Doomed Titans

by LuisJM

After Terra defeated them, the Titans wake up in the UAC Facility on Mars in the year 2145. Now in order to get back to their own time, they must venture and survive the dark regions of the facility with the help of their guardian. TTDoom3 xover revamp

49. Alex's Last Stand

Two more chapters until the end of this story and this is the first before the last. I'm getting really excited about all of this. After all the years of drawbacks and college and work, I'm pretty sure it was all worth it. Trust me, this chapter going to be the most impactful up to date. Of course, this one is another long chapter, since this is second to last chapter and I have an epic way to end it. Trust me, once you read it, you will be amazed as to what would happen. Back at the last chapter, I got one review and 48 hits accumulated right after I posted it up. The person who reviewed this is called DukeManAustin and he was pretty amazed at the story I've done and can't wait for the final chapters. Well here you go, the chapter before the last. In this chapter, the team reaches the Ark as much as they can, and explosive finish that you don't want to miss, and someone in this chapter will die. Now I'm pretty sure you are all wondering who it is. I'll give you a little tip. It's not any of the Titans. Trust me, you'll know at the end of the chapter.

Chapter Notes

Now I got an idea for what I'm suppose to do in between the chapter but there was a change in plans. You see, I rented the game Portal 2 for the X Box 360 and was amazed of the many innovations in the game. All the inventions in the test chambers were pretty unique and entertaining. Now looking at them gave me a huge idea. What if I put those innovations on the next chapter? I mean the description I talked about Gamma Labs was pretty weak and this might give me a good opportunity to move forward. Also, pay attention to the date the team would go back in time is the date of the episode "Aftershock Part 2." I know it's a little late but hey, got to keep up with series right?

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or Doom 3.

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Chapter Forty-Nine: Alex's Last Stand

Main Excavation, Chamber of the Hero: November 16, 2145, 2:53 P.M.

In the Main Excavation of the dig, The Marine holding the Soulcube has finally made it to the spot where the Hellhole is located. After going through so much, he was able to reach his destination. Though it was a bit of a pain for the Vagaries along with the Ticks and Trites, he managed to take them all out. As he took the lift down and walked down the stairs, he approached what appeared to be some kind of chamber. He could see digging equipment and workstations all around him and tablets decorated on the walls left to right. But in the middle of the room at the far end, lies a huge tomb that Egyptians must've used in the past with a face that was brutally damaged. He could guess that this is the place where the hero who saved Mars from the demons is lying. After a few steps down, he scanned the area with his shotgun, just in case there was a surprise attack. But then he heard a noise and pointed it to the left, thinking it was a monster. But all he saw was a working monitor that was doing an introduction video. The video started to play as the Marine got closer to it.

'Setting new standards on both archeological discovery and analysis, the UAC is proud to showcase the latest findings on four unique and fascinating artifacts. These tablets were originally discovered in a dig site under what is become known as Site 3. Subsequent examination of the surrounding area, and carbon dating of the tablets brought UAC researchers to the conclusion that the tablets belong to a civilization that existed millennia ago and were placed in a holy burial ground of some sort. Utilizing the best minds in linguistics and UAC proprietary pattern recognition software, the tablets were axuastively examined. What we found was fantastic!

The first tablet provided us with a wealth of scientific data, specifically detailing the mathematical concepts behind teleportation. UAC Researchers use this information as the cornerstone for building the Delta teleportation devices. The second and third tablets illustrate an epic story, a story of war, and how, face with impossible odds, the ultimate sacrifice of an entire race to achieve victory. The forth tablet details how the essence of each individual was captured and place in the artifact we now refer to as the Soulcube. This device was wielded by their mightiest warrior and with it he banished the remaining hoard forever.

Our researchers are still analyzing a recently found hidden section of the forth stone and some related fragments. It goes into detail on the invading force and indicates the remaining survivors may have teleported somewhere. Where we do not know, although it seems to reference a map we have yet to locate. To date there remains to evidence of any type of invasion at any of the sites. Our assumption is that time has removed all but what we now see.'

The marine listened to the video and shook his head, snickering to himself.

Main Marine: "No evidence on any invasion? I think the researchers should've rechecked the tablets."

The walked away for the monitor and looked around the place. After closer observation, he knew he was in the right spot but he didn't see any gateway to Hell. He then scratched his head and finds this a bit confusing.

Main Marine: "That's strange… This it the place, but I don't see anything that resembles Hell's gateway."

He looks back to his Soulcube and could tell that it was still shaking violently.

Main Marine: "The Soulcube seems to be pointing me to the right direction. Either that or the artifact is out of order. I mean with the thing stuck in hibernation for so long it tends to act up."

He then walked to the tomb of the warrior and observed it carefully.

Main Marine: "Whoever this warrior is must've been one brave individual."

He then wondered if there was anything behind the coffin and walked around it. When he got there, all he found was nothing but a dome wall. Sighing to himself, he decided that it was a dead end and was going to head back.

Main Marine: "Looks like there's nothing here. Better head back and retrace my steps, see if I didn't miss anything."

But before he could leave, he could feel the place starting to shake. His first thought was that if could be another aftershock from the unstabability of the caves. But suddenly, the stone bricks of the dome wall began to loosen up and tumbled in many directions, revealing an unknown cave. The Marine watched it and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Blinking a couple of times, he remained calm and decided to follow this tunnel.

Main Marine: "Okay… So there is a way to the gateway. Let's not keep it waiting."

He then entered the cave and began navigating his way through it. Just as he was entering, the dome wall began to close itself up, sealing the marine completely.

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Gamma Labs Level 4, Elevator Access: November 16, 2145, 2:56 P.M.

In the fourth floor of Gamma Labs, the place was completely quiet with no monsters around. Just then, there were sounds of an elevator coming up the shaft and approaching the floor. Once the sound stopped, the doors of the elevator begin to open. Coming out of it was Alex as he was pointing his double barrel shotgun to scan the area. So far, he didn't see any monsters, all he saw were nothing but damaged walls, blinking lights, and human blood around some parts. He then looked at the sign on the wall that says, 'UAC: Gamma 4: Testing and Ark Facility', and knew he was in the right place. He turned to the opened elevator and told his friends to come out.

Alex: "You guys can exit the elevator now. The cost is clear."

In seconds, the Teen Titans left the elevator and checked to see if all of it was true. Robin still has his plasma rifle with him and scanned the place himself just so there were no traps around. Starfire looked around while having her rocket launcher still strapped to her back. Cyborg held on to his chain gun and observed the area himself. Raven wasn't far behind with her shotgun still on her back. And Beast Boy was the last to come out gripping his Grabber tight. As they were looking around they knew there was no one evil present and relaxed for a little bit. As they were resting, Robin looked at Alex and wondered if they were in the right place.

Robin: "So, this is it?"

Al turned to him and answered him.

Alex: "Yep. This is where the Ark is and your only ticket home. Of course Gamma 4 isn't for Ark transportation. There are many other new innovations that are created here, most of which is very top secret, even for me. Hell, I don't think Betruger even knows."

Raven then approached the two and started to wonder about all this.

Raven: "Gee, for a hi tech facility, they certainly have some heavily guarded secrets."

Beast Boy: "Yeah, like that main teleporter back in Delta."

Alex shuddered about that experience and brushed it off for a moment.

Alex: "Any who, at least we finally made it. Now we just need to reach the Ark in time. Let's get going before more of the bastards show up."

They all nodded and proceeded down the corridor. Now the corridor was split into two paths, one of the left and the other on the right. Thinking it was a bit wise, Al gesture to the group to split up and cover some ground. Robin, Cyborg, and Raven took the left and Alex, Starfire, and Beast Boy took the right. As they approach both sides, they all encounter different threats. The left had three Imps coming out in different ways, one through the floor with a popped metal tile, one coming down from the ceiling, and one that was teleported out of the blue, and four Maggots coming from the right that did the exact some thing as the Imps. Both groups went on the offences as the monsters started to strike. The Imps threw their fireballs at the first group, ready to burn them all. Raven created a wall and deflected all of the incoming balls of flames. She then let her shield down to start to finish off their attack. Both Robin and Cyborg fired both this plasma rifle and chain gun to maul them all down. But they didn't know that a wall opened up and another Imp came out of it for a sneak attack. Luckily, Raven sensed it coming and turned to the right and killed it with her shotgun. On the right side, the Maggots scampered down to attack the other group. Alex took out two machine guns and open fire, killing two of the creatures. When his weapons clicked empty, he got out of the way as Star fired a star bolt to destroy the third one. She was going to get rid of the last one but it was moving too fast. It started to leaped up high into the air and was about to pounce and kill the young woman. But just as it was going to do that, a green tiger came out of nowhere and pounced on it as well. Both collided and tumbled on the ground, with the tiger on top of it. With the Maggot pinned, the tiger used its claws to slash the creature away until it was dead. The tiger then returned to its human form and it was Beast Boy that morphed into that animal to protect his friends. With both paths taken care of, the two groups reached the end of the halls and regrouped, telling each other of the threat being adverted.

Alex: "Clear!"

Robin: "Clear!"

Once they finished their battle, the team approached the metal door as it opened up to reveal a new hallway. It was a shot path with lights dimly lit and demonic growth seeping through the ceiling. They all approached the other door and were about to reach it. But suddenly, all the lights were short-circuited and blew up, leaving the place completely dark. Cyborg was going to use his shoulder flashlight to light the way but a red lightning bolt in front of them beat him to the punch. After that, an Archvile appeared with its fiery hands burning, shrieking at them. It started to place its hands together and fired a line of flames. Everyone jumped out of the way and avoided the hot flames. Quickly, both Alex and Robin used both the machine guns and plasma rifle to kill it quick before it launched another set of flames. They succeeded and killed the humanoid demon in moments. With the hallway cleared, the Titans ran to the door and entered through it. When they got out, they entered a huge lobby area with a lounge on one side, a vending machine area on the other, and a reception desk at the end. The place looked a mess like everywhere else. Blood was on the floor, chairs were a wreck, and one of the vending machines was busted and soda cans were everywhere. In the middle of the floor is a digital directory that shows off the entire facility. Alex approached the directory and checked to see if the Ark is around. The others approached him and checked to see if they can find it. Upon searching, Robin was amazed by the size of the facility.

Robin: "Wow… This place is pretty big! It would be impossible finding the Ark at this rate."

Cyborg: "So, what do you think they were doing here?"

Alex: "Beats me. This facility houses some experimental machinery, most of it I never heard of before. Excursion Funnels, Ariel Faith Plates, Propulsion and Repulsion Gels, Thermal Discouragement Beam… Must be something that is still in development. Whatever the case, our main concern is finding the Ark. Now let's see… According to this directory, the Ark must be… here, up on the forth floor."

He lifted his hand to point to the section that says 'Ark' on the top corner. Beast Boy looked at it and didn't like their chances at all.

Beast Boy: "All the way up there? Shouldn't they just place the Ark someplace closer?"

Al shrugged his shoulders and told him that wasn't the case.

Alex: "Well let me think. Where else would I put a highly secure invention that can take people back in time to collect minerals? Let alone a place that needs restricted security access to prevent any stranger coming into the Ark and cause so much damage like, oh I don't know, altering the future as they did something to the past?"

BB remained silenced until he chuckled to himself and rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

Beast Boy: "Heh, heh… Good point there."

The guardian shook his head and decided to get back to the task they were focusing on the whole time.

Alex: "Even though the lab here is big, there is an elevator that can take us straight up to the top. This will give us a chance to get up there quick before more trouble gets in the way."

The moment he said that, red clouds were all around them and crashes of lightning bolts came down on the floor. Materializing out of the lightning were a large number of Commando Zombies holding their chain guns. Knowing that they're surrounded, Alex rolled his eyes around and knew this would happen.

Alex: "Trouble like that…"

All the commandos pointed their weapons at them and opened fire. Raven quickly lifted her hands up in the air and created a bubble dome big and strong enough to protect her and her friends from the barrage of bullets. Robin got his plasma rifle out and was overwhelmed by all of them.

Robin: "We're surrounded! I don't know if we can take out that many!"

Alex: "We got to do something to get rid of all of them. If anyone has some suggestions, they are welcome to share it."

Starfire looked back at her rocket launcher and came up with a really good idea. She turned to Alex and told him what she would do.

Starfire: "Friend Alex, let me fly to the air and use the launching rockets to dispose of the enemy commandos."

Al looked to Starfire and wasn't sure if that's a good idea.

Alex: "You sure that's wise Star? With the fact that there are too many of them, I don't know if you can last that long. Not to mention you have a limited amount of rockets and you wasted two of them."

Starfire: "Don't you worry about me. I'll just use some of my rockets to weaken them while you and my other friends finish them off. It is what you people from Earth would call a distraction, yes?"

Alex rubbed his chin and thought she was crazy. But after thinking about it, he believes that this might work. So he looked up to Raven and told her to follow his instructions.

Alex: "Raven, on my mark open the shield on the top. I want Starfire to distract them while we give off the finishing blow."

Rae peeked to see Alex and nodded at his orders. Alex then looked at the Commando Zombies and remained silent until they did something completely usual. Most of the soldiers noticed their weapons were empty and were quickly reloading. When they did that Al knew it was the right moment to put Star's plan to action and told the telepath to do it.

Alex: "Open it!"

With one flick of her hand, a hole opened up on top of the shield, letting the young Tamaranean to fly up through it. With her out of the shield, Starfire went to her plan. She took her rocket launcher out and fired four rockets at the group, weakening them in the process. The zombies got startled and look up to see the alien flying around. Feeling very angry, they divert their attentions to the others and fired at her with their fresh ammo belts. Star simply flew around with ease while the enemy kept on firing. Alex looked on and found the opening he was waiting for. He turned to the others and gave them the go ahead.

Alex: "All right, they're distracted. Take them all out while they're busy!"

Raven immediately turned off her shield the same time everyone began to fire on the Commandos with everything they got. With the zombies weakened from the rockets, the Titans finished them off with a variety of plasma, bullets, aurora blasts, claws, sonic energy, exploding disks, birdarangs, pretty much everything. In a matter of seconds, everything non-living is dead again and the hoard vanished into ash. With that issue taken care of, Starfire regrouped with the others and Alex congratulated her on a job well done.

Alex: "Fantastic work Starfire! Never really thought that the plan would work."

Star blushed and counted that as a compliment.

Starfire: "Oh, do not make me feel embarrassed. It's something I was trying to come up with incase things get too hairish."

Alex smiled and couldn't help but to giggle over the Tamaranean's embarrassment. But he got serious and looked around to see if all of them were dead. Knowing that all of them were dead, he told the others to keep on moving.

Alex: "Looks like this place is clear. Let's get to the Ark fast before more of them decides to show up."

They all left the lobby and headed to the doors that can take them too the labs within Gamma. Entering the place, they were in a long hallway with a couple of doors that leads them to different areas. Above each door were signs that talked about the different places. But Alex wasn't going to any of them. He just needs to find the elevator just to get to the fourth floor and the Ark. In the middle of the halls was another directory that goes to different directions. He pointed to it and told them to push forward.

Alex: "Let's go there. There might be a way to the elevator."

They all walked towards the middle to see if there is a way to the lift. As they were getting there, the vents between them exploded and plummeted to the floor. Coming out of the openings were two more Imps coming down on them and were about to attack them all. Alex took out his double barrel shotgun and opened a shot at the demon in front of them and blasts it in half. The one that was behind them was going to attack from behind but Raven was behind her friends and turned around to kill the second Imp with her shotgun. The two of them were dead and the team continued to move forward, but then something happened. As they reached the middle of the area, four lightning bolts appeared in each hallway and the Wraiths appeared in the process. They all shrieked and disappeared in another flash. The group was alerted by it and waited for the four to come out again. The first Wraith came out to the left and scampered straight towards the group. Cyborg was at that side and used his chain gun to maul the thing to nothing. The second Wraith appeared and was going to attack them from the right. Robin saw that coming and fired his plasma rifle at the second one. The blue projectiles hit the creature and killed it in seconds. The third one appeared and attacked in the back. Raven detected that and turned around to fire a shot with her shotgun at close range. With that dead, the forth and last one came out of the blue and headed to the guardian to kill him. Alex quickly got his own shotgun out and fired two shots at the same time, blasting it right to the head. In a minute, all four of them were dead and the Titans were safe. But they were wrong once again as more vents open up and a group of Vulgars came out of them and crawled on the ceiling. Alex cussed himself and took both of his machine guns out and told the team to do the same.

Alex: "More company! Everyone get ready!"

Robin, Cyborg, and Raven reloaded their weapons and pointed up to the ceiling. Starfire then flew up in the air and charged up her star bolts to help aid her friends. As the demons were getting closer, the group then started to fire. With the demons on the ceiling, they were completely vulnerable and never stood a chance against the onslaught of multiple projectiles. Few of the Vulgars were smart enough to know how dangerous they are and detaches themselves off the ceiling and landed on the floor. Once they were on the ground, they would charge their green fireballs and threw them at the team. Beast Boy notices it and used his Grabber to take all the fireballs and threw them back at the skeleton like creatures. Few were killed while the others avoided the incoming attack and continued to throw more projectiles. The group kept on attacking more and more as more demons continued to go down faster then ever. That's until the last Vulgar was killed by a bunch of bullet holes. Finally, the room was clear and everyone sighed in relief.

Robin: "That was too close. Looks like they are trying to stop us from getting out of here. You're sure that Betruger doesn't know that we're going to the Ark?"

Alex looked at the Titan leader and shrugged his shoulders.

Alex: "I don't know… But it seems that Betruger is trying to make sure we don't get out of here alive. We better get moving before more trouble comes our way."

He checked the directory on one of the corners and spotted a sign that says 'Elevator' with an arrow pointed to the right. Nodding, he turned to his team and pointed to that direction.

Alex: "Let's hurry. The elevator we need to take is to that direction."

They all turned to the right and ran to the elevator, hoping that they might get out of there quicker. But as they reached their spot, they noticed something quite not right. What they saw was that the elevator was damaged beyond repair. But that wasn't the half of it. The door of the elevator was slanted to reveal an opening and demonic growth grew out of it, blocking the place completely. Looking at all of it, the guardian drooped his arms and couldn't believe this.

Alex: "Are you serious? The entire elevator is blocked off? Damn it!"

He kicked on the metal floor and was getting completely aggravated by all this. The others didn't like this one at all knowing that with the elevator out of service, there's no way for them to get to their destination. But Cyborg started to look around and wondered with this floor has others ways in reaching their goal.

Cyborg: "You know, there could be another solution to our problem incase of something like this. This lab might have something useful."

Alex turned to the hybrid and wondered what he was saying.

Alex: "Like what? The elevator is the only way up to the Ark and there's no stairway up. What are you suggesting?"

Cyborg: "Well, you did said this floor houses some of the most experimental devices that no one hasn't heard of before right? Well, maybe any of these inventions would help us get to the top floor."

Al listened in and thought the Titan had a point. With the elevator out of commission, they would need anything necessary to get to that place. So he rolled his eyes and groaned to himself.

Alex: "Guess we have no other choice. All right, let's find an alternative route."

With that, they left the damaged elevator and backtracked to the middle of the hall. Once there, Alex checked for any possible routes. Skimming his finger through the options, he noticed one of the sections that says 'Excursion Funnels' and pointing upwards. Looking at that direction, he thought maybe that's the direction they need.

Alex: "Let's take that door at the end."

The all ran to the very direction of the door and were about to reach that. But then, a few set of doors opened up and six Commando Zombies came out, charging straight to them with tentacle arms ready to strike. Cy came up in front and blew them all off with his chain gun. One by one, each Commando got killed by the barrage of armor piercing bullets. With the hall cleared, the group headed straight to the door with a sign that says, 'Excursion Funnels'. As the doors opened, they were all greeted by a few zombies lumbering around. Both Alex and Raven teamed up and used both their shotguns to shoot them down bit by bit. The room was clean of undead carcasses and the team looked around at everything. So far, they only saw a few terminals, a health station, and a storage locker. But they haven't found anything special.

Beast Boy: "Okay, we're here. What are we looking for again?"

