Element and the Gamer

by Teen Tyrant

FINISHED! Two new Titans join the team. One finds his place in life among them, the other may prove to be a problem. Read and review. Flames are welcome.

11. Friend or foe?

Element and the Gamer

By

Teen Tyrant

Thanks go to Death Jester, Girl at Heart, SpikeTV58, longhairedhorse, mattchew, Glacier alchemist, Vampiro101 and of course, InnocentStarInTheAnimeSky, for their continued support of this story.

Gamer Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X does not belong to me. FFX is being used for you Death Jester. Enjoy! And of course, I do not own Teen Titans.

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Chapter 11: Friend or foe?

Gizmo gathered up all his equipment and all the tools he was going to need. Everything was set out on the table before him; the equipment for the physical work on his left, the computer he'd used to do the programming on his right.

He was deep in Slade's lair, in a work station that Slade had provided for him to complete his task in privacy and without distraction. The place creeped him out, big time. It was dark, there was the sound of turning gears, and a couple of Slade's minions were behind him standing against the wall to provide any assistance he may require and, Gizmo suspected, to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't try to do anything that would make Slade… upset.

He would need to build the physical storage unit first, so he'd begin the real labor and then do the programming. The labor wouldn't take long, but to do the programming for what Slade wanted would take some time. While he wasn't entirely sure how Slade planned to use this thing against the Titans, and to take control of the new ones, Element and the Gamer, Gizmo did have an idea as to its purpose and its intended use. But Gizmo was not about to bring this up with Slade, no sir. Not for all the money in the world.

Gizmo was really starting to wish that he had never made this deal with Slade. It had seemed so simple at first, when the one-eyed madman had approached him with his proposition. Do a little project for him, and in return Gizmo would be given a large supply of very advanced technology, some of it stuff even Gizmo himself had not seen and would drool over to get his hands on.

But now, it hardly seemed to be worth it. Gizmo was practically in the dog house now with Slade. Although the man had not come out and said it, Gizmo believed that Slade knew, or at least suspected, that Gizmo had told part of their plan to Jinx. And that put Gizmo in a world of danger that he could not even begin to fathom. If Slade thought that Gizmo had spilled even only some of his guts to anyone about their agreement, there was no telling what he would do.

The truth was, although he would not admit it, Gizmo was scared of Slade. More than scared; he was downright terrified of the man. Slade was cunning, cruel and manipulative. To top it off, he was a genius and the biggest criminal force on the western side of the continent. The man was capable of anything, at anytime. Theft, extortion, slave trading, anything that served his ever-secret purpose. Even murder.

A look at the tech that Slade had provided him to work with further fueled Gizmo's fear. Slade did not just invent all the devices he owned. Some of them he had modified, sure. But he did not make them all by hand, or even with his robots. They came from other sources, and the two most prominent ones that Gizmo recognized so far were Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp.

Wayne Enterprises technology was no mystery; Slade had stolen those gadgets. Gizmo had read up on billionaire Bruce Wayne's technological advances and knew from the descriptions of the founding man himself that Wayne would not share any of his technology with a man like Slade. All Wayne Enterprises property that Slade possessed had been stolen, without a doubt. But LexCorp…

That was what really scared Gizmo about all this. Before he had joined the H.I.V.E., Gizmo had hoped to someday work in a lab at LexCorp, perhaps even in Metropolis itself. Some of the most advance technologies in the world, rivaling those of Wayne Enterprises, were produced by LexCorp. And from some of the things that Gizmo had heard, Lex Luthor was no saint like Bruce Wayne. When he saw an opportunity, he took it, which was what led him to founding the world's leading technological development corporation and becoming the richest man on earth. And from what Gizmo had seen, most of the technology Slade possessed originally came from LexCorp.

So Slade had actual dealings with Lex Luthor. Gizmo could not fathom what Luthor received in return, but if the two of them were even casual acquaintances who knew each other only from business transactions, that meant that Slade's connections ran farther and deeper than anyone could have ever imagined. Slade was a lot more powerful than simply a man with one eye and a creepy mask, living in dark hiding places in one simple city on the California coast. No, he was a much bigger player than even the Titans themselves probably suspected.

This was it, Gizmo had had enough. He would finish this project for Slade, and then he would cease all dealings with him and anyone like him. Gizmo had worked for Slade, for the Brotherhood of Evil, and had attended the H.I.V.E. while it was under the control of Brother Blood, and he had simply had enough of organized villainy. The tech that Slade would give him, the chance to someday work for LexCorp, none of it was worth it. If a guy like Slade could make a deal with Lex Luthor, then that meant that big time criminal masterminds were far more corrupt than he could imagine and he wanted no part of them anymore. His fear of Slade and the idea that he was trading with Lex Luthor had killed the fun he thought might be in that kind of life.

If he was going to do what he wanted with his genius and technical skill, it would be as a mediocre criminal, no big capers. He did not want to be involved with these big time creeps anymore.

Focusing on the job at hand, wanting to complete his task and say goodbye to Slade and all other evil overlords forever, Gizmo went back to his work, ready to give Slade his ultimate weapon against the Teen Titans and then put Jump City behind him and never look back.

------

Robin, Starfire, Raven and Element were all sitting on the living room sofa, watching a movie called Fools Rush In. It was actually quite entertaining. Two people of different ethnicity and cultures fall in love and get married in a hurry, dealing with the differences in their life-styles and their families afterward. What the Titans who were watching it liked most about it, was that the differences in culture was a lot like Robin and Starfire's relationship. Not in the same way, but it did remind them all of how unique it was having a couple consisting of one human and one alien.

Robin's arm was around Starfire's shoulders, while Starfire herself rested her head on Robin's shoulder. The two looked absolutely adorable together like that, especially after all the time that the rest of the team had been waiting to see them like that. Element and Raven sat side by side, her left hand in his right. They were sharing the union through those hands as they touched, as they did at every possible chance they had these days. But it was only in their hands; Element was not completely composed of Raven's energy at the moment.

Beast Boy and Terra were attempting to make a tofu cake together and not really succeeding, but were having a lot of fun in the process. Both were covered with soy baking products all over their faces and in their hair, and the two young lovers couldn't stop pointing and laughing at each other, except for a few pauses here and there for a quick kiss. Cute as Robin and Starfire were, and as deeply connected as Element and Raven were, Beast Boy and Terra were the undisputed kissing champions in the tower.

