DISCLAIMER: As usual, I do not own Teen Titans or Megas XLR, but I wrote this fanfic. Both shows are teh funnah. :)
And now for some more action and lame comebacks (:P) as we continue with:
Chapter 4: Megas captured?
Much has happened in the last chapter. To start off, Megas came, saw, and kicked the Glorft's joorblochs (again), but they nonetheless succeeded in abducting Terra's remains to continue their plan to conquer Earth. Afterwards, Coop, Jamie and Kiva met the Teen Titans, they became fast friends and helped each other repair Megas, and just in time, too, what with the Glorft mothership hovering above Jump City. The heroes' mission to stop the Glorft and save Terra is about to begin, but before we get into that let's turn back the clock a few hours to when Gorrath and his remaining troops have returned to HQ from yet another miserable defeat in battle.
"This plan of yours better be worth it to have lost so many units in combat, Commander," said Gorrath irritably as he made his way to his throne. "Otherwise, I'll hold you solely responsible for salvaging every piece of my fallen mechs!"
"My apologies for those casualties, Warmaster, but everything so far is otherwise going according to plan," assured the Commander.
"If that's so, then I trust this reverse-fossilizer of yours is ready for use on the girl?" asked Gorrath.
"Yes, sir. Our engineers have managed to successfully put together a working prototype, which we've already tested on a sample of tiny Earth insects preserved in amber, as most earthers call it. This is the result." The Commander then revealed a small see-through cubic container with a few living ants inside walking about, which he presented to his superior.
"Excellent," replied Gorrath. "And where is the device?"
"If you'll kindly follow me, I'll show you." The Commander led the way for Gorrath to the reverse-fossilizer, changing tracks from the path to the central command room. When they arrived, the leader saw before him a large glass tube surrounded by massive machinery overhead and a series of computer consoles around, manned by several of his underlings (picture the roboticiser from SatAM Sonic, but moderately different in appearance). The headmaster wasn't particularly impressed with this machine, knowing what his engineers can do, but he was still pleased with their creation. "Awaiting orders, sir," said the Commander.
"Bring in the girl,'' ordered Gorrath right away. The Commander gave a signal to the guards standing outside a nearby storage room containing Terra's remains, ordering them to bring it out. As they did so, the glass tube opened up for them to put the statue in place. Gently placing Terra's statue in place, the tube closed back down again. "Begin the reverse-fossilization sequence," said Gorrath for his next order. His crew then powered up the machine by grabbing a switch on their consoles and turning it up, then turning each switch to the right at its peak in unison to begin the reverse-fossilization process. As the machinery overhead began to hum loudly, the electrodes in the capsule's interior created sparks, sending a current of a distinct type of electrical energy through the statue. "How long will this take?" asked Gorrath as he viewed the glowing statue.
"It took mere seconds to revive the ants in the earlier test, being such a small sample, but it will take a few minutes in Terra's case," answered the Commander.
"Very well then, as long as it works," replied Gorrath. About two minutes into the sequence, an alarm was triggered. "Argh, what now!'' demanded Gorrath, annoyed by the sudden interruption.
"Security scanners have just detected an intruder in the ship's docking bay," announced the Commander. "Units are being sent to track him down."
"Good. Bring him to me once you've found him," ordered Gorrath. The reverse-fossilization sequence was finishing up at this point. As the light from the electrodes faded and the machine powered down, Terra was returned to flesh and bone once more. Out cold, she slowly fell back with her back pressing against the cold glass tube as she sat down. Though alive, her mind needed to reaquaint itself with its bodily functions again before she could regain consciousness. After a minute or so, Terra came to again. As she slowly opened her eyes, she instantly noticed the bright spotlight shining above her, though the machine was inactive. To her, it was like being born again.
"Huh?" she said, trying to figure out what was going on. "I'm...alive? But... how... where am I?" Terra was filled with mixed emotions here. She didn't know whether to be happy to be alive again or to be scared from being in a trapped position surrounded by darkness, not knowing where she is or why she's there. As she stood up to have a look around, she noticed the sinister glaring eyes of Gorrath, her captor, who took a step forward to get a closer look at her.
"Well, you weren't much to look at as a statue, and you certainly aren't much to look at now either," commented Gorrath as he made himself visible to Terra. As she observed the slimy green skin, sharp yellow fangs, threatening eyes, and the tentacles hanging down the face of the large alien clad in heavy armor, Terra stepped back slowly in fear of Gorrath's presence.
