Clash of the Titans by CidGregor

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 20

A mighty gale whipped mercilessly around the titanium titan as he stood his ground before the Wind Titan. A human eye and a cybernetic eye locked with the great balloon-like eyes of the Wind Titan, and both let out a battle cry as they sped toward one another.

Cyborg transformed his right arm into his sonic cannon and fired a blast of blue and white energy at the creature's midsection.

TSSEEEEWWWW!.!.!

The Wind Titan was ready. It twisted its funneled body in a very inhuman way so that what should have been a direct hit sailed past it instead. The evil Titan countered by waving an arm at Cyborg.

WHOOOOSH!.!.! The hurricane-force wind that followed nearly knocked him off his feet as he slid back several meters, titanium feet dragging along the rocky ground with a horrible SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH!.!.!

Cyborg gritted his teeth and ran forward again, pushing against the winds that his opponent was blasting him with. He raised his sonic cannon again and fired, but the Wind Titan bent its wispy body once again and twisted out of the line of fire like a snake. It angled its arms toward the ground and released two more massive gusts of air. P-POW!.!.! The rock was torn out of the ground by the wind's force, and blown straight at Cyborg.

So focused on his opponent, the first chunk of rock Cyborg did not see coming, and he paid for it when it smashed into his face – WHAM! – and broke his nose. Blood began to trickle from the wound for a few seconds before his medical systems kicked in and clotted the blood-flow. Cyborg split his attention away from the Wind Titan then and gave more focus to the rest of the rocks that were tumbling his way. He held his titanium forearms up in front of his face, shielding his human parts from the worst of the damage the rocks inflicted; the rest merely bounced harmlessly off his armored body. CLING C-CLING CLING!.!.! The rocks pounded him, slowing his progress, but he still pressed forward little by little.

Once he was within range of the monster again, Cyborg's shoulder's opened up and unfolded into rocket launchers. Three rockets fired from each shoulder – P-P-OW P-P-POW!.!.! – and wound their way in two tight spirals toward the Wind Titan. But the monster waved another wispy arm and hit the rockets with bursts of air. Four of the rockets crashed into each other and exploded, but the other two were forced completely around so that they sped back toward their owner.

Cyborg's eyes bulged. "Oh, Sh-"

BOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!

Cyborg was thrown backward to the ground as the rockets pounded him in the midsection. The flames of the explosion blackened his armor, but the titanium teen was no worse for the wear. He leapt back to his feet, just in time to see the Wind Titan open a massive mouth and take a deep breath…

"Uh-oh…" Cyborg realized what was coming. He had just a split second to grab hold of a rock archway and dig his fingers into it before the Wind Titan exhaled, and winds of ridiculous speeds slammed into the half-robot. Cyborg clung to the arch for dear life, his cybernetic muscles straining to hold against the winds blowing past at what seemed like well over two hundred miles an hour.

It's gotta run out of breath sometime, Cyborg thought to himself, and the second it does, it's goin' down!

And just as Cyborg predicted, the Wind Titan's gale breath slowly died a few seconds later. Cyborg released the arch and ran forward, not wanting to give the monster a chance to wind up for another breath. Just as he got back within rocket range, it opened its great mouth again…

"Oh, no you don't!" Cyborg cried out. His shoulders opened again.

P-P-POW P-P-POW!.!.! A second volley of missiles shot out.

P-P-POW P-P-POW!.!.! A third.

All twelve rockets quickly found themselves caught in the suction, and before the Wind Titan had a chance to be surprised, it had inhaled the entire dozen.

"Careful what you eat, windbag…" Cyborg said with a smirk.

B-B-B-B-B-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!

The Wind Titan exploded from the inside out, into billions of wisps of wind that breezed by the teen and faded away into nothingness. When the wind died down, no trace of his opponent remained.

"Some big, bad Titan you turned out to be," Cyborg said over his shoulder as he turned away. He raised his forearm to glance at the display screen on it. "Now to figure out where everyone else…got…to…"

Cyborg trailed off as he stared at the display screen…or rather, the lack thereof. The arm he was staring at, in fact, was not robotic at all. It was…normal…human.

"What the…?"

"It's nice, isn't it?" a voice called out.

Cyborg spun around, and his eyes fell on his own most hated enemy.

"Brother Blood…" Cyborg snarled. "How did you get here?"

Blood smiled, ignoring the question. "You like the feeling, don't you? The feel of humanity…of your own flesh and blood…you want that, don't you?"

Cyborg sneered, and jabbed his other arm toward the cult leader. "Look, Blood, I ain't gonna fall for your…" Cyborg trailed off again as he noticed his other arm…it, too, was human. Truly human…he could feel the skin, the blood flowing through it…

"Is this not what you wanted, Cyborg?" Blood asked. "To be yourself again? I can give it to you, Cyborg…"

"Forget it, Blood! I'm happy the way I am. I don't need to be human."

Blood sneered. He turned away from Cyborg. "Very well…if you don't want to be human…"

"…then I shall make you entirely robot."

Blood's voice changed mid-sentence; as Cyborg watched, his hated enemy transformed…and now, the cold, pale face and glowing blue eyes of Fixit were suddenly staring back at him.

