Abel squinted against the wind as he rocketed through the air. He looked down and was amazed to see how fast everything was disappearing behind him. He tried to remember what had happened back at the Tower, but drew a blank. He vaguely remembered Starfire in front of him but that was it.

'If you get yourself killed I swear I'll drag you back to the mortal plane and kill you again, you hear me?' came Raven's voice.

'Deal,' he replied and shut her out of his mind. He didn't want to drag any of them into this. He knew he would need their help, but he felt so strong all of a sudden. He had gotten a lock on his brother's location and intended to use some of that sudden power on him. He put on an extra burst of speed and tore through a cloud, dissipating in completely. The wind against his face started to sting so he put up a small force field to reduce the wind against his face, which also made him speed up dramatically. If it came down to it, he would call them, but he would much rather do it by himself. His brother's aura led him to a cave on the outskirts of town; Abel entered the cave and landed, lighting his hand to provide light. He followed the trail, but stopped when he heard the remark.

'What's a cutie like him doing down in a smelly old cave like this?'

He turned in the direction of the voice and did a double take. In front of him was a statue of a girl wearing armor of some sort. Abel immediately recognized her as Terra. He looked down at her feet and saw a plaque and dying flowers. The plaque read: 'Terra; A Teen Titan; A True Friend'. Abel scratched at her shoulder with his nail and rubbed some of it between his fingers.

'She's not solid rock!' he thought as he pressed his hand against her chest.

'Watch those hands! You're not that cute!' she protested. Abel shifted his hand to her shoulder.

'Sorry about that'

'You better be! Wait… you can hear me?'

'You're not solid rock, I'm telepathic, you still have a conscious mind, so I can hear you, yes. I'm sure you've met my sister.'

'I… wait… You look… what's the word? Tamaranian! You're Starfire's brother?'

'I'd be breaking a few laws if I was. No, Starfire's my girlfriend. I'm Raven's brother.'

'Ah, Raven…' she replied.

'Problem?'

'No, no… it's just… when I was with them…'

'You mean when you were working for Slade?' Abel corrected.

'Yeah… she was the last one to trust me… she is a smart girl… how is she?'

'Different Raven.'

'Huh? But you said…'

'I know what I said. It's still true, but… I'll explain later. How about I get you out of there?'

'Dude, that would totally rock! Uh, no pun intended.' Abel nodded as he closed his eyes and focused his energy on separating the rocky surface from the less rocky surface underneath. The diamond hard stone encasing the girl cracked and a bright yellow light pierced through. Abel stepped back and let her finish the job; the rock erupted from her body and she let out a relaxed sigh. Placing her hands on the lower part of her back she leaned back and a series of pops were released; she leaned forward with another sigh and did the same with her neck and knuckles. Finishing with her stretching, she turned to her savior.

"So how can I repay you?" Abel smirked and she immediately withdrew. "Hey, like I said: You're not that cute!"

"Eh? Oh! Oh…. No I wouldn't do that."

"Oh…" she replied, "So… what then?"

"Help me find my son."

"Right on! Wait… you have a son? What, are you, like sixteen?"

"No. I'm fourteen actually, and the kid's from the future. I'll explain later. Now, follow me. I'm tracking my brother."

"Okay…" Terra followed Abel farther down Slade's former 'rent-a-lair' for twenty about minutes. She found it hard to keep up with him as he was practically flying. 'You'd think the guy would let up on a girl that's been trapped in a rock for God knows how long!'

'Sorry,' he replied as he slowed to a drifting hover. Terra ran into him because she was running and had not been expecting him to actually stop.

"Can't you keep out of people's minds?" she asked as she brushed herself off.

"Usually, but before I came here, I got a burst of energy and I'm suddenly stronger. I think my brother may have gotten it too…"

"How old is your brother?" Terra asked as they continued at a fast paced walk.

"We're twins." Abel replied before taking off at a run, indicating the conversation was to be put on hold.

'This guy's kinda annoying…' Terra thought as she ran after him.

'That's not very nice,' Abel replied without turning.

"Stop doing that!" she almost shouted back.

"Stop thinking so loud," he replied calmly. Terra groaned and pressed on without another word and what she hoped were quieter thoughts.

TT

"He has been gone for hours! Have you picked him up yet?" Starfire asked as the trio tried to trace the runaway.

"Sorry, Star. He's not letting us in. I didn't know he could block us…" Robin said, unfolding his legs. He started pacing with his counterpart, neither of them noticing.

"He shouldn't be able to. You said there was some kind of lightning?" she asked addressing the Beast Boy that was from this reality, whom they had designated 'Beast Boy One'.

"More like one of those cool light thingies that go to your palm when you touch it." He replied.

