(3)

Gizmo was nervous, more so now than he'd been in recent years. The term "sitting duck" came to mind as he stood in the middle of the alleyway in broad daylight, his hand gripping the handle of a grey suitcase full of stolen money. Truly this was not the most ideal situation for him to be in, but he knew it would be well worth the risk, so long as he got what he needed. Ask any Jump City villain and they'll all tell you the same thing: if you have a chance to get your hands on some Xynothium, you don't pass it up.

He grasped the material of his long brown raincoat with his free hand and pulled it tightly around his small body as he looked up and down the shaded alleyway. At the age of sixteen Gizmo had already gone through puberty and while his body may have matured (he was a bit taller now as well as leaner with a more masculine shape) mentally he hadn't grown an inch. Over the years his attitude had only worsened. In actuality he was far more dangerous now than he ever was as a snot-nosed boy genius. Once he was considered an out of control nuisance, but now many thought of him as borderline psychotic.

The sudden sound of a car engine pulled Gizmo's attention to the entrance of the alley, where he watched as a discreet white van pulled up along the curb. The driver's side door opened and out stepped a clean shaven young man wearing a knit cap, a long black trench coat and a pair of dark mirrored sunglasses. Taking a drag off of a cigarette, the man shut the door behind him and made his approach.

"You the guy?" he asked in a thick Brooklyn accent.

Gizmo nodded quickly.

"You got the money?"

Gizmo raised the grey briefcase up slightly and gave it a few soft pats with his free hand.

For a moment the man said nothing, only took a long drag off his cigarette as he studied the teenager in front of him, almost as if he were thinking something over.

"Alright," he said finally.

With a flick of his fingers, the man tossed the cig aside then turned and made his way to the van's rear doors.

"You're going to like this, my man," he said, placing a hand on the door handle. He smirked at Gizmo and then in two quick movements threw the white doors open.

Immediately Gizmo's eyes widened in panic. He was expecting a simple silver case full of precious Xynothium. What he got instead was four battle ready Titans. He yelped in surprise and fear as Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire took battle ready positions in front of him. With a smirk the man beside the van tossed away his coat and hat and glasses.

"You're getting more gullible by the day," said the newly revealed Nightwing, drawing a pair of Eskrima fighting sticks from the back of his belt and dropping down into a ready position alongside the other Titans.

"It is back to the correctional facility for you," declared Starfire, her eyes glowing fiercely.

"Now why don't you save us all some trouble and just surrender," added Cyborg powering up his arm cannon.

Despite their demands, the Titans knew there was very little chance of Gizmo surrendering peacefully. Even as a child he'd fight them to the bitter end, and there was very little reason to expect anything different now. This was especially so since several years back an accident in his lab, concerning some faulty wiring and a few misplaced electrodes, had left the mad genius somewhat fried in the head. This caused him to have an infinitely shorter fuse as well as one other, more noticeable detriment.

Gizmo's anger at being tricked showed brightly on his face. His eyebrows jutted sharply inward and his lips pulled themselves back into a defiant sneer. He opened his mouth and in a weasely voice replied:

"N-n-nuh-never you c-c-c-crud muh-munching T-t-ti-titans."

Gizmo's embarrassing stutter. The product of the lab accident. The problem that haunted him and that he just couldn't get rid of. It sent Beast Boy into a laughing fit every time.

"Oh man," the green man roared, throwing a hand over his eyes. "I never get sick of hearing that."

Growling in rage, Gizmo quickly cast off his light brown raincoat, revealing his dark green battle suit. Immediately four giant mechanical spider legs sprouted from the metal pack on his back. Digging themselves sharply into the ground they deftly pushed his body up into the air, artificially increasing his height by several feet. He then drew an uncommonly large ray gun from his pocket and in a psychotic huff began firing without pause at the five Titans in front of him, eliciting a "Titan's move" from Nightwing and forcing them all to go on the defensive and leap for cover.

Leaping and flipping to safety, Nightwing dodged several shots from Gizmo's ray gun and even had time to toss a disapproving glance at Beast Boy for agitating the villain before once again having to handspring his way out of danger.

Starfire was the first to go on the offensive. Moving swiftly she took to the air and flew straight for Gizmo's scrawny unprotected frame. Seeing her coming Gizmo quickly hit a switch on his belt and immediately he was surrounded by a sphere of glowing yellow energy. The Tameranean barreled head first into this force field only to yelp in pain and surprise as she was sent flying out of control back the way she came.

