A/N: Just like I said in the last chapter (if anyone read it that is) there's a logical break I can see coming up, not as soon as I thought, but not that far off. I may get right to work on the next part, but I do have a lot of ideas floating around as well as a story on hiatus…and one I'm not to proud to say I pretty much abandoned, so we'll see. And I'd like to thank all my reviewers so far, it's dumb, but they do give me some confidence, so thank you all.

Disclaimer: If I were President I would own the Teen Titans; sadly, I am and do, not.

-

Politics would be a helluva good business if it weren't for the goddamned people.

-Richard Nixon

"And now, an address from the President of the United States." An announcer's voice informed viewers while TV screens were still filled by a picture of the Presidential seal. Sheppard came on the screen, seated in the oval office, an American flag behind him on his left and a flag bearing his seal on his right, a stern; yet compassionate expression on his face, worn by the past weeks of intense stress. He looked very Presidential

"My fellow Americans…I know what the polls say, and I know what the talking heads say, and I know your concerns and I know sow your fears, I know what you must be thinking, but I also know what it is that you want, and what this nation needs. I…" He paused and looked down at the paper on his desk in front of him. He considered it for a few seconds, he then closed the folder it was in and pushed it to one side.

"I know I may not changer your mind, in fact, I know I probably won't but I will be honest with you, as I have been these past 4 years. I do not seek a second term not because of what I have accomplished, but because of what remains undone. There are still countless dreams unfulfilled, ageless problems yet to be solved, and nameless masses, whose cries for help go unanswered. I seek a second term not for personal glory or individual gain, but because I see this country, which I love so dearly, on a perilous path, one from which we will all to soon, be unable to recover from." He paused only for a second as he shifted somewhat in his seat.

"The great Robert F. Kennedy once said 'What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.' And while he was speaking in a time when there was so much strife over one's race, it has never ceased to be true, in this great nation, we must be united with one another, against those that seek to do us harm, and I, cannot sit idly by, while the principles upon which this nation was founded—the very ideals our fathers and brothers went to war for, the ideals they fought for, the ideals they died for—are so carelessly cast aside. As long as I am President, I will fight with all I have, with every resource at my command, and in every way I know how, to preserve this nation, our hard won freedom, and our way of life. Thank you, and God bless America."

The camera stopped broadcasting with the overhead lighting turning off only a few seconds later, the President unclipped the mic from his lapel and got up from his desk. Walking over to where his aids were standing, he couldn't help but notice their dumbstruck expressions.

"Is there a problem?" He asked casually.

"Oh, oh…no sir." One woman snapped back out of her daze in time to answer the President's question. "It was just well…unexpected…" she managed to find the right word in time with the others all nodding their heads in agreement.

"That was the idea, Liz. The way I see it, I'm going to lose, I had something to say, I'm the President, so I said it. Any problems with that." Replied, an air of confidence in his voice.

The five close aids all responded with a 'No, Mr. President.' After which he dismissed them. With the camera crew gone he was the only person left in the twilight lit Oval Office, just before sundown the only other human beings near him being the Secret Service agents outside each of the doors. President Sheppard plunked down in his large, comfortable swivel chair, the one he'd brought with him from the Governor's office four years ago, and from the Mayor's office eight years before that. He pulled the stopper out of the crystal decanter on his desk; he tilted it, spilling its thick amber contents into a tumbler, filling it halfway. 'The polls close in two hours…' He chuckled somewhat, to himself 'and five in the west…if I get a one point boost from that I'll be amazed' He leaned back in his chair, taking a sip from his drink, and staring into the setting sun.

-

"Cyborg. How's it look over in the third district?" Robin's voice asked from the communicator in his hand. He brought it up to chest level, flipping it open while still looking around him from any sign of trouble as the Boy Wonder appeared on the tiny screen.

"So far, nothing out of the ordinary, except of course for the fact that in the downtown of one of the largest cities in the country, on a presidential election day, there have only been a few thousand people who have shown up…it's ridiculous!" He declared in aggravation.

"I know what you mean; it's the same here. Raven and Starfire both reported the exact same thing, and even though I haven't checked in with Beast Boy yet, I bet it's the same there too. It's been like that all over the country."

"Yeah, it seems like that bastard's video had the effect he wanted." Cyborg sighed heavily, shaking his head. He recalled the simple video of a man sitting in front of a brick wall, a ski mask covering his face; he remembered the words the man had said vividly.

