Chapter Twenty-Four: Clash of the Titans

"Titans, go!" The battle drums had been sounded. The dogs of war had been unleashed. All hell broke loose within the Titans Tower as the two opposing forces clashed in an all-out, do-or-die, and winner-take-all brawl for supremacy.

Out of the front windows the tower, the Tamaranean siblings burst out into the open air, beginning a deadly dogfight along the building's exterior. Blackfire chased her sister up the side of the building, riddling the exterior with missed starbolts while Starfire returned fire with a handful of her own. The once quiet, undisturbed rooftop, patrolled frequently by military copters, joined the chaos as the siblings crashed through the edge of the building. Blackfire had her sister in a tight hold as she brought the Titan to the rooftops in a thunderous crash. A point-blank blast from her eyes knocked the older sister off and crashing into the pole of the Titans' basketball net. The net crumbled forward as a result of the impact, leaving it wobbling over a dazed Blackfire.

"Why do you always have to be such a pain?" Blackfire shouted in frustration as she grabbed the basketball net by the base of its pole and uprooted it. An oncoming Starfire was then batted out of the air and into a series of rooftop transformers. "You always seem to know how to ruin things for me, don't you?" Blackfire was furious at this point – all the bottled rage from the past several months began overflowing from the heat of battle. She rushed over to her fallen sister, not even giving Starfire a chance to recover as Blackfire hoisted her back to her feet and proceeded to vent her rage in the only way she knew how – physically. "I was finally beginning to enjoy myself!" Her words accompanied a forceful strike straight into Starfire's gut, doubling the Titan over. "I had friends!" Now a left hook to the jaw toppled Starfire over again. "I had a home!" Starfire was still struggling to regain her senses when her sister hoisted into the air, high above her head. "And you had to go and ruin it all!" Her fury climaxed as she threw Starfire straight down into the ground with such force that the roof caved in and the two plummeted to the floor below.

"Now stay down sister, if you know what's good for you," Blackfire sternly warned as she brushed off the dust and dirt from the rubble. Somewhere in the pile of debris was her sister, hopefully conscious enough to have heard the warning. Whether she heard it or not was irrelevant though, as the Titan suddenly burst out from underneath a pile of rubble with a new bout of strength and resolve. Blackfire didn't even have time to contemplate how her sister could've shrugged off such a fury of assaults before Starfire rammed her at top speed, carrying straight through several walls of the tower.

Meanwhile, several floors below the battle between the remaining members of the Titans continued their fight with the other heroes. Robin and Red X were destroying the kitchen with collateral damage as their weapons clashed loudly. "This isn't your fight Red X! You can still just walk away and we won't hurt you!" Robin sternly warned, trying to play on the thief's self-centered motivation in life.

"Afraid this is my fight kid. Nobody messes with my girl, especially not you!" Red X grunted in response as he managed to push the Boy Wonder up against the counter. This worked against the thief's favour, though, as Robin managed to get a leg up against X's chest and push him off. The tables turned quickly when Robin pressed the length of his bo staff up against Red X's throat, halted just shy of crushing his windpipe by one of his wrist blades. His free hand scrambled to find the nearest item to boost his range, which he found in the form of a Teflon-coated frying pan. A somewhat unorthodox method but slamming the frying pan into the side of Robin's head proved effective nonetheless in knocking the Boy Wonder to the ground.

However, Red X wasn't able to keep a hold on the frying pan for very long as a black energy from the Titan's renowned mystic pried the makeshift weapon out of his hand. Revenge was swift as the cookware was slammed into his face before being carried off to the one controlling it. As Raven was too busy focusing on handling Red X, Jinx, who Raven had been fighting with before attacking Red X, rushed up from behind and kicked the legs right out from under her. Regaining her sense of orientation, Raven was able to roll out of the way in time avoid Jinx's heel from slamming into her. Jinx pressed her attack, striking repeatedly at the defending Raven, who was forced to constantly raise force fields to stop the strikes. Luckily for Jinx, Raven could never hold off melee attacks for very long; a quick, low kick to the side of Raven's knee, staggered the girl, leaving her unable to defend Jinx's palm strike to the face.

