My apologize for the month long wait. I was busy working on mid-terms for school and had little time for this. So to make up for it I created one of the longest chapters I've ever written. 19 pages, and 7,948 words of action and angst. Well I won't keep you guys any longer, and remember I encourage everyone to review. Merry Christmas to all my readers, this is my present to you!

Chapter 9

Two-Faced Assassin

Thin, tight, steel-like cuffs covered Terran's forearms in an unbreakable bond. He scratched at his wrist where the cuffs locked his arms together. Though the strange metallic material he was wearing kept the cuffs from coming into contact with his skin, he felt the weight they bore.

He looked up to the only window overlooking his cell. No one was there, they had all abandoned him. What was the use trying to convince them he was innocent? They had found all they needed to prove their point.

Terran hung his head in despair and covered his head with his conjoined wrists. He ran his fingers through his spike blond hair, trying to calm himself.

"Why'd you do it?"

Terran was almost startled by the voice, but he recognized to whom it belonged to. He brought his hands back down and lifted his head to see his sister looking down on him from the window.

"Why are you helping him?"

Terran sneered. "I see that trust of yours only extends so far." He stood up and stepped forward a few paces. His brow furrowed as he snapped: "A shame that it doesn't apply to your own twin brother."

"Just answer the question…please," she asked again.

"Why should I, I'm sure the others will figure out some excuse."

"Terran, we aren't doing this because we want to," she retorted. "We're doing it because you forced us to."

"FORCED YOU TO? YOU GUYS LOCKED ME UP JUST BECAUSE I HAD THIS OUTFIT," Terran snapped, his face beginning to turn red.

"AN OUTFIT THAT HAPPENED TO BE THE ONE YOU WERE WEARING WHEN YOU ATTACKED US," Terra snapped back, her face becoming equally red, frustrated by Terran's stubbornness.

Terran clenched his fist and looked as though he was about to burst into a fit of rage. He shuffled his feet around for a few moments, biting his lips so he wouldn't start yelling. He then looked back up at his sister and said: "Terra, you said you trusted me. You said you believed me!"

"I did," Terra replied angrily. "But then this happened and now I don't know!"

Terran lowered his head so Terra could barely see his eyes looking at her through his blond hair. "So you don't trust me anymore huh? Figures since you're so desperate to be accepted by them." From the look on his sister's face he could tell that he had struck home. "Doesn't matter anyways, I'm going to get out of here one way or another."

Terra's hurt expression turned to one of shock. "Terran do you have any idea what that would do to our trust."

Terran lowered his lip and spoke in an almost child-like voice. "But Terra, you guys don't trust me in the first place. So I might as well act like your delusional expectancy."

She matched her gaze with his and the two became locked in a bitter stare-down. For several minutes neither one of them moved nor spoke to one another, only continuing to try and make the other break. Finally Terran couldn't hold his gaze and turned away, grumbling under his breath bitterly. In a way she had won a small battle with him, hopefully one that would convince him to open up more. She placed her hand against the Plexiglas, as if reaching out to him. Terran saw the gesture but turned his back to her and moved towards the far side of the cell.

"Fine, I can see you don't want to talk," she said, removing her hand from the window, "than I don't either." She spun on her heel and headed for the door. She couldn't discern why she felt like she was betraying him; he was the one turning against them.

He's the one at fault, Terra told herself, not me, he's the one who should feel guilty.

She entered the hallway where Beast Boy was waiting for her. The changeling looked hopeful, but was disappointed when his girlfriend shook her head.

"It didn't go well," he said, stating the obvious.

"He's as stubborn as ever," Terra grumbled, "I don't see why he just won't confess; I mean we caught him didn't we."

"Yeah," he agreed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and the two headed back upstairs. "Your brother's pretty good about keeping secrets. He's also good at acting like someone he's not."

This news only added to Terra's depressed state. Her entire life with her brother had been one long rollercoaster. Always up and down, never the same or peaceful for long periods of time. Raven was right, she didn't know him. She could only wonder what happened to him during his allegiance to the 'Brotherhood of Evil', and what was happening now that caused Terran to side with Slade, the Teen Titans arch nemesis. She had always secretly hoped that there was a part of him that hadn't been touched; a part of him that still remained the same Terran she had known as a child. But slowly the chances of that being true seemed less and less likely.

Terra had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she barely noticed the trip back to the room she was staying in. She practically walked into the door, but was saved from such a fate when Beast Boy pulled her back.

"Terra, you okay?" he said.

Terra snapped back to reality and brushed a strand of her blond hair from her face. "Oh me, uh…yeah I'm fine," she said sheepishly.

"No you're not," he replied stubbornly. "You almost walked into a door. Do you want me to stay with you for awhile? We could just talk."

