Slade's jaw dropped as he watched the scene play out before him. He ran his hand though his hair in disbelief as an older Abel stepped through a portal, leaving the Titans with a child. The fact that Abel had traveled through time didn't surprise him; he knew perfectly well that time travel was possible for Raven, Abel, and Robin, though they may not know themselves. What stunned him was the information gathered by his probe. It is imperative that he survives. Not just for us, but for the salvation of all existence. Slade's stunned look was replaced with a psychotic smile. He would capture that child. He realized how little he knew of the child's full potential, but he would learn. The greed for power clouded his judgment as he reached for his mask. He stopped, however, at the sound of a voice.
"A most enviable specimen, isn't he?" Slade whirled to face the intruder, replacing his mask and drawing his titanium staff in one fluid motion. The stranger was covered by the shadow that decorated Slade's entire lair. The figure stepped forward to show himself. He had orange tinted skin and shoulder-length black hair with a silver sheen. This was Abel's twin brother, but while the other had an air of relative benevolence, this one was radiating pure and unbridled evil. Another difference between the two was the fact that he had red eyes instead of the silver of his brother's. This must have the one from the future, because he looked older than he should be. Slade tightened his grip on his staff as the man stepped forward.
"Lower your weapon, if you can call it that; if I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be standing their in a vain attempt to prepare yourself," he said with a smirk. Slade narrowed his eyes and lowered his staff slightly. The smirk left Carthatagon's face and his eyes flashed, "LOWER YOUR WEAPON, MORTAL!" he bellowed as he chopped his hand through the air. Slade's staff shattered, some of the shards piercing his gloves and armor; he fell to his knees as the wounds bled freely. Carthatagon stepped forward and knelt beside him, "Serve me," he whispered, "If you wish to survive this encounter." Slade's eyes widened as he saw his wounds begin to heal, but screamed as they reopened and worsened. "What say you?"
"I will serve you!" Slade shouted through the pain. The pain ceased and his wounds healed. He struggled to his feet, and bowed his head to his new master. Carthatagon smirked.
"You want that child, don't you?" he asked. Slade's head snapped up. "Yes, I figured as much. You want him because he's stronger than you; because you can't stand to be weaker than a mere infant. You want him to serve you. You would steal him and raise him as your own, poisoning his innocent, little mind. You would train him to be your apprentice, your servant, your lapdog. But you will not. You will serve me, or die. Is this not so?" Slade lowered his head and muttered his answer. "What was that?"
"It is so… master."
"Damn right, servant." Carthatagon said as he toured the room. "You must do my bidding. You will kidnap my nephew, but not for you own agenda," he paused as he walked up to Slade's surveillance screen; he ran his finger over the image of his nephew, "You will take him for me. I cannot do it myself for reasons you cannot begin to understand. My person in this timeline is far to weak to do so, I am shamed to admit. You will take the child at what ever the cost. In order for my imbecile twin and his incompetent companions to remain helpless to follow you, I will open a portal to another reality where they companions do not know of my plans. Do you understand?" He turned to his newly acquired minion. Slade nodded, he raised his head and awaited further instruction, but his master was not paying attention. When he did notice, he whirled and shouted, "Go fool!" Slade bowed and hurried out of the room. He went deeper into his former lair, to a room stocked with his production-line goons. He walked up to a console and tapped in his code; the screen flashed another password request and he complied. When the computer asked his request, he selected one of the pre-entered programs: Mass Activation. Every drone in the large hangar activated simultaneously. Slade smiled as the drones came to artificial life; he entered their orders into their programs and watched as they exited through a large doorway onto the surface. The drones spilled out into the streets of Jump City and Slade followed on a vehicle of his own, a prototype hover bike. The mass of machines made their way toward the island of the Titan's residence, some taking to the rooftops and the sides of buildings. The civilians were terrified at first, but realized they were in no immediate danger and stared as the wave of steel and wiring made its way to their beloved Teen Titans' Tower.
TT
Abel paced around the living room, feeding Noah with a bottle his older self had returned with as an afterthought. When the boy was ready to be burped, Abel handed him to Starfire with a towel over shoulder. She took the child and began patting his back lightly. After a while he burped, a little vomit coming with it. Starfire held him out in front of her and looked him over. He had a little vomit left on his mouth; she wiped it off with the towel making funny noises as she did. Noah giggled at her antics and reached out to grab a fistful of her hair. He tugged sharply, but not enough to hurt her. He kept pulling her hair and laughing. He started to pull harder and Abel had to rescue Starfire from him lest he pull out some of her hair. He took and he released her hair; Abel put him over his shoulder, he found the braid and began tugging on that. Abel sighed as his head jerked back every time he pulled. Raven smiled and went to relieve him; as she took Noah from him, she smiled the largest smile the Titans had ever seen from her. Robin came up behind her and held his finger out to the baby, which the child grasped in his vice like grip. Robin's face screwed up in surprise and slight pain.