"You seem to be in pretty good shape for somebody who almost had their arm broken in half not too long ago," Jinx remarked, a little perplexed at Raven's near-perfect physical health now. It was a moot point at the moment and Jinx was more focused on putting Raven back into the injured state. Just as Jinx was about to unleash some of her magic, Raven melded into the floor and vanished from sight. "Hey get back here!" Jinx shouted, though the only response was a hand composed of black magic rising out from the ground below Jinx, taking hold and pulling the teenager into the darkness as well.

"Jinx!" Kid Flash was the first to notice their teammate being pulled away from the common battlefield, leaving it down to six people in the main room. There wasn't any time to worry about Jinx, though, as a green gorilla was dangerously close by. Once again, Kid Flash was dealing with the problem was facing a significantly larger opponent and lacking in means of taking him down easily. If Robin could take down huge monsters easily, then so could Kid Flash! Weaving past several swings of Beast Boy's massive fists, Kid Flash moved in close to bring his knee straight into the beast's jaw. Despite the staggering blow, combined with a lack of maneuverability in the air, Beast Boy was able to grab Kid Flash by the leg and fling him across the room. The blow was a lot harder than Kid Flash would've expected and he had trouble regaining his senses as Beast Boy closed in.

When his vision managed to straighten out, the first thing he saw was Beast Boy being blind-sided by a flung Cyborg, crashing both of the Titans into the computer terminals along the wall.

"Need a hand?" Jacqueline asked, extending a hand to a surprised Kid Flash.

"No, but I could a change in opponents," Kid Flash grinned before accepting his comrade's help getting back to his feet. The once bitter feud had shifted to a mutual respect for one another and Jacqueline was more than willing to let Kid Flash handle Cyborg for a while. "You know, you should consider throwing some extra things into that guitar."

"Like what?"

"I remember seeing a girl on some cartoon that fought with a guitar. I should find it for you."

"How about after we beat those two?" Jacqueline smirked as she motioned over to the recovering Beast Boy and Cyborg.

"Just try to keep up," Kid Flash proposed before dashing behind Beast Boy. "Wedgie!" Always the prankster, Kid Flash unleashed the terrible fury of the atomic wedgie, stretching Beast Boy's boxers to their very limits before capping it off over his head. He managed to squeeze in enough time for a quick laugh at the Titan's expense before running off again.

"Let's see you outrun this!" Kid Flash's tricks caught Cyborg's attention, who began using his computer targeting systems to track the red and gold human bullet. In terms of sheer speed, both Cyborg and Kid Flash were very fast thinkers and Kid Flash quickly found himself narrowly dodging exceptionally well-aimed sonic blasts. Kid Flash accomplished what he aimed for though and when he bolted out of the room, the ever-determined Cyborg gave chase.

"Idiot better know what he's doing," Jacqueline sighed lightly as she watched her comrade lure the Titan away from the others. Immediately behind her, Beast Boy was still struggling to free to his head from the clutches of his boxers. Freedom was a short-lived victory, as he was immediately decked in the face with the butt-end of Jacqueline's guitar. The Teen Titans made her look bad in front of the leader of France…her honour demanded retribution.

"You are so going to pay for that," Beast Boy snapped as he recovered from the blow.

"Come on BB, you know you don't want to do this," Jacqueline attempted another pleading to rationality. There wasn't going to be any success since it wasn't even the real Beast Boy she was pleading with – the replica was loyal only to the Legion. Actions were Beast Boy's response, who transformed into a cobra and sprang towards Jacqueline with fangs bared. Only a lightning-fast reflex was able to save Jacqueline's life, snatching the snake out of the air with a gloved hand firmly clasped around the serpent's mouth. "Ha! Too quick for you!"

Jacqueline quickly regretted those words when Beast Boy shifted his form again and she was no longer holding onto the snout of a snake but the trunk of an elephant. "Oh Christ on a crepe…" Jacqueline accepted her fate though with as much tenacity as you could about flung into the ceiling like a rag doll. The sweet embrace of the floor would not await her on her return trip, though, as a bronco now stood in place of the elephant. His hind legs bucked out with tremendous force, launching Jacqueline across the room and into the back of the couch. In a sort of silver lining, she at least managed to land on the cushions after bouncing off the back of the couch. Didn't do her back much good after the fact.

