Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, dammit.

NOTES: Hey, one more chapter after this! YAY! man, I gotta say, I loved the Beast Within! finally a good Beastboy episode! It makes me feel so happy and warm inside! anyway, I'll do all the thanks to the people in the last chapter. enjoy the readin!

Chapter 21

Gotham

Upon reaching Gotham, the Titans look around and see many of the buildings are destroyed, glass from the windows everywhere, along with the bodies of many Gotham police officers and some HIVE members.

"Well, Gotham PD seemed to be ready for them. There must be about nine or ten HIVE members on this street alone." Cyborg notes, scanning the area for any other forms of life.

"That may be, but the loss of life still wasn't worth it. They should have evacuated as soon as I told the." Came the familiar voice of Batman.

The Titans turned and looked behind them. Standing on top of a busted building, was Batman.

"They did however, manage to put a decent dent into their forces. Most of the people have been pushed back to the northern sector of the city. I managed to take down an additional five members of this, HIVE." Batman said as he jumped down from the building and walked over to the Titans.

"So that leaves...twenty HIVE members left." Beastboy said, counting on his fingers.

"Where are they heading?" Robin asked.

"They seem to just be passing through. And killing and destroying everything in their path." Batman replied.

"But why would Slade do this? It doesn't seem like his style. He normally wants to take things over, not completely destroy things." Robin said.

Elsewhere...

"My plan is almost complete. The destruction of Jump City, now the downfall of Gotham. Those Titans don't know that the two cities are linked by a giant underground graveyard. That graveyard holds history's greatest warriors. And I have the power to resurrect them! With them, I shall no longer need these worthless HIVE students. I just need to destroy Gotham City Museum. It will give me access to the underground graveyard. And then I can..."

"Master? What is our next location?" Furry Rose asked, distracting Slade from his current thought.

"Our next location...is the museum. Destroy it completely. Gather what is left of the HIVE and go." Slade said.

"Yes master." Rose said as she walked away. "The museum? Has master lost his mind?"

Rose stops and grabs her H-com.

"Attention all HIVE members. Our next target is the Gotham Museum. All units seek and destroy."

Rose put her com away and drew he Custom .45, checking to make sure it was ready to go. She didn't believe for a second that the Titans had perished in Jump City. To be honest, she wasn't sure if Jump City had been destroyed. But, Slade had given her so much. Took her in as his new apprentice, showed her many things, taught her better fighting moves and her favorite, how to control people. Jacking the slide on her gun, Rose holstered it and made her way to the museum.

Back at the Titans...

"So what now?" Speedy asked no one in particular.

"Cyborg, can you find out where they are?" Robin asked.

"Sure thing. Gimme a few minutes. Normally it'd take less time, but I don't have Gotham's map in my system." Cyborg replied.

Cyborg begins his scan of the city, picking up small life forms, most likely animals, until his scan reached the museum.

"I'm picking up a large movement of people near the museum. Looks like it's them."

"Then to the museum we go. You coming Batman?" Robin asked.

"My city, isn't it?" was his reply before taking off.

Robin smiled and waved to his team to follow. The Titans ran along the ground as Batman leaped from building top to building top. The Titans, as they ran through Gotham saw the destruction that the HIVE had done to the city. Many of the buildings were destroyed, some crumbling, many of them had their windows broken, glass covering the street. The cars, or rather what was left of them, littered the streets, most burning, some just flat out crushed. Upon arriving at the museum, the Titans and Batman saw the HIVE destroying the museum, none of them seemed to take notice of the new arrivals.

"Titans, GO!" Came Robin's signature battle cry.

The Titans quickly split up, Each with their own idea of how to take down the HIVE. Robin and Batman, however, went straight for the museum entrance. Entering the museum, Batman and Robin saw there were two ways to choose from.

"I'll take the left." Batman said, as he ran quickly towards the left.

