Disclaimer: applys

I am so sorry about not updating. First the computer goes on the fritz, then I can't find the new chapters. Chapter Nine is all Jedi and I found.So the last two days I've been trying to remeber the last couple of chapters because after this one a lot of important things happen. I got some time and hope to work on getting back on track. Again I am sorry to all my readers. This Chapter isn't long, but it's still has it somewhat importance.

Jedi helped write this Chapter.

Chapter Nine

Titans! Go!

For many days, they worked hard. Was there any hope? Raven would have already said no, but inside, everyone held onto a small wish for success. The Titans West worked hard, along with Titans East, following every lead that came up on the main computer. The time spent searching took most of everyone's energy, mostly Cyborg, who was now linked up to the system day and night. CNN was now informing the world that they were launching a full out assualt on the menacing Darkfire, who now dominated the ruins of Jump City. Covert military operations were searching the ruins, silently evacuating the remaining civilians. The Titans watched the operations, praying for every wounded person dragged from the rubble, saddened by the vast numbers of dead.

Beast Boy quietly watched the newscasts. Out of the corner of his eye, a column of soldiers caught his attention. They were searching the rubble of a building. And from the building behind them rose an unholy apparition wreathed in red fire.

"Oh, no..." Beast Boy whispered...

"Sargeant! Get those troops on that section there! And bring up those forklifts! We gotta clear this wall!" Lieutenant James C. Frederick yelled orders to his troops. He had always known it would come to this. Caped weirdos flying around and using the city as their battleground. No good, the whole lot of them. "Davis! You knumbskull, move the rubble into the street, not onto the rest of the rubble! We're tryin' to clear the secton, not bury it!" Private First-Class Robert F. Davis turned to acknowledge the order. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to scream, and was engulfed in flame as a huge red explosion cleared in less than a second what it would have taken the men hours to clear. The rubble deposited itself on the heads of the men, crushing them. The screams of the dead and dying floated through the smoke. Frederick picked himself from the pile, in time to see Darkfire shriek by overhead, incinerating two privates in one fiery blast.

"Sargeant! Bring in the tanks!" Frederick looked around for his commanding sargeant, only to find him buried under half a section of brick wall. Frederick pulled the comm unit free: "Alpha Base, this is Emergency Search and Rescue Three, repeat

"ESR-3, come in, Base!"

"Alpha Base here, go ahead 3."

"Priority One! Send in the artillery! Repeat..." Frederick's last statement was lost as Darkfire materialized out of the smoke, grabbing his throat and heaving him across the street, through one of the few standing walls. When Frederick hit the ground, he felt nothing. Funny, he thought as darkness closed in, No pain...

Beast Boy watched the viewscreen intently as tanks rolled up the street. That officer must have got off a message. Good luck to ya', Buddy he thought at the screen. The tanks raised their cannons at Darkfire, and his heart leapt as the three artillery units opened up with both cannon and machine gun. Darkfire disappeared in a fiery cloud, and Beast Boy watched closely.

Unconscious, please, not dead, just knocked out, give us a break...but the cloud drifted away to show Darkfire glowing brighter than ever, raising her hands, intense with red fury, and dropping a ball of energy on the tanks, shredding their armored hulks, and levelling the rest of the buildings on the block. She glanced dispassionately at the devastation, then floated off in search of other prey, leaving death and destruction in her wake.

"I've been going over the data." Cyborg looked as if the computerized half of his body was the only thing keeping him on his feet. Seventy-two hour sessions plugged into the networks of every law enforcement agency on the planet, followed by three hour breaks for rest and food, had taken their toll on the Titan. He stood, wavering on his feet, in front of the main viewscreen at Titans East. At key points, the screen would change to update the data he presented. "I cross-referenced several important factors. Sudden spikes in criminal activity, long-term dealings, including weapons, drugs, and money trafficking, large payoffs to known crooked officers, and the most important, suspected superhuman activity and sightings." for each point he made, red dots popped up across the map of the world. Three areas contained highly concentrated amounts of the spots. "We've got three winners: Berlin, Germany and Sydney, Australia are two," the two areas enlarged, showing the layouts of the cities and geographical region maps, "The third is an area just off the coast of Hawaii, along a major trade route used by, take a guess."

"Military supplies?" Bumble Bee and Raven chorused.

"Bingo. Seven ships disappeared in this area," a green circle highlighted seven of the red dots, "without a trace."

