Chapter 6: A Feint Ray Of Light

In Chapter 5, if you're skipping right to 6, the world was laid to waste by Trigon's apparitions. And it seems that all the world is standing still now that the entire world's population has been turned to stone.

Or so it would seem. In the ruins of Jump City, the stone auras that had protected J.T. Blade, Terra and Raven started to crack! Then, in an explosion of their respective powers, J.T., Terra and Raven emerged unharmed! But unbeknownst to them, all that lay before them was destroyed.

"What in the name of Mijolnir happened?" J.T. asked.

"I wish I knew. This is horrible," Terra replied.

"This is all my fault. I'm the cause of this," said Raven sadly.

"Hey, don't get all down on yourself. We're here, and we'll find some way of taking this…thing…down," said J.T.

"Thanks," said Raven. Just then, something hit her. "Where's Robin!"

"I don't know," said J.T.

"Uh, guys…" Terra began, "I think I found him. Brace yourselves."

J.T. and Terra walked over a mound of wreckage and up to a statue that was once Robin. Upon seeing this, Raven immediately began to cry.

"No…" Raven cried.

"Raven…I'm sorry," said Terra. "I just thought you should know."

"You're sorry? How can you be sorry! Your boyfriend's still alive! Robin's as dead as a doornail," Raven screamed.

"Boyfriend? How'd you know?" Terra began.

"I just know! Now go away! You'd never know how I feel," Raven shouted.

"You're right," said Terra.

"No Terra. She's right. I think she has a right to know. Now's not the time to hold secrets from each other. Raven, believe it or not, we know what you're going through. We lost our parents when we were kids. That's about as big a loss as this," said J.T. "Believe me; we're going to get Robin back."

"Really?" Raven asked as she cried.

"I won't let another of my friends down," J.T. replied. "Now then, we need to check for other survivors. And I think we can do that back at Titans Tower."

"But the place is thrashed. There's no way we could hide out there," said Terra.

"We don't need to hide, we just need the computer," said J.T.

So Terra, J.T. and Raven headed off to Titans Tower to recover the computer. They managed to recover the computer and hid out with it in a small cave outside town.

"There. Now we just punch in a scan for any carbon-based life forms on the planet. This is probably going to be a one-shot deal, so we're going to have to make this count," said J.T.

J.T. initiated the scan. About ten minutes later, the scan was complete.

"We're getting readings from Jump City, Steel City, somewhere in the Australian outback and somewhere in western Romania," said J.T.

"Western Romania…" said Raven.

"Better known as Transylvania," J.T. explained.

"Well let's find the guy who's back in town. The more people we have on our team, the more likely we can get the others," said Terra.

"Good idea. Let's go," J.T. replied.

So the three headed back into Jump City. They found the encased person by what was once an office building downtown. There, they also saw the statue that had encased Lightning.

"Lightning? So that means that the one that was protected by the aura was…" said Raven.

Just then, Thunder erupted from his imprisonment! He fell to his butt, slightly dazed and in some pain.

"Uhh…what hit me?" said Thunder.

"Hey, you okay?" Raven asked.

"Ah, it is you! I believed you would not be harmed by the attack," said Thunder.

"Yeah, but everyone else wasn't as fortunate as us," said Terra.

"I do not believe we have met. You are?" Thunder asked.

"Oh, I'm Terra and this is J.T.," Terra replied.

"A pleasure. Now guys, we've got a really important matter to attend to. We've got three people alive and we've got to find them. Terra, you head to the outback. Raven and Thunder, Romania. I'll head to Steel City," said J.T.

"Very well. I'm afraid you shall have to inform me of what has occurred," Thunder said.

"I'll explain on the way," Raven replied.

"Well then, let's go," said J.T.

So the four heroes went their separate ways and spread to three of the four corners of the earth.

-The Tale Of J.T.-

It took J.T. around three hours to get from Jump City to Steel City. He followed the signal he had received from the computer he, Terra and Raven managed to salvage from the wreckage of Titans Tower to the home of the Titans East. J.T. followed the signal to the central meeting room, where he found Bumblebee, Speedy, Mas and Menos turned to statues! But the one he did not see was Aqualad. J.T. traced the signal to what looked to be a stone fire. He knocked on it and heard someone or something knock back! Then, a fist broke through the shell and Aqualad stumbled out!

"Aqualad! Oh man am I glad to see you," J.T. said with a sigh of relief.

"J.T.? What—what's happened?" Aqualad asked.

"Long story short, we've lived through the apocalypse, and we've apparently been chosen to defeat the ultimate evil," said J.T.

"Wow. This is…unreal," said Aqualad in disbelief.

"I'll fill you in with the details back in Jump City. Let's get out of this hell hole," said J.T.

"Good plan. This place gives me the creeps," said Aqualad.

J.T. found a car in the garage and he and Aqualad headed back to Jump City. The return trip took nearly double what it took J.T. to get to Steel City, but the trip was far less perilous.