Terra shook her head and leaned against the door. "No I'm okay, I just want to be alone for awhile."

The door the geomancer was leaning on sensed the pressure she was applying to it, and suddenly slid open, causing her to fall flat on her back. Beast Boy quickly rushed to her and held out his hand. Terra, who was now flat on her back, was biting her lip and looking quite irritated.

"Uh, are you sure-" Beast Boy began.

"Yes," Terra quickly answered and picked herself off the floor without his help, "I'm fine." She brushed her off her shirt and shorts before quickly escaping into the room before Beast Boy could say anything more.

Beast Boy stood outside her door for a few seconds before turning to leave. He was somewhat hurt by Terra's sudden change of attitude and rudeness to him. He shook off the feeling, knowing that she was only acting this way because of how her day had gone from good to bad.

There was quick shuffle behind him and he turned just in time for Terra to plant on kiss on his cheek. Beast Boy was stunned for a moment but regained his composure shortly after. They both stood there for a moment in silence, with faces turning red for reasons unknown reasons, until Terra spoke up

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "Don't take what I said the wrong way, it's just been a hard day for me."

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, his face turning back to its normal shade of green. "I wasn't holding it against you."

Terra smiled and they both shared a quick embrace before heading back to their own rooms. The thoughts of what would become of Terran lingered in their heads.

13th Floor

Holding Cell

Several Hours Later…

Terran lied down on his back and tried to position his arms in such a way that they were comfortable with the handcuffs on. He rolled back and forth, trying to find a position that was comfortable. After several minutes he gave up.

He picked himself up and sat cross-legged. He had difficulty staying in the position because the elastic-armor he was wearing caused his legs to have zero-friction when rubbed together. He finally gave up and sat with his legs out to either side.

He tried widening the distance between his arms, but found the cuffs would not yield. He thrashed his arms around in frustration before slamming them down onto the floor, to his dismay there was no dent. It was official, his outfit, the handcuffs, and the cell were the perfection combination of torture to drive him crazy.

"I have got to get out," Terran growled, "or this place'll drive me insane."

"Sorry, you ain't getting out anytime soon."

Terran snapped to attention and turned to the window on the floor above him. Speedy, who was sitting in a chair with his legs propped up upon the table, was looking down to him.

"Where have you been," Terran demanded. "No one's seen you for hours."

Speedy smiled ominously. "Oh…me and Aqualad were just finishing up putting embarrassing spit-takes of the Titans on the internet."

"So that's what the cameras were for?"

"Yup. We got some pretty good ones, especially the one with Cyborg blowing the bottom off of his cup. I'd show you buuuttt…you're kind of locked up here," Speedy finished, popping a potato chip into his mouth. "By the way, thanks for the chips."

Locked up, Terran chuckled to himself. Not for long.

Titans Tower East

Rooftop…

Starfire floated over to Robin's side. A serious look was etched across his face and his arms were folded across his chest. He was staring out into the ocean deep in thought; he didn't even notice her approaching.

"Robin," she said softly, setting down a foot away from him, "it is the clock of twelve. You should be asleep."

"I know," he said, not even turning to look at her. "I just can't sleep. Everything that's happened so far won't get out of my head long enough for me to have some peace."

"You are still trying to figure out what Slade is up to?"

He nodded, letting out a long irritated breath. "I just can't stop. Every time something starts to make sense, another clue is thrown into the mix." Robin unfolded his arms and looked down to the sea. "It's almost like-"

Suddenly a large explosion rocked the Tower. A giant fireball was sent spiraling into the sky and a section of the Tower collapsed into the cliff-side. Robin staggered backwards, and yelled as he lost his footing and fell off the side of the Tower. Starfire quickly leapt over the side and intercepted him just as he was passed where the two parts of the T bisected. She scooped him up in her arms and shielded them both from the burning debris that rained down around them.

Just then a second explosion erupted, much smaller than the first one, but caused another section of the Tower to break off from the rest. It fell from the rest of the Tower as the steel girders melted under the immense heat, and it fell right for Starfire and Robin.

Starfire was now faced with two nearly impossible choices. She could either blast the chunk with her star bolts, which might intern cause a loose fragment to smash into the mid-section of the Tower, therefore causing more damage. Or she could try to fly around it, possible being caught by more falling debris.

Neither of those options suited her, so she decided on another one. She gripped Robin tightly and looked towards the Tower.

"Robin," she said, "duck the head."

Robin was about to question when he suddenly found himself yelling at the top of his lungs as Starfire rocketed them both into the Tower just in time to miss the falling section of the Tower. They smashed through the Plexiglas window and barrel rolled through three other walls until they finally came to a halt as they collided into the wall of the gym. Starfire fell away from Robin and landed on the floor unconscious. Robin rolled to his feet and quickly knelt by Starfire's side.

