Teen Titans Fan Fiction

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, its Production Company, affiliates, and sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similiarities between the characters and any living person are purely coincidental.

A/N: I've gone over and re-read everything and more details seem needed, as well as necessary at this point. From this point on, I will add further details until someone tells me enough's enough. After all, we're all doing this because we enjoy it, eh? - Imagonna (12/22/06)

Legend -

Normal Font: Basic read and insight.

Bold: Change of location or time.

Italics: Individual thoughts and recollections.

SACRIFICE

As the deadline draws closer to the Parade, what fate awaits Robin? How does he fit into Slade's plans? Beast Boy seems to know the identify of their anonymous informer, can the others put the pieces together?

Chapter 12 - The Challenge

Beast Boy had changed himself into a green raven as he soared the skies back towards Jump City. I know it was her. It had to be. It was a short trip over to his destination point, Murakami High School. It was on the other side of town, but as he was flying, it made the trip that much faster. He dove down to catch a draft of the breeze, the warm air always soothed his body. He continued to dive further down and pulled up right as he got to the water. The sun was shining, for how long? That was up to himself and the rest of the Titans. He could see his own reflection in the water on this day. Crowing once, he flapped his wings several times to gain altitude and soared over the highest buildings in Jump City. Several people in the buildings took notice at him. It wasn't very common to see a green, flying bird. He experienced this even more when he traveled in a pack or herd of animals. Any animal he changed into, he was always distinguishable by the color of his skin, he was green after all.

Beast Boy had time to reflect as he flew up into the sky, flapping his wings several times more, he was now up in the clouds. It gave him a feeling of tranquility and nostalgia. Beast Boy remembered the first time he had run into the blonde haired, blue-eyed beauty. She was running from a giant scorpion just outside where the Teen Titans could see her easily from their main room. As they arrived, everyone realized that the scorpion wasn't trapping her, she was trapping it. She demonstrated this with her powers as she used them to crush it with a giant boulder.

The young maiden had used her powers to lift herself up to where the Titans were. She put her hands on her hips as she asked them, "What? Haven't you guys ever seen a Super hero before?" She was wearing a long sleeved white shirt with a see through black tank top over it. Blue denim shorts, brown gloves and tennis shoes completed her ensemble. She had the look of someone you'd find who lived in the mountains of a desert.

"I'm Robin we're the..." Robin extended his hand as he greeted her.

"Teen Titans, rock on, it's cool to meet you guys." Terra had made a fist, went up and down his hand, then punched it, signifying a special handshake. It seemed fitting. A fist in Janken or rock/paper/scissors signifyed rock. Terra could control the Earth, it all seemed to fit her individual style.

She formally introduced herself, "I'm Terra, and you're Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and ...!" she pointed to each individual Titan as she called out their name, she had apparantly knew who they were. Cyborg smiled, Raven shrugged, Starfire bowed gracefully as she pointed to them.

Beast Boy suddenly found himself at a loss for words and his tongue tied as Terra pointed to him. "Boy Beast! I mean ... uhh. ... Bath Food! ... No!! " Beast Boy had tried to tell her his name, and made himself to look like a fool. He was embarrased, changed into a turtle and hid himself in the shell. It spun quickly in circles in mid-air from Beast Boy retreating into it so fast.

Terra started laughing, her hands up in the air still from pointing as she declared, "Duuude! He's hilarious!!"

Terra had said the magic words. Beast Boy repeated what she had told him. Most people, especially girls, even moreso pretty girls, did not find him funny. "Hilarious? Me?" Beast Boy asked as he was surprised by her statement. He popped his head out of his turtle shell as he repeated it back to her.

Terra winked at him, signifying that yes, he was indeed funny. He felt as if he were in heaven at that exact moment.

The green raven slapped its wings several more times, he was almost there. A lot happened between Terra and the Teen Titans since that initial meeting. She ran away after thinking Beast Boy told Robin that she had trouble controlling her powers at the time. Robin hadn't been told by Beast Boy, he had figured it out on his own. She later returned, with her powers much more in control and ready to join the team. She wasn't an official member until after she had helped foil Slade's plans, he was attempting to bring down the entire island which held the Titans' home. Beast Boy was the first one to hear that Terra had betrayed them, she was working for Slade. After an intense battle, Terra had sacrificed herself to save the entire city. She appeared once more, though now as a common high school student. Beast Boy had tracked her down after an accidental encounter while the team was fighting off another villain. Terra declined the offer from Beast Boy to return to Titan's Tower.

"You go. You're the Teen Titan, that's who you are. That's not me. I'm not a hero, I'm just a girl with a Geometry test next period and I haven't studied for it."

