I finally finished writing this chapter; school had delayed me from writing for quite some time, but now I got an extended weekend break, so hopefully I'll be able to finish the next chapter soon. Enjoy!
And a thank you to all my reviewers!
D-I-WaRrIa: Sorry I didn't get into too much detail about the Gem of Strength. Put it this way: it is needed along with the Gems of Power and Chaos to merge into... well, you'll see; I don't want to give the plot away. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
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Chapter 6: The Battle for the Gem
The Titans quickly stopped dancing around as the two bodies came forth from the nearby trees. The teens gasped; it was the last two people on the face of the Earth that they wanted to see.
"Good day Titans. We didn't expect you to be here, but apparently, I must thank you." Kulex said, in his low voice. "Lord Firesprite had told us that Slade had sent Overload here to acquire the Gem of Strength, and we would have to battle him. Thanks you to Titans, we no longer have to do that. So be wise, and hand over the Gem."
Robin was now furious. "Grr, we won't ever give anything to the likes of you!" the Boy Wonder said through gritted teeth.
"Oh yeah, and we found out from your two buddies where the Gem was." Cyborg said, preparing his sonic cannon.
Breaker was a bit taken back. "Hmm, I should have told Yorick and Mark to keep their obnoxious mouths shut, but no matter. They have actually aided us with their ignorance."
"Getting back to the point, I highly suggest you turn over the Gem, or we will have no choice but to destroy you, and this time, we will finish the task." Kulex said, unsheathing his sword. "Also, we should be able to dispose of all of you without any problem, considering we are already in our powered up forms."
"And I too have some improvements from Mark. This should be even easier, even though the alien girl has returned." Breaker said, now turning to look at Beastboy, who was holding the Gem of Strength. "Ah, so it appears the green one possesses the Gem. Be wise, hand it over, now."
Beastboy's anger started to rise at a dramatic level. "I'd rather eat Cyborg's nasty waffles than give you the Gem." the green shape shifter said, retreating a few steps back. Terra defended him.
"I don't know what's your problem, but this time we will not be defeated so easily." the blonde said, getting ready to summon some boulders just in case. Breaker merely chuckled.
"We are giving you so many opportunities to save your young lives, yet you reject our offers. Pity." Breaker said.
"So instead of wasting more time, we will give you Titans your final chance to hand over the Gem." Kulex added, as he and Breaker prepared to fight.
The shape shifter was unable to bear any more anger. Beastboy transformed into a rhinoceros and started to charge at break neck speed at Breaker.
"By advancing, I assume you mean to fight. Then so be it. Permit me to strike the first blow." the alien robot said, as he teleported out of Beastboy's way and appeared behind him. The second Breaker finished teleporting, he charged at the unsuspecting Beastboy with one of his clawed hands outstretched. Breaker's talons sliced vertically across Beastboy's back, then combining his charge with an uppercut, sending the shape shifter flying into the air. Terra quickly summoned a boulder, and flew up to catch him before he fell. The Gem of Strength was sent out of Beastboy's hands and into Kulex's outstretched hand.
Just as Kulex caught the gemstone, he felt excruciating pain as one of Robin's razor disks cut into the palm of his hand. Kulex dropped the gem, and Breaker made a run for it. He was, however, cut off by one of Cyborg's sonic beams. The alien robot countered with a beam of his own, which was blocked by Raven's dark shield. Robin threw some Freeze Disks, rooting Breaker to the ground. Starfire now shot one of her lightning bolts, hitting Breaker's head. The robot was dazed for a second, but quickly recovered.
Kulex and Breaker then regrouped.
"It seems that we may have to alter our fighting methods. A minor setback." Kulex said, as he and Breaker once again teleported and reappeared in different places. Breaker shot a strange neon beam, which started to fly at light speed around the Titans, enclosing them in a dome of electricity. Kulex appeared near the electric dome, and thrust his sword into the ground, which changed the grass inside the electric dome into quicksand.