"Who are you!'' she shouted out of fear, but before Gorrath could introduce himself to her, the Commander called for his attention.
"Sir. We've just intercepted the intruder and taken him into custody," he announced.
"Good. Bring him in," ordered Gorrath, turning his attention away from Terra. As two guards walked in holding the intruder in custody, the Commander continued speaking.
"Our guards found him attempting to hijack one of our mechs. We surrounded him quickly, and he surrendered without a fight." Upon further inspection, the intruder was human; a tall man with a strong physical build, though shorter than the guards. He was covered from head to toe in a black armor-plated suit, equipped with a utility belt with a strap over his shoulder and wearing a metal mask that was half black and half orange.
"SLADE!" shouted Terra, shocked to see that hated man alive and well.
"Hello, Terra. Long time no see," he replied in his low, seemingly unbothered voice.
"You know this earther?" asked Gorrath, turning his attention back to Terra (nevermind that it technically didn't matter which one he spoke to).
"Terra and I have a history with eachother," answered Slade. "She's my... former apprentice."
"You..." said Terra, enraged by Slade's presence. "I thought I destroyed you! What happened!''
"Looks can be deceiving, my dear. That's something you should already know from having served at my side."
"What're you doing here?" she demanded.
"Before I go on, Terra, do you even know where 'here' is?" asked Slade. "Oh wait, my mistake. Of course you don't. You couldn't exactly perceive your surroundings in the form of a statue while you were brought here, could you?" Terra's expression turned confused after giving it some thought. "My point exactly. In any case, Terra, we are currently onboard a large alien mothership hovering somewhere in space, outside of Earth itself. These... creatures who pilot this ship must know of your amazing earth-moving powers, so they have abducted and revived you for the sake of using your abilities to... satisfy their goals."
"Not bad, earther," commented Gorrath as the conversation was overtaken by the sounds of guns being cocked. It was just at this moment when Slade was suddenly surrounded by a couple dozen Glorft troops, each one aiming a large gun at him. "However, the fact remains that you are intruding on my ship! What business have you here? And for that matter, how did you get here?"
"As I saw those units of yours stopping by at the cave where Terra's remains were located, it didn't take long for me to realize that she was the reason they were there. I concluded that the only logical reason for them to take a statue was the same as what I said earlier. Keeping the idea in mind, I decided to hitch a ride onboard one of your mechs as you prepared to head back your headquarters, namely this ship, so that I may see for myself whether I was right or wrong in my thinking. At the risk of getting... severely injured, I triggered a security alarm to get your attention, and I surrendered myself at the off-chance that I'd meet with Terra once more. And now, well... there you have it. I must say, though, that the idea of reviving Terra through such a process as reverse-fossilization was rather... brilliant."
"Hmph. Typical of an earther to go through this much trouble for something so trivial!" figured Gorrath.
"Actually... 'sir'... there's more to it than that," responded Slade, not letting Gorrath's remarks get to him.
"Elaborate."
"Very well then. Prior to the start of your battle with the massive blue mech known as Megas, you announced to the Teen Titans your intentions for coming to Earth. I was in the vicinity at the time, hiding in seclusion but close enough to hear what you had to say first hand. Being the Titans' greatest enemy, it has always been my goal to have them destroyed and Jump City conquered. In essence, you wish to do the same and then some, so... perhaps there is a way for us to help one another."
"Help? From a human? HA!''
"But isn't that just what you plan to get out of young Terra, who is, like myself, a human?" That last remark from Slade put Gorrath on the verge of losing his temper, like he normally does anyway.
"Oh, a wise-guy, huh?'' responded Gorrath bitterly, walking up to Slade and getting in his face as if to strike him. "I suggest you say what you have in mind while you still can, before things get ugly," he threatened.
"You mean ugly like your face?" remarked Terra.
"Silence!" snapped Gorrath.
"For starters," continued Slade, "I can aid you in the control of Terra's powers."
"You can forget it, Slade!" objected Terra. "The last thing I'd wanna do is serve someone like you again! And I told you before, you can't control me anymore!"
