here, Titans West, ASAP!" he said to the split monitor showing Chiharu and Raven. Both clicked off abruptly and showed instead Slade.

"Hello, Robin," said Slade, "having fun?"

"You sick bastard," replied Robin. He became enflamed when Slade started laughing.

"I thought Cyborg came up with the jokes?" sneered Slade. "No need, though. The game of survival starts again. My side's winning-seven to zip. Better catch up-oh, it's now 8-0. Haru died-splitting like his split personality. Why don't you go see? I dare you to." The monitor clicked off and Robin headed for the door. Starfire heard what Slade said.

"Please, do not listen to what the mean Slade said. A dare is no good! Please do not leave the safety of the tower!" Starfire pleaded.

Instead of listening to her, he shoved her a bit too hard to the side. "I can handle myself," he said, not even looking at her teary face. He went out, and the doors shut behind him.

She started sobbing, and she heard Robin scream. "NO!" she cried as she ran outside.

"Star-no!" Cyborg screamed from the other room. He ran to the door, but stopped as he heard Starfire scream. He dropped down on his knees, banging his fist on the doors, repeating 'no' over and over again. He started crying, his whole body shaking.

The other Titans arrived, and Beastboy and Terra tried to comfort Cyborg, but it was useless-the memory of Robin swam around the wonderful memory of Starfire, their best friend.

Everyone joined sorrowfully in the memory of Robin and Starfire.

BOOM! CRASH! The silhouette of the blue haired boy was outlined with the eerie light that came with the lightning. He seemed to be shaking, but quietly he was laughing-laughing at the poor, pitiful Titans dropping like flies.

"One more death and the games begin," chuckled the boy. "One more…"

He stood up and put on his black cloak, only letting show his black boots on the bottom. He went over to a control panel that had a little black television on, showing Cyborg in his current position. He unlocked a little box and hovered his hand over a little red button, almost as if he was second guessing the decision to press it. Then, in a quick jut of the arm, he pressed the button, letting a virus take over the computer part of Cyborg. Cyborg dropped down, out cold and slowly dying.

The boy walked away from the monitor, laughing maniacally. "Let the games begin!" exclaimed the boy.

Chapter 14

No birds were chirping merrily, no sunshine shining down-not today; not for the Titans. The mist of despair clouded Titan tower, as if Raven spread her unbridled gloom from her dwelling. Everyone was silent-even Beastboy and Terra.

The silence was shattered by sobbing, making everybody jump as if their hearts were glass, too, and were woven into the thick fabric that surrounded them. One by one, their glass hearts shattered, breaking into tiny tears streaming from their eyes. Winter looked through the gap in her cupped hands over her face and saw everyone crying, shuddering, and, in Raven's case, hiding away. The crying seemed to go to a quiet vibrating of hopelessness as Winter whispered, "I should have never come…"

Daemeon was sitting next to her, his eyes dry but red, and looked sternly into Winter's eyes. "Don't say that!" he said in a loud tone, a bit louder than he wanted. "You keep saying that, but you're not doing anything!" Some people stopped sobbing and looked at the scene that was emerging. Since when does Daemeon yell at is love? " 'If I never came, maybe none of this would happen.' That's what you keep repeating in your mind, correct?! Well, STOP IT! That's not true at ALL! It's your father's doing, not yours, so STOP acting like a wounded animal whenever one person DIES! I didn't fall in love with someone who kept feeling like the END of the WORLD was her doing-I fell in love with a girl who was happy, who was strong, and who fought for something she believed in!" He knelt down in front of her, and Winter winced a bit, thinking he would hit her. Instead, he took her chin in his hands and raised her face to see his. In a gentler tone, he said, "Now, let me see that girl I fell in love with once more."

Winter broke into tears and jumped into his arms. The mood seemed lifted for a little while until the screen shone Slade's masked face.

"Aw, isn't that just precious, hm? Love is such a…precious thing, right? It just isn't fair when couples are, well, 'split,' correct? Well, you'll be happy to know that I've killed Lan, so he'll be joining Chip. Also, if you'll just hand over Aki and Ryu, I'll let them join their loved ones as well!"

Sammy and Charlie held onto Aki, as if she would get sucked into the screen and die. "Like HELL we'd hand over Aki or Ryu to the likes of you!"

"And who says you killed the one I love," Ryu whispered in the solitude of his corner.

"Oh well, looks like I'll have to kill the two of them the hard way…Oh, and Winter, remember that every shadow cast is another enemy made." The screen went 'blip' as it went off.

"What the heck does that mean?!" Winter shouted at the blank screen. "Jeez, I hate that guy!" She turned her attention over to the dark corner that Ryu was sitting in. "And what do you mean by saying, 'And who says you killed the one I love,' huh?!"

"I meant it just like that. Sakura was betrothed. She was supposed to be protected, but I failed her as a bodyguard. But I didn't love her. I've loved someone else, but she only sees me as a friend…" Ryu looked at Winter in a strange way.

