God, did I blow it or what? I mean, I told myself to not play cards for a month. I lasted three days. I told myself to go to school every day. I went one day before not going. As for the eating healthier part, I am doing good. I did have some pizza today, but that's the worst thing yet. I'm hoping to continue this trend of healthier eating. I could stand to lose a few pounds or so. I've been so sad as of late... I broke up with my girlfriend, and she has moved on already. I guess I was kind of hoping that should would spend a little time still liking me, but oh well. I left her, so I'm glad to know she isn't sad about the break up. Hope her and this "Nathan" character work out. Anyways, I left you all with a cliffhanger, and I'm sure that you are all wondering what is going to happen to Raven. Well... you're about to find out. Read on.

I do not own Teen Titans.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13: A Rivalry Ends

All Titans View's

It wasn't as large of a blast as Sai was expecting. A thin beam of yellow light fired out of Taen's hand at a lightning quick speed. No one had time to move before it hit. It blew right by Raven, blasting dangerously close to her neck, which was angled towards Taen. Sai suddenly fell to the ground. His sai fell to the floor, and he used his free hand to clutch at his shoulder. The beam had blasted right through him, and the wound was bleeding freely. Taen was staring at Raven, who had fallen to the floor.

"What the hell was that Taen? Didn't have the guts to kill us?" Sai asked angrily as he stood up. Taen didn't say a word. He was too busy staring at Raven, who hadn't moved. She was still kneeling on the floor, her hand on the back of her neck. Sai spit on the ground next to her, then picked up his sai and stood behind her. "Raven, get up," He ordered. She didn't respond, and Sai saw Taen smile. "Raven. Get. Up. Now!" Sai ordered. Raven slowly stood up from the ground and turned to him, holding out her hand. Sai looked down at it as she opened her palm. There in her hand, were two halves of a golden wire. Sai looked back up at her as it dawned on him. Taen had blasted the wire clean off her. She was free.

"Did you miss me?" Raven asked. Sai opened his mouth to say something cocky, but was suddenly blasted back into the wall. Raven had used her powers to smash him away. Sai got up slowly, scraping his sai off the ground, as he had dropped it. He glared at Raven, and then at Taen, who said, "I guess Slade should really make his inventions more durable." Sai laughed. True, the plan had failed, but all was not lost. "It doesn't matter, this isn't over, not by a long shot," Sai said. In reply, Taen burst forward and kicked both feet into Sai's stomach. His rival was knocked against the wall once again, but he stayed standing.

"A two on one? Can't you beat me any other way Taen?" Sai said, laughing evily. Raven chanted her magic words, a bright flash going off as her spell shot out, the chain of black energy slashing across Sai's face and cutting him. She did it again, cutting the other side of his face. "I guess you'll get a couple of scars to go with that one," Taen said, pointing at the scar he had given Sai himself, a long time ago. Sai growled and fired a blast, which Taen teleported out of the way to dodge. He appeared at Raven's side, grabbing onto her hand tightly. "Good to have you back," Taen told her. Raven nodded.

"I'm out of here," Sai mumbled, waving his hand and making the energy wall disappear. He began to rush towards it, but Taen was in front of him in a split second, hand raised and glowing. "Move," Sai said simply. Taen shook his head and fired, the explosion knocking Sai back into Raven, who fired her own blast of dark matter into him. Sai stumbled about for a moment, but then gained his footing. He turned towards Raven angrily. "You stay out of this!" He yelled, dropping his sai as he raised both hands and fired multiple blasts. Raven was tossed against a wall, five horse shoes of energy strapping her wrists and ankles into the wall. Then Sai fired one more, this blast clamping over her mouth.

"Let her go!" Taen yelled loudly. Sai laughed, not even turning to look at Taen. "Why should I? You ruined my part of the plan Taen. I almost had you, but you just had to go and pull off another miracle. But this time, you're dead for sure. No more games. It's just you... and me," Sai said, turning around to face Taen. The rivals looked each other up and down for a moment, until Taen finally tossed his sword down to the ground. He wanted this to be a fair fight. No two on ones, no weapons. Just hand to hand. "Let's do this," Taen said.