"My dear child," responded Slade, turning his attention back to Terra who's still trapped inside the glass tube. "Having beentrapped in the form of a statue has taken its toll on you. Already there's much that you don't quite remember since that fateful day. So tell me. Have you forgotten that the suit I designed for you, which you're still wearing, is a sophisticated neural interface integrated into your nervous system, which grants me direct control of your physical movements as well as your powers?" Slade approached Terra slowly as he spoke. "My mask which I lost back then contained a key component in my control over your powers. But as you can see, I've since then replaced it. I've even increased the signal strength high enough to guarantee virtually absolute control over your abilities." At this moment, electrical energy suddenly began surging through Terra, causing her to lower herself to the floor, groaning in pain. "And as you can feel for yourself, it works just fine. It's not that I knew this day would come. It just helps to be prepared. Furthermore, let's not forget the vow you made to me. You swore that you would serve me and me only. To obey my every command, to fight at my side... forever. And that's a vow... that I expect you to keep." As Terra continued suffering from Slade's device, the energy causing her pain suddenly dissipated, allowing her to move on her own again. "That is, however, if Warmaster Gorrath is willing to let me do so," he said, turning his attention back to the alien leader. "Any command you give to Terra, I will carry out for you, unless otherwise specified, of course. All I want is to see the Teen Titans destroyed and Jump City conquered, as well as all nearby cities. I could care less what happens to the rest of the world. That being said... do we have a deal?" Gorrath began considering Slade's offer, then turned his attention to his Commander.
"It would certainly save us time on making the final adjustments to our own mind-control device," he suggested. Several seconds later, Gorrath arrived at a decision.
"Fine then," he decided. "I accept your terms, but remember this. As long as you're on my ship, you will follow my every command, lest I make you pay dearly for any insubordinance. Do so much as ignore one of my orders and I'll take that mask of yours, shove it down your throat, then proceed to laugh my joorblochs off as I watch you choke on it!" he then turned his attention to Terra. "The same goes for you, should you try anything unexpected!" As he then began to leave the room, he turned to the Commander. "Now then, Commander."
"Yes, sir?"
"Send the earthers to the combat training facility. I will issue further orders from the central command room once I get there."
"Understood," he replied as his master left the room. The Commander then ordered the guards to escort Terra and Slade to the ship's training facility. When they arrived, the two humans were placed in an empty, massively-oversized room to await further orders.
"So, Terra," began Slade. "Are you prepared for whatever these... 'Glorft' have in store for us?"
"Don't talk to me," she replied, giving him the cold shoulder. Terra was still angry about having to meet with Slade again, and not to mention recalling the hell she went through before she was turned to stone.
"I see that you are still... less than thrilled to see me again."
"What was your first clue!'' she replied bitterly.
"If it's any consolation to you, I should remind you that I have to follow these aliens' leader's orders for as long as I'm on this ship, although the same goes for you as well."
"Good. Let's see how YOU like taking orders."
"I'm only biding my time, waiting for an opportunity to make my move. I can easily see myself taking on some of these aliens, but they tend to fight in packs like vicious wolves, making them more ruthless in their fighting tactics than I am. In any case, if you thought I was a threat to you and your little friends, then you will see that these Glorft, as they refer to themselves as, make me seem like an innocent boy scout by comparison." Terra was surprised to hear the likes of Slade admit when there's a force more menacing than him.
"What're you saying?"
"You missed out on quite a show while you were still encased in stone. Earlier today, the Titans were faced with an utterly colossal threat...and I mean it literally. So large as well as powerful, in fact, that not even my worms which you fought with the Titans could compare to the firepower these aliens possess. When Robin and his friends were foolish enough to challenge their leader, who was the first to arrive in Earth, he called for back-up, and within mere seconds, the entire city was overrun by more than a hundred enormous combat-equipped fighting mechanoids, each one larger than mosts of the buildings in the city. They even destroyed the Titans precious T-Ship like a cheap toy to show them who's boss. But it's not as if Gorrath even needed any back-up to begin with. The Titans couldn't so much as leave a scratch on his mech, much less take on the rest of his fleet. But just when things couldn't seem to get worse for our little heroes, another mech appeared: a blue one known as Megas. He dealt with the Glorft's mechs with little difficulty, but left half the city in ruins in the process. A fine work he did, I dare say."
"What the... Half the city gone? How do I know you're not lying to me?" she replied, skeptical about what Slade said since she doesn't trust him, nor would anyone in their right mind, for that matter. "I'm not believing a word of it until I see for myself."
"For all we know, neither of us may ever see Jump City ever again... not that it bothers me, of course." Ignoring Slade's last comment, Terra just stood facing away in silence. Just suddenly, the massive room was lit up, bright spotlights shining over every nook and cranny one by one. Seconds later, Gorrath could be heard talking over the ship's intercom system.
