It has been a long time hasn't it? Well I hope I haven't lost my readers because I'm hoping to go into overdrive! I found this lying around and was like, shit I totally forgot about this. Knowing me, though, I hate to leave things unfinished. Without further ado, here is the continuation of the story.

Chapter 5 The Face of the Enemy

The battle raged on. Smoke continued its dark ascent into the sky. It had been such a beautiful day too. Beast Boy shrugged. This was what it meant to be a hero. Unfortunately, though, he had gotten his son into this mess as well.

Spencer.

The boy just didn't know how to say no didn't he? Just a small sign of trouble and he bursts towards it headfirst and guns blazing. Beast Boy ducked in time to manage dodging a swinging stinger, these things were no problem.

But still…. What if they were? He thought to himself. Without even knowing the danger Spencer ran towards the smoke. If these things were an issue, Spencer would be hurt right now after rushing in like that. He jumped over another stinger, transformed himself into a gorilla, and laid some smackdown on the weird creature. Knocking it into the hard concrete. Him and I need to have a serious talk later.

Telly was not having a pleasant day to be sure. She was fighting completely blind where her powers had very little effect. She wasn't a fighter! She preferred to escape those kinds of situations. That's why seeing Levitate viciously tear apart those creatures gave her comfort. She wasn't a violent person and was never meant to be. Heck, even her great "power" was to get the hell away from wherever she was. A large silhouette formed in the smoke behind her, she barely noticed it in time to duck out of the way, releasing a small squeal of terror in the process. She teleported farther out of the smoke. Yeah, she wasn't being of great use here. She looked above to see the golden haired boy her mind often wandered towards. He was on his door-board, moving around above the smoke, a large grouping of rock and debris were behind him. She watched as he scanned the smoke, acquire a target, then blast a rock off into the smoke, where a mighty crack and scream would signal a successful hit. Telly was amazed at the boy. To her, he was probably the most in-control of their hero group: calm, collected, powerful. He was a great vice-captain in her eyes. Maybe even a captain. Spencer, on the other hand….

It wasn't that Telly didn't trust Spencer or think of him as weak, but she noticed that he tended to go all-out, all the time. He was a great planner before a battle (like when they went to fight Slade), but when it got to that point…. He would be prone to improvise when it may not have been necessary. He didn't have to put all that weight on himself. Sure they had silently elected him as their leader at that time, but yet…. She felt that he didn't have a trusting bone in his body. She watched as an explosion rocketed a large grouping of the creatures into the air, each landing with a hard thud onto the ground. They didn't get up. Telly looked back towards the smoke. It seemed the battle was dying down, but yet….

There wasn't that feeling of relief.

Spencer punched another scorpion-monster into the ground, his hand black with Shadow Energy. The creature's face exploded on impact and Spencer turned to find another foe. He was breathing heavily. What is with me? It wasn't as if the creatures were terribly difficult. Sure they were fast but he quickly adapted to the situation to match their speed as best he could. He looked to his side; Nightwing was spinning that staff of his around back in place to ready for another attack. Spencer saw him give a quick glance in his direction, a questioning look on his face. Did he really look that beat up to the former Boy Wonder?

A sharp pain shot through his side and Spencer did all he could to muffle a scream. He grabbed his ribs. Shit! He had forgotten he wasn't entirely healed yet. He looked around to see if anybody else noticed this. Everyone was wrapping up their fight and he breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed only Nightwing had seen him. He wasn't worried about the great detective going around and telling everybody just how hurt Spencer was; for all his stoicism, Nightwing knew what it meant to be a leader and look strong. Spencer knew that him and Nightwing had that special, silent, connection. An unspoken respect for each other as leaders.

As the others finished, Spencer turned to the great Titan leader. They were probably thinking the same thing:

What the hell were those things?

"Spencer, I think we should…." Nightwing didn't get the chance to finish.

Spencer couldn't even track the explosion as it engulfed Nighwing head on. They say in times like these everything slows down, but it doesn't. It was quick and warranted no time for reaction or realization. Nightwing's face didn't even have time to look surprised as his body was surrounded by flames.

