A/N: So this is my fist Teen Titans fanfic. It's been a very long time since I've written any story so my skills may be a bit rusty. I hope I improve after finishing this! I don't think this will have any romance in it (but that's still negotiable) since I wanted this fanfic to be mostly about Jericho. I might consider some Jerikole but that depends on how this story goes.

Chapter 1

(Jericho's POV) The Never-ending Nightmare

Cold. Something sharp and utterly freezing was pressed dangerously against the thin, pale skin of my neck. My body shook as the metal object crushed even harder against my windpipe and made it difficult to breath.

"Daddy!" I cried as hot tears spilled down my flushed cheeks. An awkward sound, a mix between a strangled man and crying child, filled the warehouse where I was held captive; it took me a moment to realize I had choked that sound out when Jackal started to break the skin on my neck. I could feel little drops of the warm fluid trickled down my neck and stain my shirt. It hurt!

"Shut up!" Jackal bellowed as he sliced my neck. Luckily he stopped before he could kill me. The man grinned and looked at the entrance, but I saw no one through my tear stained vision. My clammy hands feebly grasped my captor's strong ones in a weak attempt to free myself. I choked out another sob and fresh tears spilled over my already damp cheeks.

"Daddy! Please help me!" I pleaded desperately. My breathing was labored as I struggled to stay awake, to stay alive.

"Let him go, Jackal. He has nothing to do with this!" Slade and Adeline stood in the doorway. Slade was calm but Adeline had a terrible fire burning in her beautiful green orbs. She looked so fierce, so wild, and so…dangerous.

But the terrorist focused his attention on Deathstroke. "Really? If you tell me what I want to know then he's yours, Deathstroke!" Jackal smiled. He wanted to get to the mercenary. He wanted him to feel pain and loss.

Adeline was just about ready to explode but Slade remained calm and held his hand out to calm his wife. "I won't tell you," he replied firmly. Slade couldn't tell, but he couldn't let his son be murdered either. As quickly as he could he pulled out a knife and threw it at Jackal's neck. It was a perfect hit and killed the terrorist instantly but it wasn't quick enough to leave his son unscathed. In Jackal's last mili-seconds he slashed his already bloody knife clean against the boy's neck as he fell dead to the ground.

Screams, my screams, emanated from my lips as I felt the jagged edges of the knife rip across my already cut neck. I slipped out of the wooden chair I had sat in, trembling in fear and praying for my life, and collapsed on the frozen concrete floor. I willed myself to continue my effort of crying but nothing came out. I flopped like a fish out of water, holding my bleeding neck, my mouth opening and closing but still I could produce no noise.

Slade rushed to my side, tearing my undershirt and wrapping it around my neck to stop the bleeding. He picked up my shaking form and carried me out

I opened my eyes only to see blurry images of my room. At first I wondered if it was real. Shakily, I pulled my arm from underneath the covers to feel my neck. Bandages. So it wasn't a dream. It couldn't have been. It felt too real.

Lazily, I looked to my left only to see a mop of blonde hair resting against the edge of my bed. Grant? Right, I couldn't talk. I gingerly placed my fingers on my neck again. Why did that have to be real?

Screaming and throwing of items could be heard downstairs which woke up my older brother, Grant. He grinned at me like nothing bad had happened.

"I can't believe you Slade! How could you let my child be hurt! He could have died!" an insane Adeline bellowed. "Why did you lie to me?! Why did you betray me?!" she growled in frustration, angry tears were flowing down her face as she cried. "My child! This happened because of you!" she wailed and crushed her hands against her face.

"Isn't it enough that Joseph is alive, Adeline?" Slade shouted back. Bad move.

Adeline whipped her head out of her hands and roared. She was slowly going insane. She started breathing heavily and reached for Slade's gun he had left on the table. "I HATE YOU!" was all she shrieked before she pulled the trigger.

The sound of feet running up the stairs alarmed both me and my brother. "Grant. Joey. Pack right now. We're leaving. Quickly!" she commanded. She was trembling. My mother looked so afraid but both of us scrambled to pack out belongings. We questioned nothing. As soon as we packed she took both our hands roughly in her own and dragged us downstairs. As we neared the kitchen I swear I thought I smelled blood.

My mother didn't stop as she passed though the kitchen; she left my Dad one final parting gift. I made the mistake of looking back. When I did I saw my father clutching his right eye as blood gushed out. I pushed back the nausea but it still came out. So much blood. Soon everything was bathed in the sticky substance. Not just in the house, even outside. Pulsating. Beeping.