Alex: "Something that might take us up to the second floor. Hopefully…"

They continued on searching, wondering if there is anything that would get them up. He then turned to one of the terminals and noticed a message that was on the big screen. He walked towards it and noticed it was a log entry about one of the inventions. He read the message and it says…

'Entry 15: Final Testing of Excursion Funnels

November 15, 2145

We're going to begin the final testing of the Excursion Funnels today and I got to admit, this was a great experience. For the past few months, we had to come up with a way for people to go up and down the different floors without having to wait for the elevator or taking the stairs. We created the Excursion Funnels to solve this problem. These funnels are created by using both an energy field from the Empro and plasma gel in the Alpha Labs. Once a person enters the funnel, it encases them in water-like walls that cause them to float to the direction. There are two types of colors, ones that are blue and ones that are orange, both colors that do the opposite of the other. We've also taken the liberty of making the funnels go in two different directions, one that goes up and down, the other going left and right just incase the people go from one building or area to another. There are a few issues with the funnels, some side effects like dizziness, nausea, and such, but they were temporarily. The last test subject will be here in a few hours, this will give us the time to put the final tweaks on our funnels. Once the tests are completed, we might be able to get a pass on the board and will distribute these funnels to Earth with a reliable price. I've already taken the liberty of putting some medical supplies in the storage cabinet incase our test subjects get some sickness during our experiments. The code to open it is 947.'

Al read through the note and finds all of it interesting. Funnels that can take people up and down, or left and right, without the use of elevators or stairs. That sounds very innovated. He then wondered if this type of technology would work with them getting to their destination. He then looks back at the storage locker that was closed and wondered if there's anything useful for them to use. He entered the code on the touch panel and the locker opened up. Inside is was not only a few health kits, but also a few clips for his machine gun, an ammo belt, and a case of two plasma cartridges. Observing each of the contents, Alex grabbed a few of them and while the team looked at the same message on the huge monitor.

Robin: "So, this lab is used to place people into the funnels and make them float?"

Alex: "More like making a person ascend or descend to one area they need to be. Looks like they were close to completing this experiment. That is of course until the invasion started and the demons killed everyone. What a waist…"

He put both the clips into the pack on his back and gave both the ammo belt and the plasma cartridges to Cyborg and Robin. Once they got the ammunition that they need, the guardian approached the terminal and one of the screens had an icon on it saying, 'Open Test Doors'.

Alex: "No matter what, we need to get to the place quick. This lab might take us to the place, if not a floor higher. Let's go check it out."

He clicked on the icon and the doors opened up for them to pass through. Once they passed the doors, they were surprised by the test chamber they're in. It was a narrow room that's one story up with an observation window on top and had two contraptions next to each other. On the floor and ceiling, there was some sort of spinning device that rotates around. One of them was working had a blue spiral cylinder that goes up. There was another that had a spiral cylinder that is orange and going down, but it was malfunctioning and the sphere was blinking on and off constantly. The team looked on and was amazed by all of it.

Cyborg: "Whoa! This looks amazing…"

Beast Boy: "So, what are we going to do with this?"

Alex got ahead of them and told them what he was able to put together.

Alex: "Well from what I could understand, anyone who enters these funnels would go up or down without any help from lifts or stairs. All we need to do is to jump into the funnel and the rest will do the work. I'll go first. Wish me luck!"

Quickly, Al ran straight to the funnel and was preparing for a jump. Once he reached his designated spot, and jumped high into the air and went into the funnel. The second he was in it, he could feel the inside of the funnel itself. At first it was like water the moment you jump in but once your inside, it almost feels both warm and squishy. Alex couldn't help but to laugh a little bit and was enjoying this type of feeling too much. But he could tell that the funnel was working as it took him up to the top. He looked down at his friends and told them to come on up.

Alex: "Come on guys! Get into the funnel! This feels great!"

Everyone looked at each other and thought this might be fun. So the boys ran up to the funnel to join Alex. However, the girls just stood there and didn't feel like doing it. Beast Boy stopped and noticed the girls not feeling excited by going there. So he told them to get in.

Beast Boy: "What are you girls waiting for? Let's go to the funnel!"

Both girls looked at each other then back at the Changeling, letting Raven respond to his request.

Raven: "Thanks for the offer Beast Boy but… Why take something that would take us up when we can fly?"

Starfire: "Raven is right friend Beast Boy. Why do not you go ahead with the others? We'll catch up with all of you."

BB looked at the two girls and felt completely unsure by their response. But he shrugged his shoulders and decided to let that pass.

Beast Boy: "Oh well… Your loss!"

He then ran straight to the funnel and jumped right into it. The girls watched as the boys were enjoying themselves in the funnel that was going up. Rae cocked an eyebrow and was annoyed by this.

Raven: "Boys…"

Both girls then flew up in the air and headed to the observation window. The boys were taking the funnel up to the same location. Once the two got up, they were in the higher lab and observation deck of the section. It looks just like any other lab and observation deck but there were some monitors malfunctioning and the doors that led to the hall was completely blocked off by some growth. Not only that, there were zombies all around the area. Alex quickly got his shotgun out and was getting serious.

Alex: "Looks like playtime's over. Mop them down!"

He pulled the trigger and opened two shots at the first undead monster that was close to him. The others follow suit as they use their weapons and powers destroy the others. In seconds, the entire place was cleaned out with the exception of the dead bodies strewn around. Alex then lowered his weapon and looked around to see if there was a way out of there. And with the door out of commission, he has to come up with another escape route. He looked around and noticed a side door that says, 'Maintenance Walkway'. Confident, he ran straight to the walkway's entrance while the team followed him. But as he was getting through there, he stopped dead in his tracks only to find out that the walkway was destroyed. He then saw the cause of the damage and it was some sort of spiked teeth with flames coming out of the middle. He then looked around and saw most of the room had the spiked teeth with flames along with the funnels that goes up, down, left, and right. Alex cussed to himself and didn't like it.

Alex: "Shit… I hate it when this happens."

Robin looked around too and couldn't help but to feel sorry for his friend.

Robin: "So, what are we going to do now?"

Alex checked to see if there were any alternate ways in getting out of there. He noticed that there was another observation lab on the other side and looked down at the different funnels that go in many directions. Thinking this through, he came up with a plan.

Alex: "Well, since our way straight is blocked off, we have to take an alternate way. Looks like the funnels here are working properly. If we can get use them, we might be able to reach the other side in no time. The problem is that there could be trouble close by and we need to be cautious."

He turned to Star and Rae and told them what to do.

Alex: "Starfire, Raven, you two will be our air support. Keep an eye out for anything that will kill us. With us being in the funnels, there is no telling if we will be vulnerable for any kind of attack. Watch our backs, got it?"

Both girls looked at each other then looked back, nodding in agreement. Satisfied that the girls would take care of them, Alex turned around and got ready to jump at the funnel that's beneath the edge.

Alex: "All right, I'll go in first. You boys go in after me. Make sure you got your weapons at the ready, cause you may never know what will come after us."

The boys nodded and were prepared for another attack. Once they got their weapons ready, Alex took a deep breath and got ready to jump.

Alex: "Okay, on three! One… Two… Three!"

He jumped off the damaged walkway and plunged right into the excursion funnel the moves slowly to the left. The others soon followed suit and jumped into the funnel as well. The girls then flew high in the air and moved to the middle to keep an eye on anything that's hostile. The boys looked around as well and found out there were nothing out of the ordinary. But then, small lightning bolts flashed all around them and multiple Lost Souls came out of them. Alex panicked and got his machine guns out.

Alex: "We got Lost Souls surrounding us! Take them out fast!"

All four of them got their weapons ready and took out the threats with bullets, plasma projectiles, and grabbing. The girls charged up their powers and used them to kill the others in a farther distance. They have managed to control this problem, but more and more of them keep appearing and were overwhelming the team. Few of the lost souls were able to bypass the barrage and headed straight to the boys that were in the funnel. But the moment they were in it with them, for some strange reason they won't move. It would appear that the funnel was preventing them from getting to the Titans. And even if they could get out, their movements are completely slow going. Beast Boy looked at this and couldn't help but to laugh it up.

Beast Boy: "Ha, ha, ha! Look at them! They can't move or get out of there!"

Alex observed this too and had a devious smile on his face.

Alex: "Looks like we got ourselves an advantage with these bastards. BB, pick them off!"

The changeling did that as he used his Grabber to grab the flaming skulls and let them go, killing them after the release. A few more skulls went to the funnel on the other side and went into it, unable to barely move. Robin saw this and used his plasma rifle to pick the demons off as well. The other Lost Souls tried to avoid the attacks and flew around in many directions. Unfortunate for them, they went into the other funnels and were stuck there in mere moments. This gave the Titans the chance as they threw everything at them to kill them off. Immediately, the room was clear and everyone was glad that was over.

Cyborg: "Well, that was easy. Who'd a thought that the guys would be vulnerable within the funnels?"

Alex: "Guess it was a matter of trial and error Cy. Those the demons are vicious, they know little about our tech."

The group continued to glide through the funnel until Alex spotted another funnel that's orange and goes down. He pointed to it and told them to get on it.

Alex: "There. Let's take that funnel."

Once they were next to that funnel, Alex swam to the end of the first one and jumped out of it, only to enter the one going down. Once he was in it, the others went into that funnel as well and were heading down to the ground. The girls remained in the air and kept watch on more demons that would appear. Nothing out of the blue until when the team reached the middle. More lightning bolts appear around them and this time, Cacodemons arrived at the scene. Alex pointed both machine guns at the demons and knew it was bound to happen.

Alex: "Looks like its Cacodemons this time. Get rid of them!"

They fired their weapons again and kill them all with ease. Then more come out and it's the same thing like before. The group kept on shooting and shooting to make sure they were all killed. Star and Rae kept on throwing their star bolts and aurora blasts at the bodiless demons and though the few that were hit and killed, the others scattered and avoided the firepower. For a minute, the battle went on and the team used anything in their power to kill the remaining demons. During that fight, the guardian spotted another funnel, only this time its blue and goes from the other side of the lab. He told the others to go that funnel.

Alex: "There's a funnel that goes to the other side of the room. Let's take it!"

They all jumped out of the funnel they were in and entered another funnel that will get them to the other side. As they were in that funnel, they continued their fight against the Cacodemons. With the hoard appearing more and more, the team was having a hard time getting the job done. That was until something unexpected happened. During the battler, one of the Cacodemons spat out an energy blast and it headed to the boys in the funnel. The blast missed the group but went into the funnel. But instead of going through it, it was stuck within the funnel and remained there for some time. Beast Boy saw this and took it to his advantage. He used his Grabber and aimed it at the levitated blast, pulling the trigger and grabbed it with the thin line of energy. With the blast in his possession, he moved it to the closest Cacodemon that was attacking. He then let go of the trigger and the blast was launch back at the bodiless demon, hitting and killing it in seconds. There was some Cacodemons that were injured but not down and were scattering away. They were about to leave until they reached a funnel that goes to the right. As they got into it, they were stuck and couldn't escape. Cyborg spotted them and decided now would be a good time to get rid of them. He opened his shoulder blades and fired his mini rockets, killing the injured group on impact. A couple of more blasts came out of nowhere and were going to reach the girls. Both Star and Rae avoided the attack while the blasts went into one of the excursion funnels. With the energy blasts stuck, Beast Boy took his opportunity to use his Grabber and grabbed each of them. He then used each of the projectiles and fired them on the demons that were close by, killing them on contact. Soon enough, the battle was going to the Titans side, as they were killing and destroying all the Cacodemons. With the last one out of the way, the group took a deep breath and glad that was over.

Beast Boy: "Man, this is so much fun!"

The Titan leader looked at the changeling and told him not to celebrate yet.

Robin: "Don't get too comfortable Beast Boy. There could be more coming this way and they'll be completely prepared. We better stay alert."

The guardian then looked at Robin and could agree with him.

Alex: "That's good words to go with Robin."

Once the boys approached the end of the lab, Alex spotted another funnel below them that's orange where it would take them to the right side of the lab. Once more, he told them to get on it.

Alex: "Jump down to that funnel."

The group did that as they came out of one funnel and falls into another. As always, they were sailing along nicely while the girls remained in the air still checking for any enemies. Alex looked up at the other side of the damaged walkway and thought they were going to get out of this place. He was sadly wrong as more lighting emanated out of everywhere. After the lightning bolts struck, both Cacodemons and Lost Souls came out of there and began their attack. Alex looked around the place and realized that it wasn't an easy thing to deal with.

Alex: "Looks like a combination of both now. Same routine gang! Destroy them!"

For the third time, they all start killing the flying hoards in any directions. The Lost Souls charged in to kill the flying threats up the ceiling. Raven formed a black bubble and protects herself and Starfire while the flaming skulls hit the shield and were killed on contact. More Lost Souls appeared and continued with attacking the girls in order to make the shield break apart. Alex and Robin saw this and used both their weapons to pick off some of them. All the while, the Cacodemons used their plasma blasts to launch at the boys. Both Cyborg and Beast Boy used their laser cannons and Grabber to pick them off one by one. Some of the blasts missed them but went into the funnel and remained there for an undisclosed period of time. BB took them with his Grabber and targeted them on any of the flying demons that were near. With less skulls out of the way, Raven removed the shield and the two flying Titans threw their star bolts and aurora blasts at the flaming skulls and bodiless demons. As the fight went on until the boys approached a blue funnel that goes up and to the damaged walkway on the other side. Alex alerted them to get into that one.

Alex: "We're almost there! We just need to go into one more funnel. Move!"

They all swam to the upward funnel and jump out one and into the other. The moment they entered the funnel that goes up they continued on with the attack. The boys kept on using their weapons to dispose of both the Cacodemons and the Lost Souls while the girls used their powers to mop up the rest. All the demons continued on with their assault and carefully avoided the funnels that would get them stuck and vulnerable. A small group of Cacodemons then jointed together and spat out their energy blasts at the same time. All the energy blasts formed together to create a huge enough blast that can destroy them all. This huge blast headed straight to the boys to kill them before they could leave. Beast Boy looked at that and wondered if his Grabber would work on that. So he pointed it to the direction of the huge projectile. Surprisingly, the thin line managed to get a hold of it. But the main problem was to fire something that big in the air where the girls are. So he looked down and saw a group of Lost Souls appearing below them, ready to attack. The changeling then moved the beam down and removed the trigger. The huge blast rocketed downward and killed all the flaming skulls in one hit. Another batch of skulls then appeared out of the blue and saw their comrades getting killed by the blast. Quickly, they all flew towards them and had their jaws opened for blood and flesh. Alex, Robin, and Cyborg pointed their weapons to them and fire on them before they could reach them. Those that weren't in the crossfire managed to scatter and regrouped for another attack. But they were in the air and the girls saw them go up there. They then threw their star bolts and Aurora blasts and killed the rest of them before they could ever reach the girls. As they were busy, a few Cacodemons approached them and fired more energy blasts at them. Raven can sense them and raised her hand in front of them to create a black wall, deflecting the attack. She then waved her other hand and engulfed the bodiless demons in the same dark energy. The telepath then fling them to the other funnels, making them vulnerable to any attack. Cyborg noticed it and used his sonic cannon to kill them off one at a time. Finally after five minutes of grueling attacks, the room was clear and there were no demons present. Alex looked around and was glad that was over with.

Alex: "Oh man… That was a mess."

He looked up and saw that they were getting nearer to the walkway. He told the boys about it.

Alex: "The walkway is coming up. Get ready to jump as soon as we're over it."

So the team waited for the moment to get on the catwalk. Once they reached the spot, they all swam out of the funnel and jumped down to the walkway one at a time. With them in a safe spot, the guardian signaled the girls to join with them. The girls nodded and flew to their position. Once the group was together, they all left the testing area and entered another lab, which was strangely clear of any undead and monstrous entities. With that said, they all turned to the right and entered the hallway to the second floor. Once there, Alex told them what to do next.

Alex: "This must be the second floor. Now we have to find another way in getting to the third. One of these labs could have a way up. Let's start searching!"

The group then walked down the hallway just so they can begin their search. There were two doors on both sides of the hall, but one on the left was sealed up tight and the hall was blocked off by some kind of fire. So that means that the only option they have left is the door to the right. They all headed to the door and were about to enter it. However, they heard loud roars coming from where they are and stopped them in an instant. Being what that meant, they waited until it was the right time to fire on them. After a few seconds, two lightning bolts came out close to them and two Wraiths were there ready to cut them up. Robin, who was in the front, got his R-Sword out and blocked the attempted strike from high above. He then did a spinning back kick push the demon out of the way. The demon shrieked and disappeared in a lightning bolt. Being that it disappeared into hiding, Alex decided to finish it and took out his shotgun to wait for it to appear again. It appeared again and to kill the team. But its life was cut short as Alex shot Wraith right in the face and killed it in an instant. The second Wraith appeared behind them and wanted to do a sneak attack. Cyborg was behind and used his metal arm to block off the attack. It was scratched, but it he was able to move it. After blocking the attack, he fought back by giving a straight punch to the face. The demon tumbled back and was a little dazed. It was going to attack again, but Cy activated his sonic cannon and ripped the creature apart. With both of them dead, the team continued to reach the door that was unlocked. As they enter, they were in the commons room with two tables and a bunch of chairs, two vending machines, a kitchen area, a television monitor to watch some news, and two arcade games in one corner. Of course this place suffered much damage as one of the vending machines was broken, demonic growth seeped out of the TV and spreading through the ceiling, and the TV was showing a red pentagram blinking on and off. The group looked around and noticed there was no one present at the time. That is until a few Z-Sec guards popped out of their hiding spots and started to fire away with their machine guns. Alex ducked down and avoided the bullets while the team rolled out of the way. Robin took out a birderang and flings it at the zombies. With one quick curve, the bladed projectile went around the room and cut off each of the Z-Secs heads. With all of them dead, Alex got up and congratulates the Titan leader on a job well done.

Alex: "Nice work Robin!"

Robin looks back at him and smiled on the job he did. As he got up, he noticed PDA that's left on the table, preferably from someone who panicked and left without it. Curious about this, he decided to see what's in it. In that PDA he noticed an audio log that says 'Ariel Faith Plate Flaw.' Wondering about that, he pushed the 'play' button on the pad and listened in on the log.

"Audio log of Jeffery Doner, dated November 13th 2145.

The Arial Faith Plates we were testing were quite a remarkable feat. You see there are always multiple hazardous areas around both Mars and Earth and in order to keep people safe, we needed a way to get them out of harms way. These Faith Plates were the solution. You see, if you put the right weight and angle, the person can be launched up high in the air to avoid any dangerous environments and land safely on the other side. There is one minor problem with the plates. By minor I mean something incredibly serious. Though the launch on all the tests was successful, it was the landing that is a bit off. Those who couldn't land properly suffer susceptible injuries. We had test subjects that suffered from broken backs, twisted knees, shatter hands, even the occasional head concussions. Luckily, these injuries aren't fatal and there were no deaths recorded, so we took them to the medical wing to make sure they are treated well. But this brings up the whole problem with the landing with the Faith Plates. If we don't find a way for people to land on the other side safely, we won't be able to distribute the plates to the public. I'm going to contact the safety committee to solve this problem. Maybe I should talk with the boys that are working on the Excursion Funnels. Their technology might help us. Should run to one of them and ask if I could borrow some of their funnels.

End of log"

Alex listened into the log and finds it pretty interesting. These Ariel Faith Plates he hard about is something new and yet he never hear about. And judging by the audio log, he wondered if that could help them reach the next floor. Thinking it would be a great opportunity; he set the PDA aside and told the team to keep moving.

Alex: "Let's hurry guys. I think I know where to go to get to the next floor."

They all then left the commons room and turned to the left to go through another door. Once they reenter the hallway, they noticed a wall of misshapen ribs in front of them. Thinking that the growth was spreading faster then expected, they turned to the left again and approached the middle of the hall where there's a four-way intersection. But just as they were getting there, orange lightning appeared and an Archvile came out of it shrieking for blood. The team was ready for an attack only to hear the sound of lightning crashing from behind them. They all turned around and noticed another Archvile standing in their rear. The guardian knew what they were going to do and told Raven what to do.