Cyborg was on one of the lower levels of the tower in his own little workshop. He was trying to construct a teleportation gateway that would allow Bumble Bee and himself to slip over to each other's towns at any given time, without the delay of traveling across the whole country. In effect, going to see each other would be reduced to the equivalent of walking next door.

So far, Cyborg wasn't having much luck, but he had plenty of time to figure it out. Raven was no help, because her teleportation used magic and supernatural power. Cyborg was an expert in science, not wizardry, and so would have to settle for a technological, scientific method of teleportation.

He sat at a large metal desk, drawing blue prints for his teleporter, which looked a lot like the Stargate from the movie and TV series of the same name. He'd be able to get it done in a jiffy if he could just figure out how to bend the space-time continuum and fold it into a pocket, allowing him to take a step from one location and end up at another at the very next instant. He knew that space-time was already curved, but…

He pushed off from the desk, deciding to take a break. Leaving the room, he headed to the elevator and took it up to the top level. Entering the living room, he raised a hand.

"Hey, y'all." he called to his friends. Various forms of "Hey Cy." came back to him. Raising an eyebrow at Beast Boy and Terra covered in what he recognized as tofu ingredients, Cyborg moved to their refrigerator and began rummaging through.

As he moved to the kitchen table to eat his various snacks, he looked around and noticed that everybody was not here.

"Hey, where are Gamer and Blackfire?" he asked around a mouthful of roast beef sandwich.

Robin answered him. "Blackfire wanted to go out for a while. I think she said something about the mall." he said, trying to hold back the sound of dislike in his voice for Starfire's sake. He still did not like or trust Blackfire and most of his team agreed with him. Still, she was Starfire's sister, and that meant that he could not openly show his contempt for the girl who had caused them such trouble before.

Cyborg swallowed his bite. "So Gamer went with her." he said. It was not a question. Element turned his head to look at Cyborg, the single lock of hair that fell down slightly over his mask waved with the movement.

"Gamer goes everywhere with Blackfire now." he said, in an odd tone. Raven gripped her boyfriend's hand a little tighter and their eyes met. She knew what was troubling him. She knew everything he knew now, and so did he know what she knew.

A silence, a somewhat awkward one, filled the room at Element's statement, and no one made any attempt to say otherwise, for they all knew it was true. Wherever Blackfire went now, the Gamer was always with her.

------

As Gamer walked beside Blackfire down the streets of Jump City, their eventual destination being the city mall, he couldn't help sneaking glances at her out of the corner of his eyes. Whether Blackfire noticed this or not, she gave no sign. Gamer couldn't see how she could know, as his eyes were hidden beneath his sunglasses.

Over the past few weeks that he had spent watching over her to make sure she stayed out of trouble, he had slowly developed a fondness for her. She was a beautiful girl, sure, but that was only one aspect of her, and if that had been all there was, Gamer would never have thought of her as anything more than a potential threat who happened to look good.

But there was something else, he was sure. Blackfire had been mostly well behaved since her arrival on earth. She had not gone into the behavior he had heard she was known for; arrogance and mischief. She had been subdued in a way, knowing that she had no place to go and could be kicked off of earth at any moment. While her usual cocky attitude had shown itself a few times here and there, she was mostly restrained and quiet.

But in that guise, Gamer had caught several signs of an inner turmoil. He saw it in the way she looked at Starfire. There was a show of anger, resentment and perhaps even jealousy in her purple eyes anytime she looked at or talked with her sister. Gamer did not have any idea why, only that it had something to do with their past history before either of them ever came to Earth. Polite as she pretended to be when around the other Titans, Gamer knew that Blackfire really wanted to beat Starfire to a pulp, badly.

Blackfire also showed a certain level of contempt for the humans who populated Jump City, although for varying reasons. Only a week ago, the other Titans had been called away to do battle with Mad Mod, who had been holding all the children in Jump City's various schools hostage in specially created traps and the other Titans had been running all over the city to prevent the disasters. Gamer had waited in the park, near the center of town, to rush to any of the areas of battle to lend assistance if any were called for. Because Blackfire was not to be out of Gamer's sight until Robin decreed otherwise, she had been with him, sitting cross armed and cross legged on a bench, looking bored and irritated.

When a commotion was kicked up in an area of the park close by, Blackfire had gone to check it out, Gamer right behind her, secretly checkingher out. What they had found was a trio of teenage girls, picking on another teenage girl who was clearly in the category of "unpopular". The leading girl, a blonde with a purple blouse and tight jeans, had taken a pendant necklace from the other girl, and was comparing it to her own, which was newer and shinier, telling about how her father paid more for hers because she was the perfect daughter, from a better and more important family than the other girl. She had thrown the other girl's pendant back to her, and then the blonde and her two bubble headed friends had walked away laughing. This happened before Gamer could step in, and since the pendant had been returned, no real crime had been committed other than harassment, which was not really something the Titans were trained to handle.

Blackfire had shown immense anger towards this spectacle, and began spouting to Gamer about how that stuck up girl did not deserve the jewelry she wore, and that she herself was more worthy of such a thing than that girl had been. Gamer was unsure just what Blackfire's deal was, but it seemed that she was saying the exact same thing the blonde girl had said to her victim, without realizing it. So… was she upset because of the injustice of teenage behavior on this planet, or because she wanted to do the same thing to the blonde girl and show her what it really meant to have someone better than you take something that you held dear and laugh at you for it? It confused Gamer to no end.

Later that night, when the Titans had returned to the tower, tired and sore, Gamer had told the others about the whole thing, while Blackfire was sleeping. Robin, Raven and Cyborg had pretty much gone off on him about his concern for what Blackfire was thinking, and for giving so much thought to her anyway. They basically told him that he was getting too close to Blackfire, too friendly with her, and forgetting that she was still to be considered a potential enemy. Starfire had looked at Gamer with sympathetic eyes, knowing that the others were right, but thankful that Gamer, like herself, was worried about her sister's well being during her stay. Element had simply looked long and hard at his brother, even after the "meeting" had broken up, and when Gamer put his hands out and said "What?" in an attempt to make Element spit out what was on his mind, he only shook his head, almost regretfully.

The Gamer really wanted to get inside Blackfire's head and find out what was making her tick. Why her hostility towards Starfire on her previous encounters with the Titans? Why her outrage over the incident in the park? And why was she trying to live up to the idea that she was inherently better than anyone else, while hiding it beneath the submissive attitude she was displaying now during her stay? With all the time he had spent with her since her arrival, Gamer had begun to see her as his… friend. And he wanted to know the answers to these questions, and maybe see if he could help her in some way.

