Author: So! I figured I'd be nice and post a second chapter for the day since I'm well ahead in the story, writing-wise. xD Here's chapter 7, where you learn more about our mysterious 'San' and see Sari and Silvy finally cross paths.. I'm building it up to the main event, which I have yet to actually plan out, though I have ideas for it. You'll like it, I hope. n_n One quick question I want you to think on. Will they get to Ruba before the supposed path gets created and she destroys Jump City? Will they save her in time or themselves? :P Anyway, enjoy. :D

Disclaimer: I only own those that I've created. Sari (Barrett), Ruba (Cecilia), Silvy (Roger) and San (Sidra). DC Comics belongs to the respective owners.

A week had passed. The Titans were beginning to give up hope of finding her and she in question was busy training with her 'master', as he wanted her to call him. The two new energy users spent this allotted time trying to locate Sari, who was stuck in his room going over research notes and maps laid out before him.

Stress was beginning to build on the young 'king's' shoulders. He had to find Ruba, he just had to, and yet the pair were gone, left without a trace.

They were nowhere, the same position as when she first left. Sari should have stayed, should have forced her to see reason, but anger had blinded him. Now he just felt regret, that anger swept away by the guilt of his mistake. He could have said something, made her rethink Slade's potential to teach her and yet he only spoke heated words that pushed her to fall into the man's arms willingly. He felt disgust with himself. As the days of that past week ticked by his stability over his powers began to decrease. It was hard staying calm knowing she was out there, being warped by a psychopath and he was unable to find and bring her home.

He rubbed his face as he sat at his desk, a stack of papers scooted to the side so he could stare at a map with cleared locations x'd out in red and ones unchecked circled in green.

One in particular suddenly caught his attention. They'd checked most of the city, but several villain lairs he'd been told were empty weren't explore recently. He wanted to double check them. One jumped out at him, screaming at him to search. Slade's Haunt. Cyborg had said he'd already scanned it for life and came up empty handed so he'd considered it 'cleared'.

Sari wanted to go there, something was telling him to.

He rose from his chair, pushing away to head toward his door. He grabbed a coat and tossed it on before he walked down the hallway, booted feet echoing loudly. It was late into the evening and he'd been the last to stay awake. The rest had crashed early. He was restless, had been all day.

He soon found himself strolling down the streets of Jump, hands tucked into pockets, hood drawn to somewhat protect him from the chilly breeze. It was dipping into mid-August and the temperature was starting to drop slowly as Fall loomed ever closer.

He heard the roar of an engine and glanced behind him to see a biker approaching on a motorcycle. He paused, half turning to peer at the strange male.

A weird feeling of familiarity raced up his spine and he watched the bike slow to a stop before him, headlights flicking off. The street lamps around illuminated both him, the bike and it's rider.

The biker threw over his leg and stood, taking off his helmet to place it onto the seat as he moved the kickstand down to leave the bike where it was. The male stepped forth, goggled eyes locked on him as he felt their intense gaze.

"Well, well! I finally found you!" The male said coolly with a favored smirk.

Sari frowned, having trouble recalling who this strange man was.

The male clasped his hands together, dipping his head down before standing straight. "You were always the formal one, Sari. Where have your manners slipped off to?"

His frown increased. "Just who might you be?"

The smirk became a gaping hole as he laughed heartily. "Of course you don't recognize me!" His face suddenly went blank.

The male was a bit shorter than him, silver haired, goggles shielding his seemingly dark eyes, clad in stylish clothes.

"Since you've clearly forgotten.." He lifted a hand to pull up his goggles, placing them onto his head. Dim black eyes were revealed and the man smiled. "It's Silvy, as you called me."

Sari's blood ran cold. Why was the knight here? "What are you doing here?" He hissed in a rushed whisper. "I thought you and Vito went east to Virginia?"

Silvy shook his head, smile fading into a tight line. "We were, at first, but Vito had this horrible idea of heading to Florida to go surfing. Can you believe it? He went on and I traveled alone. I was in Virginia for about a year and a half before traveling. Then I figured I should find you guys. All of you. I set about finding all eight and reuniting us. We're a team, we should have stuck together."

