The key to the future lies in the past Chapter 5: Spelunking Hazards, a teen titans fanfic

Yes I am still alive and so is the fic. This chapter just took me ages to get right. Sorry for the delay. Tell me what you think.

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Glossary

"Stitch em up":Military slang for shooting someone with a fully auto weapon. The term comes from the typical recoil of fully automatic weapons causing each round to land higher than the one before it.

Carbine:Short Rifle

The green Teen Titan walked down the all too familiar path that led to Terra. This time was different to the previous times he'd walked the path. Unlike the other times he's trudged that path, Beast Boy had not resigned himself to grief, this time he fought it. Robin's words the previous day had struck home. Beast Boy knew that the last thing Terra would have wanted was for him to be sad. So for her, Beast Boy fought off the sorrow with everything he had. He felt so useless. He wanted to help her but he didn't know what to do. All he could do at the moment was hold on to the good times and prey for a miracle. Little did the changeling know as he was setting the framed photos down at Terra's feet that the next best thing was standing behind him.

"What happened to her?"

The voice was familiar to the point of being spooky. Many would have sworn that it was Terra's voice; however Beast Boy's particularly sensitive ears easily detected the slightly higher pitch. The similarity was still more than enough to send a chill down his spine. When Beast Boy turned he rapidly discovered that the similarity didn't end at the voice. She could have been Terra's identical twin save for the obvious age difference.

"Who are you? How do you know Terra?"

"My name is Angela. Terra's my sister."

"So do you have same powers?"

"No I can…"

A clunk echoed down the tunnel shortly followed by a profanity screamed by Mammoth.

"Hide"

"But.."

"Just hide."

Angela obediently scampered behind Terra's pedestal. Being an avid fan of the Teen Titans she was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing one in action. That was until she remembered that the Teen Titans were famous for their spectacular battles and the consequent collateral damage. Terra's presence in her defenseless form brought a chill to Angela's spine.

Mammoth's specialty was violence and brute strength. Ironically his physical prowess proved to be the complete opposite to his intellect. Consequently, when it came to stealth, this along with his lack of finesse and patience as well as his sheer size made the behemoth almost completely useless. A fact that was now getting under the skin of his team leader

"Quiet!" came Jinx's harsh whisper "Beast Boy must have heard that."

"Quit wining ya kludge head." Gismo's ever present, unique vocabulary coming threw loud and clear along with the passionate defense of his comrade's actions. "We've got him trapped anyway. The skuz bucket's got to go threw us to get out."

Gismo had a point and they had a mission. Rather than compromise it further by fighting amongst themselves, Jinx decided to simply chew him out afterwards. They may have lost the element of surprise though they still had superior numbers. Considering that they were almost a match for the Titans when outnumbered, the H.I.V.E. team knew that one lone Titan should be no problem.

Beast Boy was trapped and he knew it. Thinking wasn't his one of his strengths, less so when under pressure. He couldn't turn into something fast or small to get past them and Leave Angela behind, he shuddered to think what they'd do to her of they caught her. His communicator was his best option.

"Guys! Help! I'm under attack at Terra's Cave!"

"They can't here you, snot for brains. That piece of crud's no match for my radio jammer"

"Tell me," Ordered Jinx "Who were you talking to before you called for help?"

"Nobody!" The green teen's words ripe with fear "I was just… talking to myself."

The obscurely clad sorceress' face was lit with an evil smile. She and her team members had decided in advance that, rather than simply giving Beast Boy the most savage beating of his miserable life, they would attack him psychologically and hurt him far worse than any physical injury could. Then they'd give him the most savage beating of his miserable life. From the H.I.V.E. team's point of view they couldn't get a more fun assignment except for possibly doing the same thing to Cybourg.

"Sounds more like you were talking to that dead girlfriend of yours."

Despite his silence, Beast Boy's anger couldn't have been more evident had he screamed it at them.

Not wanting to miss the perfect moment, Gismo took advantage of his adversary's silence.

"Figures. The only girl that'd go near this crud munched is made of stone."

"Yeah" continued Jinx, loving every moment of it "But even when she was alive she must have been a real sl…"

The sorceress was cut short when a tin of brass polish struck her in the face. Beast Boy stood dumbstruck. He'd brought the polish to buff Terra's plaque but he hadn't thrown it. What also perplexed Beast Boy was the look of fear on the faces of Jinx's subordinates. Ordinarily they'd both be sniggering at their comrade's misfortune.

"We're going to make you wish you never… HOLEY MOLEY!"