Robin pressed his fingers against her neck and was relieved when he felt a strong pulse. She was badly bruised from the impact but he was sure she'd fine. After all, Tamarneans were known for the durability. Now that he knew that she'd be fine, he's only priority was getting them both to the higher levels and figuring out what had just transpired.

13th Floor…

Cyborg found it nearly impossible to navigate through the smoke, even with his cybernetic eye. Thermal would do him no good, the entire floor was a burning inferno, so he'd have to use another setting. He quickly cycled through each setting until he found one that gave him better visibility.

Farther down the hall he saw three other figures and he quickly caught up with them. Bumblebee, Terra, and Beast Boy were ducking behind a fallen support beam. They turned at the sound of his approach, and beckoned him closer.

"What happened here," Cyborg shouted over the flames. The others had a hard time hearing him, so Cyborg had to repeat it in their ears one at a time.

"No idea," Bumblebee replied.

"Yeah," said Beast Boy right after Bumblebee had finished, "me and Terra were sleeping and the next thing we know BOOM!"

"Well, then let's go find out," Cyborg told the others.

He stepped out of his cover and deployed his sonic cannon. He began firing at the flames, but as soon as he stopped firing the flames returned. They would have to move fast if they weren't going to get caught in the flames.

Cyborg motioned for the others to follow, and he began laying down fire on the flames. They sprinted for several minutes, barely getting licked by the ever-growing flames. Cyborg was surprised that the sprinkler system hadn't kicked in, but he guessed that the Titans East hadn't reinstalled them yet. They charged through the sea of fire and were almost to the other end of the hall when the roof collapsed behind them, blocking their retreat.

When the roof collapsed, it brought the flames burning upstairs down to their floor, increasing the intensity of the inferno. Cyborg tried to quell the growing flames but was quickly losing the advantage.

"This is it," Beast Boy cried as he and Terra held onto one another. "We're not gonna"!

"We will make it," Cyborg protested. "We haven't bashed our way through hordes of bad guys just to put down by campfire."

Beast Boy ducked his head as the fires lashed out at him and braced for the coming fire. But instead of feeling his skin melt away, he felt rather cool. Beast Boy opened his eyes to see that the world had had its colors inverted. Everything was black and outlined in white. The changeling quickly recognized this as a shield cast by the sorceress member of the team. And sure enough, Raven was hovering in the center of the group keeping the fires at bay.

"What took you so long," Beast Boy shouted irritably.

Raven looked back at him menacingly. "If I took so long than I guess I can let you endure the flames for just a little longer."

Beast Boy glanced from side-to-side and rubbed the back of his neck. "No thanks I'm good."

"Good, then I suggest we make our way to the holding cell, that's where the explosion originated."

Beast Boy got up off the floor but soon received a jab in the side from his girlfriend. He looked to Terra with shock. "What was that for?"

"Be nice to her Gar, even if she is creepy and bad-tempered."

"Thanks," Raven said, glad for Terra's support for once. Raven then faced forward and whispered to herself: "I think…"

The Titans stayed within the boundaries of the shield as they progressed, pausing only when Raven had to change the shape of the shield to fit through piles of debris, until they finally reached the holding cell. The doorframe had become askew and Cyborg was forced to bring the door down with a quick blast from his cannon.

The room was covered with burn marks and fallen debris from the blast. The way everything was pointed away from the cell indicated that Raven was right; the blast had originated from this room. And Speedy, who was tasked with keeping an eye on Terran, was no where to be found.

"Speedy," Bumblebee cried as she darted over to a pile of fallen rafters that now covered what had once been the observatory.

The other Titans hurried to help her, but Terra did not. Instead she headed over to the observation window. There was only one thing that interested her right now, and it wasn't Speedy's safety.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was busy using his gorilla form to haul off debris that the others couldn't lift, when he noticed Terra wasn't participating. He switched back to his human form so he could speak. "Hello Terra, we could use your help over her." Terra didn't respond. Beast Boy navigated towards her, being careful not to get to close to the several fires, and grabbed her shoulder. "Terra, what's up…?"

Beast Boy stopped mid-sentence when he saw her face. It was pale and was both horrified and furious. He was about to ask why she was this way, when he heard something stirring below. Beast Boy scanned the wreck cell below and saw a single silhouette casting warping shadows across the floor. It thrust one of its arms to the side, casting away a battered hulk of metal that had once been handcuffs. The silhouette turned to them to reveal itself as Terran, illuminated in a grisly orange glow.

A cruel smile etched itself onto his face, which became far more frightening by the fires. He then opened his mouth, and cruel laughter emanated from him. The other Titans stood up and were soon looking out the window like Terra and Beast Boy before them.

"Terran, are you responsible for this," Bumblebee demanded.