"Argh... of all the times for the entrance door to malfunction," he complained to himself as he prepared his next orders. "Is this thing on, Commander?" he asked, refering to the intercom.
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Now then. Begin level 3 training session." After issuing this order, the room where Slade and Terra were in transformed, forming physical impressions of rock formations in the form of green wireframes, which then materialized into actual rock formations. The surroundings reminded Terra of the time when she and the Teen Titans first met, but before she could stroll any further down memory lane, a hologram displaying Gorrath's face appeared. "Alright. For this exercise, Terra, all you have to do is survive, using your powers to defend yourself. And all you have to do, Slade, is stay out of the way, or let yourself get injured so that I may laugh at your expense. Ha!" Saying what he had to, Gorrath shut off the hologram. The training session began afterwards, starting with a series of auto-defense turrets sprouting out of the ground around the two trainees. Slade jumped out of the way while Terra caused a stone pillar to jut out of the ground under her to raise herself high as the turrets fired. As the guns chipped away at the pillar, it soon collapsed, but Terra fought back by sending the broken rock pieces straight at the guns, breaking them upon impact. Using the top of the pillar as a platform, Terra took flight. More turrets appeared out of the ground, larger ones this time. Small rocks did no damage to them as Terra attacked while dodging the rounds, so larger ones had to be used. More turrets appeared to replace each one Terra destroyed. Eventually, several shots from the guns struck at Terra's rock platform, crumbling it and momentarily grounding her. She then created huge rock barriers to shield herself from the guns as she hurled more rocks back at them. Eventually, all but a few turrets at a distance remained. Riding on a replacement rock platform, she headed for them to clear them out only to have a massive metalic wall jut out of the ground in front of her. Another one sprouted up from the right, then one from the left. Suddenly, even more appeared until Terra found herself in the heart of a maze of metal. She tried flying out from above only to end up hitting her head on an invisible forcefield. As she scratched her head from that mistake, a trio of flying security drones appeared, spewing machine gun fire at her. Terra quickly shielded herself with another rock wall, then countered with dart-shaped rocks. These drones were particularly stubborn, as it took quite a few shots to destroy them, and not to mention they were nimble in battle. After the attack, she navigated the maze, encountering more drones along the way. It took nearly every bit of her skill to deal with the robots before finally reaching the exit. As of this point, Terra had been fighting on her own while Slade watched at a distance, out of harm's way but keeping close enough to lend a hand to Terra when need be. When she finally found the maze's exit, she came across a huge pile of boulders. They seemed harmless enough at first until they began to move and float on their own, forming a massive rock-based monster in the process (think of a reddish-stone version of Thardus from Metroid Prime). After a short-lived staredown, the creature attempted swinging its massive fists at Terra. Although the creature was slow-moving, she barely avoided the attack, what with much of her strength exhausted from the earlier onslaughts. She gave herself distance while landing back down in order to take a quick breather, but the monster cupped his fists and slammed them down with great force, creating a shockwave that was fast approaching Terra. She narrowly dodged it, struggling to keep her footing. For the next attack, the monster summoned large rocks from out of the ground, hurling them at the young blonde (the rocks and the monster are part of the same training program, allowing him to do a trick like this). Fighting back, Terra seized control of the rocks and hurled them back at the creature, who shielded himself with his massive hands. He then attempted another shockwave attack, but Terra, having recuperated a bit, flew out of the way on another rock platform, closing in on her oversized foe. Since the creature was made of rock, she attempted taking control of the monster himself. However, he was too strong, and easily broke free of Terra's grip on him, fighting back with another swing of his fists. She avoided the first swing, but couldn't get out of the way of the second. Terra was knocked down hard into the ground. Although she managed to soften the blow with her powers beforehand, it was still too much. She couldn't get back up afterwards. The monster then used his powers to raise a huge boulder out of the ground in an attempt to flatten Terra, but Slade, on the other hand, had seen enough, and he had plans of his own. Tapping into Terra's powers using his technology, Slade summoned a duo of his own rock monsters, not as big as their target but big enough to bring him down. Slade's monsters submerged underground, reappearing behind their target as they began to pummel and wrestle it into submission. As he struggled, the beast was eventually left in a weakened state.
"Now's your chance, Terra. Finish it!" shouted Slade. Using the massive boulder the creature dropped when he was caught off guard, Terra raised it as high as her strength would allow, then sending it down towards the creature as the projectile gained the speed and power of a large meteorite. When it hit, the resulting explosion shattered the monster into gravel, marking the end of the grueling battle as well as the training session. Terra, though weakened and barely standing, stood victorious. "Well done, Terra," congradulated Slade.
