Chapter XXI: The Final Assault

The remaining Titans materialized in front of two large iron doors set into the side of a hill. Samuel fired off a round from his blast rifle that exploded high up on the stone face to the left side of the door.

"What was that for?" Haley asked her brother.

"Electronic camera," he replied.

"I think they know who we are," Haley dryly replied.

"Yea, but now they won't know how many of us there are," Samuel replied as he readied his rifle for the coming fight.

"Aimee, let's get this show started," Cyborg prodded them. Any advantage they had from surprise was quickly disappearing.

The youngest Titan reluctantly stepped forward and took a deep breath. She quickly changed into a hulking earthen shape. It cracked and clanked as it took several heavy steps towards the door. Two arm-like appendages reached up and pried the door apart then tore the metal doors like paper exposing the inside of a large cavernous room.

Raven stepped forward into the gapping hole Aimee had just opened. The others fell in behind her as Gato's internal alarms blasted noisily in the cavernous space.

"ORBIS!" Raven cried out as the first round of blast shots erupted.

Raven surveyed the scene quickly hoping to orient herself to the space she and Terra had seen earlier. Gato's henchmen quickly converged on the doorway raining shots at them from all sides. The blasts refracted away from the doorway and bounced harmlessly off the surrounding walls. There was no more time, she had to begin her spell and hope her friends could find the control area without her.

"Umbra Aminus (Shadow Soul)," Raven chanted as she slipped into a trance.

The other Titans watched momentarily then became disoriented as Raven's spell took affect. Aimee was the first to charge into the room. The others watched as she bounded forward and disappeared as she changed into her air form. A whirlwind formed up in front of them then plunged into the cavernous space to play havoc with Gato's henchmen. Three shadowy forms followed her resembling the other three Titans.

Haley felt the strange sense of seeing four things at once. She looked behind her and saw a shadowy form resembling her brother. In an instant rifle blasts were coming from it. There were two others near her resembling Cyborg and Aimee. Haley tried to relax and react to what she was seeing. Soon found she could control her brother's firing rate as well as Cyborg's.

Cyborg and Samuel finally sprung forward into the cavern firing in all directions. Gato's men were suddenly confronted with a far more powerful intruder than they expected. Haley remained crouched by Raven's side. There was too much blast fire for her to safely enter the fray. She would play a support role for now.

Cyborg watched as Aimee's wind vortex tore through Gato's men sending them flying in all directions. Damn she was good! He looked around as he and Samuel picked off whatever henchmen were left firing at them.

The Professor watched as the Titan's made quick work of his guards. This was not going well at all. Cyborg and Samuel spotted him in the control area. They would be there momentarily. The Professor had to make a decision to stand or bail. Neither solution was desirable. The Titan's would be harsh with him, Gato would be worse. He engaged the site's self destruct sequence and turned the draw down to full power. With luck he would bring down the grid and the building with the Titans still in it. He quickly fled once everything was engaged and the control panel was locked.

Aimee twirled through Gato's remaining henchmen sending them flying in all directions. Blasters were useless against her in her chosen form. She watched as Cyborg, Samuel and their shadows fought through Gato's men towards the control area. Resistance was quickly waning. She doubled back so all three would converge on the same area at once.

Haley watched the others battle their way towards the control area. The blasts inside the cavern became less frequent as the others closed in on their chosen spot. Raven's spell had allowed them to quickly turn the tide and overcome their foes numerical superiority. Without warning an errant blast came at her from an odd angle. Haley turned as a small group of henchmen charged her position. She cried out as she sprung forward accompanied by her shadows.

Samuel and Cyborg's shadows quickly struck down several men before they could train their rifles on Haley. She brought down her sword on her nearest opponent who raised his rifle and parried her attack snapping the sword into useless shards. Haley dropped the remains of her weapon then grabbed her opponent's rifle and spun it around trying to pry it from his hands. Her opponent grunted then flipped over as Haley tossed him heavily to the ground. She separated him from his rifle and quickly stomped on her opponent putting him out of commission. Aimee's shadow then brought down another henchman.

Haley felt a sudden sense of danger. She turned around just in time to see one of Gato's henchmen drive his rifle butt into Raven's head. This broke her trance and her spell. Haley watched helplessly as Raven fell to the ground. The henchman stood over Raven's unconscious body and raised his blast rifle to finish her off.

In a flash Haley flung her knife in a desperate attempt to stop the gunman from ending Raven's life. Her knife lodged in the man's shoulder. He cried out in pain then turned and trained his rifle on her. Haley froze unsure how she was going to avoid getting shot. To her relief a plasma blast suddenly ripped through the man causing him to crumple onto the floor. Haley sighed thankful her brother was as skilled with the blast rifle as she was with a sword and knife. She quickly ran to Raven.

"Nice shot," Cyborg said to Samuel. Both of them stood in front of the control panel surveying the area to make sure there wasn't anyone else left to oppose them.

"Thanks," Samuel said as he looked around. "Score one for the police department."

Cyborg looked down at the control panel trying to make sense of what the Professor had left them. He quickly figured out the whole panel was not functioning. The cavern suddenly shook. Aimee reformed in front of them just as portions of the ceiling started coming down.

"We've got to get out of here," Samuel shouted.

"But we haven't shut off the draw down yet," Cyborg countered. "The panel's shot. We'll have to disconnect it ourselves."

"Where?" Samuel shouted back above the din.

Cyborg quickly surveyed the room and noticed an area where the cables seemed to converge. "Over there," he pointed.

Aimee and Samuel looked to where Cyborg was pointing. "How are we going to get over there? The whole place will collapse in a minute or so," Samuel asked.

"Aimee, can you get over there and sever the cable?" Cyborg asked.

"I think I can," she replied.

"Go to it, then get back over to Raven as quick as you can. Understand?"

"Yea," Aimee replied. She disappeared as Cyborg and Samuel quickly ran to rejoin Haley and Raven as the cavern began to collapse.

Haley gently helped Raven to her feet. She looked over and noticed Cyborg and Samuel sprinting towards her as the cavern filled with dust.

"Why do they have to hit me in the head so hard," Raven said groggily as she stood up with Haley's help. "Where's Aimee?" Raven asked as the others joined them.

"She's disconnecting the site from the grid," Cyborg explained as he and Samuel turned to where Aimee was headed.

The others watched as the cavern ceiling became more unstable. Raven quickly held up her hands and tried to hold up the cavern with her powers. She strained under the great weight bearing down on them.

Aimee approached the area Cyborg had pointed out to her. She could make out the main cable line she needed to sever. In an instant she changed into her fire form and grasped the main line melting it on contact. The line was cut.

Cyborg, Raven, Samuel and Haley watched as a bright column of flame erupted near the line junction. Sparks and smoke rose up as Aimee severed the cable. The flame instantly went out as Aimee changed back into her air form and presumably made her way back to the group.

"Just a few more seconds Raven and we'll all be here," Cyborg informed his struggling partner.

Raven clenched her teeth and closed her eyes concentrating on holding the ceiling up for as long as she could. "Lay your hands on me and let me know when Aimee gets here," she instructed the others.

Raven's arms began to buckle. She could feel the other's place their hands gently on her. It seemed like forever before she heard Cyborg's voice call out to her and another hand fall gently on her.

"Now Raven!"

"DOMUS!"