Sari rubbed his chin, sighing as he shifted on his feet. "You didn't think to grab Vito before you tracked me here?"

Silvy fumbled, realizing this as well. "Ah.. well... it's not like the guy's going anywhere. He's still in Florida. We'll get him last." He hurried to recover, scratching at his left cheek.

"Forgetful and dim as ever, I see."

His comrade scowled. "I have a lot on my mind, ok? I'm glad I'm here, though, I ran into San as well."

"Whoa, whoa. Hold up. San's here too?" Sari's eyes shot wide. Why was the white energy user here?

"She kind of.. followed me apparently. but no sweat! You're in trouble dude, we've been searching everywhere for you these past few days."

"I've been busy. Trouble? What do you mean?"

"San has the gift of seeing ahead in time, glimpses. One of the likely paths she saw has this city reduced to rubble in the near future." He snorted. "And imagine my surprise to learn the source of this catastrophe."

Sari's brows arched. "Which is?"

Silvy leveled a serious look to the male, black eyes burning like coals. "Ruba." He threw up a hand, pressing his fingertips together. "San said, in that course, Ruba kills you and I, almost claiming her life as well." He peered over his fingers at him. "She said Ruba was in Slade's hold."

Sari was too speechless to answer verbally.

"The stories of Slade.. that's a legend. People tell their kids that at bedtime so they will behave." Silvy wasn't being literal, just broadening it's potential to be disastrous. "Deathstroke the Terminator.. If he has Ruba.. oh jeez, man, that's very, very bad."

"You have no idea.." Sari whispered and turned to glance up at the T-tower in the distance. He pointed to it, looking at Silvy. "Get San and meet me at that tower tomorrow. I've got some like minded friends there-"

"The Teen Titans, I know. I do my research on heroes and villains." Silvy nodded. "Alright. We'll be there early so have breakfast ready." He walked back to his bike, Sari's laugh following as he sat, strapping his helmet on.

He turned the motorcycle on, revved the engine and waved before driving away, brake lights blinking like demon eyes in the growing darkness.

He remembered why he was out here.. and decided he'd check it tomorrow. He needed to rest to tell the others the bad news in the morning.

The Haunt could wait.

San waited at the hotel room she was sharing with Silvy. She carried no money and as such pleaded with him to let her stay. He didn't seem to mind and yet she felt guilty for it.

She was bouncing on the edge of her bed in anticipation. She was a very restless person and having been told to 'stay put' didn't settle well with her.

So she found ways to amuse herself. First she'd showered, then played with makeup. Afterwards she rubbed and washed it all off and decided go chose something to sleep in. She carried with her a magical bag that she stored her stuff in. It was similar to Mumbo's hat, an enchanted thing she'd stolen from an old museum in Gotham. She was willing to bet the caped crusader was having a cow over the break-in. Thankfully she'd gotten away easily, having left no traces of which to be identified by or traced back to.

Stealth was one of her main skills. She'd been what she called a mirror walker, which in normal language meant she basically worked in the fair business. She had helped run the maze contraption and as such often went in with the children, playing hide and seek with teens or the occasional childish adult. She'd traveled a lot, from city to city, seeing the wonders and joys, but also the ugly side. She'd seen murder more than the average witness and more thefts than she could write down.

Her cloak was tossed onto the end of her bed and beside her sat the grey ornate bag with it's traditional symbols and foreign words sown into the bottom. She reached inside, tugging something out.

She was still in a towel from her shower and was getting cold. A breeze floated in from the parted single window and she much prefered the warmth. She pulled out a thin night gown, navy blue and began to tug it on. She'd already dealt with her hair prior (dried and swept back, tied with a small ribbon). The cloth, wool from the feel of it, warmed her skin and she snuggled into it, purring like a kitten against the backside of it's mother.

Yes, she was quite childish in her own visible ways, but what could one expect? She was only 14 after all. Oh, right. She'd lied about her age and had produced forged documents to join the fair. Surprisingly she was never caught. She had acted mature, a facade she had perfected early in life with a demon of a mother (strict, mind you) and a military colonel for a father. The only one she had cared about was her older brother.