Terran only laughed louder. Dust was beginning to displace around him and the air wavered around him. Terran crouched down, moving his left arm to cover his face, and then leap into the air. A great gust of wind as well as smoldering ash washed over the Titans as Terran disappeared into the night sky

Bumblebee unsheathed her two B shaped sonic disruptors and clenched them tightly. "You can mooch off of us," she growled, anger unseen before rising within her. "You can deceive. You can blow up our Tower, but when you try to kill one of my teammates, one of my friends…ITS GO TIME!"

Bumblebee kicked off and shot into the sky, small contrails tracing her path. She swung around and raced after Terran. Cyborg, Raven, Terra, and Beast Boy were unsure of what to do next. They had never seen Bumblebee express that amount of anger before, and quite frankly it scared them a little.

"Uh," Beast Boy began, "do you think she'll be okay on her on. Cause quite frankly I wouldn't want to cross path right now."

"No, we've got to help her," Cyborg replied. He turned to face his teammates and gave them each their own separate orders. Terra and Raven were to help Bumblebee take down Terran, while he and Beast Boy searched for the other Titans and would meet up with them in the city thereafter.

They all agreed on the plan and broke into their separate groups. Raven and Terra took off into the sky and stopped several meters above the cliff face. They scanned the city, looking for any signs of where Terran had fled.

"Raven?"

Raven stopped her searched, and looked to Terra. "What?"

"Are you going to be okay," Terra said, rubbing her shoulder. "Ya know, fighting him and all."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, he did…break your heart and all, even if you don't want to admit it. I guess I'm asking that you won't go overboard."

Raven cocked an eyebrow, but did do so in a mocking way. She understood why Terra was asking this of her. But Raven wasn't the only one who needed supervision. After all, Terran was her brother. She was the one he had hurt the most.

"Alright, I won't," Raven replied steadily. "But you have to promise you won't either."

Terra smiled. "Deal."

Steel City…

Bumblebee spiraled widely out of control as Terran planted a firm kick into her side. She smashed straight into a concrete wall and fell to the floor in a daze. Terran, instead of attacking while she was down, veered off into the sky and took down another street.

Bumblebee, recovering from her daze, took off after him but soon lost him in the maze of streets. She swerved right and left, ducking down alley ways and moving away from streetlights. They were both on equal footing. Both lost within the city, looking for one another. It was a deadly game of cat and mouse, and Terran had the advantage. Bumblebee now wished she wasn't restricted to non-lethal weapons.

A faint whir echoed up the street and Bumblebee quickly turned to it, charging her weapons. She was confronted with an unusually empty street. Great, now he was trying to spook her. Bumblebee withdrew her weapons and turned back around, only to be met by the barrel of an energy pistol.

"Gotcha," Terran scoffed. His index finger curled around the trigger, and squeezed.

The blast barely scathed Bumblebee's hair as she ducked out of the way. Terran didn't take the time to pull off another shot; Bumblebee was to close to pull it off without her knocking off his aim. He instead fired the thrusters on the soles of his shoes and attempt to put some distance between them. The geomancer aimed down the sights of his crest-shaped pistol, trying to get a sight on the bee-imposture female but she had already closed the distance.

Bumblebee tried to strike him with a roundhouse kick, but Terran cut off power to his thrusters and dropped below her. He then quickly returned power back to his thrusters and head butted Bumblebee right in the abdomen. They both skyrocketed into the cloud layer before Bumblebee finally fell away. Droplets of condensation began to dot Bumblebee's brow while she struggled to get her lungs to take oxygen in.

Terran sped off and disappeared into a nearby blackened nimbus cloud, displacing a small sections of the cloud as he criss-crossed within it. Bumblebee fired her sonic disruptors at the cloud formation, causing it to glow a brilliant gold as the lightening-like bolts coursed through the condensed rain. The charges continued to use the condensed rain as a lightning rod, causing the cloud to begin to grow darker.

Suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the sky as it extended from the nimbus and arced back into itself. More lightning crackled and the resulting thunder was almost too much to bear this close.

The Titans East Leader put some distance between her and the electrified nimbus. She smiled to herself, satisfied with her handiwork. "Well, I guess I'll wait for that to wear off before I go looking for him," Bumblebee told herself.

The sound of a nearby aircraft echoed behind the bee-themed Titan. She turned to it just in time to see Terran erupting from bulbous cloud formation behind her, fist first.

"No need to," he cackled, his fist connecting with her face. "I'll just come to you!"

A trail of blood fell from a cut on Bumblebee's lip and began its decent to the city far below. Contrails traced the path of the geomancer and he weaved in and out of clouds to evade Bumblebee's line-of-sight. The Titans East Leader charged her sonic disruptors and began firing at any mutations in the clouds formation. There were several times when she almost hit Terran, but he quickly made course corrections, barely dodging each blast but putting an incredible amount of Gs on himself.