"Those are so cool!" Beast Boy Two said. Raven's jaw, as well as her counterpart's jaw, dropped.

"He absorbed our energy!" they said in unison. Everyone looked at them for clarification. "The strands of light were like leeches that absorb the demonic entity of anything it touches. For a half demon, that's quite feat; only temporary and non-lethal. For a pure demon, it's permanent and fatal to the one whose entity is absorbed." They said, starting and finishing at the same time.

"Anyway… that still doesn't explain why he's blocking us…" Robin said, finally taking notice of his counterpart pacing next to him in the same manner.

"Wait!" Raven said as she closed her eyes, "I'm picking him up!" 'Abel!'

'What?' he replied.

'What the hell were you thinking?'

'I don't know, but right now I'm thinking you should make some room, I'm coming in and I might be bringing some company!' with that, a tear was made in the fabric of space and Abel fell through, blasting away with one hand while he held Noah in his other. A familiar voice called his name from the other side and he leaned back through the rift and pulled the other person through.

"Terra!"

TT

Terra screeched to a halt to avoid crashing into Abel again.

"Now what?" she asked impatiently. Abel held his hand up to silence her as he closed his eyes.

"Carthatagon was here…"

"Carthatagon?"

"My brother"

"Ah, and what's your name?"

"Abel. Hush," he said with a dismissive wave as he continued to track his brother. Terra wasn't going to let him get away with that and started to scold him.

"Hey, you don't have to be so bossy! I've been stuck in a rock, the least you could do is be a little nice!" Abel rounded on her, eyes crimson; another pair where eyebrows were. Terra shrunk back in terror and he immediately calmed down.

"Look, I'm sorry, but being nice to people is the last thing on my mind right now. I just want to get my son and get the hell out of here." Terra stood with a newfound respect for the boy and nodded.

"I want to help… I'm sorry I was so bitchy…"

"It's fine. You've been stuck in a rock for God knows how long." He said turning around again. He stepped up to the wall and examined it closely; noticing something he placed his hand on the surface and a mark in the wall ignited. Abel narrowed his eyes at the symbol.

"Scath," he said, his voice deep and venomous. Terra glanced at him but said nothing. Without a word he stepped forward and drew his finger along the wall. Terra watched as the wall tore open and revealed a throne room of some sort. When she leaned forward for a better look she almost fainted. Inside the room were two Slades, at least three Abels, a big wicked looking red guy with antlers and four red eyes, and a baby. The occupants of the room noticed the opening and smiled equally sadistic smiles. Abel clenched his fists and flew into the room. The first thing he did was to attempt to grab the child, but failed and was sent into the far wall by one of his counterparts. Terra got over the shock of the strange gathering and stepped through to help. She raised her hands and chunks of the rocky floor came with them. She molded them into javelin like projectiles and hurled them at the occupants of the room, taking care to avoid the baby. Each of the spires was deflected and embedded into the wall harmlessly. One of the Slades moved to engage her and blasted a wave of fire at her. Terra screamed and summoned a large rock barrier to protect herself. The two of them continued to take turns hurling projectiles and defending while Abel recovered and tried to get his son again.

One of the Slades was fighting Terra, so that left Abel with the other Slade, two Carthatagons, another version of himself and his father. Slade stepped forward and cracked his knuckles.

"I've got a score to settle with you, boy." Abel clenched his fists in frustration. He could have done away with Slade with a wave of his hand but decided against it. The fight would give him time to assess how to get past the others. "Only one of us is going to survive this encounter," Slade said.

"I plan to," Abel replied and dashed forward, leading with a kick. Slade blocked it and ducked underneath Abel, rising with a punch to his ribs. Abel's body bent sideways and he rose a few feet in the air but caught himself from falling. From above Abel launched a volley of star bolts at Slade, who dodged them all, but not without getting grazed. Slade leapt to Abel, fist drawn back for a punch. Abel was ready and thrust his hands forward, blasting Slade with a beam of energy. Slade fell to the ground and landed with a gruesome snap. Abel looked down at the limp form that was Slade with a pang of regret, but it was overcome with satisfaction. Abel's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed his counterpart step forward

"You must be Abel," he said conversationally. "My name is Rycan."

