Waking up somewhere that wasn't my room in Titans Tower made me uneasy. At least there, I entered knowing that if something happened, my friends would take care of things until I was safe and ready to fight alongside them.

"We're on our way." Robin had said before I left yesterday's episode. Even though by now, he and Cyborg had a huge fight about Cyborg quitting to join Titans East.

Cyborg.

I pulled off my covers and headed to the door. I touched my gun holsters and paused just before opening the door. My guns weren't with me. I pictured my bazooka sitting in a corner in Ops. If I could get there and then to Cyborg without causing suspicion...

I entered the hallway and forced myself into a casual walk, just in case I ran into one of the Titans East, who were revealed last episode to be brainwashed by Brother Blood.

As I turned the corner, a mass knocked into me. I yelped and stumbled back. A hand gripped my shoulder to steady me.

"Cyborg?" I said.

"Run!" he said, shoving my bazooka into my arms.

I glanced over his shoulder and saw the Titans East running down the hallway towards us. All of their eyes glowed red.

"Run!" Cyborg grabbed my wrist and yanked me down the hallway. One of Speedy's arrows whizzed past my head.

The Titans East broke off. Bumblebee raised her stingers and shot at us.

"Snap out of it, B! We're on the same side!" Cyborg called over his shoulders.

Bumblebee skidded to a stop as her eyes returned to normal. She groaned and gripped the sides of her head. Más and Menos took her place in chasing us. We came to a door and Cyborg pressed the button. The door closed, followed by a comedic indentation of Más and Menos' bodies from ramming into it. I'd find this funny if I weren't a part of this.

I turned around and pulled the trigger, shooting a laser at Aqualad. He dodged and threw a punch. I ducked and swung my bazooka, nailing the side of his leg and knocking him off his feet. We hopped over his body and continued running. We turned the corner and skidded to a stop when Más and Menos appeared. I glanced behind me and saw Speedy nocking an arrow. While Cyborg took a hit from the twins, I transformed my bazooka into a bow and turned to Speedy. We fired simultaneously, my laser arrow and his boxing glove arrow. They met, causing an explosion.

"Cyborg calling Robin! Mayday! Do you read me?!" Cyborg said into his communicator. He growled. "It's not working!"

"They won't be able to help you here." Speedy said. Aqualad stepped beside him.

"Buenas noches." Menos grinned, showing off his missing front tooth.

Cyborg cried out as Bumblebee shot him from behind. He collapsed on the ground.

"No!" I said, turning to him. A hand jabbed the side of my neck. I gasped as unconsciousness immediately gripped me and everything went black.


I groaned and pulled my head up from its uncomfortable droop. I opened my eyes and observed my surroundings. I was back in Ops. My hands were asleep and I felt a weight on my wrists. I looked and saw my arms and legs cuffed against a platform. Cyborg was to my left, restrained as well. We were high up on the balcony.

"Enough of this, guys. Let us go!" Cyborg said to the Titans East gang as they stood before us, their eyes glowing brightly. "You've gotta snap out of it. This is all Brother Blood's doing! He just wants to force you to be criminals like him!"

The Titans East members parted, and Brother Blood approached us. His hood was pulled over his face, but I could still see one of his eyes glowing red and his sinister smile.

"You're almost correct." Brother Blood said, standing in front of Cyborg. As he reached up, His sleeves drooped to his elbows, revealing the red cybernetics coating them, the same color as my guns. He removed his hood. His white hair was gone, replaced by cybernetics.

Cyborg's stared, flabbergasted, at Blood. "What have you done?"

"Don't tell me you're disgusted by the very technology keeping you alive." Blood said. "Or are you jealous because it looks better on me?"

"My technology is not for you!"

Blood chuckled. Two Cyborg replicas entered the room from both doors and stood watch. "Thanks to you, Cyborg, I've finally entered the digital age. With my mental capabilities and your cybernetic implants enhancing them, my powers will increase tenfold! I'll be able to control thousands of students... after they've been upgraded with the proper hardware, of course."

"This is insane! You can't expect to do this and get away with it!" I said.

"I can and I will. And because you're so eager to flap those nasty gums of yours, perhaps you will be among the firsts to welcome this new lifestyle. You've got a lot stored in that brain of yours that would benefit me."

I clenched my fists.

"Leave her alone! I'm the one you want!" Cyborg said.

Blood turned to Cyborg and smiled. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I'll need your help in upgrading my students. I've had enough of the disciplinary problem that you are! Something in your circuitry allows you to resist me, and I intend to find out what that is."

"I'm not telling you anything."

Blood gripped Cyborg's chin. "Oh, you don't need to tell me. Instead, I'm going to take you apart and find out what other secrets you've been hiding from me." Blood released him and stepped back. "Students, you may begin. Start with him first."