Alex: "Raven, get us out of here!"

The telepath nodded and waved her hands around. In that moment, they were incased in a black ball and fazed through the floor. At the same time, the humanoid demons shot out a line of flames that were going to hit the team. Unfortunately, they missed them and the flames hit each other, burning the demons into a crisp until all that's left was ash. Once the two dissolved to nothing, the black dome appeared in the middle of the floor and opened up to reveal the Titans still in one piece. Alex looked at what's left of the creatures and gave off a deep sigh.

Alex: "Phew… That was too close for comfort."

The group then noticed another directory for the second floor and observed where they need to be next.

Robin: "So, where do we go now? With the elevator out of order, our options are limited."

Alex looked at each of their options to find the one place they need to be. That's when he spotted a sign that says, 'Ariel Faith Plates' with an arrow pointing to the right. Confident, he pointed to that sign and told the team where to go next.

Alex: "Let's take this lab. Follow me!"

They all turned to the right and were heading to the very lab that can get them up. As they were running, two walls in front of them exploded and a small group of Vulgars came out of them, charging their fireballs and throwing them at the group. They all ducked the attack as both Robin and Cyborg got their weapons out and began firing. In seconds, a barrage of bullets and plasma hit the small group and killed them all. The two lowered their weapons and thought it was all over. But as they were going to relax, a green fireball came out of the smoke and hurtled towards them. The two panicked and didn't have the time to react fast enough. But Beast Boy got through them and used his Grabber to get a hold of the green ball of flames. He then waited for the smoke to clear and saw the last Vulgar that was hiding from the smoke. The creature was going to throw another one at them, but BB let go of the trigger and sent the first one back to its designated target. It got hit once the projectile got connected and killed the demon. Now that all the beasts are away, Beast Boy lift his Grabber up and acted like he was Rambo.

Beast Boy: "Oh yeah! That's what you get when you mess with the mighty Beast Boy!"

Everyone just stared at him and had sweat drops pouring down their heads.

Raven: "You are so full of it Beast Boy…"

Alex then shook his head and began to tell the changeling to cut it out.

Alex: "Don't get too cocky Beast Boy, we still have a ways to go. Now let's move!"

The group kept on running until they approached the door right in front of them with a sign above it that says, 'Ariel Faith Plates.' As they approached the door, it opened up and a fat zombie was waiting in front of them, swinging a wrench. Alex got his shotgun out and fire two bucks at the undead's chest, creating a huge hole right through it. It fell flat on its back and was dead in mere seconds. Soon enough, the gang entered the lab and searched for another way through. Alex looked straight and notice that there was an observation window. He pointed to the window and told them to check it out.

Alex: "Over there!"

He and the others approached the window to another testing area. In this testing area, there were two different platforms left to right and in the middle were a wide line of spikes. At the end of the left side was a mechanism with a cylinder curve like shape and a light blue circle in the middle and on the end of the right side is a targeting marker for landing. The group wondered what this lab was used for. That's when they noticed a zombie lumbering around the lab, getting closer to the strange device at the end of the ledge. The moment it stepped on the device it was activated and caused it to launch the zombie to the other side. The undead being was flying high into the air and landed on the ground back first and his body was splattered completely killing it. The team was wide eye and was completely shocked and scared by this.

Beast Boy: "Dudes! Did you all saw what I saw? That thing was flying!"

Cyborg: "Yeah, we all saw that BB. What just happened?"

Alex observed this too and told them what it was.

Alex: "That must be the Arial Faith Plates."

The team turned to their guardian and had confused looks on their faces. Al sighed to himself and started to explain.

Alex: "I got a hold of one of the PDA's back at the commons room and there was an audio log that discussed about the Faith Plates. It says that once you step on it, it would send you flying from one place to another. The one flaw they have is that they were having a hard time on the landing part of the test. They were trying to fix that problem, but since this invasion started they weren't able to finish this."

Robin: "So why are we here anyways?"

Alex: "Well, after studying the log I figured that what better way to get to the next floor then by using the Arial Faith Plates."

The group looked at each other and thought he was completely crazy.

Robin: "You want us to get on those plates…"

Alex: "Yep."

Robin: "Just to reach the next floor…"

Alex: "Uh huh."

There was a bit of silence until Robin told him one thing he might be aware of.

Robin: "Are you crazy! Didn't you say that they were working on the landing, being that could be some injuries involved? How are we going to pull this off?"

Alex looked at the Titan leader and smirked.

Alex: "I think I have a way to avoid this type of situation. Let's just get to the testing area and I'll explain once we get there."

The guardian looked at the terminal and spotted a monitor that would open the testing doors. Once he clicked on the 'Open Test Door' icon, the door to the left opened up. The group quickly get in the testing area and were near the faith plate. Alex was first at bat as he started to talk to them about his plan.

Alex: "All right, here's what we need to do. I'm going to step on the plate and it will send me to the other side. What we need is some way to land on the other side properly. That's where you come in Raven. I need you to form something soft and easy to land on. Think you can do that?

Rae looked at the other side of the chamber then back at Alex for a simple nod.

Raven: "I think I'll try."

Alex: "Good. Now get ready. I'm going to be the first one to cross."

He slowly approached the platform form and stopped at the edge of it. He then took a deep breath and started giving her and word.

Alex: "Ready Rae? On three, I'll get on the platform to be launched then you will form something soft to comfort the fall. Now on three. One. Two. Three!"

The moment he stepped on the platform, the faith plate launched upwards, sending him flying to the other side. Raven immediately waved her hand at the other side and black energy shaped like a pillow appeared at the spot where the guardian was going to land. At the same time, Alex reached the other side and landed on the pillow Rae made. He could feel the softness of the pillow and was amazed at how comfortable it was. He quickly got off the pillow and landed on the floor and looked on the other side where the team was, waving his hand and telling them to go with it.

Alex: "See? Worked like a charm! Step on up!"

Everyone looked at each other and wondered who would go on it. Then Robin came up with a solution.

Robin: "Cyborg and I will take the Faith Plate. Think the three of you can fly to the other side?"

Star, Rae, and BB looked at the other side and knew that there was no harm in doing something like that. Raven then looked at the Titan leader and nodded.

Raven: "I think we don't have a problem with that."

Rob nodded back and approached the plate. Taking a deep breath, he stepped on it and the platform popped out, sending him flying to the other side. Again, the pillow comfort his fall as he reaches the other side. Once he got to that side, Cy was up. He stepped into the plate and he too was launched to the other side of the area. The pillow the telepath created saved him from a fatal impact. With the three on the other side safely, Rae removed the magical pillow as she and her friends flew to the other side with Beast Boy turning into a hawk. The three flew to the other side and landed on the ground. With everyone on the other side, Alex looked at the team and started to talk to them.

Alex: "So far so good. But we still need to find a way up. Let's hurry before Betruger knows where we're going."

They were about to leave, until they all heard Betruger's voice again.

Dr. Betruger: "Going somewhere?"

They then heard lightning bolts from behind and turned around to see a group of Revenants on the side they were on. They all fired their rockets right at the team and were heading straight towards them. Raven used a black wall to stop the projectiles from reaching them. With that out of the way, Cyborg armed his shoulder cannons and fired his own missiles. They all flew towards the demons and killed half of them the moment they got connected. The rest managed to survive the attack, only to get minor splash damage. This gave the others the chance to strike while they were still dazed. Alex and Robin got both their weapons at the ready and fired at the remaining hoard. With all of them dead, Alex groaned to himself and orders the Titans to leave.

Alex: "Apparently Betruger does know of where we're going. Move it! We have to get out of here now!"

Quickly, everyone ran to the door in front of them and entered some kind of checkpoint. But as they were in there they noticed growth covering half the room and in front of them stood a stone door with an archway of a huge demon skull above it. Everyone looked up at it and knew it wasn't a good sign. But they knew they have to keep pushing forward. So they walked up to the door as it opened in front of them. When they entered the next chamber, they were shocked at what they saw. They noticed that Hell had taken over that part of the facility. Metal walls were replaced with stone and rock, skulls of different kinds were dotted on parts of the walls, ceilings had sharp spikes on them, and there was lava around the floor. Luckily, there were Arial Faith plates on parts of lab and they were working properly. There were also Faith Plates that were on the walls. The others kept starring and didn't know what to do.

Cyborg: "Man, this is getting worse and worse by the second. We really need to get out of here and fast."

Alex: "That I could agree with you Cy. Let's hope we can get to the Ark in time."

The guardian approached the Arial Faith Plate in front of them and wondered if it was working. Curious, he noticed a rock next to his feet. So he picked it up and checks to see if the plates were actually working. So he dropped the rock and let it fall onto the plate. The moment it dropped to the floor, the platform popped open and the rock flew to the air and into another Faith Plate. Then another. Then another. Looking at the rock skipping by the platforms, Alex smirked and knew this was perfect.

Alex: "Well, at least the faith plates are working. And by the looks of it, it's going in a pattern. We might still have a chance to get to the next floor."

He turned to the others and told them what he was thinking.

Alex: "Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, your with me on the plates. Star and Rae, you will be out air support again. We might be in the air, but we'll be vulnerable for a moment. We might need your help incase there are surprises at any corner. You think you can keep your eyes open?"

The girls looked at the hellacious place and could tell it could be a little hard for them to keep their eyes open. But with the boys flying around not knowing what would happen around them, they need to take care of them under these predicaments. So the two nodded in unison. Alex smiled and knew that they would handle the job. The guardian was inches away from the platform and continued talking.

Alex: "Okay, same as before. I'll go first. You three will go after me. Let's go!"

They went on the platform and were sent flying once it launched him into the air. The others soon followed as they got on the Faith Plates and were taken to the air. After that, the girls flew up in the air and followed the boys, keeping their eyes peeled for anything hostile. The boys landed on another platform that went to the left and flew to that direction. They then hit another plate that goes straight and another goes to the left. But the one going to the left has pointed to a steep wall. But luckily, there was a Faith Plate on the wall. Once they hit that plate, it launched them higher and over a lava waterfall. From there, they landed on another plate and went straight once more. The girls continued to follow them as they check the area to find any enemies. As they reached the next section of the testing chamber, orange lightning bolts appeared around the alcoves and pillar like stands. Soon enough, multiple Revenants showed up out of the blue and were surrounding the flying group. Star and Rae saw this and knew it was bad.

Raven: "An army of Revenants. Just our luck…"

Starfire: "We need to keep them off our friends backsides!"

Raven: "I could agree with you."

So the two flew through the air and were beginning their attack. At the same time the boys were flying around bumping through one Faith Plate after another. Alex noticed one of the skeleton soldiers and knew this was troubling.

Alex: "Looks like Betruger is trying to attack us while we're flying. I hope the girls can take care of them."

Group then landed on a platform that goes to the right and was launched to that direction. One Revenant was close by and decided to strike them down. It fired its rockets on them and with their heat seeking technology, follows the team around. They were getting close to them and were about to blow them up. But then a small black wall appeared between the boys and the rockets and blew up once hitting the wall. The demon saw this and looked around to see who did that. That's when it saw the two girls flying close by. Upset about this, it targets them and fired its rockets. Raven formed another wall in front of her and her friend and deflected the rockets quickly. She then removed the shield as Star threw her star bolts at the skeleton soldier. The demon had no time avoiding the attack since it was on a pillar and fell into the lava pit after getting hit multiple times. With it dead, the girls looked around and noticed there were more they need to take care of. So Raven came up with an idea.

Raven: "Starfire, let's split up! I'll take the left, you go right! Move!"

Star nodded as the two began to split up and covered more ground and enemies. In the meantime, the boys continued to fly around like there's no tomorrow, launching from one faith plate to another. All the Revenants followed them and fired their rockets right towards them. All the rockets headed to them until Starfire shot each of them down with her projectiles. All the demons watched as their rockets were destroyed and looked up to see the Tamaranean high in the air. They then turned to her and fired their missiles at her. Star quickly flew around in many directions, letting the rockets follow her in everyway. While she was doing that, she used her eyebeams to shoot down a few Revenants. And when the time was right, she approached one of the demons and flew past it, letting some of the rockets hit the demon with sheer force. The boys went of the left side and continued to land on one platform after another. The second group of Revenants did that same thing and fired their own rockets. But then multiple black walls appeared and blew the rockets up once impacted. They too look up to see the telepath in the air and fired their rockets at her. She cocked a grin as her eyes glowed white. Within seconds, black portals appeared around her and sucked the rockets into them and disappeared. The Revenants were confused and wondered what happened to their weapons. That's when black portals appeared behind them and the rockets came out of there. The group wasn't aware of them as the projectiles hit them and exploded, killing them either by impact or falling into lava. Alex watched on and was impressed by the two defending he and the others. As they were flying in the air, one of the Revenants caught them and fired its missiles at them. But Star was close by as well and used her eye beams to not only destroy the rocket but the skeleton soldier as well. Another Revenant saw this and decided on revenge as it fired its one set at the girl. As they were reaching her however, the rockets were incased in black energy and instantly stopped. The demon looked at that and had no idea what just happened. That's when the rocketed turned around and were aimed at it. The Revenant freaked out and didn't know what to do. Being it's in an enclosed cave with no way in, it was completely vulnerable. The rockets was launched right back at the skeleton solider. The rockets then exploded and killed the demon prior of impact. When the smoke cleared, Raven flew down and was successful of her accomplishment. The battle continued as the girls fired everything at the skeletons while they defended their friends. Meanwhile the boys were gliding through the air by jumping onto one faith plate after another and another. But when they reached the end of the chamber, the group head to the one faith plate that would take them to a different path. The moment they landed on it, they were lifted high into the air and through a linear shaft from above. They were then bounced around by other platforms that go in a diagonal shape and were turned to make them spin around the shaft. The girls looked up and realized that their friends have already left the scene.

Raven: "Looks like our team went ahead of us."

Starfire: "We must do the catching up fast before they get killed!"

Raven: "Then let's hurry!"

They then flew to the shaft and went in it, taking down a few more demons along the way. As they reached up, they entered the third chamber of the Arial Faith Plates. As always it was the same thing but this time, there was some kind of observation window on the high wall to the left. The girls saw this and wondered if that's their way out. Suddenly, they all heard the voice and Alex screaming out loud.

Alex: "Girls! Over here!"

The two turned to the right and saw the others flying on one end thanks to the plates. Alex continued to scream and told them what to do.

Alex: "That observation deck is our way out! We need to get there and leave this twisted place! Raven, can you create something that can comfort our fall once we get there?"

The telepath looked at the windows of the observation deck and knew she could do that. She turned back to him and nodded in approval.

Alex: "Good! Now I want you in position! I'll let you know when I want you to do it! Go!"

Raven nodded again and was about to fly to the direction of the observation window. But just as she was going to do that, more clouds appeared along with some lightning bolts and more Revenants appeared. Rae looked around and completely cussed to herself.

Raven: "Damn…"

But Star looked at her and told her she got it.

Starfire: "I will handle the moving skeletons. You need to get to that window and wait for our friends to come there."

The telepath looked at her and agreed with her.

Raven: "All right… Be careful…"

Star smiled from that response.

Starfire: "You too."

Soon enough, the two separate and took different directions, Raven to the observation deck while

Star took on the demons themselves. She went into the air and fired multiple star bolts in many directions. She took out half of them while the rest avoided the projectiles. Few of the skeleton soldiers target the boys flying and fired their rockets at them. Star saw this and swooped down between her friends and the missiles. The projectiles detected her and turned to her directions, following her all around. The Tamaranean flew through different directions and turned swift and fast just to get away from them. Still, they managed follow her no matter where she goes. Star looked around and wondered where she needs to go to get rid of them. That's when she noticed a group of Revenants in one of the enclosed caves that wont let them escape. Thinking this is a good opportunity to use their weapons against them, she flew straight to them and waited for the right time pull this off. The skeleton soldiers looked at her and wondered what she was up to. They didn't even realize that there were heat-seeking rockets behind her. Star drew closer and closer until she was at the right time and place to pull this off. She flew up to the air and while at the same time the rockets headed straight to the Revenants. The group panicked and have very little time to avoid it. The rockets hit them and they were all killed in the explosion. As she flew away from the blast, she went back on the attack on the other demons. This time, she was using her eyebeams to rip them apart piece by piece. As she was fighting, Raven was at the observation deck, waiting for the right moment to get her friends into the lab safely. She kept watching the other Titans jumping on one faith plate going right and another going straight. She also spotted another few Revenants near them and they were ready to fire their missiles at them. She checked the place and spotted Starfire still busy with the others and didn't pay any attention to the rest that were near her teammates. With her friend completely busy, the telepath needs to think of something fast before they would get killed. She quickly waved her hands and formed multiple black walls around the flying team the same time the Revenants fired their rockets. The rockets hit the shield and prevented them from destroying the team. The Azarathian then waved her hands a bit more and formed portals below the skeleton soldiers feet. The demons fell through the portal and disappeared in an instant. But that didn't stop Raven. After the group disappeared, she formed portals above the lava flow with the flick of her wrist. With the portals appeared, the demons fell out of them and into the pool of lava, burning up completely. Once that was out of the way, she concentrated on the group that was trying to reach the observation deck. The boys continued to bounce back and forth, left to right, and whatever way possible. After going back, left, forward right, and forwards, they were close to the observation deck. But there was a problem. There was one Arial Faith Plate that would've taken them somewhere. But the platform was extremely damaged and half of it was sinking into the lava. Knowing this, Alex knew it would be the right time to tell Raven to get them out of there. So he told her as quickly as possible.

Alex: "Raven? I think now would be a good time to get us out of this place!"

Raven looked down and saw the boys reaching the end of the line. Knowing this, she raised her hands and started to chant her words.

Raven: "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

In a matter of seconds, a black portal appeared above the broken faith plate and the team plunged right in. The moment they disappeared, the telepath placed her hand in to the observation deck and another portal appeared on the ceiling. Not only that, but another black pillow was on the floor. The moment she got everything ready, the Titans came out of the ceiling portal and landed on the pillow one at a time, comforting their fall. Once everyone was safe, Raven turned to Starfire and told her to hurry.

Raven: "Starfire! Everyone is safe. Let's get out of here!"

Star was busy handling all the Revenants herself, but she was able to hear her friend's voice. She turned to the observation deck and saw her friend flying into the portal she created. Nodding, she concentrated on all the demons and her body glow green. Suddenly, she exploded in a bright green light and killed every Revenant that was all around her. With all of them dead, Star flew towards the portal and went right through it. Both Raven and Starfire managed to enter the observation deck while the telepath waved her hand and removed both portals and the pillow she created. Once everyone made it to the third floor and were all-safe, Beast Boy got a little over excited and enjoyed what he had experienced.

Beast Boy: "Woo hoo! That was so much FUN! Can we do that again?"

Everyone just looked at him and gave him a bit of a glare. BB just stared at them and realized that they didn't want to go through all that trouble all over again. He just placed his hand over his head and chuckled a little bit while a sweat drop came down his head.

Beast Boy: "Heh heh… Never mind…"

Alex rolled his eyes around and went back to business.

Alex: "Well at least we're in level three. One more floor and we'll be at the Ark in no time. Let's find another way out."

They were about to leave to the door until they felt the room beginning to shack. The group was startled by this and were regaining their footing. They then turned to the back and spotted three platforms rising to their level. Then red lightning bolts flashed down on them and three Mancubuses came out and roared at them. Alex and shocked by this as they pointed their mounted cannons at them. They turned to Raven and told her to protect them.

Alex: "Cover us!"

The demons fired their fiery blasts at them, breaking through the windows in the process. Raven got in front of her friends and placed a wall in front of them. The blasts were deflected but the huge beasts continued to fire away. The wall then begins to break apart and on the verge of being destroyed. But this gave the team the time needed to escape.

Alex: "Everyone through the door! Go, go, go!"

They all went through the opened door and made their quick escape. Raven then backed up and exit the lab too the same time the shield was broken through and the large projectiles destroyed the lab. With everyone out, the guardian took his shotgun out and blast the touch screen terminal to lock the door. The terminal sparked out of control as the door sealed itself off completely. The group took a breather and was glad they escaped that mess.