"Your imperfect human elements shall be replaced. You will be efficient. You will be perfect. You will be…"

"A robot…" Cyborg finished, looking at his hands again. They were once again cybernetic…his whole body was. He looked out at his surroundings with two red, electronic optics.

"You see, you do not need your imperfect human components. An entirely robotic form is much more preferable. You shall never bleed…never hurt…never die."

For a few long moments Cyborg stared at his hands in silence, as though he were seriously considering Fixit's words. But then Cyborg closed his eyes, took a deep breath…

…and laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

The teen thrust one arm into the air and pointed into the red and black sky. "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, MALCHIOR?.!.?.! YOU THINK THIS IS SUPPOSED TO SCARE ME?.! YOU THINK THIS INTIMIDATES ME?.! HAH…DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!.!.!"

And when Cyborg looked back down, Fixit was gone, and the titanium teen was himself again.

"Boo-yah…"

Close up, the Cyclops was a lot bigger than Beast Boy had originally thought. In his elf form, he didn't even came up to the Cyclops' knees. It squinted its one enormous green eye at the changeling and bellowed at him, spraying Beast Boy with a foul odor and flecks of spit from a slobbering tongue and rotten teeth.

Beast Boy shuddered, shielding his face from the raining saliva. "EEEEWW!.!.! Man, ever hear of mouthwash?" he shouted, glancing up at the monster. Almost immediately he averted his eyes and cringed in horror. "EEEEEEEEWWWW!.!.!.!.! AND GET A BIGGER LOINCLOTH!.!.!.!.!"

The Cyclops bellowed again and swung its meaty leg out at the changeling.

WHAM!.!.! The foot connected with Beast Boy's entire body, booting him a good fifty feet away. He skidded on his rear and flipped over, transformed into a hummingbird in mid-flip, and sped on infinitely beating wings back toward his opponent. As soon as it landed on the unsuspecting Cyclops' shoulder, the hummingbird melted away and grew into a sabre-toothed tiger. The green cat sank its massive front teeth into the Cyclops' pudgy shoulder, and it roared in a pained rage. It twisted its arm around and reached for the changeling, but Beast Boy withdrew, flitting away from the beast as a hummingbird again.

The Cyclops looked around, blinking its one great eye, trying to find the changeling, but he had flown out of sight. It scratched its head stupidly, grunting in confusion. It turned, looking for some sign of the green-skinned shape-shifter…

WHAM!

A hairy fist flew into the Cyclops' face, forcing it stumbling back a few steps toward the edge of the rocky ledge it stood on. It came within a few short feet of the edge of oblivion before it righted itself. The Cyclops twisted around and glared with one massive eye at the owner of the fist; an enormous, King-Kong-sized gorilla with dark green fur, and foot-long teeth curled into a nasty snarl.

Both beasts roared at one another and charged forward. Their palms came up and locked together in a grappling position, and the two pushed against one another, their strength surprisingly equal. For what felt like a very long time, Beast Boy grappled with the Cyclops, neither able to overcome the other at first. But gradually the Cyclops' strength began to win out, and Beast Boy, despite his mighty gorilla muscles, was being forced back, pushed down to his knees…

Uunnhh…good thing I've got a Plan B… the changeling thought to himself.

In an instant, the gorilla was gone, replaced with a falcon that swooped away as the now unbalanced Cyclops pitched forward and hit the ground face first. It crawled back to its feet, roaring furiously at the bird flying overhead.

The falcon suddenly became a green pterodactyl, and swooped down at the Cyclops. It raised its meaty palms to snatch the winged creature out of the air, but Beast Boy was flying much too fast to be caught; he raked his prehistoric talons forward as he zoomed by, and in a spurt of blood, the claws punctured the Cyclops' only eye.

This time the monster's roar was more like a shriek; strangled, and warped with pain. It stomped about in a blind agony, one palm covering the bleeding hole that was once his eye and the other swinging about blindly at the changeling.

But Beast Boy was not anywhere near the swinging fist. He'd landed far away, and transformed into a massive emerald woolly mammoth. He jerked his pachyderm head, tusks gleaming, blew a loud trumpet from his snout, and charged. It was slow at first, but quickly gathered speed and momentum as he charged toward his opponent, who was still dangerously close to the sharp edge of the platform…the distance closed…closed…

WHAM!

Beast Boy body-slammed into the blinded Cyclops, and the momentum was more than enough to send the monster stumbling that last few critical feet. It teetered comically on the edge for just a moment…and then, with one final roar of fury and pain, it tumbled over the edge, and fell into the red and black oblivion below.

Beast Boy resumed his elf form, grinning as he began to dance about. "Go Beast Boy! Go Beast Boy! It's ya birthday! It's ya birthday! HAH!"

Finished with his dance, the changeling glanced back the way he'd come, but for some reason he could no longer see the others off in the distance. Had they really ended up that far apart…?

"Hmm…better go and find them…" he muttered to himself. He stretched his arms out and ran toward the opposite edge, preparing to transform into a falcon…

"Beast Boy, where are you going?"