"Who?! Who do you love, Ryu?" she asked as she got closer to him. She was so close that their noses almost touched.

"Well…it's…"

The tower doors blasted open as an army of Slade clones and flame doppelgangers entered the room.

"¡Ay, ay, ay¡Eso es mal!" cried Mas y Menos (in unison, nonetheless) as they zipped around the entrance of the tower. They dizzied some flame guys and put out their flames (no oxygen equals bye bye flames).

Aki hid in the shadows as she flung some kunai knives at the clones. Beastboy turned into a green tyrannosaurus Rex and snacked on some clones (spitting them into the ocean afterwards); Terra used some giant boulders to smother some flames out. Charlie worked on some clones while Sammy and Aqualad unleashed a tsunami to take care of half the flames. Raven played a game of "Pinball Slade Clones" in the sky while Winter took care of the rest of the flame guys by unleashing a blizzard. Daemeon, Ryu, and Yuki got rid of all the remaining clones.

After all the baddies were done for, the Titans slumped down. "That was tiring," Winter said wearily. "I mean, who knew ya had tah unleash a HUGE HUMUNGOUS blizzard to get rid of those freaky flame things!"

Some Titans nodded while the rest stared at the twins. They were running, but not in the usual way. I almost seemed as if they were drunk. After ten minutes, they stopped dead in their tracks and fell straight down. They had died because their insides had been incinerated by the flame shadows.

"I think they should all die…" whispered the boy with the blue hair. "Why can't I kill them all at once? Wouldn't that be the smarter, easier, and safer way to approach this?"

"True," said Trigan, "that approach would be all of the above and quicker, but I do say this is more fun. It also teaches my girls a lesson." He chuckled at his remark.

"Oh, and what is that?" said the boy with grim smirk on his face.

"That I'll leave to another time to tell…you'll figure it out soon enough, though…" He laughed maniacally as he walked into the darkest shadows.

Chapter 15

"I almost forgot," Winter said as she woke up the next day. "In two more days I am to be sixteen."

"Are you really that old? You look like you could be thirteen or somethin'." stated Terra wryly.

"WHAT?!" shouted Winter as she ran after Terra.

"She sure has regained her high spirit, hasn't she?" remarked Ryu to Raven.

Raven looked at Ryu coldly. "Why haven't you told her yet?" she asked.

"I…don't know what you're talking about, Ray." He looked away from Raven with a look of discomfort on his face.

"Hn. Really? Let's see: you enjoy her company, you act like Aqualad does whenever Daemeon's near Winter, you smile and laugh at her jokes which aren't funny at all…hm…"

Ryu broke the uneasy silence that Raven put around him. "Hey, shouldn't we be strategizing?!" His voice squeaked at the end, and Raven took note of it. She smiled slyly at his embarrassment. "WHAT?!" he exclaimed at seeing Raven's face.

"Oh…nothing…" she said, chuckling as she joined the congregating group surrounding Ryu.

Aki did not join in with the group discussing battle strategies. She was still mourning a bit over Chiharu. She felt that Winter should not have Daemeon; Sammy and Charlie should not be together; Beast Boy should not have gotten Terra, his long lost love, back. "If I can't have my love, they shouldn't have theirs," she whispered. Her eyes cried out crimson coloured tears as she took out a kunai knife and threw it at the back of Winter's head. Daemeon sensed the attack at Winter and shielded the back of her head with his hand.

Drip! Drop! Daemeon winced in extreme pain as the blood from his hand formed a small puddle behind where Winter was sanding. Aki blinked and saw what she had done and cried out in horror.

"Oh my god…!" she kept whispering, over and over. More crimson tears swelled up in her eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Winter yelled at Aki. Winter was hugging Daemon as Raven patched him up; Sammy and Charlie were going over to Aki; Beast Boy and Terra were cleaning up the blood.

"I don't have that," Aki thought as she stood up and ran towards the doors.

"Hey-wait a sec--!" Winter exclaimed to Aki. Sammy and Charlie ran after her and saw her jump into the water.

"She can't swim!" Sammy shouted out as he dove in after Aki. He found her running out of breath and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her to the surface and shouted to her over the sudden waves, "What're you doing?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"YES!" Aki screamed. She kicked him as hard as she could in his stomach as she freed her wrist from his palm.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed as he dove, once again, into the rapid waves after his comrade. He found her sinking towards 'Davy Jones' locker' and tried to pull her to the surface again. This time, though, she took out a kunai knife and shoved it into Sammy's leg. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' and swam off. Sammy resurfaced without her. He tried to dive right back in, but Aqualad was pulling him back to the tower.

"What're you doing?! I've got to save her!" Sammy screamed.

"First off, she don't want saving. Second of all, you're hurt. Lastly, you're my brother, and it's better to not have two die if one of them is preventable," Aqualad explained.

"I could have prevented her death, too!"

"Her heart died before that, though. She wouldn't have lived for long, anyway." With saying that, Aqualad helped his younger brother get inside the tower, Charlie close behind.