That's when I woke up with a start. My eyes darted around wildly as I came to remember where I was.

"Titans! We have an emergency!" came a familiar voice through the loudspeakers.

I shook off my nightmare and threw away my covers. The Herald barged in. "Come on, Jericho!" he urged as I slipped into another shirt. The one I was wearing before was soaked with sweat. I nodded at my friend and followed him to the lounge.

All the Titans and Honorary Titans were huddled around the massive television/computer. A map blinked annoyingly on the screen with a giant white dot on one of the streets.

"Titans, go!" Robin commanded and everyone ran or flew to follow him. I sighed silently and raced after them; my body still shook from the nightmare about my past but I pushed it to the back of my mind.

People screamed in terror as they ran away from the half done construction site. At first there was nothing, but as the teens approached the construction a giant white monster appeared from the brick wall (1). It roared and flung itself at the super teens at full speed. Immediately, Robin pulled out his bo-staff and sent a flurry of whacks and swings at the white creature; however, his attacks proved useless and the mysterious enemy smacked him into a building.

"Uhhh!" The masked teen groaned as his body connected to the bricks.

"Robin!" Starfire gasped and quickly went to work on punching and throwing starbolts. "You do not hurt my friends!" she growled as she swooped down and tried to connect her fist with the thing's face. Her eyes glowed green like her starbolts. The creature gurgled and snatched her arms. Starfire struggled and attempted a kick but the creature hurled her into Beast Boy and knocked them both out. Raven flew above the enemy and threw empty cars while Bumblebee and Argent zapped and punched him (it?) with their powers. The white monster became annoyed and ran for it.

One of Argent's giant hand punches was able to knock the creature to the pavement, but unfortunately for the teens there was a pool of oil under a car that Raven had levitated. The monster slipped in the oil and melded with it. It popped up and screamed with newfound furry. Whipping around, it launched globs of oil at the remaining titans, all of whom were able to dodge.

"This thing is as ugly as Plasmas!" Cyborg remarked as he shot his sonic cannon. Beast Boy crawled out of pile of oil. "And gross too!" the changeling groaned as he morphed into a little green dog and shook off what little gunk he could.

"That gives me an idea," Cyborg grinned. "Raven, Argent, Bee! Attack all at once!" Cyborg yelled as he pointed his arm at the newly morphed oil monster.

"Gotcha, Sparky!" Bumblebee said and fired her stingers at full blast. Argent and Raven both said nothing and blasted away with their own powers.

The creature cried out but even after getting hammered with the four titans' power at max it still wasn't enough to bring it down. Oil squirted out from all over his body and hit the four teens which ceased their constant attacks.

"Jericho, think you can get inside that thing?" Herald asked. All I could do was nod. I really hate fighting! I thought sadly as I ran to make eye contact with the enemy. I shuddered at the thought of what it would be like to possess that thing. What would his thoughts be or the memories it possessed? I gulped down all my fears and waited for my chance. Herald blew his horn and created a black hole which sucked the oil monster in and spit it out closer to me (2). I gulped again and bolted for the creature. As soon as I was situated on his chest I locked my lime green eyes with his bloody red ones and phased into his body.

There was nothing. No thoughts, no memories, and probably not even a brain. How was this thing even alive?! I fished around to find something that would aid me in stopping this…thing.

"Jericho, you in there?" Herald called; he walked forward to examine the monster's eyes. He gasped. Why weren't his eyes green? Instead they were a sick bloody green. "Jericho?" he called again, he started to fear for the worst. Did Jericho not phase in the body? No. He definitely did. Everyone saw him do it! But where was he?

I dug as deep as I could but all I found was just empty space. I felt something squeeze me. I tried one last time to discover anything about this unknown enemy but the harder I tried the harder it got for me to breath. It soon felt like I was drowning in nothingness and I thrashed around trying to grab onto anything! My eyes slowly started to close but not before a faint light floated towards me and enveloped me into a memory.

No. It can't be…! I screamed in my head.

The monster squealed in response to Herald's question. Apparently this thing didn't have vocal cords. It thrashed around violently trying to make me lose control and finally burped me out. I flew, flipping and desperately reaching for anything to aid me, and collided with Herald. My body trembled at what I had just saw, my delicate lime green orbs filled with absolute terror. I somehow managed to lift my quivering hands to my throat. My scar burned.

"What happened, Jericho?" Robin asked. He was trying to be calm but I could sense the urgency in his tone. I really did try to form words with my hands but it was impossible at the moment. They just could not stop shaking.

"Herald, take him back to the-"

"That thing…there was nothing in his brain," I finally signed to Herald who translated.

