Wow it's been a long while hasn't it:P Anyways, these past few months were seriously busy, so I wasn't able to continue writing until now. Anyways, a thanks to all my reviewers. So after two or so months, I bring you chapter 16:)
D-I-WaRrIa: Thanks for the review! I don't plan on keeping Alex around too long though, so I guess I might as well make him as evil as possible for now. ;) And thanks for recommending this story. :)
legato 626: Thanks! Can't wait for you to update your story. :P
Forlorn Melody: Thanks:D The Titans are having rather easy battles so far, but I really plan on changing that very soon. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
Chapter 16: Betrayed
The Titans weren't sure as to what was going to happen, but that voice sounded all too familiar. Probably not Breaker, nor any of Firesprite's accomplices, but who then? The mystery vanished as Alex, looking twenty years younger, stepped out from the shadows of the now darker room.
"Surprised to see me, Titans?" Alex questioned, foreshadowing a fight coming on.
The Titans' shock quickly faded to anger as they noticed that they have been betrayed. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted you..." Raven muttered, trying her best to control her rage.
Alex just shrugged, "Heh, it was all too easy. I just played my cards right; you deceived yourselves."
"What are you talking about?" Robin demanded.
"Exactly what I just said you foolish boy," Alex replied, watching in amusement as Cyborg and Starfire restrained a very ticked off Robin from charging, "You see, this is what will lead to your downfall. You place too much trust in people, even each other. What if the portal back to Earth fails? What if Karthor lied to you like I did? Hell what if Smilax is not going to fulfill his part of the bargain?"
"How do you about all this?" Terra hissed back, wondering how this guy knew that the Titans had made a deal with King Smilax and that they were planning on using the portal to return home.
"Yeah, and how do you know Karthor and King Smilax?" Beastboy added.
"I know many things," Alex simply replied, "And I know that fact that if you don't return to your planet soon, Firesprite will surely destroy it." He put on a nasty smile as the Titans calmed down, thinking about the state of their planet. "You see, I'm not lying when I say that you are all too 'soft,' so to say. Terra, how do you know that your poor excuse for a boyfriend won't betray you to Firesprite?"
This seemed too much for Terra to take, so she instead vented her blind fury by attempting to chuck a summoned boulder at Alex. "Don't ever say that about Beastboy! Besides, he would never betray me!"
Alex nimbly moved out of the way of the incoming rock, leaving it to crash several feet from its intended target. "Well, would you ever do such a thing as betray your beloved girlfriend, Beastboy?" Alex questioned, not a hint of humor in his voice.
The shape shifter replied with incinerating anger, about to tear Alex to pieces if he said anymore nonsense, "Never. You're just trying to turn us against each other."
"Or am I?" Alex countered, "And you, Starfire, don't try to tell me that you agree with those two." Starfire refused to say anything, moving closer to Robin. "I see. Now let me tell you this. Imagine that the portal to earth only allowed one person to go through, and then shut itself forever after one passes through. This would leave five of you stuck on this dump of a planet for the rest of your lives, and one of you would return back home. Then what? Who will you trust? Who deserves to..."
"I've really had enough of your stupid talk!" Robin blasted out, "I think that you definably need to die right now and rot in here!" The Boy Wonder took out his staff and charged at Alex, who simply stood perfectly still. Robin swung his staff, smacking his opponent full in the head. Alex rubbed his head and calmly walked over to the other Titans, all who were ready to slaughter him.
"Would you still attack me if I were to do this?" Alex took out a long wooden staff with a red orb on top and used it to cast a blue bubble around himself. After a moment or two, the bubble disappeared, and Alex stepped out, looking exactly like Cyborg.
The real Cyborg was outraged. "Yo, that's not cool! I'll get you back for this!" Cyborg ran up to his impersonated self and threw a punch to Alex's head. However, just as Cyborg's fist connected with Alex's head, he felt the pain in his skull as well. "Oww! What gives?"
