Chapter 1 homes! I hope you like this! It'll be awesome. However, it's rated T for death(s). I'm not telling you who, you'll just have to read and find out. So go!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except Slade's alter ego, Ailex, and a character that will be mentioned in possibly the next chapter! Enjoi
The Downfall of Us All
By Table For Two
Chapter 1) And So It Starts…
Three Months Later…
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes! In. Your. Face, Cy!" Cries of victory and defeat rang throughout the main ops room of Titans Tower. It'd been two years since their return from Tokyo, and not much has changed.
Since most of Jump City's villains were either in prison or frozen in ice in France at the Brotherhood of Evil's former hide-out, crime rate had plummeted greatly and had given all the Titans some breathing air, and to finally enjoy life.
The years had been great to the Titans. Robin, now Nightwing, had stopped spiking his hair and just let it fall where it may, which was only a little past his ears and masked eyes. His muscles had developed more since his teens, and he'd dropped the traffic light uniform after many arguments with the team about it's terrible colors. Now he wore a black jumpsuit with a royal blue bird on his chest along with a gray utility belt. At the moment, he was in the evidence room going over something that'd been bothering him lately that he had seen on the news with Starfire one morning.
Starfire's appearance had not changed much except that maybe her hair was a bit more full and long, her eyes had grown brighter, and if possible, she had grown more jovial which wasn't that great for the resident empath.
Raven, like Starfire, had not changed much aside from having grown her hair out to her mid-back, meditating less, having more control of her emotions, and having a little bit more curves.
Both of the girls were in the kitchen at the time being. Starfire was cooking some kind of purple goop that would growl and try to eat her every twenty minutes or so and Raven sat on the floor next to Star reading one of her many leather-bound books.
Cyborg had upgraded himself quite efficiently. He was thinner, more athletic and agile. His mechanical parts had stayed the same and a small goatee had started to form itself on his face.
As for Beast Boy, now known as Changeling, he had changed the most. His voice had deepened, his hair had grown darker and longer. It went just a bit past his pointy green ears and it went past his eyes. It may have been messy and jagged, but it fit his personality. All the childish features, apart from the small fang poking out of the left side of his bottom lip, had vanished. His jaw was more toned and not as round. Changeling had also been spending more and more time with Nightwing in the training room, so now his used to be scrawny status had gone only to be replaced with actual muscles. Nothing really changed about his uniform. It was still black, gray utility belt, purple stripe down the middle, gray gloves, and purple and black boots. The only difference now was that he often rolled up the sleeves of his uniform up to his elbows and that there was a small white 'T' on the collar of his uniform.
Right now, Changeling was jumping around the main ops room in victory. He may have matured on the outside, but he was still a child at heart. Cyborg was on the floor crying at what he'd just witnessed. It felt like the apocalypse had come early.
"Could you try to be a little bit more annoying, Garfield?" Raven said in a monotone without even prying her eyes away from the page. Changeling just rolled his eyes when Raven used his real name. "No way, dude. 'Cause guess what, Rae?" He vaulted over the couch, rolled on the ground, and sat right next to Raven on the floor.
"If I say 'what' will you go away?" Raven deadpanned.
He chuckled. "Nope because I, Changeling," he stood up for dramatic purposes. Raven rolled her eyes at his antics before he continued, "have finally, after all these years, beat the former champion, Cyborg, in Space Racer 4!" Changeling finished and threw his arms up to the ceiling as if to thank the Heaven's for this beautiful blessing. He sat back down and flung an arm around the empath's shoulders as Cyborg walked out mumbling a quick, "Can it, grass stain."
Then Changeling leaned closer to Raven's face and wriggled his eyebrows as he whispered, "And do you know what that means?"
Raven leaned away, but he just leaned closer. "No."
"Yeah, you do Rae…" He smirked evilly as a look of recognition crossed her face.
"Not. Happening." Raven ground out through her teeth.
"Oh yes it is." Changeling leaned even closer. Then a gasp was heard as Starfire jumped in front of them.
"Oh joyous days! Friend Changeling and Raven, have you decided to partake in the act of kissing like boyfriend Robin and I?" Starfire squealed.