Those words were the last he heard from Terra. Now she was trying to help them save the city once more, even if it was just her way. There was a small problem, though. Most of the Titans globally listened to Robin's leadership. They hadn't called in for extra help. They needed help in order to bring down the Joker and Slade. I have to try. Even if it's just this one time, I have to try. The raven had flown over a street sign, the school was just up the street. The green bird flew up by the doors and the bird became the man once more. Beast Boy landed in the court yard area, it was grassy area. He started running as soon as he touched down towards the large "Murakami" sign. He hoped the entire set of steps and skidded into the main hallway.

His eyes started scanning the area for her. He saw a blonde girl walking out of a nearby classroom, but her hair was too short. The bell rang loudly as the hallway filled quickly with the students walking to and from classes. Beast Boy wasn't very tall, and he was reminded as he could not see over very many heads as the students kept moving. Some were chattering over the lunch schedule, others were conversing over an attractive member of the opposite sex. Three girls walked past him complaining about the surprise quiz their teacher sprung on them. Beast Boy was weaving through the large amount of people. This hallway could be a bit bigger... He was almost run over by a group of football players, they were gearing themselves up for the big game. Beast Boy wondered if he'd even find her here, it was such a large school. From behind him, he heard a familiar laugh, followed by some conversation. He turned around and tried to find where it was coming from.

"I can't believe you did that well...Melissa's going to be so jealous!" One of the voices spoke, it was female, but Beast Boy didn't recognize it.

"No kidding, that was totally awesome the way you showed her up!" A second voice also spoke up, but he still didn't hear the voice.

"Aww, come on guys, it was no big deal..." The girl started laughing as she responded to the other two. Beast Boy knew that laugh any day of the week. Terra, she was here.

Terra and her two friends walked out the door heading the opposite way of where Beast Boy was. He started to chase after them when he was interrupted. Cyborg's voice came from his pocket. "Cyborg to Beast Boy... Cyborg to Beast Boy. Pick up man, it's urgent!" Beast Boy reached into his pocket, but he walked behind Terra and her friends as he saw Cyborg's picture come up on the Titan's communicator.

"Beast Boy to Cyborg, what's up?" He took his eyes off the communicator every few seconds to make sure he was still behind the girls and that he wasn't going to walk into anybody or anything.

"Bad news, and the worst kind, too" Cyborg's facial expression told it all. Something had happened. The pieces of the puzzle were probably starting to fall into place, and now they could see what they were up against. Beast Boy stopped.

"Beast Boy to Cyborg, go ahead..."

45 minutes earlier...back at Titans Tower...

Beast Boy had just flown out of their line of sight. Cyborg undid his right arm and poured out some of the loose water that still remained. Raven was using her powers to wring out the water. First she did it one way, then twisted it the other. Back and forth this went for several minutes. Starfire had chosen a more conservative approach. She laid down, allowing the sun's rays to hit her. Cyborg put back on his right arm and stood up. Raven, feeling her cloak was probably as dry as it needed to be, put her cloak on and turned towards Starfire.

"Starfire, I think it's time we went back inside." Raven told Starfire, who's eyes were closed and enjoying the sunlight. She pushed herself up, raised both arms to stretch out and then followed the others into the Tower.

As they rode the elevator up to the main room and working area, Cyborg addressed both of them, "I'll start analyzing the data and seeing if we can't get a match from one of Joker's old scheme's. At this point, I'm willing to try anything." he finished speaking to see the girls, they both nodded in understanding.

The doors opened as they walked into the kitchen area. Raven quietly went over, poured some water into a kettle, and put it on a stove. She flipped a switch on the stove, and walked over to the refridgerator. Opening it, she pulled out an apple and bit into it. She walked over to the cabinet area, pulled out a tea bag, and waited by the stove for it to finish. I hope Cyborg's able to find something in those pictures. If not, we may have just signed our city's death certificate. The kettle started to whistle. Raven turned off the stove, opened the cabinet above her and pulled down a coffee mug. Pouring the hot water into it, she dipped the tea bag into it as she walked over and sat down on the couch.

Cyborg had wasted no time at all. As soon as the doors opened, he walked over to the computer terminal. Taking hold of the end of a cable, he plugged it into his own arm. Typing in several commands on the keyboard, he watched the screen as it opened a box saying "Downloading...", and then sat back and waited. Man, we lost a lot of time, if we don't figure out something quick, our whole city's gonna be in danger. I like this town, man, and I ain't gonna let anybody take it from me without a fight. Cyborg's train of thought was interrupted as a ding from the speakers signified he had uploaded successfully. Keying in some more codes, he ran a cross reference on the pictures. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for the computer to respond.