Sai punched first, and Taen easily dodged it, knocking Sai's leg aside as he ducked. He jumped back and kicked high. Sai quickly dropped to the ground and kicked Taen in the shin, then slid across the ground to try and hit Taen one more time. Taen flipped over him, turning around in the air and delivering two quick kicks to the back of Sai's head. Sai fell forward, rolling across the ground. But he quickly flipped into the air, landing gracefully in a fighting pose, ready to continue.

"Not a bad start for either of us. A couple of hits each. Neither of us having a true advantage," Sai said. "Except for the sai wounds and that blast through your shoulder," Taen added with a smirk. Sai laughed. "A cheap shot, Taen," Sai told him. Both of the alien boys laughed for a moment. "And jumping Raven to control her wasn't?" Taen asked. Sai stopped laughing and studied him for a moment. Then he shrugged, stretching for a moment before saying, "Touche."

Taen flew forward this time, and Sai flew back to gain some distance. He backed into a wall, standing over the hold below, which was full of water. Taen quickly turned to the side as he reached Sai, dodging his kick and punching. Sai moved his head just in time, a section of rock getting blown off the rock when Taen's punch hit. Then he flew into the air when Taen punched again, more rock getting torn away as Taen hit it violently. Sai flipped over, the heels over his shoes smacking Taen in the top of the head and porpelling him down towards the water. He stopped jumped in time.

"We'll be at this all day," Sai called down. Taen laughed again, clearly enjoying this fight to the death. After all, it was envigorating. But Taen turned serious once again as he flew up, grabbing onto Sai with one arm and punching with the other as Sai did the same. Their fists connected several times, their hands going numb as pain shot through their arms and through the rest of their body. But they kept on going strong, each one of them occasionally connecting with the other's face. Finally, Taen was forced to let go as Sai nailed him in the chest, knocking the air out of him. Then Sai kicked him in the chest, and Taen was thrown back several feet. He managed to stop himself before hitting the wall.

"You don't know how long I've wanted this Taen. Ever since we met, I have resented you. So many friends, so many family. Everyone thought that you were the best. Everyone thought that you would be the savior in the ward. But they were wrong. There was never meant to be a savior. Destruction Taen, that's what I was created for. I was meant for that one purpose, and I can do it pretty damn good. Now Taen, it is your turn to be destroyed, just like the people of our planet were!" Sai finished his little speech in dramatic fashion, placing both hands together and turning towards Raven. "Say goodbye, Raven!" Sai yelled, firing a large energy blast at her.

"No!" Taen bellowed, flying quickly to get in the way. He wasn't going to make it. Taen quickly stopped, then placed his hands together and fired his own counter blast. Sai saw this, and teleported next to Taen to knock him down. Taen's blast was cut short, but his energy kept going. It knocked Sai's own shot out of the way, both beams hitting the ground and exploding in a cloud of dust. Taen let out a silent cheer, but was brought out of this by a ferocious roar from above. Sai flew down fists first, hitting Taen in the chest and digging him into the rocks below. The ground was shredded away with Taen as he went through it. Sai finally stopped, flipping back and floating in the air. "And for good measure..." He said quietly, firing a blast into the hole, the explosion rocketing through the hole. He settled himself on the ground.

Sai was breathing heavily, his energy diminished. There was no noise, no sound. He was too busy concentrating on the hole he had blown Taen into. He crept towards the edge of it slowly, looking over the side. He could hear water rushing near the bottom. Sai spit down there. "I told you that I was better," Sai said. He turned to go finish off Raven, when the sound of rock being destroyed alerted him. Two hands burst through the ground below him, then latched themelves onto his ankles. "What the? Taen!" Sai yelled. Sai was wrenched through the ground roughly, and Raven watched as Taen flew out of the hole, turning around in the air and blasting back. A bright light went off, followed by an ear shattering explosion. Then there was nothing but silence.

