Hello, and welcome to Chapter 4. Sorry about the time delay between updates; it's been a rather hectic week, school-wise. But I'm back, fully charged and ready! Before I begin: I don't own the Teen Titans, etc etc etc. Without further ado, I give you... the fourth chapter.

Chapter 4: The Truth

The Titans arrived to find the base locked up tight. Security was everywhere. Armed men in gasmasks brandished heavy machine guns, several of them pointed directly at the T-Car
as they approached the gate. A gigantic, intimidating soldier approached the car, rifle cradled in his arms. Cyborg rolled down the window and looked up at him.

"Teen Titans?" he asked gruffly, and Cyborg nodded. "Okay." he shouted, waving his right hand at one of the guards at the front gate. Within seconds, the gate began to creak
open. The Titans drove into the base, the gate closing behind them as they made their entry.

A short, squat man with a large grey moustache approached the car as the Titans began to pile out. He saluted them, and after a brief moment of confusion, the Titans half-heartedly
returned the salute, perplexed.

"At ease!" he yelled, and the Titans allowed their hands to fall back to their sides. Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged 'get-a-load-of-this-guy' glances.

"General Herman, I presume?" asked Robin, offering his hand to the tiny man. His hand was seized and shaken vigorously.

"You'd be correct, soldier. You must be Robin!" Robin nodded. "Well, son, we have ourselves a bit of a situation."

"I received your information by uploading your coded e-mail while we were in the car. We know exactly who this is. Don't worry about a thing."

"Good, good. That's what I like to hear. Uhhh, but there is one important thing you should know."

"What's that?" asked Robin in an inquisitive tone.

"We have good reason to believe that he's stolen something that is of... the highest interest to national security. I can't tell you exactly what it is, but suffice it to say, there is a small
chance that, uh... if damaged, our mystery thief could explode and destroy the surrounding sixty mile radius."

The Titan's mouths dropped one at a time, a look of horror on their faces.

"We don't think he's aware of this, judging by the reckless way he dispatched several of our men. Basically, be careful when apprehending him."

"Don't worry, General! We'll, uh, be as soft... and hard... on him as possible!" blurted Beast Boy, grinning and giving another mock salute. His words sinking in, his grin faded away.
"Did that make sense?"

"No. But that's not surprising." said Raven, a slight smile on her face.

"Glad to see you are back to normal, friend Raven!" spoke Starfire, smiling softly.

'They don't suspect a thing,' the pale girl thought. 'The first chance I get, I have to find Grendel. I have to ask him about Aeschere.' Her thoughts were interrupted by a new voice. A man with a bandaged head had arrived and was speaking while pointing to a map of the base.

"We last saw him here, a few blocks from his original target, this building right here." he explained, gesturing appropriately. "He disarmed us, and several of our men indicated that he was running north towards a hole he had made earlier. It can be found right here. It's heavily guarded right now, so I don't know if he'll try to continue through that hole or make a new one. We're combing the compound to try and locate him, but he's very slippery."

"And that's why we called you! We know you'll finish the job. Godspeed, Teen Titans! Bring 'em back alive!" bellowed General Herman, saluting one more time. "DIS-missed!"

"Let's go!" ordered Robin, and the Titans made their way north.

Meanwhile, on the north end, a contingent of heavily armed guards stood, waiting, by a hummer. With one man manning the heavy machine gun atop the vehicle, another six wielded their own rifles. Their faces hard, their stance rigid, they were ready for anything.

'Oh God! How can I be this tired?' thought Grendel as he made his way north, hobbling along as quickly as possible, periodically coughing. Ignoring the growing sense of light-headedness, he pressed on, driven by a mixture of desperation and his constant thoughts of his imprisoned love. He turned off the last street before the hole and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened at the sight of the armed soldiers not ten feet away. "Please..." mouthed Grendel, looking up at the sky and trying to catch his breath.

"It's him! Open fire!" shouted one of the soldiers, pointing in Grendel's direction. Grendel's look melted to one of pure panic as the soldier's weapons began to spark and bullets began to fly past his head. Reacting as quickly as possible, Grendel dove behind the nearest building for cover. The sound of bullets ricocheting off of the wall beside him caused him to twitch violently, fear shooting through him in electric spasms.

"No, no, no! Please, God, no! I am so close..." Grendel moaned, overwhelmed by sensation. "Okay, think. You can get out of this."

