Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Teen Titans.
Chapter 1: Old Foe, New Setting
The automatic doors opened into the living room of Titans Tower. Starfire, who'd recently decided to attempt cooking Earth food was setting out her ingredients in preparation. On the couch, Cyborg was playing a racing game and winning.
"It's like you're not even trying to beat me," he said with a grin as he twisted the joystick in either direction.
"Yup, you're just really good at this game," Raven said sarcastically from the other end of the couch. The game controller she was supposedly using was sitting on the coffee table untouched. As usual, Raven had a book in her hand and was trying to read and look like she was being social.
Suddenly, Beast Boy, who'd just entered the living room, jumped onto the couch, picked up his controller, and started racing Cyborg. The yellow car on the bottom of the screen started to pick up speed and finally made it to the finish line – a quarter of a second before Cyborg.
"Man, Rae, I didn't think you were even – BB?" His jaw dropped when he saw his best friend sitting next to him. For the past week, Beast Boy had locked himself in his room and only left at night in search of food… or Terra.
"Beast Boy, welcome back," Raven said with a smile, looking up from her book for a brief minute.
Before Beast Boy could utter a single word in response, Starfire had flown over and had her arms around his neck, crushing his windpipe.
"Friend! You are no longer feeling the guilt, yes?" she asked happily in her high, ringing voice.
"Star, let him speak!" Robin said with a smile as he entered the room.
Realizing her strength, she released Beast Boy and waited for him to catch his breath.
"Thanks guys. I'm fine now," he responded, stretching and putting his hands behind his head. He smiled at them to show he was telling the truth, but as soon as they looked away, he returned to a stoic expression.
Suddenly, an alarm went off and GPS coordinates flashed on the television screen.
"It can't be…," Raven muttered incredulously when she saw a face pop up in the corner of the screen.
"No," Beast Boy whispered.
"Slade," Robin snarled.
"He can't still be alive; you said you saw him melt in the fire, right?" Cyborg reminded him.
"Robin?" Starfire pressed him for more information.
"We don't have time now. Titans go!" Robin called out as he ran out the front door.
The others followed him. Robin led in the R-Cycle, Cyborg was in the T-Car, Starfire was soaring through the air, Raven was levitating, and Beast Boy was flapping his crow wings.
When the Titans arrived at the place where the coordinates had led them, they found themselves in a quiet suburban neighbourhood.
"Aw man, we got called out for nothing?" Cyborg whined.
Suddenly there was a bang in the second house from the end.
Without a single moment of hesitation, Robin ran into the house with the Titans following along behind him.
Slade was knocking down one door after another like he was searching for something.
"This is the end of the line. You know, you really shouldn't have come back because I'm only going to get rid of you again," Robin chastised him.
"But if I wasn't here, who would kill you?" asked Slade, his one visible eye almost sparkling in delight.
"Then let's see you try," said Robin, withdrawing his metal rod. A lamp crashed to the floor when he enlarged the rod and guilt spread across his face.
"Ready to die?" Slade asked, his whole body basically tingling at the image of Robin lying dead on the floor.
"Titans, see if there's anyone here while I hold him off!" Robin commanded as he tried to knock Slade down in order to deliver him to the cops.
The Titans split up; Starfire and Raven took the bottom floor while Beast Boy and Cyborg took the top floor.
"Yo! Is anyone here? You have to get out!" Cyborg shouted.
"We're the Teen Titans! We're here to rescue you!" Beast Boy called out.
"Beast Boy? Is that you?" a small, familiar voice whispered through the darkness.
Cyborg shifted until the beam of his flashlight fell on a girl with dishevelled blonde hair and big blue eyes cowering in a closet of clothes.
"Terra?" Cyborg asked incredulously.
"No. My name is Amber Calloway," the girl replied, "I'm not Terra, but the man downstairs keeps calling me that."
The Titans heard a lot of banging downstairs as the front door opened to admit more people. They weren't sure whether the newcomers were good or evil so Beast Boy and Cyborg took no chances.
"I'll bring her to safety," Beast Boy said to Cyborg. Then to Amber, he asked, "Do you trust me?"
The girl was quiet, hesitant, but then she looked into Beast Boy's green eyes and solemnly nodded.
Beast Boy jumped out of the window and transformed into an eagle. Getting close to the window, he gripped Amber's shoulders with his talons and flew into the night.
Meanwhile, the fight between Robin and Slade had grown even more intense. The two of them were breaking everything in sight. It wasn't just cheap knickknacks being ruined either. Stereos, televisions, a coffee table… everything seemed to be fair game.
Cyborg had run downstairs to see how his friends were faring and saw dozens of Slade's drones heading down the hallway where Raven and Starfire had gone. He followed them, blasting haphazardly with his sonic cannon.