"He's one strong kid, isn't he?" Abel said with a laugh. Robin massaged his finger and nodded. Any other comments were interrupted by the baby's yawn; the Titans were entranced by how peaceful he looked as he fell asleep in Raven's arms.
"I'll go put him in your room, Abel," she said as she turned toward the hall. The Titans were left in silence again. Beast Boy was first to break it.
"So, who's up for a quick game of Ninja Combat Extreme?" Cyborg and Robin immediately accepted the offer. When they asked Abel if he would he like to join, he refused. He turned to Starfire and hugged her. Starfire was slightly shocked but pleased.
"This is a lot to take in, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yes… but it is most glorious! We will be wedded, as will Robin and Raven, and they will be with child. Do you think we will have another one?" Abel's jaw dropped at this and he blushed furiously.
"I-I-I don't know, Star. I'm… sure we will… eventually."
"You do not regret it do you?"
"Regret what?"
"Accepting to protect our son…"
"Of course not. It may well alter the course of history, but I think that's the whole point. Besides, he's technically my son, so what kind of father would I be if I refused?" Starfire was going to respond but was interrupted by an explosion in front of the other boys. The television screen blew out and showered them with glass; coughing the Titans looked up at the destruction and gasped as Slade stepped through.
"Give me the child!" he ordered.
"What child?" Abel shouted back.
"Do not try to fool me! I saw your future self drop the child off. I heard what he is capable of, and my master wants him!"
"Master?" Abel started; then it dawned on him. Slade was working for Carthatagon. "No…" Slade smiled at this.
"You know who I'm talking about, don't you?" Abel looked up at him and growled.
"You can have my son," he started. The others looked at him in shock. "When you pry him from my lifeless fingers!" he finished, preparing to fight. Slade smiled at this, he raised his hand and pressed a switch set in his glove. His army of robots poured through the window and the halls.
"That's the idea." He stepped back and watched the fray. The Titans fought desperately; these robots seemed to have a few upgrades, their reflexes much improved and their strength increased.
'Abel! Robin!' Raven projected, 'Slade's here; what's he after?'
'My son!' Abel replied. He noticed Slade slip off into the hall, to search the rooms. 'Raven, be careful! He's searching the-' Abel was interrupted by Raven's scream, and watched as Slade ran back through the hallway with Noah in his arms. Remarkably the baby was still asleep. Abel ran after Slade, refraining from using his powers lest he injure his son. Suddenly a portal opened in front of Slade, which he stepped into, before completely disappearing through it, he turned to Abel, and Abel could tell he was smiling at him. He put on an extra burst of speed and leapt through the portal after him. With the risk of injuring Noah out of the way Starfire and Raven immediately created a miniature supernova that Abel taught them.
TT
"There is nothing you could've done. There will always be people who say mean words because you are different. And sometimes their minds cannot be changed. But there are many more people who do not judge others based on how they look or where they are from. Those are the people whose words truly matter." As the Titans turned to re-enter the Tower after Starfire's speech, they were interrupted by an explosion. They were shocked as Slade erupted through the hole in the ceiling with a baby in his arms. The Titans stared dumbfounded as another person leapt through the hole. Starfire gasped when she recognized the orange skin and short eyebrows of the boy. "He is Tamaranian?" she whispered. Slade turned to them, noticing them for the first time.
"Ah, Titans, it is good to see you all well." He noticed Raven shift uneasily, but didn't have a chance to question it because the stranger interrupted him.
"Give me my son!" he shouted, his eyes glowing. The Titans stared at him; he looked like he was only in his early teens and he had a son. Robin made a mental note to question him after the encounter. When he looked back at Slade, he noticed he no longer had the mark on his forehead and his body wasn't bulging with demonic power pulsing through it.
"If you want him so badly, dear boy, you'll have to use your powers against me. You and I both know you're not fast enough to do it without them."
"The hell I'm not!" The boy clenched his fists and charged. Slade twisted and prepared to dispatch him with a powerful side kick, but the stranger expected this and jumped onto his leg and kicked off. He flew over Slade's head as he lost his balance. He managed to get a hand on the baby and carefully pulled him from Slade's grasp. When he recovered from the feint, Slade began to attack the boy. The Titans watched in amazement at how well this boy fought without dropping the baby he cradled in his arms. Slade eventually got the upper hand, sweeping his leg across his opponents; he lost his balance and threw toward the Titans. Raven tried to catch the child with her powers, but Slade snatched him from the air and ran across the roof. The other combatant recovered from his fall and ran after Slade; Slade arrived at the edge of the roof and turned around to see his pursuer skidding to a halt about a yard away from him.