"Hold your fire! Johannsen, Byrd, you two advance on his position, draw him out. The rest of you, provide cover!" came a yell from the soldier's location. Footsteps followed, and suddenly Grendel's eyes lit up. Diving from behind the building, he used his telekinetic aura to knock the two approaching soldiers to the ground, pinning them. The rest of the squad, which had advanced past the hole a short distance into the base, had little time to react as he tossed the machine gunner out of the vehicle, throwing him a good ten feet away. His hands then began to glow orange, and a fireball shot towards the hummer.

"Get down!" screamed a soldier, and the men began to dive for cover as the fireball enveloped the rear of the large automobile. After a few moments of flames spreading over it, the hummer exploded, sending a massive plume of smoke and fire into the sky.

Dazed, the machine gunner was the first of the soldiers to regain his footing. Brushing himself off, examining his body for any injuries, he found he was... perfectly okay. "Call out! Everybody alright?" he yelled. A chorus of groggy but healthy soldiers followed.

"Anybody see which way he went?" asked Johannsen, picking up his rifle and checking it for damage. He was met with nothing but grim faces and uncertain answers.

Back on the other side of the base, the massive explosion did not go unnoticed. The smoke and fire were faintly visible to all of the Titans, their heads sharply turning at the sound.

"It's worse than we thought, team." came the dreary voice of Robin.

"I keep thinking the next explosion we hear is gonna be the last one!" griped a visibly concerned Beast Boy. "When that mystery thingy goes ka-blooey..." he shuddered.

"We're going to stop that from happening, Beast Boy. Don't worry about it." replied Robin.

"Yeah, man. Try not to think about your impending doom!" came Cyborg, a huge grin spreading across his face as he mimicked a mushroom cloud with his hands. Beast Boy's eyes widened, and Cyborg started to laugh.

"Cyborg, knock it off. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to take the centre road of the base towards the explosion. Beast Boy and Cyborg, you two take the eastern road and converge on the same location. Starfire and Raven, you two take the western road, same thing. I'm urging all of you who can fly to do so, it'll make this much easier. By splitting up but maintaining a bearing on that location, we're sure to find him."

"You're, uh... you're letting us split up again?" asked Beast Boy, his eyes clearly locked on Raven. While he expected an acidic reply, Raven's mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"Hey, I trust you guys." came the reply. He flashed a friendly smile in Raven's direction as well. Realizing Robin had spoken, she snapped back to reality.

"Sorry about that... I just thought of something." she confessed.

"What is it?" asked Starfire, tilting her head slightly.

"If he already has what he wants, why is he still in the base? Why hasn't he teleported away? The only reason we found him the last time was because he hadn't found what he wanted. So why is he still here?"

Robin shrugged. "I can't answer that, but I do know we can't look a gift horse in the mouth. The more time we talk, the greater the chance he could escape anyway. I'll meet you guys on the north end!" he declared, running up the centre road.

"Well, you heard the man." came Cyborg, and he and Beast Boy made their way towards the eastern road. Beast Boy turned into a bat and made his way into the sky, chittering now and again.

"Let us go, friend Raven!" blurted Starfire, floating into the sky and making his way westward.

"Star..." began Raven, biting her lip and looking towards the ground.

"What is it? Is something the matter? There is precious time to not be wasted."

"Star... there is something I have to do." having spoken those words, the shadow of a raven enveloped her body and she disappeared. Starfire's eyes widened immensely before her brow twisted and a look of confusion overcame her.

"Oh dear... Robin will not like this. He will not like this one bit." she mumbled before taking off into the sky.

Leaning against the sink in the bathroom of an office, Grendel was coughing uncontrollably. His body shuddering violently, he hacked over and over again, valiantly trying to regain his composure. His breathing was ragged by this point, and he held his sides in pain. Finally, the coughing subsided, if only for the moment. Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw nothing but a shell of the magician he knew. He was a wreck. His hair was wild and spread all over the place, his face paler than usual, bruises blotting at random parts of his body. His eyes were bloodshot, and beneath them were huge dark bags. Feeling dizzy, he slid to the ground and held his head in his hands. Outside he heard shouts and heavy footsteps, orders barked and orders obeyed. It was only a matter of time before he was found.

"Oh, Grendel old friend. This is not how it was supposed to end." he moaned aloud to the ruined spectre in the mirror.

He heard the door to the office open, wincing at the sound. He remained still, trying with every ounce of strength not to cough. He heard heavy boots stomping towards the bathroom.

'I am sorry, Aeschere. I am sorry I have failed you.' he thought solemnly, a tear welling in his left eye. It trickled slowly down his cheek, almost in time with the bootsteps.

Suddenly, Grendel found himself seized with a strange feeling. He felt incredibly light headed, and darkness began to spread before his vision.