Cyborg seeing Starfire go down raised his arm cannon and began firing. Large beams of blue energy crashed against the yellow force field, hitting it hard and eventually overloading it. Gizmo was not to be deterred however. Reaching back down into the pockets of his belt he grabbed a hand full of what appeared to be harmless sliver hand balls. When they were thrown to the ground, however, they quickly morphed into several one foot high mechanical spiders. The mechanical terrors wasted no time and quickly went for Cyborg. Crawling all over him they began targeting all the crucial components of his body, clawing and scratching with small dagger like legs and shocking him with small laser blasts.

With a sinister sneer, Gizmo raised his gun at the distracted Cyborg ready to blast him to bits.

Beast Boy upon noticing the mortal danger his best friend was in reacted quickly. With a thought he turned into a sparrow and headed straight for Gizmo's sneering face. Still in midair he transformed into a monkey and wrapped his small furry arms around the teenager's bald head. He heard Gizmo shriek in surprise and frustration and immediately began crawling all over. Coming to rest on the villains metal back pack he began pummeling Gizmo with his tiny fists, beating on his hairless head like a drum.

"Da-da-damn you, you sn-sn-sn-snot cuh-cuh-colored f-freak," shouted Gizmo wildly swinging the butt of the ray gun in a futile effort to knock the monkey Beast Boy from his perch.

With Beast Boy successfully distracting Gizmo, Raven quickly went on the offensive. Soaring up several feet in the air, she raised her arms high above her head. Calling forth her dark powers, she willed several manhole covers to rise up from the respective places on the street. With her eyes glowing white, she violently crossed her arms in front of her chest, making a throwing motion, and sending the hard metal covers soaring through the air as if they were Frisbees. Like buzz saw's they quickly sliced through all four of Gizmo's giant mechanical spider legs causing the foul mouthed teen to go crashing to the pavement.

Reaching the height of his frustration with the green monkey still hammering away at him, Gizmo decided on a course of action. With little concern for his own escape the former boy genius quickly pressed a button on his chest harness causing two rocket boosters to come jutting out of the bottom of his pack. He disconnected himself just as they powered up sending the pack as well as Beast Boy hurdling up into the sky and away from the battle.

(4)

Beast Boy still in monkey form was shrieking like mad as he gripped the soaring jet pack tightly in his monkey paws. Completely out of control he spun through the air, doing back flips and somersaults. Soon he was spiraling downward, his vision rotating in a sickly manner as the ground came closer and closer. Panicking he pulled up on the jetpack trying desperately to pull it out of the tailspin. It was then that he careened into an alleyway. He heard the beginning of the crash and then nothing as everything went dark.

He wasn't sure how long he was lying there- it may have only been a few minutes -but as the throbbing in his head subsided and he started to come to his senses he could distinctly hear a voice calling out to him.

"Beast Boy! Beast Boy!"

Even in his groggy state he could tell that the voice was female and from the way it called to him it was obvious that the owner was deeply worried. An image of Raven kneeling over him suddenly came to his mind. As he struggled to right himself he attempted to say her name only for it to come out a garbled mess of syllables. Soon he felt strong yet gentle hands lifting him up; soft loving hands caressing his face and chest.

"Please be okay," he heard the voice say, now much clearer than before. "You have to be."

The darkness around his eyes slowly started peeling back and soon he could make out the image of the figure which leaned over him. The more his vision cleared the more he could see how beautiful she was. And also, the more he could see how familiar she was.

"Thank God you're okay," he heard her say as she gently ran a thumb over his cheek.

Her voice and face; her very presence; it all came together at once and immediately triggered a flood of memories and emotions inside of him. Swallowing Beast Boy gazed up at the girl who now cradled his head in her arms and after a few moments he finally willed himself to speak her name.

"Terra?"

(5)

That morning.

She had woke up in panic with a singular thought running through her head: I'm late. Without even needing to look at the clock she had known it. Nevertheless she still took the time to double check. She turned to the bedside table on which there of course she found the alarm clock, and of course its harsh red digital numbers screamed at her 6:30. She was supposed to be up forty five minutes ago. Now there would be no time for a shower, coffee or breakfast.

Nearly tripping over the sheets of her bed, she raced for her dresser, hoping against hope that there was at least a fresh pair of panties somewhere amongst the piles of unfolded socks. As luck would have it, there was one pair left. It would provide at least some comfort against the fact that she would be forced to wear the same dirty blouse and skirt from the day before. After buttoning herself, she hastily ran a comb through her tangled blonde hair, wincing with each jerking pull before quickly tying it all behind her head in a sloppy bun. As she fiddled with her hair she suddenly heard a harsh voice from behind her.