"Hand him over, Slade!" he shouted. Slade smiled and turned around, just then a portal appeared before him. He hesitated, but not long and jumped through the portal. The stranger growled in frustration and followed, when he tried to jump through the portal, it disappeared. The Titans gasped in shock as he fell, but were slightly relieved as he solemnly glided back to the rooftop. When the boy landed he roared in rage and frustration and launched a volley of silver star bolts into the air.
"He is Tamaranian…" Starfire whispered. The boy turned around and the Titans gasped to see he now had four glowing red eyes.
TT
"Where is Abel?" Starfire asked, hugging herself. Raven sighed sadly and stepped down from her meditative position.
"I don't know Star, I can't trace him… That only happens when someone travels through time, or to an alternate reality," she swallowed hard and Robin walked up to her and hugged her. Starfire burst into tears and fell to her knees. Cyborg rubbed her back and shushed her.
"Shh… it'll be okay, Starfire. He's a tough kid, he'll kick Slade's butt in no time and return with Noah and that sarcastic little grin of his…" Starfire wasn't convinced and continued to weep. Robin pulled away from Raven and asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Is there anything we can do?" Raven shook her head sadly.
"If I can't track him, I can't pull him through a portal." Raven closed her eyes and tried to figure out another way of retrieving Abel. Suddenly Beast Boy spoke.
"Didn't Slade say he had a master?" Cyborg nodded in response.
"Yeah… Abe took it kinda harsh…." Raven processed this and her head snapped up in realization.
"Carthatagon!"
TT
The Titans watched as the stranger rubbed the bridge of his nose to calm himself. Robin took to his role of leader and questioned him calmly.
"What's your name?" the boy looked up and blinked.
"Abel… my name's Abel…" he looked down and rubbed the bridge of his nose again. Robin pressed on carefully.
"How old are you, Abel?"
"Fourteen…" he replied in monotone.
"So, why do you have a son?"
"My future self brought him from his time and left him with us to protect him from my brother."
"Who's 'us'?" Abel looked up in confusion and remembered his trip to an alternate reality.
"You are 'us'. The Teen Titans." Robin's eyes widened and he searched for another question to ask, but was interrupted by Starfire.
"Are you Tamaranian?"
"Yeah, Starfire… I am… sort of…"
"You know my name?"
"Yeah Star, I do… and Cyborg, and Beast Boy, and Raven, and Robin…" he pointed to each Titan individually. Raven stepped forward.
"Your eyes… on the roof you had four and they were red. I don't think Tamaranians can do that." Abel smirked at this.
"That's what I mean by 'sort of'… I'm half Tamaranian, half demon. My mother was Tamaranian, my father was a demon," he looked up at Raven and continued, "My father's name is Trigon." The Titans gasped and looked at Raven.
"Come again?" she asked.
"I'm your half brother."
"Oh…" Starfire was delighted by this and she ran to Raven and engulfed her in a terribly bone-crushing hug. While she did this, Robin continued to question Abel.
"You said we were supposed to protect your son. Did we miss the meeting or something?"
"No. this all happened in another reality. That reminds me, what year is it?" he asked.
"O' five," Beast Boy responded.
"I went two years into the future..." Raven finally managed to pull out of Starfire's friendly death grip and addressed Abel.
"Time traveling and reality hopping? You're breaking laws."
"What laws?" Robin asked.
"Well, the human laws of physics first of all," Abel replied.
"And the laws of Azarath. It is illegal to travel through time or to an alternate reality without permission. Do you have permission?"
"Not really. But, an Avatar visited my future self when Noah was born and told us about his destiny to destroy our father. So now my brother must destroy us in order to claim the throne."
"Is your brother a twin?"
"Yeah, why?" Raven scoffed at this and muttered something that sounded like 'That's just like him'
"In the case of demon twins, if either of them dies, they both die. Trigon has no intention of letting your brother claim the throne, or any of you for that matter." In the background Beast Boy seemed to be calculating something. When he reached a conclusion that satisfied him he spoke up.
"I'm twelve in your dimension?" Abel looked at him, caught off guard by the spontaneousness of the question.
"Eh? Oh… no, you and I are about the same age… Cyborg, Raven and Robin are seventeen, and Starfire's sixteen in my time and dimension. Why?"
"I'm fifteen," Beast Boy replied.
"I'm seventeen," Cyborg said.
"Sixteen," Robin said.
"My age is no one's business," Raven said with her arms crossed.
"I am sixteen years of age as well," Starfire said. Abel rubbed his chin in contemplation.
"I guess that makes sense. Your parents had you at different times than the others'. That's one of the differences in this reality. Anything else I should know about?" Beast Boy looked down sadly.
"Terra?" Abel noticed the sadness in his voice and was a little queasy.
