Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, For You
Chapter Forty-Six
"Home, Sweet Home"
A/N: Dedicated to ShiningAstra13. Short notes today.
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As the ship flew back towards earth, everyone was happy aboard. Robin and Starfire sat in the back, holding hands and not speaking. It seemed that even the knowledge that Slade was still out there could not dampen Robin's spirit today.
Whereas Robin and Starfire sat in the front, happy and oblivious to their surroundings, one of the fellow Titans was not as lucky. Robin and Starfire's relationship was now sealed in stone forever, and Raven and Beast Boy had overcome their recent problems and come back to a happy place. Cyborg, however, was not so lucky.
He was currently hiding in the engine room. Jinx and Bumblebee had left him alone during the wedding ceremony, but ever since they had been hounding him, trying to get him to decide once and for all. Both of them had threatened to simply leave him, not caring what he decided -- but he knew better than that. Dating was hard for a super person, so when a relationship with some potential is found, it's rarely let go of.
Cyborg sighed, he did not know what to do. Either way he would be hurting someone he cared about, and either way he would be hurting himself too. Cyborg sighed, rubbed his head, and then looked around the harsh mechanical engine room. He stood up, looked around to make sure he was alone, and when he was satisfied he was alone, he walked out a few steps.
"Man . . . what am I going to do?"
"Don't ask me, I'm not good at these things."
Cyborg almost collapsed as someone spoke, but when he turned around it was just Terra, who was wandering around the engine room because -- wait, why was she wandering around this engine room? Cyborg knew it was better to talk about her than him, especially with what was going on with him.
"What are you doing down here?" Cyborg asked.
"Bothering you." Terra smirked childishly.
"Yeah, great, go away." Cyborg grumpily replied.
"Okay! I'll just go hang out with Bumblebee and Jinx." Terra grinned almost evilly, and Cyborg quickly grabbed her wrist and kept her from leaving the engine room.
"What is it you want?" Cyborg asked, an annoyed look on his face.
"Actually if I can be serious for a second," Terra said, her face becoming less mischievous and becoming more somber. "You need to stop what you're doing. You're going to wind up losing both of them, I guarantee it."
"Man, that's what everybody keeps sayin', but you just don't understand." Cyborg sighed, placing his head in his hands. "It's not like I can just flip a coin to choose. I mean, Bee's great, you know? We have chemistry, things are pretty good . . . but at the same time, she's so bossy and demanding sometimes; then again so is Jinx, all the time . . . but, argh, I don't know, there's just something about Jinx that's so great . . . you know what I mean?"
Terra blinked and shook her head. "Nope, not a clue."
Cyborg sighed and leaned back. Terra patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, and offered him some words of wisdom.
"Listen, Cy . . . you can sit here arguing with yourself all day, but in the end it comes down to one thing: which one of them would make you happy?"
Cyborg thought about those words, and he understood the sense that they made. However, before he had a chance to think about it, much less decide between the two girls, the entire ship lunged forward. Cyborg fell on the ground, Terra did too, and both looked around.
"What was that?" Terra asked. "The atmosphere?"
"No, something hit us. Hard." Cyborg announced, standing up. He grabbed his T-Communicator and called to the front of the ship, to Robin. "What's going on man?"
"We're under attack. Get up here, now!" Robin called through the T-Com.
"Who's attacking us? Slade?" Cyborg asked as he ran towards the door of the engine room.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Robin replied.
When Cyborg and Terra did reach the cockpit of the plane, they looked out the window and both gasped. By this time all of the Titans had made it to the room, and all were watching the same strange scene.
A man in blue tights and a red cape was flying alongside the ship. All at once he blasted the Tamaranian ship with blood red lasers from his eyes, and the ship shook and the lights flickered.
"No freakin' way!" Beast Boy shouted. "Dude, why is Superman attacking us?"
"Good question!" Cyborg agreed.
"We don't know. We tried contacting him, but he won't respond." Robin informed them. "He's just attacking us randomly, and he won't respond to -- argh!"
The ship shook again. Superman had just tackled the ship from the side, knocking it aloof and the Tamaranian cruiser shook out of control and spun around.
"Something's wrong with him." Raven announced.
