The Stone Chest
Chapter 10
"Nightmares?"
The titans lied in the ground badly hurt after a vicious battle; they were coughing blood and had several wounds all over their bodies. Even Connor was knelt accusing the hits received... only one person was standing. A blond girl with blue eyes was still fighting Zarth. But she was having a hard time trying to defeat the other; even the power of the elements was not match for him.
"You don't even control your powers in a decent way. How could you think that having that pathetic level you would be able to beat me?" – said Zarth appearing behind Terra to hit her in her back making Terra falls to the ground. Afterwards, he landed beside the titan – "It's a shame that the chosen one to fight me this time was a second class warrior. You're too weak to handle the energy you have inside. I really expected a battle worthy of my skills but you're too mediocre for giving me that" – sentenced Zarth while throwing a powerful energy attack towards the blond girl who couldn't block it and was sent several meters away.
Terra was bleeding to death and the girl felt her life going away while her strength kept fading; but yet she couldn't give up. It was no the time for surrendering. What would her father say by watching her doing that? He and her mother had sacrificed a lot to give her a chance to live and she was about to waste it again for being weak. And worst, the world was going to be endlessly ruled by Zarth who would only bring pain and misery to people.
"You're reckless and immature. You should have stayed inside that statue or let being destroyed by my men to save us time; but don't worry, I'm going to solve that right away"
Zarth created a huge energy sphere and threw it towards the titan who tried in vain to block it. The attack was just too strong for her and Terra was hopeless wiped out...
A loud scream was heard in Connor's house... Terra was sweating a lot and was looking in every direction desperately to be sure that everything had been a nightmare and nothing more; seconds later somebody was knocking on her door...
"Terra, are you ok? I heard you screaming" – said Beast Boy.
"I'm fine, well I think so... it was just a nightmare" – said Terra opening her door – "Don't worry, ok? In a moment I'll be in the dining to have breakfast"
"Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes, it was nothing"
"Ok, but you better come fast to the dining, otherwise I'll be coming here again"
"All right, all right, at least let me get dressed, ok? I'm not going there wearing my pajamas, jeez" – ended Terra closing her door.
Beast Boy hadn't realized that Terra was not wearing her titan uniform but a two-piece pink pajama that she didn't want to show more than necessary.
"Sure, sure, you get dressed and meet me in the dining" – answered Beast Boy blushed while walking towards the kitchen.
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Raven had awaken earlier that day and was meditating, although the expression of her face was no the usual icy expressionless one, but a grin. It was like she was making fun of somebody and that was very close to the truth. The witch was in Nevermore watching how Love looked herself in the mirror while changing her robes from blue to white.
"Now I've seen everything..." – said Raving faking to be bored.
"I just can't believe you like the blue most... it's horrible, not to mention it's not fashion... I'm sure Connor doesn't like it" – said Love resolute.
"Well, I haven't heard him complaining so far and fashion means nothing to me" – replied Raven flatly.
"And you have never had a boyfriend... coincidence?" – cut Love.
Raven couldn't avoid to get blushed after hearing the counterattack of the other, but quickly regained control of herself.
"I couldn't let my emotions to show, that meant loosing control of my powers"
"Right, and after the battle against Trigon, where you defeated him, you began to be the definition of joy... How could I forget that?" – said Love with sarcasm.
"Well, let's say I like the way I am. Besides, Rage is still in here, she is a part of me; the difference is that now she is a manifestation of myself instead of him"
"That's crap. The difference is that I wasn't here. What was that about you staring at the starry sky with a wide smile?" – said Love making Raven blushes again – "Aha! You admit it, don't you? You really like to show your emotions and that is not a bad thing... and speaking about bad things, that blue suit..."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing. Do I need to remind you who is the boss? Well, it's me and I say that the blue suit stays. Besides, why am I having this conversation with you in the first place?" – said Raven firmly – "Meditation is over" – added while leaving.
"Don't run! That suit is from the XIX century; you remind the Spanish Inquisition wearing that! We really want a boyfriend! Don't make Connor run away!" – yelled Love angrily.
Raven was watching carefully her reflection on the mirror of her bedroom. The girl was changing between her white and blue robes like performing a quality control on her clothes. After a while, the witch still remained thinking in the middle of the room analyzing the pros and cons of her decision. Finally she decided to keep her white suit and left the dormitory.
