I do not own the Teen Titans

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Chapter Eleven: Regroup

Terra lifted herself off the floor and looked at the three. Her armor was tattered and torn into shreds. Cuts and scrapes covered her entire body. "They're not here." she rasped.

Starfire's hand lit up with a starbolt "Tell me where my friends are and I will kill you quickly." she growled.

Robin grabbed the alien's arm "Control yourself Starfire." he ordered "My friends are missing too. I'm just as worried as you are. Killing Terra won't do you any good."

The blonde geomancer laughed "You might as well. You'd be doing Slade a favor." she coughed and managed to pull herself up "He took them back to Jump City."

Red-X pulled a device from his belt and tossed it at the girl. She yelped as she was strapped against the wall with her arms at her sides. Red-X approached slowly "Tell us what happened."

Terra bowed her head "He… he gave them all this serum. It was making them hallucinate. Then… he shot Beast Boy. It hit him in the calf. As far as I could tell it exited fine… then he told me to finish the job… I couldn't do it." the girl looked away as tears pored down her face "I just wanted to make him miserable. I didn't want to kill him."

Robin, satisfied that Starfire wasn't going to blast Terra to kingdom-come, joined Red-X "Where are they now, Terra?"

"They're going to Jump City. Slade's… he's got some kind of control over all of them. Except for Raven. He couldn't control Raven. He's keeping her unconscious and hallucinating."

Starfire peered at Terra carefully. The blonde cringed waiting for a blow. It never came "Terra, will you help us destroy Slade?"

The blue eyes gleamed "Hell ya."

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Slade walked through the mist not bothering to glance at the moaning bodies the littered the streets. His three new apprentices followed. Raven was slung over Beast Boy's shoulder.

Kid Flash's outfit had been changed. The red had been changed to black and the yellow was now dark orange.

Slade glanced at him. Both he and Jinx were like horses straining at their bits. He gave the tiniest of nods.

In a whirl of orange wind the two were gone. Seconds later pink hexes began exploding ahead.

Slade looked at Beast Boy "Is she still sedated?"

The gorilla nodded "Yes Master. She's sedated and still under your serum's effect. She keeps mumbling about stuff."

The one eyed man nodded to himself "Good, because of her telepathic powers the illusion will take longer to wear off."

Beast Boy grunted as he shifted the girl to his other shoulder. "If you could get those control devices to work on her we could do a whole lot of damage."

"All according to place my boy. Raven has for too much control over her thoughts to allow someone like me to play with them."

The gorilla began to reply but just then the dead weight over his shoulder sprang to life. Raven brought her knee up into his nose. The great beast yelped and dropped her in surprise. The cloaked girl took off running down the street. The gorilla lumbered after her, its body changed shape until it was a cheetah springing through the rubble.

Slade keyed his radio "You two! Stop your blasting! Raven is running down Main Street. Beast Boy is in pursuit. Follow him."

"You got it boss." Kid Flash replied.

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Raven dodged small fires that littered the streets along with other various obstacles. She sent her empathy out searching for Starfire's familiar signature. She found it rather quickly. The sweet, light taste of cotton candy filled her senses. She kept running all too aware of the green cheetah gaining behind her. She chanced a glance back. Her foot caught on a board and she fell to the street. The cheetah was on her almost instantly. It growled revealing two rows of needle sharp teeth. "Beast Boy, please…" Raven whispered her mind becoming clouded with emotions.

"What's the matter Raven?" the changeling asked "Not liking my feelings? You wound me"

Raven thrashed against him "Too… much… HATE!"

Beast Boy morphed back into a human and leaned over her. His green eyes seemed to be misted over from the drug Slade had given him. "Master I've- oof."

A bolt of green energy hit the green boy in the side. The force of the attack sent him flying across the street into the side of a building. Starfire appeared out of the mist, her eyes and hands glowing like four beacons "Do not touch her!" she yelled keeping another attack trained on the changeling.

Red-X knelt beside Raven who looked up at him. "Give me your hand." he ordered.

"I… can't." Raven whimpered.

The black clad teen brushed his glove against her skin "I've had years of meditation training. My emotions are blocked. Give me your hand."