"Heh heh... it's a simple spell really. Whatever you do to me, will reflect onto the person I've taken the form of, though I still will be hit," Alex said, now changing to look like Robin. He turned to face Starfire, saying, "Go ahead, attack me now Starfire. Let's see how strong you really are."
Starfire was hesitant. "I... I can't," She finally whispered, looking down at the ground in misery. Alex took out his imitation of Robin's staff and swung it hard at Starfire, who could do nothing to stop it. The Tamaranian princess was sent flying into a wall as the cold metal of the staff hit her undefended body.
"And what about you Raven?" Alex transformed into a Raven look-alike, turning to face her. The dark witch, taking a wild risk, used her magic to command a pillar of stone from the temple to slam into Alex. The stone hit her enemy, causing him to be thrown a few feet, but at the same time she was also hurled away in pain. "I see that you thought I was kidding, eh?" Alex stood up, recovering from Raven's attack.
Raven too forced herself up, "I knew what was going to happen, but at least I'm not a coward like you." She once again summoned a few vines off the walls to fly at Alex, who once again got hit hard and tumbled to the ground. Alex's magic took effect, and Raven yelled out in pain as she fell to the unforgiving stone floor.
Cyborg, who happened to be nearby, ran over to the fallen Raven and helped her up. "Take it easy Rae, we'll have to find another way to get rid of him." The dark sorceress reluctantly agreed, frustrated that she couldn't finish him off.
"Ok, enough of this demonstration," Alex said as he hopped to his feet, "Time to kill you all!" Alex morphed into Starfire and shot a barrage of bolts at the Titans. Having not too many choices, the teens simply had to dodge his attacks. Alex amped up the fight by transforming into Terra and summoning millions of rocks, throwing them aimlessly at the fatiguing Titans. Cyborg and Raven, the two that were injured the most, were struck by the rain of rocks, forcing them to hide behind a a stone wall which rendered the two unable to fight Alex for the time being.
Since Alex was still in the shape of one of their team members, none of the Titans could do anything against the evil mage. Alex realized that he was starting to make progress, and thereby morphed into Robin. He took out a few freeze disks from the replica of Robin's utility belt and fabricated a bunch of energy balls with his staff, showering them on the desperate Titans. He managed to knock out Starfire with one of the energy spheres and Robin as well not much later after he lost concentration when the Tamaranian princess went down. This only left a tired Beastboy and Terra to fight.
"Seems we reached the end of the line," Alex mocked the two as he morphed in Beastboy, further morphing into a green kangaroo. Beastboy tried to retaliate by shape shifting into an alligator ready to attack, but Alex was too quick for him. The mage leaped and landed right next to the real shape shifter, smacking him hard into the wall with his tail. Terra, dazed from the fight when she noticed that Beastboy was already unconscious, was easily taken care of by Alex with another whip of his tail. Alex finally changed back into himself after all the Titans were either unconscious or too weakened to fight. Using his magic, he rounded up all the teens and bound them together with some magical force.
"That was too easy," Alex laughed as he levitated all the Titans and placed them against a wall. He walked over to Robin and kicked him in the stomach, causing the Boy Wonder to double over in pain. "All you managed was to give me a few scratches, yet I was able to take all of you out by myself. I think Firesprite and Acrimon will be pleased."
"Why... are you doing this?" Terra questioned him weakly, praying that Beastboy would be alright.
Alex calmly walked over to her, "Because I would like to see the barrier still active."
Terra only got more frustrated by his reply, "You are such an idiot..."Alex quickly became angry and slapped Terra across her face.
"Leave her alone, none of us did anything to you anyway," Beastboy woke up, still fatigued but angered after hearing Alex hit Terra.
"I might as well end this now," Alex whispered in a grim tone as he knelt down before the two. He unsheathed a dagger from somewhere in his cloak and held it up in front of Terra's face. "I won't kill you by the most powerful magic nor by sword. Instead, I'll make sure to give you the most painful death you can ever experience."
Beastboy shifted himself so he faced Alex directly, "Touch her with that dagger and I'll make sure to personally rip you to shreds..." The shape shifter was determined to avoid the fate Alex had planned.
