Titan's Tower.
Or rather, what was left of it. The Tower was a wreck, blown to pieces by a combination of explosives and zinothium that to some might've seemed like a nuclear explosion. Like it's inhabitants, the Teen Titans. Half of the Tower had sunken into the water, and around this bubbles had arisen as air was slowly escaping from the sinking tower's rooms. In moments, the bubbles stopped.
And suddenly a head burst forth from the water, sucking in air as Robin emerged, coughing and spluttering water. Seconds later he was joined by Raven and Starfire in equal predicaments. Beastboy joined them, floating on the surface in the form of a green dolphin with Cyborg astride his back, since the mechanized man was too heavy to swim properly. He would've drowned if not for his little green buddy.
And they all would've died if not for Raven's premonition.
Her flashes of insight had been growing stronger, and she'd had a particularly disturbing dream that had awoken her with a scream. She'd seen the destruction of the Tower. Such a nightmare was not all that uncommon for Raven (who often feared she could destroy her teammates or even the world) but she has instinctively sensed this time it was different, and consulted her journal. She'd been right. It had been a vision. And thus, she had managed to engulf her teammates in the shadows of her power and teleport them down into the underwater hangar seconds before the Tower was engulfed in a zinothium-fueled explosion. Even the hangar had been destroyed, along with the T-Ship. They'd had to swim back up to the surface.
The waterlogged Titans made their way to shore, and then just stood there a moment, water dripping off their uniforms and bodies as they beheld what had once been their home. Titan's Tower was no more. It was a pile of wreckage and debris, broken steel. But more than that, it was treasured memories and happy times. In all their time as the titans, none had been able to destroy their Tower. It had been their home and sanctuary. Even when the HIVE kids had kicked them out it had still stood. Even when Slade had tried to destroy it with his earthworm robots, it had still stood. Even when Terra had betrayed them and an army of invaders had broken it, it had still stood.
And now... it had fallen.
For a long while, none of the Titan's spoke. Then Robin broke the silence, clinging to the one thing they still had left. Each other. They were a team. A team of heroes. And now the villains wanted to fight. So be it. They'd give 'em a fight.
"We have to contact the League," Robin said, even as he winced. "We need back-up for this."
"No way man!" said Cyborg.
"Yeah this is personal now!" added Beastboy, slamming his fist into his palm.
"It was personal before," snapped back Robin, forcing Beastboy and Cyborg to back down. "And now we need help. We... we need to be ready in case we can't... can't beat Tartarus on our own."
To that, none could offer a possible argument. Not only what Robin said (which made perfect sense) but that he was the one who said it. This was Robin, the Boy Wonder, who never backed down and never gave up. The one who felt he could do anything on his own, and even the impossible if he put his mind to it and had a good team behind him.
And he'd just admitted he needed help.
"Raven," he said, turning to the lavender-haired sorceress, who was wringing salt water out of her hair. "Can you contact J'onn? Our communication array is under water."
She nodded grimly, closing her eyes. "Just give me a moment."
"Cyborg, we'll need the T-Car. We have to go after Tartarus now, before they hurt someone else. The League can act as our backup."
"I'll go get it, but it'll take a while," replied the mechanical teen. "Lot of debris down there," he said, pointing down into the ruined remains of the underside of Titan's Tower. Thankfully, the hangar and much of the lower levels had been spared the full brunt of the blast. Which is the only reason they were still alive.
"Beastboy, give him a hand."
They took off, leaving Robin behind. His team was sliding back into action. That was good. But Starfire still stood on the edge of the island, her feet resting in the water as she surveyed, what had been to her, the last home she had left. With Tamaran gone (and none of the Titans knew that yet) Titan's Tower had been her only home. To lose two homes in but a short amount of time.
Tears streaked down her cheeks.
A hand gently fell on her shoulder. "We'll come back," came Robin's soothing voice. "We'll come back and fix this. We'll get everything in there and... and we'll rebuild," he said, though it sounded even to a casual observer that Robin was trying to convince himself as much as Starfire. "Everything will be okay," he offered without much conviction.
But would it? Would it really? he wondered.
"The League has been updated on the situation," Raven said, interrupting the oppressive silence. "J'onn says they'll be sending reinforcements as soon as they can. Weather patterns are interfering with their transporters, so they're sending down a team in Javelins."
Robin glanced up, and could well believe the weather too was determined to thwart their efforts. The skies above, previously cloud, had grown almost dark with a menacing edge, and the crackle of thunder in the background echoed of sinister things to come. Despite this, the Titans had to stand firm. And so Robin and his teammates made their way down to rejoin Cyborg and Beastboy at the hangar, where they'd cleared aside debris covering the T-Car (leaving more than a few dents and dings) as well as a runway to the underground tunnel, which was clear.