Spencer stood in shock. His best friend's father had just been seemingly annihilated. His feet were glued to the spot. He heard a high scream and watched as a green missile shot down into the new smoke. Spencer could only guess that it was Starfire flying in to save her man. He watched as they exited, Nightwing unconscious in Starfire's arms. Spencer breathed out. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath.

"Impressive. I would have thought that even the Boy Wonder wouldn't have survived that." A voice said coolly.

Spencer's eyes widened. That voice. He turned his gaze away from his friend's parents and looked towards the direction of the voice. A man was there standing on the rooftop. His hand casually in his pocket, dressed in what looked to be an expensive black suit and red tie. Jet black hair and a smirk, the man was handsome and power seemed to scream from his body. Spencer was still frozen. He had felt this before.

"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?" The man chuckled to himself. "Apparently I've left you all speechless. Shame, I was expecting more from Titans. Especially when I blew up their leader."

The Titans just looked in awe at the man. They had faced plenty of enemies before, enemies that seemed unbeatable at the time: demons, magicians, psychos, and everything in-between. This man, though, was different. Every instinct that Spencer had screamed to run away, but he was frozen in place.

It was Starfire who broke the stand-off. She had placed Nightwing in Sarah's care and told them to get the hell out of there, then she charged.

There was a fury in her eyes, glowing bright green in anger. She was faster than anything Spencer had seen before. It took her maybe two seconds to stop directly in front of the strange man, her hand up and glowing for a strike. Spencer smirked. This man was going to get what was coming to him.

But the man didn't even budge.

Starfire's arm crashed into the man's face and a bright green light exploded outwards, blinding the rest of the group. It was quite the attack, one that Spencer was sure would end the battle before it even began, but dread crept into him as he slowly regained his sight. Starfire had landed the punch…. but the man hadn't stopped smiling.

They were frozen in time it seemed. The man hadn't moved even the slightest at Starfire's attack. Starfire. THE Starfire. The very same Starfire who was known for her super strength and power. It was as if she had been replaced by a different Starfire. This Starfire was trembling, her first still planted firmly in the man's face. All composure gone, she released an onslaught of attacks on the man, ignoring how her first punch had done nothing. She was relentless, but ultimately pointless. The man moved his arm only slightly, but Spencer noticed it.

"STARFIRE LOOK OUT!"

His shout was useless as the man pulled his hand from his pocket and backslapped the alien hero, sending her flying to the side and into the nearest building, creating a mighty crash as glass and concrete exploded at the impact. Spencer watched in horror as the alien didn't emerge from the wreckage.

"ALRIGHT KIDS! GET MOVING!"

Spencer turned to see Cyborg moving into play. He was the one who had made the order. Spencer turned towards his parents, but they were also on the move. Raven flew towards the building Starfire had ran into and Beastboy was with Cyborg, charging the man.

"Spencer!"

He looked up to see Nightfire floating just above him, worry in her eyes. Spencer felt a pain of worry for his friend. She had just witnessed both her parents get taken down by that monster of a man with seemingly no effort at all. Yet there she was, keeping him focused. Spencer growled at the thought. What kind of leader would fall short like that?

Yet he complied and headed back towards the Tower. He couldn't resist one last glance at both his father and godfather going all out against the strange man. He was disappointed to see they weren't having much luck.

Beastboy transformed into a T-rex and chomped at the man, but he effortlessly moved away. Who was this guy?

"Garfield!"

Beastboy turned to his wife. She was waiting for him, Starfire slung across her shoulders all beat-up and bruised. He smiled inwardly. That was his Raven.

"Well it seems I have played my part." Beastboy turned and glared at the man. The man was still standing there casually. Smirking. He could've killed them all right then, but he decided against it. What fun would that be?

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers and, just like that, he disappeared.

Beastboy didn't put his defenses down, but he was secretly glad the man got away. He knew he had been doing no damage and continuing the fight would've been disastrous for them. He transformed into a hawk and flew back to Titan Tower, his wife and best friend right behind him. Things were not looking good.

Well that seems like a good place to stop for now. Don't worry though! This time it won't take two years for me to put up another chapter! I'm glad that you guys have been patient and hope that this story was worth the wait. Next chapter will be up soon! Please R&R. Thanks.