The Titans East members nodded and lifted up tools, most of them crackling with electricity. I looked behind them and saw a table of surgical tools- most likely for me. A wave of nausea coursed inside me as they approached Cyborg.

"Don't do this, guys! Listen to me, please!" Cyborg said.

I sucked in a deep breath. "Titans, go!"

A giant, green lion leaped from the shadows and tackled Aqualad. A blast of astral energy erupted between the other four, scattering them across the room. A barrage of starbolts destroyed the first half of Cyborg replicas while a string of explosive discs took out the others. Brother Blood scoffed.

"How did they get here, Headmaster? We jammed the signal!" Aqualad said.

The Teen Titans stood between Brother Blood and me and Cyborg. Brother Blood's half-human, half-robot pair of eyes found me, and he smiled.

"Worry not, my students. This is just a minor technicality." Blood said. "Come along. There are great things in store you for... if you happen to survive."

Brother Blood and the Titans East disappeared in a flash of red energy. Concrete walls closed around the balcony, sealing us in. Starfire tore off the restraints, and I fell into her arms. Cyborg collapsed on his hands and knees.

"You are both okay?" Starfire said.

"We're fine... physically, I guess." Cyborg said, standing and rubbing his wrist. "How did you get here?"

"Ciela called me last night and warned me. It looks like we got here just in time." Robin said.

Cyborg sighed and pounded his fists against the table he was restrained on. "Some leader I turned out to be. Less than a week in charge and I've already lost my entire team."

"We still have time." I said. I pulled myself away from Starfire. "Brother Blood can still be stopped. He may have my knowledge, but villains before him fail because their pride leads them to believe they'll succeed no matter what. He only will if you decide to give up."

"So, what's the plan?"

"This is your battle. You have a score to settle with Blood. You lead, and we'll follow."

Cyborg cupped his chin in his hand. "Well, first things first, we need to get out of here."

"And how are we going to do that?" Beast Boy said, gesturing to the two-inch thick concrete walls keeping us in.

"No worries. I built this Tower, and I can just as easily tear it apart." Cyborg approached the wall and knocked on it. "Beast Boy, give me an outline."

Beast Boy transformed into a lion and walked over to the wall. Using his claws, he chiseled a large circle in the concrete.

"Starfire, use your starbolts to heat this up."

Starfire brought her hands together and shaped a large starbolt. She laid it inside the circle. The smell of burning concrete filled my nostrils.

"That's good." Cyborg said. Starfire pulled away. The circle glowed red from heat. Cyborg stood a deep breath, raised his foot, and shoved it into the concrete. The slab slid out and fell off, giving us an opening. We crawled out. "Follow me."


Inside the air vents, Cyborg paused and pointed to the hatch in front of him. Raven used her magic to open it, and we dropped down into the hallway. In a single file line, with me behind Cyborg, we crept down the hallway with our backs pressed against the wall. Marching footsteps faded. I peeked out and saw a squadron of Cyborg replicas pass through the door ahead.

"How do we deal with those guys?" Raven said.

"I've never told anyone this, but my electronic eye can't see in low ultraviolet. If these things are really just like me, then a simple blue shift should make us invisible." Cyborg said. He pressed a button on his arm. His flashlight popped onto his shoulder and cast a blue light on us.

"Are you sure this will work?" Beast Boy said, staring at his hands.

Cyborg smiled and nodded. We headed down the hallway, two at a time, and to the next door. We paused and stood near the walls. The doors opened, and a Cyborg replica appeared. He looked around the room, even directly at us, but he couldn't see us. He walked past. With one hand resting on a pistol and the other gripping my necklace, we entered the room. Cyborg replicas lined the walls and worked on the circuitry in the walls, most likely to rearrange the place and make it fitting for Brother Blood. We walked by them and up the stairs; none of them noticed us. We entered an elevator and took it down to the basement. Cyborg shut off the flashlight.

We entered the basement. On the other side of the room, Brother Blood stood in front of the Titans East with a floating tray of cybernetic parts. Each of the Titans East members was restrained to a table, their eyes glowing red and their faces frighteningly calm. Brother Blood turned around and faced us.

"The Teen Titans." he said. "A fly on the wall told me you'd show up right about now."

I clenched my fists. This man has rubbed that in my face more in one season than Slade did in two.

"Oh, students! I'm in need of your assistance." Blood said before vanishing. The restrains came off, and the Titans East hopped off and stood before us.

"Go easy on them. They're still my friends." Cyborg said.

"Unless you want us to win, a little roughing up wouldn't kill them." I said.

The fighting broke off into separate battles, each of my friends facing off against one of the Titans East: Cyborg against Aqualad, Robin against Speedy, Starfire against Bumblebee, and Raven and Beast Boy against Más and Menos. While Aqualad chased Cyborg with a wave of water and Speedy chased Robin with a barrage of arrows, the two intersected. Robin leapfrogged over Cyborg and swung his foot into Aqualad's face. He fell to the ground and the water doused him.