Raven's eyes widened and all of a sudden Changeling was blown up into the air by a burst of black magic. He landed with a heavy 'thunk' on the other side of the room.
She stood up and closed her book. "No, Star. Not even close. He's just being a nuisance." Raven put a hand on her hip and glared at the green Titan.
Changeling sat up and smirked at Raven. "You're not getting away from this one Ravy." Star looked between the two.
"Please, what is this thing that friend Raven will not escape from?" Starfire inquired. She gasped randomly and picked Raven up as if to shield her from non-existent enemies. "Have the evil Glorfnags returned? You will not harm my friends!" Starfire's eyes lit up and Raven's widened.
"Whoa, Star! It's all good! Just breathe! There aren't any evil Glorfnags or whatever!" Changeling put his hands up as if to stop the Alien girl from having a major melt-down.
Starfire visibly relaxed. "Are you positive the evil Glorfnags have not returned for friend Raven?" She questioned still quite worried for her friend's safety.
"Yes I'm positive." Changeling smiled a toothy grin at his friend.
Nodding, Starfire sat Raven back down on the ground. The violet-eyed Titan took in several gasps of air after being released. "Thanks for that one, grass stain." Raven spat at the green changeling.
"Sure, sure. No let's get this show on the road. Star, can you do me a favor?"
Starfire nodded vigorously. "Of course, friend!"
Changeling grinned evilly. "Awesome! Come 'ere!" Starfire flew to where the green Titan was standing and he leaned over and whispered in her ear. All at once, Starfire looked at Raven, smiled, and squealed with joy. "Come friend we shall prepare the dress!" Raven watched in horror as Star flew to her, grabbed her hand, and yanked her out of the room.
"No!" The empath shrieked as the doors shut and then reopened as Cyborg walked in. He looked at the door and then he looked at Changeling. "Ya'll just put the bet into action didn't you?" Changeling just nodded. Cyborg smiled full on. "Aw yeah! I gotta go get the camera! Blackmail City, baby!" Cyborg ran out the door and down the hall jumping and hollering.
Thirty minutes later…
Cyborg jumped away from the door and got the camera ready. "Man, this is gonna be priceless!"
Changeling laughed at his friend. "I know, dude! Camera good?" The cybernetic man gave the teen the a-ok sign with his left hand. At that exact moment Starfire flew in with a huge smile plastered on her face.
Following the alien princess was a very pissed of Raven with her hair in pigtails, bright, glittering make-up on her face, while wearing a very, very sugary pink princess dress along with a pair of pink high heels.
Changeling was on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. "Ha, ha, ha! Aw dude, Rae! You should see your face! Ha, ha, ha! Whoa!" The green Titan yelled as he was blasted off his feet and into the air, only to land on his face smack dab in the middle of the main ops room.
Cyborg tried to keep his laughter back, but was failing miserably. "Okay, Raven" laughter "go ahead and say it." More laughter. "Cameras rolling. Action." Even more laughter.
Raven rolled her eyes but pulled out a piece of paper from behind her back and began to recite the words off the page.
"Changeling is the bestest, awesomest, dude on the planet. He's the best gamer ever known to live and always will be," She shuddered as she read the next line, "Not to mention, that he's extremely good looking. Someday I hope to be as cool as he is. All hail Changeling, the ultimate gamer." Raven shivered with disgust and she faked a gag. "Can I please go change now?" She deadpanned.
Changeling stood up after laughing his head off and said, "I don't know, Rae. You look pretty good in pink." He smirked as he saw her blush. "Plus, I think Cy needs more footage.
Cyborg wheezed out a comment between fits of laughter. "Yeah Rae… Go ahead and… Strike a pose! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" Raven gave Cyborg a death glare and pointed her hand at the camera in the shape of a gun. "Bang." A bolt of black magic burst out of her fingertip and engulfed the camera in an aura of dark energy before it broke in half. "Quit calling me 'Rae'." Raven turned on her heel and walked to her room to change.
As soon as she left Changeling fell over laughing, Cyborg cradled the broken electronic in his metallic palm, and Starfire went into the kitchen to prepare everyone's dinner.