"Well, I have nothing to lose. Besides, it will hurt nobody. But if he does not like it, some emotion will suffer hell in here" – said Raven while pointing his head with the index finger of her right hand.
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Almost all the titans were in the dining waiting for the meal to have breakfast; the wizard had awaken earlier to cook for them; after all, he was the host and despite the situation, he wanted to be a good one. Terra was sat beside Beast Boy watching the green titan while he jumped excited by the smell of the dishes. The blond girl tried to remain calmed but the scene of her nightmare didn't go away. Cyborg was also sat beside Garfield holding a knife and a fork; the titan was ready for eating at will the pancakes, the smell was just too good and the half human half robot was starting to get impatient. Robin and Starfire were in front of the first two; the leader of the titans was smiling; they hadn't had a proper meal since that one prepared by the wizard back in the tower. Nobody doubted about Connor's skills for cooking and they also could have breakfast together so they were enjoying the moment.
The red-haired was very happy seeing the others being joyful; since they had witnessed Zarth invocation that was the first time the whole group, including Connor and Jessy, could have meal together like a family. Jessy was beside the Tameranian and her face showed that she was almost full recovered from her wounds. In fact, the witched wanted to help Connor, but the wizard refused saying that she still needed to rest to fully recover and that he could cook alone with no problems. Suddenly some steps were heard and the guys knew that Raven was about to show since she was the only missing.
"Nice and easy, don't make any comment about your suit, just act casual" – thought the witch when she get to the dining – "Hi guys" – said Raven with a little smile.
The titans were astonished after seeing the 'crow girl'; they thought that she had decided to keep wearing the blue robes, but now, she was in front of them, wearing that white suit that greatly intimidate one of the titans.
"Ok, ok, now this is weird" – said Beast Boy while standing up to check out carefully Raven's robes – "What happened to that speech of blue being your favorite color?" – asked the green titan.
"I guess that after that 'funny' comment I should laugh, right? Well, ha, ha. I hope you're happy now" – mocked Raven with sarcasm – "Blue indeed is my favorite color, but I don't remember me saying I don't like white"
Connor whirled around to serve the dishes and got frozen while watching Raven with her white suit; the wizard had to perform extremely complex movements to avoid the pancakes falling while trying to keep his composure. His cheeks hopeless turned red, though.
"You look gorgeous" – said Blackwood before noticing that the rest of the group was watching him.
Now it was Raven's turn to get blushed and even for Jessy, who only had a few hours awaken, it was quite clear that they had feelings for each other. Only one person was looking at them very curious and without understanding what was happening.
"Why do they get blush while seeing each other? Are they boyfriend and girlfriend too? We are boyfriend and girlfriend and got blushed when seeing each other, right?" – said Starfire to Robin who almost choked with his drink by the impression.
Now was Robin's turn to get speechless, all the gazes turned to him and he started praying for that moment to end quickly; however, seconds passed and the gazes were still at him. Fortunately, Jessy broke the uncomfortable situation for the boy wonder...
"This is not fair, I missed all the romantic action here; no, it is definitely not fair. Next time we find a bunch of heroes, you stay at the library and I'll go help them, got it?" – said Jessy to Connor faking to be angry.
Everybody started laughing out loud and suddenly for some instants the dangers, the worries and of course the embarrassing situations were forgotten. Afterwards, the wizard served the dishes and the group started to enjoy their breakfast. That day was going to be tough and it was important to have a nice meal before starting the training.
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Connor was inside a wide room of his house; the others were still eating like nuts, but he was already full so he decided to rest a little. There were a lot of things to do and he wanted to be relaxed before starting. The wizard was playing some chords in his acoustic guitar while trying to put his mind blank; music had always been a good influence for him since it helped him to move away from the world, at least for a while. Suddenly, a flat voice brought him back to reality.
"May I come in? We agreed to spar together in case you have forgotten" – said Raven.
"Sure, sure. I didn't want to interrupt your meal that's why I didn't ask you to come"
"I see... the song you were playing... it was nice" – added the witch.
