Pieces of the Puzzle

Alexnandru Van Gordon

I was asked in one of the reviews to another story that I write another chapter to this one. I have no intentions of just ending the story here—I was just taking a vacation and writing out the next few bad-draft chapters for the end of this story and the beginning of book four. I'll end this one off so that you can stop reading BLAST TO THE SUPPOSED PAST altogether, but I'm leaving a couple of connections points. I already did in the last couple of chapters.

Anyhow—onward!

DISCLAIMER: Please read the disclaimer of previous chapters. Have a nice day…

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Goodbye

Getting to Gotham was actually easier than it first sounded there was no traffic on the way there, seeing that everyone was fleeing, and the taxi driver was in an awful hurry to get them out of his car. No one wanted to be in Gotham, and Beast Boy didn't blame them.

Getting out of the car, he helped Raven out and they stood on the curb of an abandoned street. It looked so familiar…like the time Terra worked for Slade. Except, back then there had been swarms of Slade's commandos scouting the streets in search of anyone to kill or capture—mainly the Teen Titans if they ever came up again. Slade obviously thought he had the city for good this time because there wasn't a single robot to great the two heroes as they stood there in silence.

Pulling out his communicator, Beast Boy turned it on. If anyone on their team was in Gotham, their communicators would work just fine.

"Grayson?"

Beast Boy grinned and held it close to his mouth. "Guess again, dude."

"Beast Boy! Man, how did you get here? I thought you were in the hospital with a coma?"

"That was Raven, and she's healed herself." He explained and he caught a small smirk on Raven's face before it disappeared. "Anyway—we're here to help, so where's the party?"

"Edge of town—big creepy warehouse…the usual. I'm staring at it right now with Kori."

Raven took the communicator from Cyborg. "You mean Starfire?"

"Eh…in a way. You know how Robin said Grayson was his future self from another dimension?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, Kori is Starfire's future self."

"Cool!" Beast Boy exclaimed and snatched back his communicator. "We'll be there in a flash."

"Alright, but hurry."

He returned his communicator to his belt and looked to Raven. "Think you can fly? It's only a short distance."

She smirked again. "I'm fine. Are you ready?"

-G-

The next blow carried him farther across the room than the last, which was abruptly stopped with the wall. He fell to the ground but somehow forced himself up. All in all, this was the real caped crusader—Batman, but why was he acting this way? It had to be him. His moves, his stance, the way he always thought a few steps ahead of his opponent…There was no mistaking his old mentor. But it had to be an imposter because the Dark Knight didn't act like this. He wouldn't attack another person unless he was sure they were up to no good. And that could only mean one thing…

Slade.

Poor Robin.

The battle didn't last very long after that. Grayson had a broken rib and he couldn't stop spitting up blood as his old father tossed him around like a rag doll. As hard as he tried, all he could was play the defensive side and that led to a pattern: block, block, take a hit, block, block, take a hit…

The next blow, a powerful side-kick to his sternum, sent him flying back up the stairs, followed by a second sidekick that put him through the door out onto the roof. That was when he thought he would die…but then another surprise came.

"I really can't believe this."

Grayson sat up on his knees and glanced over his shoulder at four figures he would have never been happier to see. Beast Boy was the one to speak, and with him were Cyborg, Raven, and Kori. It looked like the old team…but not exactly. Starfire should have been there instead of Kori and Robin should have been there instead of Grayson.

Speaking of which.

"Why are you doing this?" Kori asked innocently, hands glowing as she prepared for an attack. "Why are you hurting your own son?"

"It's…Slade…" Grayson gasped out to her and her sad eyes fell on his beaten figure. "He's…done something…"

"And that's not all he's done."

All eyes turned back toward the fire exit door as three more figures walked out onto the roof followed by a large group of Slade's commandos. Wintergreen, Starfire, and Red-X…

"Mind control is so easy to accomplish with today's technology…" Wintergreen sneered.

"Oh boy." Raven muttered, slowly levitating as her eyes glowed white.

"I know." Cyborg added. "This is gonna be one hell of a war…"

-HW-

As Jacob started off toward the basement floors of the building, HW stayed behind and watched Robin as he stood silently in the corner of the large room, wearing his assassin suit once more. He didn't look too happy, but he said nothing as Slade worked nearby him at the table. There was a pile of weapons there, but Slade seemed fascinated in just one as he held it up. It looked like a glove, and this he slipped on to his right hand, flexing the fingers as electricity danced around his fist.

"What is that?" HW breathed, astonished at such an invention.

Slade turned to face her and flexed his hand once more. Even Robin stared at it in curiosity as Slade explained. "This?" He asked, sounding proud of it. "This is just something I created a long time ago that I never got the chance to use. It holds ten times more electricity than your body can handle. One shock from this and even a little electric witch like you would die."

She shivered internally and eyes the dangerous weapon. That really would hurt, wouldn't it?

HW shifter her weight on her feet. Tucked in her belt behind her back was her gun, loaded with two bullets.