Cyborg: "Man, that was too close to call."

Alex: "Tell me about it. Betruger really wants to kill us. And the more we stay, the more he tries. We better hurry fast before he pulls something more devastating."

The group looked around and walked down the hallway. As they were walking, they noticed some growth seeping through the ceilings and the lights were slowly flickering. Cautiously, they slowly walked using their weapons to scan the hall. Still, there was nothing around yet as the group reaches the middle of the floor where the directory is located. The moment they reached it, three clouds hovered in three separate halls and brought three Pinkies into the fold. They all roared and charged to the group. Both Alex, Robin, and Cyborg drew their weapons out and fired away on the three bull monsters. All three of them were killed by the bullets and plasma the group gave them. With them dead, the three teammates reloaded their weapons and they all approached the directory. Robin rubbed his chin and wondered where they should go next.

Robin: "Now lets see… Where should we go to get to the forth floor? There must be a couple of good options. One of them has to work."

Alex scanned each section and found a perfect place to make another alternate route. One of the labs on the directory said 'Solar Light Bridge' and it was pointing to the left. He pointed to that and told them where to go.

Alex: "Looks like I found the right place to go. Something called the Solar Light Bridge. Might take us up to the fourth floor."

Robin: "Then lets head there."

Alex: "There's just one problem. The directory says that we need to take the hallway to our left."

He and the others turned to the left and spotted debris and damaged metal blocking their way.

Alex: "And from the looks of it, our way is completely blocked off."

Beast Boy: "So, how are we going to get there?"

Al looked back at the directory and wondered if there was another way through. Skimming through, he noticed another lab that's marked 'Thermal Discouragement Beam' and pointing straight, or to his case left. Raising an eyebrow, he came up with another idea.

Alex: "Another shortcut of course. This way!"

He ran to the left and down the next hallway while the others looked on and followed him. The group ran as fast as they could and approached a door that goes to another left, the very same direction of where the light bridge lab is located. They were going to turn to the right until two alcoves opened up in front of them and two zombies with chainsaws approached them. Alex got his shotgun out and was going to take them down.

Alex: "I got this!"

He was going to shoot them until they heard two more clanks from behind them. They all turned around and saw two more Chainsaw Zombies heading towards them from behind. Beast Boy gulped and was a little on edge by this.

Beast Boy: "Uh, dude… I don't think so."

Alex looked back and forth to see the zombies surrounding them with their chainsaws at the ready. Thinking of no other options, the guardian thought of one thing and one thing only.

Alex: "Everyone into the lab! Go, go, go!"

The group rushed in and got into the lab in no time. The undead ran towards them and were about to cut them up. But just as they were doing that, the door closed in on them and sealed up completely, preventing them to enter. In the lab, Cyborg shot the door access terminal, destroying it completely. With the door locked, Alex rested on the armchair and breath out.

Alex: "That was too close. At lease we made it to the lab."

He opened his eyes and spotted the Titans starring at something completely shocking.

Alex: "Hey! What's everyone looking at?"

Everyone remained silent until Raven spoke up.

Raven: "Um… You might want to take a look at this."

He swiveled around to see the lab and saw it was completely complicated. What he saw was completely baffling. Inside is what appears to be another testing chamber; there were multiple beams of red light on the walls, ceiling, floor and all around the place. The red lights were shining bright and they looked extremely hot. Cyborg looked on and was amazed of all of it.

Cyborg: "Well that's quite interesting. What is all of it?"

Alex: "This must be the Thermal Discouragement Beam. Looks like that are used for some sort of security purposes. I wonder how good they are?"

Robin wondered that too and came up with a solution. He took a birdarang out of his utility belt and positioned it ready to throw.

Robin: "Let me try something."

He then threw the projectile at the beams and broke through the observation window in the process. The birdarang hits one of the beams and went through it. The moment it went through, the birdarang broke apart into a few pieces and rained down on the floor. Everyone watched it and saw scared by the unexpected occurrence.

Beast Boy: "There is no way I'm going through all of that!"

Cyborg: "I could agree with BB over this. Look at those beams! They are going to rip us to shreds! How are we going to get through that?"

Alex thought about that too and checked the terminal to see if there's anything useful. Scanning through his options, he spotted what appears to be a monitor suggesting to turn off the beams. Smiling about that, he decided to deactivate the beams. But just as he was going to do that, he spotted something else. Next to the monitor that operates the beams, there was another monitor with what appears to be a complaint e-mail. Curious, he looked at the complaint e-mail and reads it. It states…

'Gamma Labs Board,

As head of the Thermal Discouragement Beam team, I'm completely upset by this. Maintenance was fixing the system in our terminal to shut off the beams. But instead of putting together an on and off system, we get a timer system. To make matters seriously worse, this timer is set to one minute! Now I know we're low on maintenance crewmembers since most of them are repairing everything in Delta, but there our other labs that would need more repair. The reason we needed an on and off system is that we need to control the environment for our testers and for immediate repair on any malfunctioning beams. Having a timer in our terminal, and set to a minute of all limits, makes is hard for testers to make it out of there alive. Not to mention that my team won't have time to make any repairs what so ever! Hell, one of my colleges was fixing a beam that was sparking and the moment the time limit went off, his body was ripped to a thousand pieces! It wasn't a pretty site… I've decided to put all remaining testing and maintenance on hold until all this is fixed. The last thing I want is more casualties cause of this_'

And it stopped right there. Alex's guess that this person was writing this email the day of the invasion and this person didn't finish it and was probably killed. But reading the email, he realized this is a good thing, but also a bad one as well. Rubbing the temples of his head, he didn't know what to do. He turned on in the chair and told them about what he was reading.

Alex: "Well guys, I got good news and bad news. Good news is that I can shut down the Discouragement Beams."

Everyone looked at each other and was relieved by this. Robin then looked at him and wondered about the other one.

Robin: "And the bad news?"

The guardian looked back at the terminal and returned to the team and give him something they won't like.

Alex: "Bad news is this terminal has a fixed timer in their system. That's not the bad part of it. The bad part is that this timer is set to one minute. Meaning we have very little time to reach the end of the lab. If we don't, well… Let's just say that would be cut up to bits."

Once again everyone looked at each other. But this time they weren't happy about it, instead, they were frightened. The changeling gulped and didn't like any of it.

Beast Boy: "On man… This is not our day."

But Raven looks at that and thinking that maybe it could work.

Raven: "I think we might have a chance. The chamber isn't that big and we could run through it quickly."

Alex: "True… But then there's the problem of the fact that there could be demons that would block our way. That would complicate things."

Robin rubbed his chin and could agree with both Rae and Al on what they say.

Robin: "In either case, this is the only way we could get through. Let us hurry before we get into more trouble."

But then they heard a loud rattling sound coming from behind. They all turned around and spotted a chainsaw bursting through metal door and cutting it. Obviously the group of Chainsaw Zombies are trying to get through and were using the chainsaw to open the door up. Knowing this would be bad, Robin finished with what he was saying.

Robin: "And the sooner we leave, the better."

Alex nodded and went back to the terminal, and clicked on the 'Beam Shut Down' icon. With that taken care of, the screen now showed a time limit on the chamber counting down from one minute. Alex turned around and told his friends he got it going.

Alex: "Got the beams offline. But now we got about a minute in getting to the other side. We better make a break for it before the timer goes out! Now run!"

He got off the chair and entered the chamber with the others following behind. The moment they entered the chamber, they made a mad dash to the exit on the other side. But as they were running, a few lightning bolts popped around and a bunch of Imps appeared out of the blue to kill them. Since they have little time, the group attacked them head on. Alex got both of his machine guns out and takes down half the opposition. With both his clips empty, he got out of the way and let Robin handle the others with his plasma rifle. Projectile after projectile of blue plasma, the Titan leader took them down hard and fast. But just as he was going to finish, his gun was out of ammo too. So it's all up to Cyborg on getting rid of the rest. With his chain gun ready, he let the drum roll and a large amount of bullets were flying like crazy. All the remaining Imps got ripped apart bit by bit and they were soon dead. There was one more demon to take care of and Cy was going to dispose of it. But the moment he pulled the trigger, he noticed that the gun wouldn't respond. He looked at the gauge of his weapon and realized it was all out. Freaking out, he didn't know what to do. The Imp then charged a fireball and threw it at the team, hoping to hit one of them. But Beast Boy pushed his hybrid friend and used his Grabber to take the projectile in mid air. Once he got a hold of it, he positioned it and fired it back at the creature. It quickly avoided the projectile with its amazing agility and used its legs to jump back up. It was going to throw another fireball until it got shot right to the chest. It fell down and died by burning of ash. The person who shot down the creature was none other then Alex who used his shotgun loaded with two shells at the demonic entity. With all the threats out of the way, the guardian told the others to keep running.

Alex: "Times a ticking boys and girls! Let's reach the end!"

The group kept on running and noticed the end of the chamber a few feet away. But then, a door in the other side of the lab opened up and three security zombies came out of there with their machine guns in tow. They pulled the trigger open fire as the bullets break through the glass and were sailing towards the team. Raven let up her shield and protect her team from the incoming onslaught. Once the guards started to reload their weapons, this gave Starfire the opening she needed. When Rae lowered her shield, Star flew towards the group and used her eyebeams to take them all down in one swift cut to their waist. With them out of the way, the door to the lab opened up and the team made it to the other side. Everyone took a quick breather and were glad they were out of that place. Alex took a look at the other monitor that had the timer and realized they managed to get out of there with just fifteen seconds to spare. Observing this, he smiled and was pleased with the results.

Alex: "Talk about cutting it close. At least we made it."

As they were going to relax, they all heard a loud bang on the other end of where they were. The all looked up and spotted the Chainsaw Zombies that managed to cut the door opened and headed through the lab. The others witnessed it and positioned whatever they have at the group, but Alex told them to stop.

Alex: "Stand down! All of you stand down! Let these bastards chase us. This should be interesting."

The group looked at him and wondered if he was crazy. But then they noticed the zombies entering the chamber and realized the beams were about to be activated via the timer. So they immediately knew what their guardian was doing. The zombies ran through the chamber and headed straight to the group with their chainsaws a buzzing. They didn't have a clue that there was a timer as it was counting down to '5, 4, 3, 2, 1'. In seconds, the monitor blinked with a message that says, 'Warning: Discouragement Beams activated.' At the same time, the undead beings were at the middle of the room not fully aware of what is going to happen. All the beams were activated covered the entire chamber. The zombies were then caught by the beams and were cut up into chunks along with their chainsaws. With the group all chopped up into pieces thanks to the beams, Alex watched on and couldn't help but to laugh.

Alex: "You know, that's the thing I like about the zombies. Though they might attack you, they're too stupid to know what's bound to happen next.'

He shrugged his shoulders and told his friends that they still need to get to their destination.

Alex: "Now that we got that out of the way, time we get to the forth floor. Move out!"

The team turned and headed to the door that the Z-Secs went through in the first place. The moment they entered another hallway, the group turned to the left and followed the signs that would lead them to the Solar Bridges. Upon reaching their destination, the ceiling tiles exploded and Maggots came out of there, scattering towards the team. Alex reloaded some fresh clips and started to fire on the demons. Few of them were killed and fell to the floor in ash. The others avoided the onslaught and went to the walls. Al got the wall to the left and shot down the rest while Robin got his plasma rifle with a new cartridge and blasted the others on the right. They managed to shoot them down with ease except for one who managed to get on the floor and charged to the team. Alex, with his machine guns out of ammo, decided to get his shotgun out and fired another two new shells at the demons two domes. All the Maggots were dead while the guardian reloaded his weapons.

Alex: "Man, this is getting really annoying! We're just reaching the end of this journey we're getting ourselves confronted by more and more freaks!"

Robin: "I could agree with you there Al. We have very little time for this! Everyone to the Solar Bridge so we could get to the fourth floor."

The team agreed and ran through the hall until they spotted a door with a sign above them and that says, 'Solar Light Bridge'. To they quickly turned to the right and entered the open door. They did enter another lab, but there was no observation window what so ever. But there was a lift that would take them up someplace. Also, there was something else in the lab. One the ceiling had large amounts of spider webs with a few over the terminals. Plus there were web cocoons of what appears to be scientists that must've been caught. Raven just looked at it all and cocked an eyebrow.

Raven: "Wow, someone was busy."

Alex: "More like something, or somethings. We need to find a way up and fast."

He looked around to find something that's useful. He approached one of the terminals and noticed another PDA on it. Checking through his options, and noticed an e-mail that was forwarded to Betruger and a message below it. So he read it.

'Dr. Stenton,

I can understand of your concerns with my teleportation experiments and the fact that most of the power is draining most of the entire facility. Let me explain this too you so that a simple minded buffoon would understand. Delta is my responsibility, you little solar bridge project is yours. Now I know the power fluctuations are causing your terminals to malfunction, which lead to your Solar Bridges not working with the controls.

Indeed the solar bridges were created by collecting the energies of the sun and produce beams of solid energy to help people walk and cross from point A to point B. But the terminals are responsible into keeping the solar bridges working and with the power outages through out this complex, it makes your work a whole lot complicated.

Rest assure that it will soon end. In a few days, I'm going to perform one more test on my main teleporter before suits come. Rumors from the break room that the UAC on Earth is sending a counselor to repair its reputation because of my experiments. Whoever they sending, they should still know that I'm in charge of all the work within this facility and all of the experiments we're doing is my responsibility and my responsibility alone. Don't worry, when I'm done with the final test, you will continue with your little bridge made of sunlight. Please do not complain any more about your issues with me and my teleportation experiments again.

Thank you,

Dr. Malcom Betruger

-Original Message-

Sent: 11-12-2145

Dr. Betruger,

I'm sending you this message to let you know that I'm extremely upset about your work. Now I can understand that what you're doing would change not only the UAC but also that of Earth itself, but you need to be aware of the rest of the facility.

For example, I'm head of the Solar Bridges here in Gamma 4 and I'm in charge of making sure these new bridges are working properly for pedestrians to walk on. Now I know It's not my business being they my bridges are made from the solar energies of the sun, but it's the controls I'm worried about being that they operate the bridges. See those controllers run on power throughout the facility and that's the problem I have with you. These power outages are causing my terminals to short circuit. This of course leads to the bridges to short circuit constantly and nearly got my test subjects killed. Thankfully there were no fatalities yet but you can imagine how many bodies will be in the morgue if this escalates.

Now I know in a few days the board on Earth has hired a counselor to investigate the bizarre incidents in your facility. I'm hoping that your teleportation tests will stop so that way my team can finish with our bridge testing. I just hope that this investigation will end your entire Delta testing once and for all. I wish you luck on the counselor's investigation.

Sincerely,

Dr. Carl Stenton'

Alex finished reading the E-mail on the PDA and finds it quite interesting. While looking through the E-mail again, Robin observed the webs of the lab and could tell what this is all about.

Robin: "Hmm… Looks like we got a spider problem here, demonic spiders. Apparently, a group of Ticks and Trites must've went into here and took out some of the people that were surviving. And judging by the way this place looks, who knows how far this spreads."

Cyborg: "Then we better find a way up and quick before we encounter those things."

Starfire: "But where are we? And how are we going to get up to the fourth floor."

Just as she asked that question, Alex answered it quickly.

Alex: "This lab we're at is for the solar bridges."

The group turned their heads to see their friend and wondered what he meant by that. So he continued on.

Alex: "This lab is used to create what appears to be bridges made of solar energies of the sun. It was meant to be some new form of transport like the Excursion Funnels or the Arial Faith Plates. But by the looks of things, this place has suffered the same fate as the other."

He looked to the direction of the lift and put two to two together. He pointed to the lift and told them where they need to be.

Alex: "And that lift might take us up to the Solar Bridge chamber. Let's get to the lift and see if it takes us up."

The team followed his advice and followed him into the lift. Once there, Alex checked the monitor to see if it was working. Knowing that it was operational, he clicked on the 'Raise Lift' icon and the lift itself moved upward to the chamber. As they were going up, the team noticed more spider webs dotting the walls in some spots and when the lights were flashing on and off, they could see some monster spiders scattering about. Beast Boy observed all of this; he was getting and little nervous.

Beast Boy: "I don't like this…"

The guardian placed his hand on the changeling's shoulder and slowly eased him.

Alex: "Easy there BB. Were just about there. All we need to do is walk across the bridges and see if we can reach the fourth floor. After that, you'll be almost home free."

BB nodded and knew that they have to reach the Ark in time. The lift continued to ascend upwards until a door above them began to open up. The moment they passed through the airlock door, the group was surprised with what they saw. Within this chamber, there were multiple blue energy bridges dotting around everyplace. Some of them go straight, while others were slanted upwards. But that wasn't the only thing that got their attention. Throughout the chamber, it was filled with spider webs and hut like structures, almost like a hive of some kind. Not to mention few of the solar bridges were flickering on and off as if it was malfunctioning. Looking around, the team was both fascinated and disturbed at the same time.

Cyborg: "Now this is creepy. Too creepy beyond my account."

Alex approached the edge for a closer observation. Scanning the room, he shook his head and feared the worst.

Alex: "Apparently, these spiders made themselves right at home. And I fear that there could be something worse then this."

He then looked up and notices that most of the bridges that were working were heading up.

Alex: "Hmm… Looks like this chamber can take us up. Hopefully it can get us to an exit or an observation deck. Let's get up there but be careful. Judging by the looks of it, the spider demons might be watching for us."

He looked down at the solar bridge that was inches to him. He wondered if these types of bridges actually works. He took a deep breath and started to prey.

Alex: "Well… Let's hope this works."

He slowly got his foot off the edge and placed it on the bridge. He closed his eyes and waited if the bridge failed. But instead of feeling nothing but air, he felt something hard on the sole of his foot. He opened his eyes and saw that his foot was standing on the bridge made out of blue light. He smiled and breathed for his safety.

Alex: "Guess these bridges are working. Okay, everyone follow me and watch your footing. One false step and it's all over for any of you. And remember to watch out for any demonic insects you come across."

Slowly, he walked down the flat bridge, heading straight to the other bridge that was on the other side. The boys followed the guardian as they boys walked on the bridge while the girls flew over it and looked around to see if there were any enemies around. Slowly, they kept walking to the end of the bridge without any problems. As they reached the end of the bridge, they spotted another bridge a few inches below the first one. Soon enough, the stepped down one bridge and onto another, to the left, where another bridge that slants upwards. While they were walking, the group noticed a few insect shadows darting all over the openings. So far, there haven't attacked them cause they didn't notice anything. The moment they reached the third bridge they jumped to it and walked upwards. Lucky for them, there was nothing to be threatened about yet. That gave Alex a pleasing comfort in the whole thing.

Alex: "So far, so good. No sign of any monsters so far. Let's hope we keep it that way. Hurry up, quietly…"

The group continued to ascend upwards to the fourth bridge. What the team didn't know was one of the spiders was slowly sliding down with its webbing and was getting closer to the group. As they were midway up, Starfire and checking her flank if there were any sudden attacks from behind. She wasn't fully aware that there was something slithering downward to her back. Knowing that nothing was behind her, she shrugged it off the turned back around. Just as she did that, she was face to face with a Trite looking at her and shrieking at her. Star's only response was to scream and fired a star bolt right at it, killing it in seconds. The team heard the blast and looked up to see their Tamaranean friend killing one of the spiders. But the moment she killed the insect, they soon realized what type of trouble they were in. When the blast was heard, huge shrieks echoed throughout the chamber. The team looked around to see what's happening. What they saw were a huge swarm of Ticks and Trites coming out of their hiding places along with armies of Cherubs and a large number of Vagaries all heading towards them. Beast Boy was scared by this but turned to Star and had an arrogant look on his face.

Beast Boy: "Way to go Starfire. You woke up the entire hive!"

Star looked at all the chaos going on and realized she made a grave mistake. She then look down at the team and gave off an embarrassing smile.

Starfire: "I'm sorry?"

But Alex told them not to argue and wanted them to move fast.

Alex: "No time for apologies guys! We have to get out of here and fast! Run for it!"