How can he handle that, Bumblebee thought, seeing Terran make a ninety-degree turn.

She fired again, hoping to intercept him. The bolt arched across the night sky, gaining speed as it went. There was no way Terran could dodge this one, he hadn't even spotted it yet.

Suddenly the thrusters on the soles of Terran's boots intensified until they completely blotted out the sight of his feet. His velocity increased until and ring of wind formed in front of his head. The ring slowly thinned as Terran passed through, moving up inch-by-inch until it cleared his feet. He had just passed the sound barrier. The bolt lashed out at him but was only caught in the wind corridor he left behind.

The geomancer arched upwards at speeds that should have been deadly to him, but he continued with the grace of an eagle. Bumblebee was stunned for a moment in disbelief at his flying, but then continued to fire, hoping to hit him. Terran led her around the night sky, drawing her fire every which way. Bumblebee struggled to keep her sights on him, when her patience finally paid off, in a rather unusual way.

Terran, after just flying around the night sky at supersonic speeds, came to a halt just a few feet away from her three-o-clock. Bumblebee brought her weapons to bear, only to find he had already out-drawn her. With lightning fast reflexes Bumblebee fired her sonic disruptors, catching him off guard.

For a moment Terran hovered in the air, stunned. He was the one who had her at the disadvantage, yet he smiled first. But then his true demeanor came to bear. A wicked smile stretched across his face as his thrusters fired, propelling him into the air. He shot upwards so fast that he cleared her firing line just before the bolt hit him, and allowing it to propel itself into the nimbus cloud that she had electrified early.

As soon as the blast entered the cloud's electromagnetic field, it created and electromagnetic connection. A bolt of lightning fused with the blast and traced it all the way back to its source, Bumblebee's sonic disruptors. The connection was almost instant and electrified Bumblebee. She glowed a brilliant gold against the night sky, making herself into a human light bulb. The shock caused her nerves to lock up, keeping her from releasing her grip on her weapons. Her wings stopped beating, and so her ability to stay up in the air stopped as well. Her decent increased as gravity worked harder to bring her back down to the ground, but the electromagnetic connection remained as strong as ever. She would die on impact.

Terran scoffed at her helplessness, but didn't want to end the fun just yet. He brought his crescent moon shaped energy pistol to bear, and fired. The beam cut through the cold air, and knocked the sonic disruptors out of Bumblebee's hands. Though the connection was broken, Bumblebee did nothing to stop her decent, so Terran would do it for her. He fired the thrusters on the soles of his boots and quickly rocketed after Bumblebee, turning sharply so he would bisect her path of decent at a horizontal angle.

Once his speed was sufficient, he cut power from his thrusters, allowing his momentum to carry him the rest of the way. He brought his left foot forward and it slammed into her face as the collided. Because Terran had far greater velocity, they moved in the direction he was coming in from, and would be heading straight in a forty story office building.

They both crashed through an office window, shattering it as they did and causing glass to shower anyone unlucky enough to be within a ten foot radius. They passed through several cubicles before Terran slammed his foot down, smashing Bumblebee into the carpeted floor with tremendous force. The geomancer continued to fly towards the opposite side of the office until he grasped the floor with his hand and dug his fingers in to slow his speed.

His fingers created long impression in the floor as he skidded to a stop a few feet from the window opposite from the one he had come crashing through. Terran removed his fingers from the floor, flexing them as he did. His knuckles popped as they snapped back into their sockets.

After he was satisfied that his hand was still in fighting condition, he turned his attention back to his opponent. She lay motionless in a small crater that had formed from his blow. Though she wasn't moving, he could see her breathing ever-so slightly. He would put an end to that soon enough.

Terran upholstered his energy pistol, examining it with satisfaction. He then sneered as he aimed it at the fallen Titans East Leader fired. Or at least that's what he would have done if a large boulder hadn't propelled itself at him from the direction he had entered the building. The office staff still on that floor scattered as the boulder smashed through several support pillars before finally ricocheting off in Terran's direction.

Terran performed a back flip, finding a handhold on the underside as he circled back around, and grabbed hold. The boulder crashed through the window and sailed away, dragging Terran along with it. Terran used her current momentum to swing back upright and launch himself back into the office. Terran turned to face his attackers. They were the only two females still in the office, and the only ones standing their ground. The geomancer recognized them both instantly. One of them was Terra, his identical twin sister, and the other Raven, a gothic obsessed girl he had had a crush on a few months prior. But those were no reasons to not fight them.