Robin gave a humorless smile, seeing that his old mentor hadn't changed the slightest. Shaking his head, Robin takes off towards the right, which led downstairs. Leaping down the stairs, taking them six or seven at a time, Robin quickly reaches the bottom. He looked down the hallway and saw that most of the ceiling lights were smashed out. He somehow knew this is where Slade was. He didn't know how, but he knew. Anger flashing in his eyes, Robin took off in an all out sprint. Nearing the end of the hall, Robin notices the lights had begun to flash on and off, as if he were in a horror movie. Robin reaches the end of the hall and spots an open door, the lights in the room flashing. Cautiously, Robin enters the room. Ladders, ropes and miscellaneous construction supplies lay around the room, meaning that it was probably under construction. A sign posted at the front of the door that Robin had just walked through told him what was going on.

"This exhibit is currently under construction. Under Gotham City, and leading straight under to Jump City was discovered a huge underground cemetery filled with history's greatest warriors and commanders, such as Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and even some not from this planet. Apparently, this graveyard was used by other alien races as well, such as..."

The sign cut off there. Robin assumed they were going to add more to it later on. But what could Slade want with a graveyard? Robin walked away from the sign and looked towards the other door in the room. Listening carefully, Robin could hear voices coming from it. Quietly walking towards the door, Robin slowly made his way down the stairs.

The voices grew clearer and Robin was able to make out whom they belonged to.

"But Master, I still don't understand why we need to do this! Together we could take the Titans down on our own!" The voice of Furry Rose reached Robin's ears.

"Ah, you still have much to learn, my dear apprentice. And you shall learn, in due time. I have grown weary of the worthless HIVE. After I complete the process, I shall have no need of them." Slade answered back.

"Then what do you plan to do with us?"

"Us? My dear, I only plan to throw away the HIVE, not you. Since you have become my apprentice, you no longer belong to the HIVE. You belong to me."

A sigh of relief escaped from Furry Rose's lips, her expression grateful to her Master.

"I see you approve. Good. I must say, you have been more helpful to me then the last two I have had. Both ungrateful, worthless children. Now, my apprentice, go see how your worthless HIVE members are faring."

"Yes Master."

Furry Rose made her way to the stairs, walking towards Robin. Robin looks around, but being in a stairwell limited his options. Robin quickly made his way back to the construction room and hid behind a ladder. He looked out as Rose made her way past him. Stepping out quietly, Robin took out a birdarang and crept up behind Rose. Raising his arm, Robin smashed the birdarang down hard on Furry Rose's neck, knocking her out instantly. Robin took a rope from the construction site and tied her up, taking her gun and tossing it somewhere in the room. Running back down the stairs, Robin charges into the Room that Slade and Rose were talking in.

"SLADE!" Robin roared, the hatred for the masked villain plain in his voice.

Slade turns and stares at Robin, then turns back to the graveyard.

It was only then that Robin saw the graveyard. From the top of the hill he was standing on, he could see that it extended for miles; elegant tombstones lined the entire way. In certain places, most likely for the greatest of warriors or commanders, stood giant walk-in grave houses. Just in the distance stood a giant pillar; on the top of said pillar was what appeared to be a black mirror.

"Slade! I'm taking you down!" Robin shouted, charging Slade.

Slade turned quickly and landed a solid kick to the Boy Wonder's stomach, causing him to fly back the way he came.

"But Robin, don't you even want to know what I'm doing here?" Slade asked tauntingly.

Robin struggles to his feet, holding his stomach and gasping for air.

"Well then, since you seem to be incapable of talking right now, I shall assume you want to know. This graveyard holds history's greatest warriors and commanders. And I shall resurrect them! I have the means to, and once I do, I shall no longer need the HIVE. I shall take over city after city with these fallen warriors. And no one shall stop me."

Robin watches as Slade raises his arm, and gasped as he saw what was attached to it. The particle distorter.

"Yes Robin, this handy device has many uses. That mirror on the pillar way down there has magical properties, and is said to be unbreakable. But if one could somehow break it, it would unleash a giant surge, powerful enough to wake the dead! And this device has more then enough power to smash that mirror."

Slade aimed at the mirror as Robin finally got to his feet. Before Slade could fire, Robin launches himself at him, crashing into Slade's arm, causing the blast to miss the mirror by inches.