The group ran for their lives at they ran up to the escalating bridge while an army of spiders, baby bugs, and mother spiders went after them. A small group of spiders came down on the bridge and blocked their path. Alex got his machine guns out and fired another load of bullets at the demonic spiders. All of them were dead and the team continued to climb up to the end. There, they found another bridge that goes up to the opposite direction. They turned to the right and made an immediately u-turn to the second lifting bridge. The moment they were turning around, a group of Cherubs appeared through the walls and were going to attack. Cy got his chain gun out and used it to rip the creatures completely. With them dead, the team went on the next bridge and continued to run upwards. While they were running, the girls were still in the air and attacked any known creature with their star bolts and aurora blasts right at them. During the run, Alex looked straight and saw there was no other bridge along the way. Robin saw this too and was concerned about it.

Robin: "There's no bridge there. What are we going to do?"

Alex looked around while making a mad dash and saw another bridge on the left. But there was no way in reaching it. As he was looking straight, he saw a torn off opening that would let them through and another hole where the other bridge is at. Putting the two together, he came up with an assumption.

Alex: "There's a bridge on the right. If we can go through the hidden passage straight ahead, we might get there."

Robin checked that out and could tell that it might work. The group ran up to the end of the bridge and went through the open hole. But before Robin could enter, he turned to the flying girls and told them to keep fighting.

Robin: "Starfire, Raven, hold them back while we go on ahead!"

He entered the hole while the girls continued their attack against the demons. The boys went into the passage that was filled with webbing and make shift caves with innocent lives entrapped in the cocoons. While they were reaching their next bridge, one group of Cherubs blocked them completely while another group of Ticks surround them in the rear. The group stopped and went in a circle to handle with the army surrounding them. Alex and Robin got their weapons up and blasted the Cherubs with packs filled with bullets and plasma while Cyborg and Beast Boy killed the spiders with chain gunfire and Grabber energy. They managed to kill of many of them and cleared their path. They all kept on running and reached the end of the passage. They then turned to the left and exit the passage to get on the flat solar bridge. Once they were on it, Alex stopped the checked on the girls to see if they're okay. Turns out they were doing a great job. Star saw using both her star bolts and eyebeams to dispose of the Vagaries while Raven created domes around the spider demons and used her powers to crush them completely by making the domes smaller. With the girls having their own fun, Alex got back to the main objective and the boys kept running down the bridge made of blue solar light. Upon their run, they spotted another bridge in the middle that goes up as they were going to take it. But just then, a Vagary came down to blocked the team completely. Cyborg got through the group and decided to take some action. Arming both this sonic cannons and mini rockets, he fired just about anything at it. The spider mother was hit extremely hard and it tripped off the bridge and fell to its death. So with their path cleared, the group turned to the left and went up the escalated bridge. During their journey upwards, a group of Trites came down the webbing and surrounded the group trying to get up. The Titans stop and were about to retaliate against the small army. But then, the spiders were hit by unknown projectiles of green and black energy. The Titans looked left and right and saw both Starfire and Raven on both sides with their powers in their hands. With their path cleared, Raven told the team to move forward.

Raven: "Keep moving! We'll hold them off as much as we could!"

Alex nodded and told the boys what Raven just said.

Alex: "You heard her boys. Let's get to the top of the fourth floor!"

With that said, the boys ran up to the next bridge that went flat the same time the girls kept on shooting any and all spiders and bug babies that were surrounding them. For minutes, the group continued to fight off the many hoards of insects that were surrounding them.

---

Unknown Location: November 16, 2145, 3:20 P.M.

While all that chaos was going on, the Marine that survived the whole ordeal himself. Soon after he discovered the entrance to the Hell Gate, he went into the cavern and entered what appeared to be a lift of some kind. The moment he went down to an unknown place, he then went into some type of maze that goes on forever. He made many turns and twists, using his shotgun to check if there were any hostiles present. Fortunately, there were none but the maze was too hard to navigate. After going through room after room, the Marine was getting completely tired of this mess.

Main Marine: "Urgh… Where am I going? This almost feels like I'm running around in circles. Where is this Hell's Gate?"

He kept on searching until he felt the entire place beginning to shake violently. The Marine stood by and waited for it to stop. During the time into the maze, he felt some sort of shaking around here, like it was an earthquake or something. It passed time after time but it kept on going and it almost sounds like it was getting awfully close. After entering a huge room with one floor tile glowing red, he started to feel some type of shaking on his back. He knew it was the Soulcube as he removed the weapon from his back and checked to see if it was okay. That's when he noticed it was shaking around, almost like it was sensing something off.

Main Marine: "Strange… The Soulcube seems to be acting differently."

He looked up at the room and began to wonder about something.

Main Marine: "Hmm… I wonder if this room has anything to do with the cube's reaction."

He slowly entered the room and checked around to see if there was anything that could be useful. Just as he was searching, he accidentally stepped on the tile glowing red. Just as he did that, the stone tile lowered itself and the room shook very violently. He got his shotgun out and waited for something to happen. It was there that he spotted a wall slowly bursting from the inside. After much waiting, the wall exploded and chunks of it headed straight towards the marine. Luckily, he was able to avoid the oncoming projectiles by side stepping to safety. Once that was over with, the Marine looked at the hole in the wall and spotted what appears to be a huge chamber.

Main Marine: "Huh… That's new…"

Curious, he stepped into the hole to see what was behind the wall. Upon going through the hole and passing two strange metal pillars, the Marine couldn't believe what he was seeing. What he was looking at was a huge area with and unstable floor and fire spread in parts. In the middle was some kind of hole with rocks and teeth like pillars all around it and a pentagram in front. The opening in the middle had flames coming out of it and transparent skulls leaving the hole and disappearing into the ceiling. The Marine walked a little further and wonder if that's what he was seeing.

Main Marine: "Strange… Could that be the Hell's Gate?"

He looked back at the Soulcube on his back and it was shaking like crazy. Realizing where he was, he nodded and came to a conclusion.

Main Marine: "Looks like I'm in the right place. Now, how do I shut this down?"

He looked around and wondered what to do. What he didn't know was that the pillars he passed weren't pillars at all. In fact, they were actually legs of a humongous monster. He didn't realize any of it until he felt something breathing down his neck, or right above him. Slowly, he looked up and saw something he couldn't believe. With his eyes wide and his mouth agape, he had very little to say.

Main Marine: "Oh… My… God…"

Looking high up in the air, he saw the Cyberdemon, the very same Cyberdemon that Alex and the Titans faced a while ago, roaring at him. Turning around, he shuffled back and didn't know what to do. He didn't know if any of his weapons would stand a chance against the demon that big. Not even the BFG 9000 couldn't work on it. But then he remembered the Soulcube he still has in his possession. He knew if one hit could instantly kill any demons in one blow and borrowed some of its life essence to the host. He wonders if it would work on this beast. Quickly, he took it out, which was filled with five souls during his battle, and prepared for the huge battle before him.

Main Marine: "Well… Here goes nothing!"

He throws it at the Cyberdemon and the final battle has just begun.

---

Gamma Labs Level 4, Solar Bridge Testing: November 16, 2145, 3:24 P.M.

As the Marine was starting what is undoubtedly the toughest mission yet, the Teen Titans were still handling their own issues at the Solar Bridge testing chamber. The boys have been running around the bridges, reaching up to their destination while killing any known spider and bug like demon that they encounter. The girls on the other hand did their aerial assault on the others, destroying those that were coming out of their hiding place while backing up their friends that were on foot. So far, they managed to make it that far and were closer to the ceiling. During their journey up, Alex noticed an observation window all the way up to the top. Knowing that it was their way out, he pointed up and told his friends about it.

Alex: "Up there! That's our exit! Keep on pushing! We have to make it there!"

Immediately, the boys proceeded up through another escalated bridge while the girls protect them from the enemies by throwing more projectiles. They then reached a flat bridge and turned left to get to another raised bridge. Just then, more Ticks came down and blocked their path. So Alex got his machineguns in hand and started to attack and kill them all with his bullets. With them all gone, the group turned to the left again and went up. While reaching up a group of Cherubs flew towards them and were about to take them down. Just as they were going to take them, Star and Rae came out of nowhere and shoot them down with their powers. The group made it to the end of the bridge and made a u-turn on the next elevated solar bridge next to the last. As they were going up, a small group of spiders noticed this and had to come up with a way in preventing them from reaching the end of the chamber. Quickly, they approached one of the bases where the solar bridges came out of and started chewing away. As they were doing that, the team made it up to the top and was on the flat bridge going right. All they need to do is to take the last bridge and there would be a door that would lead them to the observation deck. The problem is that the group of Trites are eating away as the base of the bridge and were about to destroy it. Just as they were about to reach it, the spiders destroyed the base, causing it to explode and killed the demons an instant. A little sacrifice for them. The group stopped the moment the bridge went offline and they were trapped with their only way out just a couple of feet to them. Beast Boy looked at their exit and was upset.

Beast Boy: "Great, now we're trapped. What are we going to do?"

They then heard some hissing and buzzing from behind and turned around to see both the demonic spiders and baby bugs heading towards them. Cyborg got his chain gun at the ready and used it to destroy the hoard. Alex looked at the exit and didn't know what to do. With the solar bridge gone, there's no way in getting to the observation deck and out of the crazy place. But then, he remembered Raven and her powers. Usually her powers would levitate objects and manipulates the type of magic into other inanimate objects. He wondered if it could work for this type of situation. He quickly turned to her and saw she was still busy fighting off the hoard at bay, calling out her name.

Alex: "Raven! We need a little help here!"

Rae looked up and saw the boys trapped and their way out cut off. Quickly, she flew up to them to help them while Starfire stayed behind and handle the insect demons herself. As she got to them, she looked at the damage and realized they needed a path. So she waved her hands and said her magical words.

Raven: "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

Her hands went black and slid them in a straight line. At the same time, a black strip appeared over the broken stand and slid on over to the exit. With the path created, Raven told them to get on it.

Raven: "Got the path created. Everyone should make a run for it now while I still have it in control."

Alex nodded and told the others what she said.

Alex: "You heard her boys. Make a run for it!"

The group immediately got on the black bridge and ran on top of it, approaching the exit. Cyborg, who was behind them kept the spiders and bug babies at bay. Once everyone was inside the observation deck, Cy flee the scene and headed back to them. With them in the deck, Raven removed the black bridge and flew back in. But before she could enter, she looked at Starfire who was still battling the hoards and told her to come.

Raven: "Starfire! Get in here! We're getting out of this place!"

Starfire looked up and saw the telepath at the entrance of the observation deck. Nodding, she looked down and saw the spiders, Vagaries, and Cherubs all heading towards her. With her hands glowing green, she put them together and a huge array of green energy came down to them disintegrating them to nothing. With them taking care of temporarily, she flew up and joined her friends inside the observation deck. As everyone was in, Alex looked at the windows and spotted more demonic insects heading up to them. Realizing they have very little time, he looked at his friends and told them to move.

Alex: "We got more buggers coming towards us! Everyone should get out of here right now!"

Immediately, everyone left the room through the security door and entered another hallway. At the same time, the spiders and bug babies reached the observation deck and broke apart the windows just to get in. They were about to follow them and kill them all. But before they could even reach them, Alex pulled the terminal off the side of the door with his metallic arm and the door sealed itself shut completely. With the door locked, Alex wiped his hands and couldn't help but to laugh himself.

Alex: "Ha! That will keep them busy for a while."

Alex then looked around at the hallway and saw nothing but damaged walls and growth under some areas. He then checked out his PDA to see where they were now. But knowing they went up one floor, he told his friends right away.

Alex: "This is it. The fourth level of Gamma 4. This is where the Ark is located."

Beast Boy: "So, we're home free right?"

Alex: "Not yet really. We just need to reach the entrance of the Ark."

He looked up and spotted a sign above that says 'Ark' with a sign that goes straight. Confident, he told the team where they are.

Alex: "And by the looks of this, we're getting close. Everyone follow me!"

He ran past them and made a dash to the Ark. The team soon followed as they reached their only way home. As they were running, two doors in between them opened up and two Commando Zombies appeared and rushed to them. Alex knew they were preventing them to reach their mark so he got his machine guns out and ducked down to the ground. While sliding, he spun his body around and used his weapons to spray multiple bullets at the two. Though they weren't killed, they were weakened by the bullets. This gave Robin an opened opportunity by jumping up high in the air and knocked the two down with a two kicks with both feet. With them knocked down, Star flew above them and shot them in the heads, killing them on contact. They all reached the middle of the hallway until a lightning bolt appeared and a Pinky showed up, rushing to them. Cy pushed the others out of the way and used his chain gun and mini mounted missiles and dispose of it. With it dead, the group made it to the middle as Alex checked out the directory to see if they're going the right direction. Looking through each of the options, he spotted the 'Ark' sign, stating to go to the left. Confident, he told the team where to go next.

Alex: "All right, says here that the Ark is at the left. Let's hurry!"

Raven: "That's great to hear. But there is one problem."

Alex: "And what's that?"

He turned to wonder what she meant until he realized it fully. What he saw was their path to the Ark completely blocked off by demonic growth. The guardian blinked his eyes and realized that this was a bit of a problem.

Alex: "Oh… I see…"

Beast Boy noticed that and flailed his arms up in the air in defeat.

Beast Boy: "Great! This is just our luck! We've just made it to the Ark and our only way through is blocked off completely. What are we going to do now?"

Alex looked back at the directory and checked to see where they need to go now.

Alex: "Don't threat BB. Just because our way is blocked doesn't mean we're trapped. There has to be another alternate route around here that can get us to the Ark."

Robin got close to him and asked him about it.

Robin: "So, do you know where we need to be to get there?"

He continued to skim until he found someplace they might take. Of course there were two options, one that goes straight to storage and the other is something called 'Propulsion and Repulsion Gels' that goes to the right. With the straight path blocked off by debris, Alex had no choice but to take the latter.

Alex: "Looks like the only path we should take is the Propulsion and Repulsion Gels, whatever the hell that means. Says here it's on the right. We should probably get going before that's blocked off too. Move out!"

The team agreed and followed their guardian to the room they need to go to. As they were reaching the chamber, there were many red clouds surrounding them and lightning bolts soon after. When the lightning bolts disappear and a large number of Imps and Vulgars appeared around them. The team looked around and realized they were in big trouble. They all got their weapons and powers up and were prepared for an attack, but with limited ammo and they were outnumbered, there's no way for them to get out of this mess. Robin looked at the hoard and didn't know what to do.

Robin: "This is not good. There might be hundreds of them!"

Alex: "There's got to be a way to get rid of these freaks."

There was a bit of silence as the demonic hoard was about to kill them. But then, Beast Boy came up with an idea.

Beast Boy: "Wait! I think I got an plan!"

Alex looked back and wondered what he meant by that. But with very little options left on the table, he had no other choice.

Alex: "Well whatever you're going to do, do it fast! These bastards don't look too friendly."

Beast Boy: "Got it…"

He went into the middle of the group and started to stretch his arms. At the same time, the demons charged to them and were about to kill the Titans. But just as they were about to do that, the changeling started to transform into a huge beast. But its not a Sasquatch, T-Rex, and any other huge animal, instead it was a beast no one ever expected. What Beast Boy turned into is a green Hell Knight. The monsters stopped immediately and saw the huge green demon. BB looked at the hoard left and right and roared out loud it shook the place completely. Immediately, the Imps and Vulgars panicked and ran away completely. They scampered away and went into the opened vents, cracked alcoves, and operational doors. With the place completely cleared, BB returned to his old self and had a huge smile on his face. But the team watched their friend turned into one of the demons they were fighting and were shocked in awe. Cyborg then broke the silence and was surprised by this unexpected change.

Cyborg: "That was amazing! How did you do that?"

He turned to his hybrid friend and told him about that.

Beast Boy: "Oh you know, I think of whatever animal I see and I turned into that animal. That even includes those that aren't out of this world. The moment I saw that Hell Knight the first time, I knew I could use that incase something like that would happen."

Raven: "And why didn't you tell us this before?"

He turned to Raven and answered her question.

Beast Boy: "Hey, what can I say? I am a man of mystery."

Robin: "Plus, you didn't tell us that before when we formed the team."

He quickly turned around and talked to Robin on that question.

Beast Boy: "Hey, sometimes I want to be mysterious as I could."

Alex sighed to himself and thought this was awkward.

Alex: "Well, whatever the case the demons that were surrounding use are gone. Let's get into the lab before they figured it out and start coming out. C'mon, this way."

The team made a quick move and headed to the end of the hallway. Reaching there, they spotted a door to the left with a sign above it that says, 'Propulsion and Repulsion Gels'. They turned to the left and entered through the open door. The moment they got through, they enter another control station with terminals and a look through window. The Titans looked around to see if there's anything different about this place while Alex took a look at the monitors and see through window to see what they're up against. So far, they didn't see anything different about this place.

Robin: "This is strange. Looks like another testing area, but it doesn't look like anything important."

Starfire: "Indeed. All the other testing chambers we've encountered were completely different. What makes this place so different?"

Alex: "Hey guys, I think you should take a look through the window."

The group looked at Al who was looking at the see through window and decided to check out what he's seeing as well. Checking out the window, they noticed something that's very strange. The chamber looked the same, but all around the floors and part of the walls were blue and orange paint splattered around. Beast Boy looked at all of it and was confused.

Beast Boy: "Okay… Is it me or didn't they put together a clean up crew here. Look at this mess! Why leave a bunch of blue and orange paint on the floor and walls?"

Alex: "I don't think they painted there by accident Beast Boy. I think they did that on purpose."

They all looked at Alex and were curious at what he meant by it.

Beast Boy: "What."

Al looked at the changeling and told him in a simpler manner.

Alex: "I said, that's part of the testing. I've been checking the monitors of the terminal and turns out paint that's in the testing chamber is actually the gels for propulsion and repulsion. Both colors represent two different functions. The orange gel can make you go faster while the blue gel let you bounce higher. Huh… That's sounds interesting."

Robin: "So, where's our way out of here? Cause I don't want to get stuck bouncing around walls and slipping on floors."

The guardian looked at the see through windows and skimmed the testing area just to find a way out. After looking through, he spotted another observation room on the left side of the chamber. He nodded and told them where it is.

Alex: "Looks like our exit is over there."

He then checked back at the testing area and noticed that there were spikes on the floor blocking their way. But he spotted a ramp with was smothered with orange goo that goes down to the floor and a platform with blue goo, along with the same blue substance other end. Observing this, he told them the bad news

Alex: "But it looks like we got spikes we need to cross over in order to get there. Luckily, the gels will help us get to the other side, but we need some way to land our fall before we get hurt. So…"

Just as he was going to say it, the girls sighed and knew what that meant.

Raven: "We know… We'll help you."

Alex turned to Rae and was surprised by her reaction.

Alex: "Wow Rae. Didn't expect you would agree quick."

Raven: "Well through out this experience, we only good at that huh."

Alex: "Probably so. Just get to the other side and I'll explain it all in detail."

He searched through terminal and clicked on the icon to open the chamber doors. With the doors opened, the team got into the test chamber as Alex told them girls to fly on the other side.

Alex: "Okay girls. I want you to go to the other side of the chamber, right were the blue gel is located at the edge of the pit. What me and the boys are going to do is go on to the ramp and jump with the orange gel and bounce with the blue ones. Once we bounce on the last one, one of you girls will grab us before we hit the ground."

Raven placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow after hearing that.

Raven: "That's it? You want us to grab you while you are in the air. That's all you want us to do?"

Alex shrugged his shoulders and thought it was a good enough plan.

Alex: "Well yeah. Either that of let us break every bone in our bodies once we land. Your choice."

Raven looked back at the other end and could picture what would if they don't get their help. Sighing to herself, she turned to him and responded back.

Raven: "All right fine. We'll take care of it. Come on Starfire, let's get going."

Star nodded as the two flew to the other end of the spike pit where the ramp is located. Once they were in place, Alex turned to the others and told them what to do.

Alex: "Okay… I'll go first. You just follow my lead."

