A Final Parting gift.

The night was wearing on. One wall and a world away, nocturnal creatures were slowly winding down, ready for another long day after a small feast. The wind still blew relentlessly, howls pierced the night. Outside, it seemed strangely serene. It was calm, it was quiet and peaceful, with only Mother Nature going about her business as per usual.

Inside the obscenely large tower shaped like a 'T', however, it was Hell.

Plaster and timber erupted in showers of dust and shrapnel, bullets struck the walls and ceiling surrounding the retreating teenagers, covering them in a white cloud.

Slit slit slit slit slit! Each round expelled created an unnatural noise, and it seemed that no matter how they tried, the skill and power of the Teen Titans was finally outmatched by simple yet deadly methods.

The SEAL's plan was brilliant, and it was being executed flawlessly. Inch by inch, the Teen Titans were giving up ground, falling back from whence they came, and thereby creating an easy target for them.

Raven had been valiantly deflecting bullets for a while now, and the previously unfaltering stream of projectiles had petered out into sporadic gunfire once in a while, as if to alert Raven to the fact that they were not going to give up.

For every step Raven took down the hallway from where she came, the two SEAL members took one step forward. They matched her pace, and made sure she didn't lose them.

Raven had a choice, of course. She could've simply transformed into her soul-self and dissipated into thin air, leaving no trace as to where she might have gone.

Of course, this yielded other, potentially life-threatening side-effects. If she dropped her shield in order focus her energy in disappearing, then the soldiers will have a clear shot at her exposed body, which was now glistening with perspiration.

She stewed silently as the thought of how weak she was kept crossing her mind. She couldn't run, she couldn't disappear, couldn't do anything except keep her shield erect for as long as possible.

And 'Possible' was running out fast.

Her energy stores were rapidly depleting, and she even had to swerve her head as a severely slowed-down bullet broke through her shield and landed on the floor beside her feet.

The soldiers were looming, and Raven was faced with a choice. She could take the risk of lowering her shield and dissipating, or keep her shields up until they eventually yielded or the soldiers ran out of bullets.

"Oh Shit…"

"Beast-Boy?"

"Who else metal arse? "

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted a change in scenery."

Cyborg simply raised an eyebrow and turned back to face the hallway where Beast-Boy had just appeared from.

"I think we better run."

"Ditto."

They both ran down the hall, Cyborg actually swiveling his upper torso in a perfect 180 degree rotation, so his upper body faced backwards whilst his legs kept running dead ahead, losing no speed. This allowed for Cyborg to aim his Sonic cannon and shoulder mounted rockets with ease, firing everything he could down the hallway he and Beast-Boy were escaping from.

They ran for what seemed like hours, but in reality only a few minutes had passed, before they came across a dead end.

"I knew this corridor looked familiar."

Cyobrg growled. "Shut up. We're fucked, we got nowhere else to go, except to hunker down and fight."

Beast-Boy grinned. "Then that's what we do, at least until Robin gets here."

"You up for another snack?"

"Hehe… always."

Beast-Boy swiveled and charged at the invisible enemy, leaping into the air before landing all four paws on the ground. He growled and snuffed, before opening his snout and roaring tremendously, shaking the SEAL members' teeth and rattling their insides.

Beast-Boy trotted towards the shadows, his ears pricked up to detect any unnatural and sudden noises.

He bared his teeth and two gargantuan saber-like fangs emerged from his lower jaw, and his transformation was complete. Just in time too, as he had just heard a solider finishing the reloading of his gun, heard the hammer being readjusted and slid into place, and he pounced.

He landed on the shocked SEAL member, with only his weapon held sideways protecting him from abruptly missing a head. Beast-Boy snapped and snarled, but he rolled off after being struck roughly with a boot to his ribs. He quickly sprung to his feet and eyed the two soldiers warily.

A blue beam of awesome sonic energy lit up the corridor before slapping the soldier on his side and throwing him off balance. His partner didn't even flinch, instead he withdrew his knife and stared back at Beast-Boy.

These guys aren't mercenaries…

Beast-Boy growled again and pounced into the air, his claws extended and teeth bared as he attempted to rip a new hole in the head of the soldier.