Taen didn't stop to rejoice. He quickly ran over to Raven, but saw that she was still strapped to the wall by Sai's energy. He wasn't dead, not by a long shot. "I have to admit Taen, that was a close one indeed. You almost had me with that blast," A cocky voice sounded off behind Taen. He turned slowly, and sure enough, Sai was right there, looking hurt but still standing. His short was torn at a diagonal, from his left shoulder to the lower right, and he was bleeding. Taen was in a similar condition, the lower part of his pants in shreds and his right shoulder singed, as if it had been on fire.

"Still even. God, didn't you miss this?" Taen sad, acting as if they were old friends. Sai laughed. "I'm glad you've started to fight like you mean it. I've been kicking your ass seventy five percent of the time," Sai said. Taen looked over at his sword, than ran one finger the length of his face. "Well, the first time we fought? Yeah, I think you remember how that came out," Taen reminded Sai. Both of them had struck a nerve now. "The first time we fought doesn't matter, Taen. The time is now. This is our final fight," Sai spoke quietly. Taen nodded. "I know. It's too bad we couldn't have been allies," Taen said softly. "Shut up and fight," Sai told him. "As you wish..." Taen said, then finally got ready to finish it.

They flew into the air once again, smashing into each other with kicks, bouncing back and forth at one another, neither gaining an edge. Taen flew forward, and Sai fired a small energy ball. Taen knocked it aside with one hand, then flew straight past Sai, punching him square in the jaw. The evil alien fell to the ground, but landed on his feet, rubbing his jaw lightly. Taen landed on the ground far from his, raising a hand and motioning for Sai to continue. He walked forward.

Taen blocked the first couple of punches, then got off a weak hit that didn't even stun Sai. He stumbled back as he was hit in the chest, and did a roundhouse to try and get Sai to back off. Sai leaned back, dodging it and kicking one of his sais off of the ground. The weapon flew up, and Taen turned his head to get out of the way. The blade hit the wall right next to Raven's head, the goth girl's heart racing as it barely missed her. She looked back at Taen, who had fallen to the ground. He flipped onto his heads, spinning his legs around and deilvering a few blows to Sai. But he was once again knocked to the ground. Taen slid to the edge of the area, and he stared down at the water below.

"You can't fight me when you're down on the ground," Sai said with a laugh. He walked forward menacingly, raising a hand. Suddenly, Taen shot into the air, spinning about. Sai hopped back, landing and staring at what was in Taen's hand... the sword. Sai looked down at his chest. His shirt had been torn once again, but he was relatively fine. He scowled. "Another cheap shot. I didn't think you would actually resort to using weapons," Sai said. Taen chuckled. "And this is coming from mister 'I tried to kick a sai into Taen's face'? Don't make me laugh," Taen said. Sai smiled at that, then teleported away from Taen and picked up a sai. Looks like weapons were allowed now.

Sai threw his sai forward, then teleported in front of Taen and caught it, quickly jabbing. Taen backflipped away, then landed and thrusted his sword at Sai's mid section. Sai moved to the side, then leaned back to dodge the next thrust. He came back up, and Taen sliced high. Sai barely had time to turn his head, and he felt the painful sensation of his flesh tearing as the sword cut his face. Taen stopped, staring at him. Sai looked back slowly, then reached up and touched his face. He was bleeding. "That's going to scar," Sai angrily said. "It won't matter, you won't live long enough to see it!"

Taen jumped into the air, flying back down and stabbing at Sai. His rival dropped to the ground, using his energy to slide himself out of the way and jump back up. Taen turned, using one hand to jab at Sai's face. Sai quickly grabbed the sword with one hand, the point a mere few inches from his face. "I see your point," He said before laughing. Sai wrenched the sword out of Taen's hands and tossed it to the ground, then kicked Taen back. Taen fell to the ground, but got up quickly. Sai fired a blast, and it knocked the ground beneath Taen out of the way. He put his sai away and moved forward, grabbing onto Taen's shirt.