The boys looked on and wondered what he's up to. But then, they notice him getting prepared at the beginning of the ramp where the orange gel was located and stretched around a little. Once prepared, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for the inevitable.

Alex: "Well, first time for everything. Here goes!"

He quickly got into position and ran straight to the ramp. The moment he went on the goo, his feet felt completely slippery as his arms flap wildly from the reaction.

Alex: "Whoa, whoa, whoa. This is a little too fast. Too fast! TOO FAST!"

Without thought, he ran right to the ramp and jumped off it with incredible speed. He screamed out loud with sudden shock and was completely scared out of his mind. Gravity took a hold of him as he falls to the spikes in the middle. Luckily, he was landing on the platform with the blue goop on it. The moment and landed on it, the goo bounced him back up and over the pit. As he was away from it, he landed on the next blue gel and bounced up towards one of the girls. Raven quickly grabbed him in a hug and lowered him down to the floor. Once on the ground, the guardian took quick breaths and never thought they would be like that.

Alex: "That's it! I'm not going on that ever again."

He turned to look at the others and told them to go through.

Alex: "All right, you guys are up next. Try not to slip up."

The team watched the whole thing go down and were a little skeptic of what to do. Even Beast Boy thinks it was wise not to do it.

Beast Boy: "Uh guys? I don't know about you, but I don't think I want to go through that."

Cyborg: "Yeah… I could agree with Beast boy on this one. Those gels could be completely dangerous."

Robin: "Guess you guys have a point. Maybe we should do it our own way."

Just as they were thinking of not doing it, they all heard shrieks coming from the observation room they were in. That's when they notice a group of Imps and Vulgars entering the room. Apparently these were the same demons that Beast Boy scared off as he took the form of a Hell Knight. It would appear that they believe the demon is gone and went back to getting the Titans. The boys saw them and were beginning to have some second thoughts.

Beast Boy: "On second thought, maybe Alex's way is a whole lot quicker."

The other two nodded, knowing that they're in a serious predicament.

Robin and Cyborg: "Right."

Quickly they run for their lives and headed to the ramp. The moment they reach the goo, they went on it and sped even more faster. They all fly off the ramp and bounced on the platform with blue gel in the sea of spikes. One at a time, they bounced off the platform and past the spikes, bouncing into another blue gel. The girls witnessed it and didn't know what to do if all three of them get to them. The girls managed to grab the two of them, Starfire holding Robin and Raven holding Beast Boy, while Cyborg falls to the ground. But Raven was able to use her powers to engulf the hybrid in black energy. All the boys were safe as they all lowered to the ground. Once they were on the metal floor, Beast Boy let go of Raven as the telepath was disgusted by it.

Raven: "Great. Now I'm covered in Beast Boy germs."

Alex rolled his eyes around and couldn't help but to laugh about it. But then he heard a roar coming from on the opposite end of the pit. That's when he saw the hoard of demons heading towards them. Knowing this, he told his friends to run.

Alex: "Let's not worry about cooties. Right now, we should worry about not getting killed!"

The team immediately ran for their lives and headed to the other observation deck that would get them out of the death trap. Most of the team was able to enter the observation deck and were about to leave this place. But Alex stopped and looked up at the ceiling to see tubes with blue and orange markings that were the gels from within. Robin and Cyborg, who was getting to the entrance of the room stopped immediately and turned to see their guardian looking up at something. The two were freaking out and told him to keep moving.

Robin: "Alex, what are you doing? C'mon, let's get out of here before those demons get to us!"

Alex continued to look at the tubes and came up with an idea.

Alex: "Wait Robin, I think I got an idea that can get rid of these freaks."

He turned to Cyborg and asked him for a favor.

Alex: "Hey Cyborg, you think you can use your rockets to blow up those tubes up there?"

The hybrid looked up and saw the tubes on the ceiling as well. Curious, he looked back at the guardian and asked him a question.

Cyborg: "Sure, I can do that. But why do you want me?"

Al smiled and gave him a good reason.

Alex: "Oh, let's just say the end result is going to be extremely funny. Now get a firing!"

The hybrid looked down and saw the groups of demons at the edge of the spike pit, ready to jump over it. Quickly, he opened his shoulders blades and fired his mini rockets at the pipes filled with gel. The rocketed hit the pipes above the hoard and exploded completely. With the pipes opened up, the goo of both colors suddenly starts to pour and landed hard on the demons. The moment the paint landed on them, something very strange happened. All the Imps and Vulgars were either bouncing around like jumping beans or slipping and sliding like no business. Hell, some of some slipped into the pit by both gels and were killed once they landed into it. The group looked on and was enjoying this little show. Few of them couldn't help but to laugh at the scene taking place. Alex then shook his head and was having a good time with all of it.

Alex: "That is the most hilarious thing I have ever seen in my entire life. That is rich!"

As they were enjoying it, Raven butted in and told the guardian that they need to leave right now.

Raven: "Uh… I can tell you are enjoying yourselves on this little show, but can we go now. Or do you want them to get use to the gels and start killing us with their new abilities?"

Everyone instantly stopped the moment they heard Raven about what would happen if demon's start learning on how to control the gels. Even Alex was sweating a little bit and knew this would be inevitable.

Alex: "Yeah… Guess you do have a real good point. Let's get out of here before they get use to the gels."

Quietly, they made a quick dash into the observation room and exit the area. Once they've escaped, they entered the hallway where the storage room is located. To their surprise, the door that leads to it was right in front of them. They were glad of that and were about to enter it. But the fail to even realize that there were two Archvile's waiting for them. The moment they heard the shriek, the guardian looked left and right and saw the two demonic humanoids waiting for them. Their hands were charged with flames of fire and were about to burn them to a crisp. Noticing this, Alex told his comrades to avoid it.

Alex: "Evade! Get out of there!"

The team saw this and jumped right into the open door that leads them into storage. At the same time, the Archviles fired their flames and miss the team. What makes it more unfortunate was that the flames hit each other and killed the two. The Titans managed to get out of that mess and were in the storage room. Alex look back while on the floor and saw the flames before the door closed on them. He sighed in relief and got up.

Alex: "That was too close. Almost bar be qued there."

The dusted himself up while the Titans got up as well. Once they were settled, they looked around incase there were any monsters. All they saw was nothing but metallic shelves with boxes and spare parts. But there were additional ammo for all of them to use. The guardian smirked and told his friends to gather up.

Alex: "Looks like we hit another jackpot. Get as much as you can guys. No one won't be needing that anytime soon."

Quickly, the team grabbed as much ammo as they could carry, preparing them for what would be their final hurrah. Once they got whatever they need, they approached Alex, who already got his armor shards placed and a couple of grenades on his belt.

Alex: "Okay, one final room to get to. Let's make a run for it before we get too over whelmed."

So the group made a run for it and were about to reach their exit. But then, they stopped at the middle the moment they heard clanks and clangs throughout the place. They all looked around and saw zombies coming out of their hiding places, heading to the team their arms stretched to them. Alex looked around and looked at his shotgun, knowing that two hits wouldn't do. So he turned to the telepath and told her to use her shotgun as well.

Alex: "Hey Rae, you think you can back me up on this one?"

Raven turned her head left and right to see the swarm of zombies around them. Looking at her shotgun on her back, she took it out and answered his question.

Raven: "Oh it will be my pleasure."

She and Alex pointed their weapons at the direction they need to be and open fire. Blood and guts spewed all over the place as four zombies were killed on the impact. But there were still more, so Alex reloaded while the Azarathean planted a couple of more shots at another few zombies. Just then, a fat zombie came in front of the group and lumbered towards the team. Alex, with two new shells in his possession, aimed his weapon at the big undead guy and shot a load at its chest. With a hole in it, the zombie falls to the floor with a loud thud and died there instantly. While the two were clearing the way, the other zombies in the back headed to them. The others turned around and fired whatever they have against the walking undead. Soon enough, the team were battling zombies left to right. But they soon find out that this wasn't getting them anywhere. So Robin turned back and told the guardian of the situation.

Robin: "Alex! We can't hold them off any longer. We need to get out of here right now!"

Alex looked back to see more of the undead heading to them and could tell this wasn't good. So he took out a grenade and armed it to throw it at the enemies.

Alex: "Everyone take cover! Raven, protect us!"

The telepath nodded as Alex threw the grenade at the hoard. At the same time, Raven used her free hand and formed a wall to protect her teammates from the blast. Once the grenade was in the middle, it made a huge explosion causing the zombies to fly about while killing others. With their path clear, Raven removed the shield and Alex told the others to leave.

Alex: "We got a clearing! Everybody make a break for it!"

So the team made a mad dash and headed straight to the exit that was in front of them. As they were reaching it, they've encountered more zombies blocking their path. Both Alex and Raven got their shotguns ready and fired multiple shots at the group of the undead. With all of them dead, the two reloaded their weapons and approached the door. Just as they were opening it, a Commando Zombie was in front of them and launched its tentacle arm at them. The two stood there in surprise as Al told the others to watch it.

Alex: "Incoming!"

The two avoided the attack while the tentacle headed straight to the team. The moment everyone saw that, they all duck down to avoid it. The zombies however, having no thought of it, were impaled in a straight line and quivered to death. The commando retracted its tentacle back while the zombies that were in its path have slumped to the ground. Once it got its tentacle back to its proper position, it was about to go at it again. But Alex got his shotgun out and fired another two shots at its leg. The solider dropped to the ground and was severely wound, but it was still going to attack as it got ready to extend its tentacle again. Just then, Cyborg got his sonic cannon at the ready and fired a blue plasma ray right at it. With its leg shot off, it was impossible for the Commando Zombie to avoid it. So it got hit and was blown up by the laser, sending blood and guts spilling all over the place. With their path cleared, the team exits the storage room while the guardian used the butt of his shotgun to destroy the door panel. With the door sealed off to stop the zombies from getting through, Alex checks the digital sign from above and spotted 'The Ark' with an arrow going straight. He pointed up to it and told his friends that they were getting close.

Alex: "We're at the home stretch boys and girls. The Ark is straight ahead. Let's hurry before we get ourselves outnumbered! Go, go, go, go!"

The team ran as fast as they could as they were reaching their only ticket home. Everyone was getting excited about this. Even Beast Boy couldn't help but to repeat the same thing over and over again.

Beast Boy: "Almost home. Almost home. Almost home. Almost home."

The team continued running until they noticed a different kind of door to the right. There was another sign on the ceiling with 'The Ark' title with an arrow pointing to the left. Alex smiled and told them they're here.

Alex: "There it is. The entrance to The Ark. We've made it!"

They turned right and were about to enter it. But as they were about to enter, they encounter a snag. Reaching the end, they encountered a Level 5 Nano wall like the last one they encountered back at the military complex. Not only that, but this Nano wall was completely locked up tight. Looking at this, the team was shocked by this and couldn't believe any of it.

Cyborg: "Yo! What's the big deal? I thought we were going to get out of here."

Alex checked the door out and came to a conclusion.

Alex: "Looks like another Level 5 Nano wall. Guess the Ark is so important, they need this type of technology to make sure that no one gets through it. Luckily, I have security clearance to get us through this."

He got his PDA out and was about to scan it on the door panel. But as he was reaching it, he spotted something that was completely wrong. Though a security door panel should be operational, this one is broken with static and a quick message that says 'System Offline'. Looking at the monitor, his shoulder slumped and had a deep growl on his face.

Alex: "And the security panel is malfunctioning. Typical…"

Everyone looked at each other and didn't know what to do. With the panel out of order, their only way out of this nightmare is blocked off completely. That's when Cyborg came up with an idea and pushed his friends aside.

Cyborg: "Step back. Let me handle this one."

He headed to the panel and opened it up to reveal some burnt wires and fried circuits. He flexed his fingers and small tools for repairing circuits came out of his fingertips. From there, he opened the panel and began repairing the insides. Alex just looked at what he's doing and was a little confused.

Alex: "What exactly are you doing?"

Cy continued working while answering Alex's question.

Cyborg: "Isn't it obvious? I'm repairing this door panel so that way we could get in."

Robin notices this too and felt relieved by all of it.

Robin: "Great thinking Cyborg. How long do you think you can get that panel operational?"

Cyborg: "To tell you the truth, its hard to tell. The circuits in here are kind of messed up and the wires looked displaced. By the looks of this, I say… Ten to fifteen minutes giver take."

While he said that, Alex turned around while the others were looking at the hybrid repairing the panel. As he turned around, he noticed something that's wrong. Very wrong. So he asked Cyborg a question of his own.

Alex: "Hey Cy. What happens if we don't have ten to fifteen minutes of repairing that panel? What do we do?"

Cyborg: "That I don't know. The way this panel looks, I can't go any faster. All I need is some time to fix it. Why did you ask me that question?"

The guardian sighed to himself and told him what he thinks.

Alex: "Because I seriously doubt that we have that amount of time."

That got the team's attention and turned their heads to wonder what Alex means. The moment they looked at his direction, they finally knew what he was talking about. Charging down the hallway, were multiple demons and zombies and different kinds. Imps, Z-Secs, Maggots, Pinkies, Revenants, Cacodemons, Vulgars, Ticks, Trites, just about every monster they've faced all this time. The group guessed that Betruger has officially had it with them. They were going to attack them until they hear shrieks from between them. They looked left to right and notice more of them heading to them. The group did a double take and couldn't believe this. Beast Boy just looked at everything and was now frustrated.

Beast Boy: "Don't these freaks ever give up? Give us a break for once!"

Alex got both of his machine guns out and was prepared for this one.

Alex: "Obvious Betruger is getting tired of us. And it looks like he's pulling all the stops. Cyborg, get that panel working, and fast! The rest of us will hold the hoard off as much as we can."

The hybrid nodded and went back to work on the panel. The others were getting ready for their final battle. Robin had his plasma rifle out, Starfire got her star bolts charged as she flew up in the air, Raven had one hand on her shotgun and the other was surrounded by black light, and Beast Boy got his Grabber out and was waiting for any demon to throw something at them. As the team got ready, the demons and zombies all rushed towards them, wanting to finish them off permanently. Alex held firm with his machine guns at the ready and was prepared to take a last stand in all of this madness. But before he could fight, he asked Robin something he wanted to do.

Alex: "Hey Robin, you mind if I give the order?"

Robin looked at his guardian and knew what he meant by that. So he nodded and told him to do it.

Robin: "By all means. Go on right ahead."

Alex smiled and started to say the very words Robin always said.

Alex: "All right then… Teen Titans, GO!"

With that said, the team opened fire and hit the hoard with everything they got. Bullets, star bolts, aurora blasts and disks started to fly while the demons launch their own barrage at the team. Alex used both of his machine guns and began laying waist on the Maggots and Wraiths that were closer to him. A few Imps then approached him and threw multiple fireballs at the guardian. Alex ducked his head down and was able to avoid the incoming projectiles. He pointed one of his weapons and took the first Imps down in an instant. The other Imps were about to fire more fireballs at them. But then, two exploding disks came out of nowhere and blew the rest up. Alex witnessed it and turned around to see Robin who threw those disks in the first place. Al smiled and gestured to him a thank you. Robin nodded back and went back on the attack. He turned to the left and spotted some Vulgars scattering on roofs just to reach them. The Titan leader pointed his plasma rifle at the ceiling crawlers and open fire on them. He emptied out an entire cartridge but was able to kill all the demons on the ceiling. He then spotted two Commando Zombies running to him with their tentacles ready to kill. Rob quickly took two more exploding disks out and threw them at the two. The disks exploded and killed the two after the explosion. This gave him time to insert a fresh cartridge into his gun and continued to fire on more monsters heading towards the group. Star remained high in the air and threw multiple star bolts at a bunch of Z-Sec guards that were going to fire their weapons. With them dead, a group of Revenants came out through the smoke and fired their mini missiles at the girl. The Tamaranean saw the rockets heading to them and went to the defensive. Her eyes glowed green as she used her eyebeams to shoot down the rockets one at a time. Once they were gone, Star concentrated on the skeleton soldiers and fired high power energy bolts at the group, killing them in an instant. Beast Boy was holding the fort as demons came from the right hallway and were going to charge at him. Some of the demons threw their fireballs at him, just to weaken him a little bit. But the changeling avoided some of them and used his Grabber to take the few balls of flame in mid air. The moment he took them, he fired them back at any monster and zombie that was closest to him. So far, his plan was working well since the demons are helping him defeat them. Ask for Raven, she was using her shotgun to take down a couple of Imps, Maggots, Wraiths, and zombies at close range. If she runs out of shells, she used her shield to push back at the hoard in a farther distance. At the same time, she grabbed some shells from his holster belt and reloaded as quickly as she could. With the shells in her shotgun, she proceeded in killing the beasts as much as she could. But for Cyborg, he was busy getting the door panel back online as fast as he could. Though he would've helped his friends in this mess, the main objective was to escape and hope that he gets the door working again. So he kept on working as the team kept on fighting. While the team was in the middle of their firefight a bigger battle was taking place.

---

Hellhole, November 16, 2145, 3:45 P.M.

Deep underneath Mars, the Marine was battling the Cyberdemon in Hellhole, trying to defeat it and figuring out a way in sealing Hell's gate permanently. The problem is that with the huge creature in the way, it was getting impossible for him to seal it off. And with the weapons he had in his possession being close to useless, his only option was to use the Soulcube. To his surprise, it worked out pretty well. The moment he used his Soulcube, the demon was reacting to it like it had a stomach virus. So he knew it was the only way to defeating it. Not to mention that there were demons that come out through the Hellhole that he would kill in order to use recharge the cube. So far, he attacked the Cyberdemon with the Soulcube four times and from what he could understand, he would need one more to finish it off for good. He had already killed four demons so far and needed just one more soul to complete it. At the same time, he needed to run as fast as he could since the Cyberdemon height makes it walk closer to him and the projectory range of the rockets would make him an easy target if he stood still. After all that running, he discovered a Maggot coming out of the pit and decided to fire it before it could attack. Once the Marine killed it with his plasma rifle, its soul was transferred into the cube as the object said it was ready.

'Use us…'

Hearing that, the Marine sighed to himself and knew it was time.

Main Marine: "About damn time!"

He quickly turned around and was facing the Cyberdemon that was heading towards him. It aimed its arm cannon at the human and open fire, sending the rocket straight to him. The marine quickly ducked down and avoided the huge missile and was lucky he didn't get hit. The moment he got up, he took out his Soulcube and was prepared to finish this.

Main Marine: "All right you huge brute. Have a taste of this!"

He threw the Soulcube right at the demon, and the object flew it straight to the creature. Normally it headed straight to its body, but this time it was completely different. As the cube headed to its direction, it went straight to the leg. The moment it reached the leg, it cut the leg in half. The Cyberdemon felt that and screamed out in pain, falling to the ground and completely unable to get up. The Soulcube then made a complete U-turn and returned to the demon like a boomerang heading back to its owner. When the cube got to the creature it flew straight up its mouth. Upon entering, the demon screamed in agony as blood gushes out of its mouth. After all that flailing around, it landed on the ground with a huge thud and laid for a while. The marine looked on and wonders if it was dead. He slowly approached the huge carcass and held on to his shotgun in case it starts to come to life. Approaching its head, he cocked his weapon and waited for any movement. After a few seconds, there was movement, but not from the beast. The Soulcube came out of its head and flew straight into Hell's pit. The marine approached it and waited to see what else happens. Suddenly, the pit exploded on the inside, causing lava and rocks flying all around the place. The marine panicked and ran for his life, hoping not to get crushed by the falling debris. The moment he was in the safe place, he watched as the hot lava hardened and rise up, sealing the entrance to Hell permanently. Witnessing all of it from afar, the marine collapsed to the ground to take a seat and breathed in complete and utter relief.

Main Marine: "Finally… It's all over…"

He was about to take a rest after all that madness he had been through. But just as he was going to enjoy his rest, he heard a very familiar voice that he heard a number of times.

Dr. Betruger: "I don't think so marine."

The marine immediately got up and pointed his weapon just about everywhere and got completely startled by the sudden voice.

Main Marine: "Betruger! Where are you? Show yourself you coward!"