"Zat's it…now I'm getting angry," Jacqueline groaned. "You're just leaving me no choice but to-" Her words ended abruptly when she finally got up and saw yet another beast waiting for her on the other side – this time a tyrannosaurus rex. "And I laughed when my dad tried to teach me gigantic reptilian combat tactics…" Jacqueline shrieked in panic as the dinosaur took a bite out of the couch, narrowly missing the girl who dashed for freedom between the beast's legs. The large, open main chambers provided too much space for the dinosaur to move, so she merely lured him into the more narrow confines of the hallway, where he would be forced to take the form of something smaller and easier to handle. A lion, while still dangerous, was a far easier opponent Jacqueline compared to the previous form Beast Boy held.

Back in the living room, which now only housed the dueling Red X and Robin, the two warriors now had more freedom to move about and use the environment to their advantage. The overturned kitchen table provided cover for the Boy Wonder from a barrage of the thief's shurikens. When one of the sharpened tips of the shuriken pierced the table inches from his head, Robin knew that it was time to stop hiding. Leaping from behind the table, Robin flung a trio of explosive discs in order to suppress Red X's advance. His teleporter, though, allowed him to dodge the attack and rematerialize above Robin for a quick counter-attack. The twin wrist blades clashed loudly against the bo staff, pushing Robin down momentarily before he managed to push Red X away from.

Robin pressed the attack, unleashing a furious assault of thrusts and swipes with his staff. Sparks began to fly from the sheer force of the impacts, pushing Red X further into the center of the room. It was a level of ferocity in Robin that Red X hadn't seen in a long time…perhaps even never before. Blocking each strike send pangs of pain through his arms, which he could only hope that Robin was feeling similarly. The one thing going for Red X, however, was the knowledge that Robin couldn't keep this level of force up forever. The Boy Wonder's bo staff was already beginning to show signs of wear and tear as nicks and scratches became more apparent along its length. In a move to disarm his opponent, Red X locked his blades against Robin's staff with one wrist blade below the weapon and one above it. With a forceful motion of his hands in opposite directions perpendicular to the bo staff, Red X was able to twist the staff out of Robin's hands and send it flying into the air.

The quick technique didn't level the playing field as much as Red X had hoped it would. No sooner did the staff leave Robin's fingertips did he move in closer to engage hand-to-hand. After driving his elbow straight into Red X's jaw, Robin hurled the thief across the room and slamming into the overturned kitchen table from moments ago. "Looks like somebody's been working out since the last time we fought," Red X tried to keep his spirits up despite facing an impressive offensive force.

"You could say I've been waiting for a moment like this," Robin remarked, catching his bo staff from the air.

"You and me both kid." The two warriors held their position for a brief moment, analyzing each other's stance and trying to predict the other's next move. Neither wanted to commit just yet…not until victory would be assured through their actions. Red X could see it in his mind already – he would start it off by launching a few X's at Robin, which would force the Boy Wonder to rush in for an attack; after parrying a few well-placed strikes he could intercept Robin's staff and hurl him through the overturned table; the blow should stun Robin long enough for Red X to get a solid hit in to knock-out the bothersome Titan. It was a perfect battle plan.

Launching the first strike, Red X fired a trio of X's out of his palms. As predicted, Robin batted the projectiles aside before charging in to prevent further barrages from the thief. With blades drawn once more, Red X and Robin exchanged a rapid series of blows and strikes. Neither made contact but Red X was just defending and waiting for the ideal moment to launch his real attack. When opportunity came, Red X retracted his blades and rushed in close to grab hold of the Titan leader and hurled him straight into the overturned table. However, one thing didn't go quite as planned.

"Oh shit!" Red X shouted in disbelief when he realized the fatal flaw in his plan – the table's surface had been littered with his shurikens from earlier in the fight. Instead of going through the table, Robin was impaled on several of the lodged shuriken, including a prominent red spike protruding from his upper chest. "Blackfire is going to have my head when she's see this!" Red X's mind teetered on the brink of seizure from sheer panic until he noticed something peculiar about the seemingly deceased Teen Titan. "Wait a second, where's the blo-HURK!" Robin sprang to life all of a sudden, grabbing the black-caped warrior by the neck and hoisting him into the air effortlessly.