The changeling jerked to a halt. "Terra?" he said, recognizing the voice, but at the same time realizing it sounded different…older, somehow…

He turned around toward her voice, and somehow he was suddenly no longer in Raven's mindscape, but back in Titans Tower. More specifically, he was standing in Terra's room, next to her bed. And sitting up IN the bed, smiling at him, was Terra.

She didn't just sound older, Beast Boy realized; she looked older as well. She was taller…more curvy. Her hair was longer, too. She continued to look at him lovingly, holding the bed-sheet around herself just below her shoulders, and was angled toward the changeling in such a way that she just barely exposed to him the smooth, tanned skin of her back.

Beast Boy's eyes couldn't help but bug out at the fact that the Terra before him was very obviously nude, and if the bulge beneath the bed-sheet was any indication, her chest had definitely grown a considerable amount. But even these revelations were nothing compared to the look in Terra's sparkling, sky-blue eyes as the bed-sheet slipped down an inch.

"Beast Boy, please don't leave…come back to bed…" she cooed. The bed-sheet lowered another suggestive inch, and the top of her bust line was now just visible.

To his credit, the changeling managed to tear his eyes away from the woman of his dreams nude before him; but his eyes fell instead on a mirror, and now, as he looked at his own reflection, he saw that Terra wasn't the only one who'd changed. He looked older as well. His hair was longer…more untamed. His physique was noticeably more muscular…not obscenely so, but definitely an improvement, he thought. The muscles stretched the material of his black and purple uniform almost to the point of tearing it open. He'd grown taller, too. All in all, the changeling thought, he looked…handsome.

He saw in the mirror's reflection just then that Terra had walked up directly behind him, and her face was smiling at him from over his shoulder. Her bare arms came up and wrapped gently around Beast Boy's shoulders, her fingers lightly stroking the top of his chest, and the changeling almost melted on the spot. Her touch was so…perfect…

When her arms drew a little tighter around him and the space between their bodies became nonexistent, Beast Boy suddenly became very aware that the bed-sheet had been left behind as two bulges of flesh pressed against his upper back, and he was now wondering how his heart hadn't burst out of his chest, it was beating so fast…

Oh man…those are…those are her…oh man, oh man… his brain rambled.

"Come on, Beast Boy…don't stand there and stare at yourself all day…come to bed…" Terra whispered in his ear. Her embrace tightened, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to ignore the soft bulges of her chest pressing almost eagerly against him.

Is this…is this real? the changeling wondered. It…it feels real…but at same time, it doesn't…how did I get older? How did Terra get older? What if this is all fake?

And then, another voice inside of him spoke up. 'Does it really matter? Look at what you have…you are happy here…you have the love of a beautiful girl…you are one with her, forever…what does it matter if it is real or not?'

No…that's not right…I want the real Terra…the Terra I know! he argued.

'But this Terra is better…just look at her…'

Beast Boy couldn't help but turn around, and gaze at the Terra before him in full glory. Every inch of her was perfect. Silky skin. Slender legs. Curved hips. Delicate hands. Long golden hair hanging down her head, just barely concealing her breasts…

"Te…Ter…" Beast Boy stuttered; Terra placed two fingers over his lips to silence him, stepped forward, and kissed him full on the mouth.

The sensation was incredible…it was electrifying…addictive, even. She kissed him hungrily, her hands roaming across his back, which was suddenly and mysteriously bare. It was the most amazing feeling Beast Boy had ever known…but there was something wrong, still…something missing…

No… Beast Boy thought to himself. No, this isn't right…this isn't the way it's supposed to be!

'Beast Boy…it's what you wanted, isn't it? You want her…' the other voice said.

The kiss deepened, and Terra pulled Beast Boy forward until he was squeezed up against her naked body…

NO!.!.! Beast Boy shouted in his head, finally resisting. He pulled back from the kiss and backed away from the image of Terra, squeezing his eyes shut. I know what this is now! This is what Raven warned us about! You're messing with my head!

'Dear Beast Boy…she desires you…you desire her…I have simply…made some…improvements…'

You think you can just give her boobs and call that an improvement?.!.?.! Beast Boy screamed inside his head. You don't know anything, Malchior! I love Terra! The REAL Terra! And there's no way I'm going to give in to this…this…PUPPET of her you've created! I won't be suckered in like this, you hear me?.! Go pester someone else, and LEAVE ME ALONE!.!.!.!

The changeling opened his eyes, and to his supreme relief, the fake Terra, and the bedroom, were both gone, and he himself was normal again. He was still in the mindscape…and now, off in the distance he could see his friends…engaged in their various battles…

Cyborg facing a living tornado…

Robin and Starfire facing the polar opposites of Fire and Ice…

Raven battling the demon dragon…

And Terra, a small golden glow silhouetted against the massive Earth Titan…

For a brief moment the image of Terra that Malchior had constructed bubbled forward in his mind…and the changeling repressed it quickly. That wasn't Terra, he told himself. The Terra he knew…the Terra he loved…she was the one out there, fighting…

"And it's about time I get back to it, too," he finished his thoughts aloud. In a flash Beast Boy was a green falcon, and he soared back into the fray.