"Go and help your cousin. He's preparing our transportation out of here in the secret waterways beneath this building."

HW grinned. "Sure thing." And turned away to find him.

She was going to help him alright, but not in the way everybody thought.

Finding the set of stairs leading to the basement, she jogged down them into the darkness of the underground waterway and waited for her eyes to adjust before she made her way toward the small river below. There was a dim light on from a lantern and Jacob stood on a boat while packing something away. He didn't see her until she stood right next to the boat and just stared at him with an expressionless face.

He straightened and jumped at the sight of her, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Ummm…what is it?"

HW quickly reached behind her back under the cape and grabbed the gun, holding it tightly before pulling it out to aim at Jacob.

"Joyce?"

Bang!

He fell to his knees, the thigh of his left leg bleeding heavily. He held his hands over the wound and applied pressure, but he knew it was going to do him no good.

"I made a promise that what you did, I'd do." She explained clearly in a soft voice, taking aim again. "If you're going to steal, and kidnap, and murder, I might as well get used to it too."

"Joyce…" He said through gritted teeth, trying his hardest not to cry out in pain. "Why…?"

She smirked. "I'm insane."

"Joy—"

Bang!

A deathly silence followed the echoing sound of the last shot, soon to be followed by the thud of Jacob's body as he fell backward, a hole in his forehead. Blood began to pool around him on the boat and HW didn't move. The gun was still aimed and her arm still steady, the follow-through technique of someone who knew how to shoot. You were supposed to control your breathing and hold still after a shot for a couple of seconds. Most people found that it helped their aim…

There she was again—her mind going off on random thoughts when she couldn't explain something to herself….Oh. Jacob was dead.

And she didn't feel too bad about doing him in.

HW finally lowered her gun and stared down at the weapon in her hand. "I should have left a bullet for Slade…" She muttered to herself, now realizing that he must have heard the shot.

"Yes. You should have."

HW gasped and spun around, just in time to take the side-kick to her chest that knocked her backward onto the boat. She landed on top of her dead cousin and was suddenly drenched in his blood. She tried to stand and slipped once to her knees in the pool, but she grabbed the railing of the boat for stability and frowned hard at Slade as he stared down at her.

"I always knew you'd try something like that." Slade said mockingly, always one step ahead of the game. "But I never actually thought you would kill someone—let alone your own flesh and blood."

"What does it matter?" She said with difficulty as a sharp pain spread through-out her chest. Broken ribs…why did everyone always get broken ribs when fighting this guy? "I killed those people with Overload, didn't I?"

Slade laughed and that sent chills along her spine. She could understand why killing someone didn't bother him, but why would he laugh at such a thing? Unless…

Her eyes grew wide behind her mask. "I…I didn't kill anyone, did I?" She asked in realization. "No one died in that attack…"

"A few life threatening bruises, but everyone made it out fine in the end." He sighed and looked down at his glove as he flexed his fist. It responded instantly with a small cackle of electricity, catching HW's wide eyes instantly. "If there's something I've learned through all my years as a mercenary, it's that if you someone dead…" His one eye narrowed and fixed on her. "…you stick around to make sure they aren't going to get back up when you're finished."

HW rested a hand on her broken ribs, one hand still clutching the railing for support. She watched in fright as Slade grabbed onto the railing and hopped over onto the boat so that they faced each other.

"You know you're going to die."

'Nod your head, Joyce.'

She nodded her head once and eyed the glove as he took a step forward. She stepped back and hit the bend in the railing where the end of the boat was, realizing that there was no way she could hold up against a man like this.

'I told you we would die of electrocution, but I guess I always imagined that it'd happen when your powers went haywire. Guess I was wrong…'

"What are you thinking, witch. Horrified, or did you always know it would end this way."

"I did…" She admitted in a weary whisper. "But I wanted to kill you until I found out you always come back from the dead."

"Any last requests?" He asked as he came deadly close, fist reaching out to grab her.

"No—but I do have a warning. Robin's gonna win."

And then his fist closed around her throat. Lifting her up into the air as he both choked and electrocuted her. HE whole body felt like it was going to tear in half and she couldn't take in any air to think straight. Pain like she never felt before spread through-out her body and made the broken rib feel like nothing but a pinch. She tried to move, but all she could do was hold onto his fist as he slowly killed her.

In a feeble attempt to make him suffer, just before her little light went out for good, she reached out her left hand to grab the part of his arm that was not protected by the glove…

Darkness came and she fell into it.

-S-

He saw her hand reach out to grab him, but he stopped the flow of electricity before she came to close to touching him, but by then she was dead. He released her throat and watched as her limp body fell to the ground, smoke rising from her burned body. Her long black hair covered her face, but he saw that look of terror and sorrow as she finally gave into her demise.

Turning around, he grabbed one of Jacob's arms and picked him up, tossing him overboard. Then he turned back to the dead electric witch and felt her broken neck for a pulse…nothing.

Bending down, he scooped the limp body up into his arms and stood by the opposite railing, looking down at the dark waters as blood began to make it murky. With one final look at her charred body, her dropped her over the edge and turned around as a splash came up behind him.