"There is nowhere you are safe, nowhere you can hide, and we have proved that to you these last few weeks. Your decedent, evil society will soon be at an end, and by the hand of All-Mighty God, we shall be your downfall."

"But at least nothings happened…" Robin interjected after an awkward moment of silence "and there's still a few hours left, maybe it'll pick up."

"Yeah, maybe. Stay sharp man."

"You too. Robin out." Cyborg close his communicator, stowing it away again and went back to watching the short line coming out of the high school gymnasium and surrounding area, scanning for trouble with his arms folded, a sour look on his face.

-

"Beast Boy, what's going on down in your end of the city…" Robin stared at the blank screen of his communicator, waiting for a response, when none came he called him again "Beast Boy, are you there? Beast Boy?" Robin let out a frustrated half moan, half growl. "Beast Boy, open your damn communicator." Robin commanded into the small yellow disc, all patience gone from his voice.

A few more seconds passed while the Boy Wonder stared into his communicator, as sounds of hurried rustling came from the small speaker, one more fumble could be heard just before the Green Titan appeared on the screen, his hand behind his head, a large forced grin on his face.

"He he, sorry Robin I was—" He began to explain breathlessly.

"Just be quicker next time." Robin replied, cutting him off. "What's the situation over on your end?"

"Uh, yeah, um…everything seems to check out, nothing really out of the ordinary, well, the ordinary in this part of town anyway…there haven't even been that many people here all day at any rate." He added, after looking away, almost thoughtfully, for a moment.

"Yeah, everyone has been seeing the same thing, I've heard it's a pretty low turn-out all over the country, but we know why that is already." Robin replied, 'we shall be your downfall', a chill ran down his spine, he knew all to well what these people were capable of. "Just contact me first if anything gets out of hand or looks weird. Robin out." He ended the conversation before Beast Boy had time to respond.

Robin close his communicator, putting it back in his belt while looking around his position on the rooftop of a four story brick apartment, right across the street from the school where the voting booths were. He had placed himself right on the edge of the building, both to allow him to get to the street faster, but also to be a highly visible deterrent to any would-be disruptors.

Robin glanced at his watch, only about 4 hours left until the polls closed, not that it mattered, he knew how it was going to end, everyone knew how it was going to end. As he lowered his arm, gunshots began to ring out just below.

Springing into action, Robin used the grappling line he had already shot out to swing down to the street. Around him, the people walking down the street and those waiting in line all dove to the ground, some of the women screamed, he was crouched in the middle of the street and posited to take on the assailants; but he found no gunman in the streets, no thugs, no robbers, no terrorist…only an old truck that had backfired when its owner had started it up.

He breathed a quick sigh of relief, then carefully went back to the sidewalk, shooting a grappling hook to the top of the building, climbing it, he quickly resumed his position watching over the proceedings. The civilians cautiously picked themselves up off the ground, still wary of any possible danger from the errant exhaust pipe or anything else.

-

"No, Robin, there have been no new developments since our last communication." Starfire replied to the Boy Wonder, who was on the other end of the video link.

"Alright, just keep your eyes open, everything's gone smoothly so far, there's only about an hour left we have to be out here; let's try and keep it that way. Stay sharp, Star."

"I shall be as the Ockham's Razor." She said, her voice full of determination.

"Uh Star, it's not a…never mind…just watch for trouble. Robin out." After he had signed off, Starfire closed her communicator and stowed it back at her waist.

'I must be sharp like the Razor' Starfire thought, from her perch on the roof of a nearby building. She slowly scanned the entire block below her, looking for anything out of the ordinary. A flash caught her eye; sunlight was reflecting off of something in the alley two buildings to her left and across the street.

She floated off the ledge, landing on the other side of the street just before the corner into the alley. Peering around the corner, she could see several armed men, all with a heavy compliment of weapons, and getting them ready for use.

Powering up a starbolt in both hands, Starfire charged around the corner and down the alley. She left fly with both bolts, both hitting their mark on a separate man, knocking them to the ground. One of them leveled his AK-47 at her, but before he could fire it was knocked from his hands and a sharp uppercut ended his hold on the conscious world.

As the man collapsed in front of her, she twisted around, back kicking another, sending him colliding into the brick wall. The last man snapped open a collapsible baton, racing forward with it lifted above his head. Starfire stepped into his strike, catching his arm halfway down and wrenching the baton out of his hand where it clanged to the ground. She pulled her arm back, readying to punch him, her other hand holding onto his shit, lifting him a few inches off the ground.