It didn't work.

The SEAL member dodged the attack by side-stepping to the left and swiped his hand at Beast-Boy's exposed side, tearing a messy wound. This just agitated Beast-Boy more and he pivoted his body around, slowing his velocity substantially and using the other side of the corridor as a springboard. He pushed himself off the wall and sped so quickly towards the soldier all he could see was an emerald green blur before a massive weight knocked him off his feet and onto the ground.

Beast-Boy bared his teeth and almost grinned, until another boot smacked him across the face and blurred his vision. Beast-Boy fell off, stunned at the fact that these guys were actually fighting and winning against a saber-toothed tiger.

He could hear growls, snuffles and groans echoing throughout the interior of the Tower. Then he heard something else. The roar was replaced by a cry of pain, then nothing.

His heart stopped.

He gazed at the machete in his right hand.

This is not a suitable weapon for a ninja, but it is all I have.

He gripped it tightly and ran.

Raven moaned in a mixture of pain and exhaustion. She had managed to safely teleport, but where she landed she did not know. She simply homed in only the only signal she managed to pick up.

Cyborg's.

She opened her eyes and stood up, brushing herself lightly.

"Raven?"

"Who else?"

"Good thing you came. We need your help. Beast-Boy is getting-."

There was a cry of pain, a human cry, then nothing.

What colour resided in her cheeks was gone in a flash.

Beast-Boy…

That was another notch on her anger scale. One more and she would explode…

"Beast-Boy?"

There was no answer.

Cyborg's face contorted in anger and hatred, and he charged the shadowed area.

"No!"

Cyborg's progress was halted abruptly, and he turned to face the person who had given him that command.

It was Robin.

He was clutching Starfire by the waist, and her arm was draped around his shoulder as he struggled to support her.

"Wha-What happened?"

"She was shot in the leg and arm by one of those FUCKS!"

Cyborg's anger drained away, leaving behind only sorrow and compassion.

"The Teen Titans have been successfully routed. They are now cornered and awaiting elimination. The green one has been knocked unconscious, just as you requested."

Fischer sat silently, his eyes still throbbing from the blinding flash of Starfire's solar energy.

"Very well. Let's finish them off and go home. Inject the Animal kid with some of our medical morphine, enough to keep him conscious but drowsy, and tie him up. Once that is done, we await my final order to attack."

SEAL six nodded and opened his pack to reveal scores of medical equipment, and after a few minutes of restless rummaging he found what he was searching for.

"Done."

Fischer eyed the rag tag group of superheroes. They were whittled down to four now. He had to concede though, they were by far the toughest enemy they have ever faced. Especially the boy who can turn into any animal imaginable.

"On my mark…"

There was silence.

Not for long.

Because he never managed to utter the final command.

The darkness shrouded The Panther well. There were no restrictions, no inhibitions now that the chip was gone. Nothing could begin to describe the anger and hatred he felt for these SEAL members at that moment.

He approached Fischer from behind and gripped his helmeted head with his hands, bringing it down onto his protruding knee and causing his whole body to shudder violently due to the impact. Fischer let out a pained wail before The Panther bent his left knee and swung his right leg around, smacking Fischer's knees with such a force that they kicked out and around him, his whole body now parallel to the ground! Time seemed to slow down as The Panther reared his arm up as if punching the air and brought an elbow down, crunching straight through Fischer's helmet and sending him rocketing to the floor.

This all happened in the space of three seconds, not enough time for the SEAL members to comprehend what had happened and compensate accordingly. The Panther approached the next one and impaled him swiftly with his blade, before twirling around on his feet and causing the SEAL member's body to slide off the blade and into the wall!

At this moment the SEALs finally realized that something was definitely wrong, but by then there were only four of them left able to fight. The Panther moved to the next soldier without a moment's hesitation and clutched his mask with his right hand, ripping it off violently. The SEAL's face was now visible, and The Panther could see the eyes of a man who was about to die, but he saw no fear, only defiance. He wheeled an arm back and delivered a vicious uppercut to the man's face, before withdrawing his arm and elbowing him in the gut. He was not finished yet. The Panther actually used the soldier's vertical body as leverage as he ran up his torso, turning his body slightly to the left before twirling it to the right and connecting his left foot with the side of the man's exposed skull and causing him to fall abruptly to the ground, out cold.

