Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, For You

Chapter Forty-Five

"The Day Of"

A/N: What is drama? Drama is chapter forty-five! Which shall be dedicated to Infamous One.

Sadly, because of personal life and my duties as an Admin on another website, I probably won't have this fic done by Valentine's Day like I originally hopped. I guess that just means it'll be going on for more than one year, like I had hoped. Ah, well, no big deal. Hope it's been a good year for all of you to read, I know I've had fun. (Aside from the surgery.)

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

About an hour after the search of the castle, the titans returned and met up in the throne room, unable to find anyone. Neither Terra nor Rose returned, and that only added to the troubles going on inside the throne room. Though everyone else had regrouped, things remained bleak. Rose and Terra were missing, and the Titans could only speculate as to the reasons why.

"Where could they be?"

"Maybe whoever let the shoe worms in has them." Raven theorized. It was now common knowledge that someone who wanted the redheaded princess dead had placed the show worm in Starfire's bedroom – the question was who had this person been, and where were they now?

"Dude, somebody's trying to kill us." Beast Boy stated.

"Somebody's always trying to kill us, BB." Cyborg reminded him.

"Something doesn't make sense." Robin said to the group. "There's something we're overlooking. There has to be!"

"Heroes." It was Myand'r, who had just entered his personal throne room. He carried with him a blood soaked piece of fabric, at first, no one recognized it, but with a gasp, Raven realized what it was.

"That's the sleeve of Terra's shirt." She said, able to feel Terra's energy coming off the shirtsleeve, which had been torn off and covered in blood. Robin took it from the king and looked at it, and then he sighed with relief.

"Dude?" Beast Boy asked, wondering what relief he found in this.

"Look at the blood spatter patterns. Someone cut this off Terra's shirt before it was soaked in blood; meaning she is probably fine. It was done to try to scare us." Robin informed him, and that caused a collective sigh of relief from everyone around them.

"Where did you find it, father?" Starfire asked, flying beside the King.

"It was left on the main steps of the palace." He told them, and then he held up a note that was written in English, instead of Tamaranian. "Along with this."

Robin took the note and read it over twice silently, and then he read it aloud for everyone to hear, anger surging in his voice, as he had to read the words written by someone who was horrible.

"Dear Titans, by this time you've probably found Terra and I missing. Unfortunately, for you, I am fine, but she will not be for long. Not far from the castle are the ruins of a Tamaranian Temple. Go there, if you wish to find your friend.
Consider this payback, for what you have done to my father repeatedly. She will be dead by morning, if you do not come.

Yours truly, Rose "The Ravager" Wilson."

When Robin finished reading it, everyone was silent for a moment, and then Myand'r asked, because he did not know. "Who is this Rose Wilson?"

"Wilson... dude, she can't be." Beast Boy asked Robin, but Robin shook his head.

"We all saw that woman with Slade back on Earth. It looks like he's got a daughter; not good news for us, but even worse for him."

"Rose is... oh my God, Robin..." Starfire's eyes watered up with tears, but he placed a hand on his future bride's shoulder.

"We're going to stop her. Titans, let's go get our friend back, and teach Slade he should have just stayed dead this time." Robin decided, anger emanating from his body as he shook.

----

"Are you certain you don't want any aid?" Myand'r asked, looking at Robin as the Titans prepared to leave for the abandoned temple to save Terra from Rose. Myand'r was worried, and wanted to send troops with them.

"No. This is something we're going to do ourselves." Robin told him. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Please, let us help you! We can bombard that temple with troops and defeat this vile woman!" Myand'r shouted, slamming one fist into the other palm. "We will send an entire army brigade out there, we will tear the temple apart and stop this vile madwoman!"

"No sir, we have to do this ourselves; to make sure our friend comes back alive." Robin informed him, and the Titans set out to rescue Terra from Slade's demented daughter.

----

In a dark and abandoned temple, not far from the Tamaranian Capital City, Terra was chained to a wall with metal bindings. Unfortunately, she could not escape from this temple. Why? The walls were made of stone, the roof was stone, and if she used her powers to break free of the wall, the entire building would come down on them and crush them both to death. Terra sighed; Rose was working on a computer, talking to Slade back on Earth.

"Are you going to kill me?" Terra asked.

"Not yet. Not until all the Titans are here, so I can kill you all together." Rose informed her, and she slipped her hand down to her waist and removed a small, sharp knife from her belt. Terra's eyes widened slightly in fear as she saw the silvery blade in Rose's hand.

"Didn't we just agree you wouldn't kill me?" Terra asked, watching the knife in Rose's fingers.

"Hmm. You will survive what I plan to do. Father wanted to make sure you suffered. You know he spent months as a slave to a demon because of what you did to him. Because of what you put him through, you ungrateful, evil woman!" Rose spat, her words becoming so venomous they seemed to radiate a powerful hatred from her body.

Rose's face was now mere centimeters from Terra's, and she pressed the knife against Terra's cheek. Terra felt the blade dig into her skin, and she felt the warm sear as her flesh was torn, and the cold drip of blood that fell down her flesh onto the icy blade.

