Yeah, I still don't own the Teen Titans. Please read and review if you like it and have suggestions or comments.

Chapter Three: Tayla's Choice

The Teen Titans had come to help me, and I was finally going to be able to meet them. Once this was over, they would see what kind of person I was, and they may even want me on their team. I just have to use my powers, now. Look out Slade. I turned back to face him and saw the evil glare in his eyes as he looked at Robin, then back to me.

"What have you decided, Tayla?" he asked calmly.

I created an energy blast in my hand and grinned. "You can go to hell, Slade" I threw the energy blast in his face and he was able to dodge it just before it would have hit him. It grazed the side of his mask and left a scorch mark, but he stood back on the ground in a fighting stance and didn't seem bothered by it at all.

"Bad choice, Tay," he replied and pulled a grenade out of his utility belt. He threw it at the Teen Titans and they scattered before it exploded. The explosion wasn't of fire, but of lots and lots of black smoke, so much that it engulfed us all for about two minutes and none of us could see anything.

I shut my eyes and tried to read Slade's mind, but I couldn't figure out where he was. His mind was full of nothing but hatred and anger, and the plan to catch me no matter what the Titan's tried. I opened my eyes and looked around, but we were still surrounded by smoke. I flew above it and saw that Raven had lifted Cyborg above the smoke and Starfire had lifted Robin, and Beast Boy was a giant pterodactyl with my mother on his back. They looked at me in amazement and I smiled, but Mom was just blown away and speechless.

When the smoke cleared there was no sign of Slade. He had vanished, but without being seen. I sought out his mind and tried to read it. A black cloud of smoke. Smoke. Blackness. Dark.

He wasn't thinking of anything but the smoke, and it had already cleared. The Teen Titans and I lowered to the ground and looked around frantically.

Robin spoke first, "He's gone again!" he kicked the grass in front of him and sighed. "How did he do it?"

Cyborg looked down at the scanner on his arm and said, "I'm still reading his vital signs. He's still here."

Mom climbed off Beast Boy and then he transformed back into his human form. "Dude, Slade's obviously not here. What, do you think he now has the power to turn invisible?"

A thick arm came around my neck from behind and pulled me backwards. "Oh, Beast Boy does have a brain after all," Slade's voice growled in my ear. I looked down and saw his hand materialize.

"SLADE!" Robin screamed. "How can you turn invisible?"

He laughed as he squeezed my neck harder, "It's a special effect that I installed in my battle suit. I find it comes in handy when you want to sneak up on someone."

I gasped for breath and said, "You're a rotten bastard, let me go!"

His left hand came around and rested on my mouth. "You had your chance to come quietly, Tayla. Now, I'm going to use force. You're coming back to my lair and we are going to have a battle."

I struggled with him and finally remembered I was going to use my powers to bring him down. I lit an energy ball in each hand and burned his legs with them. He groaned a little, but remained standing. "My armor's thicker than you think, bitch. You're going to be punished for that later."

I began to fly, but he held me close to the ground. The last thing I could do was control him and make him let me go. I closed my eyes and tried to dig into his mind, but all I was getting was a brick wall.

"I'll help you develop that power later, but I'm afraid it won't work on me now," Slade whispered.

"Slade, let her go," Robin demanded.

"Yeah, leave her alone," Cyborg added.

Slade chuckled, "I've never listened to you before. What makes you think I would listen to you now?" He held my neck even tighter and I began to black out from lack of oxygen. Slade noticed my head rolling to the side and released his hold on my neck and mouth, but he held my hands behind me and one arm on my shoulder. I was so dizzy, I wasn't sure I'd be able to fight him now.

"I'm going to bring you to my lair so we can settle this properly. Jus the two of us. No Teen Titans," he said loud enough so the Titans could hear.

"I don't want to go anywhere with you," I replied weakly. I was taking deep breaths to try and get my brain back in gear. "We should fight here and now. How do I know your lair isn't just another trap?"

He sunk his grip into my shoulder and I winced in pain. "Very good. I want an apprentice with a good head on her shoulders. But, you have no choice in this matter. Either go quietly or I'll knock you out first."