"I told you, you should've walked away," Robin said grimly as his grip continued to tighten around the thief's throat.

"No way…you could've lived through that," Red X gasped as he tried to get what little air he could through his larynx. "Unless…you weren't alive to start!" One of his wrist blades whirled to life seconds before Red X dragged it across Robin's forearm, severing it and freeing himself from the imposter's clutches. Red X pried off the severed arm that still held onto his neck, looking at the circuitry and wires that dangled in plain sight. "Fancy toys. Guess I don't need to worry about hurting you then!" His second wrist blade spun up as he slashed at Robin's other arm, cutting it off at the elbow. With his opponent completely defenseless now, Red X began to slash viciously at the doppelganger, leaving large gashes that exposed more of the circuitry that made the machine run. Red X figured that it was time to put this machine imposter out of its misery, ramming his buzz saw of death straight into the machine's chest and letting it chew up the circuitry within for a few moments. Once he was satisfied that the machine was destroyed, he let it collapse to the ground in a sparking heap of circuits and scrap metal.

"You did good kid but you're definitely not as good as the real thing," Red X remarked before grabbing his radio so he could let the others know of this turn of events. "This is Red X calling everyone – these aren't the real Titans. You're fighting machine replicas I repeat, you're fighting machine replicas."

With the news that these weren't the real Titans, the others should be able to fight with use all their strength now.

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"Did I just hear you right Red X?" Jinx replied over the radio after hearing the news. "Are you sure?"

"Either that or Boy Wonder's been a robot all these years without anyone knowing."

"Well, okay. If you say so." Jinx was somewhat reluctant to believe the news at first, especially since an error would result in one dead Titan. However, it would better explain how Raven was able to be battle ready so quickly. Might also explain how Raven was shrugging off having several ceiling panels dropped onto her just seconds ago. "If you're a machine, how the heck are you able to use Raven's powers?"

"Trade secret," Raven remarked as several panels were pulled off of the wall and flung at Jinx. The fact that Raven wasn't denying the robot part was pretty much all the confirmation that Jinx needed at this point. She had two sources confirming the same thing – which meant she could really let loose and show this imposter what it meant to fight. After a series of backflips to avoid the flying panels, Jinx counter-attacked by causing several more roof panels to drop on Raven's position. When the dust settled from the attack, Raven still held her position with the black energy shield above her. Jinx didn't care too much for that though, as she was already in Raven's face, driving her knee right into the Titan's gut. With no need for remaining discrete, Raven lashed out using her brute mechanical strength now. The missed punch put a deep dent into the wall, eliciting a semi-impressed whistle from Jinx.

"You might be a bit stronger now…" Jinx mused, ducking under another strike from Raven and countering with a rising elbow to the jaw. "But you still fight like a boy!" With a well-aimed roundhouse to the face, Raven was knocked into the nearby wall with noticeably metallic clang upon impact. Raven was now in the precarious position of staring at the glowing pink aura around Jinx's outstretched hand. "I hate machines."

Blasting a human with her hex magics didn't generate much of a result but all machines had a tendency to breakdown violently upon being hit by her hexes. The Raven imposter was no different, which began to spark and convulse as its systems went haywire. A loud crackle accompanied by a small display of sparks concluded the end of the Raven look-alike. It ended not with a bang…but a fizzle.

"Machines never really liked me either," she chuckled lightly to herself as she gave the smoking machine a light tap with her foot.

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Several floors away, Jacqueline had just received the same news from Red X but she was less able to act on it at the moment. Hell, she wasn't even able to acknowledge the call since she currently keeping an emerald lion from clamping its jaws around her rather tender and vulnerable head. "Good god, 'aven't you ever zought of breath mints?" Jacqueline grunted as she struggled to get her legs up from underneath the animal so she could kick it off. If only she could get a hand free as her guitar lay only a couple of feet away from her, currently useless without a hand to guide it.

"Jacqueline!" A familiar voice called out from down the hall. Glancing up, she saw the red and yellow Kid Flash standing at the end of the hallway.