Strapping himself into the passenger side seat, Robin idly wondered if they could do it this time. If they could win. Their enemies were strong. Stronger than any sort of foe they'd faced in the past, perhaps even more terrible than Trigon.
Could they win?
"Got a lock on their location," he said, handing his locator to Cyborg, who patched it into his car's GPS tracking system. Instantly the location of their enemies became known. And the Titan's eyes grew wide with shock.
"Oh yeah..." said Beastboy. "That was today, wasn't it?"
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In the center of Jump City, in town square, everyone had turned out. Almost all of the citizens were present for today was the day they would honor their heroes, the Teen Titans. Banners were hung from adjacent rooftops, proudly displaying the name of the team that had saved their city and their people time and time again. The inclement weather was enough to drive away a few but the majority shrugged and grabbed umbrellas and continued to cheer for their heroes as their honorable Mayor Steven Dayton took the podium set up on a platform and spoke before his people.
"Citizens of Jump City," he began, reading from his teleprompter. This event was being broadcast throughout the whole city by a local television station. Who'd later sell the rights to the footage to national, international, and maybe if they were lucky interplanetary viewers.
"We gather here today to honor those brave heroes who live among us, who have, for the past Five Years, dedicated themselves selflessly to..." he began, but was suddenly cut off by a screeching sound from his mike, causing him to instinctively slap his hand over it to cut himself off. The sound unnerved the citizens, and he removed his hand and began again. "... dedicated themselves selflessly to the protection of our..."
Again that screeching noise came and cut him off, and the mayor glanced over at his assistants, who shrugged. Technically difficulties no doubt.
But what came next shocked him. Another voice began speaking out of the speakers, addressing the crowd.
"Protection of those they cared about, leaving all others to rot in the ground. Destroying and ruining the lives of everyone around them. Oh yes," came the sarcastic voice... a female's... "... all praise the Teen Titans!"
Mayor Steven Dayton stumbled backwards as a shadow fell over him and a figure dropped down onto the platform directly on top of the microphone stand he'd been addressing, balancing as lightly as an acrobat on crouched legs. A foot shot out and struck him full across the face, and he stumbled backwards into the arms of his security guards. But none dared make a move against this woman, who leapt off the stand and turned to address it.
"The Teen Titans are no more!" she shouted, her voice commanding and powerful as she addressed the citizens of Jump City, some of whom had started to flee, the rest of whom were deathly silent. "We have seen they have met their end for their meddlesome efforts," she said, gesturing above her. A hovering platform had descended from a nearby rooftop, and jumping down (or floating down) came Deathfang, Brother Blood, Blackfire and Malchior, who landed beside the Ravager and turned to face their crowd. Now there were scattered screams as some of the citizens started to scatter.
"We are Tartarus!" shouted the Ravager over the din. "Ours will be the order that rules over Jump City. Too long have all you fools suffered under the delusions of the Titans. You believe your world is good and pure, well it is time you had an awakening. There is no such thing as right, or wrong... there is only power, and those willing to use it!"
A full blown riot had occurred by now, and many guards hastily dragged the mayor away. Still more tried to attack Tartarus, but Malchior quickly did away with them, blasting them with tendrils of blue-white light and hurling them out into the streets below, not caring where or how they landed, or even if they survived. The Ravager continued to speak over the chaos.
"Jump City is only the beginning! But do not fear, citizens... we bring you a gift to ease your transition! For this unfamiliar with technology, let me explain the physics of a darkshield generator. The latest of technologies developed by WayneTech industries and... donated... to the cause of Tartarus. Brother Blood here has managed to tweak it a little. Instead of a shield designed to protect a single passageway, useful security purposes... Brother Blood here has designed the generator so it will engulf your entire city!"
The Ravager grinned, allowing a moment for that to sink in as she waited for just the right moment...
... and there it was. A silver chrome car made of state-of-the-art technology (and covered in a lot of dings and dents, she noticed with a thrill of delight) came screeching around the corner, and five teenaged superheroes piled out, assuming battle stances.
She was not in the least bit surprised. She'd been awaiting this.
The moment had come.
"Do it," she said, turning back to Blood. "Activate the generator."