Chapter 16

The Titans started creating more tactics. They decided to split into two teams of five: in group one they would have Daemeon, Raven, Ryu, Winter, and Yuki; in group two they would have Aqualad, Beast Boy, Charlie, Sammy, and Terra. "We'll go to the South, and you'll go North," said Ryu. Though he rarely ventured to the Titan South tower, he knew it would probably be safer for Winter. Daemeon led the way, holding Winter in his arm.

"So, is your blood boiling yet, Ryu?" whispered Raven. Yuki was next to Winter in his hovercraft, and Ryu had to look away for a second to let his temper cool down a bit.

"I…have no idea what you're talking about, Ray," retorted Ryu. He felt the back of his neck prick a bit from embarrassment as Raven chuckled.

When they all landed, Ryu checked in with Charlie, the designated leader for her group. "Everything's going fine here…are you okay, Ryu?" asked Charlie.

"W-what do you mean?" responded Ryu.

"Well, your face is bright red."

Ryu clicked off the monitor and looked into the bay and saw Charlie was right. "Why?" he grunted as he cupped some water in his hands and splashed his face. Why was he feeling this…emotion, of all times?

Back at Titans North tower, Terra was in the basement with Beastboy accompanying her as a dog. "So, what're we looking for again?" asked Beastboy as he turned back into his green self.

"I didn't…tell you what I'm looking for…Beastboy…I-" Terra started. Beastboy looked at her.

"Yeah, Terra, what do you want to tell me?" asked Beast Boy sweetly.

Tears flowed down her face. "I love you…" Terra was clutching a sharp object: a dagger. Beastboy stared at her face. Her eyes went blank, and an S-symbol appeared on her forehead. She lifted the dagger above her head and in a blink of an eye it was resting motionlessly inside of Beastboy's heart. Slade moved out of the shadows, rested his left hand on top of Terra's right shoulder.

"Good job, pet. But I have no use for you anymore…" Slade whispered into Terra's ear. Her blank eyes filled with tears as she realized what she had done. Slade went over to Beastboy's lifeless cadaver and tore out the dagger. He tossed it over to Terra and said, "Why not die and join him…well, my Juliet? Die like your Romeo did…" Slade then left Terra. In only a few seconds, Terra's body lied next to Beastboy, and in her hand was the dagger that was stained with two bloods-Beastboy's and Terra's.

Chapter 17

Slade stood on top of the Titan North tower, standing next to the blue haired boy. "Well, Mr. Aoisora? Shall we darken the day?"

The boy slowly turned his head and laughed, "Why, yes! I want them to experience pain! We won't kill Trigan's daughters. But he never said we couldn't mentally scar them, correct? They must receive some sort of battle scar after this war is over!" The boy flung open his black cloak and poured out what seemed like a fog. But, instead of blanketing the ground, it cloaked the sky.

It seemed almost as if the end of the world had finally started.

Charlie yawned and checked the time-12:00 PM. "Hm…I wonder why it feels like nighttime…" she thought as she opened up the curtains. It was pitch black outside! "Strange…" muttered Charlie.

After getting over the darkness, she went into the kitchen and found Aqualad cooking pasta. "Want some?" Aqualad asked Charlie. He motioned to the bowls and she took one. Her stomach agreed with her decision.

"Geez, I've been so worked up with the all the bad crap that's been going on, I've forgotten to eat!" After getting served a big helping of spaghetti, she slurped it down in one sip. "Yummy! You and Sammy are great cooks!"

"Well, if you marry my brother, you'll always be fed full meals…unless you want seafood or pizza…"

Charlie laughed at the last remark that Aqualad made. "Yeah…if I married Sammy…but…I don't think I love Sammy that much…I mean, sure, I love him as a friend, a best friend…but nothing more."

Sammy was hiding around the corner with his hands stained with red liquid and his eyes started dripping with a salty clear liquid-he heard what Charlie had to say. Something snapped within him. His inner demon, Chaos, came through. "So you…don't love me, Charlie?" he whispered.

Charlie and Aqualad were surprised that Sammy heard them. "Um…Sammy…where were you?" asked Charlie in an uneasy one.

"BB and Terra are dead in the basement," said Sammy in a hushed voice. "A dagger was in Terra's hands…she must of died like…y'know that Shakespeare play where the two lovers die-oh, yeah, Romeo and Juliet…"

"Sammy, you're scaring me…" Charlie said. Her bottom lip quivered in fear of what she saw next. Out of the shadows emerged Sammy, but not the nice Sammy: the demon side of him, Chaos. His eyes reflected a hunger to kill Charlie: they had a crimson tint to them. His hands turned to claws and his teeth grew sharp. "Sammy-?!"