"Gee, you think?" Jinx scowled.
"No, I mean something's really wrong with him. I can't sense any consciousness coming from him." Raven informed the rest of the team. "It's like he has no mind."
"No mind?" Beast Boy gulped, not liking the sound of that at all. "He's a zombie!"
"He's not a zombie." Robin said sternly. "It sounds like some sort of mind control."
"Probably." Raven agreed, and then the ship gave a second gigantic lunge as Superman kicked the side of it and nearly tore it in half. "I don't think I could break the control on his mind. There's something else at work."
"Well, whatever the cause, we have to stop him." Robin said, pounding one fist onto the other.
"Fight Superman? That doesn't sound good man." Cyborg replied.
"But Robin, he is on our side." Starfire told her husband.
"Yeah, but something's wrong with him, and if we don't stop him, he'll tear the ship apart." Robin replied.
"Another problem." Bumblebee added. "Starfire can survive in space, but what about the rest of us?"
"Didn't we restock on space suits?" Robin asked, astonished that they could forget to do so after what had happened on the way to Tamaran.
"Uhh . . . about that . . ." Beast Boy gulped, fidgeting in his seat.
"Dang it." Terra sighed, and then the ship was struck again, and the ship began to spin out of control. A red light began flashing and an alarm sounded loudly in the Titans' ears. The ship began falling, smoke and fire coming out of the back as it rocketed towards the atmosphere.
"Damn!" Cyborg screamed, grabbing the controls and trying to stop the ship from crashing. However, as it hit the atmosphere flames began to rocket around the Titans, and there was much screaming. Raven consumed the Titans in her powers, protecting them as the ship was ripped into hundreds of pieces and crashed in the middle of the ocean.
The good news was they were near Jump City, and had only hit the waters; and with Raven's bubble of energy, they were more or less unharmed as they sunk down into the deep, dark waters. As they crashed, the waters something pushed them out of the water and onto the shore.
"What the hell was that?" Jinx asked as the group made it onto land and she shook water out of her hair. Cyborg sighed, less than an hour ago he was worrying about his own love triangle, and now he had a much bigger problem.
As the Titans dried themselves off, Aqualad walked out of the bay and sighed in relief.
"Man, where have you guys been?" He asked.
"Busy." Bumblebee replied. "What's going on here?"
"Trouble." Aqualad replied. "Not long ago, everyone started going crazy! People revolted in the streets and rioted, Superheroes went as bad as the villains they were supposed to catch, and some crazy union took power."
"What crazy union?" Beast Boy asked.
"The Brotherhood of Evil, Garfield." A stern voice spoke, and the Titans all turned around. A man was walking towards them, an odd man with an odd helmet. Beast Boy made a squeaking sound and then began ranting.
"The Brotherhood? You have to be freaking kidding me! And what are you doing here anyway Mento?" Beast Boy asked.
The man -- Mento -- sighed and it was then that Beast Boy noticed the dark stain on his sleeve. Blood.
"Are you all right?" Beast Boy asked, approaching Mento, but he shook his head.
"None of us are 'all right' anymore." Mento informed the Titans. "The Brain has a new colleague, and a new machine. Somehow it's controlling the minds of nearly everyone on the planet. Only a select few have been immune to the broadcast of the Brain's mind-control machine."
"I was talking about the blood stains." Beast Boy said, ignoring everything he had just said about the Brain and mind control.
"I'll heal him." Raven decided, but as she approached Mento he shook his head.
"No. Save your strength, you Titans will need full power. Our enemies are numerous. Every hero and villain on the planet is now bent to the will of the Brotherhood of Evil. The entire Justice League has become his servants; as have the other members of the Doom Patrol." Mento sighed.
"Where is the Brain? We'll beat him." Robin said, confident as always.
"Not that easy." Mento said. "He's rounded up all the heroes who have been immune to the mind-control, all but me and a few others. He's having them all executed tonight, you have to save them first."
"All right, so where are they?" Terra asked.
"In a prison in Metropolis. You'll have to hurry, and you'll have to be careful." Mento told them.
"Oh, don't worry Titans." A harsh, cold voice announced. "Dead men don't have to worry about such trivial things, and that's what you are."