A few minutes after Raven left her friends, Nightwing quickly walked into the room with an expression of full out fear, concern, and curiosity. Starfire flew to his side in an instant.
"Please, something troubles you, yes?" Starfire questioned her boyfriend tentatively. He'd been acting very odd recently. They all knew what it was, but no one wanted to voice it fearing the team leader's reaction.
Nightwing nodded. "Six o'clock." All the color drained from Starfire's, Changeling's, and Cyborg's face as the masked Titan walked around the couch to the remote on the coffee table. It was time for the evening news.
Raven stepped into the room in full uniform with the book of Azar in hand. She followed everyone to the couch and too a seat as Nightwing flipped the t.v on.
"Well, Charlotte, what's tonight's breaking news?"
"Tim, it looks like another mysterious killing has just been discovered."
Nightwing's hand tightened on the remote and leaned closer to the t.v so that he could hear better.
"The notorious Punk Rocket, having escaped from Jump City's high security holding cell three days prior, was found early this morning in an alleyway by a passerby jogger with a slit across the victims jugular with multiple fatal stab wounds found to the stomach, the bottom of the spine, and the heart. The victim, as doctors are reporting, died instantly and had been dead for over nine hours.
"It just doesn't make sense, Tim. This is the fifth victim in the past month. First, there was that terrible Cinderblock character, then that Mumbo Jumbo, next it was Mad Mod, Killer Moth, and now, Punk Rocket. It seems that the killer is aiming at all villains. What's even stranger is that the killings seem to occur after every time Jump City's heroes, The Titans, defeat them in battle. They stopped Punk Rocket, as we all know, last night from robbing Jump's First National Bank. Some citizens are suspecting foul play on the Titans part. Is this some upbringing of a new age vigilante or is the Titans having lost their purpose since there has been less and less crime ever since they destroyed the Brotherhood of Evil and all of Jump City's villains were frozen.
"I guess some heroes aren't always what they seem to be, huh, Tim?"
"I just don't know, Charlotte. But foul play seems like the only answer at the moment, let's just hope the Titans really haven't turned evil-"
Nightwing turned off the television and sat back, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Great. Just what we need. Now, not only has another villain died, but the city is starting to suspect that we're behind it." Starfire placed her hand on her love's shoulder. "Do not worry, we will find this killer and prove to the Jump City that we are not criminals."
"Star's right, man. We'll find this guy and bring him down. No one can take down the Titans!" Cyborg clenched his fists and grinned.
Changeling was staring out the window. "Hey, Raven?"
Raven looked away from their planning friends to the green teenager looking out into space. "Yes?"
"What do you thinks gonna happen next?" He continued to stare out the window.
"I don't know, Changeling. Anything could happen, but people were bound to start fearing us and judging us sooner or later."
"I guess… I'm scared." He stood up and walked away and was about to leave the room before the alarm went off. Nightwing vaulted over the couch and started striking keys on the keyboard before a picture of Dr. Light robbing Cooks (A.N.: the electronic store in the show). "Dr. Light!"
Everyone left the room in a flash. Raven teleported out of the room and took to the skies on a disk of magic, Starfire flew through the air carrying Cyborg, Nightwing started out on his new bike; the Wing-Cycle, but then right before he got to the edge of the water, the Titans' leader leapt from the seat of the Wing-Cycle and spread out his arms causing a black and blue material to catch the wind and stiffen. Nightwing flew on his glider next to his alien girlfriend. Then Changeling jumped off the roof and halfway to the ground he shifted into a hawk and began to fly next to Raven.
As the Titans landed they made their way to Cook's Changeling stopped in front of Video Dome to gawk at the new game: Rock 'n Roll Hero 7. "Ooooohhhh!" Changeling's mouth started to water at the beautiful game behind the glass of the store window. "So…shiny…OW!" He yelped as Raven grabbed him by one of his pointy ears and dragged him away from the store window. "Idiot…"
The Titans reached the electronics store as they watched Dr. Light shoot beams of light at different objects and customers. He wasn't really stealing anything he was just… being a nuisance. Nightwing cocked his head to the side. This wasn't Dr. Light's normalcy…
10 minutes before the alarm went off…
"Do you understand, Light?" A cloaked figure was leaning against the brick wall of the alley that was onlythree blocks away from Cook's electronics.
