NS: Howdy! So...there was a cliffhanger...two, actually. Oh, a note for this and later chapters: flashbacks are completely italicized just so you know. I was watching Big Fish today and I decided to try the whole 'narrarated flash-back thing'. Please let me know how I did! Yes, well, I best continue before the bloodthirsty Mary-Sue OCs and letter bombs start showing up at my door a 3a.m. So, on with the fic.

The Tell-Tale Heart

Ch. 3

The Storm Before the Storm

"A man has it...kinda creepy, deep voice, hidden lair, black and orange mask get-up..." Nightmare explained, describing the person she'd seen with the jewel.

"Slade!" Robin said, standing up once again and balling his fists with gritted teeth.

"Wait a second...how exactly did you get into his lair?" Raven asked suspiciously. "Then again, how did you even find it; we've been tracking him for weeks with no results."

"Sis sniffed it out!" Reverie said proudly, only to have her head pushed down by Nightmare.

"Shush!" She said. The Titans could've sworn she was blushing.

"You sniffed it out?" Beast Boy repeated, struggling to control his laughter. "Dude, how could you have a better sense of smell than me?"

Nightmare only stared at her sister with a look of annoyance.

"Oh, come on sis, it's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Reverie teased.

"I'm not embarrassed." She snarled lowly.

"Suuuuure..." She chimed. "It's the demon and Vampire in her. She has better senses than most animals."

"Hahaha! Did you have to get on your hands and knees and track it like a dog?" Beast Boy mocked, turning into a dog and howling before returning to human form and bursting into a fit of laughter, clutching his stomach.

"I don't grovel like a worthless pet." Nightmare snapped, causing him to whimper. "Unlike animals, I can follow scents in the air; I don't need to depend on scents left behind on objects."

"Sweet." Speedy said, nodding as if listening to music.

"Anyway, we followed the jewel's aura to this underground lair, tried to take it, etc. etc.-"

"Nearly got our hands burned off!" Reverie added.

"Yeah...lasers...good security system...so, we go to take the jewel, and we hear a voice behind us."

"What do you think you're doing?" The voice echoed in a suggestive tone; more amused than surprised or angry.

"Taking this jewel shard; it's of no use to you." Nightmare replied nonchalantly, snatching the jewel from it's case. An alarm sounded and the dimly lit room now flashed red. "Reverie, wait for me outside."

"Right!" She replied, exiting the same way they'd entered.

"I told Rev to get out and wait for me. I didn't think it would take long; one guy...a human...I didn't know he'd be so skilled..."

Nightmare jumped back into the shadows and perched herself upon a steel rafter near the ceiling. She gave herself two options: one, she could escape unseen or two, she could fight and then escape. Slade did not allow her to choose, for much to her surprise, he followed her and jumped from rafter to rafter looking for her. Nightmare hid close to the wall and turned to her right to look for him.

"He surprised me; cornered me." Nightmare explained.

"I believe you have something of mine..." Slade said suddenly, now standing strait in front of her. She gasped despite herself and clutched the jewel, attempting to inconspicuously slip it into her pocket. Slade mustv'e noticed, because he gripped her wrist and pulled it toward him, struggling to do so as she pulled away. "I don't think so...I have plans for the power inside this gem."

"So you know!" Nightmare growled back, tugging against his vice-grip. "This is demonic power that should not be tampered with by anyone, much less the likes of you!"

She brought her leg up to his temple, but he proved to be too quick and grabbed her ankle before it struck.

"Then neither should the likes of you." Slade said in a cocky manner, smirking beneath his mask.

"He tried to take the jewel, but I didn't give it up very easily." Nightmare said, clenching her fists.

She tried to pull her leg back, but failed to free it from his grasp. 'Well this is awkward...' She thought: both her left arm and her right leg were in his grip. In a desperate move she prayed he wouldn't drop her and lifted her left leg, kicking him in his common peronial. He growled in pain and surprise as she flipped over him in mid-air and landed back on the rafter on top of him as he lay on his back.

"'Seems I have the advantage now." Nightmare smirked. Her little manuever had not only landed her on top of Slade, but she had successfully released her leg from his grasp, though her wrist was still in his possession.

"Things are not always as they seem." Slade replied cooly before flipping over her and sending them both plummeting to the floor. Nightmare looked worriedly over her shoulder and tried to formulate an escape. Once again Slade made the choice for her and launched off of her, flipping and landing gracefully ahead of her. Nightmare was forced to roll backwards in order to break her fall.

"Well I still have the-" Nightmare stopped and looked for the jewel, but it was no longer in her hand.

Slade smirked under his mask and waved the gem tauntingly. "Not anymore...you might want to hurry outside, though; my security robots are probably already disassembling your sister. Farewell." With a sinister chuckle and a two-finger salute he disappeared into the shadows.

"He had already left once I'd returned to look for him." Nightmare sighed. "He'd taken everything and relocated. We mustv'e taken too long with the robots...or really I took too long because I didn't get a smidgen of help from somebody..."

Nightmare looked suggestively at her sister.

"I helped!" Reverie retaliated defensively, putting her hands on her hips.

"Really?" Nightmare said with sarcasm, mockingly placing her own hands on her hips. "Because from what I remember the only finger quotes'help'end finger quotes I got was from a few very distracting-what were they-fairies?"

Reverie pouted, blushing. "I thought they would be more helpful...your summons are always helpful."

"Yes, but my summons don't have butterfly wings and wear tutus!" Nightmare countered, causing some of the Titans to laugh.

"Do you know where he went?" Robin asked seriously, causing everyone to notice that he'd sat back down.

"If we did, we wouldn't have come back empy handed." Nightmare set in a matter-of-factly yet unhappy tone.

"All right, we know where it is..." Raven said. "Now we just wait."

Trigon floated through the vortex, psychically commanding it to let out at Jump City. He hadn't used one of the portals in centuries, and he wasn't sure if they could still be commanded to warp themselves by command of their user. He was most pleased, however, when he came to the exit to find himself on top of a skyscraper overlooking the ocean and an island with a giant T on top: Titan's Tower...

NS: Tada! That be all for now. Soon the action will begin! I hope you enjoyed Reverie's little outburst in the last chapter, by the way! Didn't pay alot of attention to Trigon and K.M. this chapter. But just you wait...I have much in store for them, and Slade! hopes her fans are drooling Well, I'm off to write more...toodlies!