He had had enough trouble with Terra when she was a betrayer, and there was no way he was going to put up with it any further.

Goodbye…Jacob and Joyce

-BB-

Somehow he dodged the next attack from the commando and transformed into a ram, slamming his horns into its chest and knocking it back into another robot. They almost collided with Batman who was at it again with Grayson. Poor guy…Grayson didn't look too well. He was really pale.

While staring at the two legends fight, he was shot at from behind and went soaring toward the fire exit door, flying down the stairs into the room until he hit—

"Ouch!"

Beast Boy sat up and rubbed his head before opening his eyes. Eyes adjusting to the dark, he just about jumped out of his skin when he saw who it was.

Wrapping his arms around Robin's neck, he gave the hero a tight hug before standing up and lending a hand to help him to his feet. "Where have you been and…" He looked Robin over as the young leader rubbed his own sore head. "Back to straw one, eh? You're not gonna shoot me…are you?"

Robin winced when he touched the spot where their heads collided, but—to Beast Boy's surprise—didn't say yes. "Be quiet. I got away from Slade for a moment. You guys have to led Batman and the others away from here now."

Beast Boy cringed and thought back to the battle raging out on the roof. "Heh…and how do you suppose we do that? Grayson's here with Starfire's future self, along with Cyborg and Raven. But Slade…does he have Batman, Starfire and Red-X under his control or something?"

Robin frowned, obviously already knowing about the matter at hand. "Yes, but as long as their near Slade they're in danger. He can tell anyone one of them to kill themselves and they'll comply."

"Oh…" Beast Boy thought about that for a moment until he realized something. "That's his blackmail against you, isn't it?"

Robin nodded sourly. "And he's leav—"

"ROBIN!"

They both jumped at the sound of his voice and Beast Boy almost had a heart attack. Not him again…anyone but him…

"You've got to hide." Robin whispered as the steps of the angry man grew louder.

'No problem." Beast Boy said and transformed into a tiny spider just as he jumped at Robin. Landing on his chest, he crept underneath his chest gear and held on to the cloth of Robin's suit just as Slade came into the room.

-R-

Robin turned to face the man just as he entered, noticing that he held a cloth in one hand. He wanted to fight the man now, but not while the lives of his friends where in danger. They were all still too close—

"Starfire!" Slade hollered just as he grabbed Robin's arm in a steal grip. Before Robin could ask what was happening, the once bubbly alien girl came soaring down the stairs and landed gracefully in the doorway as she awaited her next order.

Slade wasn't going to kill her now…was he?

"Struggle and I'll tell her to kill herself." Slade warned in a furious voice. He moved the cloth toward Robin's mouth and he smelled chloroform, jerking back at the scent.

Slade gripped his arm tighter and jerked him forward again. "I told you to hold still!" Slade hissed and pressed the cloth over Robin's mouth and nose. Robin tried to hold his breath but Slade jerked him again and he soon ran out of air. Exhaling deeply, he took in enough of the chloroform to make his vision blur suddenly. Another couple of breathes and he suddenly lost his balance…

Slade caught him before he fell and then he was out like a light.

-A-

Cyborg: Man—you killed HW!

Alex: (Startled) Whoa… enough of the jumping out on me. That isn't nice.

Cyborg: Killing someone isn't very nice either. Why'd you kill her?

Alex: That was my original cause for creating her. I was actually going to kill her in the last book, but I have to get rid of her for book number four.

Cyborg: …But she was pretty cool. Couldn't you have at least made her die nobly?

Alex: I made her insane and killed her off with an easy murder. Getting her to do something noble before she died was killing Jacob. Anything more 'hero-ish' and she would start sounding like a Mary Sue.

Cyborg: (Rolls eyes.) Name one natural Mary Sue on the show?

Alex: O.o? Terra of course. Blond hair, blue eyes, skinny little girl, one guy on the heroes' side instantly falls in love with her, has a great power, has a great problem, good guys want her, bad guy wants her, and she dies when she saves someone/thing (Jump City). I hate her, but no offense to you Terra lovers out there—I think adding a Mary Sue to the show actually gave it such an interesting twist that Terra wasn't all that bad. By the way—if any of your own made characters have five or more of those details—you may have a Mary Sue on your hands. Which reminds me…I have to hunker down and start reading your stories...

Cyborg: Don't you get Friday and all of next week off for Spring Break? Lots of time to work…

Alex: (Has a migraine, rubs temples.) I know…I have to work on the second half of the Apprentice episode for Slade's Tale. I have so much work to do…

Cyborg: Any homework?

Alex: No—now will you leave me to sleep? I'm sick with the stomach flu again…

Victor: One last thing.

Alex: AHHH! Where'd you come from?

Victor: (Ignoring the question.) You didn't give a warning this time that you were going to kill someone.

Alex: I'm giving no more warnings because I'm not done with the death yet.

Victor: O.O?

Until later,

Alexnandru Van Gordon,

And

Victor Van Heiring