"Thanks, but I was playing nothing in particular, just some chords. My parents always listened classic songs, Beethoven, Back, Mozart, when I was a kid so I started to like music since then I guess. Now it is almost mandatory for me playing the guitar for meditation or relaxing purposes" – said the wizard with sadness in his voice.
"Do you miss them, don't you?" – said the witch starting her meditation.
Connor didn't know why, but in that moment he decided to open and tell Raven his miseries and his deepest pains. He told her how for several generations her family had mastered the dark arts and how almost all its members were dark wizards or witches. He told her how his parents tried to force him to join the Order of Chaos to follow the family's legacy. He also told her how he was thrown out of his own house due to his 'revolutionary' behavior by not following the Blackwood's path of killings and search of power. The wizard didn't hide the time he remained wandering in the streets until he found the Order of Darkness where he could finally feel like having a home again… The girl listened in silence and many thoughts and emotions filled her body; Raven really wanted to hug him when she saw tears on his face, but yet she decided to do nothing, at least for the moment.
"I'm sorry for mistrusting you before" – said Raven sincerely.
"Don't be. As I said before, I didn't behave like the best ally and I admit you had good reasons to mistrust"
"Well you have told me your biography without being asked… so it's fair that I tell you mine…" – pointed Raven.
Connor tried to tell her that it wasn't necessary since his intentions weren't trading biographies, but the young girl started her tale. Raven told him all the circumstances of her birth and childhood, what was the true nature of her powers and why she had to suppress her emotions. Then she told him briefly how Malchior had deceived her to gain power and finally she told him about the battle against her father where the world was almost destroyed. But, in that instant she realized something and a question formed in her mind.
"Why didn't you appear then? We have fought a lot of enemies and I understand that your help wasn't needed, but that time was different. The fate of the whole world was at risk. Trigon and Slade really wanted to rule the Earth" – said Raven.
"We knew that you would prevail in the end. If you read carefully the prophecies you'll find a tale, which I didn't show you yesterday, about a battle between the father and the daughter for the control of the world"
"But, how could you know that if you hadn't read the prophecies before?
"Jack read that to us when that monster appeared. We weren't affected by his power since our magic is also dark, so many of us wanted to fight him. That made Jack reveal one of the secrets of the prophecies in order to keep us calmed and hid waiting for your victory without interfering" – answered Connor – "I told you once that all the Zarth stuff was non of your business; well, in that moment, it was the other way. The Trigon issue was none of our business. I know that was not the best behavior and I didn't agree to remain sat doing nothing while you were fighting for the future of mankind. However, the Order was my home and I had sworn loyalty to it and its directives and I've always kept my word. Even now I'm fighting to avoid Jack using the organization for his selfish purposes. Although, since I met you I've learnt that some times the directives shouldn't be followed. You just can abandon a friend when is suffering" – concluded the wizard remembering how he had broken the rules of the Order to rescue Jessy.
Raven was about to say something, but the sad expression on his face stopped her. Her heart started beating real fast and many emotions were struggling to show up; but the witch fought back to control them, although the meditation wasn't working properly. Finally, the girl decided to go...
"Sorry for ruin your meditation; it wasn't intentional. I promise that next time will be better... well, if you really wan to try again after today..." – said Connor smiling.
"No, it's not your fault, really... I..." – said Raven walking towards him feeling ashamed.
"So, I hope you can forgive me for what I am about to do" – said the wizard.
Connor grabbed Raven's wrists and gently pulled her towards him to hug her; he then kissed her kindly but intensely. He was being overwhelmed by all the feelings inside his heart so he decided to give him a chance. If she didn't feel the same at least he would have that kiss to remember her for the rest of his life. At the beginning, Raven got frozen feeling Connor lips touching hers and she didn't know how to react. Her mind was a perfect chaos and she feared to lose control of her powers at any minute; fortunately, a girl wearing a multicolor suit came to help. Love knew that it was now or never so she pushed Raven to do the right thing while helping her to regain control of Nevermore. The witch hugged and kissed back him then; Blackwood noticed her movement and felt incredibly happy for that. A while later the kiss ended and they both were staring to each other; finally, the wizard began speaking... or at least he tried.
"I… The truth is… I'll understand if you…"
"Don't say anything... I think after what happened everything is clear between us"
"I really love you Raven, I don't when I started feeling this, bit now it burns me inside. I swear I'll protect you even with my life if it's necessary" – said the wizard resolved.