"Dammit, he's turned into his demon form, Chaos!" shouted Aqualad. He dived out of Sammy's rampage and took Charlie with him. "You need to run, as fast as you can and get help from-"

Sammy sliced through the couch that the two of them were hiding behind. Sammy also managed to whack Aqualad in the head to send him flying to hit the wall. Charlie threw a fireball at Sammy to try to get away, but he caught her by the arm and held her in place. "Sammy, you're hurting me…" Charlie cried. Tears were rapidly streaming down her face.

Sammy smiled at her pain and laughed, "Hurt? You don't know the meaning of that word." He took his other hand and jabbed it through Charlie's body, grabbing he heart and holding it out of Charlie's upper back. She started choking on her own blood. She was still living-barely. "You broke my heart. You know that? It almost feels like you crushed it into a million tiny fragments…a heart is a very fragile thing, no? So, Charlie, dear, tell me one good reason why should not crush yours?"

Charlie, still choking on her blood and her salty tears, managed to cough, "Sammy," before he shook his head and said, "Too late."

He squeezed her heart and let the muscle burst, letting the blood paint his hand and part of his face red. He licked the flecks of blood from his face as he freed his hand from the now lifeless corpse.

Afterwards, he licked his hand and laughed away the memory of his beloved Charlie.

It was Ryu's turn for him to take his post for night watch. All he could think about, though, was what Raven kept telling him before. "Could I truly love her? Really?…" he thought, letting his thoughts trail off. He heard his Titan communicator go off and answered it before it woke up anyone. Aqualad was calling him.

"What?" whispered Ryu.

"Dea---d…I-" said Aqualad. The connection was bad for some strange reason.

"I can't hear you-hold on a moment," Ryu said in a hurried tone. He moved to a window, where the connection was stronger. "Okay, shoot. What's happening over there?"

"I…I…killed…Sammy! I had to…my own brother…he…he turned demon…into Chaos…He killed Charlie…" sobbed Aqualad.

"What?!" shouted Ryu. He clapped his hand over his mouth and cursed himself as he saw Winter stir awake. All the Titans were sleeping in the family room, and she was sleeping near Ryu, next to Daemeon.

"Wuzzah mattuh?" yawned Winter. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and stared at Ryu with a dazed expression.

"Nothing-just go back to sleep!" he snapped. He did not mean to be rude, but he did not want Winter to worry.

But his hushed tone and snappy attitude made Winter wake up annoyed. "Meanie!" retorted Winter as she grabbed her blanket, wrapped it around herself, and sat right net to Ryu to see what was going on in the small-screened monitor.

Ryu blushed bright red as he returned to the screen. "What about Terra and BB?" he asked quietly.

"Dead-in the basement," replied Aqualad frantically.

Winter's eyes widened in fear. "E-everyone's…dead?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so," replied another voice. It belonged to Slade. "That's including Aqualad."

The small monitor on the TT communicator went black.

Winter could not believe it. She started to laugh uneasily. "Aquadork…can't be dead…it's impossible…idiots can't die. Charlie and I haven't finished our 'Battleship' game yet…I haven't hit Sammy with F.P.O.D. today…I haven't stopped fighting with Terra…I haven't stumped BB yet with his animal morphing…they can't all die…" By that time tears had started to roll down her face, and she buried her tear stained face into Ryu's shirt. He held her in an embrace and just rocked her back and forth and whispered, "Shh…we'll get your father and stop him…once and for all…"

"Four Titans, plus Yuki, left my Lord," said Slade while bowing to the ghostly shadow of Trigan. "That means two to three more killings."

"There will be no more use of Raven after I'm through with her…let the ceremony of the portal BEGIN!" exclaimed Trigan as darkness bled deeper into the sky…

Chapter 18

Raven screamed as she woke up. Her body was glowing with blood red writing appearing. As she screamed, her mouth glowed and her body rose. She went through the ceiling of the tower and her glow shot up into the sky.

The four remaining teens from the Tower ran outside to see what was happening (Daemeon and Yuki woke up from Raven's scream). "What the-!" yelled Yuki and Daemeon as a hole formed in the sky, sucking in the darkness. From that hole came a crimson giant with four deep red eyes. He had a tangled mess of white hair, and giant claws. A red jewel was fixed in the middle of his massively huge forehead. His name was Trigan.

"No…no no no no, GOD NO!" cried Winter. Daemeon ran to her to try to hold her, but Trigan had other plans. Trigan scooped Winter up in his claw.

"Oh, like HELL I'm going to let you take her!" shouted Daemeon. He turned demon right then and there-his eyes grew sharp and black; his ears formed points at the tips; his horns replenished; his hands turned to claws; the back of his shirt ripped in two spots to give way to Daemon's gargoyle-like wings. He bent his knees and then shot up to reach Winter. Trigan laughed at his attempt and swatted him like a fly-sending him like a canon through the tower.

"Daemeon, are you okay?" shouted Ryu. He turned to where Yuki was standing to ask Yuki to give him a hand to help Daemeon up, but Yuki was MIA.

"I'm FINE!" Daemeon exclaimed as he rubbed his forehead-it was enflamed and bleeding. He wobbled a bit as he stood up.