She tossed the bag aside but paused when something fluttered out and landed on the floor at her feet. She bent over, grabbed it and lifted it to examine.

It was a white envelope, long and slim, and she tore it open after studying the small word printed in pen on the front. Sidra. Her real first name.

She pulled out the paper and carefully unfolded it like it was fragile and would shatter into dust if mishandled.

The words were very well written, in the same ink and handwriting as was on the front. The same hand had wrote it obviously. She recognized it.

Sidra.

I wanted to apologize for the way I've acted. I know I've been distant lately and strangely aggressive and I wanted to say that I'm sorry. It wasn't like me to be that way, I don't know what came over me.

It was like I was in a trance and this word kept repeating in my head like a silent mantra. "Court". It's probably nothing to worry about and so yeah, I hope you're alright and this letter finds you well.. I miss you sis. Please come home soon. Mother, father and I want you to come home. We love you.

John.

The sound of her heart breaking was like a crackle in the air from fireworks, the explosion of a gunshot that left the ears aching, the head pounding and the body breathless. Her chest tightened uncomfortably and she clutched the paper to her chest.

"Oh, John.." She whispered and tears blurred her vision. "I wish I could..."

This letter had obviously been written before the incident.

The Attack On Raly Street had been front page news. Everyone had been talking about it. It had been a bright spring day, April 5th by date, and the falling pink leaves had covered the ground like the promise of summer. A normal, average day for your typical residents.

She had been nine years old at the time, a child unfit to be alone and yet had been shoved into isolation's hands as an orphan. A mean group of thugs were upset that one of their friends had been sentenced to life in prison with no paroll and so they decided to get back at the city. Raly Street had been a happy area with families of various sorts.. and on April 5th the street was changed. It was not destiny but a random choose to use this street as an example. Evening fell and the houses were all broken into.

Screams filled the air as the houses were ransacked, people dragged outside in night clothes. Gunshots had drummed like war machines and blood soaked the ground like tainted water. After being destroyed internally the homes were placed on fire with gasoline thrown against the walls and splashed onto the floors and furniture. The cops tried to stop them, but they'd all slipped away. Firemen fought to put the flames out, but it was too late, too far to put out. Orange light flickered in the air like a parade of waving flashlights and smoke covered the sky above like high and thick fog. The smell.. wood, flesh, the ashes falling from the sky like dried rain, covering everything within several miles like burnt snow.

John, Reese and Molly had all been killed that night. Reese, her father, had been shot in his bed.. Molly, her mother, had been dragged outside and.. tortured before she was silenced with a bullet.. and John? He'd been thrown out the window and gunned down like he was a target for practice. Afterwards she forged papers and entered the fair business for a year before someone found and took her away. She was taken into the care of the scientist and used in his petty little project-

Suddenly a voice interrupted the memory. "He was the actual chosen one for your position. When he was murdered we decided you would be his replacement. You two shared the same identical DNA, the rare strand to produce white energy. You were selected and brought in for the project."

It was the voice of the scientist and when she looked around the room she saw that she was alone. The voice was coming from her mind.

"What a surprise we found in you.. far more potent then your brother, far superior. More potential, untapped and not tainted. You were perfect. More than we could have hoped for. You did not disappoint, no. You pleased. You gave us pride, like the others. A sense of accomplishment came with you.. with all of you. Our children, our guardians of tomorrow. You were to be great, angels to this shattered world."

She put away the letter, stuffing the envelope into her bag.

"You made us into your pets in the name of us being protectors? That's not right, that was unfair to us!" She growled into the air, totally not feeling crazy for talking to a dead guy. This kind of thing happened to her often. "How do you think we felt? We were scared, traumatized."

"To create a better future one must secure the present. We did not do this to hurt you.. we did it to enhance you, give you the means to right the wrongs of mankind. To fix our errors. Humans are terribly weak and destructive creatures who thrive on misery and death. You were the counter to this. You were meant to be heroes, our hope, our treasure. Feelings were not factored. They change."