"Okay, so we've got our winners, what do we do?" Beast Boy inquired.

"I say we take each area, one at a time, and investigate thoroughly." Bumble Bee spoke up.

Raven, leaning against a wall, shook her head: "No, we don't have that much time. Darkfire grows stronger every day. The more she destroys, the stronger she gets. Soon, she'll have nothing left in Jump City, and will move on. My guess is, she'll come here, to finish off the Ttians. We need to split up and search each area as quickly as possible. Robin may be the only chance we have of stopping Darkfire, so we have to find him fast."

"I agree," Cyborg announced, "I hate rushing into things, but we are out of time. Bumble Bee, Aqualad, I want you two to check out Hawaii. Your best bet is to trail the military supply fleet heading out that way. Mas, Menos, and Speedy, I want you to check out Berlin. You might want to brush up on your German."

"No problemo!" Mas and Menos chorused.

"Yeah, work on that. Raven and Beast Boy, you're coming with me to Sydney."

"Cool!" Beast Boy chimed in, "To the land down under, where I, Beast Boy, am king!" he puffed his chest out arrogantly.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever 'King.' Look, the sooner we get going, the sooner we find Robin, so we've got no time to lose."

"Hold it there, Metalhead," Raven spoke up, "You're no good to us half-depleted. Same goes to everyone else. We've all been burning the candle at both ends. Twelve hours sack time, then everyone report to the ready room."

"Sounds good," Bumble Bee said, "I could use a little nap."

"Si! Siesta!" Mas and Menos touched and zipped from the room toward the dormitories.

"All right. Twelve hours from now. Have a nice sleep, everyone." Cyborg staggered from the room, Beast Boy discreetly slipping an arm around his companion to help steady him as they went to rest for their search.

Who am I anymore? The creature called Darkfire pondered form her rooftop perch. What is my purpose? Is betrayal all I have ever known? With every life I take, I am emptied further, but somehow more whole. The power within me builds. But I find no purpose to my existence, except to destroy. Something inside me is dying. But what?

Who am I?

"All right! Time's a-wastin' people! Let's get our rears in gear and find our hexed hero!" Twelve hours had rejuvenated Cybor and his friends, and they were all ready to go, their spirits lifted with the evidence their robotic companion had uncovered. "Bee, Aqualad, take the T-Sub. Mas, Menos, Speedy, you've been lent a ride. Try not to scratch it." The bay lit up, and there in the middle, sat a gleaming black Batwing. The Titans stared.

"Holy crow..." Beast Boy drooled.

"Batman wanted to come, but something about the Joker came up, so he lent us one of his jets. I've modified it to fit all three of you."

"Wow..." Speedy's mouth hung open.

"Like I said, don't scratch it. Raven, BB, come with me." The other two teams hurried to their rides, Mas and Menos zipping into the jet and surveying the cockpit, 'ooh'ing in glee.

Cyborg led Raven and Beast Boy back to the garage, which sat in total disarray, tools lying about. The T-Car sat in polished splendor in a cleared area in the middle.

"I've modified my Baby to hover, and installed SR-71 class boosters," the rear of the car was much bulkier than they had seen before, "so this will be our ride to Sydney. Hop in."

The three Titans got in, Cyborg sliding behind the wheel. The ignition was missing, and in it's place were two switches, which he flipped. The car began to hum, a sound that built in pitch as it's new engines revved up. When the sound had built to peak intensity, Cyborg flipped a third switch and the sound died off.

"Sound dampening field, so we don't ruin our ears yelling over the engines. Hang on." A fourth switch opened the garage door, and Cyborg crushed the throttle stick forward. The T-Car blasted from the garage in a jet of flame as the two Blackbird engines kicked in afterburners. Immediately in its wake came the Batwing, followed by a streak in the water that was the T-Sub. Speedy, at the Batwing's controls, waved to Cyborg, before pulling an extreme loop and screaming towards Berlin. Cyborg held pace above the T-Sub, heading across the Pacific. He would part with the sub about halfway to Hawaii. His Baby had plenty of fuel to reach Sydney.

Every Titan stared off to the horizon, to his or her destination, hoping beyond hope that when they reached that far-off barrier, their friend and leader would be there for them.

Please Read and Review.

Promise to get a couple chapters up soon.

(I shout to give a shout out to my very best friend, Jedi, who practically wrotemost of this chapter. Without him, I don't think I would have gotten Chapter Nine done so soon. Love ya!)