Well, still hooked on DC Universe Online, so I'm in the mood to get a good roll on with this story. Hopefully it'll get some more attention soon, and I appreciate everyone that's read it so far and I'm happy to get any feedback. Enjoy, folks! Teen Titans in the property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network, as you know.

Chapter 6

Four days had passed since the last incident at the airport, and the Titans had found things uncomfortably quiet. Slade hadn't moved since the attack on STAR Labs, and a brief fight with Mumbo had been the only action they'd seen. Robin had managed to find Cinderblock, warning the monster about what had happened to the HIVE Five. Cinderblock was in hiding now, but there was no sign of Overload. That hadn't boded well for any of the heroes, and it renewed their desire to put an end to whatever plot it was Slade had.

At the moment, however, they were enjoying the brief respite. Starfire was grinning ear to ear as she drank happily from a brand new bottle of mustard. The tangy topping always brought her joy in her times of sadness, and with the events of the last few weeks, it was certainly needed. She was alone in the living room right now, the others off on their own business. She wasn't sure where Cyborg and Raven were, but she knew Robin was locked in his room again going over case notes, and Beast Boy and Terra had gone off into town on a...what did the Humans call it here? The number they used to track the day of the year? Humans were such a strange species.

Looking out at Jump City, she couldn't help marveling at the cityscape as he took another drink from the mustard. Humans. They were were strange, sometimes cruel beyond measure, but she had seen promise in them. Once, when she had met Kal-El, he had told her his father had said of them, "They can be a great people, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way." That was what the Teen Titans, the Justice League, all the other heroes were, she thought; the light to show Humanity the path. But Slade, and those like him were a shadow desperate to drown out that light, to make the Humans blind. Now he was threatening one of her friends, all because Terra would not be made blind like he wanted. It made her hate him all the more when she thought of it, and her eyes started to flash bright green as anger started to boil in her veins.

She decided it was time to get a little fresh air. Sucking down the last of her drink, she dropped the bottle in the trash and headed for the door. She pushed down the feelings of anger enough to fly, enjoying the hot summer air in her face as she soared over the city. Citizens waved at her with bright smiles, and she smiled right on back, waving cheerfully. It was always good to see the people she was fighting for, to memorize their faces. Sometimes they asked for her name on pictures of her or the Titans. She didn't really understand the point of them, but it was a simple enough request that she could humor them.

And then her communicator rang to life. It was time to go to work.

TTTTT

"I'm from Markovia. It's a little country in Europe, kind of like Kasnia, but...well, it's just as crazy, really." Terra said as she almost absently pushed around the shaped mass of mashed potatoes in front of her, Beast Boy paying rapt attention to her story. They were in her favorite diner now, the owner having been kind enough to save the corner booth for them so that they could have some privacy, which she was definitely glad for now.. He was the first person she'd told it to, for good reason. She trusted him with her life, though, and after all that had happened, how could she not trust the boy she loved enough to tell him about it? Honesty was in some desperate need here. "I lived there until I was fourteen. I spent most of my life being looked after by Dr. Jace. She...I don't know, she was cold, like she didn't really care about me much. Like I was a lab rat. Guess I was, really. She was the one that gave me this." She looked down at her gloved hands, her face starting to slacken with the memories flooding back.

"Why'd you have to leave?" Beast Boy asked, his face also looking like he had some bad times coming back in his head. She remembered what little he'd told her about his parents before, and how he'd gotten his powers. She guessed superpowers must always come with baggage. Terra mulled over that question for a bit, chewing quietly absently at her veggie-burger (she'd promised herself never to eat meat in front of Beast Boy) before she spoke again.

"Because I'm the king's daughter, but...not the queen's." There was an unmistakable sense of old shame in her voice when she admitted that, and she cursed herself for letting it get the better of her again. She hadn't chosen her parents, after all.

"Dude...you're a princess?" Was the first thing out his mouth, taken completely by surprise by that declaration. Then it turned to confusion on his face. "But...how's that? If you're the king's daughter, how could you not be the qu...oh. Oh." He realized it a moment later, and his cheeks went a dark green. She blushed too, her face turned down slightly.

"Yeah. Dad was able to keep it secret for a while, but after I turned fourteen some of the guards at the lab started to notice I looked a little bit like him. People started asking questions, and if anyone put two and two together, it would be a big embarrassment for the royal family. My bro...half-brother, Brion told them that there was no way in hell he would let them just sweep me away like some dirty little secret. He cared about me, didn't matter to him that I wasn't totally his family." For a moment she smiled, remembering her older brother's face, always warm and friendly. It was gone in an instant, though. "Finally the queen started talking to someone about about killing me. Dad put me on the first plane to America they could find. Fake passport, paperwork, he even bribed someone at the embassy to register me as an American citizen."

Beast Boy looked appalled.