Now having entered the mall, the two walked around it for a bit, Blackfire occasionally pointing at this or that and asking a few questions here and there about some store or item on display. After a while of this, the two eventually ended up at the food court and decided to eat lunch. Gamer ordered for the two of them and once it was ready, brought it back to the table that Blackfire was seated at. They ate in silence for a while, and then when they were done, Gamer decided to finally start asking Blackfire some long awaited questions.

"Hey Blackfire, I've noticed something since you've been here." Blackfire looked up from the table with perhaps faked interest in what he had noticed.

"What's that?" she asked. Gamer took a deep breath.

"Well, it seems to me that you don't really like your sister that much." he said. Blackfire gave a sharp laugh and rolled her eyes.

"Gee, was it that obvious?" she asked sarcastically. Gamer continued undaunted.

"I was just wondering why that is. Starfire loves you and looks up to you. I was just wondering what it is that makes you not love her back. She's your sister, and one of the most wonderful persons I know. What is it between you two?"

Blackfire listened to Gamer's question and just stared back at him. She considered telling him that it was none of his business, but he seemed to be looking at her like this was a very important question to him. And she had to admit that over the weeks that she had been here, Gamer had been her advocate with the other Titans, and had watched out for her. Even been friendly to her, despite knowing what she was like. She supposed that she owed him an explanation.

Blackfire sighed. "Alright." Gamer straightened up in his chair and leaned forward a little, wanting to hear every word she was about to say.

"It really started before Starfire was ever born. It started when I was born." Gamer raised an eyebrow at this and lifted up his sunglasses.

"When you were born?" he asked, confused. Blackfire nodded.

"Yes. You see, Starfire and I didn't always have the powers that we have now. Starbolts are not a natural Tamaranian power. Our strength, our ability to fly and to survive harsh conditions are all natural though. We get those powers because Tamaran is a very warm, sunny planet. The solar energies from our sun go directly into our bodies and allow us to harness that energy based on our emotions."

Gamer looked fascinated. "So, all that power that you and Starfire have comes from the sun? What happens during the night, or a cloudy day? I've seen Starfire use her powers even then."

Blackfire continued. "It doesn't matter. The sun is still sending solar energy to the planet. While the intake of it is lower than on a sunny day, those energies still get absorbed into our bodies. The reason why I have a problem with Starfire is because I was not born with those abilities. All of my powers, even ones that are natural for Tamaranians all came later."

Gamer's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Blackfire nodded. "Yes. I was born deformed, you see. Deformed and handicapped. I'm the only Tamaranian with purple eyes. And I could not use the sun's energy to harness my strength, and I could not fly. From the day I was born, I was deemed unfit to rule Tamaran. So even though I was the princess and was treated like royalty, I would never be allowed to take the throne of our planet." She sighed, for a moment.

"Then Starfire came along. My parents had her so that they could have a normal child, one who could be their heir. Starfire was born perfect. At first, I adored her. I was almost two years older than her, and I loved having a little sister. But as time went on, I realized that although Starfire treated me like I was any other Tamaranian, everyone else always put her first before me. Because she was normal."

Gamer took this all in, beginning to see where the distrust and eventual hatred that Blackfire had for her sister had come from.

"Then, one day, the Citadel invaded Tamaran. There was no hope for us to defeat them, because they outnumbered us greatly. A truce was formed, and part of the bargain was that Starfire and I were sold to the Citadel as slaves."

"By the time of the war with the Citadel, I really did not like Starfire all that much. I began training in all forms of martial arts that I knew, so that even without regular Tamaranian powers, I would be a force to be reckoned with. I thought that maybe this would put me at an even level of respect with Starfire. It did not. Nobody saw my training as anything more than a foolish attempt at gaining normalcy.

"When the war started, it was clear that Tamaran would not survive. A peace treaty was made, and Starfire and I were handed over to the Citadel as prizes in exchange for peace. We had to be conditioned into proper slaves. Most likely, Starfire and I were going to be used as sex slaves. Makes sense, two pretty young girls, bound to be rather great prizes when we reached our teens and then adulthood. Surely some pedophilic Citadel general would love to have one of us in chains."

Listening to the bitterness in her voice as she spoke of these things, Gamer was unable to believe that Blackfire had not turned out even more vicious than she already was. Being ignored for being born handicapped while Starfire got everything she ever wanted, including love, then being sold as a possible sex slave to a conquering army to give her planet peace. It was awful!

"Starfire and I gave the Citadel more trouble than we were worth, so they sent us to the laboratories with their Psion scientists. There, the Psions tried to modify my body and Starfire's. They wanted to see just how much solar energy we could hold until our bodies exploded. Only it didn't work. The experiment backfired on them and made us stronger. It gave me the ability to utilize all those abilities that normal Tamaranians could do."

"For the first time in my life, I felt what it was like to fly under my own power. To lift things a hundred times my own weight as if it was nothing. To use my combat training with my new powers and become one of the greatest fighters in this part of the galaxy. On top of that, Starfire and I gained new powers. We were able to use the solar radiation in our bodies to form our starbolts whenever we were filled with righteous fury."

"We used these powers to escape. Because of the trouble we had given the Citadel, they decided to ignore that the terms of the treaty were violated by our returning home. When we did return home, we found that our parents had had another child, to try to carry on the royal line. Our little brother, Wildfire."

"You have a brother?" Gamer asked, knowing that none of his research into Starfire's past had ever revealed a second sibling.

"Yes. I haven't seen him in years. You see, because Starfire and I were never expected to return, Wildfire was officially declared the heir to the thrown after our parents. It was an unusual case. Our planet is matriarchal. It is customary for the females to become Grand Ruler and then pick a male to be her mate and rule as King at her side."

Gamer grinned. "So the females are the stronger species on your world?"

Blackfire shook her head. "No, not really. Female and male Tamaranians are no different in strength of body or spirit. It's just that our most worshipped figure, X'hal, the Living Goddess, was of course female, and so it is tradition on my world for females to lead the royal family to follow her example."