"What? But there's no way! That thing is alive! It has to have a brain!" Robin defended. I merely shook my head and wrapped my arms around my shoulders.

"Hey guys! We could really use your help!" Beast Boy yelled before he morphed into a hawk to avoid yet another gooey pile of sludge. He still ended up getting hit. "Dude, this is SO not cool!" he whined.

Herald steadied me when I rose and I smiled at him to show I was fine. I really wasn't but he didn't have to know what I saw.

The monster seemed to be in some sort of trance after he regurgitated me. It wasn't like he had a brain to think with so what was he doing? It made soft gurgling noises, almost like it was purring, and stared at the ground. It finally looked up and surveyed the team, his eyes locked with mine. In the blink of an eye it screeched and charged me. Every titan who stood in his way was knocked to the side easily. Herald attempted to block the sludge monster from getting to me but he too was thrown into a building. The monster lashed out and grabbed me hastily. If I could I would have been screaming my head off but it didn't matter. I was mute. For some reason I couldn't make eye contact with my captor but even if I could I would not have possessed his body twice! It stared at me. Suddenly he opened his giant mouth and threw me inside and swallowed. Wait. This thing had a mouth?!

"NO!" Robin, Herald, Kole, and Starfire all cried in horror while everyone else just gasped in disbelief.

(Third Person POV)

"What does that thing want with Jericho?" Cyborg wondered out loud. "Well we're not waiting long enough to find out! Titans! Move it!" Robin bellowed; he whipped out some bombs and his bo-staff and began attacking the thing with newfound strength. Everyone else followed suit. The desire to save their quiet friend burned in their hearts.

"Hey, Robin! I think I know how to beat that thing!" Speedy pulled out a special arrow and notched it in his bow ready to fire. Actually, it WAS on fire. "Soooo….anyone got any bright ideas on how to get that kid out?"

"I do!" Starfire said triumphantly waving her hand like a child. She whizzed around avoiding as much sludge as possible. Raven helped by creating a shield of darkness. Everyone else tried to get the monster's attention so Starfire could enact her master plan. The Tamaranian sucked in as much air as she could and launched herself at the enemy. Beast Boy saw what she was doing and changed into an octopus. He latched himself tightly onto the thing's head as it angrily clawed at him leaving his chest bare.

Starfire thanked Beast Boy silently as she extended her arms and burst into the monster's stomach and out the next second with Jericho in her grasp. He was unconscious yet he was convulsing wildly.

(Jericho's POV)

"Please, what is wrong? Can you not breathe?" Starfire asked with concern, her soft yet strong finger wiped a glob of gunk from my eyebrow. I shook my head, holding back hot tears, and she positioned herself in front of me. I wondered what she planned on doing but my mind was too dazed. With all the Tamaranean force she could muster she balled up her fists and punched me in the stomach. I think she was aiming to do the Heimlich but it was so far off that I could have been wrong. The alien punch was too much for me. Sure I threw up all the nasty oil but I also ended up fainting right after. How embarrassing.

(Third Person POV)

Starfire held Jericho gingerly and flew away from the monster as quickly as she could. "I am sorry. I think I punched too hard," Starfire said sheepishly. The blushing alien signaled that their comrade was fine and she touched down to the sidewalk.

"Speedy! Fire!" Robin commanded. Speedy did as he was told and released the arrow. It soared and broke apart to reveal a flaming red boxing glove. The arrow was true and impacted with the thing's face. The creature bellowed one more time before exploding into a pile of slime. Everyone cheered but not for long. When Speedy set that thing on fire, it was on fire. The flames licked the nearby buildings and threatened to take everything down in its path.

"I've got this!" yelled Aqualad. The Atlantian closed his eyes and pulled water from a nearby water hydrant, which engulfed the flaming menace in a sphere of liquid. The man smiled triumphantly but that didn't last long. The sphere bounced around wildly and the sludge monster popped out, but this time it was made completely of water.

Out of complete fear, Starfire let loose one of her starbolts and blasted the newly morphed water monster into a small puddle. The monster quickly slid down into the sewer and disappeared.

(1): The White Monster from the very last episode Things Change.

(2): Herald did this exact move in Titans Together

Yay! Finally done with my first chapter! *dances* Well anyway. I didn't have anyone pre-read this I apologize for any OOC-ness, spelling mistakes, and verb tense changes (tenses should go jump in a hole or something xP). I'll try improving the fight scenes too. So anyway, I hope you can look past all that and enjoy the rest of my story. All reviews are appreciated and if you have any good ideas they may be featured in a future chapter?