"Pleasure," Abel replied in the same tone. They ran at each other at the same time and met in the center of the room, fingers interlaced. Abel glanced at his counterpart's forehead to see that he had no chakra. Everything noticeable was exactly the same, except for the missing chakra. "You're the younger one?" Rycan snarled and kicked out at Abel, but Abel saw it at the last second and stepped to the left. He stepped behind Rycan, twisting so they were back to back. Abel's twisting had brought both of their hands above their heads, straining their fingers. Abel leapt into the air, taking Rycan with him. When he reached at least fifty feet, he flipped back in front of Rycan and kicked him in the head, followed by a knee to the groin. The cheap shot bent Rycan at the waist, so it was easy for Abel to throw his left leg over and knee him in face again. The move left Rycan's hands between Abel's legs, crossed at the wrist. Before giving him time to recover, Abel brought his right leg over, so he was facing him again, shattering Rycan's forearms. Ignoring his counterparts piercing screams of agony, Abel flipped back over his head, dislocating Rycan's shoulders. Abel flipped forward in the air and catapulted his shattered opponent into the nearby wall. Rycan fell to the ground, unconscious. The younger Carthatagon ran to him and attempted to heal him. Abel knew healing everything he had done would take a while and drain them both so he decided to proceed to the older version. Before doing so, he checked on Terra. She was holding her own quite well: she attacked the demonically enhanced Slade with a vengeance. She obviously had a grudge against him, so he stayed out of it.

Turning his attention to his brother, he was appalled to see him clapping.

"Bravo, brother. I didn't think you had it in you."

"And what would that be?"

"The willingness to take human life…" he said, waving his hand in the direction of Slade's crumpled body. Abel glanced at his handy work and shrugged.

"Casualty of war." Carthatagon smirked and waved his hand again.

"Tell him that." He said with a malicious smile. He pointed at Slade and Abel turned to see him rising. There were snaps and pops as Slade's broken bones reset themselves. Abel glared back at his brother.

"Coward!" he spat. Carthatagon smiled, unfazed.

"Apprehend him, Ark'tesh" Abel spun to face the resurrected Slade as a mark similar to the one on the cave wall burned into the front of his mask. Abel gave a frustrated growl and prepared a Dark Bolt, his increase in power allowing him to do it with one hand. He threw it at Ark'tesh. The projectile hurtled toward him, but was caught in a field of fire. Ark'tesh cradled it in his chest before launching back. Abel copied the move successfully, but was knocked back by the velocity of the projectile. Copying a move he saw on cartoon Beast Boy had been watching, he held his hands at his sides and supercharged the dark bolt with more telekinetic energy. When the compact ball had reached the magnitude of a mini-nuke, he launched at he adversary. Ark'tesh cart wheeled to the left and the ball detonated where his feet were. When the smoke cleared, Abel groaned to see he had survived by forming a shield with his pyrokinesis.

"Why won't you die?" he shouted as he teleported forward and punch him in the face. His neck snapped as his limp body spun in the air from the force of the blow. Abel turned back to Carthatagon. "Your turn"

"Not yet, dear brother." He said with a lazy wave to where Ark'tesh's body lay. Abel spun around just in time to be kneed in the jaw. The momentum carried him upward where he was then grabbed by Ark'tesh and hurled into a pillar near the throne. Abel rolled onto his back and saw Carthatagon and Trigon watching like him getting his ass kicked was a spectator's sport. Before Abel could right himself, Ark'tesh landed on his chest and pinned his hands above his head. He lowered his head so their faces were inches apart and Abel could feel smell the decomposing flesh under his mask.

"Draw," he whispered. He moved his hand to Abel's throat and closed his hand. Abel grabbed his wrist in a feeble attempt to pry him off. Ark'tesh raised other hand, preparing for the knockout. Abel gurgled and felt his eyes burn; he shut them tightly and the sensation lessened in intensity. Abel opened his eyes, but only saw white; when the white light faded he looked up see Ark'tesh had been thrown off of his body and across the room. Without a second thought Abel righted himself and dashed toward his son in Carthatagon's arms. Abel swept his foot across the ground, tipping Carthatagon and grabbed his son before he hit the ground. With his free hand he hurled him toward the other Carthatagon and made break for the center of the room.

"Terra!" he shouted. She looked back at him and he waved for her to follow. She turned her attention back to Hiketesh and drew her hands into her chest. She dropped them down and shot them up again, a spire rising to meet Hiketesh as he pounced on her. The spire impaled him and he went limp. She turned and ran after Abel as he made another tear and jumped through. Twisting in midair, he launched a volley of bolts in the direction of his pursuing twin and his counterpart. About two feet from the rift Terra felt her feet pulled from underneath her.

"Abel!" she shouted as he saw him hand the child to Starfire. He reached back through and grabbed her, throwing another bolt as he did so. The bolt caught Carthatagon in the chest and broke his concentration. Abel grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her through and they fell to the floor; Terra landing on top of him.

"I'm taken…" he said after some hesitation. Terra scoffed and rolled off of him and looked around. She was surrounded by Raven, Raven, Robin, Robin, Cyborg, Cyborg, two Beast Boys that looked like they were torn between anger, joy, confusion, and jealousy; Starfire, and Starfire holding the baby.