"I heard about her. She hasn't returned… what about here?" Beast Boy looked away and clenched his fists. Abel started to get dizzy and sat down in one of the chairs at the counter. "If you don't want to tell me you… you don't have to," he rubbed his temples and blinked in an attempt to clear his vision, "just… just try not to be so emotional about it…" Beast Boy regained himself and blinked. He looked at Raven; she didn't seem to be affected by his emotions.
"Why aren't you all woozy and stuff?" he asked jabbing his thumb at Abel.
"He's more in tune with his emotions and I'm more used to your emotions." When Abel got over his nausea, he stood.
"Alright, I need to find my son." Robin nodded and remembered another question he had wanted to ask.
"Who's the mother?" Abel looked at him and glanced at Starfire. He had picked up strong emotions from Robin toward the Tamaranian princess and vice versa, so he hesitated. He wasn't bothered by this, because it was an alternate reality. He might not even exist in this one.
"Starfire"
TT
Raven floated with her legs crossed and eyes closed. Robin floated next to her to give her more power in order to try to contact Abel wherever he may be. They chanted in unison and combined their efforts of calling out to Abel.
'Abel…' they projected in unison. Getting no response they tried again. 'Abel!' still no response. 'ABEL!' getting no response, they gave up. Raven opened her eyes solemnly. She sighed and looked to Starfire; seeing the lost and helpless look in the cheerful girls face saddened and made all the more difficult for her to shake her head no. Starfire looked down, but shed no tears. Raven bit her lip and tried to think of something else.
"We need something that can produce a stronger connection… something like…" she paused. She looked at Robin and noticed he had drawn the same connection.
"Our portals!" they said in unison. Robin reached for the ring he had chained around his neck, but Raven stopped him.
"We should use mine. I have a stronger connection." Robin nodded and teleported to her room to retrieve the mirror. When he returned he handed it to Raven. "Starfire, If this works I think you should be able to go. I'll accompany you since I have more experience."
"What about us?" Robin asked.
"Sorry Robin, but it requires a lot of power to traverse through time, even if we're going through his mind. The fewer the people the less strain it will be on all of us." Robin nodded in understanding and waved them off.
"Are you certain this will work?"
"No, you'll just have to trust me."
"I trust you, Raven."
TT
"Uh… dude. Your cross thingy is glowing." Beast Boy said. Abel looked at his rosary, which was in fact glowing. A portal opened from the bead above the cross and dropped off two people: Raven and Starfire. The Titans gawked as the new arrivals stood and brushed themselves off. As they stood they were facing away from everyone else, didn't notice them.
"Did it work?" Starfire asked, with hope in her voice. Abel smirked.
"Yes," he said. The newcomers spun around and faced the other Titans. His Starfire ran to him and slapped him and without giving him enough time to say 'ow' she kissed him madly. When she pulled away, he gasped for breath. "Ow…" he gasped out. She smiled and finally noticed the Titans staring in shock at the strange event. Starfire smiled at them as if nothing out of line had happened.
"Hello friends!" the Starfire of this reality tilted her head.
"Hello, alternate me," she said. The other Starfire giggled and responded.
"It is good to see you!" Both girls laughed gleefully as the other Titans watched in amusement and confusion. Tearing himself from the scene, Abel addressed his Raven.
"Where are the others?"
"They are back in our reality. I figured it best to make sure I got the right reality first. Your little 'slap-and-kiss' thing with Starfire sort of proved me right. What was that about anyway?"
"Damned if I know. Anyway, are you planning on getting the others?"
"I'll be back." With that she re-entered Abel's mind and returned moments later with Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Robin in her wake.
"I thought you said that was too dangerous?" Robin said as he stood and brushed himself off.
"I changed my mind," Raven replied with a smirk, "Besides, I don't think this Robin here would be as willing and eager to satisfy my needs, don't you agree Wonder Boy?" her Robin smirked.
"You're so naughty… not that that's a bad thing"
"I blame you. Not that that's a bad thing."
"Save the pillow talk for later, love-birds; besides I think you're making yourselves uncomfortable." Abel said indicating the less flirtatious versions. Both pairs blushed, the non-lover versions blushing deeper. The Starifires were to busy with their bizarre conversation to notice that one of their boyfriends had made a crack about the other's would-be boyfriend. Beast Boy was talking to himself about Terra.
"She's… dead?"
"Well, kinda-sorta. She's been turned to stone. Raven's been working on a way to revive her. I don't know how much progress she's made." Cyborg was currently showing himself schematics for upgrades to the T-car.
"Check this out, I'm adding tilting tires for some hover action."
"I already did that, they kick major ass!"
"Boo-yah!"
"Okay, people. Seriously, we need to get my kid. The fate of all mankind and stuff pretty much rests on him." With that the Titans gathered to plan out their search and rescue.