"So anyway, Wildfire was to be the next Grand Ruler, and Starfire was placed in line after him. And even though I was the first daughter and now had the same abilities other Tamaranians had and more, I was still different. In both body and personality now. So I was placed last in line. Then, a few years ago, the Gordanians invaded Tamaran. Again, it was clear that we were outmatched by pure numbers. Wildfire was still only a little boy, so he could not lead if our parents were to die in the war. He was placed in a small space shuttle and sent away from the planet, in the hope to preserve the royal line."

"I saw this as the perfect way to finally get Starfire back for all she had taken from me. Since the deal had worked with the Citadel, there was no reason to think it wouldn't work for the Gordanians. I secretly conducted negotiations with them and got them to agree to cease their invasion. The price: Starfire was to become their slave. So they took her, and apparently planned to re-sell her to the Citadel. My parents became so heartbroken with both Starfire and Wildfire gone that they became ill, and eventually passed away. I guess that makes me partly responsible for their deaths, but considering that they never even gave me a chance, their first child, I don't really feel that guilty over it."

"That's why I hate Starfire. She was always seen as better, simply because she was born normal. And the worst thing of all, in a way, is that no matter what I did to her once my feelings for her became clear, no matter how mean or nasty I was to her, she would always forgive me and hope that we could have a regular sister relationship. It wasn't enough that she had to be perfect and get everything that could, thatshould have been mine. No, she wanted to be my friend while she was at it. And that was what I refused to tolerate. I would not be pitied and befriended by the one person who was treated by everyone else like she was better than me!"

After hearing this, letting it sink in, Gamer reached a new understanding for the girl. Although she did not want pity, Gamer could not help but feel it for her. And also, something more; a desire to help her feel better about herself. Blackfire had been denied so much for so long because of something that was beyond her control, it was no wonder she had turned out the way she had. She had done many things that a bad life was no excuse for, but were there that many people on this very planet that had not done similar things, and still turned out ok if given a new chance at the life they had never had in their youth? Nobody had ever given Blackfire the benefit of the doubt, that was the problem. Maybe now, that someone finally understood her, maybe she could be led to a happier way of life. She was still a teen, so it certainly wasn't too late.

Not sure if she'd take it kindly or not, but wanting to try showing that he was sympathetic, Gamer dared to reach across the table and place his hand over Blackfire's. Blackfire looked at his hand, then looked up at him, her expression surprised and uncertain.

"Look, Blackfire, you've made some mistakes. We all have. It's still not too late for you to have the life you wanted. Just look at Terra. Like you, she didn't have any friends for a long time. Nobody liked her because she caused disasters. She even sided with the Titans' worst enemy and tried to kill them all, and nearly succeeded. And what happened? She redeemed herself and the Titans accepted her right back, and now she and Beast Boy are going steady. Look at Raven. She ended the world, and my brother is madly in love with her. Even Starfire herself. When she first landed on Earth, she was so riled up she nearly killed the Titans. And I don't think I have to point out where things stand between them and her now."

Blackfire looked down as she thought about this. "Yeah, but who would even give me a chance? Everyone on this planet already thinks of me as a criminal, and on a lot of other planets too. How would I start?"

Gamer smiled. "Well, for one, I am your friend. Ever since Robin assigned me to watch after you, I feel like I've gotten the chance to know you a little better than the others do. I know that you're tough on the outside, but I could also see that you were hiding something more vulnerable on the inside, and after everything you just told me, I now know what it is. And I know that you have the ability to be a good person. You just need to be set on the right path."

Blackfire frowned in skepticism. "And how would I do that?"

Gamer though about it. "Well, I'd say that a good place to start would be to clear up this whole thing with Starfire."

Blackfire barked a short, sarcastic laugh. "Oh yeah, that's a good idea. Twelve years of being a tyrant to her, and she'll actually be interested in letting bygones be bygones? I don't think so."

Gamer frowned at her. "Starfire wants to be friends with everyone she can. Including you. Probably especially you. She wants to have the sister relationship that you two never had. If you apologized to her, and were sincere about it, with the intent to make it up to her and be her older sister, I'm dead certain that she would forgive you and accept your offer."

Blackfire's expression softened some. "Really? You think she'd do that?"

Gamer nodded. "Absolutely. I told you she loves you and looks up to you. She doesn't hold what you've done against you and she is still hoping that you will become a good person. I know that you don't want pity, but Starfire feels sorry that you never got the attention she got. She didn't want anyone to treat you differently, and that's why she never treated you differently, because she could see your worth even if nobody else could. And frankly, so do I now. Starfire would support you on your search for a better life, and so would I. The others would listen to us, and would give you a chance. If Terra and Jinx can prove themselves to be good people after all, then so can you. And Starfire and I will be right there with you every minute."

Blackfire looked back at him. "Starfire really doesn't hate me for what I've done? You really think she'd forgive me and let me be her sister for real if I tried?" Gamer nodded. "And you'd stick with me if I tried to be better?" Again, Gamer nodded.

Blackfire settled back in her chair and sighed. Then she looked back down at Gamer's hand, which was still settled over her own. She turned her hand up and gently squeezed his.

"Thanks Gamer. I've never really had a friend before. It's nice to know that even I can have one." She sighed again. "I'll think about what you said. It'll be tough to change, because I kinda like me being the way I am. But I've lost what little I had gained because of it. I guess we'll see." she finished.

Gamer smiled and lowered his sunglasses. "We'll see."

Suddenly, Blackfire's eyes seemed to focus sharply on something behind Gamer. Curious, he turned around to see what she was looking at. When he saw what had caught her attention, he knew that there was about to be trouble. Just walking into the food court was that same blonde teenage girl who had picked on that other girl in the park the last week. The same two ditzy friends she'd had with her then were with her now.

"It's Daddy's-little-spoiled-necklace-loving-girl. And doesn't she just look so smug and special and pretty. And she's wearing her precious pendant necklace too. You know, maybe it's time she learned a bit of humility." Blackfire grinned menacingly and stood up. Gamer quickly got up too and moved in front of her.

"Blackfire, wait. Don't go causing trouble. We just talked about this."

Blackfire put a hand on his chest and moved him aside, not enough to hurt him, but with a strong enough force that he would not be able to fight against, and continued walking on towards the girl.

"I'm not going to hurt her or anything. Just teach her a few manners."

Gamer knew that this could get ugly. This was the first offensive action Blackfire was taking since she arrived on Earth and it could compromise her being allowed to stay here if she went too far. Gamer followed behind her, ready to intervene if it got out of control. He only prayed that Blackfire's old attitude would not surface in the confrontation that was about to come. If it did, she'd be an official enemy again, and he desperately did not want that to happen.