"How could they just throw you away like that? That's...that's so messed up!" He declared angrily then, banging his hands on the table and rattling the plates and utensils. The other customers turned to look back at them, and slowly they both started to shrink back a bit.

"Sorry." They said almost in unison. The customers seemed to lose interest fairly quickly after that. They sat in awkward silence for a moment, neither touching their food. Finally after a full minute, Beast Boy spoke.

"I swear I'll never abandon you like that. Not for anything." He reached out to take her hand, squeezing it. They smiled at each other warmly. "I love you, Terra."

Their communicators went off the second after he'd said that.

TTTTT

"Titans, we've got three break-ins all over town. Starfire, Beast Boy, Terra, Stagg Industries. Raven, Cyborg, the diamond mine. I'll get the last one myself." Robin's voice came clearly over Calculator's speakers, and the information broker chuckled as his fingers flew over the keyboard to bring up his Slade's team on his own private channel. Setting off the alarms remotely had been an almost insultingly easy task, and it had gone off like a charm. Now, though, the real fun was about to begin.

"Alright gentlemen, time to earn our paychecks." He spoke into his mic, knowing all of the super crooks would hear him loud and clear. "Parasite, Sportsmaster, go ahead and meet our little friends at the Stagg building. The rest of you go keep the others busy at the mine. We'll let our dear Dark Knight Junior chase his tail for a while."

He got acknowledgments all around, and when he saw the team leaping to work from the top of the warehouse, he couldn't help grinning as he leaned back in his chair to watch the security and traffic feeds. He only wished he had popcorn and a beer for this show.

TTTTT

"What do you mean there's no problem?" Raven asked sternly of the security guard, who could only shrug in bafflement as the alarm blared around them.

"I got no idea. It just started going off about ten minutes ago. We can't find any security breach." He rumbled, a grossly fat man with grease stains down the front of his shirt. Both of the Titans paused, looking at each other, then around at the mine, the workers slowly shuffling back to work now that security was sure it had been a false alarm. A brief from Cyborg's sensors and a mental sweep of Raven's had confirmed there was no intrusion anywhere inside. The thought hit Cyborg suddenly, and he grit his teeth as he prepped his arm canon.

"Because there hasn't been one yet." He said lowly, his good eye narrowing as he turned sharply. The three supervillains were waiting where they'd come in. Atomic Skull, Electrocutioner, and Captain Cold.

"Good guess. Afraid you're a bit too slow at it, though." Cold said, raising one of his freeze guns and firing at Cyborg. He rolled out of the way, jagged ice forming where he'd been, and he fired his own cannon back. Cold wasn't so quick, and screamed as he was taken off his feet by the blast. The others came charging, Electrocutioner toward Cyborg and Atomic Skull for Raven. Cyborg was ready this time, ducking under Electrocutioner's first few swings, countering with a hard uppercut of his own that caught the black-and-red-clad crook squarely in the jaw. He watched him fly backward, landing on back in a grunting heap, then staggering to his feet. No way in hell was he letting that guy get close to him again. He brought his cannon-arm around again and fired, Electrocutioner barely rolling out of the way of the blast, now on the defensive.

Raven wasn't quite as lucky, force don her own defense as Atomic Skull smashed down at the barrier she'd erected in front of her, the solid black wall already starting to crack as her will began to shake. Frowning with concentration, she broke the barrier suddenly while Skull was bringing his fists down again, putting him off balance.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos!" She cried out, thrusting out both hands and sending the black tendril of energy out at Skull, slamming him hard into the wall of the pit. She summoned another, and sent it straight toward Electrocutioner as she saw him swinging at Cyborg again. It changed direction sharply half-way to him, and she turned to see Shade stepping out his hiding spot behind some of the mining equipment, grinning wide. She didn't see Skull until he'd sent her flying with a haymaker. The half-demon crashed into one of the mining cards hard, and she felt ribs crack. Cyborg saw it, and bolted away from Electrocutioner to charge Skull. The big man hadn't seen the teen coming at him, and cried out as they crashed together. With a roar, Cyborg wrapped his arms around Atomic Skull and hurled him hard. Shade barely had time to duck away from his flying compatriot, and he cursed under his breath. Then his eyes bulged as Cyborg came straight for him, and he soon found himself rolling across the ground, the Nightstick bouncing free of his hand. The largest of the Titans reached down and seized that infernal little tool, and with a smirk broke it in half over his knee.

"I knew this wasn't gonna work." Shade lamented, scrambling away from Cyborg. "Goddamn Injustice Gang never works."

"What's Slade got you here for? He need more diamonds for a death ray or something?" Cyborg demanded, stomping toward the retreating thief. Shade was panicked now, seeing no way out of his predicament. "What are you here to steal?"