"But you used us, tortured us for so long, all in the vain attempt to make something that wasn't meant to be. You didn't create guardians.. you created problems. You hurt people, all of us. You took away our humanity, our choice to be normal, and gave us a burden that we now have to bear- all because of you trying to play God with people's lives."

A soft chuckle echoed in the air all around her and she clenched her fists.

"My dear, sweet Sidra. You are so naive. To become a warrior you must first sacrifice what is most precious to you.. You see, you never had a choice. Normality eluded all eight of you. Tragedy befell you. Death, loss, pain.. loneliness, you are all familiar with these. We took what we saw as broken beings and gave them a purpose."

She snorted. "Right, trying to justify turning children into weapons. Nice play, 'sir', you're doing great at trying to give merit to your actions- a futile thing no less." A scowl fixed her face and she folded her arms across her chest.

"You see it as trauma, we saw it as compassion. Conflicting views, but each correct. Think on what we gave you and tell me you are not thrilled to have powers, to be unique, better than other humans." The voice trailed off and she was alone.

A sigh floated out from her lips and she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah.. Whatever." She wasn't willing to admit that he had been right. The power was a perk of being what she was.

The door clicked unlocked and pushed in, Silvy entering. He shut the door behind him, shaking himself from the cold he'd rode in.

"Welcome back." She said with a smile, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, glad to see you're awake." He slipped his scarf from his neck, taking off the unnecessary clothes to set them onto the desk beside his bed, aside from his boots, which were placed on the floor. He glanced at her as he undid his belt and set it onto the stack. "You hungry? I figured you would be so I ordered pizza to be dropped off here. Should arrive soon."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Oh, I found Sari. He's been with the Titans." The flashing of memories crossing his mind was visible on his face by the far off gaze he held for a few moments. "We're heading to the tower early in the morning so once we get done eating we need to get plenty of rest so we can get up early."

She tilted her head to the side, brown orbs following him as he sat down on his bed, fiddling with his goggles. "Alright."

Silence consumed the pair as she simply relaxed and he organized his discarded clothes.

Soon a knock came at the door and Silvy retrieved the pizza, paying for it and thanking the worker. They even ate in silence. She enjoyed his company more than she would be capable of admitting, giving that she was actually quite shy, and basked in the concept of friendship.

Friendship is such a gift- She nibbled on her pizza as she thought this -but it's also a burden.

Sari couldn't sleep. The news he'd received from Silvy had been both unwelcome and disturbing. Was Ruba really going to destroy the city? Would she? That would mean, since it was to happen soon, that she was gaining control of herself. That was both good and bad.. and Sari hated to think she'd misuse her powers.

Slade had to be stopped and Ruba saved.

He stared at the ceiling, lying in bed with the sheets thrown aside. It was too hot, he felt like he was catching a fever. What rotten timing if so.

He closed his eyes, but a few moments later he felt a hand press softly against his forehead. He opened his blue eyes to see Raven beside the bed, clad in her hero outfit.

She stepped back, drawing her hand away. "I felt an emotional disturbance. I thought it was Robin at first but.. it was you." She explained herself before he could ask any questions. "I'm sorry for intruding."

"I see. It's cool."

"You have a fever. Are you alright?" Her cool gaze studied his own.

"I'm fine. The fever will pass." His eyes flicked back to the ceiling. He was tired and yet couldn't sleep.

"I'll bring you some ice."

He didn't respond and she vanished into the floor. She returned a few minutes later with a bag of ice wrapped in a dish towel. She laid it across his forehead after having brushed his hair out of the way.

He closed his eyes beneath the chilly relief. "Thanks."

"Goodnight Sari."

"Goodnight Raven." She disappeared and he was left alone with his thoughts.

It took awhile but he finally managed to turn his body off and drift into a deep sleep.

His dreams were haunted by images of a dead city, crumbled buildings, a red sky, Ruba standing atop a crushed car, a wicked smirk on her face, hands glowing vibrant red.. but beside her stood the worse demon. The manipulative Slade.