The middle-aged villain rolled his eyes and scoffed at the teenage boy in front of him. "Yes, yes, I attack the Titans or you attack me. I understand, boy. Now, where's my money?"
The cloaked teen's eyes opened suddenly revealing crimson irises that seemed to mirror pools of blood. His arm lashed out and slammed Dr. Light against the wall he was just leaning on. "No, you scum. You kill the Titans, or I will kill you. Would you like to end up like that damned Punk Rocket?"
Dr. Light visibly gulped. "T-that was y-you…?"
"Yes, that was me." He hissed. "Here's your damn money, Light, and don't you dare fail me." The teen grabbed the villain by the front of his suit and threw him to the ground.
He turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadows. Dr. Light shuddered. "Creepy, kid." But he started to feel a lot better as he stared at the silver briefcase of cash at his feet. The villain rose and hid the briefcase from sight. He walked down the street to the electronics store…
Present Time…
"Well, well. If it isn't the Titans!" Dr. Light stopped what he was doing at the moment and focused all his attention on the five young adults in front of him. "I'm sorry to tell you that this will be the last night you will ever see! Oh wait, no I'm not!"
Changeling rolled onto the balls of his feet and moved into a protective crouching position, "Dude, you really should leave the banter to us heroes."
Nightwing chuckled and cried out the only thing that hadn't changed about his team. "Titans. Go!"
Everyone began fighting.
Raven knew from years of experience that trying to scare the villain was a pointless attempt, so she just lifted up random objects and threw them with exceptional force at the annoying man.
He blew each one up except the final object, which was a very large t.v. Dr. Light jumped up and vaulted himself off the television. In mid-air, the villain connected his foot with the girl's abdomen. She flew back and collided with an SUV with quite a lot of 'oomph'.
Changeling did the same as Dr. Light did, but he vaulted off of a small car and attacked him as a lion from behind.
The villain twisted around and finally managed to aim a laser gun at the green lion's heart. "Light's out." He pulled the trigger and Changeling shifted back to human form and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
The violet-eyed empath watched in horror as Dr. Light took aim again. In a matter of seconds, she was in front of the green Titan, and was shielding them both with her powers. Nightwing jumped off another car and threw four different electro disks at the villain. First, a flash disk that caught Dr. Light off guard and blinded him, next was a freeze disk that froze the villain from head to toe, then a heat disk that melted the ice causing it to soak Dr. Light to the bone and for the rest of the water to pool at his feet. The villain shivered.
"Is that it, boy? You'll have to do better than blind me and soak me! Ha!" Nightwing, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and Changeling smirked. Then Nightwing pointed up and Dr. Light looked up just in time to see the last disk, an electricity disk, fall and barely hit the edge of the pool of water. Currents of electricity flowed throughout the villain. (A.N.: Science sukka!)
After an incredibly impressive light show, Dr. Light sunk to the ground. He lifted his arm for one more attack and Cyborg lifted up his sonic canon to match, but out of nowhere a cloaked figure appeared and roundhouse kicked Dr. Light in the jaw. The villain flipped a little over ten feet away from the force of the kick. The cloak figure straightened, pulled his hood further down, and faced the Titans.
His cloak was a light gray and it barely showed the black dress shirt, black dress pants, and black square-toed dress shoes. He wore black leather gloves, and Changeling squinted his eyes as he caught a hint of silver glinting from the depths of the stranger's cloak.
"Whoa, man! Nice one!" Cyborg held out his hand for a high-five. The figure raised an eyebrow, but reluctantly reached his arm up and lightly tapped the half-human half-robot Titan.
"I've got to agree that was a pretty sweet take out." Nightwing walked up and held his hand out as well for a handshake. "I'm Nightwing. These are my friends, Cyborg, Raven, and Changeling, and this is my girlfriend, Starfire." He smiled as the final words left his lips. Starfire blushed slightly as the rest of them rolling their eyes, but smiling slightly.
The figure looked at each one of them, but his gaze rested on Raven. Without taking his eyes off the empath, he shook Nightwing's hand. "Ailex."