"Listen, she loves you, so maybe you should rest and I'll go and try to kick Trigan's ass."

Daemeon looked at Ryu as if he had two heads. "Like HELL I'm going to sit back and RELAX while Trigan's terrorizing my GIRL. No thanks, Ryu."

"But I-" Ryu started. But Daemeon was not listening anymore. He shot back into the sky, forming a dark flame ball in between his hands, expanding the size of the ball until it was the size of Trigan's head. Daemeon was behind Trigan's head, and Dae lifted it above his own head. Then, with all his might, he threw it down, creating a cloud of smoke to arise around where Trigan's head would be after the impact of the exploding dark flame ball. "Did we just…win?" thought Ryu aloud.

There was no room for celebration, though. When the smoke settled, what remained was a living Trigan who was REALLY pissed off.

Yuki found himself face to face with his younger twin. "No…it can't be…" Yuki started.

His win laughed, "Oh, it can't be? Well, sorry to break your fragile heart, Yuki, but it can be and it is. I'M evil, elder brother."

"But-!"

"But what?" Yuki's twin created a dark sword out of his own negative energy. "Shall we duel?" he snickered as he bowed, not breaking the death glare he held with Yuki.

"I don't want o fight you, Yami."

Yami didn't acknowledge what Yuki said. Instead, he advanced and drew his sword to strike down his brother.

"Crap, oh crap, oh crap," cried Daemeon. His attack had no effect on Trigan. He knew he was done fore-he had to be.

Trigan used his free hand to clamp around Daemeon's body, crunching his wings.

"Ow-shit!" Daemeon yelled as he tried freeing himself. Bu there was no use-Trigan held fast.

Just when all hope seemed to die, fireballs started flying at Trigan, making Trigan drop both Daemeon and Winter. Daemeon dived to get Winter and they both plummeted into the ocean. "Winter!" exclaimed Ryu.When he saw that Winter and Daemeon were safe, he noticed the hero-Hotspot. He was still alive, barely.

"Get them and run!" Hotspot snapped. His left leg looked like a piece of juicy steak that was tenderized. His head was bleeding, and his right arm was bitten, with a shark tooth stuck in it-his arm was hanging at his side. He looked like he was back from the dead, and he probably was!

Listening to Hotspot's (last) request, Ryu got Winter and Daemeon and helped them run to the temporary safety of the back of the tower, where Raven was hiding.

"It's all over, all my fault," Raven repeated over and over again. Her eyes were wide in fright.

Winter could not take it anymore. She slapped Raven across her face, letting her cheek become enflamed.

"What the-?!" Ryu and Daemeon shouted at the same time. Since when does Winter hit anyone with her bare hands?

Winter squatted down in front of her elder sister, and said in a straight forward tone, "It's either now or never. Trigan's ruled over the two of us and Azarath for the longest time, and it's time that this totalitarian, dictatorship tyrant REGIME ended. He's controlled over us as if we were marionettes and he was the one who held all the strings. He's controlled us for too, too long." Winter held her hand out and Raven looked up at her sister. "Now or never? I prefer now. How about you?" Winter smiled and Raven returned her smile.

Raven took Winter's hand and said, "Me too, Winter."

Winter helped her sister up and said, "Then let's do it!"

Chapter 19

Trigan finished off Hotspot easily and started chanting, "Come out, come out, where ever you are, Princess Eliza…"

Daemeon stopped Winter from advancing towards Trigan. "Let me try once more. You go find Yuki and see if you can get him to help."

Winter looked confused at Daemeon's request. Before she could say anything, though, he held her in his arms and kissed her. He stole the first kiss.

Ryu, being impatient and not liking the scene, said, "Come on, you two, this isn't a romantic, action movie-Trigan's coming!" Ryu took Winter's hand, not realizing Winter was crying.

When Ryu finally noticed her tears, they had already dried and left streaks on her fair skinned face.

He stopped for a second and told Raven to find Yuki. "Why are we s-stopping?" Winter asked, getting a bit choked up from all the crying she did. She stared at Ryu, who had his back to Winter.

"Winter, I'm…sorry…" he said. He was silently crying, knowing that this would probably be the end for him. "I'm sorry that all of this had to happen to you…It's not fair. Why you?" He turned to face her. "Why you? You're always so cheerful, you always have a bounce in your step…" he moved toward her, little by little, trying to work up some courage. "This is the end, isn't it? This is where the story ends, according to your father, correct?" A tear rolled down his face, and then another, until his eyes leaked out all the hope of survival and love. "You're going to defeat him, with my help, and your sister's help, and Yuki if Raven can find him in time. I want to let you know that no matter what happens…I…"

Winter understood what Ryu was trying to say. "I…I love Daemeon…but I once did like you. But you had Sakura, and everyone thought you were the 'perfect' couple. Then Dae came along…I'm sorry…"

Ryu went to her and held her in an embrace, so strong Winter couldn't get out if she wanted to. But she wanted to hold that moment and to think of the obvious outcome of what was most likely going to happen. And that was Trigan appearing, spoiling the moment.