Terran charged at them, guns at the ready and attempted to strike Terra with one, and sideways motion to land a kick on Raven. This caught the two heroines by surprise and they quickly scattered. Terran, who was already facing his sister, decided to follow up by attacking his sister first. He struck at her with both fists, and missing both times, and allowing Terra to strike at him from below. Terra brought her left arm up into an uppercut but Terran quickly leapt backwards. Terran then bent over backwards, touching the floor with both hands, and pushing off with his feet. He wrapped his ankles around Terra's neck, placing her in a scissor-lock, and launched at Raven as he returned to a standing position.

Terra spun in the air, yelling as she did, and narrowly missed Raven but collapsed and entire row of cubicles. Terra quickly jumped to her feet and took a position beside Raven but Terran had already closed the distance. But this time Raven struck first, sending a surge of dark energy at him. Terran dodged by leaping into the air and planting his feet on each of his foes shoulders. Terran snapped his legs together, knocking their heads together with a loud thwack! Dazed from the blow, both heroines rocked back and forth clutching their heads, and tried to regain their sense of balance. Terran leapt away from them and soared through the air.

Titans Tower East

13th Floor: Holding Cell…

Beast Boy dug through pile of rubble, his black and purple uniform soaked with sweat. He had involuntarily volunteered to stay behind and try to locate Speedy in the wrecked prison cell. Cyborg had gone off to the lower levels of the Tower to search for Aqualad, Robin, Mas and Menos. Last time he had checked in, he had found the lost Titans East members.

"Man it is really getting hot in here," Beast Boy wined as he stopped to wipe his brow.

He had been in here for the past fifteen minutes and the heat was becoming more unbearable by the minute. But he couldn't leave, not without leaving his fellow Titan behind, and he couldn't stand to have that resting on his conscious.

A familiar tune sounded from his utility belt and the changeling quickly pulled out his communicator.

"Find him yet," was Cyborg's immediate response to having his call answered.

"Not yet," Beast Boy replied, shouting to be heard over the flames. "What about you!"

"I finally found Robin and Star, she's banged up pretty bad but she'll survive," Cyborg answered. "Me and Robin are going down to the garage and making sure that the T-car's still okay. And if it is then we're taking Star out of the Tower and meeting up with the girls!"

"What about Aqualad, Mas and Menos!"

"They're going to stay behind and try to quell the flames. Cyborg out!"

The communicator screen went dark as the signal was cut. Beast Boy replaced the communicator to its rightful location and went back to work. Beast Boy's pointed ears perked up as he heard a faint groan. He immediately stopped digging and cupped his hand by his ear. He heard the groan again, this time louder.

The changeling quickly raced to where he believed the source was coming from and immediately began to dig. He removed rock after rock until he finally exposed a blackened hand. Beast Boy's heart raced as he dug faster and faster, exposing more and more of the body. The entire body was covered in sot, and Beast Boy feared that Speedy might have been right next to the explosion. Finally he lifted the rock covering Speedy's face, and stopped dead.

"What?"

Steel City

Office Building…

Terran landed feet first and drew his pistol and aimed it at the two heroines down the hall.

"Terran, just calm down for a second," said Terra, "We're not here to fight you."

Terran scoffed in disbelief, moving his weapon in her direction. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah," Terra replied. She turned to Raven who was standing beside her. "Right?"

Raven looked at her from the corner of her eye. She didn't understand why Terra was suddenly trying to negotiate with him, but a few seconds later she saw why. One of Terra's hands was behind her back, glowing a bright yellow but only visible from behind. Raven looked back to Terran and saw the same boulder that had been used against him floating back into striking distance of him.

"Yeah, just to talk to you." Raven moved one of her own pale hands behind her back and a dark aura formed around it. A black pool appeared beneath Terran's feet, slowly inching their way up his legs. Luckily his attention was divided between them and not to what was below them.

Terran's gaze shifted between them, studying each of their expressions. Finally, to Raven and Terra's surprise, he lowered his pistol and sighed. "Alright, I guess we can talk." He gave them both a half-smile and stepped forward. "But there's just one thing I must tell you before anything else."

Terra and Raven looked between each other, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "What's that?"

Terran's hand suddenly snapped to his side and drew his other pistol, and he twisted around so that one pistol was facing the oncoming boulder and the other facing Terra and Raven. "I'm not an idiot!"

He fired as he circled around, creating a wide arc with the beams. The first beam gutted the boulder from stem-to-stern and it's to halves smashed harmlessly into the building. The other beam raced towards the Titans and Raven quickly extended her arm forward to create a shield around her and the geomancer's sister. Doing so caused her hold on Terran's legs to cease and he used this opportunity to fire again.

Raven, not seeing this second volley because the first had blocked her eyesight, dropped the force field and exposed her and Terra to Terran's attacks.

"Raven," Terra cried, "get down!"