"Why are you... congradulating me for... something you did?" Terra managed to say, breathing hard from fatigue.
"Only because I couldn't have done it without you," he replied. As they viewed the smoldering remains of the boulder-beast, a hologram projecting Gorrath's face appeared before them.
"Excellent work, Terra," he commented. "You possess more power and skill than I initially thought. Unless that was Slade doing part of the work, that is." During that last fight, Slade did his part in secret, leaving Gorrath to wonder whether he had been involved in the struggle or not. "Whatever the case may be, however, I will require you both for what I have planned for you. There's much to be done and little time to do it."
"Great. Looking forward to it," said Terra sarcastically.
"End training program," ordered Gorrath. Afterwards, his hologram disappeared, as did the computer-generated surroundings. When the room reverted to its original status, a group of guards appeared. Gorrath continued speaking over the ship's intercom system. "Guards. Escort our 'trainees' to the holding chamber so they may get some rest. They're going to be needing it quite soon." Leaving his guards to carry out his order, Gorrath turned to his Commander. "How is that neural amplification device progressing, Commander?" he asked.
"Completed and ready for testing, sir."
"Good. Once the girl has rested, we will begin testing. In the meantime, set a course for Earth and have a squadron of my units at the ready to provide any necessary back-up. Those vile, pathetic Earth-dwellers are in for quite the rude awakening." As the Commander carried out his master's orders, Gorrath cackled evilly at the thought of his plans, practically as if everything was ready even though further preparations still had to be made.
Okay, now that that part's finally done with, let's turn the clock forward several hours, about an hour or so after the Glorft have reached Earth. The Teen Titans have now prepared their plan of strategy to defeat the Glorft and rescue Terra, and are now fast approaching the Glorft mothership onboard Megas with everyone in tow. Coop, Jamie and Kiva rode in the cockpit with Coop at the wheel, as usual, while the Titans rode in Megas' secondary control bridge. The room contained a camera, mounted on top of one of the TVs, for Coop to keep a visual on them. Someone oughtta tell Coop to slow down a bit, though. He's going awfully fast...
"Uh, Coop?"
"Yeah, Robin?"
"How exactly did you get onboard the Glorft mothership last time?"
"Well, that one time, I was smashing some Glorft bots when I put one of my add-ons to the test, but for some reason I ended up getting teleported inside the Glorft mothership. Which one of you guys took over Megas when that happened?" he asked his usual travel companions.
"Kiva did," answered Jamie.
"And it wasn't easy, mind you," replied the future-girl.
"So how'd you do it?" asked Cyborg.
"Well, neither Jamie nor I know how to pilot Megas, so consider this. How do you think Coop would get inside the ship?"
"Knowing him, he'd probably crash his way in or something..."
"Bingo," said Jamie, which in turn put Cyborg and the other Titans in a state of uneasyness.
"I don't suppose that means- " Raven was saying before Coop cut her off.
"Yup. I'm going this fast for a reason, ya know ...Oh, and by the way, I don't have any seatbelts down there, so just grab onto something... or something." Taking Coop's word, the Titans quickly and frantically grabbed ahold of their seats, bracing for impact while Beast Boy took the form of a turtle. Coop then shifted gears, increasing speed as he piloted, or drove, or whatever straight for the mothership. As the mighty blue mech hurtled through the skies, the Glorft took notice...
"Sir! Monitoring systems have detected the prototype, and it's heading straight for us!" alerted the Commander to his superior.
"What?'' yelled Gorrath, viewing Megas from his underling's console. "Deploy all units! Now is the time to execute the final plan! Make no mistakes!" As the Glorft forces took to their battle stations, Coop had a thought on his way to the ship.
"Hey, now that I remember, when I got teleported to that ship and got captured by the Glorft, I remember them torturing me by taunting me with a mega-slush and a philly cheese steak sandwich of all things," recalled Coop with a slight hint of anger in his voice.
"Is that so?" asked Jamie, somewhat confused as well as interested at the idea. "Well, what about it?"
"How'd they get that stuff anyhow? And do you think they got more? I hope so 'cause I didn't have my second lunch before we left, and I'm in the mood for- " Coop was abruptly interupted when Megas crashed headfirst right into the mothership's docking bay, not even giving the hatch doors a chance to open... not that they were gonna let him in anyway... In any case, the crew was welcomed by a large battlefront of Glorft mechs, ready to brawl with the blue bot.