When all of the drones were beaten, Cyborg opened the door of the last room on the right. A green light was visible through the crack under the door, signifying Starfire's presence. When he opened the door, he saw that Raven wasn't there.
"Where's Raven, Starfire?" Cyborg asked, his voice betraying the worry he felt.
"She went to warn Robin," Starfire replied, her face showing a look of defeat.
"Of what, Starfire?" Cyborg asked, worry escalating to fear.
"We've entered a trap," she said. Then she pressed play on a tape recorder next to the telephone:
Please… We need help… The Teen Titans are destroying our house… They just broke in… We live at 311 Westboro Dr…. Please send someone… Help us… They've gone crazy…
Simultaneously, Robin pulled off Slade's mask, but instead of seeing the skeletal face of his archenemy as he'd seen it before, he saw the innards of a computer and heard a recording:
Oh, Robin… Still falling for the same old tricks…
"Can we go now?" Raven asked, rolling her eyes at Robin's stupidity.
He nodded and then shouted, "Titans, retreat!"
Robin and Cyborg grabbed their vehicles and sped through the city back to the Tower and the girls followed above at top speed.
Back at Titans Tower, Amber curled up on the couch and watched as Beast Boy paced back and forth with his yellow and black communicator in hand.
"Robin, what's going on?" he asked, hoping Slade had been beaten by now.
"We're on out way back to the Tower," Robin replied, "Where are you?"
"I'm at the Tower with the girl from the house, Amber," Beast Boy told him.
"We have a lot to discuss when we get back," Robin said. Then the communicator clicked off.
Beast Boy continued pacing back and forth, thinking about what Robin had said. Something must've happened after he'd left – something really bad. He put a gloved hand through his hair nervously as he tried to stay calm.
"My parents went away for the weekend. What are they going to do when they get back and find me gone?" asked Amber worriedly.
"Robin will have a plan," Beast Boy replied confidently.
When the rest of the Titans returned, their eyes fell on Amber. She wore a black t-shirt and a pair of pale blue, green, and orange plaid pyjama pants. She held her knees to her chest protectively, afraid to see all of the Titans staring at her.
"Why are you all staring at me?" she asked, looking at the floor.
"Terra! We thought you were –" Starfire began excitedly.
"I'm not Terra. My name is Amber and I have no idea what's going on. I just want to go home and wait for my parents to get back," Amber interrupted.
"Sorry, we can't let you go home just yet. Slade is looking for you and you're safest with us. I think the best thing is for you to call your parents and tell them you're safe. Then tomorrow, we're taking a little road trip," Robin explained.
"Where are we going?" asked Beast Boy before Amber could say anything.
"We're going to see the Titans East," Cyborg replied, "I already left a message with Bumblebee to let them know we're going."
"Why are we leaving?" Beast Boy asked.
"Slade trapped us. The cops are going to be over to question us for breaking and entering tomorrow. They might even be adding kidnapping to the list," said Raven, her eyes straying to Amber, "We need some time to figure out what's going on."
"I have school tomorrow. What are they going to do if I don't show up?" Amber asked.
"If we leave you here, Slade will find you. If you come with us, we can protect you. The cops will be after us, but they already are anyway so you might as well come along," Robin explained.
Amber nodded, her blue eyes still wide with fear. It was obvious by her body language that she didn't want to be at the Tower. It had only been a week since Beast Boy had followed her around, trying to convince her she was someone she clearly wasn't.
"If it is so important that we leave, why must we wait until tomorrow?" asked Starfire confusedly.
"They'll be expecting us to leave tonight so they'll be stationed at every possible exit. Tomorrow, they'll be coming to check out the Tower so we just have to leave before they get here," Robin explained, grinning a little at his own intelligence.
"On the run from the cops? This could be fun…," Raven commented with a smirk.
"Aw, yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Cyborg agreed wholeheartedly. He punched the air in excitement.
"Strange, but it might be amusing," Starfire said with a shrug.
"That's the spirit, Star!" Robin commended her, smiling.
Suddenly, Beast Boy remembered Amber. He turned to face her and was about to ask her if she wanted to sleep in Terra's room when he saw that she was already asleep on the couch. She snored softly, her head on one of the blue couch cushions.
Cyborg put a mechanical hand on his best friend's shoulder and said to him in a low voice, "She's not Terra, dude."
Beast Boy looked up into his semi-robotic friend's face with wide, hopeful eyes. "She's gotta be out there somewhere, Cy; the rock's gone," he said.
"Let's all get some rest," Robin said, one hand on Beast Boy's shoulder and the other on Cyborg's back.
The Titans agreed and, yawning, retreated to their respective rooms.