My anger results in fiery energy blasts that burn his hands and he is forced to release me. I run forward and get as far from Slade as I can. I know he is limited to the ground, so I begin to fly above the house and come to rest on the roof. The Teen Titans join me there, brining my mother up with them.

Slade disappears once again and I hope to myself that he can't climb up the side of the house and meet us on the roof. We all kept looking around and waiting for some sign of him. Starfire hovered over to me and eyed me curiously. "You have powers too!"

I nodded and she pulled me into a big hug.

"Star, it's pretty obvious she has powers. She was just using them against Slade a minute ago," Raven grumbled from the other side of the roof. She was floating above the chimney and meditating. "Slade is still here, but it's hard to say where when he's invisible."

"We need to get you to safety," Robin said and looked around nervously. "You can come to the Teen Titans until we find out what's going on."

He leaped off the roof and landed neatly on the seat of his motorbike. Cyborg followed him and went to the car. Beast Boy transformed once more into a giant pterodactyl and allowed my mother to ride him. Raven turned into the black bird form of herself and Starfire lead the way. I rose from the roof and felt a hand grab my foot.

"You're not going with them," Slade called, trying to drag me back to the roof. I kicked my leg violently, but he reached out and grabbed the other one with his other hand. He pulled me down and I used all my power to go higher in the air until he was flying with me. I formed an energy ball in my hand and threatened to hit him with it.

"Tayla, do it!" Raven called, "Don't hesitate."

I flung it at his face and his grip only slightly loosened. He still hung on for dear life, so I flew back over to the roof. "LET GO OF ME!" I screamed and gave a few vicious kicks.

That was when the car exploded and the force of it set me off balance and I fell out of the sky. Slade still hung on as we landed a few feet away on one of my neighbor's roofs. I groaned as I hit the person's chimney and Slade stood up over me. I clambered to my feet and immediately lit energy balls in my hand. "Don't come any closer!"

"Tayla, you have no choice. Come with me, and everything will be alright. I won't ask again. The battle won't take that long, and if you win you'll be set free."

I shook my head and said, "I don't believe you."

He sighed, "Then I'm going to rip you apart from the inside out. I'll capture your family and bring them to my lair, torturing them until you cry, and then I'll kill them."

I scoffed. "You're horrible. What do you want me for anyway?"

He looked down at me with that single grey eye and I felt terror rising in me. "I want you to be mine. As apprentice you will work for me, and I will train you to be the best fighter you can be. You will obey any orders I give you, and I shall reward you if you do well. Disobedience will result in punishment."

"You leave my family out of this, Slade. My mother just barely found out that I have these powers. They don't deserve to suffer for something they don't even know about."

He shifted his weight onto his right foot and said, "If that's you trying to strike a deal, then it sounds good enough. If I promise to never harm your family, you will be mine forever?"

I shook my head. "No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just looking out for my family. I thought we were going to have a battle to decide whether I am your apprentice or not."

I slid from between him and the chimney and flew off into the sky, but still in earshot of him and close enough that he could hear me. "That was my plan, but you haven't been the most willing of captives."

"I'M NOT YOUR CAPTIVE!" I shouted. "I'm all the way out here, and you're still down there. You might as well be my captive. Why do you want me anyway? Aren't there plenty of other superheroes in this town that would love to work for you?"

He laughed. "I like a challenge. You have stronger powers than most villains I know, and you're wild. I want to tame you."

I saw in his mind what he was planning, and I shivered. "You mean you want to break me, bend me to your will, and make me your… slave."

He nodded and I flew even further away from him. "You'll have to catch me first, you pervert. Come on! Prove to me that you deserve to have me as your own."

I don't think he wanted it to come to this. He removed something from his belt and it looked like a trigger. He pressed the button and something around my neck tightened. I gripped at whatever it was, and it felt like a really tight, thin collar that he must have slipped on me when the smoke blinded me to his actions. I couldn't force it to loosen, and I wasn't able to breathe. I tried to make it over to a roof before I blacked out, but lack of oxygen proved my powers to be useless. I plummeted to the ground unconscious.

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Yeah, the next part is coming soon. I love writing this story, and I would love it if you enjoyed it too. R&R. Peace!

Silver