Starfire walked in after her fellow two Titans went off to do seperate things. Raven had gone into the kitchen and Cyborg over to the main terminal. This was beginning to become a growing habit she did not like. Slowly, fewer Titans were walking in and out of the doors together. She missed most of all Robin, as he always said something that gave each Titan some meaning. That voice wasn't here, though, and her heart began to ache. After several minutes, Raven walked out of the kitchen and she proceeded to the refridgerator. She opened it and pulled out a Tamaranian dish that looked like a cross between green jello and bacon. She tried to eat some, but was not feeling very hungry. After a few bites, she dropped the utensil into the sin, put the dish back into the fridge, walked over and sat at the couch with Raven.

Silence filled the tower as the three thought to themselves. Nobody said a word about the submarine or questioned Starfire's hunch about going. They didn't exactly have any other leads, so in the end, Starfire may have just saved the city, not condemned it. All 3 of them were missing Robin's presence at that moment. The computer Cyborg was working on finished cross referencing old newpaper clippings and found 3 matches. Cyborg sat up and transfered the video screen over to the main monitor.

Cyborg stood up. "Got it. Results are coming up on the main screen now." He walked over in front of the screen as it loaded. Raven sipped her tea one more time, put it onto the table and joined him. Starfire also walked over to see the results.

The first involved the Joker dousing the entire city with Joker gas from atop an airplane. He had used an old farming airplane that dispensed water and pesticides on crops to dispense the gas. That one's out. From what we've gathered so far, plus the info. on that strange rock, he's planning to do it all at once. Raven also shook her head after reading through the first one. Starfire read it, but did not fully understand. After gazing upon Cyborg and Raven's body language she was able to determine that it was not the same type of scenario that would be used to harm the citizens of Jump City.

"Well, that one's a dud." Cyborg said as he was getting ready to switch over to the next one.

"I think I can save you the trouble, Cyborg." a familiar evil voice echoed through the tower's speaker system.

Slade had suddenly appeared on the screen. He was standing in what looked like an old storage facility. "My my, aren't we the busiest little Titan's today? I'll give you some credit, though, escaping from a death trap of THE Joker is no small feat. You all should feel proud of yourselves." Slade's eye squinted. If anything, he was smiling.

"Get to the point, we don't have all day to make small talk, Slade" Raven had answered him, her arms were now crossed as her eyes were scanning the screen's background, trying to find their location.

"Always the focused one, aren't we, Raven? Very well..." Slade put his hand up to his mouth, coughed once and spoke, "Joker's going to strike at the parade later on today. He's going to infect everyone attending the parade with Joker gas." Slade put both arms behind him now as he continued to explain, "Joker has hijacked a parade float that's armed with trigger mechanism. When that specific float reaches the middle of it's route, a remote signal will be sent to a receiver. At that moment, all city blocks that have people on it from the parade route will be infected through the city's mist system."

The misting system was designed for warmer days such as this one. It was used to spray cool water onto everyone at regularly scheduled intervals. All the Titans present were also astounded that Slade would give up such critical and crucial information. He was giving up information too easilly, unless...

"You're lying!!!" Starfire had stomped her foot into the ground. Even she had been able to figure out that much. They were having enough trouble as it was figuring out the Joker's plans, why would Slade give up that information so easily if he weren't lying?

"Oh no, silly girl, on the contrary, I can even tell you which float it's going to be on." Slade bent down so that his figure leaned towards Starfire on the screen at the tower. "What's a better way to hide amongst other people than in an area where no one would think twice? Only recently, the city opened up Joker's pub. It's all the 'rage' now these days from what I've been told." Several pictures popped up onto the screen back at Titan's Tower. One showed the Joker's Pub float, and he was right, if Joker was going to attack the parade, it'd be on that float. Every male on that float was supposed to be dressed like Joker himself. Another picture popped up showing the transmitter as well as the locations for every part of the plan. It was all mapped out, and it was all there for them. The biggest question now remained was...

"Why?" Cyborg had asked the question. It doesn't make sense for you to tell us this much. We were barely clinging on, and here you give us the ammunition needed to stop it all... why was he doing it? "It doesn't make sense for you to tell us this unless..."

"Unless you're double crossing Joker now." Raven interrupted Cyborg. Slade's eye was harder to see, he was wondering something now.

"How did you know I was working with him?" Slade had asked them. He was curious as to how they all knew that he was dealing with the Joker.