Blackfire stopped at the table the girls had sat down at and placed her hands on the back of the one empty chair.

"Well, well, well. Aren't you just a good looking bunch of well-to-do gals." she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm and smugness. The girls looked up at her, frowning. The blonde one, clearly the leader, looked Blackfire up and down. She looked like the Titan Starfire, but with different colored hair, and her clothes were green instead of purple. Must be a fan who wanted to look the same but take a different color scheme for fashion's sake.

"What do you want?" the girl replied in her better-than-you tone. Blackfire smiled at her, a smile like a crocodile closing in on an unsuspecting zebra drinking at a river. She eyed the sparkly pendant the girl wore.

"That's a nice necklace. Let me guess… your father gave it to you for being such a perfect little princess." she said.

The girl stood up, one hand touching the pendant, protectively. "You got something to say? If not, then I suggest you go before you get me really irritated." she said to Blackfire, her voice giving away her anger and anxiety over a possible fight.

Blackfire simply grinned again and reached out, grabbed the pendant, and ripped it off the girl's neck. The girl immediately grabbed at her own throat with one hand and lunged forward with the other, intending to snatch it back from Blackfire.

"You stupid-" but she didn't get the chance to add her intended swear onto the end of the sentence. Blackfire held the pendant out of her reach with one hand and gently pushed the girl in the chest with the other. The girl tumbled back into the chair she had been sitting in and it very nearly tipped her back onto the floor. The two other girls with her had stood up and were going to surround Blackfire in an attempt to help their leader get her pendant back, but upon seeing Blackfire push their friend down with almost no effort they quickly sat down again.

The Gamer grabbed Blackfire's shoulder and spun her around to face him.

"What do you think you are doing? Do you know what Robin will do when he finds-"

"Security!" the blonde girl was screaming. Blackfire, ignoring Gamer, turned around and looked down at the girl.

"It's no fun having someone take something important to you just because they think they're better than you, is it!" Blackfire hissed at her, enjoying tormenting the girl for being so stuck up the other day in the park.

The girl called again. "Security! Help, security, she stole my necklace!" A mall security guard that had been walking into the food court came right over and approached them. He moved up to Blackfire and held out his hand.

"Miss, I want you to hand that to me. Now." he said with authority. This triggered in Blackfire her long honed resistance to anyone who tried to pull authority on her. Closing her eyes and grinning, she grabbed the security guard by the front of his shirt, lifted him into the air and flung him across the room. He landed on a table occupied by a teenage couple, smearing their lunch across the table as his momentum slid him along the surface and onto the ground on the other side.

Turning to Gamer, Blackfire grabbed his arm and began pulling him along. "Come on, lets go!" she said to him. She then began to walk fast out of the food court and towards the exit, not wanting to deal with anymore security men. She knew she'd probably be in trouble for this, but that stuck up blonde back there needed to be taught some humility. And the security guard was just going to get in the way of that lesson. She brought up the pendant and placed it over her neck.

Gamer was following behind her, his game controller in his hand. He was unsure of what to do. He knew he should stop Blackfire and make her take the pendant back, but he didn't want to force her into doing anything and he was trying to figure out how to keep Robin from coming down on her when he found out about it. So, at a loss as to what to do, Gamer just followed along behind her.

As they neared the exit to the mall, two more security men walked in front of them. They put their hands up and ordered Blackfire to stop. Now getting annoyed that these guys kept getting in her way, and over such a little thing, she decided to show them just who they were messing with. She walked up to them and grabbed them both by the front of their uniforms. They thrashed about in the air, trying to break her grip. Blackfire laughed at them and then flung them both right through the glass front doors of the mall.

People near the doors inside and outside the mall screamed as the security guards smashed through the glass and then slid along the concrete ground outside. The guards slowly rolled over onto their stomachs and began to push themselves up. They were mostly ok.

Gamer watched with his mouth hanging open, and onlookers were wondering who this girl was and why one of the Teen Titans was just standing there and not doing anything about it. For the first time, Gamer was at a complete loss. Now it was no longer a matter of trying to convince the others that Blackfire had just acted up a little. She had officially crossed the line now. There would be no talking the other Titans into going easy on her. But his promise to her and himself that he would help her move away from the kind of behavior she was showing now would not allow him to take action against her.

As it unfortunately turned out, a group of police squad cars were currently driving through the parking area near that entrance of the mall, on their way to an advertising campaign to get the Jump City public more involved with their police enforcers, for better community relations.

Driving past the entrance, the officers in the squad cars saw the mall security guards on the concrete outside the mall doors, glass scattered everywhere, and one of the new Titan members standing behind a girl who was clearly the cause of the commotion.

All of the officers inside got out of their cars and drew their weapons, pointing them at Blackfire.

"Miss," one of the officers called out, " keep your hands in the air where we can see them!"

Gamer immediately tensed up. They were pointing guns at Blackfire! True, they were going to need them if they intended to stop her, but for some reason, the thought that they were aiming deadly force at her just… irked him.

Blackfire was fully back into her old mode. She was being challenged by inferior creatures who wanted to interfere with her fun. Although she had meant what she said to Gamer about being willing to try turning her behavior around, she was going on pure habit now.

She lifted her hand and fired a purple-hued starbolt at the closest squad car. The cops all ducked and dodged out of the way as it struck the front of the vehicle and blasted it onto its side, its front end mangled and melted from the bolt.

That did it, Gamer knew. Blackfire had attacked them with deadly force; the cops were going to use deadly force against Blackfire now. Quickly, Gamer pulled out his Nintendo 64 controller and began pressing buttons and rotating the thumbstick.

The police were just getting to their feet as Blackfire came down hard on the top of another police car, her booted feed mashing its ceiling down and crushing the center of the car like an aluminum can. She seemed to gracefully hop off of the crushed car and effortlessly picked up another one. Wielding it over her head, she walked over to the last police car and brought the one in her hands down upon it, smashing its hood and top with the one she held.

The eight officers and two mall security men, now on their feet, all drew their weapons. Most carried the standard 9mm semi-automatic pistols or .38 revolvers, but one officer was actually wielding a shotgun. They all aimed their weapons at the super powered alien girl smashing their squad cars up. Then there was a bright flash of light in the corner of their eyes, and a moment later, something bright and shiny whipped in front of all of them quicker than the eye could follow. They paused for a moment, then the barrels of each of their guns simply fell off, having been cut cleanly. All of them, down the row, watched the tips of their guns simply break off and hit the ground. They stared at their now useless weapons for a moment, before turning around to see what had caused this. And there they saw Gamer's current form.