"Who says we came to steal anything?" Came the hoarse snarl, and the Cyborg turned in time to see Electrocutioner's fist smash into his chest, sparks flying as he felt his systems take a massive shock. He felt another blow across his cheek, and then another to his jaw, being driven back by the solid beating. And then he was totally still, his lower torso encased in ice. He could now only move his left arm, growling as he tried to break out of the ice. Captain Cold was back on his feet, aiming his gun squarely at him again. He could see Atomic Skull up and about again, pinning Raven down with a foot on her throat.

Then they paused, apparently hearing someone talking on the earpieces they were all wearing. They all nodded and Atomic Skull lifted his foot off of Raven's neck, leaving her gasping for air.

"Clear out. We gotta get back to base now."Skull shouted, and the others were all too eager to obey that order. Cyborg couldn't do anything, stuck as he was, only watch as Slade's team started making their escape.

"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos!" Raven gasped, her right hand extended toward Shade, who suddenly found himself encased in a cage of the dark Titan's magic energies. He was beating on one of the walls, crying out for his team to come back and save him. They either didn't hear him or didn't care enough to bail him out of that mess. Raven rose shakily, glaring at her captive."Don't bother...my will's stronger than yours. Slade. What was his plan here?"

"You haven't figured it out yet? There wasn't any plan in this shithole! This was a distraction!" Shade shouted back at her with as much defiance as he dared call up, huddling into one corner of the dark cage. Raven scowled, starting toward him with eyes beginning to blaze.

"Why? What were you distracting us from?" The answer hit both of the Titan's at about the same time, and their eyes went wide. It was Cyborg that put words to their horror.

"Oh no..."

TTTTT

Terra screamed. She screamed louder than she ever thought she could as agony coursed through her body and the life drained out of her. Parasite's hand was wrapped around her throat, and he laughed with malicious glee as he sucked her dry. They had been taken completely by surprise when they'd arrived; no sign of trouble and the people at the Stagg building were just as baffled as they were at the alarm. None of them had expected an attack from behind.

Starfire laid in a crumbled, moaning heap in a corner under broken machinery, having been the focus of Parasite's first attack while Sportsmaster had taken Beast Boy and her in the confusion. The flail had knocked her senseless, leaving Sportsmaster alone with BB. What few images she could see clearly told her that the fight had been brutal, and that her boyfriend had been on the losing end. The last sight she'd seen before Parasite had gotten to her was a green baboon being hurled across the room and into a technician's desk, shifting back into Beast Boy's normal form. She'd tried to call out to him, pull him away on a flying rock, anything to help him, but the purple monster holding her up made that impossible.

"Hurry up and finish with her, Jones! If Slade's paying fifty k for this one, figure what he'll shell for both of them!" She heard Sportsmaster shouting, hoisting an unconscious Beast Boy over his shoulder. Terra's eyes went wide at that, and then they hardened suddenly as a new wave of determination surge in her. Though she couldn't work up the energy to call up her powers, she was able to get one foot swinging back with as much momentum as she could get, and then back at Parasite. There were many reasons she wore boots instead of shoes or high heels, and one of them was made evident when Parasite screamed nearly as loud as she had before. His grip on her neck released, his hands now locked around the source of his horrendous pain. Sportsmaster stared at the sight for a long moment, probably in open-mouthed shock under that black mask.

Slowly, Parasite began to rise while Terra scrambled away, trying to muster up the energy to call on her powers. He was snarling at her, his own eyes starting to flash yellow and a slab of rock ripping out of the ground, the sharpest end pointed at her chest.

"You're gonna pay for that you little shit..." He hadn't noticed the boomerang flying toward him until it had hit his chest, and then exploded. Terra watched him fly backwards, yelping and rolling back away from her. She looked back and saw Robin, standing at the doorway the two supervillains had come in, his face set in a mask of rage she had never seen before.

"Leave them alone." The words were low and almost an animal snarl. Parasite was back on his feet, shaking on his legs while he started to pull up more stone spears. Starfire was rising as well, her eyes glowing bright green and star-bolts forming in her hands.

"Jones, leave her! We got the one we wanted!" Sportsmaster shouted, already starting to retreat. Parasite hesitated, starting to back away from the three Titans while seeming to not have ruled out fighting as an option. Finally self-preservation won out, and he brought both hands up, a solid wall of rock bursting upward with the movement, blocking the heroes' pursuit. Starfire, now back to full consciousness, screamed toward the wall, punching and hurling bolts at it as hard and fast as she could. It was too slow, however, and so Terra called on the last of her strength to break that wall herself, crying out with the effort. Finally, the wall collapsed into dust, and she collapsed, Robin immediately at her side to help her. When she looked up, toward where the barricade had been, both of the villains were gone. So was Beast Boy.

"They took him." She whispered, her vision starting to fade. "They took him,"