"I… I love you too" – replied Raven hugging him again.
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All the guys were outside the Manor to begin the training; the wizard had asked them to go towards an area he previously had prepared for the sparring time. The place had no trees or grass and it was big enough for several training teams. When they all arrived, they split into teams: Connor and Terra, Robin and Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy. Jessy told the others she didn't want to participate so the wizard went to talk with her.
"Come on Jessy, if you never start training properly, you are not going to fully recover" – said Blackwood.
"You know my powers don't match yours, I don't want to make a fool of myself" – said Jessy.
"Spar with me, it's just training not a death combat" – said Raven joining them.
"Ok, but I warn you I'm not the best witch to spar with. I don't want to bore you to death" – replied Jessy.
"You won't, come on" – refuted Raven.
A few minutes later, the training began. Terra was standing in a flying rock and flied quickly towards Connor who threw her a red beam to disappear after. The blond girl evaded the attack, but didn't notice the wizard when he appeared behind her; the next thing she saw was the ground approaching very fast. Luckily, Terra had enough reflexes to call the stone and use it to fly again. Then, the blond girl went towards Connor and, a few seconds later, both fighters were facing each other again.
"Not bad, but you must learn to follow your instincts along with your reflexes in a battle. It's clear that you have what is needed, otherwise you would be lying in the ground right now" – said Connor – "Keep in mind that we're going to face an extremely powerful, heartless and despicable being. I simple pushed you far from the stone, he would have wiped you out" – concluded the wizard.
Terra clenched her fists with anger after hearing the wizard; the images from her nightmare returned to her mind and an unpleasant feeling filled her body. Connor was right, he was being soft with her and yet he could find an opening in her defense. The blond girl caressed her hair swearing to herself she wasn't be caught by surprise again. Next time she'd be ready.
"I'm ready" – said Terra.
"Good, let's continue then"
Immediately, Connor threw a powerful energy attack and then disappeared again; Terra moved aside to avoid being hit but again she didn't notice the wizard when he appeared behind. This time, Blackwood decided that just pushing her was not good enough so he blew her with a sphere of energy. Terra started falling to the ground and the wizard realized that this time she was going to hit it hard so he flew at full speed to grab her.
"I expect more from you Terra; in a real combat against wizards, warlock, sorcerers or witches you need to remind that they can appear and disappear at will so evading attacks is not the best approach to face them" – pointed Connor while leaving the girl in the ground.
"I… I'm sorry" – said Terra ashamed and getting angry with herself; again, the wizard was right. How could she pretend to fight such a powerful being like Zarth if she wasn't capable to match Connor in a training session?
"Being sorry is not enough. You need to improve your skills and learn how to use your powers fully. You need to reach the point where you can trust in your energy blindly. The strength of a warrior doesn't lie in his brute force, but in how much he trusts in his skills" – explained Blackwood.
The girl nodded silently and prepared to continue the sparring, but the wizard told her that the physical training was over. Now he was going to teach her how to control her energy, that way it was going to be easier for her to learn how to use the power of the elements properly. Connor knew that she could control the earth in a decent way, but for defeating Zarth it was required to master the 4 elements, no more, no less.
"The power of the elements lies inside you Terra. It has always been with you. Now is time to let it flow through your own self. Feel the energy flowing through your veins" – pointed Blackwood after Terra closed her eyes to focus – "Set your hands in a praying position, but don't let them touch each other; then focus your energy to fill the gap between your hands. Use the power of your mind to visualize the energy flowing from your body to that gap… Now think in the fire, imagine blazes of fire going from your body to the gap"
The bold girl made a big effort to follow the instructions precisely and started to visualize the fire; the titan reminded the fire attack she had used in the Order's Base during the rescue mission and use that thought as a channel to focus herself. She began to imagine the energy flowing through her body and eventually she lost track of time and space while being deeply focused in making the fire flows. Suddenly, the young girl started to feel a heat wave moving through her body towards her hands. Even, the others decided to make a halt on their training sessions to watch their partner; then, a big energy wave emanated from Terra and seeing her floating in the mid air surrounded by some kind of fire field and with a big flame between her hands astonished the others. Connor was very pleased to watch that because he knew that she actually could master her powers in time. In that moment, Terra opened her eyes and saw all his friends watching her and then saw the fire sphere and the flame in her hands… that vision freaked her out making her lose her concentration, which made her fall to the ground.