Changeling glared at Ailex with the heat of a thousand suns. Raven tried to look anywhere except his astonishingly, crimson eyes. Something clicked in the back of Raven's mind and she spoke it, completely mesmerized by his eyes. "Ailex. It means assassin, doesn't it?"
His eye twitched, but he didn't show the twinge of annoyance that flooded through his veins. "It does, but I try to not dwell on it." Starfire flew next Ailex and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. "Please, new friend, where are you from?" Ailex stepped out of the girl's strength with ease, to everyone's surprise. "Friend, huh?"
"Yeah, you helped us in battle, you're already considered a friend." Nightwing nodded and snaked an arm around the girl's waist protectively. Ailex bit back the urge to laugh at the young man's actions.
"Hmm…thank you, but I think you ought to hold onto that 'friendship' for the time being. But if you'll excuse me, I have to finish with him." Ailex nodded to the now conscious Dr. Light staring at Ailex in fear as he rocked back in forth in the fetal position.
Changeling raised an eyebrow. "Uh…dude? He's already finished with. We'll just take him to the holding cells." Ailex chuckled and removed his cloak revealing a very pale complexion, jet-black hair, and two of the sharpest blades any of the Titans had ever seen.
Cyborg eyes widened in fear. "Yo, whaddya think you're doing?"
"Business." Was Ailex's simple reply. The Titans watched as Ailex walked towards Dr. Light. "No, no, no! Please, don't! I'll do my job I-I promise! P-p-please! Just give me a second chance!"
Ailex crouched down to the cowering villain. "I don't give second chances." He grabbed Dr. Light by the front of his suit, picked him up, and threw him down in front of the Titans. His eyes darkened to a deeper, if possible, shade of crimson. Ailex was shaking and his teeth were bared in anger. "I. Told. You, to kill these damn heroes, Light." With blinding speed Ailex brought out the two swords and held them at his side. "I told you… not. To. Fail me… But here you are… Cowering at their feet." Dr. Light started to beg again, but Ailex dropped a sword and lashed out with his hand, striking the villain across the face. "Do. Not. Beg to me, Light. If you can't kill them," He flung a sword out pointing to the Titans. "Then, ha, ha, ha, you. Are. Going to die." Ailex pulled both swords back. With a deep yell and cries of protest Ailex lunged forward.
He stabbed the villain through the heart and through the stomach.
The Titans all watched in horror. They thought he was finished, but in his rage, Ailex went overboard. He stepped back, and he crossed the swords together at the base of Dr. Light's throat. "You're fired." Ailex pulled the swords in different directions with blinding speed. The villain's head fell backward as the body fell forward. Calming down, Ailex looked up to the shocked, terrified, no, mortified, and sickened faces.
Ailex laughed at their responses. He stepped through the constantly spilling blood as he made his way to the half-demon.
Raven looked up at him, her pulse quickening. "Raven Roth, Daughter of Trigon, as well as vanquisher, yes?" She glared at him with as much inner anger as she could hold onto. "Yes." Raven hissed.
"Ha, ha, well, well, it's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. In fact, I plan on seeing you quite soon. But only if you say yes to my question. Yes, I know of your mind abilities. Why you didn't use them to stop me however, I will never be back." He bowed lowly and took her hand in hers. He placed a soft kiss upon her knuckles and stepped back. Ailex threw a blood red rose towards the girl and it landed at her feet. Changeling's hands clenched into two tight fists.
"Well, the Titans. How…intriguing… As you can see, you are no longer safe. It's completely over for you now. The game is set, the pieces are in place and now, the game, is officially starting…I will be back, I do not know when, but I will be back. Good-Bye, Titans…" He started to walk away before he turned back and called to the team's empath. "Oh and Raven, as you know, I do not offer second chances, keep that in mind." As Ailex vanished into the shadows, Starfire succumbed to tears as the rest of the Titans stared as the dismembered villain.
A terrible evil was looming over Jump City, and for once, the Titans, could do nothing to stop it.
Well, no one's reviewed my story, I still wanted to update this so I did. I hope you like it, please review. This might be darker than my normalcy, but this has been in the files in my mind for about a year, and I NEEDED to write it down. Review please!
Catch ya later,
Table For Two