"You were saying?" questioned Jamie.
"I was about to say a philly cheese steak and a mega-slush, but kicking Glorft butt works fine too," replied the hungry blond.
"Then you better do it befORE THEY KILL US!" screamed Jamie.
"Alright, but take it easy with the screaming," suggested Coop, reving up the engines. "That can't be good for your throat, you know. Plus, I'm startin' to get a headache from it."
"So am I," said Raven to herself seconds before another fight broke out. The Glorft made the first move by firing their chain guns at Megas in unison, who jumped up into the air just in time. Anticipating this move, a trio of Glorft mechs jumped as well, attempting to intercept their blue foe only to have his massive fists slammed into their faces and a headbutt to the third one. After those mechs fell, the ones down below fired a wave of missiles up at Megas. Coop retaliated by firing up the rear thrusters. The missiles missed their target and instead struck the ceiling, causing large chunks of debris to rain down on the Glorft. A couple were destroyed while the rest were slowed down. Coop took this opportunity to escape, heading deeper into the Glorft mothership.
"Okay, so how the heck are we supposed to find this Terra statue-person?" asked Coop.
"Even with all the data I managed to gather last time we were here," started Kiva, "I'm afraid there's no way of pin-pointing where Terra may be located. She could be anywhere onboard the ship. However, we have a map now, at least, and according to it, we've just passed the ship's docking bay and are currently heading towards the repair and maintenance depot." A loud growling noise was suddenly heard as Kiva finished speaking.
"Sounds like we missed something while we were fixing Megas, Coop," pointed out Cyborg.
"Nah, that's just his stomach," confirmed Jamie as Coop rubbed his belly.
"There better be a cafeteria somewhere on this thing. I'm hungry," said Coop as he stopped outside the entrance to the repair and maintenance room of the ship. After forcing the doors open with Megas, the crew was greeted by yet another battlefront of even more enemy mechs than the last wave they escaped from.
"Anytime now, Coop," urged Jamie. As the green mechs, ones equipped with laser cannons, raised their guns at their target, Megas took to the air once more, but this time more than a dozen of the enemy machines did the same. Coop managed to take down a few, but the rest grabbed hold of Megas, slamming him down hard on the floor below. Pinned down as well as faced down, the Glorft readied their blasters at Megas in attempt to fire at close range. "Do something, Coop!" urged Jamie again.
"Relax, I'm on it," replied Coop, activating the thrusters mounted under the feet of Megas. Right before the Glorft could attack, the crew blasted off, taking the mechs that were holding them down on a little joy ride while bowling right through the mechs in their path. The Glorft bots at the end of their target's projected path rocketed into the air, firing their blasters down below. The intensity of the "sleigh ride" caused the mechs riding on Megas to start losing their grip. Taking advantage of the moment, Coop broke free of them while grabbing one by the arm and hurling it into the path of the incoming lasers. You can guess what happens next. Anywho, the ride's end brought the gang to the room's exit on the opposite side. They stormed out with their enemies fast approaching from behind, soon reaching an intersection. When the Glorft bots got there, their target was nowhere in sight. They all dispersed quickly, taking separate paths to better their chances of tracking down the earthers. When the room cleared, the elusive blue bot emerged from a thick shadow behind a high part of a large support column, landing down below. "I think we lost 'em," figured Coop as he scanned the surroundings.
"I am not so certain that we have eluded our attackers," said Starfire doubtedly.
"Looks safe enough now," answered Coop, but before anyone could take a breather, the Glorft stormed back out of the paths they just took. It turns out they knew that Megas was somewhere in that room all along, and they psyched it out in order to flush it out.
"Spoke too soon,"figured Jamie. The enemy bots raised their guns for another series of shots at their troublesome foe. Coop had to think of a way out of yet another mess and fast.
"Hold on tight, guys. I just got an idea," warned Coop, once again reving up the engines, but even more intensively so this time.
"I hope you know what you're doin', man," said Cyborg, bracing himself for whatever Coop was planning.