Starfire immediately grabbed Robin by the shoulders and started to hover above the treacherous quicksand. Raven lifted Cyborg with her magic as she also hovered above the ground. Terra quickly summoned a compact rock and managed to avoid sinking in as well. Beastboy turned into a canary, and started to fly lightly around.
Breaker and Kulex smiled at the efforts.
"Seems now you Titans have no choice other than to hand over the Gem, and we shall spare your lives." Kulex said, as he leaded on his sword.
"Damn it! We will never give you anything!" Robin yelled out, trying to think of a way to destroy Breaker's electric dome.
"Ah, still resisting, eh? Fine, you leave me little choice." Breaker said as his cold eyes now glowed a neon blue color. The electric dome slowly started to shrink, leaving the trapped Titans to move closer to the center.
"Eventually, the dome will become microscopic and then terminate itself, taking you with it. Oh, I forgot to mention that those currents of electricity are strong enough to knock you out." Breaker said, his voice showing no mercy.
The Titans had pretty much no ideas of finding a way out of this trap. Touching the dome itself would cause them to be knocked unconscious, and thereby falling into the quicksand. Trying to burrow through the quicksand would be futile, since it would likely shallow them up. However, Cyborg had come up with a plan. "Hey Kulex, your sword seems to have a crack in the blade! You wouldn't want to fight with that now would ya?" the robotic teen yelled.
Kulex, as Cyborg hoped, immediately withdrew his sword from the ground, causing the eternal quicksand to disappear. Beastboy took this opportunity to transform into a mole, and dig his way under the dome. He resurfaced behind Breaker, and then morphed into a giant gorilla. With one punch, Breaker lost his concentration and was sent flying. The electric dome vanished, releasing the trapped Titans.
"Oh yeah, kicked your butt metal head!" Beastboy cheered, as Terra ran up and gave him a quick hug, which he returned.
"Good thinking there Cyborg and Beastboy. Now let's finish these guys off once and for all!" Robin announced as he took out his staff, ready to fight Kulex.
Breaker had recovered and was looking like he would kill someone. The alien robot leaped into the air, and landed next to Cyborg, swinging one of his clawed hands. Cyborg easily blocked that threw a punch. Breaker just countered with a kick, hitting Cyborg in the stomach. Just as Breaker was going to slash Cyborg's neck, Raven and Terra both shot magicked items and stones respectively. Breaker blocked everything coming his way without a problem, and shot a beam at Cyborg instead which collided with the robotic teen, sending him flying into a the Power Plant's walls. Breaker turned around to face Beastboy.
"Now you shall pay for attacking me!" the robot said as he fired his eye lasers, while blocking more projectiles. However, Beastboy was ready this time. He transformed into a crow, and started flying right at Breaker. The alien robot merely chuckled, read to slam his fist into the transformed Beastboy. Instead of flying into Breaker, the shape shifter flew up vertically just when he was about an inch away from his target. Beastboy then flew a few more feet into the air, and morphed into a whale, crashing into the unprepared Breaker. This created a loud rumble heard everywhere in Jump City.
Beastboy morphed back into his human form, and jumped all over the fallen Breaker. "Oh yeah, I annihilated you again! Who's the man now!" The shape shifter jumped off the fighter robot, landing next to an amazed Raven and Terra.
"That was great BB! Good thinking!" Terra exclaimed as she and Beastboy shared a quick kiss. Raven just rolled her eyes.
"I have to admit, though, that was smart for once." Raven said in her monotone voice, not really interested. "Beastboy actually did something smart for once... never thought I would ever say those words..." This earned a laugh from Terra and Beastboy.
Their moment of peace ended after Breaker seemed to recover. He jumped up, his eyes turning a deep crimson color. "That was a good strategy, but you'll have to do better in order to damage me significantly."
"What do you mean? I just waffled you!" Beastboy said, rather surprised.