"I'm sorry, I think I got too excited" – said Terra standing up – "I just can't believe I did that" – she added.
"That was amazing Terra!!! We definitely got to kind you a better name… Terra doesn't suit you anymore. Maybe 'The Element's Goddess' or 'Elementia' or 'Aqualada', no, the last one is already a trademark" – said Beast Boy very excited.
"When I think I've seen everything from you, I saw this… Yes, you keep amusing me" – cut Raven bored – "If some day I need to hear some silly ideas, remind me to call you Beast Boy" – concluded the witch.
"You definitely have potential my friend, just keep practicing" – said Robin.
"Boo-Yaa!! Just wait a little bit you Zarth, very soon the teen titans are going to kick your ass" – added Cyborg.
"Congratulations Terra, I'm pretty sure you will control your power fully very soon" – pointed Jessy.
"Thos is great friend Terra!! That demonstration of power was just amazing; it was like the Kumled girst of ducghs the priests does in Tameran!!!" – yelled Starfire giving the other a bear hug.
"Eh, thanks Star… Star… can't breath… can't breath" – said the blond girl, her face turning blue.
"He, he, I'm sorry" – replied the Tameranian ashamed.
"You were great Terra, the energy flows freely through you; It's outstanding you could control the fire that way in your very first training session, well starting to controlling it" – corrected himself the wizard – "But let's not celebrate for the moment, this was just the beginning of a long road, so save the firework for later, you still have a lot to learn"
The titan nodded happy and the others started their training sessions while Connor and Terra resumed their meditation. There was a lot to do before thinking in fighting Zarth…
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A strong earthquake shook the field where our heroes were fighting Zarth; strong electrical discharges could be seen and a strange portal appeared in the place where Zarth was before being wiped out. None of them knew what to do. Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Jessy and Cyborg didn't understand what was happening; even Raven hadn't a reasonable explanation for it, although the 'crow girl' had a bad feeling about that portal. Feeling that she could confirm when noticed Terra and Connor faces, both of them looked very resolved after taking a decision about something.
"This must be ended right here and right now, the sacrifice must be done" – said Terra gravely.
"I see the memories came to you too" – replied Connor sighing downhearted.
"Gar… I… I don't know how to say this, but…" – started saying Terra while Beast Boy started to worry fearing the worst – "The destruction of Zarth has opened a portal to another dimension and if we don't close it right away… a powerful demon will enter in our world… we can't allow that… only a blood sacrifice can seal the portal… the blood of the killer must be offered…" – ended Terra with tears in her eyes.
"Terra, don't!!! You can't sacrifice yourself… Not again… It's just not fair!!!… Remember what I told you back in the cave. While we are alive we can find a way. Don't do this to me again, please. It has to be another way!!!" – yelled the green leaving the other warriors astonished.
"It has"
In that moment, Connor started walking towards the time-space anomaly and seeing him doing that shocked Terra. The wizard moved so quickly that the others couldn't react on time to stop him. Then, jus before going through the portal, Blackwood whirled around and said his last words…
"You have sacrificed yourself a lot already; life hasn't been nice with you deserve to have a future. Be wise and I hope everything turns fine from now on" – started the wizard looking at the girl, then he closed his eyes and opening again to look at Raven – "The blood of the killer must be offered and that blood flows through Terra's vein but also through mine. I'm sorry for leaving you like this; I really wanted to live a future… a future at your side. Please don't forget me and live… please live, I'm doing this for you… feel me when you breath because I'll always be close to you. I love you Raven and I'm happy because I could feel love before going away" – concluded the wizard; then he cut his arms with a spell and entered the portal. A huge explosion that sent the warriors away took place and afterwards there were no traces of the portal or Connor…
"No, this can't be happening, this can't be happening, Nooooo!!!!!!!" – yelled Raven waking up.
The woman sat on her bed and quickly took her hands to her face to clean the tears she was feeling. Her heart was beating real fast and the young girl couldn't describe how she felt in that instant. Now it was worse than the time when Slade showed the future in her birthday, she was feeling the world crushing before her… the lost was so strong she barely could bear it… Raven then tried to calm down convincing herself that it had been a nightmare. Luckily for her, the scream had been part of the nightmare too so nobody had listened to it, or so she thought.