Robin and Slade roll over and over each other down the side of the graveyard, finally stopping at the bottom as they crashed into a tombstone. Robin kicked himself away from Slade and rolled onto his feet, brandishing his staff, ready to fight. Slade calmly got to his feet and drew his own staff. Robin let out a bloodcurdling yell and charged him, leaping into the air and swung his staff down, aiming at Slade's head. Slade countered, swinging his own staff upwards and hitting Robin right below his chin, snapping his head back and causing his body to fly back into a nearby house tomb, which shattered under the impact. Robin landed hard on the stone coffin. Robin had time to let out one last yell of fear, his eyes going wide as the heavy roof to the ceiling collapsed on top of him.

Slade watched as the roof caved in on top of the Boy Wonder, hearing his last cry of fear as it crushed him. Underneath his mask, Slade smiled to himself. Dropping his staff, Slade looked towards the mirror and again aimed the Particle Distorter. Suddenly, he was no longer in the graveyard. Instead he was back in his former house, staring at his former wife and kids. A sudden pain engulfed his right eye, his wife stepped back from him, and through his left eye he could see a knife in her hand. Yelling out in pain, Slade stumbles back into one of his children. Turning and looking at his child with his good eye, he sees not his child, but a rotting corpse of a young man. It's eyes had sunk back into it's skull, hair started falling out in clumps and the jaw unhinged itself and nearly fell off, only being held on by a few sinews of skin. Slade pushed the horrifying figure away from him, and to his surprise, and horror, it started to talk. It spoke in a voice that sounded as if it had its throat cut.

"You did this to me father...this is all your fault! It is your fault that I died...how could you live with yourself knowing what you did to your own child?"

Slade backed away slowly, fear showing in his eye. He bumps into his former wife again, who swipes at him with the knife again, scoring a hit on his chest. Pain seared through the wound, causing him to cry out in pain. Slade backed himself up a few more feet to get some distance between himself and his former wife and child. Slade gazed past them, his eyes settling on his other son, who looked normal and had said nothing the whole time he was there. His other son was standing there, head down staring at his feet. Suddenly, he picked up his head and stared back at Slade. He started to walk towards Slade, who was now holding the wound on his chest and his eye wound.

"None of this is real. This is...this is his doing..." Slade thought to himself.

"NONE OF THIS IS REAL!" Slade shouted out, causing his son to stop walking towards him and look at him in surprise.

Slade charged his son and struck him with a heavy right hand, the force of the blow knocking him back past his mother and brother. The illusion disappeared, and Slade found himself standing in the graveyard. He placed his hand on his chest, then the right eye, feeling nothing, for both were protected by his armor. The pain was gone as well. He stared in front of him, and saw Carcer lying on his back, clutching a bullet wound near his heart and his stomach where Slade had punched him.

"YOU! How did you get here? Rose said she got rid of you!" Slade shouted in anger.

Slade began to advance on Carcer, who had flipped on his stomach and was trying to squirm away. Slade aimed the Particle Distorter at Carcer, smiling under his mask.

"Your powers are very strong, but unfortunately for you, they are not strong enough to work on me. If only you hadn't betrayed me. I could have given you everything. Too bad. I hope you lived a good life, because it is about to end."

Once again, before Slade could fire, he was hit by a huge rock, sending him flying into a nearby Tomb house.

"You and I still have unfinished business, Slade." Terra said as she floated into the graveyard on a rock slab.

Terra jumped off the slab, and using her powers broke it apart into several small, sharp points. Slade emerged from the Tomb House, and stared at Terra, hatred in his eye. Terra smirked and threw a few of the sharp rocks at him, which he evaded easily. Slade charged at Terra, aiming the Distorter at her. Terra began to panic and threw all of the remaining rocks at him. Two out of the nine rocks left hit one in the left shoulder, the other in the left leg, causing Slade to stumble and lose his balance. Falling hard on his face, the Distorter goes off, striking the ground in front of Terra, causing her to fly back and land hard on the ground.

"At least I won't have to hunt you down now, Terra." Slade said as he got to his feet. Bending down, Slade pulls the sharp rock out of his leg, and then out of his shoulder.

Before Slade could take a step towards Terra, he was hit with several green bolts.

"You shall leave her alone!" Starfire said calmly, floating above Terra.