Alex wasn't impressed. "Heh heh. What can you do? You're life is in my hands now." The mage punched Beastboy in the face with his free hand and turned to Terra. He grabbed her by the hair and forcefully moved her head to the side, dagger positioned right at her neck. "One more outburst and your girlfriend will be gone."
Beastboy saw this and immediately yelled out, "No! I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt her!" Alex smiled and released Terra, who was now breathing heavily from fear.
Alex thought for a moment, 'I might as well get this over with, considering that Firesprite or someone will roast my ass if I don't hurry. I'll take care of the Boy Wonder first.' The mage stood up and moved over to where Robin was. "Now watch as I single-handedly kill your leader!" Alex hollered to Beastboy and Terra as they sat hopelessly, watching what was about to happen.
The evil mage grabbed Robin's throat and shoved him further into the wall. "You... can't do this..." Robin muttered, seeing no way out.
"Oh but I can, and you will watch it all through!" Alex countered, raising the dagger and preparing to pierce Robin's throat, guaranteeing instant death. Alex sent the dagger flying at Robin's throat, but just as it was about an inch away from its intended target, Alex mysteriously stopped right there. He tried to move his handed, but something was holding it in mid air. "What the hell is going on!" Alex fumed, wanting to kill Robin as fast as possible.
The Boy Wonder opened his eyes, bewildered that he was still alive. Alex was furiously trying to move the dagger the remaining distance, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't. "Not your lucky day, is it Alex?" Said a voice from the entrance door in the room. Everyone turned their heads to see who was there, and the Titans were relived when they recognized the person.
"Karthor..." Alex muttered, looking at the elder, walking staff in hand, descending the stairs of the room's main door.
"Yup, alive and kicking," Karthor said lively, "Hmm, having some trouble I see. Try this." Karthor waved his hand and the dagger in Alex's hand switched directions so now it was pointed at its owner's throat instead.
"You wouldn't..." Alex threatened, eyes wide.
Karthor shrugged and calmly said, "You are wanted dead by the king anyway, and this seems like the perfect was to dispose of you. So all I got to say is: bye." The elder moved his hand with one swift motion, and the dagger had thrust itself deep into Alex's throat.
"You... won't... get away... with this..." Alex barely managed to say before he coughed up some blood and collapsed on the floor, clearly dead.
"Save yourself the trouble," Karthor rolled his eyes, not seeming to care. "Sorry for coming so late Titans," Karthor said to the Titans, all obviously overjoyed. The elder muttered a few words and the force binding the teens down vanished, leaving them free to stand up.
Robin was rather surprised to see Karthor, "How did you know that we were in trouble?"
Karthor chuckled, "I sensed that something was going wrong. I even decided to take a peek at what was going on in the temple. I tried to get some people to come with me, but no one cared since they were already busy with something that seemed irrelevant. So I came here myself and that's when my suspicions came true."
"Thanks for taking care of that creep, now I don't suppose that you can do anything to maybe heal us?" Cyborg asked, pointing out the various wounds that the Titans suffered.
"Ah, I totally forgot!" Karthor mentally slapped himself for forgetting, "This should restore some of your energy." Karthor once again waved his hands and chanted some words in a language that the Titans couldn't understand, casting a spell over the teens that cleared most of their wounds and revitalized energy.
"Thanks! Now that's what I'm talking 'bout!" Cyborg exclaimed, clearly amazed.
"No problem, but I guess that you should be moving along now," Karthor said, trying to be modest. The Titans ended up thanking the elder and proceeded into the waiting elevator. One by one, the Titans arrived in the basement of the temple. To their surprise, the basement was actually only one large room, or so they thought. The main room was circular, but much smaller than the temple's common room upstairs. There were two other, much smaller rooms that extended out from the main one to the east and west. But what really stumped the Titans was that there was a long, red carpet on the floor that lead straight into a wall. The whole place seemed rather suspicious.
Robin was trying to figure this out, "It doesn't make sense that there is nothing in this room, but I bet you that those two switches have something to do with it. Star, could you check one of the rooms out?"