And Brother Blood did. Utilizing the technology of WayneTech enterprises and STAR labs, using a stolen power cell and the blueprints from Cyborg, Tartarus had constructed the ultimate prison. And as the citizens of Jump City and the Titans watched helplessly, a burst of shadowy energy bust forth from the top of the darkshield generator and the roof of Wilson Enterprises, not stopping until it was high up in the sky, and then it burst forth in all direction, floating down to the ground like it was no more substantial than mist, though as thick as the fogs of Ireland. It formed a perfect dome that encompassed the entire city, engulfing the bay and Titan's Tower, engulfing the housing districts, the business section of town, the docks and the outskirts. All of it. Inside the dome. And to any who might mistake it for flimsy or even unsubstantial by appearance, they would be very, very mistaken. The darkshield was impenetrable. By any known force in the galaxy. And Wilson Enterprises' had just become surrounded and barricaded by a small army of top notch assassins all in the employ of Tartarus.
And now, the darkshield had engulfed all of Jump City, cutting them off from the outside world, and leaving them at the mercies of Tartarus.
Unless the Titans could stop them.
And cut off from outside aid, cut off from Titan's East and the Justice League, the odds were steadily mounting against the young heroes. Descending from their platform into the town center, the members of Tartarus looked confident and ready to do battle. The Titans, on the other hand, were already beaten and battered, and well did they remember their former conflicts. Now, however, there was a lot more riding on their victory. They couldn't afford a defeat now.
The Ravager smirked over at the Titans, not at all surprised to see they were alive. With slow, deliberate movements she bent down and lifted up her ankle, plucking the tracer on her boot and holding it up gingerly between two fingers to let the meaning of her actions sink in.
"You knew I'd tagged you," said Robin in surprise. "But... how... why...?"
"I suspected the destruction of the Tower might not be enough to destroy you, my dear Titans," said the Ravager languidly, idly drawing her first sword from it's sheath and holding it at the ready. "But I did it anyway... just to tick you off."
Dark expressions filled the Titan's faces, while gleeful grins filled those of Tartarus. Both sides were itching for a signal to begin their fight, but their leaders had yet to give a signal.
"Ravager," said Robin easily, a hand slipping behind his back anyway, under his cape. "Don't do this... the Titans were not responsible for Slade's death... you're making a mistake."
"Am I?" she asked lightly, holding out a hand. Deathfang reached behind him and picked up a previously unnoticed bundle from his side, placing it in the Ravager's hand. "Oh don't worry, Robin-chan," she added playfully. "I intend to visit justice upon each and every Titan who was responsible for my father's death. And that does include... little Terra..."
And with a flourish, the Ravager removed the covering of the bundle, and a collective gasp filled the Titans. Beastboy, in particular, felt as if a dagger had been jabbed into his heart and sharply twisted. In the Ravager's hands was the stone head of Terra. There could be no mistaking it for a fake, it was Terra. Terra's stone statue had been shattered. And that meant Terra was...
The Ravager grinned as she casually dropped the head, then brought up her booted foot and slammed it down, shattering the stone head into fragments. There was no hope of resurrecting Terra now. Just as their was no hope of beating Tartarus. They held all the cards. The odds were in their favor. But the Titans had never cared about odds and had never let evil run it's course as long as they could stand and fight.
"Teen Titans! Go!" shouted Robin, swinging out his retractable bo staff and charging, the Titans close behind him.
It may have been their final battle, but they'd go down fighting for what they believed in, if nothing else.
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Author's Notes:
Darkshield generators are my own invention, but was primarily inspired by the force field in 'Wavelength.' I apologize for the short length of this chapter it was mostly set up for the battle next time. Next time: Tartarus and the Titans are locked in a deadly conflict. Who shall win?
Pnaixrose: Starfire did cry herself silly. And again, now losing a second home. Oh, I am so very mean, am I not? And yes, Malchior was intended from the beginning. Jinx isn't very threatening and Trigon is overly threatening, so I settle for someone in the middle.
Todd fan: 'til the day I die, Todd fan. Same with you, I imagine.
Blackbird: I did indeed... aren't I mean? As for the Titans fate, well... you'll soon see it's the least of their problems. Glad I could aid your story with Chang's brief appearance. I've been wanting to do that... I never liked him much.
Ray1: Oh I intend to do far worse before this story is over.
TDG3RD: Hope you're ready to feel even worse for the Titans, for much more to come. And yes, I too felt that both a suitable punishment and a way to put Malchior on even footing (more or less) with his Tartarus counterparts. A dragon would have trouble fitting into their headquarters.
Yomiori-Wolfdemon: Pies? No! Anything but pies! You dare throw a pie at me and I'll hurt BB! The original BB! So help me I'll do it!
Ultimate R-Man: Oh dear oh dear... I just might make you cry before this is all over then. Glad I am to know that my story carries impact. Thank you for the comic info, I suspected the Tower might've been destroyed before but I couldn't find any info.
ViciousAssassin: What, you expect this story to be sappy and romantic? Heh. All in due time... but for now, I'm going to torment the Titans a bit more. All of them. None will be spared my wickedness.