Starfire launched more starbolts at Slade, hitting him each time. Starfire flew at Slade, leading in with fierce punches. Slade grabbed her left arm as she went in for another strike, and used her momentum to throw her into the Tomb House Terra had sent him through. Starfire blasted out of the tomb, her eyes blazing bright green. Terra stood up behind Slade, her eyes blazing yellow. Carcer was struggling to his feet, his black hole eyes...black. Carcer falls back to the ground, gasping for air, sweating from the effort of trying to get up with his ribs and arm still broken, and the bullet wound Rose had inflicted adding to the pain.

"Carcer, stay down. You've done enough." Terra said calmly. "Slade, your time on this world is done. You've hurt so many people, caused so much destruction. It's time for it to end."

Slade looked at Terra, then back at Starfire, then back to Terra.

"My dear, I believe it is your time that has" Slade began, only to have Starfire blast him in the back with her laser eyes.

"No more talking!" Starfire said, blasting Slade again.

Slade's body rolled away from the hit of Starfire's blast, and was then hit by a giant rock from Terra. Slade slowly starts to crawl away from the two enraged women, only to be stopped by Robin, who had finally regained consciousness.

"Sorry Slade. It's over." Robin said, raising his staff and bringing it crashing down on Slade's head, destroying the mask. Robin kicked Slade over onto his back and looked at his face for the first time ever. Slade's gray-white hair flowed out to his shoulders; his face was sharp and handsome. In a way, he nearly resembled Bruce Wayne with gray-white hair and a scar on the right side of his face leading up to his eye, which was gone. Robin walked towards Starfire and Terra, who were standing together.

"Starfire...how did you get here? I thought Aqualad was taking care of your injuries."

"He did...his people are...quite advanced at healing injuries. After I was healed, I asked where my friends were, and he told me that you were here. His people cleared out what was left of Slade's forces in our city. Raven is here as well. She said she would help with battle the HIVE."

"Well Star...It's good to have you back." Robin said, moving closer to her.

"Uh, guys? I think Carcer needs medical attention...now." Terra interrupted.

Robin breaks away from Starfire and jogs over to Carcer.

"Broken ribs, broken arm...his leg is messed up too...maybe a concussion as well. And the bullet wound to. I wonder how he made it all the way here...Star, could you get Raven? I know she can't heal him all the way, but she can do something."

Starfire nods and takes off to find Raven.

"Terra, how's the HIVE battle going?" Robin asks.

"I left when it seemed we would win. We had most of them down for the count. I figured the others could take them. Batman came back and joined us after he went through the museum, so that definitely helped us." Terra replied.

Before Robin could answer, Raven appeared in front of them.

"Where is Carcer?"

Robin stepped aside and pointed to Carcer's limp form. Raven rushed to his side and began the healing process. Batman walked into the room and for once in his life was speechless, as he gazed around the huge graveyard. Snapping back to reality, he walks over to Robin.

"Bring him back to the mansion. Alfred and I can supply the medical supplies. The HIVE is being cleaned up as we speak. The Gotham PD finally showed up again in full force."

"Good to hear. Furry Rose is in the other room. Did you see her?" Robin asked.

"There was no one in the room I passed by." Batman replied.

Robin ran past Batman and back up the stairs. The place where he had left Rose, there was just a bundle of ropes. Walking to where he threw the gun, he discovered it was gone as well. Robin started to walk back to the graveyard as Batman walked up.

"Raven has transported Terra and Carcer to the mansion. Come on, let's see if the police picked her up."

"Yeah ok." Robin replied.

The two former partners walked side by side until the reached the outside of the museum. Robin walked up to each of the Gotham PD's paddy wagons and looked into each one. Frustrated, Robin stormed past the police and back to Batman.

"Damn! She got away somehow! I've got to..."

"Do nothing. Robin, you and your team have been through a lot the past few weeks. Right now you need to come back to the mansion and look after your friend. I'll finish the cleanup here." Batman said.

Robin reluctantly nodded and walked towards the other Titans, who were helping the police load up the remaining HIVE.

"Hey guys. Let's go the Bruce Wayne's place. Carcer and Raven and Terra are already there." Robin said.

"Carcer's here? But how?" Beastboy asked.

"I'm not sure. We'll have to ask him when he heals up. He's pretty messed up right now. Broken ribs, broken arm, bullet wound, concussion, the list kinda goes on." Robin replied.