He was as a man now, with black hair, striped with gray at the sides and at the very front. He still wore a pair of sunglasses, though they were no longer held to his head by a band. He wore a large black vest and gray pants; an outfit clearly made for fighting in the style of martial arts. A large collar attached to the vest was round his neck, covering most of his head below his nose, but allowing a little bit of his lower face to be seen, showing beard stubble. He wore a red robe-like garment that was held on only by his right arm; his left arm was out of the sleeve. His right hand was covered in a black glove, and was held up over his shoulder… where the cops could see a sword larger than any they could imagine. While none of them knew the word, they were looking upon a sword that was apparently a nodachi, although this character called it a katana. Gamer was in the form of Auron, one of the characters from Final Fantasy X.

"You shouldn't aim a gun at a lady." Auron said to them, reaching up and scratching his chin thoughtfully. Man of the cops just dropped their ruined weapons and raised their hands. Gamer had moved by all of them at an extremely fast pace, cut through their weapons, and taken up stance where he was now in a second's time. They didn't know what had gotten into the Titan, but they weren't about to challenge him in the form of this man who was clearly a fighter and held a sword as long as a person was tall. No way.

Seeing that Gamer had just saved her the trouble of needing to dodge any bullets, Blackfire ceased smashing the cars together and turned to face him, still holding the battered police car above her head.

"Thanks Gamer." she said to him. She then began to rise into the air, intending to throw the car a little ways and see how big a bang it made.

"Blackfire, stop this now! You've done enough! After that talk we just had…" he pleaded with her, still confused by the situation or what he should do.

"Hey, it's not my fault that this got out of hand." she called down to him. "I just wanted to teach that stuck-up witch a lesson. These guys are the ones who all made a big deal out of it."

But it was her fault. Didn't she realize that? The moment stuff started happening, she's slipped right back into her old ways, as if everything they had just talked about five minutes ago meant nothing. She was betraying his trust and the friendship he was trying to build with her, and she didn't even realize that.

Out of the corner of Auron's eye, Gamer saw one of the cops reaching down and grabbing something from beneath his pant leg. Apparently, seeing that Gamer's attention was on Blackfire, the officer was taking the time to draw a second weapon that he had strapped to his let. Straightening up, the cop held a revolver in his hand and began to aim it at Blackfire in the air.

Instantly, without thinking, Gamer reacted, knowing only that he did not want Blackfire to get shot and nothing else. With the flat of Auron's enormous sword (what was it with Gamer and transforming into characters that wielded huge swords?), Gamer smacked the gun from the cop's hand and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, using Auron's well honed strength to lift the man off the ground by an inch or two.

"Don't try to shoot her again!" he said to the man with a dangerous tone in his voice to show that he meant business. The cop stared back at him in fear, sweating bullets. Then the man's eyes darted to the side, looking at something behind Auron, a flicker of hope appearing in his eyes. Gamer heard the screech of tires and then Robin's voice.

"Drop him Gamer! Now! That's an order!"

Gamer turned around and saw his leader and the rest of his team. Robin's staff was out, Beast Boy was a gorilla, Terra and Starfire's eyes were glowing their respective colors, Cyborg had his sonic cannon charged up, Element allowed his body to form into a humanoid version of the hard asphalt he was standing on, and Raven just stood there motionless. They'd gotten here rather quick, relative to the time that this whole mess had started. The Teen Titans, showing up in record time, as always.

Sighing, knowing that he was in for one real mess of a talking-to, Gamer gently set the policeman back on his feet. With mental command, Gamer disengaged his transformation and was enveloped in his signature white light, only to reemerge a moment later, his game controller now held where he had once held Auron's sword. He saw Robin look up into the air.

"Put the car down gently Blackfire and surrender yourself! You've crossed the line, as I knew you eventually would, and now you are going to face the consequences!" he shouted to her.

Blackfire actually seemed a bit taken aback at this, now realizing at last just what she was doing. She had no place to go and her being allowed to remain on earth and with the Titans was based solely on her behaving herself and she had just gone and screwed that up. Not only that, she had gotten Gamer, her self-confessed only friend, in trouble with his team. Realizing that continuing on with her old habits and challenging Robin and the others would only cause Gamer and herself more trouble, Blackfire backed down. She lowered herself to the ground and set the car down. She slowly moved over next to the Gamer, trying to look as least threatening as possible so that they would not attack.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" she whispered to Gamer. He leaned a little towards her. "You think?" he whispered back.

-----

Back at the tower, Gamer, more than Blackfire, was getting chewed out. The Titans had all expected Blackfire to be her true self eventually; that had certainly come as no surprise. What had come as a surprise was that they would find the Gamer right there with her, actually aiding her in her crimes of theft, destruction of property and resisting arrest. Robin, Starfire and Element were the most disappointed in Gamer, as they were the three closest to him, although Robin did most of the talking.

The Titans were giving Gamer this verbal thrashing in the kitchen area. Blackfire sat on the couch obediently, guarded by Terra and Starfire, watching and listening to Gamer's being read the riot act.

"I just can't believe that you were helping her! You're supposed to be a Titan; a hero, a protector, one of us! And you actually helped that criminal over there?! I want you to explain to me why!" Robin demanded.

Gamer sighed. He had explained it already several times, but he knew he was going to have to be repeating himself until it sank into their heads.

"I wasn't really 'aiding' her in the crime. I was just… caught off guard when she started doing it. I wasn't expecting it and I wasn't ready for it. And the only reason why I fought back against the police was because they were going to shoot at her. I didn't want them to do that. I wasn't going to just let her get away with it, but I hadn't thought of a way to get her to stop yet." he said.

A vein throbbed in Robin's forehead. "You couldn't think of a way to stop her?! You should have used your powers and changed into some big, tough videogame monster and knocked her out, that's what you should have done!" Robin nearly screamed. If he'd been any angrier, you would have been able to see steam rising from his head.

"Yeah man!" Cyborg cut in with his input. "We've been trusting you for weeks with watching over her and you've done a fine job so far. But the day she actually starts to do the very thing that we wanted her to be watched for, and suddenly you don't know what to do and are unreliable? Man, either you do your job, or you don't!" Cyborg yelled, not quite as angry as Robin but just as frustrated at Gamer's lack of smarts on where his priorities should lie.