Dr. Betruger: "Now now marine. Do you really think I would reveal myself to someone like you? You mustn't forget that I'm always everywhere and I'm watching you every step of the way."

He lowered his weapon and had a sly smile on his face.

Main Marine: "Oh really? Well maybe you noticed me shutting the Hellhole up completely and ending this nightmare. Looks like your plan on heading to Earth has failed miserably."

There was a bit of silence until Betruger burst out in laughter.

Dr. Betruger: "You really think that sealing the Hellgate would end this invasion. You are wrong."

The marine cocked an eyebrow and wondered what he meant by that. But just as he was going to ask, he heard hissing and groaning coming from all around him. He looked around and spotted multiple demons surrounding him. He suddenly noticed this and pointed his shotgun at any direction he could think off, feeling completely shocked by all of this.

Main Marine: "What the hell is this? I thought I sealed the Hell Gate for good and all the demons won't escape."

Dr. Betruger: "Indeed you've managed to seal the gateway from Hell, but that didn't mean you've stopped the invasion. You see, all of my children have managed to enter the UAC and will remain there until they are killed. And with everyone dead, they won't have to worry about dying. And once the fleet from Earth comes here, they will be outnumbered by my legion and we will use their ships to bring this Hell to Earth."

The marine had a stern look on his face and didn't like the odds at all.

Main Marine: "I swear, the moment I get out of here…"

Dr. Betruger: "But you won't. You are trapped underneath Mars and there's no escape. You have already lost. Now if you excuse me, I have to retrieve a certain key for my master. I'll let my children handle you till then. Farewell my friend…"

That was the last time he would hear from Betruger as he looked around at the hoard of demons that surround him. Sighing to himself, he figured that he was in big trouble. Looking at all of his weapons, which were a little low on ammo, he lowered his head and sighed to himself.

Main Marine: "Great, just as if things couldn't get any worse for me this happens. Oh well… If I'm going to die, I'll die fighting!"

He pointed his shotgun at the nearest demons and started to threaten the group.

Main Marine: "All right you damn bastards… Come and get me!"

---

Gamma 4, Ark Entrance: November 16, 2145 3:53 P.M.

As the marine was fighting for his life, the Teen Titans were having a last stand of their own. Each member of the team took out every hoard of demons with every bullet, projectile levitated object and powers they have. As they were fighting, Cyborg was almost done repairing the door panel so that way they could get in. But he was running out of time and the demons continued to come through the woodworks. And with the team continued to fight with whatever they have left, he has to hurry or they will become mincemeat. As the fight continues, Robin scorched a group of Lost Souls with his plasma rifle and was going to reload another cartridge into his gun. Upon reloading, he noticed that he has about four more cartridges on his belt. Realizing this, he turned to his guardian and told him they have a problem.

Robin: "Alex! We've got a situation. I'm running low on ammo!"

Alex didn't look at him as he was busy killing come Commando Zombies in the process. But he did listen and told him the same thing.

Alex: "Yeah, no shit Sherlock! I'm low too! Betruger must be bringing all these demons here to weaken us. He sure as Hell desperate! I just hope we get out of here before we're dead. Cyborg! Is that door panel fixed yet?"

Again, he didn't look at the hybrid as he was busy killing zombies and monsters. Cy didn't look at him either as he was getting the panel up and running, yet he answered him.

Cyborg: "I'm almost finished. Just don't push me all right! Rome isn't built in a day."

Alex: "Yeah, well Rome wasn't under attack by demons from Hell either. Just get that thing working and quick! Unless you want to get killed by these bastards!"

The hybrid nodded and went back to work, trying to recross the wires as fast as he could. All the while the team kept fighting the hoard with what they have left. Alex noticed a couple of zombies getting close to him and were about to eat him. He quickly took his shotgun out and shot the first round at the closest demons, then used his weapon as a battering ram to knock out the next one. With a quick reload, he shot the third one down right to the head. With the forth one, he used his leg to give it a swift roundhouse kick to the head. After a second and third reload, he killed the other two right into their chests. Robin threw dozens of birdarangs at a group of Maggots and killed them all in one swing. Just then a zombie holding a chainsaw came out of nowhere and ran straight to the Titan leader. Rob saw this and quickly took his R-Sword out for defense. The zombie approached him and ran straight to the leader and was about to chop him to bits. Robin then ducked down and rolled out of the way, going under the chainsaw's blade. Once he was away from the attack, he turned around and did a quick turn to perform a diagonal cut to the undead's sternum. The cut split the zombie in half and let his upper part fall to the floor while his legs slumped to the ground. Though it was down, the zombie wasn't out as the upper half crawled straight to the boy with its chainsaw still in its hands. Robin looked on and couldn't believe it was still moving. But it was completely vulnerable and it gave the Titan leader the chance to strike. He quickly sidestepped out of the undead's way and used the sword to chop the hand that was holding the chainsaw. After that he jumped on top of the zombie and pointed the sword downward to impale it right through the head. With it dead, Robin went back to his plasma rifle and continued shooting. Meanwhile, Raven levitated a bunch of inanimate objects and threw them at the hoard. Half of them were random boxes and debris just to knock them out. The other half were flammable barrels that blew up most of the hoard in the process. As she was busy, an alcove opened up next to her and an Imp flew out of there ready to pounce on her and kill her in seconds. Luckily, Raven sensed that and formed a portal under her, quickly entering it seconds before the pounce. The creature missed her and landed on its feet, wondering what happened to her. As it was thinking about it, a portal appeared behind it and Raven came out of it, tackling the demon to the floor. Once she got it on the floor, she got her shotgun out and pointed it at the monster's head. She then turned her head away and closed her eyes moments before she pulled the trigger and the blood was flying to her face. Beast Boy thought the same thing and used his Grabber to lift multiple things in the air and throw them at the demons and zombies. Few of the objects were sharp and pierced the creatures in one forceful move. Others were explody and blew the rest up. Still, there were more of them coming through the corners and whatnot and it was getting hard for him to stop them. As he was fighting them, and Pinky came through the middle and charged right at the green elf. BB watched that and decided to retaliate. He put his Grabber away and turned into a green bull just to charge at it. The two ran towards each other and were about to collide. The Pinky thought it would be easy and would take down the bull. But then, Beast Boy simply baited it and turned into a Triceratops, which was much stronger then a bull or a rhino. In a matter of seconds, the green animal collided with the demon and the enemy went flying backwards. The Pinky then collided with the rest of the hoard and was killed through the impact while the others were knocked out on the floor. BB then returned to his regular form and used his Grabber to take some flying fireballs and threw them at the demons that were on the ground. The fight kept on going as more demonic hoards continued to gather up. With very little options left and little ammo, the team didn't know what to do. But then, Cyborg was just about finished with the panel. After getting the last wires together, the panel spark and the screen went back on with a message that says, 'Please scan PDA'. After watching it go back online, he smiled and turned to Alex for some good news.

Cyborg: "Hey Alex, I got the panel working. You can scan it now!"

Alex took out another Imp with his shotgun while listening to what the hybrid said. He turned around and saw him with his thumbs up and the panel operational. Smiling he rushed to the panel at the same time telling Cy to help them.

Alex: "Excellent work Cy. Now I want you back in the fight! We need some more firepower!"

Cyborg and got up, getting ready to join the battle.

Cyborg: "You got it!"

Once he was in the middle of the group, he got his chain gun out and started to raise all Hell itself. He fired his weapon left and right, killing everything that isn't friendly. The others joined in and now the battle was officially on their side. But still, there were monsters spreading just about everywhere and it won't take too long until Cy's weapon ran low on ammo. The moment Alex got back to the Nano Wall security door, he took out his PDA and scanned the clearance he took from Harris V. Yolkoff. After a few moments, the red screen turned green and the wall faded, only to be replaced by a liquid wall people can go through. Once he saw this, his smile was really wide and was completely overwhelmed. But it wasn't over yet as he turned to the others and told them to come in.

Alex: "Security door is opened! Everyone should get in now!"

The team turned around as saw the door opened. Robin nodded and told everyone to move.

Robin: "You heard him everyone. Let's get into Ark! Move, move, move!"

The team turned around and ran straight to the Ark's entrance and went through it. Cyborg, Starfire, Alex stayed behind and shoot down the enemies with their weapons. With what they have, the hoard kept marching forward and were getting closer to them. With the Titan through the door, Alex told the other two to get in.

Alex: "We're cleared! Let's go!"

The hybrid nodded and entered the door first with Alex soon after. Star was left behind and decided to give her friends a good advantage. She took out her rocket launcher and fired the remaining three rockets in three different directions. All the monsters in the front were blown away from the attack as the others in the back survived, heading straight towards the Tamaranean. Starfire dropped her weapon and flew through the liquid wall, joining the others. With all of them in, the team kept on attacking the hoard that was trying to get in. Knowing they can't let the creatures in, Alex looked at Cy and told him something else.

Alex: "Okay Cyborg, everyone's in. Destroy the panel so that the door would lock itself!"

Cy looked at his guardian and was a little confused.

Cyborg: "Wait what? You want me to destroy the door? But I've fixed it up."

But Alex exploded and told him to destroy it now.

Alex: "JUST DO IT!"

Cy nodded and decided to follow what he says. He got his sonic cannon activated and fired it at the panel on the other side. The panel exploded as sparks flew around. The Nano Wall malfunctioned and was suppose to seal up completely. Instead however, the wall faded in and out, blackening and lightening in sections of the wall. The team watched and didn't like this.

Robin: "It's not closing Alex!"

Alex: "Just keep shooting! We cannot let them go through at all costs!"

So the team continued on firing with everything they've got. With their bullets, energy bolts, aurora blasts and levitated object, the team did everything they could to keep the hoard at bay. But with the weapons limited ammo, they have very little to do. During a minute or two in fighting, they ran out of ammo starting with Robin's plasma rifle.

Robin: "I'm out!"

He then took out as many disks and bridarangs out of his utility belt and threw them at the monsters charging in. Raven kept using her shotgun to kill as many demons as she could. Shell after shell, she was on a complete killing spree. But just like Robin, she ran out of shells and had no offensive weapon.

Raven: "Me too!"

She then waved her hands around and lifted more objects with her black magic. Once she got everything in place, she threw them at the beasts just to slow them down. Cyborg was the least effective by this as his chain gun still has ammo to dish out. With a drum loaded with armor piercing rounds, he kept on killing any zombie and demon he sees fit. Unfortunately, his ammo count isn't infinite as the weapon clicked. He looked at the ammo gauge and saw it was at 000. Rolling his eyes around, he turned on his sonic cannons and fire away on them.

Cyborg: "I have nothing either."

Beast Boy still has his Grabber in hand, and with the unlimited power it process, he managed to take projectiles in mid air the fling them back at the creatures. And Starfire continued to throw star bolts at the rest of the hoard. The only person left that had weapons with ammo was Alex as he used his dual machine guns at the demons. He keeps on using clip after clip just to kill anything that's heading towards his friends. The moment he reloaded his clips, he told the team his situation.

Alex: "Looks like I'm running low too guys. I'm down to my last clips. Better make this one count!"

He pointed his machine guns at the malfunctioning door and fired his last clips. Within seconds he spewed many bullets at the creatures and killing anything that was close to him. His ammo was half empty as he gave out a rebellious yell at his enemies. As the last of the clips ran dry, the nano wall stopped malfunctioning and solidifies itself, sealing the door completely. But a few of the bullets didn't get through the wall and they bounced off in different directions. Some of the bullets missed the Titans by yards, however one of them flew straight to Alex and got him in the thigh. Alex felt that as he collapsed in the ground and screamed out in pain, causing his machine guns to fall to the ground. The Titans looked down and were shocked in disbelief.

Teen Titans: "ALEX!"

They all rushed to him and checked to see if he was okay.

Robin: "Alex, are you okay? Speak to us!"

Alex looked at him and smiled very weakly.

Alex: "I'm okay… Just a little grazing is all…"

He coughed a little bit, feeling the after effects of the shot. He tried to get up, but the wound in his thigh makes him feel more pain then ever. He laid back to the ground and couldn't believe he was too careless. While trying to figure this out, they all heard shrieks and banging from the other side. The all turned and saw that the demons were trying to get in. Alex looked on and knew this was temporary.

Alex: "Relax… Those bastards won't enter here. But it would be a matter of time before they find a way to break through."

Again, he tried to get up to stand and the pain returned. He cringed in pain and couldn't take it any more. Raven bent down and checked on him to see if there's anything wrong. After looking at the wound, she shook her head.

Raven: "Looks like the wound is deep and went into your thigh muscle. Looks like it's fatal. I might be able to heal it."

But Alex stopped her there and told him that he will be all right.

Alex: "No, I'm good. I still got enough strength to get through this. Just get me to the terminal over there."

He pointed to the huge terminal that was on the left that has a huge computer screen in the middle. Robin looked at the terminal and looked back at his friend's condition.

Robin: "But that wound. We need to fix that."

Alex: "I said I'm fine. Just get me up!"

That sudden outburst caused him to cough up some more. Knowing that they have no choice, both Robin and Cyborg lifted the guardian up and escorted him to the main terminal. As they were escorting their friend, they were amazed at how the place looks. It was a huge circular room with light bars on the wall and a huge like circular ceiling. In the middle of the room, there was a circular platform with little bright circles around its borders and a sphere like object within' the middle of the platform. The team looked around and was impressed by it all.

Beast Boy: "So this is the Ark? This is incredible!"

Robin and Cyborg placed the guardian on the swivel chair just he could sit and recover from the wound. Once they got him there, they watched on and didn't know what to say. Raven got close to the platform and wondered about this tech.

Raven: "So… What does this do?"

Al just turned the chair around to look at the team and told them what they need to know.

Alex: "Don't know much about this place. As far as I know, the Ark uses some sort of liquid core that can send teams back and forth through time. The process…" cough, cough… "The process is a little extreme and there's a slight chance that a part of you might not make it."

Robin: "And that means…"

Alex: "It means…" cough, cough… It means your asses will be in one part and your upper halves would be in another."

The changeling heard that and slowly swallowed a lump in his throat.

Beast Boy: "Right… So don't get yourself split in two."

Cyborg: "So, do you know how to operate this thing?"

Alex: "I think so." cough… "I got the security clearance I 'burrowed' from one of the science teams. I think I can handle that."

He swiveled back to the terminal and looked at the monitor to activate the Ark. The screen showed a message that says, 'Please scan PDA for security access'. Confident, he took his PDA out and placed it on the scanner where the security clearance he took was held. After a few seconds, the scan was successful and the machine and platform hummed to life followed by an announcement.

"Ark travel activated. Please select time and destination."

The guardian looked down at the screen and noticed that it was changed. Now it showed a drop down list of the many places to pick and the cities and a fill in section on the month, day, year, and time in the past. Looking at this, he knew what to do and started putting the information down. On the drop down list, he picked California for the state and Jump City for the city. Then for the time in the past, he placed August for the month, 21 for the day, 2004 for the year, and 5:30 P.M. for the time. While he was putting the information together he and the others heard a loud bang coming from the entrance. They all looked at the source of the sound and noticed the door was being brutally assaulted. They could tell that the army of demons on the other side are trying desperately to get in. Realizing they have little time, Alex got back to the terminal and put together the remaining data. The moment he was finished, he clicked the 'enter' icon and the screen had a pop up menu that wants to execute the program or not. Then another announcement was heard.

"Destination locked. Please stand by."

Upon all of this, he turned to the Titans and started to explain some things.

Alex: "All right, got the coordinates locked. I've set the date to August 21, 2004, the same day the army and the Justice League battled Slade and Terra. Just placed the time a few hours early." cough, cough, cough… "That way you will have time to take them down before they show up. All you need to do is step on the platform and remain still. The Ark…" cough… "will do the rest. Though I might warn you, the first time could get a little uncomfortable."

Robin nodded and knew this is their one and only shot.

Robin: "Good to hear. Okay team, we've finally made it. Everyone should get on the platform. We're going home."

The team breathed in relief. Finally, after all the obstacles, all the turmoils, all the hardships they've been through, they can finally go back to the past, to their home. They were about to step on the platform and were about the make an exit. But when they were about to do that, they almost forgot something. The Titan leader turned around and looked at the guardian still sitting in his chair attending to his wound by ripping a part of his shirt and used it as a makeshift bandage to ease the wound. Worried about his well being, he told him to go with them.

Robin: "C'mon Alex, we have to get out of here before those demons get through. We might be able to get a doc-"

But Alex stopped him there and coughed up bits of blood from his mouth.

Alex: "No… I can't go."

The whole room went silent as the team was completely shocked by Alex's choice of words.

Robin: "What?"

The guardian slowly stood up and even though he was in pain, he was able to limp his way to the team explaining why he decided to stay.

Alex: "I said I can't leave this place. I need to stay here and finish this fight." cough, cough… "Besides, someone needs to activate the Ark to get you guys back home."

There was a harsh silence through out the Ark as the team tries to process what's going on. That was when they give off their opinion.

Robin: "Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea what you're trying to do? You're talking about a suicide mission!"

Cyborg: "Robin's right. You're trying to get yourself killed for our sake!"

Raven: "You barely have enough weapons to defend yourself with, plus you have a deep gash on your waist which will make your escape much harder."

Starfire: "You need to come with us so we can heal you and together we can stop Slade and our ex friend Terra. If you stay here without any protection from those vile beasts, then you will die!"

Beast Boy: "Yeah! What they said."

Alex looked at each of them and could tell they have concern looks on their faces. He knows that he will be all alone in this battle and it would be a matter of time before he dies. So he coughed up some blood and told them to not worry.

Alex: "Look, I know you don't like this as much as I can. But I have no choice. For you see…" cough… "I got one final trick up my sleeve."

The guardian place his hand in his pocket and took something out. The group looked at it and noticed that it was some kind of remote detonator. Robin inspected it further and wondered what his friend is up to.

Robin: "What is that?"

Alex: "It's a remote detonator and it's going to be used to end this nightmare."

Robin looked at him and was curious on what he meant by that. With one swift cough, Alex started to explain everything.

Alex: "Before he went after my father, Campbell gave me this and told me the details. You see…" cough, cough, cough… "while we were busy going all over the facility, he and Swan put detonated charges all throughout the main core of the UAC. And this remote detonator is connected to all of them." cough, cough… "One push of this button and the place is going to go sky high, killing every demon from within and burying any evidence of their existence."

The Titans listened into what he said and soon found out what he was going to do. Robin decided to protest about this and told him that it wasn't a wise idea.

Robin: "Have you lost it! Have you no idea what you're going to do? The core is connected to everything in the UAC. If you press that button, you will loose the entire base!"

The guardian paused to himself and coughed in between. After giving much thought, he turned to him and told him it was too late to reconsider.

Alex: "I hate to say this Robin," cough, cough… "but we already lost the base."

The second he said that, they all heard another loud bang at the door again. They all turned and noticed that the nano wall is beginning to dent up and loud roars soon followed. Alex sighed to himself and turned to the team.

Alex: "Sounds like the creeps are about to burst through. There's no time to waste! Everyone should get on the Ark now!"

Still the team didn't want their friend to die and continued to force him to go.

Robin: "Not without you! Come with us!"

Alex: "I don't have a choice."

Robin: "Yes you do. We are not going to follow you order and let you die right here. Just get-"

Alex interrupted him and screamed out loud.

Alex: "This isn't an order, it's a favor!"

That yell however caused him to cough more blood out of his mouth as the pain in his side increased. The Titan leader and others remained silent and wasn't sure what he was saying. The guardian took a deep breath and started to explain a bit more.

Alex: "Let me tell you something that has been nagging me for some time." cough… "I know you for two days since I became your guardian. But during those days, not only did I protect you from all the chaos but you taught me something." cough, cough, cough, cough… "That no matter how bad the odds are, the sacrifices we've made, the torture we've been through, and the surprises we've encountered, we always stick together not matter what. It's what you said to me Rob, We're not only a team, but a family." cough, cough… "I've done all I could to get you here. As of right now, it's your fight. You need to get back to your past and finish what you started."

The group remained silent through all this and didn't know what to do. Surely they want him to come with them, but he won't budge not even for a little bit. Robin then wanted to say something but he couldn't process the words necessary.

