Lance's mind was racing. First, he and Terra were facing certain peril at the hands of some deranged scientist. And second, he had just heard news of another device. There was another, like him! "S-someone else has a watch like this?" Lance said out loud in spite of himself. He was stunned, floored.

"Don't play games with me!" snapped Doctor Animo.

"Then don't play games with us!" retorted Terra.

"Yeah!" chimed Lance. He then thought of something. "Like—tracking us—," After much effort Lance managed to move his trapped arm enough so that he could reach into his pocket. He pulled out the small electronic he had found earlier. "And then sending your robot goons after us!"

"I know of no such thing!" barked Animo as he snatched the electronic out of Lance's hand. The scientist then peered at the electronic. "Firstly, this is clearly not my design! And secondly, I do not rely on robotics…"

"Then what do you use?" growled Terra. She stopped struggling against the metal claw when she caught her first sight of the large fluid filled glass tubes. Terra was close enough to see that floating in the glass tubes were large misshapen animals.

Dr. Animo turned in the direction Terra was starting at and smirked. "I believe my genius speaks for itself." He then walked towards his suspended creations with his arms collected behind his back. "As you can see I have taken up residence in this former research compound to further perfect my technique," Dr. Animo turned his face back towards his captives. A sinister smile worked its way across his face. "It's simply amazing what some people will just throw away…" Dr. Animo walked towards Lance and roughly grabbed his left wrist. "Or deliver!"

"You want the watch?" Lance asked bemusedly.

"No, I'm simply admiring it," Dr. Animo's voice was laden with contemptuous sarcasm. "OF COURSE I WANT IT YOU SIMPLETON!" Lance's nose crinkled in disgust as he felt specks of angry spit cover his face. "This device could very well be the key to my success." Dr. Animo peered closer at the watch. "You may not know it, but a device such as this contains vast quantities of DNA that if used correctly can give me my rightful place in history!" Animo was becoming ecstatic.

"Your…place in history?" Terra asked tentatively.

"Since your accomplices have left you so poorly informed, allow me to elaborate in words that even you two can understand," Dr. Animo pointed to the odd colander-like device on his head. "First, I create and accelerate mutations in organisms. Second," He motioned to the facility around them. "I use the tools in this former research facility to further improve my technique." Dr. Animo glanced at the glass containment tubes, which now cradled his most recent creations as he monitored their conditions, testing to see what improvements had been made or how he could make them. "And thirdly," Dr. Animo seized Lance's left wrist again. "I make use of the alien DNA from this device," The doctor made a triumphant fist with his remaining hand. "And then the world shall finally know the genius that is Aloysius Animo!"

Lance turned his head towards Terra. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That he'll have to wait a little longer?" A smirk spread across the geomancer's face. Even if Lance's watch was recharged again his arms were bound too tightly to his body for him to do any good. Terra on the other hand…

"Mmhm," Lance responded with his own wry smile.

"My thoughts too!" With that Terra balled her hands into fists of yellow glowing energy.

Dr. Animo's eyes widened in astonishment. "What in the name of—AAAAHHHHH!" He was shot straight into the air by a pillar of earth that rose from beneath his feet. A second pillar of earth then rose from the ground and smashed into the component keeping the metal claws aloft. The two mechanical claws loosened their hold, allowing Lance and Terra to drop onto the ground.

"Way to go Terra!" exclaimed Lance as he got onto his feet.

"No big," shrugged Terra as she dusted herself off. She couldn't help but smile, for once her powers were working!

The two teens then looked up at the sound of annoyed grunting. Dr. Animo was clumsily hanging from a rafter, his feet dangling below him in a comical fashion. "D-don't start congratulating yourselves just yet!" Dr. Animo finally managed to pull himself into a stable position. He moved a hand towards his belt. "I wasn't planning to do this for a few more weeks," The doctor's face contorted itself in fury. "BUT YOU TWO HAVE FORCED MY HAND!" Dr. Animo pulled out a remote control and pressed a button. A series of loud blaring noises filled the room. Lance and Terra didn't have to look far to find the source of the noises. The large glass containment tubes were emptying their suspension fluids…

"Uh oh!" Lance's eyes widened in unpleasant surprise. After the fluids drained completely, the glass components of the containment tubes retreated into their mechanical bases. Monstrous shrieks and roars filled the air as Animo's mutated creations awakened from their slumber. Terra and Lance began backing away. They both stopped when they turned their heads to see that the doors to the facility were still sealed shut. Lance turned his head to his left wrist upon hearing a familiar beeping sound. "Looks like there's only one way out of this one…"

XXX

On the surface above, in an area that was not too far away from the abandoned facility, five super powered teens were trekking across the rocky terrain.

"Aw man," whined Beastboy as he wiped his sweat covered brow. The green changeling and his teammates were trekking the desolate outskirts of Jump City. "Whydda we have to come all the way out here?"

"Because when somebody reports something strange, we have to look into it," Raven curtly responded. "Even if it means having to go out into the middle of nowhere." As much as the empath enjoyed venturing out in the blistering heat, the Titans had a job to do. For quite some time there had been reported sightings that made Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster sound perfectly plausible.

Beastboy nearly let out an incredulous snort. "Come on," Beastboy looked around at his surroundings: nothing but bare barren earth all around. "What could possibly be out here?" He swept his arms around to make his point. "I'm telling you there's nothing out here but—" Beastboy was cut off by the sounds of terrified screams that were carrying themselves through the air.

XXX

"O-okay, I think we lost it," gasped Terra as she attempted to hold herself up by her kneecaps. She and what appeared to be a hulking crystalline humanoid were hiding in a cluster of boulders. "N-next time we find a secret door, l-let's just forget about it..."