"You know what they say. Fight fire with... uh... something better, I think? Or was it- ah, it don't matter, just hold on!" Charging up the rear thrusters, Megas once again took into the air... or only made it seem like he would. Directly after jumping, Coop switched off the thrusters and landed back down using a separate thruster. The Glorft troops couldn't see this in time and fired their blasters at the air in unison, expecting to score a blow to Megas. The bright glowing rounds from the guns collided to create a huge explosion. Using this as a distraction, Coop rocketed towards the room's support column, whipping out Megas' chainsaw-arm to carve the pillar into pieces. Its collapse put that section of the ship's structural stability out of balance, causing the surroundings to begin breaking apart. The Glorft quickly evacuated, but before Coop could do the same, a huge portion of the ship's upper level came crashing down around our heroes, the force of which caused the floor underneath to crumble away, sending everyone plummeting as well as screaming into the darkness below. After a long fall, they eventually stopped, landing face down. They found themselves in a massive room (as is any other room in this crazy ship) which seemed rather dark. "Everyone alright?" asked Coop as everyone scratched and/or shook their head, groaning and pulling themselves together after such a rough landing.
"AAH! I CAN'T SEE! I'M BLIND!" screamed Beast Boy as he ran about, unable to see the waste basket stuck over his face.
"Relax, Beast Boy, you're not blind," said Robin, pulling the bin off his ally's face.
"Oh! Um... I knew that, heh," replied the green lad as he pulled a banana peel off his head.
"So where the heck are we supposed to be now?" asked Jamie.
"According to the map, we're currently in the ship's weapons testing facility. Be careful, Coop," warned Kiva.
"Got it" said Coop, knocking over a massive unidentifiable object as he got Megas back up, creating a loud, ear-rattling thud, but one not loud enough to trigger an alarm or something.
"Oh yeah, that's being real careful," said Jamie sarcastically.
"Woops. Uh, sorry, just gotta turn on the headlights," said Coop, doing just that. Bringing light into the otherwise pitch-black room, this place was filled with weapons of many sorts: fighting mechs of various types, battle tanks, oversized blasters, large bombs, massive sword-like objects, something that looked like an enormous mace... things of that nature. "Hey, check it out! That mace-thing over there looks kinda like that one unlockable weapon from Demolition Derby Dunces!" he pointed out.
"Unless it's supposed to have some kind of special power that we should know about, then that doesn't seem important, Coop," replied Jamie.
"Well, yeah! Perfectly timed hits can score a kill in a single blow. I mean, it's an unlockable, right? Of course it's special!" No one else said anything, even though Cyborg and Beast Boy deduced that he was refering to a video game. Coop continued exploring the room. Unbeknownst to our unsuspecting travelers, a hidden security camera was watching over them as Coop and the others continued examining the room.
"Sir. One of our security cameras has detected the prototype inside the weapons testing facility," informed the Commander as he viewed Megas from a series of monitors from the central command room.
"Excellent. We have them right where I want them," said Gorrath pleasingly. As the gang progressed deeper into the room, they entered a large cleared section of the area, probably to allow for enough space to properly test weapons. On the other side was a small source of light emanating from inside a glass cover which seemed to be holding someone behind it, locked in place like a prisoner. Upon further inspection, that person turned out to be a small blonde-haired girl, futily struggling to break free from her cell.
"It's Terra! And she's alive!" shouted Beast Boy happily as soon as he recognized her.
"Huh? Beast Boy?" answered Terra in return, surprised to hear a familiar voice.
"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Cyborg. "Is it really her?"
"I truly do hope that is our friend who has returned to living flesh and bone once more!" hoped Starfire.
"Don't get too excited," butted in Raven. "How do we know this isn't some kind of trap?"
"Only one way to find out!" answered Coop as he began driving Megas towards Terra, ignoring Raven's point.
"Hang on, Terra! We're coming to rescue you," told Robin, even though he had intended to play it safe, considering what Raven had to say, but they continued onward nonetheless.
"WAIT! Don't come any closer!" objected Terra, which threw the team off guard.
"Uh... did I just hear her say what I think she did?" asked Cyborg, puzzled.
"Terra, what're you- " Robin was asking before Coop took over.
"Hey! We almost got our butts handed to us during this whole mess, okay? We broke into the Glorft mothership and got past all those guards just to come rescue you!" told Coop as he continued heading towards Terra, not wanting any attitude from a little girl. "Do you wanna be saved or not?"
"You don't understand!" she pleaded. "This is all a- " but before Terra could finish, the entire room was fully lit, revealing the room to be particularly roomy and dome-shaped as Coop found his robot standing at the center of a bull's-eye. Holes opened from the surrounding rings of the target, shooting out chain-spear things that quickly wrapped around the arms and legs of Megas. Several more pierced the hull, and the mechanisms controlling the chains worked in tandem to literally bring the mighty robot down to its knees. "trap..." whispered Terra, even though it was obviously too late. The others figured out what the deal was anyway.