"I need you alive, Terra, but not in good condition." Rose informed her, and then she took the knife off Terra's face, watching the tears of pain fall from her eyes and sting on her torn skin. Rose laughed and put the knife down on the table, and then she turned to her computer to send a message to her father.

Then the computer exploded; and Rose had to jump back to escape shrapnel from the blast. She looked up and saw Robin standing at the far end of the temple; he had tossed a pocket-sized bomb towards the computer and destroyed it. Rose growled and went for her knife, but the knife was covered in black energy and would not move -- apparently, Raven had done this while she was not looking.

Raven was behind Rose now, using her demonic powers to seal the knife against the table, keeping it away from Rose's use. However, Rose had a full-fledged sword on her belt, and she went for that. She grabbed the sword out of the sheathe and ran across the room to impale the blade into Raven's chest -- however, before she was halfway across the room, a big green anaconda wrapped around her legs and tripped her. She screamed in fury and tried to stab Beast Boy; but he morphed into a hummingbird and was gone before she could chop him in half.

Rose stood up, but as she did, Bumblebee blasted her right hand with her electric, golden "B" shaped weapon and Rose dropped her sword. A moment later Jinx used her bad luck powers to crumble the step on which Rose sat, and she went falling down several stairs, to where Cyborg waited to knock her out with a powerful punch from his broad metallic arm.

With Rose unconscious and Cyborg wrapping a rope around her arms and legs, it looked like everything on Tamaran was done. If only Robin had not destroyed the computer, they would know what havoc was being caused on their own world -- but they did not. Raven approached Terra and freed her from the wall, and Terra fell to her knees, clutching her cut face with one hand. Her other arm hung at her side, limp and bleeding.

"Let me try to fix those up." Raven said to her friend, and began to heal Terra's wounds.

"How'd you guys get in here without her knowing?" Terra asked as the wounds began to vanish and the blood dried up.

"I made a portal. It's a demon thing." Raven replied, and then she took her hands off Terra's face, which was healed now. Terra stood up and sighed, but before she could speak, Beast Boy had screamed.

Everyone turned around, but Rose was standing up. She had freed herself from the ropes, knocked Cyborg down, and grabbed one of Bumblebee's golden "B" shaped weapons and held it to Beast Boy's throat. Rose was panting and bleeding but she was far from defeated.

"Terra, draw her attention." Raven whispered, but before Terra could respond, Raven had vanished -- sunken into a portal in the floor and gone without a trace. Terra knew she had to do something, or Beast Boy was a goner -- and she remembered what she had said to Raven before. She remembered how she had claimed Raven did not care about him enough, and now Raven had vanished again, apparently not caring about Beast Boy.

Terra stood up, but in a flash, Rose pressed the golden B into Beast Boy's neck harder, making the green teen cry out in pain. Terra stopped, not sure, how she could get close enough to save Beast Boy without risking losing his life.

Then, in a flash of black light, Rose was on the ground screaming. Raven's hooded form was at least three times taller than normal, and four red eyes glowed from beneath Raven's hood. Rose was lose beneath her cloak, and Beast Boy was lying safely on the ground a few feet away. All of the Titans watched as Rose screamed from beneath Raven's cloak for thirty seconds; before Raven released her and returned to normal. Raven staggered backwards a bit, and Rose was not moving. Her mask was gone, and her face was pale white.

Terra paused when she saw the result. Then she heard Raven's voice in her head.

"I love him, and I'll fight for him. I hope you believe me now."

----

Mt. Gandrake

Robin was standing beneath the alter now, waiting for Starfire. They had defeated Rose, and she was in a Tamaranian Prison now, where she would spend the rest of her life. They knew that Slade was out there somewhere, and they knew he would be a problem when they returned to Earth; but for now, they were not worried. Instead, now was the time for the wedding, just as Robin and Starfire had begun planning a long time ago.

On top of the mountain, as the stars and planets aligned, Robin was waiting for his beautiful bride to come up to his side. The moonlight illuminated the flat top of the mountain, and the young black haired hero waited impatiently. It was hard to be patient when the greatest moment of your life was about to begin.

Not far away, Beast Boy and Raven were looking down the side of the mountain, overlooking the nighttime of Tamaran's mountain. Without warning, Raven placed her arm around the shorter green teen and pulled him close to her. Though Beast Boy was hardly complaining about such a thing, he did smile up at her and wonder.

"Rae? Why the sudden affection?"

"Would you prefer I go back to making fun of you?" Raven asked in her monotone, sarcastic voice.

"Naw. But I would prefer we ditch the weddin' scene and go make out in the dark caves." Beast Boy hinted, but apparently she missed the hint because she made no move to go towards the dark caves below them, and instead she remained looking at the silvery surface of the alien planet. Beast Boy shrugged, and put his own arm around her, enjoying the warmth of her embrace.

Cyborg, meanwhile, was in the other side of the small circle where the wedding would take place, and Jinx and Bumblebee were both looking at him with their arms crossed and their eyes expectant.

"What? Now?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes." Bumblebee answered.

"Now." Jinx enforced.

"I can't choose now. It's my bud wedding day. Give me till tomorrow." Cyborg asked them both with a pleading puppy dog look on his face.