'No! I cannot... no!' were his final thoughts before everything vanished before him.

The door to the bathroom opened. Cyborg and Beast Boy peaked in, flicking the light on. A harsh flourescent beam illuminated the room...

But there was nobody inside.

"I thought we were close. This is so annoying." muttered Cyborg, punching the doorframe in disappointment.

"Wait... what's that in the corner?" asked Beast Boy, stepping into the room and making his way towards the object in question.

"Is that... is that his hat?" asked the robotic man, puzzlement dominating his voice.

The first thing Grendel noticed when he regained his senses was that he was missing his hat. He was very conscious of the sudden lack of weight on top of his skull, no matter how slight. He felt the top of his head, and was extremely disappointed to feel only his hair. His disappointment was usurped by extreme joy when he realized that he was free. He was in an alien world, but he was free. He looked around before him, and was witness to a most unusual world. He was standing atop a light grey rock, about ten feet long and 8 feet wide, that was floating in the middle of an abyss. Above him was only darkness and more rocks of varying sizes. He sighed. Joy overtook him yet again when he breathed deeply and realized he wasn't about to explode into another coughing fit. He wasn't completely healthy, but he now found himself in a less perilous condition. He seemed almost detached from the body he recalled so vividly mere moments before.

'Maybe I died and this is Heaven?' he thought. 'No, it cannot be. If it was Heaven... she would be here...'

"Hello." came a droning voice behind him, snapping him out of his curious mood. An all-too-familiar voice. His eyes wide, he turned around slowly. Before him stood the same cloaked figure he had come to loathe--and respect--in such a short period of time. "You were in very rough shape. It took a lot of effort to heal you."

An accusatory finger shot from beneath Grendel's cloak, pointing directly at the girl before him. "You are a sadistic creature, healing your prey just so you can destroy them honourably. Well, do what you wish. I am in neither the mood nor the proper state of mind to fight back."

"I didn't bring you here to fight you. I've come to talk to you." Raven replied, slowly striding towards him. Grendel did not move, but instead narrowed his eyes.

"Talk? Talk? You wish to talk?" he exploded, his violet eyes turning crimson. His own black aura started to rise behind him, swirling like streaks of oil in a puddle of water. "I cannot believe what I am hearing. Whatever could you possibly have to say to me?"

"Aeschere." shot Raven defiantly, unmoved by the implied threat. Her eyes locked confidently on his, awaiting reaction. The response was exactly what she had expected: silence.

"E-Excuse me?" he mumbled, his eyes returning to normal, his aura fading. He began to slouch at that moment.

"You heard me. Who is Aeschere? Why is she so important to you?" Raven pressed, stepping towards him. He began to slink backwards, incredibly uncomfortable. His eyes were dilated and he seemed disoriented.

"I do not know what you are talking about." he mumbled, barely audible. Raven continued to walk towards him, determined. Her eyes were fiery with passion and her face taut. She was going to get an answer no matter what.

"I saw her, Grendel. I saw Aeschere. I just need to know who she is to you."

"You... you saw her?"

"I did."

"What... what did you see?"

"She's trapped. Inside a... glowing sphere of some kind. She's very beautiful, Grendel. The red hair suits her." Raven smiled, and placed her hand on his arm. He shrank back, breaking from her loose grasp. He slowly sank to the ground, his cloak pooling beneath him as he began to lean forward. He grabbed his knees and sat there, hunched before the his ashen benefactor.

"Simply put, Aeschere is... my reason for being."

"You love her."

"I do." his words were a choked whisper. He stared straight at the ground, immobile.

"And someone has kidnapped her. That's why you're doing these things." She stared at the man before her, dazed, barely moving. In a word, he looked... shattered.

"Yes. It is a tale of woe, told by a fool, orchestrated by a madman." He said finally, breaking his stupor by looking up into Raven's eyes. She offered him a hand, and he took it, standing slowly. He let out a long sigh.

"Let's hear it. I must know what happened." she asked, releasing her grip on his hand.

"I will give you the abridged version." He stood there for a moment, gathering his thoughts, not wanting to skip over any important details. Finally, he drew in a deep breath and began.

"I am a law abiding man, Raven. Despite my powers, I do not wish to use them for ill-gotten gains. I am self-made, everything I treasure I have achieved through nothing but hard work, and I pride myself on that. But a month ago, I realized... that I was in a position where I was unable to make ends meet. I did not wish to trouble Aeschere with so terrible a notion, so I began to discretely look for a means to make some currency. All other options depleted, I began to check the classifieds, and there was this great offer for a magician. It appeared to be something simple, birthday parties and what have you. I could not turn down such a great monetary offer." He breathed in deeply again, his eyelids closing. Raven noticed his hands were now balled tightly into fists.