"That's what you think you did. But in reality, all I suffered was some minor electrical disturbances. Nothing major; I should be fine now. However, I guarantee that you won't be smiling anymore after I get through with you three." Breaker said, turning both of his hands into long, sharp sabers. "Let's see how you handle close range combat."
Breaker wasted no time in trying to get rid of the three Titans. He ran up and slashed one his saber-hands at Beastboy, who had to duck in order to avoid the unforgiving blade. The shape shifter morphed into porcupine and curled up into a spiky ball, then rolling away in between the alien robot's legs. When Breaker turned around, he was met with one of Terra's summoned boulders, which almost hit him in the face had he not destroyed it into pieces with his sabers. While Breaker was busy fighting, Kulex decided to take matters into his own hands.
Robin,Cyborg, and Starfire were attacking the dark mage from every side. Eventually, Kulex failed to block Robin's staff, and felt the sharp pain of the metal rod hitting him in the stomach. The dark mage grabbed his sword, and swung it mercilessly at Cyborg, who easily blocked it with his metallic arm. Once again, Kulex was hit by Robin's staff. Kulex had enough.
"Fine, you asked for it! I will kill all of you and then disintegrate you into oblivion!" the dark mage roared as he powered up. A blinding blue light flashed all around him, and his sword began to glow a deep blue color. "Heh heh, now you'll feel the pain I went through!"
Kulex charged at Robin, who was nearest to him. He stabbed Robin right in his left arm, piercing it with his deadly blade. Robin yelled out in pain as the metal blade cut right through his bone and flesh. The Boy Wonder fell to the ground, clutching the now bleeding arm. Starfire had a look of horror on her face, and went over to help Robin. Kulex was too distracted by Robin's pain to notice that Cyborg had finished charging up his sonic cannon to maximum power.
"Take this sludge head!" Cyborg yelled as he unleashed his powerful bream, hitting Kulex's back. The mage was sent into the air, landing somewhere on top of the Power Plant. "Yeah! Beat his ass!" Cyborg cheered, but quickly became serious as he noticed Robin's condition. "Yo, Robin. Are you alright?" the robotic teen asked as he knelt down to examine Robin's arm. Blood was now flowing freely through the opening from where Kulex's sword had pierced him.
"Cyborg, he's going to die from blood loss! We have to do something!" Starfire panicked as he lightly hugged Robin. Cyborg went right to work, trying to heal the Boy Wonder's arm.
Breaker then noticed that Kulex wasn't present in the battle. "Grr, Kulex, where are you?!" the alien robot yelled out.
"Right here! I could use some help!" Kulex yelled from the roof of the Power Plant.
"I'm not finished with you." was all the Breaker said before he warped up to the Power Plant to check up on Kulex. By this time, Beastboy, Terra, and Raven noticed what happened to Robin, and headed over to see.
"Damn it! I can't figure out why his cut isn't healing." Cyborg said with frustration. Starfire had a closer look. That type of wound looked familiar...
"I think I know how." Starfire said as she held her hand over Robin's wound, quickly saying some words that the rest of the Titans didn't understand. Much to their surprise, Robin's sword wound started to glow green, and closed up. Everyone was amazed.
"Kulex's magic seems similar to the one on my home planet. I preformed a simple spell that heals these types of magic wounds." Starfire said, as she and Robin embraced.
"Thanks so much Star!" Robin said as they broke the hug. "But how did you know what kind of magic Kulex placed on his sword?"
"I remember once reading a story, that a fierce warrior came from a distant place in the galaxy, and attacked Tamaran. He preformed this same magic that disposed of many brave soldiers. However, the Tamaranian armies managed to defeat the warrior, and he left in a hurry. After the war, our many wise mages came up with this spell to heal any soldiers still suffering from the warrior's magic. It was a simple spell that reversed the magic that flowed in the soldier's blood, enabling their wounds to heal." Starfire said.
There was a moment of silence, until Cyborg spoke. "Do ya'll think that Kulex might be that warrior that attacked Tamaran?"