"Aw man, I knew this was some kind of trap," said Jamie, even though he obviously had no such advance knowledge of what was to happen. Coop attempted to break free of the chains, turning on all thrusters and pushing Megas to its limits, but it was no use.
"No good! We're losing power from just trying to break free!" informed Kiva. Just then, the loud, arrogant laughter of a familiar sinister voice could be heard from a distance. A grotesque figure materialized on a nearby platform. Kiva recognized this figure. "Gorrath!"
"Yeah, that... uh... dude we're always trying to stop," joined in Jamie, trying to be part of the moment.
"You won't be moving out of that spot anytime soon," informed the alien leader with a smirk on his face. "Now that I have you bound in place, it's time to finally put an end to your stubborn resistance once and for all!" Gorrath then pulled out a tiny speaker from out of a nearby control console. "Commander. Deploy the EMP cannon and begin the charging sequence," he ordered.
"Yes, sir." Seconds later, a massive steel door opened on the right side of the room and out came a massive turret-type side-mounted cannon that was even larger than Megas.
"Judging by how big these things are built, I'm guessing the Glorft rely more on scare tactics than on actual firepower," figured Raven.
"Does that even matter right now? We're about to have our butts blasted to kingdom come!" shouted Beast Boy, getting histerical from the situation. The charging sequence for the cannon began as the gun started radiating with blue electrical energy.
"Okay, Coop, we're all ready to see you pull off another miracle with Megas now!" urged Jamie again. Coop tried again at breaking Megas free from its chains, twisting around here and there in as many ways as possible, as if playing a game of Twister that doesn't allow cheating. He attempted to use the chain-saw arm to try and cut free of the chains only to have a series of back-up chains shoot out of the ground to keep Megas held down tightly, wrapping the blue bot in a cacoon of steel as it dropped face down in front of the cannon. It was useless to try to break free as it was, but Coop wouldn't give up without a fight. As the cannon fully charged itself at this point, it fired a huge beam of electrical energy at the entangled robot, causing all the controls and every working mechanism within it to fluctuate wildly and malfunction. Everyone screamed their heads off in panic, unable to do anything about it. The blast lasted for a good ten seconds or so before the gun powered down and the ship retracted it back into where it originally came from, the steel door closing behind. Everyone inside Megas reopened their eyes after the attack, pulling themselves together.
"Have our posteriors been sent to this kingdom of come, as Beast Boy said?" asked Starfire innocently.
"Dude! We're still alive!" exclaimed Beast Boy joyously.
"But what did they just fire at us?" wondered Robin.
"That cannon shot Megas with an EMP," answered Kiva.
"Aw man!" complained Coop, slamming his fist on the steering wheel in frustration which sounded the custom horn (you know, the one that beeps to the tune of "La Cucaracha") before remembering something. "Wait, what the heck is an EMP?" he asked.
"Electromagnetic pulse," answered Kiva. "That beam disabled all of Megas' systems, rendering it completely unusable." Coop realized this for himself as he tried to restart the engines with no success.
"Isn't there a way to turn it back on?" asked Coop.
"There's no way to reactivate Megas until the effects of the EMP have worn off," she said.
"Which gives me plenty of time to put the prototype under my control once more!" butted in Gorrath as he began laughing sinisterly. A series of Glorft mechs plummeted from above to take their catch of the day into custody. "It's all over, earther. Your reign of resistance to meis finally ending. Such a waste that you fought all this time for nothing. But that will all change very soon, once I put it to proper use, as it was originally intended for when I first built it. It's coming with us, and so are you!" he said as Gorrath's troops stopped just before their prey.
"Not if I can help it!" objected Coop as he turned his attention to an emergency button labeled "Make a run for it!".
And that's it for chapter 4! Things are looking rather grim for our heroes. How's Coop gonna get everyone out of this mess? Will they be able to reclaim Megas before Gorrath carries out the final steps to his plan to conquer Earth? What will become of Terra? And for that matter, what ever happened to Slade? Find out what happens next in chapter 5: The Titans fight back!
END NOTE: Sorry I took so long to get this next chapter out. One can only do so much when having to deal with mounds of homework, tests, the SAT, etc. Like my other chapters, I made this one nice and long but tried not to make it too boring. Hope you liked it! And don't forget to leave a review as well as any suggestions. I wouldn't have added Slade to the story if no one suggested it, so if you have any ideas for what you think should happen next, be sure to let me know. Let your voice be heard in text form:)