Terra tackled Raven and they both rolled across the floor. The two beams grazed the heroines' heads and sliced a support beam in half. Terran charged at them while they were still down, but was suddenly levitated into the air by a mysterious force. He thrashed around in a futile attempt to quell the black aura now consuming his body. Terran turned and gazed hatefully at the sorceress who was responsible for his predicament, Raven.

Raven, now back on her feet, was smiling as she slowly closed her fist, tightening the aura around his body. Terran tried harder and to force the aura off of him, but it proved useless. The aura quickly enveloped him until only his arm remained free, but even that was slowly fading away.

"I guess we got you now," Raven snickered as she placed her hand at her side, satisfied that she had finally subdued him.

"Don't be so sure just yet," Terran shouted as he swung his arm in her direction. He pulled the trigger on his energy pistol and the beam cut across the room. Raven quickly ducked the attack and Terra did the same, bending backwards until she almost lost her balance. The beam shattered the window, sending glass to the streets below. Terran swung his arm again, this time aiming his attack at his sister. The beam cut through the air, but instead of dicing Terra into mincemeat, it cut through the floor, leaving a slender hole in the floor.

Terra finally lost her balance and fell flat on her back, but still unharmed. She sat up and cackled at her brother. "Ha, missed," she jeered as Terran's body became completely enveloped by Raven's arcane magic.

"Wasn't aiming at ya," Terran replied sarcastically.

Just then the floor beneath Terra began to groan as metal was stretched to its limits, and slowly tipped backwards. Terra let out a scream as the floor section she was lying eye broke off from the main building and tumbled down to the streets below.

Terran cackled far above. "See ya later sis!"

Terra grasped onto the edge of the floor but felt her fingers slip away. She tumbled off and outstretched her hand to bring forth a rock platform. It rocketed up to her, but she was spiraling so fast she could hardly get a grip on it. Again she fell off, but her speed had been greatly reduced. She brought it forth again, this time managing to hang on as she fell.

Before she could change the direction of the platform she felt smack against something. Terra looked over the edge to see that her platform had imbedded itself into the sidewalk. The female geomancer let out a sigh of relief and hung her head back to catch her breath. Her break soon became short lived as a speeding car raced at her, narrowly hitting her. Terra leapt out of the way as the car spun, hitting the curb and came to a screeching halt right atop her platform.

Terra brushed her hair out of her eyes and shook her senses clear. When she could see clearly she turned to the car that had almost made her road kill. She instantly recognized it as the T-car.

Cyborg slowly opened the door on the driver's side and stepped out. He looked a little shaken up and he scratched his back. "Uh, hey Terra. You ok?"

"OK," Terra screamed. "You almost killed me!"

"Yeah, my bad…"

Soon Robin stepped out of the passenger's side and stepped over to Cyborg's side of the car. He placed crossed his arms and gave Cyborg a menacing glare. "Next time, you take my advice when driving."

"Alright, alright sheesh."

Robin then turned to Terra and unfolded his arms. "How are things going?"

"Not entirely good," she replied, a sign of weakness in her voice. "Terran's already beaten Bumblebee pretty bad, and he's giving me and Raven a run for our money."

"Where're they now?"

Terra pointed upwards to the gape in the side of the building where Terran had knocked her out. Robin rubbed his chin with his hand, considering his options. Then Robin looked back to Terra and said: "Think you could give us a lift?"

Office Building

Thirty-Seventh Floor…

Terran stood laughing over his fallen foe. His attacks on Terra had distracted Raven so much that he had been able to free himself and take her down. She was now lying on the floor, to weak to get back up.

Terran scoffed at her weakness, and began circling around her tauntingly. "Don't take it personally Raven, I just don't like you anymore." He leveled his energy so that it sights bared down on her head. Terran's finger curled around the trigger, but he withdrew it, wanting to drag this on a little more. His pacing began to lead away from her until he was a few yards away. "This really shouldn't come as a surprise to you guys anyways. I've been a bad guy all my life, trained to fight, living to kill. It's not like I can change just like that." He snapped his fingers to emphasize his point. He twisted his head back so that he could see her. "What's that, you're tired of hearing me talk. Well don't let me continue to bore you." He aimed his pistol at her once again, and pointed the other at Bumblebee who still remained unconscious. "I guess this is where it ends, for you anways."

He let out a one last laugh to pronounce his victory. His fingers curled around their respective triggers, and began to squeeze. Just then there was a loud explosion echoing from above and the whole floor began to shake. Terran stumbled backwards and his shots went off widely, but causing no harm. Then the ceiling exploded in a shower of concrete and a blast of blue energy with spirals circling around it smashed into Terran and pounded him into the floor. The blast did not cease and Terran felt his body pressing harder and harder into the floor until it finally gave. Terran was propelled down to the next floor, and the one after that as the blast increased its intensity. The entire building was gutted as the blast finally stopped as Terran impacted into the garage floor.