"What the hell is going on?" Terra said, rubbing her eyes "has my vision gone bad?"

"Well, I said I'd explain later… I guess this is 'later' enough…" Abel said, checking his body for fractures, "I'm from an alternate reality… along with Raven, Robin, Beast Boy and Starfire," he said as the ones he was referring to raised their hands. Terra stood and looked around. She looked at the two Beast Boys and bit her lip. The others took this as a hint and cleared out of the room. When everyone was gone, Beast Boy ran to Terra and engulfed her in a hug.

"I missed you…" he said.

"I missed you, too…"

"I guess I owe Abel a butt-load… not even Raven could bust you out… she did try, you know…"

"I know, I saw everything. Now, shut up and kiss me." Beast Boy complied without hesitation. They were so absorbed in each other that they didn't notice the other Beast Boy and the two Cyborgs peek back in.

"Do you think we should stop them?" Cyborg whispered.

"Now you owe me twenty bucks!" Best Boy whispered to the other Cyborg.

"We didn't bet on it- argh!" he said as Abel pulled the three of them back through the door with his powers. He looked back in to see Terra and Beast Boy staring at him.

"Don't mind me. Continue." He said ushering them on with his hands. They looked at each other and shrugged.

"I think the moment's gone," Terra said.

"With the wind," Beast Boy agreed. "But, there will be plenty more, right?"

"Count on it."

TT

Carthatagon lifted himself from the floor and glared at the place where Abel had disappeared to. He turned to where Ark'tesh's smoking body lay.

"Get up!" he spat. Ark'tesh rose obediently and cracked his neck back into place. Carthatagon walked back to the throne and waited as his alternate self carried his crippled brother with his telepathy. Hiketesh pushed himself off of the spire and walked back to the throne as his wound healed seamlessly, leaving a gaping tear in his shirt. When they had gathered at the throne, Trigon reached out with his hand and closed his fist. Carthatagon and Ark'tesh convulsed in pain as the younger watched with mirth next to his crippled brother. Trigon opened his hand and the two fell to the ground in agony

"I want you to retrieve your younger self. You are only of any real use to me during that stage of your growth. If you fail me again, I will destroy you" Carthatagon rose and bowed to Trigon. He turned and mustered up as much strength as he could and tore a rift to his reality. Ark'tesh helped him through the portal, having been drained of all of his strength creating it. The portal led them to his room; on the bed in the center was the sleeping form of his younger self. Carthatagon scoffed at how weak he used to be: demanding a bed. Carthatagon bent over the sleeping boy and slapped him across the face. The slap woke the boy and he shot up, preparing himself to fight. Carthatagon raised his hand and the boy was surrounded in black and held in place. The younger version watched in shock as light scars formed on the right side of his assailant's cheek.

"I see… What do you want?" he asked forcing the binding aura from his body. The older Carthatagon smirked and slashed his hand through the air to his left.

"Before we depart there is something I must tell you."

"Oh?"

"Father has been lying to us. We mustn't destroy our brother."

"And why is that?" he scoffed.

"It will kill us."

"You lie"

"No. I want him dead as well. But it cannot be so. If he dies, we die." The younger Carthatagon clenched his fists.

"Very well… where are we going?" the older Carthatagon sliced through the air and created a rift.

"To Father"

TT

"So what were you guys doing on the roof?" Abel asked as he cradled Noah in his arms.

"Oh, we were just getting back from a space mission with a guy named Val-Yor. He seemed like a nice guy at first. Then we found out about his nickname for Starfire being an insult," Robin replied with disgust. Starfire looked down and Abel couldn't help but ask.

"What did he call you?"

"Troq…" she replied without looking up. Her counterpart gasped and Abel furrowed his eyebrows.

"Bastard," he said. Both Starfires looked at him in shock.

"You know what 'Troq' means?" his girlfriend asked.

"Yeah, when I was younger and my mother was still alive, she told me a little about our culture. Said there were people who prefer a kick in the teeth than be in the same room as a Tamaranian. Said the word they used to describe a Tamaranian was 'Troq'. She didn't use those exact words, but that's how I remember it."

"Hey do you know what 'Clorbag' means?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah she called me that one time" the other Beast Boy agreed.

"No I don't. But I know it's bad. My mother shouted that at a guy she was dating." Abel replied, a far-off look in his eye. "Anyway, we need to focus on us getting out of here." With that said the Titans that had to depart gathered around Abel and Noah. Abel removed his rosary and held it out.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos." Raven said and they were pulled into his mind. Abel was about to follow but was interrupted when they were all dropped back out. They all landed in a crumpled heap and stood, not realizing where they were until they saw Abel and the others staring at them confused.

"What the hell?"