The Titans all turned up to look, on a hill overlooking the shoreline where they stood, an old man was waiting.
"General Immortus!" Mento shouted, recognized the oldest member of the Brotherhood of Evil. "Damn, he followed me."
"The Teen Titans . . . the last group of heroes on the planet. Too bad you missed the broadcast of the mind-control, and can't join my army . . . but at least I'll get to destroy you." General Immortus grinned, showing his aged, gnarled teeth.
"You know, I vote we skip the witty banter exchange and go straight to the part where we kick his ass." Cyborg said with a grin, as he charged the arm cannon. General Immortus' aged, demonic smile did not fade.
"Excellent! Attack, Legion #1.2.4.6!" He screamed, and then three familiar figures appeared right behind the General. The Titans gasped as they saw who he was using for henchmen.
Robotman of the Doom Patrol, The Flash and The Green Lantern of the Justice League as well. All of them were standing, their eyes completely white and blank, just as Superman's had been in space, though they never noticed that. General Immortus's evil grin widened even bigger with his sadistic happiness.
"Attack, my Legionnaire's!" General Immortus laughed, and the three heroes leapt down to attack.
"Titans, Go!"
Robotman charged forward, and so did Cyborg. Cyborg's fist caught Robotman's, but Cyborg's hand transformed into it's sonic cannon form and he blasted the other android's arm, sending metal flying off of his copper-colored body. Robotman smashed Cyborg in the face, knocking him to the ground -- but Beast Boy turned into a squid and grabbed Robotman, holding him in the air.
If Beast Boy could speak as a squid, he would have begged Robotman to stop; though he knew it was impossible. Suddenly Beast Boy was lifted into the air -- Green Lantern had used his power ring with control of all things green on Beast Boy.
A split second later, Robin kneed Green Lantern in the face, knocking him back and knocking him out. Beast Boy fell back onto the shore, still holding Robotman -- but Robotman broke free, punched Beast Boy into the bay, and then went running right at Jinx. Jinx waved her arm, the ground crumbled, and Robotman fell into a newly formed pothole.
A moment later, the Flash had kicked Terra in the small of her back, and then he zipped by to punch Bumbleebee and pushed Cyborg down. However, as he zoomed by Starfire flew right into his path and knocked him out with a single kick.
General Immortus suddenly was a lot less happy about everything. His face fell, and he suddenly was a lot less happy. He turned to flee, but Raven was behind him. With a single blast of black energy, he went falling down the hill, passed out, and he was defeated. Mento was impressed.
"You did good." He announced to the heroes. "But the real battle has only just begun."
Just then, there was a blast of light and Mento hit the ground with a cry, the Titans spun to find an army of robotic warriors. Unfortunately it seemed that Immortus had his entire army in Jump City, and once he went down they attacked automatically. Cyborg grabbed the unconscious hero and hoisted him onto his shoulders, then the entire group backed up towards the shoreline.
"Anyone have any ideas?" Raven asked.
"Not a one." Aqualad replied.
"She was talkin' to you!" Bumblebee snapped. "Don't you have the whole seas under your control?"
"I can escape through the seas, but I can't get the rest of you out." He retorted.
The robots fired their lasers, but Terra made a wall of rock from the ground to block them; a wall that was quickly being destroyed.
"Someone think of something!" She shouted, as her hands began glowing yellow and her arms shook. "I can't hold them long at all!"
"This way!" A voice yelled; it was Kid Flash, who had just sailed up to the shoreline on a small ship. Also on the ship was Tim Drake, the second Robin from Gotham.
The Titans hurried to board the ship, which while small, was incredibly fast and allowed them to escape. Though as Robin stood watching the shoreline and the robots shrink from view, he was not happy. Running away did not suit the boy wonder at all. He did not want to run, he wanted to fight and to win; but he had no chance to win this one.
"Nice to see you guys back." Kid Flash said to the group with a sigh. "But I'm afraid we may be too little, too late." He sighed once more and looked at the shore.
"Is there anywhere we can go to regroup?" Robin asked.
"No. The Brotherhood's already destroyed most of the places we held up, and everyone who isn't under control, but was captured, is scheduled to die at midnight in Metropolis." Kid Flash told them sadly.