"My guitar!" Jacqueline called out for help. Quickly taking heed, Kid Flash grabbed the guitar off the ground and swung it with as much force as he could, knocking the beast off of Jacqueline but also shattering the instrument into a dozen pieces in the process. Jacqueline wasn't sure whether to feel elated or depressed at the sight of her ruined weapon. "You broke my guitar!" Jacqueline shouted as she jumped back to her feet.

"You said your guitar," Kid Flash explained. "Besides, I've seen you hit things with it plenty of times without it breaking."

"Zat's cause my powers make it unbreakable in my 'ands. I wanted you to give it to me, not use it."

"Could've told me that a little sooner."

"Where's Cyborg?" Jacqueline realized that if the hero was here, then his opponent shouldn't be too far behind.

"Oh right, him…" Kid Flash answered, as if just remembering something very important. He grabbed Jacqueline by the arm and dashed into the room beside them just seconds before a sonic blast flew past their former locale. "What's the big deal anyways? It's just a guitar."

"My father hand-crafted zat instrument for your information," Jacqueline explained as she temporarily sealed the door behind her. "He gave it to me ze day zat I finished my training and took up ze title 'Jack of All Trades' from him. It was more zan just a instrument…"

"Okay, I get it. I'm sorry I broke your guitar but I thought that was the only way to save you. I'm sure you can agree that replacing a guitar is a lot easier than replacing your crushed skull." Several loud poundings on the door reminded the two that there was a pair of renegade Titans on the other side, dying to continue what had been so rudely interrupted. "Got an idea how we can stop those two?"

Quickly scanning the room, Jacqueline noticed that they were in an old storeroom with a huge number of mechanical, electrical equipment, and old building supplies. "I've got an idea…I'll need those lightning fast arms of yours." Jacqueline took Kid Flash by the wrist and dragged him off to get to work. Time was of the essence but with Kid Flash on her side, she had all the time in the world.

While the heroes worked, the Titans continued to pound away at the door. Unlike some of the door in Titans Tower, this one was particularly well built. After several failed attempted, Cyborg grew impatient and simply blasted the door down with his sonic cannon. The massive storage room was barely lit and thanks to Jacqueline's tampering the lights wouldn't work either. Cyborg's shoulder light propped up and cast a bright, white beam of light upon a lone figure standing near the center of the room.

"I surrender!" Jacqueline shouted, shooting both hands immediately into the air at the sight of the Titans. Cyborg wasn't in the mood for prisoners though and took aim with his sonic, which Jacqueline completely expected. Shrieking in fake distress, Jacqueline dashed past some large crates and disappeared from sight, prompting the Titans to give chance. The Titans figured they had the French heroine cornered for good now, as she had run straight into a dead-end in the maze of crates and boxes.

"End of the line froggie," Beast Boy taunted as the two began to close in.

"You know, it was Napoleon Bonaparte who said to never interrupt one's enemy when he is making a mistake. I, however, feel I must point out yours." Jacqueline flashed that wicked grin of hers that just screamed 'I know something you don't know' before pointing to something behind the Titans. Standing at the far end of the room was Kid Flash alongside a most unusual contraption that consisted of a large cylindrical core wrapped thousands of times over with copper wiring, all attached to a large electrical generator. Cyborg recognized it immediately – it was one gigantic electromagnet.

"Say hello to my little friend," Kid Flash remarked before pulling the switch. Cyborg and Beast Boy looked to Jacqueline with the sort of 'we're screwed' expressions on their face, to which she merely grinned and waved good-bye to them. Seconds later, the two Titans were pulled across the room and into the giant electromagnet. The cyan lights of Cyborg's armour began to fade while Beast Boy appeared to melt into a gray metallic blob upon the magnet until Kid Flash decided to shut the device off.

"Fried like frog legs," Jacqueline chuckled as she walked up to admire her handy work.

"Oh right, magnetic fields screw up computers don't they?"

"Screwed our BB clone up real nice too. Looks like he's made out of some sort of liquid metal…"

"Brilliant plan by the way."

"Couldn't 'ave done without you."