-The Tale Of Terra-

Thousands of miles away, Terra finally arrived in the Australian outback. Her scanner led her to a small shack in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. There, Terra found a large stone that looked like a fire. She was about to examine it when it burst into a million pieces and a very large man erupted from it!

"Crikey, that was somethin' I wouldn't wanna do again," said the person with a very heavy Australian accent. Then he noticed Terra. "Well hello there, little shelia. Who're you?"

"Oh, you're talking to me?" Terra asked very confused.

"Of course. Don't see any other shelias around here, now do you?" the guy replied.

"Um, I'm Terra. Who're you?" Terra asked.

"Name's Jimbo, but everyone calls me 'Ironheart'," the guy replied.

"Why are you called Ironheart?" Terra asked.

"'Cause I can do this!"

Jimbo's eyes turned a deep silver and he turned to solid metal!

"That's why," Jimbo replied in a deeper voice than normal.

"Cool! Um, listen, you've got to come with me," said Terra.

"Oh, uh where we goin'? The movies? Dinner?" Jimbo asked.

"No. There's some sort of beast of pure evil running around and we've got to stop it," said Terra.

"Well if you need my help, you've got it," Jimbo exclaimed. "Uh, by the way, how'd you survive?"

"Because I can do this!"

Terra used her powers to raise the land around the shack and she and Ironheart were en route back to Jump City.

"Crikey! This is crazy," Ironheart exclaimed.

So Terra headed back to Jump City.

-The Tale Of Thunder And Raven-

As for Raven and Thunder, they touched down in Romania around the same time that J.T. and Aqualad were about halfway back to Jump City. They found the signal from Raven's communicator indicated that whoever they were looking for was in a large chapel.

"This could take some time," said Thunder.

"The one thing we don't have," said Raven. "Let's not waste any more time and find whoever we need to find."

In the chapel, they found that a church service was going on at the time the world froze. And in the choir banister was the stone aura they were looking for. Raven and Thunder proceeded cautiously and knocked on the aura. A similar knock replied. Then the case started to crack! The crack ran down the middle and a small girl fell from her imprisonment.

"Is she alive?" Raven asked.

"Yes, I believe so," Thunder replied.

Just then, the girl started to stir.

"What happened?" the girl asked. "Who are you two? Have I died? Are you two here to bring me to the afterlife?"

"In this order: you've survived the apocalypse, we're here to help, no and no," Raven replied.

"Well, what are your names?" the girl asked.

"I am Thunder and she is Raven," Thunder replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Aura," the girl replied.

"Aura?" Raven asked.

"Yes. I have this name from the power of being able to generate auras and force fields," Aura replied.

"Can you do anything else?" Raven asked.

"I can heal and fire beams of light," Aura replied.

"Interesting. Anyway, we need you to help us restore the world," said Thunder.

"Restore the world? I don't know," said Aura.

"Please. We need all the help we can get," Raven pleaded.

"All right, I'll help. What should we do first?" said Aura.

"Return to Jump City," Raven replied.

"Very well," said Aura.

Raven used her powers and got everyone back to Jump City. There, the seven who were spared congregated in a small cavern in the ruins of the city. J.T. and Aqualad arrived first, then Terra and Ironheart, and Raven, Thunder and Aura not long after her.

"So this is all that's left?" Terra asked.

"It's so hard to believe that we're the only people left in the entire world," said Aura.

"Well, we're the world's only hope. Everyone we've ever known depends on us. We must not fail," said J.T.

"I am unsure of what we can do. We are facing something more powerful than all seven of us put together," said Thunder.

"Don't give us that attitude! If one of us loses hope, then we really are doomed. We've just got to have faith," said J.T.

"He's right. But what can we do?" Aqualad asked.

"Raven, don't you have any idea on how to beat this thing?" Terra asked.

"The only weakness I know of is that Trigon's only weak spot is his chest. But I don't have any idea how to beat him," Raven replied.

"Wait! The legend," J.T. exclaimed.

Everyone clamored at the 'legend' J.T. was talking about.

"What're you talkin' about, mate?" Ironheart asked.

"When I was a kid I heard this old legend. It said that when the dark king ruled the world, seven warriors must join as one to destroy the dark one and restore the world's balance," said J.T.

"And you think we're the seven warriors?" Aura asked.

"J.T., the seven warriors were all from our hometown, and we're the only two who survived that attack. There's no way we're the seven warriors," said Terra.

"You're wrong. The legend stated that it would be seven friends. The legend never said that we'd have to be friends since childhood," said J.T.

"I remember that legend! You're right," said Aura.

"Yeah, I remember hearin' somethin' of that story too, but I didn't think it was anything other than a children's story," said Ironheart.

"I've heard that story too," said Aqualad.

"Well then, if we're not the warriors as foretold by the legend, then let's prove the legend wrong," J.T. shouted.

"But what're we going to do?" Terra asked.

"We'll all attack Trigon at once. What's the worst that could happen? Our plan fails? We'll just get a new one," said J.T.

"That's as good a plan as we're going to get for right now," said Raven.

"Then let's do it," said Terra.

The seven youths prepared themselves for battle and headed off to face Trigon.