I made my way up to the railings on the opposite side of Speedy, who was too focused on firing at Cyborg and Robin. I transformed my pistols into my bow and ran down the railing towards Speedy. He saw me coming, and he nocked an arrow and fired at me. I twisted my body to the side and the arrow flew past me, almost grazing my shoulder. I continued to run. When I was close enough, Speedy sheathed his arrows and swung his bow at me. I brought mine up and blocked him. His muscles rippled as he put all his weight on me. I reeled my foot back and kicked him in the...

Speedy grunted, and I moved out of the way as he collapsed on the ground in a writhing ball. His bow fell out of his hands and fell to the ground below. I reached down, picked up his pack of arrows, and threw them as far down the other way as I could. The arrows fell out and scattered across the ground.

"I'm not a good shot, huh?" I said, cracking a proud smile. I headed back down to the ground floor. The other Titans East members lay unconscious across the room.

Behind Cyborg, a silhouette of red energy flashed. Brother Blood appeared with a wide grin. He reached out and laid a finger on Cyborg's chest.

"Cyborg!" I cried. I lunged and grabbed his arm as the red energy wrapped around the three of us, carrying us away from the basement and leaving the others behind.

We reappeared on the roof of Titans East Tower. Brother Blood swiped his arm and knocked me aside with a sonic barrier. My grip on Cyborg released, and I tumbled across the roof. Brother Blood shoved Cyborg back, reached up, and ripped off his robe, revealing his new body. His shoulders were covered in cybernetics, and his chest was more puffed out than before with a white skull and crossbones painted on it. Cyborg charged and threw punches and kicks at Brother Blood, but he dodged them agilely. He lifted his hand and shoved a sonic barrier into Cyborg's chest, launching him back. He skidded across the ground, and I gasped as he approached the edge. I lunged, my hands outstretched, and I snagged Cyborg's hand as he dangled off the edge.

"Cyborg, you've got to help me!" I grit my teeth as I attempted to pull him up. Cyborg reached his other hand out and grabbed the edge. We worked to pull him back up.

A hand snagged my braid and yanked me back. Cyborg's hand slipped through my fingers, and he clung to the ledge. I yelped, tears pricking my eyes. Brother Blood grabbed my shoulder, digging his sharp, metal fingers in. His fingers sunk through my skin, and I screamed from the pain. Brother Blood, using my braid, flung me across the ground. I finished tumbling, gripped my shoulder, and winced.

"Be a good little girl and stay down." Brother Blood said. "I'll deal with you later."

Blood walked over to the ledge, lifted Cyborg back onto the roof, and threw him. Cyborg crawled back onto his feet, and the two of them lunged. Cyborg swung his sonic cannon and Blood swung his arm. They landed on the ground, crouched and facing away from each other. Cyborg's cannon arm fell off.

"When are you going to learn that you can't defeat me?" Blood said.

Cyborg launched a punch at Blood. Blood stepped back, grabbed the small panel on Cyborg's chest, and ripped it off. Cyborg stumbled back and placed his hand over the open hole, trying to cover up the circuitry and sparking electricity. With a smile, Brother Blood swiped his fingers in the air, each time cutting off a piece of Cyborg's body: his legs, his other arm, and his shoulders. Cyborg fell to the ground, surrounded by his limbs and scrap metal.

I've got to do something... I brushed my fingers against a pistol. But what? Think, Ciela, think!

"There's no need to fret, Cyborg. At least you'll be able to die alongside your friends." Blood said. He raised a hand, and nine silhouettes appeared above them. I gasped when I saw my friends and Titans East floating above, restrained from Blood's powers.

I pushed myself onto my knees. I doubled over as another sharp pain erupted in my shoulder. I noticed how badly my fingers trembled. I squeezed my eyes shut.

...I'm scared.

"It's okay for you to be scared. The only time it's not is if you let it rule your life." I opened my eyes and looked up. "You have two options: conquer your fear or let your fear conquer you. The only one who can decide the outcome is you."

Brother Blood grunted and flew back, landing on his back. Two of the Cyborg replicas fell apart, and the pieces traveled to Cyborg and repaired him. Blood stood up and tried to attack Cyborg, but he missed all his punches.

"Cut him down!" I heard Cyborg shout to me.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled out my energy pistols, ignoring the pain in my shoulder. I pushed back onto my feet and sprinted toward Brother Blood. I jammed my pistols together and created my energy sword. As Brother Blood turned to face me, I swiped my sword twice, each time slicing off one of his arms.

"No!" Brother Blood cried as he stumbled back. "Impossible! That girl told me everything! I had all there was to know about this ending! How is it that I still lost?!"