"Are you ok?" – asked Connor knocking her door – "I listened some noises coming from your room and… well… I just came to see if everything is ok"
"I'm fine, it was just a bad dream, thanks for worrying"
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me, I'm ok"
"Well in that case jus try to get some sleep, it's a little bit late and tomorrow we have another training session"
"I know, don't worry, see you tomorrow"
After Connor went inside his room and closed the door, Raven left hers to go towards the library to start a long research… she needed to know some things and the sooner, the better.
"I've been through a lot of things and I'm perfectly aware I have to pay good attention to my nightmares. I really don't want to lose you Connor, many things are changing inside and I kind of like it that way. So, I need to know what was that I saw and I won't rest 'til I figure it out" – thought Raven while going inside the library to look for the parchments Jessy had showed them a few days ago.
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Many days went by since the first training session and our heroes were improving their skill in a geometric progression. Raven instead of suppressing her emotions to use her powers was enhancing her own power by letting her emotions flow. Jessy was more confident with her skills and her spells, jinxes and curses were stronger. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire and Robin were in excellent shape and with one goal in their minds: to defeat Zarth. But, the best improvements came from Terra, she could control Earth and Fire at will and her control over air and water was not bad. The blond girl could manipulate air to rise at will and she even could create walls of water. Connor and Raven spent hours meditating and sparring together and their powers had increased significantly. They all knew it was a matter of time before taking the decision to fight Zarth, but before it was necessary to master some things. However, what they didn't know was that the peace they were enjoying wasn't going to last any longer…
The whole group was inside the house except for Connor and Raven who were meditating in a lake nearby that captivated the with the first time she saw it. The both were floating in the lotus flower position with their eyes closed and their minds focused in making their energies increase when suddenly several explosions shook the area. The wizard and the witch interrupted abruptly their meditation… the couple was worried since it was quite clear that the source of the noise was the house. Immediately they flew towards the Manor and when they arrived could see the others in the middle of a vicious battle. Finally Jack had found their whereabouts, but what surprised Connor was that instead of warlocks, they had sent Assassins and that didn't make sense… unless Jack had nothing to do with that, but Zarth himself. That complicated things; if Zarth had decided to look for them the time for the final battle was nearest than ever. But there was no other possible explanation; commanding Assassins was reserved to selected wizards and witches and they all were members of the Order of Chaos. In any case, that was not the best moment for dissertations, they had to fight over 10 Assassins and that was the main priority.
"You must be careful Rae, those beings are extremely smart and powerful" – said Connor.
"I'll keep that in mind, but we got to help the others" – replied the witch who was wearing her blue suit.
Beast Boy transformed into a velociraptor and had managed to knock out one of the assassins by biting it; but almost immediately, other killer threw an electrical discharge towards the titan that sent blew him several meters away. That made Terra going berserk, the girl rose to face the killer and then she threw a blaze of fire towards it. Nevertheless, the assassin disappeared and appeared behind the titan, who was expecting that move and a huge stone hit the killer, destroying it.
There were 8 assassins standing and the killers seemed to be real angry now after watching what had happened to its partners. One of the beings flew quickly towards Starfire, who reacted throwing several starbolts to the attacker, who evaded them by disappearing. The red-haired girl then rose to be out of reach, but the assassin appeared above and hit her with a strong fire attack that sent her towards the ground. Almost immediately, the assassin got on guard to face Jessy, who created an air whirlpool that threw towards it; the creature disappeared and decided to appeared next to the witch, but in that moment, the killer was hit by a light grenade that wiped it out.
"Nice shot Robin" – said Jessy.
"Three down and seven to go" – replied the leader.
Other assassin was facing Cyborg, who was shooting at the creature with his laser canon; nevertheless, the killer evaded the attacks easily and quickly ran towards the titan who jumped aside to avoid being hit. The assassin then disappeared and appeared in front of the titan, who quickly jump backwards while shooting a huge energy beam towards the killer, who was hopeless destroyed.
"Boo-Yaa! It needs more than a bunch of bad dressed guys to beat the great…" – started to say Cyborg but an energy attack knocked him out.