Raven grasped his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She nearly collapsed but he wound an arm around her waist to support her. "Sorry about all the contact."

Raven shook her head "Not now. Starfire!" she called. The alien left her post and joined the two "We're heading to where Robin is correct?" she received a nod "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Beast Boy lunged just as the inky cloud began to surround them. His lion paws connected with something. He and the person hit the ground. When the black magic cleared Beast Boy scowled.

"What's the matter?" Red-X asked "You look a little disappointed."

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Raven's portal spit the two thieves out into a hallway in the Jump City High School. Robin's face appeared at the window of one of the classrooms. He stepped outside. "You guys okay?"

Starfire rubbed her head slightly disoriented from the trip "I believe so… when will the room stop spinning?" she asked trying to stand and falling over several times.

Robin chuckled and looked over at Raven who didn't look real good. Her skin was the same color as a piece of paper and her hands were shaking. "Raven…?"

"Moving through dimensions is hard at the best of times," the girl murmured getting to her feet and pulling her cloak around her "When so many emotions are around me it is even harder."

Robin nodded and did his best to calm down. Raven seemed to notice to his effort as her body relaxed a bit.

Starfire rubbed her temples, the room was starting to slow down. She looked around "Where is Red-X?"

Robin looked at Raven who sighed "Beast Boy knocked him clear of my portal. He didn't make it through." she looked down "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Raven." Robin comforted touching her shoulder lightly. The girl's face became a little calmer "Red-X can take care of himself." he told her.

Raven clutched the neck of her cloak "But it's my fault he's in danger."

"He'll be okay." a voice chimed in. Terra came out of a classroom.

Raven's eyes began to glow a faint white but she was still too weak to bring her powers to bear. She collapsed from the effort sitting against a row of lockers.

Terra started to help her then caught herself. Starfire had warned her not to touch Raven unless she was in control of her feelings "Take it easy, I'm on your side."

Raven pulled her legs into a crossed position and began floating a few inches off the ground "I assumed that when you smashed myself and Jinx between two pieces of rooftop."

The blue eyes looked away "I don't suppose it would help to just say I'm sorry?" Raven answered with silence "Guess not."

Raven spoke softly "Trust is a sacred thing. I do not think of it lightly. Too many have betrayed me already. Don't become one more."

"I won't, Raven." Terra said holding out a hand for her to accept. She was careful to burry any emotions under a calm front.

Raven eyed the hand then shook it firmly.

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Red-X frowned as he swayed on the chains that were fastened to his wrists. He tried swinging back and forth but the chains around his ankles prevented it.

"Having fun?" Slade asked entering the young man's line of vision. He circled the black clad teen slowly.

"Now that you mention it," Red-X replied "No not really." he lifted himself up and down on the chains a few times and managed to get a small toe hold so his weight wasn't all in his wrists.

"You're good X," Slade said "Until recently you've been very inactive. No one has seen the X for almost ten years." his one eyes narrowed "So it couldn't have been all you could it?"

Red-X scowled beneath his mask. "Any one could figure that one out Slade. What do you want with me? You can't control me, we both know that. So what good am I?"

Slade smirked "Nothing really, just someone to take some extra steam off on." he pulled out a bo staff "Now then boy, let's see how tuff you really are."

Within ten minutes yells of pain echoed throughout the underground cavern.

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Terra was sitting on a desk with several pebbles floating around her twitching fingers. Robin was checking all his weapons. Starfire was helping him for lack of anything better to do.

Suddenly a whirlwind of black energy flew past all of them. It took the form of a bird with outstretched wings and hovered over Raven's floating body.

"Raven?" Starfire said walking over to the apparition "You have found our friends?" she asked hopefully.

The bird sank into Raven's body. The purple eyes opened slowly "I found them. But I fear there is not much time for Red-X."

Robin pounded his fist into his other hand "Alright everyone knows the plan?" he received three nods from around the room. Robin glanced out the window for a brief moment. Then he turned to the girls "Then let's do it."

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... I'm already starting to get sick of summer. But my 14th birthday is on the 24th! Ya me!