"No." Bumblebee responded harshly.

"Now." Jinx repeated, a threat in the tone of her voice.

"Err . . . well, see, it's like this." Cyborg was fidgeting, trying to buy himself some time, but at that very moment a trumpet sounded and Starfire came through the door, wearing a beautiful white wedding dress, cut in the traditional Tamaranian style, and Cyborg was saved from having to speak.

Robin paused, unable to speak. He watched Starfire walk down the aisle towards him, and his memory was flooded with memories of the past three years, and all the good and bad that had come with those times. Mostly the good, the moments when he knew he had fallen in love with the perfect woman.

From his forced confession at Shady's arrival, to their trials in the Trials and everything that had come afterwards. When he almost lost her to Slade, and when they had saved each others lives on countless occasions. Every memory that seemed to cement their relationship was in his mind, and when she finally reached his side, Robin did not know where to begin.

"Starfire . . ."

----

"Your. Daughter. Has. Failed."

Back on Earth, Slade was sitting in the Brain's new palace, where a gigantic machine sat, unleashing the Brain's mind-control over the entire planet and population. Slade was amused at what the Brain had to say.

"Yes, she has, but I don't quite care." Slade informed the Brain. "After Earth has bent to our will, I can free her from Tamaran after their society becomes slaves as well."

"Our. Will? You. Forget. That. You. Work. For. Me." The Brain's hollow, mechanical voice spoke harshly.

"No, you forget that I gave you power, and I can take it away just as quickly." Slade replied, a dastardly smile under his double-colored mask. The Brain was not amused, but made no remark.

"What. Of. The. Justice. League?" The Brain asked.

"Defeated." Slade replied, a satisfied tone to his voice at the announcement of their crippling defeat.

"And. The. United. Nations?"

"The same as the superheroes. Every word leader, every Superhero, and every citizens on the planet earth is now under your complete control – every one, of course, aside from myself." Slade told him, crossing his hands and laughing maniacally.

"Indeed." The Brain replied. "Now. We. Discuss. Your. Side. Of. The. Bargain."

"All I require is the same thing I asked you for before – a relic from the Paris Museum." Slade told him, sticking to his simple request.

"Very. Well. Take. What. You. Want. Mr. Wilson." The robotic brain told Slade, but Slade was amused. It was like the Brain really believed himself to be in charge of all things, when Slade knew that was not the case at all.

"I already have, my robots have loaded my payment to my new base. I'm certain we'll see each other soon, Mr. Brain."

"Indeed. For. Soon. The. Teen. Titans. Will. Return. And. When. They. Do. We. Will. Crush. Them. All."

----

On Tamaran, things were good. Robin and Starfire embraced, their lips met for the first time as husband and wife, and they were as happy as anyone could ever be.

On Earth, men and women who had once been just as happy screamed as the Brain's troops invaded their homes, stole, looted, burnt and destroyed whatever they pleased, for whatever stupid reason they thought of.

On Tamaran, Raven and Beast Boy stayed up the entire night, watching the sun rise from behind the clouds as the moon disappeared, their arms around one another. Neither spoke words, and neither had to; because they were happy, and together, as they were meant to be.

On Earth, blood pooled in the streets, brave men and women who refused to bend to the Brain's will were mowed down, their corpses left on the empty street as a sign to any who would defy the new ruler of the planet.

On Tamaran, Cyborg was the only unhappy soul, as he tried to figure out how he would choose between the sorceress who had stolen his heart, and the beautiful, street-wise woman whom he had given it to willingly.

And On Earth, only one man was happy, and that man was Slade Wilson. He stood behind an ancient prize that had been in the Paris Museum for centuries, with no one knowing the incredible power it held. No one, from the Brain to Mumbo or even the late Trigon the Terrible had any clue as to what kind of unstoppable power was locked in that simple museum – but now Slade not only knew, he had found the source of that power.

Slade watched in delight – for now he had it, the ultimate source of power, destruction and undeniable might. He would be the greatest creature ever born into this, or any, world – for now he had might beyond might, sight beyond sight, and power that was unmatched and unrivaled. Now he had the greatest treasure of all, and he intended to use it to capture the entire universe as his Kingdom.

The era of Slade's dominance had begun. No longer was he a hired gun – now he was the Master of Everything he saw, touched or smelt. Slade had become the most powerful warrior in all the known worlds, and no one would be able to stop him.

And now he just had to wait for his chance to prove all of this to the Teen Titans, upon their return.

----

Robin lay in bed now, a sleeping Starfire beside him, looking up at the ceiling. He no longer wore his mask, and he was happy. It seemed like today, even after the events of earlier, had been a good day.

If only he knew how wrong he was.

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

That was shorter than usual, I know, but I have been horribly busy as of lately. The next few chapters will be longer, better and will pick up the pace with all the action, romance and surprise endings I know you want. Coming soon . . .

The conclusion to the Cyborg/Bee/Jinx triangle! The resolution of Terra's personal conflicts! And a big bang of a finale for our couples, as well as the hardest thing Robin and Beast Boy could even imagine facing.

So keep reading, keep reviewing, and I'll keep writing. :3