"How smart of you. Of course I was that warrior." Kulex said, making the Titans jump up in surprise.
"Wow man, where'd you come from?!" Cyborg asked, ready to fire his cannon.
Kulex just stood there, one hand on his sword handle. "I recommend you put that down. Don't make me inflict further pain onto you." Cyborg reluctantly powered down his sonic cannon.
"Wait, that's impossible! The warrior from the story came hundreds of years ago!" Starfire said.
Kulex merely smiled. "No one said that I only live as long as a normal human. I live much, much longer than that. It all started with a complex time spell, which let me live for another 1,000 years. You would never understand."
None of the Titans spoke. Breaker now teleported right next to Kulex. "That's what you Titans fail to understand. We are not normal humans. Besides, you children are way too young to understand how advanced magic works, even though I don't posses any." Breaker said.
"So yes Starfire, I committed the mass genocide on Tamaran many years ago. I am responsible for killing the Tamaranian king of that time. It all traces back to me..." Kulex said, chuckling.
Starfire, as well as the other Titans, were shocked. "So this gives us another good reason to defeat you!" the Tamaranian girl said, getting ready to fire some lightning bolts.
"So you still want to fight, even though now you know what we are capable of?"
"We would fight you no matter how strong you are!" Beastboy exclaimed, positioning himself in a way in which he would have a clear path to Breaker.
"Enough talk. We came here to get the Gem, yet you once again had to interfere with us. Lord Firesprite must be getting impatient, and Breaker and I are in no mood to have to undergo his punishment." Kulex said, unsheathing his sword and powering it up.
"Then let's get this over with! Titans, go!" Robin exclaimed, taking out his staff and leaping at Kulex. The dark mage blocked the Boy Wonder's staff, and jumped back.
"Then come and get me..." Kulex muttered, ready to fight Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg like before. Breaker also began to fight Beastboy, Terra, and Raven.
"Your technique is flawed. You need to improve." Kulex said as he dodged Cyborg's beam and blocked Starfire's bolt. He slashed his sword at Cyborg, forcing the robotic teen to retreat a few paces back. Robin saw his chance, and once again charged at the dark mage, his staff ready to strike him. However, Kulex was prepared this time. The mage blocked the staff and countered with a magical ball of fire, hitting Robin square in the chest, sending the Boy Wonder flying back. Kulex continued blocking and countering Starfire's bolts as well as Cyborg's sonic cannon at the same time.
Breaker was not going to be taken down so easily this time. Beastboy morphed into a mole and tunneled underground, surfacing near Breaker like he did previously. Breaker saw him this time, and fired his eye lasers at the transformed Beastboy, forcing him to change back into his human form. Raven magicked a nearby tree, and swung it at Breaker like a baseball bat. Breaker changed his hand into a sharp ax and sliced through the tree without a problem. Terra summoned and threw a few dagger like stones at the alien robot, but they didn't affect the robotic creature since his metal body was able to protect him.
Just as the Titans were starting to tire out Kulex and Breaker, the ground started to shake like during a strong earthquake.
"Terra, could you try to please use less powerful attacks?" Raven asked rhetorically.
"I'm not using any strong attack right now! All I'm doing is summoning boulders!" Terra countered, as she ducked to avoid one of Breaker's beams.
"Heh heh, it appears our master has arrived. We may get punished, but at least you Titans won't get off so easily." Breaker said, as he and Kulex jumped back to a safe distance away from the Titans.
A dark vortex of clouds started to form in the air, and slowly descended down. A figure of a person started to walk towards the awestruck Titans.
"I have waited a long time to meet you Titans... However, today is not going to be the best day for you. Heh heh heh..." the mysterious figure said in a very low voice, one to match Kulex's.
To be continued...
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Woohoo, a cliffhanger. ;) Anyways, I'll try to update sooner, but like I said, school is taking a lot of my free time. Stay tuned, and please review!