The Titans turned and began to walk towards the mansion, which was about five miles away. Robin stopped and watched as the police brought out Slade, his hands cuffed behind his back. Slade stared at Robin, his face twisted in an expression of pure hate.

"So that's what he looks like without his mask on." Cyborg said as he walked back up to Robin.

Robin nods and turns to walk away, when loud gunshots are heard. Robin whirls around and sees the police that were brining Slade out were on the ground, Slade broke free of his handcuffs and charged Robin, blind with the rage that had built up inside him. Robin took a fighting stance and leaped into the air and landed a hard kick to Slade's unprotected head. The force of the blow emitted a loud crunch sound, as Slade fell back onto the ground, no longer moving, or breathing, for that matter. Robin bent over and checked the mad man's pulse. Finding none, Robin waved over the police, who rushed over and began their own check of the body. Robin saw something on Slade's body and went over to retrieve it. The Particle Distorter. Lifting it in his hand, Robin threw it on the ground and crushed it.

"It's over now." Robin said to himself. "But those gunshots...where did they come from?"

"Over there, on the roof of the pizza place. My scanners are picking up a heat source down there. Most likely the casings from the bullet. Should we check it out?" Cyborg asked.

"No. She's long gone by now. No point. Let's just get out of here." Robin replied.

Cyborg nodded and went over to the fallen police officers, who were slowly getting up.

"Man, you guys are lucky." He said.

"No, we just have good equipment. These helmets are bullet proof. Not much to worry about, though it did hurt like hell. Thanks for the concern, but we have a job to do." One of the officers said as they walked past Cyborg.

"Uh, sure thing..." Cyborg said as he walked back to the Titans.

The Titans took one last glance at the now ruined museum before turning and walking towards Wayne Manor.

"Well guys, I gotta get back to my place. I'm sure by now they need me back at my own city. I'll keep in touch." Speedy said, as he broke off from the Titans.

"Alright. See ya later Speedy. I'll call you and give you an update on what's going on every now and then." Robin said as he waved to Speedy.

Speedy nodded in reply and took off in a run down the street.

"Well, walking to the mansion will take a long time, so..." Beastboy hinted.

"Yes. Let us fly there." Starfire said happily.

Starfire grabbed Robin while Beastboy turned into a pterodactyl and lifted Cyborg. Within ten minutes, the group arrived at the mansion. Landing softly on the ground, the Titans made their way to the front door. Alfred opened the door before Robin had a chance to knock.

"Come in Master Robin. Your friends are awaiting you in the medical wing." Alfred said.

"Thanks Alfred. Would you mind preparing some food for us?"

"Of course. Please see to your friends."

The Titans made their way to the medical wing of the mansion. Upon entering the room, the Titans saw Carcer lying on a bed hooked up to the life support system, a breathing mask strapped to his face. Raven was meditating by a window and Terra appeared to be sleeping in the bed next to Carcer.

"Hey Rae, how's he doing?" Robin said, breaking her concentration.

"He is doing fine. I healed the outer wounds and set his ribs and arm. His leg will have to heal on it's own. He took a heavy beating in the fight he had with Trinion."

"Good to know. Any idea how he got here?"

"No. He has not woken up yet, nor have I tried to enter his mind to communicate with him."

"Alright Raven. That's fine. You did a good job. Come o the kitchen, Alfred's making us some food."

Raven nodded and walked past Robin. The other Titans followed, with the exception of Beastboy, who walked up to Terra's bedside. An evil smile began to form on his face, as he grabbed Terra lightly by her shoulders and shook her hard until she woke up.

"Aahhh!! Beastboy! Stop!" Terra cried out.

"I'm sorry Terra, I couldn't resist!" Beastboy chuckled.

"Well doing a Shreik wake up isn't funny!" Terra fumed.

"Well, anyway, there's food in the kitchen, so...let's go eat!"

Terra sighed and swung her legs over the bed. "Ok...hey BB, while we're here in Gotham, remember when I took you to that place to eat the pie? Well, that other place that servers the cherry pie is only 200 miles outside the city. I was wondering if you wanted to..."

Beastboy looked Terra directly into her eyes.

"I'd love to Terra. Let me just tell the others and we can go."

Terra smiled and wrapped him in a huge bear hug.