Yami barely missed Yuki and his brother rolled aside and created a blazing white sword out of his positive energy. "I said I didn't want to fight, but you leave me no choice…" Yuki rose his sword and pointed it at his younger twin. He was standing in his fighting stance, and Yami thought, "Finally."

"I must tell you," Yami started, "I'm not easy to defeat…he he he…" Yami jolted forward, almost too fast for Yuki to see. Yuki didn't have enough time to dodge all the way, letting Yami cut open Yuki's left shoulder.

"Crap!" Yuki exclaimed. He held the sword in his left hand as his right hand held on to the wound. White light emitted from his right hand, and when he took his hand away, the cut was healed.

"Dammit," Yami whispered, "I forgot he could heal himself…this is going to be interesting…"

"I found you, my princess…" Trigan laughed. His laughter shook the ground, making it crack right in between Ryu and Winter. Ryu's wings shot out from is back, and he flew towards Winter and grabbed her.

They both landed on the edge of the city. "Where's Raven and Yuki when you need hem?" Ryu mumbled. The were behind a building, hiding in the darkness.

Winter looked away from Ryu and listened for Trigan's footsteps. All she heard, though, was silence. "Hey, that's weird…" she muttered.

Ryu came over to her and asked, "What's weird?"

"I don't hear anything…no roaring, no stomping, no nothing…"

Just then the building was destroyed and Trigan stood in its place. Trigan bent over and stared at Ryu and Winter and said, "BOO!"

Daemeon was in Trigan's fist, and he was motionless. "…Dae…?" whispered Winter. Daemon opened his eyes and silently screamed, "Run!"

But Winter nor Ryu could move, because they were cornered, and the only way out was being blocked by Trigan.

Chapter 20

Yuki and Yami were at an impasse-they could not defeat each other. "Yami, please, let's stop this pointless fight!" Yuki pleaded.

"Why should I?" growled Yami. He gave his older brother the evil eye.

Yuki destroyed Yami's sword in the blink of an eye, making Yami fall down on his back. Yuki destroyed his own sword as well. "We cannot defeat one another. But let me remind you that there is something happening here that isn't right-family should never fight. It always ends up having someone be the loser. Please, younger brother, I beg thee to stop!"

Yami grimaced at his temporary defeat. "Why should I? You were always the favorite! I always followed your orders and it never got me anywhere! YOU were the exceptional child while I was the problem child!" Yami slapped the hand that Yuki was offering to help him up. Yami got up and brushed himself off. "Heh, after this whole 'battle' is over, there won't be a world left for us to live on…"

Yuki had enough of Yami's bickering and punched him in the gut. "Brother, never ever say that."

Yami was puzzled at Yuki's response. He looked up at Yuki and saw Yuki was crying. Yami hated it when Yuki cried. "I don't want the world to end…just stop blubbering…"

Slade had appeared just in time to see the brothers hug. It disgusted him. "Well…I hate to be the one to break up this cornucopia of love…" he spat.

Yami acted like he just got hit with a ton of bricks. "You…" he snarled. "You're the one who turned me against everything I stood for!" He launched himself at Slade, and Slade easily evaded the attack.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…your anger blinded you…" Slade smirked. He then set his sight on Yuki who stood in a battle stance, his light sword raised to meet Slade's face.

"Stand away from my brother, Slade," stated Yuki. He was in no mood for someone torturing his twin.

"Oh, good, the older twin wants to fight me as well…" Slade said in a mimic like voice.

"No, I do not wish to fight you…I never intended to do that."

"Hm…then why is your sword pointing at me if you don't want to fight?"

"Because…I wish to just kill you." Saying that, Yuki launched himself towards Slade.

Chapter 21

Time was growing short-Raven knew that. She hurried around, trying to find Yuki. Finally, she flew up on a plateau to find Yuki fighting Slade…and another Yuki lying on the ground. "There are two…?" Raven muttered.

Yami stirred and looked up at Raven. He jumped up quickly, and ran over to her. He grabbed her hand and led her over to a car that was lying on its side. "I have no time to explain…Yuki is fighting off Slade…partially for my sake. I…no, I cannot tell you…but we must help your sister Eliza…she is in grave danger, and I know the danger…because I was working for Trigan…against my will…"

Raven was startled. "But what about Yuki?" she asked.

"He will hopefully be fine and join us…if there is any time left in this hectic world." After that, he and Raven went off to help Winter.

"Winter, don't die on me…don't give up either, sister…" thought Raven as she sped off to find her.

"Trapped. Trapped like rats. Poor, pitiful rats…" chanted Trigan, admiring his apparent victory.