In the darkness of the alley, a flash of intense blue sparks illuminated it for a fraction of a second. Starfire let out a scream of surprise, which turned quickly to pain, and then a low moan as she collapsed backward on the cold concrete. The world was already dark, but she thought she saw two men standing over her; one the terrorist, the other…familiar, but she could figure out who it was before the world went all together black and she lost consciousness.

-

"Alright guys, good job," Robin's voice crackled out of the communicator "nothing happened today, the polls are closed, you're all relived, let's get back to the tower." Even though he'd been in regular contact, Rave was thankful to hear nothing had gone wrong, and more importantly, that they could now return to the tower. She didn't respond, she simply left the communicator on her belt and began to fly back towards the tower. She put her arm up in front of her face to block the setting sun from blinding her while she flew.

Raven landed on the tower roof, she walked across it towards the doorway on top, pausing to look back at the city, only for a moment, the sun behind her making it glisten, then descended the stairs to the main floor.

"Thank god nothing happened today." she though out loud as she descended the stairs "of course, all those bastards had to do was hint that they just may do something and it hits people pretty hard with their fears...guess they call it 'terrorism' for a reason."

She walked slowly down the hallway, towards the living room, where she assumed everyone would be. She walked through the threshold; everyone was seated on the couch watching the news coverage of election night, it was NBC, and it was big enough to get Tom Brokaw to come out of retirement to cover it.

"And with 97 of precincts reporting in, we're prepared to call Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes for Senator Michael Fletcher. Well, it was thought impossible just two weeks ago for a Republican to break up the solid North East—wait, we've just got word, that now we can call Ohio and its 20 electoral votes for Senator Fletcher. Giving him a commanding lead over incumbent President, Allen Sheppard." Raven came over to the large couch and sat on the end, next to Robin. She opened her mouth to say something, but realized he was too focused on what was happening to care and shut it just as quickly.

"What is it you wanted to say?" He said, turning to her, the somber look on his face had disappeared, leaving his face unreadable as to the emotion that lay behind it. He had caught her a little of guard and she looked at him blankly for a moment.

"Just because I'm concentrating on this," he said, pointing at the television "doesn't mean I lose my peripheral vision."

" With a victory in his home state of Illinois, President Sheppard now has 184 votes in the Electoral College. It now stands at 216 for Senator Michael Fletcher, and with Wisconsin reporting in, 194 for President Allen Sheppard. This sudden upsurge in votes for the President can only be attributed to his 11th hour speech, only a short time ago. Many of our political analysts have said that, had the President delivered this speech yesterday, or even just a few hours earlier, he would have a much more importantly influanced the voters. Giving him a better chance than he has now, especially showing his late surge in exit polling, for voters who were strongly reminded why they elected him to office in the first place."

"Uh, right" she regained her composure quickly " I just wanted to say, that no matter what happens…we're all proud of you. And we wouldn't want anyone else to lead us."

"We are now prepared to call Florida, and its 25 electoral votes for Senator Fletcher, bringing his total to 231."

"She's right, man." Cyborg confirmed, putting his large metal hand on Robin's shoulder.

"And now we're ready to call Washington for President Allen Sheppard, that is 11 electoral votes, bringing his total to 205, and well within striking distance of a second term. But remember, the goal is 270, a clear majority in the electoral college, if neither candidate can get that then the election will be decided by the House, where the Democrats have a majority."

"Yeah" Beast Boy interjected, smiling "this hunk of junk would have gotten us all killed by know…" he gestured his thumb at Cyborg, who slowly turned towards his green friend.

"It all comes down to California, should Senator Fletcher win there, he will take the Presidency with it. Should President Sheppard win, the election will go to the House, where he is all but assured victory."

"What was that you little piece of snot?" Cyborg's question was rhetorical, but Beast Boy tried to answer it anyway as he backed up against the armrest of the couch, "uh, uh, what I meant was…"

"And with 94 of the precincts reporting in, we are prepared to call the state of California and its 55 electoral votes for—"

Robin jumped to his feet, somewhat startling the other Titans and drawing their eyes to him.

"Guys…where's Starfire?"

-

A/N: Hope you liked it, not really sure how many chapters exactly are left in this part, but I'd say at most 3 or 4.