Like her team mates had moments before, Jinx noticed the semi transparent figure standing next to Terra's statue. The figure's striking resemblance to Terra's statue and semi transparent state brought the three H.I.V.E. members to one conclusion: GHOST!

"Um, did I miss something?"

The loan Teen Titan was still blissfully unaware of the ghostly figure behind him.

"Leave them all to me."

Angela's menacing figure strode past Beast Boy

"Yes Mam!"

For a half second, Beast Boy had even believed that Angela might be Terra's ghost though he knew Terra's features better than anyone and could easily tell the difference. That aside, he didn't feel that it would be in his best interests to argue with her. Angela's voice held so much anger it was frightening. That and she was transparent.

The H.I.V.E. team watched in fear as the ghostly figure approached. After a few seconds, Jinx snapped out of it and threw a purple hex across the floor. Angela simply disappeared before it got to her. Jinx breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was easy."

"Yes it was."

Jinx tried to scream as the un-naturally cold invisible hand gripped her throat but all that came out was a weak moan. Gismo drew his custom build laser pistol with his right hand. He lowered and began franticly clicking his goggles threw different vision modes with his left hand, desperately trying to acquire a target. Angela saw this and threw Jinx into her compact comrade. Even Mammoth's useless brain, which made Beast Boy look like a genius, was able to deduce that he was next and he's better do something. That something happened to be wildly swatting the air around him with his huge arms and hoping to get lucky. It only took a well timed, gentle push in the pack to send the juggernaut toppling onto his two fallen comrades.

"You're like bread on a windowsill. Mine when I want you."

Mammoth rolled off his two team mates. He was more or less unharmed and mad though Jinx and Gismo weren't in any real condition to fight.

"Retreat!" croaked Jinx, her throat still sore.

The H.I.V.E. team ran for their lives. To be more accurate, Mammoth ran for his life while Jinx and Gismo sort of limped for their lives.

Outside the cave, Hurst lay prone behind a bush. Getting close without being seen had proven to be difficult and time consuming as he was carrying a nice conspicuous fully automatic weapon. He'd somehow managed to suppress his urge to charge in shooting and do the logical thing instead. In this case it involved a one man ambush. After Discovering Terra, he and his collogues combed the cave looking for clues as to her situation and consequently knew that there was only one exit. Hurst knew that Angela was quite capable of making herself scarce but was far more likely to do something stupid. As for Beast Boy, they needed him to be alive and well. Hurst was far more concerned about Angela, even though he knew the three were after Beast Boy and that he'd expressly instructed Angela to stay hidden should anything happen. He also knew, having found out the hard way, that Beast Boy wasn't exactly useless. Not that it made Hurst feel any easier.

As they exit the cave they should walk right past my position putting me behind them. That'll be the time to strike. If they've got any brains between them, they'll probably want the fuzz ball alive as a hostage for when his team mates inevitably come after them. A couple bursts over their heads should be enough to convince them to take off. Failing that I use the flash bang grenade to stun them and buy me some time to advance. If Angela's with them I'm just going to stitch em up. They touch her they die. Angela, please just stick to the back up plan and don't do anything stupid.

Hurst herd rushed footsteps echoing from the cave. His right thumb flicked the safety/select-fire switch of his M468 carbine to the Auto setting; the two stage trigger would still allow him to fire single shots. His left thumb softly resting on the grip switch for the ITL MARS sight's built in laser pointer as his left hand tightly gripped the forward assault grip.

The fuzz ball's probably making a run for it. Maybe he's smarter than he looks.

As the H.I.V.E. team ran past Hurst's bush, he rose to a crouching position and brought his carbine to bear on the retreating group in one swift motion

What the? The fuzz ball can't be that good can he?

Hurst heard two pears of approaching footsteps and franticly hit the dirt.

"Do you really think I should join the Titans?"

Enthusiastically asked the sweat drenched, hyperventilating Angela. Despite clearly being physically drained, her behavior didn't show it. The Teen Titans were her heroes. She'd never expected to meat one, let alone get invited to join.

"Sure. You took care of those guys like they were nothing. They usually give us heaps of trouble. After you were finished with them, at least one of them needed a change of underwear."

"I don't know. I really want to find out what happened to my sister."

Beast Boy sighed. He wasn't particularly anxious to re live the painful memories in the detail Angela would be after.

"It's a long story. Come back to the tower and we'll tell you everything."

"Ok. Can we get a cold drink on the way?"

"Sure, my treat. You've earned it."