Winter was trying to think as fast as she could, for she needed to think of something to get her out of this mess. Then, an idea struck her, and she whispered to Ryu, "Brace yourself…"

"Brace myself for what?" responded Ryu. Winter did not answer him. Instead, she sat down in a meditating stance, the kind of position that Raven does while chanting, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

But instead of saying that, Winter started chanting, "Azarath Witherin Actos" over and over again. Suddenly, Winter's eyes turned white, her cape turned while, even her hair turned white. A cold wind started rushing around her, and lifted her up off the ground.

Trigan did not know what was happening. He tried to swat her, but the wind formed a shield around her. "What is this black magic?" he wondered.

Now, her body was in the middle of the blizzard that formed. Finally, she shouted, "AZARATH WITHERIN ACTOS ENCATARTHOS METRION METHION ACTRIAS ZINTHOS!"

"Is it…over?" Ryu questioned as a radiant light engulfed everything.

"It's over," muttered Slade as he struck down Yuki. Yami suddenly returned and shouted, "NOOOOOO!" He rushed over to Yuki's fallen body and flipped him over. "Yuki, say something!"

Yuki's eyes opened up slowly. He looked up at the sky, and saw that everything was being sucked in to the dark hole-Trigan had been defeated. "Brother…?" he weakly said.

"Yuki, we won! Eliza…I mean, Winter…she defeated her father!"

Yuki nodded his head. "Yami, let's make this never happen…ever." He slowly, and painfully, sat up. "Brother, if we do not erase this, then I'm afraid that the world will not return to its own state of 'normal.' If we do not erase this…I do not think I'll be able to live…" Yuki held his hands out, and Yami held his hands out too.

Together, they started whispering an enchantment to reverse the events that had happened.

As Winter fell back down to Earth, Ryu caught her gently in his arms. "I've got you," he whispered to her as he kissed her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open as she stared into Ryu's eyes. His head leaned in closer and closer.

"Ryu…I…" started Winter, but she stopped herself. Instead, she let Ryu lean in to kiss her. A light came from a not-too-far-off plateau, and it engulfed everything in a blink of an eye.

Chapter 22

"Winter!" cried a boy with goggles around his neck. He had brown spiky hair with some tied in a short ponytail. He also had blue eyes and pointy ears. One of them was pierced. He was leaning over a cliff, crying to a river below. He scanned the river to see if someone was down there, but found no one.

"I'm right behind ya, Sammy!" exclaimed a petite blonde haired girl. She wore matching white three quarter sleeved shirt and long shorts. She had light blue eyes, a light blue cloak, and a light blue jewel that was fixed in the middle of her forehead.

"I-I thought you f-fell down, Winter!" exclaimed Sammy. He was startled by Winter's sudden appearance. "Don't do that!"

"Hey, you two! You're so far behind! Cuh-mon!" hollered a teen that was half man, half robotic. His name was Cyborg. They were all on a training mission. Ahead of the three were the other Titans: Raven, Starfire, Robin, Beastboy, Ryu, Hotspot, Aki, Charlie, Chip, Chiharu, Mas y Menos, Bumblebee, Speedy, Wildebeest, Aqualad, and Daemeon. "Now, come on you two, you guys can't stop," said Cyborg.

"How come AquaDORK and the other Titan Easties have to come train with us? Don't they have their own tower training thingy?" asked Winter. She was helping Sammy up.

Just then a long black haired boy in an aquamarine shirt-black pant swimsuit came over to Winter. He had heard what she said. "Our tower was destroyed. We were forced out by Slade."

"Slade? SLADE?! Is this some bad joke?! Because it's not funny at all!" Winter exclaimed. "Are you telling bad jokes again, Aqualad?" She gave him the evil eye.

At this time, Raven came over. She was a little taller than Winter. She looked the same, except taller and paler with purple eyes and purple hair. She had a red jewel in the middle of her forehead. She wore a dark blue cloak over a black uni-tard. "It's true, I'm sorry to say," she said gloomily.

"I thought he was still dead!" said Winter.

"Nobody told you, because it's attached to another story."

"When did he come back?"

"On my birthday, he sent me the message. And, the prophecy almost came true. Trigan was in control of him. We destroyed Trigan, but it wasn't easy." Raven rubbed the back of her hand. She was imagining the 'S' emblem on it.

Winter patted her older sister's back. "Well, if he's already defeated, then we have nothing to worry about!" She smiled. Raven smiled back.

They started running to catch up with the rest of the group. Winter was in the lead, running, when suddenly she fell off the cliff. "This is NOT funny!" Sammy screamed.

"I'm not joking!" screamed Winter faintly. "Help!"

A fast-flying hover craft came into view. A top of it was a blue haired, blue eyed teen boy. He caught Winter in mid air. After a few seconds, he landed the flying aircraft and set Winter down. Winter jumped a few feet away from the boy.

"Are you alright, m'lady?" asked the boy. He took off his black leather riding gloves.

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Winter. She crossed her arms across her chest and turned to walk away. "Thanks," she muttered softly.

"You so rock, dude!" said Cyborg. Cy gave the boy a huge pat on the back. The boy was almost knocked over the edge of the cliff. "Oops, uh, sorry man."

