Chap. 16

Light and Dark, Death and Life

Slowly, Slade stalked the group, the raw power pulsing off his body. They all knew he was powerful beyond measuring now, beyond their ability to defeat. Even so, they had few words to say on the subject. "TEEN TITANS, GO!" "WILDBRATS, ROCK AND ROAR!" The two super teams charged, but Slade didn't move. He just raised the gem up, and shot a powerful beam outwards, that hit them with the force of a train. Nightstalker, Cyborg, and Neuron were hurled into the wall, but the others were trapped inside a sphere of golden light. "I see you need a demonstration of my power." He said. Suddenly the sphere began to crackle with energy. IT surged through each of the Titans, burning their insides and causing them unbelievable pain. Slade dropped the field, and tey fell to the ground, out cold. "Who dares face me now?" "I do!" yelled Cyborg, sonic cannon at the ready. But then, Nightstalker stepped in front of him. "No. Tend to the others. He's mine." "But.." "Trust me. I know his weakness."

Nightstalker held his sword high and charged his enemy. Slade raised the gem and shot another light-beam at him. It struck the elemental head-on, but only stopped him for a minute. Annoyed, Slade began to increase the intensity, focusing it into one continuous stream. Nevertheless, ignoring the pain that racked his body, Nightstalker pressed on. Using every bit of strength in his body, he continued forward, even as the beam began to burn holes in his armor. "Do you really think you can stop me?" asked Slade, as the armor began to smoke and twist. "In a few minutes, your armor will be gone, and you will feel my power full-on." "Yeah.." Brett gasped out, as he tore off his helmet and threw his sword aside. "but I've... felt worse." He continued to inch forward as the last of his armor vanished, and his body began to blister under the power of the gem. Slade began to feel a tinge of fear; Brett was almost in front of him. He prepared to increase the bema again, but then he felt a pair of hands clamp down on his own. Slade looked up, to see the blistered and battered face of the Shadow Elemental staring right back at him. "You... made a... mistake." Brett wheezed out. "Never get.... a weapon.... that your enemy... can turn against you." Slade's eye widened in horror and he looked at the gem. The touch of Brett's hand was fueling an inky blackness into it, overloading it. Slade ripped it away from his enemies' hand, but it was too late. The gem began to radiate black and white light, swirling around faster and faster, until finally, a huge field of power spread out from it, throwing the two combatants against the wall and blinding the others that were still awake.

"Hey, I think he's waking up!" said a voice through the blackness. Groggily, Robin opened his eyes and looked around. "What happened?" he asked. "I think we won." said Beast Boy shakily. "What about Slade?" "He's gone." replied Cyborg. "We looked over the whole cavern but he's not here." "What about Brett?" Robin asked as he got to his feet. But his only answer was Cyborg turning away. "What.. he's not?" "The other BRATS and the girls are with what's left of him. They're over there." replied Cy, pointing to the right. Robin turned, but what he saw made him gape in horror. Brett had been thrown back by the explosion, right onto a protrusion on the wall. It jutted from his chest, as he leaned forward, cold and indifferent to the world. The BRATS looked on, except for Neuron, who was strangely absent. Starfire was crying and Raven just looked on and said, "I don't understand." "Don't understand what?" he asked. "He was an immortal, Robin. How can he be dead?"

Before Robin could respond, Neuron suddenly rushed back into the cave. "I found it!" he said jubilantly, holding Brett's sword in his hand. Th force of the last knocked into some bedrock a while up." "Thank God." said Bartman. "Looking at him was staring to get creepy." "He's gonna be annoyed." said Neuron as he handed the sword over. "That was his favorite shirt." "What are you talking about?" asked Beast Boy. Not responding, Polar and Heatstrike walked over to Brett's body. With a yank, they pulled it off of the protrusion and laid it on the ground. The damge was worse ot behold then; his broken ribs and organs were clearly visible. "Hey, wait a minute." began Raven. But the BRATS just ignored her. Forcing open Brett's hand, Bartman placed the sword hilt in it. Suddenly, the blade began to glow. As the Titans watched, the glow grew to cover Brett's entire body. The wounds began to close and seal shut on their own. His broken ribs re-grew, and then muscle and skin closed over the wound. He hitched in breath once, twice, then opened his eyes to see Raven and Starfire peering over him in joy and amazement. He stood silent for a moment, and then said, "Wow, two hot girls. This must be a good dream!"

Slowly, the Elemental got to his feet. "Did that look as bad as it hurt?" he asked Bartman. "Probably." the young hero replied. "Umm, can I ask what happened?" asked Beast Boy. "First Raven says your immortal then this..." "Ahh yes. Well, when you are immortal in my line of work, shit like that happens on a regular basis. So, I got a major healing power along with my other tricks. As long as the swords' in my hand, I can come back from anything." "Wow. Cool!" said Beast Boy. "You'd think so." Brett said sadly. "So, what now?" asked Robin. "Slade's plan may have failed, but he's still out there somewhere." "I think he's had enough for today." said Cyborg. "Even so, maybe we should do something about it." said Bartman. "Like what?" asked Star. "Well, frankly there's not much left in Springfield to protect anymore. My folks are probably planning to send me to military school again, and the others probably have similar problems. I say let's stay where the action is." "Not a bad plan." said Robin smiling. "Anymore thought on it?" "Well, we know these weirdoes around here, they could give us a spot to stay till we catch Slade." "Really? Because we still have room for a group of loud, annoying kids." The two leaders walked to each other. Looking directly in the eyes, they shook hands. "Until Slade's in jail, we'll help anyway we can." said Bartman. "I wouldn't have it any other way." Robin replied. "Then this just leaves one question." said Heatstrike. "Oh?" said Cyborg. "Who gets the Gamestation tonight?" The two of them Beast Boy and Polar locked eyes, then ran off in the direction of the Tower. The others watched for a moment, then began to walk after them.

THE END