"Damn!" – said Connor watching his opponent knocking out the titan – "You are fighting the wrong guy my friend, your opponent it's me" – concluded the wizard while throwing a powerful light attack to the assassin.
The creature moved aside to evade the beam and immediately counterattacked with a blaze of fire; Blackwood disappeared and appeared behind the killer, who anticipated that moved and was ready to kill him; however, before the assassin could move, a dark energy sphere hit and destroyed it.
"You owe me one" – said Raven smiling-
"I just can't believe it… I underestimated that thing… thanks Rae" – said Connor ashamed.
The conversation was interrupted when two more assassins appeared before them so the witch and the wizard got on guard.
"Azarath Mythrion Zynthos!" – yelled Raven throwing a powerful dark energy attack towards both killers.
Connor disappeared at the same time and when one of the creatures evaded the attack, the wizard appeared behind, wiping it out with a light attack. The other assassin flew towards Raven to kill her, but the witch adopted her soul self, which astonished the killer, who couldn't avoid being destroyed by a dark energy beam that came out from the crow.
"Seven down and three to go" – said Connor moving next to the titan.
"We almost…"
"Raven, do you trust me?" – asked Connor in a whisper.
"Yes, but…" – replied the girl surprised.
A huge red beam passed incredible close to Raven's head to fully hit an assassin who was standing behind her ready to kill the titan. The creature was caught by surprise and couldn't avoid being destroyed.
"That was…" – started saying Raven astonished.
"We're even" – said Connor smiling at her.
Robin and Jessy were facing one of the two assassins left standing and suddenly the girl threw to red beams towards the creature that decided to test her power by blocking the attack with a blaze of fire. However, the boy wonder was prepared for that and two light grenades hit the killer destroying it. The last assassin decided to run away after watching her nine partners being wiped out, but before it could fly 20 feet two girls appeared in front of him.
"Leaving so soon?" – asked Terra with a grin.
"You are so kind and we want you to stay" – added Starfire fully recovered.
The Tameranian threw several starbolts towards the killer, who disappeared to appear behind the blond girl, but Terra counterattacked with a blaze of fire that was evaded for the creature. This tie, the assassin appeared in front of the red-haired girl and quickly grabbed her wrists to avoid her fly out of reach.
"Just for the record… Only my boyfriend touch me that way!!!!" – yelled the girl wiping out the creature with two green beams that came from her eyes.
After the fight, the titans met inside the Manor; their faces reflected tiredness, but their minds were thinking that it had been just the beginning of the final battle. Luckily no witnesses were left so they had bought more time to prepare for the fight against Zarth.
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Zarth was having a meeting with the Masters of the Order of Chaos and the Order of Darkness; his eyes reflected a cold heart and great resolution. It was obvious that he had lost patience so the moment for his final movement had come.
"Give an order to all your men to cease the searching of those cockroaches" – pointed Zarth.
"But Master…" – said Jack.
"Shut your mouth up, you filthy last class wizard!!!! It's quite clear that your pathetic efforts to capture six teenagers, a wizard and a librarian have been in vain. We have lost too much time already and the final step must be taken. It's time for the world to meet its doom" – cut Zarth – "Now, we are going to change our strategy… we're going to make them come to us… It's time to wipe out this city… the war has started" – concluded the warrior.
"But the key is still alive" – said John worried.
"I'm not going to be afraid of a silly teenager who barely can control the power she has. We have delayed the attack for too long and when the time comes I'm going to send that little girl to meet her god" – replied Zarth while the others nodded silently – "I want every men available to be ready because the conquest of Jump City has begun" – sentenced the warrior.
"What the titans are going to do now that Zarth decided to take action? Are they really prepared to fight him? What is the meaning of Terra and Raven's dreams? Will somebody else dare to touch Starfire from now on? Don't miss the next chapter.
Author's Notes: Well, another chapter is done I hope you like it. I know it started a little bit slow, but there were some stuff left I needed to develop, but I included some action at the end to compensate and balance the chapter. Apparently Zarth's patience ran out and he decided to begin the attack against Jump City, which definitely is going to catalyze some decisions. Let's hope that our heroes can stop the war is beginning. Next chapter will have more action so keep readying and see you in next part.