"Robin figured it out almost from the start!! Your plans will fail!! We will stop you and you will let Robin go!!" Starfire had stomped her foot so hard, it broke a hole in the floor as she started shouting at the man in the screen.

Slade had regained his composure. I should have expected nothing less of you. You really are quite brilliant, Robin. Still, it changes nothing. For a second, they thought Slade almost laughed. He then spoke again, "Well I will admit to my dealings with the Joker, we have sort of a working alliance. You're wrong about me double crossing him though, I told all of you this because there's nothing you can do. Remember, Titans, this isn't just his scheme, it's MINE as well."

Slade finally took a side step. Behind him, things went from bad to worse. Behind Slade, Robin stood tied up to a large metallic cylinder. "I believe you all remember the last time I used one of these..." It was a cronaton detonator, a lethal device that had the power to stop time itself, causing a collapse that could destroy the entire city as well as other surrounding areas. Tied to it, was Robin, he was struggling. Both arms and legs were tied to it, to make it look like he was hugging it with all 4 limbs.

"Robin!!" Starfire's anger suddenly turned to concern. Robin was alive and seemed to be in good health, considering he had been Slade's prisioner for the better part of over a week now.

"I wanted to make sure the Joker's plans fall through to their fullest. You can consider this, an insurance policy." Slade was gloating over his brilliance at this point.

"Tell us what you want, villain!!" Starfire's eyes and hands began to glow green. Her warrior's spirit began to return to her.

"Gladly. There's only ... 4 more hours until the parade finally starts. It will be a mere 4 and a half hours before your city crumbles. Let me see... 1.. 2... 3..." Slade stopped at the realization that only 3 Titans were there. Even if Beast Boy did not come, it made no difference. Let them try and organize to stop Joker. Beast Boy couldn't tie his own shoes, much less stop Joker now.

"We're going to have a little tournament." Slade bent to the screen again as he spoke. The 3 of you will fight Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overkill in three one on one fights. Let me see, Cyborg vs. Plasmus, Raven vs. Cinderblock, and Starfire vs. Overkill. Win, and you can have not only Robin, but the detonator as well. I designed it so that it can be detonated remotely, but it can be disarmed much easier than that last foiled attempt, Cyborg."

Raven knew where this was going. Three one on one fights were going to take time, time they all didn't have. Not to mention the pairings, all 3 of them were at a mismatch in terms of skills and abilities. Cyborg's sonic cannon wouldn't help much against Plasmus, her own abilities didn't have much effect on Cinderblock's body and Starfire was still shaky without Robin around. You played your hand well, Slade. We have no other choice but to accept, if we don't, we run the risk of losing everything.

Cyborg was trying to put everything together into context. When he did, he worried about the people at the parade. Did they stop Joker first? No, they couldn't. They couldn't take the chance that Slade would just set a timer on the detonator and set it off once he was safely out of its range. They couldn't take the chance that it was another fake like the last time. Damn you. Cyborg looked at Raven, she nodded saying that they both understood.

Robin had coughed several times on the screen. Starfire's eyes powered down and concern leaked back into them.. She flew up into the air so that she was level with him. "Robin?" she called out to him.

Slade really did laugh for a brief second that time. "Silly girl, he can't hear you. One hour. You three to the pier. I could care less what you've done with Beast Boy." And with that said, his image vanished from the screen.

Raven looked at Cyborg, it was a huge risk what they were about to ask Beast Boy to do.

Cyborg punched the ground where he stood, "Damn it!!! You know, this is just like him!!" Starfire hovered down and patted Cyborg's back.

"We have no other choice, 2 villains are threatening the city at the exact same time. We have to trust that Beast Boy can handle this. Who knows? Maybe that mystery informant will help him." Raven shrugged as she spoke, then put her hood back on.

Cyborg nodded, B.B. don't let me down. Cyborg spoke into his arm..."Cyborg to Beast Boy ... Cyborg to Beast Boy. Pick up man, it's urgent!!"

A few seconds passed, "Beast Boy here, what's up?" Beast Boy's image popped up on the screen.

"Bad news and the worst kind, too" Cyborg explained to Beast boy.

Silence passed for a moment. "Beast Boy to Cyborg, go ahead..."

As the Titans prepare to enter a battle of epic proportions, Beast Boy tries to convince an old friend to help. Raven, Cyborg and Starfire are forced into battle against Slade's minions in order to save Robin and the city from one threat. Can Beast Boy save the city from the other?

Next time: Chapter 13 - Opening Round

Cyborg goes into battle against Plasmus. Beast Boy confronts Terra and asks for her help. You won't wanna miss it.