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On the rooftop, the battle was becoming more and more violent as the two sisters exchanged starbolts and bitter words. After having leveled most of the upper floor with their fighting, they progressed back to the rooftops themselves. Starfire led the way, unwillingly though, as she tackled through the ceiling of the top floor and into yet another piece of rooftop hardware.

"What the hell has gotten into you sister? You were supposed to be the good one!" Blackfire shouted as she pinned her sister against the twisted metal of the former mechanical device. "What happened to all that talk about justice and duty?"

"Like you care sister. You're just bitter cause I'm doing a better job than you ever could," Starfire snapped back before breaking free and slugging her sister with a hard right hook. "Let's face it, you were never going to be happy with me around still. This is how you always wanted it to end."

"I told you, I'm not like that anymore!" Blackfire angrily shouted back and fired a salvo of starbolts. Starfire expertly weaved past the barrage and delivered another powerful blow to the elder sister, knocking her across the basketball court. "You told me it was never too late to turn back…that it was never too late to start over. Was that all just a lie?"

"One that I could not believe that you fell for. But let us be honest sister, you have never forgiven me, have you?"

"It was on my to-do list," Blackfire grunted as she got back to her feet. "I can't believe I let you manipulate me like this! I honestly changed because of what you said."

"No you have not sister. You simply stopped committing crimes. You are still the same self-centered, jealous, and spoiled child that cannot accept that her sister was always loved more than her. Who would imagine that beneath so much hatred and anger, all you are is a lonely little girl who wants to be loved. It is kind of funny…in a pathetic way." Her mocking words were even capped off with a smug, little chuckle under her breath.

"Shut up!" Blackfire shouted at the top of her lungs, her eyes burning red with rage. "Why should I be jealous of you and your self-righteous ways? Maybe if you could open those damned naïve eyes of yours you'd realize that you wouldn't be standing here on Earth if it weren't for me. Even after they gave you the throne, I still followed their orders and looked after you like the accident-prone little brat you were. You were the self-absorbed one! You were the one enjoying her popularity so much you couldn't even realize how miserable your own sister was."

"Oh I knew. I just did not care. It was your fault for being so weak in the first place. Maybe if you had spent less time looking after me and more time trying to prove the council wrong, you would not have been hated so much."

"I said shut up! Another word and I'll-"
"You will what? Fly off to another mountain to wallow in your own self-pity like back on Tamaran?"

"H…how did you?"

"I followed you once. I almost felt sorry for you…almost. I just reminded myself that you can never reclaim yourself in our people's eyes…so there was no point wasting time worrying about you. You were a lost cause from the start – they kept you around simply because it would be dishonouring to our parents if they tossed you aside like the worthless troq that you were."

A girl could only take so much abuse before snapping. With an echoing cry of rage and hatred, Blackfire sprang forth and crash-tackled her sister to the ground. Even Starfire was taken back by the sudden ferocity of the attack and wasn't even able to utter another word as Blackfire began pounding her fists into Starfire. "I said not another word!" Blackfire roared, punching away with all her might. "Ungrateful little bitch!" Almost eighteen years worth of bottled-away rage spilt out as Blackfire continued pounding until she was doing nothing more than smashing the floor of the rooftops. Blackfire never even noticed that when her sister's head was smashed to pieces beneath her fists, only circuits, wires, and metal came flying out of it. Only a ruined, headless corpse of the mechanical clone remained with a weary Blackfire still straddling its waist.

"This is Red X calling everyone – these aren't the real Titans. You're fighting machine replicas I repeat, you're fighting machine replicas." The voice of her friend crackled over the radio, finally snapping the girl back to reality. It was only then that she realized what had just happened…the surge of emotions and memories flooding back to her as if just awakening from a violent dream.

"What…what have I done?" she muttered in horror under her breath. She looked at her bloodied hand, cut and scraped from punching into twisted, sharp metal and concrete so forcefully. There was a strange feeling pulsing through her body – one that she hadn't really felt in years, if ever before. She was…trembling. Her hand was shaking and she couldn't get it stop without using her other hand as restraint.

The body might've been a fake…but the emotions Blackfire felt were real. In her mind, a mechanical clone or not, she had just killed her sister…

And for the first time in her life…the thought horrified her utterly.