"Go on." she prodded gently. His eyes opened once more, and his hands relaxed.

"It was a set up. I went into a plain white room with just a video camera. I demonstrated my powers while a voice called to me over a loudspeaker. The whole scene seemed surreal and unnatural, but I was desperate, Raven. I did not care about anything but getting the job. When he realized just how powerful I was, he asked me how badly I needed the money. When I let him know, he told me I was now in..." He paused, his eyes narrowing.

The next words dripped from his mouth like venom. "His debt. He said I was in his debt. I could not believe what I was hearing. He told me that I was to help him accomplish some goals, or I would face grave consequences. When I told him he did not scare me, the wall opened up to reveal a television screen. On that screen... was my wife. In the arms of two very large robots. The voice told me to do what he said, or he would kill her. He never let me see her in person for a long time after that. I could only talk to her through the communicator, and although it involved tremendous pain, I treasured every second I got to speak to her." He rubbed his right eye, pretending it was nothing. Raven could tell he was wiping away a tear.

He gathered himself and spoke again. "He finally let me see her yesterday... and she was in the same sphere you described. I cannot bear to see her like this. I cannot bear to behave like this! I am not a thief, Raven. I am a magician. I just want my life back!"

"We can help you. We want to help you, Grendel."

Grendel stood rigidly straight, and examined her carefully, his eyes squinting. She did not move, and simply stared back. After a few moments, she smiled. With that, his gaze softened.

"No tricks." he said simply. "The man who did this... he is very clever. To further ensure my cooperation, he has implanted an electrode into my body. It allows him to communicate with me, but its secondary function, as I mentioned, is to cause great pain. If he suspects anything is wrong... he will kill my wife and myself, and likely all of you as well."

"Who is behind this, Grendel? Who has brought this suffering upon you?"

Grendel looked at the ground. "I do not know his name, and I have never seen his face. From what I have seen, his robots do most of his work. They are very broad, very strong, gold in colour. While I have spoken to him often, but never face to face. Always through his communicator, or in the dark."

"Okay... We've got a voice in the dark to worry about. What's he been getting you to steal?"

Grendel shrugged, hands spread. "All I know is what he tells me, and he never tells me what exactly it is that I am pilfering. I do not know what grand scheme he has for these devices."

"I understand..." Raven put a hand to her chin, pondering. "Well, we'll make better sense of this back at the Tower. Shall we go, Grendel?"

Grendel smiled faintly. "Yes. Let us go."

Raven closed her eyes, and prepared to recite her mantra.

"You are even more powerful than I gave you credit for, Raven. Bringing me to another dimension is... impressive."

She smiled briefly. "Thank you." was all she said before they were enveloped in darkness.

Back at the base, our weary heroes continued their fruitless task.

"Beast Boy, don't do that." Cyborg's voice was very weary. He was tired of looking, and spending an afternoon with the green lad had starting to become tiresome.

"Why not?" came the defiant reply muffled from inside a rather large hat. The look of a stovepipe hat covering Beast Boy's entire face elicited a giggle from Starfire, who landed next to the duo.

"You have been successful, yes? You acquired the Grendel's headgear!" Starfire beamed, her hands clasped together in front of her. She patted Beast Boy on the top of his hat, causing him to stumbled backwards and fall to the ground. Cyborg yanked the hat off of the changeling.

"That's not exactly successful, Star. We're supposed to find the guy that goes with the hat." Cyborg crumpled le grand chapeau in his hands with a certain amount of malicious delight.

"Perhaps we will find him when he comes back to locate his lost wardrobe?"

"Star... if he wants to escape that badly, I don't think he's going to care too much about..."

Cyborg was cut off by sudden movement directly to their right, between two buildings. Beast Boy slowly got to his feet.

"Dude... it's him!" screamed Beast Boy, pointing at the cloaked figure emerging from a black portal. He quickly morphed into a grizzly bear, ready for battle.

"I knew he would return for his helmet!" shouted Starfire, rising in the air, eyes beginning to glow an emerald shade. The metal teen ignored her.

"Grendel!" he shouted, readying his sonic cannon. He aimed directly for the thin man's emotionless face before his target was obscured by a flash of purple and grey. Lowering his weapon, he realized what had just stepped in the path of his shot.

"Raven? What the heck are you doing?" he demanded, his voice irate.