"Guys, I know you don't really like her, but I've been spending time with her and I know that she's not as bad as she's acted in the past. She's my friend now. I didn't want to do anything to hurt her. Didn't you all hesitate to fight Robin or Terra when they were working for Slade?" he asked, trying to get them to see where he was coming from.

"It wasn't the same thing." Raven said, the only one who sounded calm, but who was clearly just as upset with her friend as the others were. "They were actually part of our team before they began doing things for Slade. They already had our trust, and then were appearing to break it. Blackfire did not have our trust. Even when she was first here, before we learned she was a criminal, we didn't have the same connection with her that we have with each other. And she has done nothing to earn that trust since then." It was a long speech for Raven, but it carried a heavy point.

Starfire chose this moment to enter her opinion into the discussion. "Gamer, I am delighted that my sister has been able to make a friend in you. I truly am. But Blackfire has made it clear that she does not wish to be like us. I had been hoping that she would continue to show the good behavior during her time here, but today she has proven both you and I wrong and that she still has not changed. I am sorry, but she is not worth you forcing us to question our trust in you, which is what you have done." she said sadly, looking over at her sister, then lowering her head. She was trying to hold back tears that one of her closest friends was now the target of her other friends' anger, and had actually caused her and all of them to question their faith in him, if only for a moment.

"She's right." Element said. "Your duty was to stop her if she got out of hand. She did, and by hesitating to act on your duty, you put those men's lives at risk, and actually questioned your loyalty to us." he told his brother.

Gamer frowned. "I never questioned my loyalty to you guys." he said indignantly.

Robin crossed his arms. "In helping one of our enemies in the act of committing a crime, for whatever reason, when you should have been stopping her, you questioned whether you should do what you knew we would want you to do or if you should do what you wanted to do. I'd call that questioning your loyalty to us." he huffed.

"But I didn't-" Gamer began, desperately wanting them to understand.

"Dude, you attacked a cop." Beast Boy said plainly, a frown upon his green face.

"You let her destroy the police cars. What if they'd exploded and someone got hurt, or even killed?" Terra called over, from where she was helping to guard Blackfire.

"You guys don't understand!" Gamer yelled, now more desperate than ever to make them understand that he just couldn't bring himself to hurt Blackfire, anymore than he'd hurt one of them. "You don't get it! She-" he began, not sure what the rest was going to be, but going to at least try to explain how she deserved another chance to change her ways. But the girl in question didn't let him get that far.

"Gamer enough. I appreciate you standing up for me, but it's not going to work." Blackfire stood up and looked at the Gamer, at all the Titans.

"You've been good to me while I was here. Especially you Gamer. And I just went and threw all that away today. I know you believe that I can be turned around and made into one of the good guys, Gamer. You might even have examples of others who have, like Terra here, or your friend Jinx. But I'm different than them. The way I am goes deeper than that, and I don't think I can change. And if what happened today isn't a hint that I'm right, then I don't know what is." She sighed and looked to the floor.

"Thank you for the chance at least, but I don't want to get Gamer in anymore trouble. You shouldn't be mad at him anyway. Only at me. He tried to help me, even as I was causing problems. That's what makes him worthy of being a Titan, and your friend. Go easy on him. He had enough heart to care at least." She looked up again at them.

"I won't cause you anymore problems. I'll leave now." she said, and spun on her heels and headed for the door to the hallway, her ultimate destination being the roof.

"Blackfire, wait!" Gamer called, pushing past the others and following her. The other Titans followed him.

By the time they made it onto the roof, Blackfire was already in the air, flying away towards the northern part of the city and the empty wilderness beyond.

"Blackfire! Come back!" Gamer called to her. She turned around in the air and waved her hand to him.

"Maybe I'll see you again someday, Gamer! But probably not! Don't worry about me! There are a lot of others who deserve to be called your friend than me! Most of them are right there next to you!" And with that, she turned in the air once more and flew out of earshot.

Gamer lowered his head and sighed.

"Well, it looks like she stuck up for you. Guess she has some sense of loyalty at least." Robin said from behind him.

Gamer turned around to face his friends. "You guys don't know her, ok." he said to them plainly. "You might have some idea Starfire, but even you don't know the whole story."

Cyborg cocked an eyebrow. "What? You gonna tell me that you suddenly know all about her and that you can trust her just because she told you some sob story or something?" the metal Titan asked, incredulously.

"You don't know what kind of life she's had. What she was forced to grow up with." he said, becoming angry with them for not believing him, as if his word being good for all the months they've known him meant nothing now.

Raven answered him calmly. "Gamer, except for you, Element and myself, everyone else here is an orphan. The others here all saw their parents die. I barely even knew my mother and my father is the ultimate evil. And none of us turned out like Blackfire. Her past has no bearing on her behavior in the present."

But she was wrong. Gamer knew she was. She didn't know what motivated Blackfire. How what drove her was something personal to her.

"You guys don't get it. She's my friend. I know her. I know what happened in her life to cause her to be this way, and I know that she can be changed. And I intend to try." With that, he turned around and began walking to the edge of the roof. The other Titans were startled.

"Gamer, what are you doing?" Robin demanded. Gamer looked back over his shoulder at them for a moment.

"I'm going after her Robin. I'm quitting the team temporarily. I don't know when I'll be back. After I have a good long talk with her alone I guess, or maybe even longer. I will be back. I just hope you don't reject me when I do come back, because of this." he said to them.

Starfire gasped. "Gamer, we do not wish you to leave! Please reconsider!" she begged. Gamer shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Starfire. But your sister can change, and I know that I can help her. And she's my friend now, so I won't be able to look at myself in the mirror knowing that I didn't try to help her, even at my own expense. I have to do this." he said with finality. But Element wasn't going to let his brother justify it so simply.

"Gamer, I'm not going to let you throw your life dream away and leave the Titans just because you like her." he said. The other Titans looked at him, just a small hint of surprise on their faces, but not much, because deep down, they all agreed exactly with what Element had just said.

Gamer turned around and faced his brother, a stunned look upon his face. The all took turns telling him reasons why Blackfire was not likely to change anytime soon, if she could even change at all, and that he'd be throwing away what he'd waited two years for, to join the Titans with this action he was planning to take, but Gamer didn't hear any of them. He was focused on what Element had just said.