"You chose the wrong person to fight against." I said. "You were right, Blood; I was afraid. There have been moments when I've been afraid, and there have been moments when I should have been afraid, but I kept fighting. I'm a different person compared to who I was before I came here. I'm a Teen Titan now, and that's changed me." I took a deep breath, pausing to examine Blood pitifully. "I'm not afraid of you anymore, and you can tell whoever your colleague is that I'm not afraid of them, either."

Blood smiled. "We'll just see about that. In fact, I have a message from my colleague." he said. "She says she can't wait to meet you next season."

Cyborg shoved his foot into Blood's face. Blood fell on his back, unconscious. His powers of restraint on my friends ceased, and they stood around me. I holstered my pistols. I winced and gripped my shoulder, remembering my injury.

"Let's get that patched up." Cyborg said, resting a hand on my other shoulder.

I nodded. "Thanks."

Cyborg smiled and held out his fist. "Any time, partner."

I smiled, and we fist bumped.


I slipped my jacket on, careful not to mess up the bandages wrapped securely around my shoulder. I watched my reflection as I straightened my jacket. You'd think after all I've been through, I'd be wise enough to carry a roll of gauze wherever I went.

Brother Blood's message repeated in my head. At least I'll finally be able to find out who's been causing all this trouble for me.

"Ready to go?" I looked behind me in the reflection and saw Robin leaning against the door frame.

"Just a moment." I reached for my holster belt and clipped it on. Cyborg asked to borrow my energy pistols. He said he wanted to add one more transformation to them while I was away. I looked up and saw Robin still watching me. "Is everything all right?"

"I was... thinking about what Brother Blood said." Robin stood up straight.

"You're not the only one."

"I'm just concerned. If this mysterious spoiler has been leaking info to the enemy, I doubt they'll be friendly to you when you meet."

"Maybe not... But when the time comes, I'll be ready."

"You're not worried?"

"Of course I am. I don't know what's worse- being given a vague window of time for when I'll face them or just knowing that I definitely will. But they've threatened you and the others. They've put us at risk. I have to stop them before they make things worse." I said. "I don't want to be afraid anymore. The only way that'll happen is if I face it head-on and conquer my fears." I turned to Robin. "A good friend taught me that."

Robin smiled. "Stop, you're making me blush."

I laughed and rubbed my shoulder. "Can we leave now? I'm really missing home."

Robin nodded, and together we headed down the hallway and to the T-Ship.


"Come on, just a little further!" I hollered down to my mom.

"I'm not as young as I used to be, you know." Mom panted. I breathed a laugh and held out a hand to her. She accepted it, and I helped her climb up the last few steps of the steep, dusty pathway. She took off her backpack, plopped it in the dirt, and stretched her arms and legs. "I don't know how you kids can do things like this."

I set my backpack next to hers and looked out at the landscape. We stood at the top of a hill, the finish line of a hiking trail. I saw the city stretched out below and its neighbors poking out in the distance. The skies were partly clear, but a cloud front was moving over. Nevertheless, the sight was still pretty.

"Let's take a picture of you over there." Mom said.

"Um..." I said. "Okay."

I stood where Mom directed. Mom pulled out a digital camera from her backpack.

"Smile!"

This time, my smile was a little more sincere. Mom snapped the picture, then lowered the camera to look at it.

"You look beautiful, Ciela." Mom said, handing me the camera. I took it and looked at the picture.

The first thing I noticed was my Teen Titans necklace; there was more color to it. Along with the red T, symbolizing Robin, the top right quarter of the circle surrounding it was blue, matching Cyborg's cybernetics and symbolizing him and his season. When I woke up this morning, the color had appeared. Then, I examined myself. I straightened my shirt, which was actually rather loose on my body. Mom and I would need to go shopping sometime soon. My real world body was definitely beginning to show all the hard work I'd been put through these past seasons.

"This will be a photo for the memory book." I said, handing the camera back to Mom.

Mom tucked the camera away and hugged me. I paused a moment, a little surprised by the sudden gesture, before hugging her back.

"I love you, Ciela." Mom said.

I smiled. "I love you, too, Mom."

Whatever season four had to offer, I'd be prepared. I had people in both worlds cheering me on; I'll do my best to not let them down.


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Season 3 is finished! Two more to go, and let me just say that I'm really excited for season 4 and 5. I have a lot planned for Ciela and her friends (but mostly Ciela).

The theme for season 3 is "Make Some Noise" from Hannah Montana. I know it's strange that I chose this song, but I think it really matches what I was going for in this season with focusing on Ciela and her mom. When I listen to this song, I imagine Ciela's mom singing it to her, pleading for her to keep moving forward and not give up.

Next chapter begins season 4. Stay tuned!