"Stop! Grendel is coming with us... peacefully! So everybody just relax... he's on our side!"

Starfire looked at Cyborg, who was busy sending curious looks at the ursine Beast Boy. On his haunches, the green bruin shrugged, a very puzzled look on his face.

Raven turned to look at Grendel. His face was unamused.

"How do I know I can trust these people?" He said simply.

"You've just got--" was all she could say before a small explosion erupted at their feet, tearing them apart. Tumbling to the ground, Grendel grunted, his head colliding hard with the ground. Raven lost her balance and fell backwards, crying out in surprise.

"Deceitful witch! You lied to me! You lied to me!" howled Grendel, his eyes locked on Raven's with a look of pure hatred before disappearing once more in a blue flash.

"No!" Raven screamed over and over again until her voice was hoarse. She punched the ground with her fists twice before her eyes began to glow red.

"WHO DID THAT?" she demanded, an unearthly rage in her voice. She stood up to see a very content Robin, a broad smirk on his face. In his hands, he held Grendel's leather pouch. In the chaos that had erupted, he had somehow removed it from the magician's person. Seeing Raven's anger, his brow furrowed.

"What's wrong with you, Raven? I got the device away from him."

"He was giving himself up peacefully! That explosion ruined any hope of a peaceful resolution!"

"What, you were talking to him again? Alone? What happened to working towards the same goal?"

"What happened to capturing him alive?"

"It doesn't matter that he got away, we'll find him. All that matters is that he got away empty handed. I did what was necessary to disarm him. Nobody was in any danger."

"You almost blew us all to pieces in the process! What if that explosion had set off whatever is in the pouch?" she gestured to the black leather object in Robin's hands. He turned his attention to it briefly before returning his eyes to Raven's face.

"My concussion grenades aren't powerful enough to detonate anything!" came his retort.

"This is all beside my point. Now we'll never know who's behind all of this!" She paused to collect herself, exhausted. Robin stared at her, waiting for her to say something. The remaining Titans had finally approached the two shouting Teens, apprehensive looks on their faces.

Finally, Raven shook her head. "I thought we had an agreement, Robin."

"I thought so, too, Raven." he said simply, his features slack. "But apparently we're still not on the same page."

"Apparently." she spat, looking at the ground. She brought her hood up, wrapping herself tightly in her cloak.

"I'm sorry. I did what I had to do. I did what was necessary." offered Robin with a shrug.

"No. That was not necessary. At all. And I need to be alone." she finished her words and disappeared into a shadow which had opened behind her.

"Dammit." cursed Robin, hanging his head. Cyborg patted him on the back as Beast Boy and Starfire stared solemnly at their leader.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned building across town, a meeting around a fire was not going very well at all...

"You are late." came the voice in the dark, clearly unhappy.

"The Titans again." the thin man grumbled, eyes locked on the ground. Betrayal lay heavy on his heart.

"And they are still alive."

"How did you..." began Grendel before doubling over in intense pain. Screaming and convulsing, the cloaked figure fell to the ground, writhing. Almost a minute passed before the terror was over.

"Worse, still, you have returned empty handed!"

"But... what?" groaned Grendel. His brief tranquility was shattered another burst of pain, this one lasting almost two minutes. When it was over, Grendel struggled to regain his breath. Slowly but surely he drew himself up to his knees.

"What I sent you for, my warlock friend, is a very unique piece of material. It is the remains of the engine of a Tamaranian ship that crash landed years ago, just outside the city. It is a very powerful material. If synthesized properly, one would have the most powerful explosive on earth. One crystal could lay waste to countless cities..."

Grendel reached into his cloak as the voice spoke, and his eyes grew very wide when he realized his pouch was massing. His knuckles turned white as his hands drew into fists.

"As I said, it is very, very unique. My computer has been able to track it, however, and tomorrow you can fix your mistake and retrieve it."

Grendel slowly brought himself to his feet. "Where is it?" his voice was like ice, completely devoid of emotion.

The voice laughed the eerie laugh that Grendel couldn't stand.

"It's in Titan's Tower, my dear boy. I trust you will not fail me this time"

Grendel was silent for several seconds, his face a blank canvas. His thoughts raced, every incident that had occured throughout the long, long day appearing in his mind, one after

the other. When he got to the horrible ending, a grin slowly began to spread across his face.

"No, sir. I will not fail you."

There you have it, Chapter 4! Hope you enjoyed it. Again, I'm sorry about the delay between updates. And please, feel free to review and comment! Stay tuned for Chapter 5... The Reckoning... coming soon!