"Y-yeah," said Lance in agreement. If his current form had sweat glands he would have been wiping his brow. It had been nothing short of a miracle but the two had escaped back to the surface. At first, everything had been coming up roses. Through their combined efforts Lance and Terra had been able to repel Dr. Animo's creations. But then the good doctor released what he had called one his 'masterpieces.' That had forced the two to make a hasty retreat in which they were forced to break their way out of the facility. But despite their escape, the game of cat and mouse was far from over.

Both Lance and Terra's postures straightened at a loud rumbling. "Uh oh…" The two tilted their heads up as a shadow cast itself over them. Staring down at them was the pride and joy of Dr. Animo's recent creations, a monstrous 30-foot long black scorpion. "Time to go!" Lance unleashed a small barrage of crystal shards at the scorpion before running off with Terra. The attack did little against the mutant's thick armor as it undauntedly plowed forward.

"I think I'm actually beginning to miss the robots!" Lance stated with mixed wryness and alarm.

"You and me both!" replied an equally panicked Terra. The two were forced into the cross-country tour of their lives as the oversized invertebrate chased them out of the rocky grove and into the open of the rocky flat. Terra's lanky body quickly allowed her to take the lead. Lance's diamond body was weighing him down in the run, but his long strides kept him in Terra's wake and ahead of their pursuer.

Lance looked over his shoulder after a few moments into the chase. The scorpion was catching up and its quarry would soon tire…Time for a new mode of transportation. "Hey, Terra! Guess what?" Lance shouted, "Taxi!" Lance put on short extra burst of speed and scooped Terra up with the sweep of a large arm. He then pointed his remaining free arm towards the ground and began growing crystals from his limb. The crystals grew into the ground to the point that they formed a platform beneath Lance's feet and began propelling him forward, leaving behind a trail of crystal. Both Lance and Terra let out conquering cheers at their triumph. Nothing was going to stop them now! Their celebration was cut short when they turned their heads around to see the mutated scorpion still hot on their trail. "You've got to be kidding me!" Lance exclaimed in dismay. Terra frantically looked around, hoping to find some way out, until…

"Lance, I've got it!" Lance looked down to see Terra pointing towards something in the distance. "Head over there, I've got an idea!" Lance gazed in the direction of Terra's finger to two rock walls that formed a narrow pass between them. Feeling that there was nothing left to lose, Lance steered the crystal transport towards the desired direction. They reached the location in a manner of moments. Terra squirmed out of Lance's hold and leapt onto the ground.

"Terra, wh-what are you doing?" panicked Lance. Just what was Terra thinking? She was now running towards the narrow pass and away from the crystal transport, the only thing that had been keeping space between the two teens and a homicidal arthropod.

"Just trust me on this!" Terra shouted over her shoulder. Lance let out a distraught sigh before leaping off of the crystal transport to follow his teammate.

"Hope you know what you're doing…" Lance said under his breath. He released another volley of crystal shards at the scorpion, hoping to stall it before following Terra into the pass.

Terra's heart was pounding in her ears along with the monstrous scorpion's steps. She looked at the pass's rocky walls frantically, desperately looking for a spot to carry out her plan…"TERRA!" The blonde turned to see Lance on her heels; his yellow crystal eyes were full with terror. Terra's own blue eye's widened in fear upon seeing Lance's reason for panicking. The scorpion was finally gaining on them. "IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING, DO IT QU—" Lance was cut short when a titanic claw seized him by the waist, lifted him up, and (much to Lance's horror) placed him towards the entrance of its segmented mouth…

KRAK!

The scorpion screeched in pain before tossing Lance aside in disgust. A silicon-based organism was not its idea of a meal! It wanted meat, something that it could sink its chelicerae into instead of breaking them upon! It didn't have to look very far. Terra soon found herself ducking and weaving to avoid being crushed by a pair of pincers. A narrow miss made by the scorpion's massive tail sent Terra sprawling.

Terra felt her hair fall onto her face. She panicked. It could only mean one thing. Terra quickly looked around to see her butterfly hairclip a few feet away from her. She reached out to grab it but a second jab from the giant scorpion's tail forced her away. Terra forced herself back onto her feet and began backing away to put some distance between her and the beast. A sinking feeling hit Terra's stomach when she felt her back press against a rock wall. The scorpion made to strike again…

"Hey, buddy!"

The scorpion screeched as it was forced to make a step backwards.

"Claws to yourself!"

The creature turned its head around to see that the inedible prey that it had tossed aside had reentered the scene. Lance had somehow managed to grab onto the scorpion's tail and was using all of his alien strength to pull it back. The scorpion let out an angry shriek before flexing its tail, lifting Lance off of the ground.

"Oh, snap…" Lance was flung straight into a rock wall, shattering the spot he landed in upon contact. With the distraction out of the way, the scorpion returned its attention to its more appetizing prey. The scorpion quickly discovered that, in the midst of its recent scuffle, Terra had slunk to a corner that was a few yards further along the rock wall. As the scorpion moved in for the kill, it failed to notice that its meal was no longer cowering. The distraction Lance had provided was all Terra had needed.

Wind began lashing around as Terra's eyes glowed yellow. Another thing that the scorpion had failed to notice was the natural stone bridge overhead that linked the two opposing sides of the pass. The rock formation glowed with Terra's power before it came tumbling down upon the beast below it. As the structure struck the creature there was a loud crash and crunch, a squeal of pain, and then silence. It was over.

Lance uncovered himself from the rubble he had been buried in upon being thrown against the rock wall. He looked at the newer pile that enclosed the vanquished enemy. "Phew," Lance sighed in relief. "Glad that's over…" He gave a smile to an equally pleased Terra.

"Whoa, those two actually won!" exclaimed a new voice. It called from above. Lance and Terra both looked up to see five figures looking down upon them from a ledge.