Starfire nodded and hovered over to the western room. The room itself was only ten feet wide and fifteen feet long, but there was an orb switch, much like the ones the Titans encountered in other places of the temple, standing in the center. Without thinking, Starfire hit the switch, causing a rumble to overtake the entire basement. "Um, oops..." The Tamaranian girl quickly scrambled out to regroup with the rest of the Titans who stood in the center of the main room, not sure what was going on. The rumbling went on for another moment, and the Titans noticed that the main room had started to rotate clockwise. One opening that used to serve as the entrance to the western room was now leading into a solid wall, but the other opening was now facing the same switch room where Starfire was previously.
"Yup, this place is weird..." Raven muttered nonchalantly, somewhat impressed.
"You know, if we keep hitting these switches, I think that one of the doors will finally lead to where the carpet is going," Terra pointed out.
Robin agreed, "Beastboy, go hit that switch again. Maybe this time we'll get lucky." Beastboy immediately dashed to the small room and smacked the switch, quickly retreating once he did so. The room once again rotated, but now the western room was blocked off while the eastern one was free. Beastboy once again activated the switch in that room, causing the main one to rotate counterclockwise. Just as the Titans hoped, one of the opening was now leading to another passage, the same one that the carpet was leading to.
The Titans proceeded to follow the long and winding passage. The passage itself was nicely decorated; torches emitted a soft glow on the walls and the gray stone was replaced by granite. It wasn't long until the Titans reached the end of this passage, arriving at a large oak door. Engraved on the upper portion of the door was a skull, signaling that entry could come with consequences.
"Well, I assume that this is where the barrier should be," Raven said. Cyborg, being the strongest of the group, pushed the door open. As the Titans entered, they were utterly shocked. This room was nothing like the rest of the temple. They were walking on a small stone bridge that led to a larger central platform. Spiked metal railing lined the edges of the bridge and platform, while the small torches that the Titans had become accustomed to were not present. Instead, a deep blue light was shining from the dark abyss below the bridge and platform, filling the entire room with a navy blue hue. There was another bridge on the other side of the central platform that lead to another door. However, the rumored barrier was not obvious in this room.
"I guess that the barrier is in the next room," Robin sighed, hoping to get this over with. As the Titans walked onto the central platform, more spiked railing suddenly flew out of the ground along the edges of the platform, blocking both bridges. The central platform had started to slowly rise, separating itself from the two bridges.
"Man what's going on?" Cyborg questioned, now confused as to what was happening.
The platform stopped rising, and a new series of torches lining the walls around the platform lit up, casting eerie shadows all over the place. A voice erupted out of nowhere, causing the Titans to regroup. "Who dares enter this sacred temple!" The voice questioned.
Robin spoke up, rather wishing he didn't have to, "We just came here to destroy the Jungle Barrier, that's all."
"That's all! The barrier is meant to be kept active! So I will give you the option to leave now, or face eternal doom!" The voice echoed back.
The Titans were obviously scared now. "Who are you anyway?" Terra questioned, holding on to Beastboy's arm.
"That is not important, but I assume that you wish to fight! So be it!" The voice faded away as it said those few words. A few shadows from the dark abyss below hovered up and started to join in the center of the platform that the Titans were on. As more and more shadows joined, they started to form a being. Even more shadows flew up and the being took form completely. It was seven feet tall and appeared to be wearing dark black armor with gold lining its edges. A large battle axe spawned in front of the being, and upon its completion, was grabbed with both of the being's hands. Two orange eyes ignited in its face, and the being started hovering stably about a foot off the ground. The actual body of the being was composed of semitransparent purple shadow and its face was clear with the exception of its eyes.
"I am the Abyssal Shadow, and if you wish to break any barriers, you'll have to go through me first!" The being hollered in a voice that seemed to drain the energy of anyone who heard it.
The Titans, mustering all the courage they had, stood prepared to fight the Abyssal Shadow, hoping that he wouldn't be as tough as he looked.
Once again, sorry it took so long to get this chapter done. :) Hope you enjoyed it!