"I have so much to tell you before you die..." Sai said. He punched Taen in the face. Hard. Blew shot out of Taen's mouth, some of it trailing out of his mouth and down his face slowly. "There are a lot of things that you don't know about that day we left the planet. Hell, there is a lotta stuff you don't know about my origins!" Sai yelled, punching Taen in the face again as he held him up. Sai continued this for a few moments, then paused to think.

"First of all, when you found me, and I told you that someone killed my entire camp? Well, that wasn't entirely untrue. Someone did kill them all, and that was me!" Sai said. He kneed Taen in the chin, laughing loudly. "Oh, let's see... what else? When we were ordered to go to Earth, I killed off everyone that I could! But you were the first there, so I guess you got lucky!" Sai told Taen, laughing maniacally. "And one more thing... the girls ship that exploded?" Sai whispered. He leaned forward into Taen's ear. "I rigged it to do that!" He screamed into his ear. Then he dropped Taen to the ground, and started to laugh as he tried to crawl away.

"I've been holding that in so long Taen, thanks for listening," Sai joked. He walked towards Taen slowly. Sai watched with an amused look as Taen crawled towards his sword. He had no intention of letting Taen get the jump on him though. "I mean, you must have figured there was something up when I was the only other boy to have made it to the ship. I did have a violent history after all, perhaps that was a good tip off. I guess you were more dense than everyone made you out to be," Sai said as Taen reached his sword. He grabbed onto it, then kneeled with Sai still standing directly behind him. Sai raised his weapon into the air.

"Any last words? I don't think you even have the strength to swing that. In fact, I know it. I can feel your energy, Taen. It's weak. You have no chance to stop me now. I'll kill you. And then I'll kill Raven. And then I'll finish off the rest of your pathetic friends... then the city goes. Everyone will die Taen, and it's all because you couldn't finish me off," Sai said cruelly. He prepared to strike. "I was always stronger," Sai whispered. Then he brought the blade down quickly at Taen's head.

In an instant, Taen had dodged. He rolled out of the way, turning around and moving all in one motion. Sai fell forward, and Taen grabbed onto his shoulder. Their eyes stared at one another for a second, hatred shining in them both. But Taen broke this stare quickly, pushing his sword into the air and straight through Sai's stomach and out his back, then pulling it out in one quick motion. Then he shoved Sai back, who dropped his weapons as he howled in pain while the blood spilled from him.

"And I was always faster," Taen said quietly. He closed his eyes for a brief moment as Sai slowly fell back wards. His screams stopped as he silently fell off the edge at the hole. Taen listened, then heard a quiet splash as Sai hit the water below. Suddenly, the energy binding Raven to the wall disappeared, and she was released. Taen looked at her for a moment before collapsing, but Raven was there to catch him. She cradled him gently in her arms. "You did great Taen... it's over," She said softly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, I killed off Sai. What a menace... or something. I guess I felt alright on this chapter. Like I said, it's really difficult to continue writing so many fight scenes. Next time, I'm throwing in a little more story line and dialogue, because I had to rack my brain for this one. And to think... there's still a major fight scene or two coming up in these later chapters. Let me think for a moment once again. I'm thinking three more chapters, plus the acknowledments. That sounds about right to me. So there will be sixteen normal chapters before I thank you all and do whatever. I need to get to bed, school tomorrow and all. I thank you all for reading, please review on your way out.

Next Chapter: The Titans regroup to face their final enemy... Slade. But the evil mastermind gets the jump on them, grabbing Robin and taking him to a far away location. Can the Boy Wonder stand up to his nemesis alone?

"This love has taken its toll on me"

-SinFire