The two remaining soldiers opened fire on the Hell spawn, trying to fill him with lead, but he was simply too fast. SEAL two was next to fall to The Panther's blade. The Panther turned and swung upwards, bringing his blade straight through the SEAL soldier and creating a violent vertical slash that originated from his groin and ended at his collarbone. The Panther spun and swung horizontally, slicing across his chest and lifted a leg and kicked the pained solider away from himself. His final move was another swing, except this time he released his machete and the blade sank deep in the soldier's skull, and his body fell atop the final SEAL member.

The Panther ran again, this time to finish off the final soldier.

It was SEAL six.

SEAL six desperately pushed the dead body away from him, tried to bring his weapon up before Satan himself reached him.

The Panther was almost there now, and he stretched out his hand in order to grasp the handle of his embedded machete.

"No!"

The body was off, and the gun was raised.

The Panther was too late.

SEAL six squeezed the trigger, and he knew now that there was no way The Panther could hope to avoid those bullets.

Pain.

He felt it again.

His hand still outstretched, The Panther fell to the floor, his heart pounding madly.

What was this feeling again?

Oh…

He was experiencing the same sensation that he had felt only twenty minutes or so ago.

It was death, he was sure of it, but it felt… different.

He felt whole, complete, satisfied.

There was no way he could survive five bullet wounds directly to the heart, but he didn't care.

He was dying a free man.

It was his decision, to be here, to be protecting these kids, and he knew he had accomplished his mission, not out of necessity, but out of compassion for his fellow man.

He chose to be compassionate.

He chose to die like this.

He chose.

And now he's free.

SEAL six watched in horror as the terror of the night slipped away, his life essence draining.

"Oh my God…"

SEAL six took this time to survey what had happened. He was sent to kill those kids. Kids who uphold the law, who protect the innocent. Since when did they become enemies of the state?

So many people dead. Why was he feeling this? He never felt… sorrow. Or regret.

"Fuck…"

He looked back at the Teen Titans.

"What the fuck where they doing? Didn't they notice this fucking battle?"

He gazed at his gun. So many people dead from it.

No more.

"Fuck fuck fuck."

He dropped his gun and raised his hands, before stepping out into the clearing.

Cyborg raised his torch and shone it on SEAL six's face.

"Where's the rest?"

He had a lot of explaining to do.

"Sir, the SEALs and mercenaries have both failed."

"Facinating…

"The Panther has failed, but so have the mercenaries, and the SEAL members."

The light that shone from one lone lamp illuminated the figure that talked.

All that was visible was his face. It was covered in a mask of bronze and black.

"Very well. The Panther proved himself incapable of defeating the mercenaries and the SEAL members, therefore he would have been inadequate in completing my mission. Next subject."

"Yes sir. Our next subject is named Jack Wernson, also known as 'Smiling Jack'…"

Detonation in (00) minutes and (14) seconds…

"Prepare the detonator!" Crow ordered.

"Yes sir."

"On my count!"

Crow was casually residing beside a thick tree trunk, far away from the horrors he had endured in the Tower, which was now a small 'T' on the horizon.

"!0!"

A mercenary slumped to the ground, exhausted.

"9!"

He longed for a drink of water.

"8!"

He reached for his bag. It seemed heavier then usual.

"7!"

At that moment, the clouds parted, and the sun started to slowly creep up behind the Tower.

"6!"

Beautiful sunrise. The magnificent splashes of red and gold and a smattering of orange enveloped what remained of the night's sky.

"5!"

We're going to create another sunrise…

"4!"

The sun's rays reflected brilliantly off the pearl-blue bay water.

"3!"

The mercenary clutched his bag and unzipped it.

"2!"

He saw a strange, beige coloured package.

"1!"

Oh God why…?

"Now!"

A green light flicked red, and the immediate area surrounding Crow and the rest of his group exploded in flames and blistering heat.

A final parting gift from SEAL six.

Crow and his mercenaries were no more.