Chapter 22

Starfire fell to the ground, having been nearly torn apart by the shards. "So much for you!" Shimmer sneered.

As the villainess started to walk away, the young Tamerainian slowly floated back to her feet.

"You... did not quite finish me off."

Shimmer turned back to her in shock. "How can you still be alive?"

Star's response came in the form of a well-placed starbolt, knocking the villaness out. "It takes more than that... to kill a warrior of Tameran!"

Cyborg felt himself being crushed by Houngan's vicious voodoo grip.

"Give it up, boy!" The shaman sneered. "Your scientific strength is no match for my magic!"

Struggling to get free, Cy managed to raise his arm cannon and level it well enough to get a shot off at Houngan.

"Argh!" The shot hit him dead center, causing him to drop the voodoo doll. The cybernetic hero rushed up, and kicked the doll out of his reach.

"Lights out, Voodoo boy!" He said, punching Houngan hard on the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

The Gargoyle dove at BB again, spewing fire at him. The singed shape-shifter was thrown off his feet by the blast.

"Dude, Watch it! You might hurt somebody!" As the creature made another pass, Beast Boy morphed into an elephant. He charged straight into the swooping Gargoyle, sending him flying back into a wall.

"Ow! Dude," Beast Boy said chuckling, "that's gotta hurt!" the gargoyle just slumped against the wall.

"Give in to your Rage!" the illusion of Trigon demanded. "It is the only way!"

Raven stopped struggling after a moment, and looked directly at Trigon.

"This is not real." She said angrily. The ruins of Azerath vanished around her. "And you are are not real!"

Trigon melted away, leaving only the stunned Phobia standing there. "How did you...?"

"I learned to see through people's lies long ago!" Raven exclaimed as she kicked Phobia, knocking her off her feet.

Red X crossed his weapons in front of him, in an attempt to parry the upward staff thrust being thrown at him. He was surprised when he practically slid down the pole, hardly feeling an impact. Suddenly he understood his error when The Boy Wonder finished his high, long flip with a drop kick straight to the skull.

He accepted the hit, he couldn't do much else, then hit the ground moving, rolling quickly to the side to avoid further blows. He then engaged the motors behind his blades, using the force of the spinning to throw himself up and back, landing right in front of Robin once more.

"We can't keep meeting like this." He said, chuckling yet again, as he threw his arm down cutting the staff in two.

"Maybe we should make this the last one, where you end up happily ever after in jail!" Robin yelled back, taking a couple of quick-steps behind him, then throwing the two halves forward, pressing his weight into it with his right heel.

Red X barely managed a block, the force of each hit being just enough to lock the spinning weapons in place.

"'Fraid I have to disagree with you there." He grunted, sounding as though he were speaking through gritted teeth. "I rather like these little get togethers." They stood staring at each other for a moment, their gazes and grapples locked.

X suddenly threw a leg forward, though more pushing off of Robin's chest then actually kicking him with the motion. The force of this thrust, coupled with a secondary motion of uncrossing his arms, launched him away into a flip.

"Looks like my job here is done." He said confidently as he turned upright once more, "I'll see you around kid." Came his last bit of speech and as he touched his belt with his left hand and faded from view, he cast his rival a two fingered salute.

Far above, the Rock-surfing Terra and the enraged Geo-Force continued their battle. Terra pulled a large section of the ground beneath the city free, and hurled it at him. Bryon; in response, let a gravity-enhanced punch fly, smashing it to pieces.

"

That the best you've got, little sister?" Geo taunted as he lava-blasted the rock beneath her, sending her plummeting towards the ground.

"Terra!" He yelled, diving to catch her. As he got close, she grabbed him, and began pummeling him as they plummeted towards the ground.

"Arrrggah!" he yelled as they slammed hard into into the turf. They plunged below the surface, and headed deep underground.

Down here, both of them were in their element. The two living embodiments of the earth exchanged blows, pounding on each other as they passed through the planet's crust, into the hot molten rock beneath it. Bryon's fist slammed into his sister, sending her flying backward. She rushed forward through the molten liquid, and came back with a hard kick.

As their battle went deeper and deeper, it's effects were felt all over the globe. A massive earthquake shook the Andes mountains in Peru, tearing small mountain villages apart. All along the ring of fire in the Pacific Ocean, Volcanoes that had been long dormant roared to life, spewing lava that had Polynesian islanders running for their lives. In the city of Naples in Italy, the people huddled into churches, waiting for the end as Mount Vesuvius spewed ash and smoke all over the city.

Back in Jump City, the Titans tied up the remaining members of the Fearsome five, as the ground began to shake beneath them.

"Dude, what's going on?" Beast Boy yelled in terror.

Cyborg looked at a scanning device on his arm. "Those two have passed into the lithosphere!" He yelled. The other Titans ran to see what he was talking about. "They're throwing the whole Earth out of whack! If they reach the core..." All of the titans turned pale as he spoke. "This planet's a gonner!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Brother Blood's lair, the leader of the Hive was having hysterics.

"Jayce, you madwoman! Turn her off!" Blood yelled in panic. He grabbed her by the collar. "Before she kills us all!"

Jayce only smiled. "It's too late for that, Blood." She said coldly. "I'm afraid her rage has taken her even beyond my control!"

The two of them looked back at the monitor helplessly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------