"We have to do something." Beast Boy moaned.
"Yeah, but . . . what?" Cyborg asked.
"Good question." Robin was grim.
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As the Titans dealt with the horrors in Jump City, and the Brotherhood of Evil's conquest of the world, another figure was in Paris, France at the National Museum.
Slade Wilson walked the halls, past the dinosaur bones and away from the ancient Egyptian artifacts. He was only interested in one thing, and as he walked, he looked for it with glee. When his eye fell on the prize he had looked for, he was suddenly very happy.
It was here, just as he had thought.
Slade shattered the glass with his fist and picked it up. Once he saw the artifact he grinned beneath his mask with glee. He grabbed his mask and threw it off onto the ground. Then he held up the amulet and looked at it with pure lust and joy.
"Yes, . . . oh yes, I've found it." Slade was glowing with happiness as he looked at the amulet. "Now that I have it, ultimate power will be under my control." Slade said loudly with a happy tone in his voice.
Slade responded in an odd way. He lifted the amulet and smashed it down on the ground, breaking it open and a swirl of white clouds and black lightning came shooting out and it struck Slade in the chest. Slade's entire body became enveloped in white fire with black thunderbolts zooming around his body. Slade let out an earsplitting scream and fell to his knees; his body seemed to distort and his scream became so loud glass cases all around him exploded -- despite the fact they were bulletproof glass.
Then, all at once, it was over. Slade's body lay calm, all fire and lightning gone, and when he stood up his face was radiant. A power seemed to come off of him, and he gave an air of a master. He felt stronger than he had ever felt before. He flexed his fingers, and then punched the pedestal the amulet had been on and shattered it like glass -- though it was made of solid steel.
"Yes. Yes, this power is exactly as I hoped it would be." Slade spoke to himself. "Ever since that demon Trigon was inside my body, I've known of the Amulet and it's power, but never before have I imagined how great it would be. I feel . . . invincible."
Slade turned and looked out the window, at the city of Paris, which was filled with Brotherhood robots. The Brotherhood had no clue of what they had unleashed by agreeing to Slade's deal. Slade laughed loudly and obnoxiously, and then he walked down the steps and disappeared into the streets, maskless and powerful, just waiting for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place before making his strike.
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Beast Boy sighed. He did not like how this plan was going, not at all. Beast Boy was sitting next to Raven, they were in the back of a small plane that was on the way towards Metropolis. In less than an hour they would be attacking the encampment where the remaining sane heroes were housed, schedualed to be killed in a few hours.
"So why are you so distant?" Raven asked.
"Mento." Beast Boy grumbled.
"Old friend?"
"I used to be on the Doom Patrol. A long time ago." Beast Boy sighed.
"I guessed that when he called you 'Garfield', which, by the way, don't think I'll forget." Raven grinned slyly, knowing she could use his name against him in so many ways it was hardly funny.
"I just have a bad feeling Rae." He sighed.
"Well almost every hero on the planet is evil, the Brotherhood of Evil has a serious edge, and if we fail tonight the only allies we have left will be dead. I can see why you'd be feeling bad." Raven put an arm around him and sighed. She wasn't good at the comforting friend thing, but she'd have to try for him.
"We've been through worse." She told him.
"Have we?"
". . . okay, how about this? If you stop pouting and we wind up saving the world, we'll go somewhere alone, okay?" Raven said softly.
"Sounds fun Rae, but what if we don't save the world?" He asked.
"When have we ever not saved the world?" She replied. "Now hush, or my suggestion of a romantic getaway will go away."
"Okay but can I just say one more thing?" He asked.
"What?"
"If you kiss me, I'll hush for the rest of the adventure."
Raven rolled her eyes; but she honored his request with a small kiss on the check. Whereas he was annoyed that was it, Beast Boy hushed, not wanting to jepordize his chances for when things were said and done; however, as they sped towards Metropolis, they both knew this would be the biggest fight of their lives.
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I'm sorry to say it was short again, but there's a reason for that. I couldn't add anymore to this chapter without taking away from the next few chapters, but don't worry, I'll have 47 done soon. :3