"Gamer, I'm not going to let you throw your life dream away and leave the Titans just because you like her. You like her. You like her. Like her. Like her. Like her-"

It echoed in his mind. Because he liked her? No, it wasn't like that. But at the same time, he knew it was exactly that. He had been suppressing it the whole time, because of who she was he guessed, but it was true. He did like Blackfire. He thought she was beautiful, and smart and tragic, and possessed of a capacity to do great things and give great kindness, deep down, down where no one else saw it. But he saw it. The time he had spent with her while she had been mellow and subdued had allowed him to see it. And he had grown attracted and fond of her.

So that was it then. He wasn't doing this just because he was her friend and because he wanted to help her; he was doing it because he had feelings for her and he wanted her to be like how he saw she was capable of being… and then to be with her once she was that person.

"It doesn't matter." he said aloud, interrupting them all. He raised his head and looked them all in the eye, a new determination within him now that he had admitted the truth to himself.

"You can all say what you want about her and about me, but I can see what she can be like if given the chance. I'm going to help her become that person. I'm going after her. I'll be back when I can." he said, then turned around again.

Gamer," Robin said to his teammate. "She not worth it."

Gamer's shoulders hunched and his muscles tensed. "Yes she is!" he hissed out between his teeth, now feeling really offended when they said those things about the girl he had a soft spot for. "Stop saying that. She is worth it, or I wouldn't be doing this."

He heard someone walking up to him and felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Gamer, Cody," Element began, calling him first by his hero name, then his true name. "She's your enemy, not your friend." he said, trying to sound as direct, yet sympathetic as he could.

Gamer spun around, knocking his brother's hand from his shoulder and punched Element in the jaw. Element staggered back, his hand rubbing where Gamer had hit, his masked eyes wide with shock. The other Titans were equally shocked, and Raven quickly moved over to her boyfriend to see if he was ok.

Gamer glared at his brother. "I never thought you would actually side against me on something that was this important to me." he said, in a low voice, full of anger and betrayal.

Gamer then turned around, grabbed his controller, did his thing, and morphed into one of the demon birds from Silent Hill and began to quickly fly off in the direction that Blackfire had been heading.

Raven healed the bruise on Element's jaw, as Element and the other Titans, stunned to silence, watched as their troubled friend flew away from them, pursuing what all of them truly believed to be a lost cause.

-----

Blackfire had a feeling he'd follow her, so she had landed on the roof of a small building at the edge of town to wait for him. Sure enough, a few minutes later, a hideous looking bird as big as she was dropped down and with a flash of white, turned into the handsome and caring boy that was the Gamer.

Gamer's eyebrows shot up over his sunglasses. "You waited for me?"

Blackfire shrugged. "I wasn't sure if you cared enough to come after me, so I decided to wait and see."

Gamer walked towards her. "Of course I care enough." he said, smiling at her.

Blackfire looked down for a moment, actually saddened that he had chosen to leave everything because of her. "Thank you. You didn't have to you know. But it means a lot to me that you actually did it." she said, unable to look him in the eye.

Suddenly, she felt arms around her and realized that Gamer was hugging her. After her initial surprise, she gently hugged back, knowing that she owed him this for his kindness to her since she had landed back on this planet. They stepped back and looked each other in the eye.

"Blackfire, I didn't want to become a hero just for the fun or the glory. I wanted to do it because I actually wanted to make a real difference in someone's life. I've loved my life, and I want to make someone else who doesn't feel the same way also love it the way I do. You are like that, Blackfire. You don't know where you're going or what you were meant to do, and you thought that if you took enough from the world, you'd feel satisfied, but you don't. I want to help you feel about your own life the way I feel about mine. You're my friend, and giving up my life for a little while to help you get on with yours is worth the effort." he said, trying to seem as thoughtful and caring as he could without seeming corny, and without coming right out and telling her of his crush on her.

Blackfire just stared back at him for a moment or two, a small smile finally forming on her lips. She leaned and kissed him on the cheek then. Gamer was stunned into motionlessness, his mouth open, his face blushing deep red.

Blackfire continued to smile at him. "Thank you for putting so much faith in me. You're the only one that doesn't think it's misplaced, even between the two of us, but thank you anyway. I'll try to be the kind of person you think I can be. I won't promise that I will, because I don't think that I can. But I will promise you that I will try. I'll try as hard as I can, for you."

Gamer finally regained his composure, his hand going to his cheek for a moment, unable to believe that she had actually kissed him. Then he coughed and cleared his throat, his blush going away little by little.

"Come one, lets get out of here." he said to her. Blackfire smiled and nodded. She floated into the air, grabbed his hand and pulled him up, flying with his hand held in hers, her grip too strong for him to slip through and fall. Not that he felt he would; he had complete confidence in her to carry him along without letting him fall.

"Where are we going, anyway?" she asked him, realizing that she'd had no real destination in mind and that he hadn't mentioned one either.

"Turn east and keep going until I see some familiar landmarks." he said.

"Familiar?" she asked him, curious.

"Yes." he said, nodding. "We're going to fly all the way back to my home."

---

After nearly a year of procrastinating and my attention getting away from me here and there, I am finally back at this fic. I am sooooooooo sorry to those of you who have waited this whole year to see this story continue, but I promised you that I would not abandon it and I have not. I am now finally back in full fic writing mode, and since this story only has four more chapters to go, I intend to get right to them once this is posted. Well, that's not true, I am going away to see my girlfriend for three days after posting this, but once I come back, I am getting back down to business and continuing this story. I intend to finish it by March 23rd, 2008… the two year anniversary of this story's beginning. I just hope that those of you who have stuck with me through the first nine chapters haven't moved on to other interests yet during the delay of the tenth and the super delay of this, the eleventh. The next three months will see the return and completion of this story, I promise you.

Next chapter, with the Gamer having left them, the Teen Titans don't know what to do next and are all feeling kinda low. Gamer and Blackfire fly to Piedmont Colorado, hometown of Element and the Gamer. There, Blackfire meets Gamer's parents and Gamer fills his folks in on the details of his time in Jump City and the things that have happened in his and Element's lives. Meanwhile, Gizmo has finally completed his secret task for Slade, and now the Titans' greatest enemy is at last ready to put his newest plan into action. The ball is about to start rolling downhill and it won't be stopping until the end. It all happens in Element and the Gamer chapter 12: Going home. See you then!