"That's quite alright. My name's Yuki Aoisora. What's your name, m'lady?" asked the newly introduce Yuki. He took a bow toward Winter.

"My name ain't 'Me lady,' 'kay? It's Winter," said Winter a little on the edgy side. "What are you doin' here, anyway?"

"I think I just saved your life, Winter," said Yuki calmly. Winter started calming herself down a bit.

"Hey, if I were you, I'd go. There are evil villains after us," said Winter. She brushed off her cloak and turned to catch up with the other Titans.

"Wait!" yelled Yuki. He started running to catch up with Winter. Winter, Sammy, Cyborg, Aqualad, and Raven turned around. "If you're talking about Slade…"

"We already defeated him!" finished a boy who looked exactly like Yuki. "We also took the liberty and rebuilt the parts of the tower that were destroyed." He saw the confused look he was receiving from Winter and introduced himself. "My name's Yami Aoisora. I'm Yuki's younger twin brother."

"Oh, okay…" muttered Winter.

Aqualad went right up to Yami and shook his hand saying, "Thank you very much!" Then, in a quieter tone, he added, "She's the love of my life buster."

Winter heard this and said, "AM NOT, YOU PERVERT!" She then started chasing him around with her frying pan, and everyone could hear the clank clink! and Aqualad screaming, "OWWWWW!"

Yami and Yuki were trailing behind the Titans, and Yami asked Yuki, "So, is the world back to 'normal' yet?"

Yuki chuckled, "I think this is as normal as it gets…"

As the sunset, the twins went to catch up with the Titans to eat in the feast that they knew would be good.

THE END

Winter's special corner of information!

Winter: Hi! I'm Winter! I'm here to explain why all that crazy stuff happened in this story. Why? Because…I'm just that kind.

Raven:…Or it could be because Aqualad is in the hospital and the hospital hours are over…

Winter: Hey! This is MY corner! See, the title says 'Winter's special corner…blah blah blah!'

Raven:…Hn…whatever…goes to a corner

Winter: Ignores So, to help me explain, I've brought Yami and Yuki here!

Yami: Hey cutie. Winks at Winter

Winter: Twitch Twitch PERVERT!

Yuki: Stops the quarrel The reason why certain…ehem…love spells popped up was my doing. The reason is because I bring out what should be joyous or pleasurable memories or feelings in people's consciousness…

Yami: hurts his brain trying to understand what Yuki just said Um…could you speak in English please?

Yuki: angered by Yami's naïve behaviour It means that I make good things happen if it's what the person wanted to have happen. Take Ryu for instance-he probably had feelings for Winter that he had not uncovered yet by himself. So, my presence made those feelings come forward.

Ryu: suddenly appears Hey, who said that I loved Winter? blushes by the thought of it

Winter: Hey, why're you here?!

Ryu: I-I don't know…why am I here? I was in the middle of watching 'Transformers'…

Winter: …I want to see that movie!

Ryu: It's not out yet…I meant I was watching the TV show…

Winter: Oh…

Yami: Hey, stop ranting on about 'Transformers'! Can I say why the bad things erupted in the Titans group?

Winter and Ryu: in unison It was because of your presence?

Yami: H-how did you know?

Winter: Lucky guess…

Yuki: I also stopped some bad things from happening…like take Ryu for example (again)- if Sakura died, he would have died…yet, Sakura did die, and Ryu did not die.

Ryu: So…wait, what?

Sakura: I'm not dead!

Yami: Winks at Sakura hey, sweet thang.

Yuki: STOP HITTING ON EVERY GIRL YOU SEE!

Yami: I'm not hitting on every girl…I haven't hit on her! points to Aqualad

Aqualad: I'm NOT a GIRL!

Winter: Could've fooled me…

Aqualad: What? Even you, my love…

Daemeon: appearing out of nowhere…or maybe from the kitchen Why do you keep repeating that…she's my girlfriend…get your own…why don't you and Bumblebee hook up?

Winter: makes Aqualad disappear This corner is getting really confusing…

Daemeon: Is anyone hungry? I made some pasta.

Winter: Me!

Ryu: Yeah…

Yuki: I'd like some

Yami: Pasta's my favorite!

Sakura: Um, I'd like some…

Raven: comes out of the corner Me too…

everyone eats

Winter: I'm tired…I'm going to bed…

Ryu: Me too…yawns

Sakura: I'm in need of some sleep as well…

Yuki: I guess we're done answering questions…

Yami: I guess so…

Raven: Winter, you forgot to close your corner…

Winter: I'm too tired…Daemeon can do it…

Daemeon: confused Um…I don't know how…

Winter: It's easy…all you've got to do is say "Thank you for reading [insert title of story above 'special corner' and 'Winter's special corner of information!' See ya next time!"

Daemeon:…okay…Thank you for reading 'BattleScarred' and 'Winter's special corner of information!' See you next time!

everyone exits