"We're all out of milk."

She didn't need to turn around. She could already see his dead, unshaven face in her mind's eye, sneering at her as he crunched a mouthful of cornflakes, dropping crumbs and dripping milk on the carpet with each spoonful.

"Morning Darryl," she said, managing to be somewhat pleasant despite the contempt she felt for the man behind her, her so called boyfriend, her so called lover. "I'll try to pick some up on the way home."

Darryl. This guy whom she met in high school. This guy for whom she left her loving foster family.

"How about you don't try to do it and just do it?" said Darryl shoveling another mouthful of cornflakes into his mouth. "Cause every time you try to do something you just fail."

Terra sighed and placed her hairbrush down on her dresser.

"Fine," she said. "I'll bring home milk." She turned and faced him. "By the way, how come you didn't wake me up?"

Darryl rolled his eyes, doing nothing to hide his irritation at even being asked such a question.

"It's not my job to wake your stupid ass up in the morning." he sneered before turning and heading back out into the hallway.

"Good to see you're still as worthless as ever," she shot.

"Shut up," he shot back

Watching the angry young man go, she was reminded once again of how she found a pair of panties that weren't hers in the laundry last week.

Sighing angrily she whipped back around and slammed her hands down hard on the dresser. Biting her lower lip she took several deep breaths, the tingling sensation in her sinuses warning her of tears she had no desire to shed. Raising her head, she gazed into the vanity mirror that sat on her dresser, cracked and dusty, unwanted, unloved. Staring blankly she wondered:

Had she ever truly liked this person?

For a brief moment she thought of running, but thought better of it. She then turned away and quickly exited the bedroom.

As she made her way past the piles of laundry, past the stacks of dirty dishes in the kitchen, past her good for nothing boyfriend as he slouched on the couch with remote in hand, to the front door of the apartment she realized the day would naturally be just like any other. And truthfully, she found nothing more heartbreaking.

(6)

Despite everything in her life Terra did not actually hate her job. It was nothing she looked forward to, but it was nothing she loathed having to do. Terra worked as a waitress at a little place called Mum's, a small home-style restaurant on the corner a few blocks from her apartment building that specialized in breakfast and lunch. It mainly catered to the early morning crowd, people looking for a quick bite to eat and a cup of coffee on their way to work. It was a tolerable job, and, at the moment, it was the best she could do. At least until she scrounged up enough money for college.

Sighing and brushing a loose strand of stringy blonde hair out of her face, Terra leaned against the counter in the middle of the restaurant. As she counted out the measly tip left for her by the last table, she was approached by a woman of about 50 with dark brown hair wearing the same uniform as her, who smiled at her from the other side of the counter.

"Tara, hon, why don't you go on break," she offered kindly. "You look like you need it."

"Nah, I'm fine," said Terra, trying to shrug it off.

"No," answered the woman. "You get out of here for a bit. Take a walk. Too much of the air in here's bad for you."

Smiling, Terra finally acquiesced. Bowing her head she untied and removed her apron. After handing it to the woman behind the counter she grabbed her coat and made for the exit.

She had only been walking for a few minutes when she heard it. It was loud and to her sounded a lot like rocket exhaust. As she continued walking she soon found herself to be exactly right as suddenly up over a nearby apartment building there came the image of a small out of control object leaving a smoke trail in the sky. As the object spun back and forth in front of her, her heart leapt as she suddenly caught sight of the little life form which clung to it in desperation. Although he may have been in monkey form, all she needed to see was that beautiful green hue to know it was him.

"Beast Boy," she said quietly to herself.

Suddenly the object the green shapeshifter rode on began to plummet to the ground. Without even giving the matter a thought, Terra's feet began to move as she pursued the falling object. She said a silent prayer to herself as she watched the object, monkey and all soar head long into an alley way and smash into a pile of trashcans.

It was there amongst debris and garbage that she found him, Beast Boy, lying in human form, unmoving. Within a moment she was at his side, cradling his head gently in her lap. Running her fingers down his cheek her breath came in short fearful gasps as she called out to him, begging for him to hear her. Her heart cheered as she heard him mutter something and saw his eyes slowly begin to crack open. Then he spoke her name, and suddenly she felt herself become warm all over. Hearing his voice again, hearing him call to her, it was the first time in she didn't know how long that she felt so good.

It was serendipitous. This was meant to happen. It was all she kept thinking to herself.

"Beast Boy," she smiled down at him. "I'm so glad you're okay. There's so much we need to talk about."

He would save her. She knew it.