Robin: "But…"

Alex rolled his eyes around and knew this won't be easy. So he decided to give him an ultimatum.

Alex: "Okay…" cough… "I know I can't help you from here on out. But I can give you something that might give you an advantage."

He put his free hand into his pocket and took out a round sphere with pointy things on the sides and top to bottom.

Alex: "Here, take this."

He gave it to Robin and immediately coughed soon after. Robin looked at it and wondered what it was.

Robin: "What is this?"

Alex: "It's a high pulse explosive grenade. It's suppose to take out any enemy within' a five mile radius." cough, cough… "Just throw it up in the air and it will arm itself. I've read what happened to your city in the history archives and you might need it incase things get extremely hairy. You might need Raven to help protect yourselves from the blast." cough, cough, cough… "Also, you might need this."

He then reached up behind his back and took his shotgun out, handing that to them.

Alex: "Take Matilda. My dad's trusty shotgun. Keep it in my memory, that I won't be forgotten for the sacrifices I've done for you."

The Titan leader looked down at the weapon and was unsure about this decision.

Robin: "And what about you? You might need this shotgun to defend yourself against the hoard. You won't last without it."

Alex smiled after a little coughing and assured him that he would be fine.

Alex: "Who needs a shotgun while I have the ultimate weapon in the palm of my hand? Not to mention the BFG on my back. Going to be needing it to destroy the Ark's terminal." cough, cough, cough… "If Betruger finds out that you guys are back in the past, he might use the Ark to send his minions after you and maybe get what they need."

He slowly turned his head and looked at Raven. For he's the only person who knows the truth behind the telepath's history and he was going to keep it a secret between him and her. Turning back to Robin, he told him one more thing before his final goodbye.

Alex: "Listen, I'm sorry if I can't go with you. I need to be here to end this nightmare. If I don't the fleet will approach this facility and they will get killed. And once the demons get a hold of their ships, then this Hell will spread to Earth. Now I know I'm making a foolish sacrifice, but it is the only thing I could do to save my planet, let alone the entire universe." cough… "You guys shouldn't worry about me. What you should worry about is your future. You're battle is through that Ark while my battle is right here. And even though I might not be there, you will always remember me no matter what happens."

The team was quiet upon hearing this and wasn't sure if they want him to stay behind or go with them. The guardian then looked at each of them and was pleased with them all. To him, they made him stronger. Robin's leadership and determination, Starfire's kindness, Cyborg's intelligence, Raven's composure, and Beast Boy's enthusiasm, made him a part of the team. And even if he doesn't like it, he needs to stay put and end this once and for all. So for his final goodbye, he approached the Boy Wonder and gave him a warm hug.

Alex: "Farewell guys, and thanks for everything. You are truly the best friends I've ever had."

Tears were coming down Al's face and couldn't believe this is it. The leader was heart felt as tears were appearing through his mask. The others watched on and were saddened as well as tears came out their eyes too. What they didn't know was Alex was putting something into one of the compartments in Robin's utility belt. After he did it, he let go of the hug and said one more thing to them.

Alex: "Godspeed Teen Titans. And good luck in the past."

With that said, he turned around and limped his way back towards the terminal. The team just watched as they were going to see their friend for the last time. Wiping the tears away from his mask, he turned around and told his team to move.

Robin: "You heard him team. Let's get back home…"

The team nodded and went up to the Ark's platform, ready to head on home. At the same time, Alex reached the terminal and was at the monitor where the screen was waiting for a response. Before he could activate it, he turned to the team the same time the Titans turned to him. It was the type of moment where they would see each other for the last time and was the most gut wrenching one yet. The guardian placed his hand on the screen, ready to send them to the past. But before he could do that, he looked right at them and gave them a strong military salute as a sign of farewell. The team watched that and decided to salute him back as well. Once the salutes were taken care of, Alex looked back at the monitor and clicked 'yes' on the pop up menu. The moment he did that, the platform came to life and an announcement was heard.

"Attention: Ark travel in progress. Please stand clear of the platform."

The sphere opened up and a silver like liquid came out of it. It floated upwards and grouped together to form a sphere of silver liquid. The Titans turned to the sphere and waited to see what happens. The group then got closer to the sphere as another announcement came through the speakers.

"Ark travel will begin in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

As the count down ended, the sphere grew big and consumed the entire team completely. As it engulfed them, the sphere compressed itself and vanished in a beam of white light. Alex just watched on as his only friends vanished into the sphere and was sent back in time, making it the last time he would see them.

"Ark travel complete. Please stand by for team to return."

Alex frowned and sighed to himself. He knew that his friends aren't returning and he's going to keep it that way.

Alex: "Time to pull off the grand finale…"

He limped away from the terminal and took out his BFG rifle. Once he was at a good distance, he turned to terminal and aimed his weapon at it. Pulling the trigger and charge it up, he said one thing every Marine says in a firefight.

Alex: "Semper 5…"

Letting go of the trigger, a beam of bright blue liquid came out of the nozzle and flew straight to the terminal. The force of the firepower caused him to trip and fall to the floor with a loud thud at the same time the gooey projectile hit the terminal and melt everything that came into contact. Within seconds, the Ark had been completely disabled.

"Warning: Ark terminal is inoperable. Alert maintenance for immediate repair."

Alex groaned as he slowly got up from the impact. Upon getting up, he immediately crouched down in pain as he continued coughing and a small puddle of blood came out of his mouth and to the floor. Clearing his throat, he soon realized that his time has finally come. He had been beat up, bloodied, cut up, and broken down, yet he still had the strength fight on. But now, his time is spent and he couldn't go on anymore. But still, he had enough strength to perform one final move. Kneeing on the floor and wiping the blood out of his lips, he slowly looked up and saw the nano door about to burst as the bangs get louder and louder. So all he did was wait until its time to pull off his final move. After a few seconds, the door exploded and it flew right over his head and right into the metal wall. But the guardian didn't flinch; he just sat there with his knees on the floor and waited for the end to come. Coming out of the busted door, a Hell Knight stomped in and roared at Alex. Just then, multiple Z-Secs, Imps, Maggots, Wraiths, Cacodemons, Vulgars, Revenants, and Mancubuses came out through the doorway and surrounded him, getting him trapped with no where to go. Al looked around at all of them and could tell this is how it's going to be. One of the security zombies approached him and noticed the BFG lying on the floor, close to the enemy. Figuring this out, it scooted the weapon far from him so that way he wouldn't reach it. What it didn't know was that the guardian had another weapon with him and he was ready to use it. After a few more seconds, out came Dr. Betruger, coming through the damaged doorway and pass the Hell Knight. He slowly walked to the boy that caused all this trouble for him and smirked very wickedly.

Dr. Betruger: "Ah, Alexander Kelly. So nice to see you again. We really got to stop meeting like this."

Alex got his head down and the moment he saw the man responsible for all of this. He just sat there and remained quiet. Betruger then looked around and noticed that something was missing. For Alex was here, but the Titans were nowhere to be found. He looked down at the guardian and asked him about his friends.

Dr. Betruger: "Where are they? Where are the Teen Titans? Are they in hiding? Answer me!"

Alex peeked up with his eyes and answered him with a sly smile.

Alex: "You're too late doctor. They've gone back to the past to finish what they've started." cough, cough… "Your little plan for bringing the key to your master has failed! And you went through all of that trouble only to find nothing. How sad…"

Betruger's expression was that of disgust as he raised his hand and slapped the guardian right in the face. Alex just toppled over and lay limp on the floor, slowly trying to get up while coughing up some more blood. While he was regaining what little strength he had left, Betruger looked around to see if what the guardian said was true. To his surprise, they were in the Ark where the science team goes back to the past to retrieve minerals from Earth that were long forgotten. His guess was that Alex must've taken the team back to the past to return them home. He was going to take his demons to the past just so they could retrieve the key. But just as he was going to do that, he noticed the terminal completely destroyed and covered in blue plasma residue. Observing this, he was stating the obvious.

Dr. Betruger: "So you taken the Teen Titans to the Ark just so they could go to the past and prevent any type of history from happening. How very wise of you. Though you should've joined them so you could escape this nightmare, however you instinct is to stay here that way you don't want to cause any more damage to the past as you did here. It's a pity you destroyed the Ark, but it is of no consequence. The fleet from Earth is almost here. And once they come, Earth would be our next target.

While he was talking, Alex took out the remote detonator and removed the safety cap to prepare for his final hurrah.

---

Mars Surface: November 16, 2145, 4:02 P.M.

At the Mars surface, the Earth fleet was approaching the UAC base and were getting ready for a fight, not realizing they will be entering Hell itself. In one of the ships, the R.A.T.T.S. strike force were preparing for battle. The Sarge was leading the group as he gave them the orders.

Sarge: "All right men, listen up! As you already know that the UAC is under attack by some unknown hostiles. We have to bust in and introduce ourselves to this threat. There will be others that we need to assist incase there are survivors or data they need to retrieve. Just remember, we are dealing with dangerous hostiles we have no information about. If anyone or anything attacks you, kill it. Am I right marines!"

There was a bit of silence until his squad looked at him and responded at the same time.

R.A.T.T.S. Squad: "Sir, yes sir!"

Sarge: "Mm Hm… Damn straight I am. Now get ready. We're going to be in for one wild night."

All the drop ships were getting closer to the Mars base, not knowing that they will be killed by the demons that live in there.

---

Hellhole: November 16, 2145, 4:04 P.M.

Back down within the Hellhole, the marine that made it to the end was fending himself against all the demons that surrounds him. Using any weapon he has, he blew up, shot down, implanted bullets, and blasted away anything that came close to him. With his plasma rifle, the mowed down the Imps, Wraiths, and Maggots. But as he was enjoying himself, he ran out of cartridges and his gun was empty. He then spotted three Mancubuses heading towards him and pointed their arm-mounted cannons at him. Quickly, he grabbed his rocket launcher and fired a couple of rounds at the three. Two of them died, but one still remained as it fired its cannons at the marine. He saw this and jumped out of the way, dodging the fiery blasts. Once he got out of the way of the attack, he reloaded one last case of rockets and fired them all at the last demon. The Mancubus died on the attack and vanished in ash. As he was getting up, an Imp came out of nowhere and was about to pounce him. But the marine knew better as he pointed his shotgun to the direction of where the demon was heading and shot it right at the face. The moment it falls to a plum of burning dust, the marine looked up and noticed there were thousands of them. He groaned to himself and couldn't take it anymore.

Main Marine: "God damn it! There's no end to these things."

With no other options left, he got his BFG out and was ready to take them all on.

Main Marine: "All right you no good bastards, you want a piece of me? Come on! I got plenty of me to go around!"

He charged up his weapon and continued to give them round after round of green energy blasts.

---

Gamma Labs Level 4, The Ark: November 16, 2145, 4:08 P.M.

Back at the Ark, Betruger looked down at the wounded guardian and was pleased that he was down for the count and was on the verge of dying. He wanted to let his minions tear him apart while he was defenseless but thought of something even better. He approached one of the Z-Sec guards and took its pistol. He then approach Alex and had an evilish smile on his face.

Dr. Betruger: "I was quite surprised that you've managed to survive through all of this. But it was because you had help with your friends. But now that your friends are gone and you are severely wounded, this will make killing you pretty easy."

He pointed the pistol at Alex's head and was about to pull the trigger. But before he could do that, he asked the guardian one more thing.

Dr. Betruger: "Now then, anything last words before I execute you?"

Alex heard that and knew now was the time to pull of his final move. Turning to him, he starred at him with cocky eyes and a smirk and said his last words.

Alex: "Yeah…" cough, cough, cough… "I got something to say. And its something I'm addressing to you. For you were the one that caused all this mess, killed everyone, and brought chaos to this entire facility. And for what, that way you will impress your so called master?" cough, cough, cough, cough… "You think, following Trigon's orders will promise you complete immortality. Well you're dead wrong. For what you've done to please him, had sealed your own doom…"

Betruger cocked an eyebrow and wondered what he meant by that. That's when Alex did the unthinkable. He lifted his hand with the remote detonator in it and showed it to the doctor. Betruger looked on and was a little confused by this. That's when Alex said what would be his final words.

Alex: "Dr. Malcolm Betruger… See you in Hell…"

He lifted his thumb up and was seconds away from pushing it. The doctor looked on and soon realized what the thing in the guardian's hand was and what he's going to do. So he lifted his hand up and told him to stop.

Dr. Betruger: "No!"

But it was too late as Alex hit the button on the top to end it all.

---

UAC Power Plant, Main Reactor: November 16, 2145, 4:11 P.M.

Down in the power plant, the detonated charges were standing by in just about everywhere. All the lights were red and were waiting for someone to activate them. Just then, the red lights began blinking on and off and in a few seconds went green. In seconds, all the charges exploded and caused a chain reaction with all the cooling rods, generators, and the main core itself. In a moment, the main core exploded and caused huge flames to spread all over the facility. From Mars City to Alpha Labs, Recycling facility to Communications Center, Delta Labs to Site 3, and Beta Labs to the Monorail stations, explosions, fire, and destruction lay to waist as zombies and demons were instantly killed in the process. Down at the Hellhole, the marine continued shooting as more and more demons kept getting closer. Just as he was getting anxious by this, the felt the entire place shake like crazy. Looking up, he noticed pieces of rocks and stones break apart and falling to him and the hoards. One by one, the slabs crushed everything in their path and killed all the demons in the wake. The Marine himself didn't have time to escape that as well as he got crushed by the slabs falling. Soon enough, the flames and explosions reached Gamma as they blew up floor after floor, killing anything in their wake. Once it reached the fourth floor, it destroyed every sub floor in the facility. As it was heading to the Ark, Betruger turned around and saw the wall of flames going through the hallway, killing the demons and zombies that was in its path. Betruger was now scared as he screamed out his final word.

Dr. Betruger: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The moment the flames entered the Ark, it blew everything up and killed the demons from within. As for Alex, he watched on and slowly closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come as the world around him went white. At the Mars Surface, the drop ships were minutes away in reaching their destination. Once they saw the view of the facility, they noticed something completely off. One of the pilots saw this and told Sarge to check it out.

Pilot: "Sarge, there's something here you might want to see."

The Sarge turned to the pilot and wondered what he was talking about. Once he reached the cockpit, he looked at the windshield and noticed something completely off. Outside the Mars surface, he saw the UAC facility, only to find explosions coming through windows and walls and there was light coming through the center. Curious, he watched on to see what was happening. But as he was watching, the entire facility exploded, replaced by a huge mushroom cloud of a blast. Watching this go down, the Sarge panicked and told his men to hang on.

Sarge: "Oh shit! Everyone brace for impact!"

The group did that as they hold on to everything they can get their hands on. As they did that, the force of the huge explosion caused every drop ship to push back and loose control. Some of them managed to regain their drop ships; others didn't as they crashed to the ground. The squad that was in one of them managed to survive as the pilot regained the controls and kept the ship from falling. With the remaining drop ships stable, everyone looked at what just happened. What they all saw was the entire facility destroyed as fire and debris rained down all over the place. All squads were in complete shock as they didn't know what to say.

Goat: "Dear God."

Portman: "Damn…"

Destroyer: "The fuck…"

Duke: "Jesus Christ…"

Even Sarge was too shock for words as the pilot just couldn't believe it.

Pilot: "Good god… The entire UAC facility's destroyed. It's gone…"

The Sarge then snapped out of it as he told his men some new orders.

Sarge: "Regain your composure men and grab your hazmat air suits. We need to see if there were any survivors and anything that needs to be retrieved.

So the surviving drop ships headed straight towards the wreckage to see if there's anything that needs to be salvaged.

---

UAC Facility, Ground Zero, November 16, 2145, 5:27 P.M.

For over an hour, they fleet combed the ruins of what was once a proud facility, hoping that any survivors or information can be retrieved. Sadly, there was none as all that's left was nothing but burned metal and skeletal remains. Sarge was surveying the damage and shook his head in disgust.

Sarge: "What a mess… Never really though the UAC would be in that bad of a condition."

As he was looking at the damage, Reaper showed up and told him about what his recon.

Reaper: "Sarge."

He then gave a salute to him as the squad leader saluted back.

Sarge: "Report Reaper. Did you find anything?"

Reaper shook his head and was going to tell him the bad news.

Reaper: "No. I'm afraid no one survived the blast and there isn't anything worth salvaging. It looks like whoever attacked the facility knew we were coming to decided to blow up the core as their final stand. And judging what happened to this place, it must've went straight to Hell."

And boy was he close to the truth. While he was talking, both Goat and Portman approached the two and gave them the good news, bad news scenario.

Portman: "Hey Sarge, we were able to find both Campbell and Swan."

Sarge turned to them and asked them about the two.

Sarge: "And…"

The two looked at each other and didn't know how to say it. So Goat decided to jump in and explained it to him.

Goat: "They are both dead. It would seem they must've split up when the attack happened and were caught in the crossfire. Though their bodies were burn to a crisp, they had tags on them so they could be easily identified."

The Sarge turned his head and was depressed by it even though you can't see the expression on his face. But then he remembers another person they need to be retrieving and asked them about him.

Sarge: "What about Dr. Betruger? Did you find him?"

The two looked at each other and looked back at him to give him an answer.

Portman: "Sorry sir, but we can't find him. All squads have searched the entire place for him and yet his body was nowhere to be found. It's like he disappeared out of existence."

Sarge looked at them very boldly and was concerned. He wondered how could it be that they were able to find Swan and Campbell, yet they couldn't find Betruger. Is it possible that his body must've been destroyed to the point that it evaporated out of thin air? As he was thinking it, Reaper approached him and asked him what to do.

Reaper: "So what are we going to do? With this facility destroyed, there's no way anything would survive this."

Sarge thought of this and knew he had no other choice. He turned to Reaper and told him what to do.

Sarge: "Radio command. Tell them what happened here. The suits at the UAC won't like what happened to their Mars base."

Reaper nodded and headed back to the drop ship to contact command on Earth.

---

While he was contacting command, Duke, Destroyer, and Kid headed to what was left of the Ark. Though the building was still intact, the place looked like it was gutted out as skeletal remains of melted metal sewed across the place. While they were searching, the Ark, all they saw was nothing but shattered walls and broken equipment. Both Duke and Destroyer approached the busted terminal to see what has happened to it while Kid approached the middle of the room. As he got there, he noticed something very strange. On the floor appeared to be burnt marks that appeared human. One appeared to be standing on its feet, and the other was lying back slightly with blood all around it. Bending down to get a closer look, Kid thinks that someone was in here and called on the others.

The Kid: "Hey guys! Come here! I think you should see this."

But the two didn't pay attention, yet they responded back.

Duke: "What is it Kid? Can't you see we're busy?"

The Kid: "I know that, but take a look at what I found. It looks like someone was here before. Check out the burn marks on the floor. It's like they were there one minute and were gone the next. Wonder what that means?"

The two listened in and came to a really good conclusion.

Destroyer: "Maybe the two were burned to nothing from the blast."

Duke: "Yeah Kid. Everyone was searching this place and all they found were skeletal remains and ash. There's no way anyone to survive an explosion like this."

The Kid: "I know that. It's just that these marks are a little different, like they were teleported or something."

But Duke decided to interrupted him.

Duke: "Kid, shut your mouth. No one survived the attack. There's nothing here but dust and echoes. Just let it go. Now c'mon, we got a couple of more rooms to look through."

Both Duke and Destroyer left the area and continued searching. But Kid looked at the marks closely and wondered if this is something else. But he decided to brush that aside and caught up with the others. What he didn't know was that the marks left there belonged to Alex and Dr. Betruger. For during the explosion, the two seem to have disappeared in the fire. But that wasn't the case. For some strange reason they were somehow teleported to another place. Where they went to is anyone's guess.

---

And so this chapter of Doom Titans is finished. Man, took a lot longer then expected. But at least, I got the hard stuff jutted down so that way I can finish up with the last chapter. And I got to admit, this was by far the most epic chapter I've ever done so far. Well one down, one to go. Next chapter, the exciting conclusion of this story. Please Review.