Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, Lord of the Rings, or Terminator.
Chapter 2: It Begins
The night was cold as they headed toward Old Town. The headlights of the T-Car and the R-cycle glowed below the trio flying through the air. In the distance, they could see the flashing lights of the police cars and ambulances.
Many of the buildings were rundown and abandoned. They passed boarded windows and foreclosed signs on every street. It's kind of depressing, thought Beast Boy silently. He glanced as they passed the old library where the creepy shrine was that Slade had made Raven open the portal for Trigon.
The changeling could smell a change in the air. Looking up he saw dark clouds forming. He knew it was only a matter of time before the rain started coming down hard. He tried to move faster.
It was strangely silent. The only sound was the sirens in the distance. Not even the populated parts of the city were making noise.
It was if Jump City was holding its breath in anticipation.
Raven was unnerved. The silence echoed within her. She could feel that it was making Beast Boy uneasy, though the others didn't seem to notice anything. She waited, hoping for anything.
Nothing happened. It was as if her very home was abandoning her to whatever fate await them.
She shook her head to clear it. They had arrived at the museum. It was a massive stone building, the white paint coating it faded with age. It was a plain building, save for its size. The only thing to distinguish it from a factory or warehouse was three tall glass archways at the entrance that revealed only pitch darkness.
They hurried to a stop just outside the police boundary and waited while Robin went to talk to officer in charge to be briefed on the situation. The four stood in silence, the quiet suppressing all else. It left them uneasy, but at the same time they were afraid to break it, like some spell held it there, and breaking it would mean disastrous consequences.
Finally the Boy Wonder moved back toward them, his expression troubled. "No one is entirely sure of the situation. Apparently there is some kind of barrier over the building, because nothing is getting in. Cyborg, Raven, you know what to do."
They nodded and Cyborg began pressing buttons on his arm to activate scanners while Raven floated and began chanting her mantra. After a tense moment Cyborg turned back to the rest of the team.
"I got nothing," he said dispiritedly. "It's not any normal technology, that's for sure."
"What about you, Raven?" asked Robin.
She turned to them, her expression unreadable. "It's defiantly magic. It's crude, but effective. Basically, it's designed to keep everything but certain people out. They take something precious to us and use the auras found on it to tether that person magically to it. I could take it down but it would take a lot of time and energy."
"But let me guess," said Beast Boy with exasperation, "it's tethered to us?" At her nod he continued. "So it's almost certain that whoever it is in there is waiting to ambush us? Great. Well, let's not keep them waiting." With that, he marched toward the building. Seeing no other alternative, the others followed close behind.
As they pushed opened the doors and passed through the barrier they got a tingly feeling in their stomachs like you get on a roller coaster. They had expected a dark a musty room. They had expected numerous enemies to jump out before they had time to adjust to the darkness.
It was not what they expected.
The building was brightly light, despite the view from outside, most likely another effect of the barrier. The air was warm which brought relief from the cold night. The displays were out in the open or behind clear glass cases, their reflections shown on the polished caramel and chocolate checkered floor. A man in long hooded black robes with crimson trim wandered the floor as he admired the exhibits.
"Freeze!" yelled Robin.
The man came slowly to a halt. He didn't turn to face them.
"The Teen Titans," he said. His voice sounded old and haggard. "It has been a while. I was wondering how long it would take you to get here. I was beginning to think you would leave Jump City to be destroyed. Oh well, there isn't much you can do to stop it."
Robin could tell they were being baited and he tried not to fall for it. Unfortunately, Beast Boy was still upset about the incident at the common room and decided to let out some steam.
"Like heck you will!" With that he lunged at the figure-.
-and fell flat on the ground.
The Titans blinked. No one had even seen him move but the figure was suddenly standing at the other end of the room.
"And so, it begins," he said, the smile on his face almost audible. With that, he reached around, grabbed his robe and tore it off.
For a moment, no one spoke. Then Beast Boy broke the silence.
"Holy- Gandalf's been working out!"
Indeed, the man defiantly looked the old wizard. It was as if someone had taken Gandalf the Grey's head and put it on the Terminator's body. A long and tangled beard and hair draped across massive, rippling muscles. Thick eyebrows overhung ice-blue eyes. He was wearing nothing but a pair of tan running shorts. This guy looked as strong as Adonis but without the help of a metal suit.
Without warning, he fired a bolt of black and red energy at Beast Boy, who barely managed to dodge in time. Then Robin rushed at him with a round house kick. The old man lifted he arm and blocked before sending the Boy Wonder flying with a left jab.
He fired another blast of energy at Raven before tornado kicking Starfire away from him. He began firing a barrage of energy blasts toward Raven who narrowly dodged them. Cyborg lunged with a right hook which the old man blocked before grabbing the metal man's head, trusting it into his oncoming knee, and sending him flying into the roof.
Beast Boy morphed into a lion and leapt at him. Again, he vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room before firing another barrage at the changeling.
Robin threw a pair of bird-a-rangs at their enemy who merely caught them and threw them back twice as fast. The Boy Wonder could barely dodge in time.
He doubled over in pain. That punch had broken at least four of his ribs, maybe more. He stopped to catch his breath and watched his friends engage the enemy.
Something's not right about this… he thought to himself. He watched as the old man kicked Cyborg in the stomach, and then leapt back as Beast Boy barreled past, almost straight into Raven and fired another barrage at them.
The truth hit Robin like a hammer.
Throughout the fight the old man had been decimating most of them with his sheer physical strength.
Most of them, but not all.
Whenever Beast Boy or Raven came around he would run, almost as if he was afraid of touching them. Of hurting them, realized Robin. He would only fire those strange beams at the two of them.
"Raven, Beast Boy, you need to run! You're his targets, get out of here now!" It was only then did he realize his mistake. When the pair hesitated to listen to his warning, the old man seized the opportunity.
He fired his beams at them, each one hitting its mark. The two of them fell to the ground and began to spasm. Their friends rushed to their side.
"What did you do to them!" yelled Cy at the old man.
He cackled. "That is what I call my Turncoat Cannon! Anyone hit with it will be marked. After that, they will hunt down and destroy every other person with the mark until there is only one left alive!"
As if to confirm the fact, the two stopped their spasms. Slowly, they rose to their feet and faced each other. Their eyes burned with fury as they eyed one another angrily.
Then, without warning, they lunged for each other.
End of Chapter
A/N: so this one was a little shorter but I couldn't think of anything else to put in it. Anyway, please review! The penguins are watching.