Cyborg switched his sonic cannon back to his arm attachment and touched down on the thirty-seventh floor. Terra brought Robin down to the floor on their pillar and he quickly went to Raven's side. Her condition was pretty bad, much like Starfire's. He quickly got back to his feet and looked down the gaping hole.

"Cyborg," he commanded, "let's go. We have to take him down while he's weak"

"What about me," Terra asked.

Robin looked her up and down, studying how much damage she had taken. "No, you stay here with them. You need the rest."

Before the Terra could protest, the boy wonder attached a grappling hook onto the ledge and began to rappel down. Cyborg did the same, using his extendible arm as his rope, and followed Robin down.

Terra slumped over, knowing all to well that he was right but still wanting another go at Terran. She started by moving Bumblebee beside Raven so that it would be easier keeping an eye on both of them. She found it difficult to lift Bumblebee, she was a lot heavier than she thought and at times wondered if her frail arms could handle the weight. But she finally did manage to move her, and sat down.

It wasn't until that moment that the pain from her injuries kicked in. Her arms and legs were sore and hurt to move, and her head hurt even more. She rubbed the place where her brother had smacked her head against Raven's; wincing every time she stroked it. Finally she gave up, to irritated by the pain, and tried to rest.

She barely managed to get her eyes close when she heard footsteps off to her right. She snapped awake and instinctively looked in that direction. There was only a darkened office, yet something about it seemed peculiar. She got up, her legs groaning as the bent, and wearily walked over.

She grasped the doorknob; she could feel its cool metal even through he gloves. It creaked slightly as she turned it and the door swung open. The office lights were off and the dark night sky only added to its darkness. Terra took a few glances around the office, and then slowly closed the door.

"Going somewhere?"

Terra instantly froze, leaving the door open just a crack. She opened it back up and stepped into the room. She squinted to see in the darkness, moving her hand towards the desk. She felt around until she found a lamp, and turned it on. The room became lit with a soft orange glow, and revealed a man leaning against the far wall.

Terra gasped, seeing the man for the first time. He wore a black combat suit with several gunmetal pieces of armor around his shoulders forearms and legs. His muscles were defined due to his years of training, and his face was covered by a black and bronze mask with a single eye slit.

"You," Terra cried, bringing her fist back.

The man held up his hand, delaying Terra's next action. He pushed off from the wall, and stepped right through the desk, causing his body to shift in and out of synchronization. "Do not bother dear Terra; what you see is only a hologram."

Terra returned her arm to her side and glared menacingly at the man named Slade. "What have you done to him?"

Slade cocked his head, and said as if in surprise. "Whatever do you mean?"

Terra clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. "What did you do to my brother," she demanded.

Slade let out a small chuckle and placed his arms behind his back. "I have done nothing to him. In fact I have not seen him quite some time." Slade turned his attention to the window and gazed out onto the dark city. "Tell me, how is he?"

"What do you mean 'how's is he?' he's your apprentice," Terra screamed. The only thing stopping her from tearing him to pieces was the fact that he wasn't really there.

Slade let out another chuckle; he was truly enjoying tormenting her. "It is truly sad Terra."

"What," she snapped.

"To think that you don't know your own brother. I always thought twins held a special bond. A sort of link that allows you to see into the deep recesses of one another, but I guess I was mistaken."

"Well that's a first."

Slade turned his gaze to Terra, his only eye slightly narrowed. "Indeed," he said, a slightly threatening tone to his voice. He turned around completely so that his front was facing her and she was exposed to his full height. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that you do not know him at all."

"Well I know this much, he's working for you," she snarled. Her hands instinctively began to glow bright yellow. "And I want to know what you've done to him!"

"Something that even he does not realize." He looked down on her, his gaze boring into her. "It's so simple, yet so elusive to you're petty little mind. You could never truly grasp why I have done what I have done."

The glow disappeared from her hands and Terra's face twisted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Slade stepped closer to her and leaned forward. Even though he was merely a hologram, she still flinched as his face came to rest a few inches from hers. "You were never very bright, even from the beginning." His eye narrowed until it was barely visible and he whispered ever so softly into her ear: "So I'm just going to tell you..."

Fun Christmas fact: Santa Clause, yes the big fat man in red, was originally a Priest named Saint Nicholas. He was a man of God and preached at a church in Turkey and earned great respected, and admiration from his town. During the time of Saint Nicholas, young girls were sold to child slavery in order to get money to support thier family. Saint Nicholas during the Christmas season would go around at night, laying clothing and other assorted gifts to help the family so they would not resort to selling off their daughters. And that is how the legend of Santa Clause became a part of the Christmas season. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.