Icon was hiking through the desert again. He was alone. It was nearing nightfall; he would soon have to find a place to stay for the night. Icon looked ahead to see an outcrop of rocks. That place would do. He wearily dragged his feet as the dark began swallowing the surroundings, looking forward to a well-earned rest…

A jolt went through his spine when the sound of footsteps bounded off the canyon walls. Someone was here! "Who's there?" he called out edgily into the dark. He tensed when a dark form rushed across the canyon floor before his eyes. "Who are you?" Icon was feeling unusually apprehensive. His fears were only confirmed when the dark form reappeared and tackled into him at full force, sending Icon skidding.

"All right," Icon pushed his pain-wracked body back up. "If that's the way you want to play…" Icon made for the Omnitrix and in a green flash of light he was the kineceleran. He zoomed forward to go head to head with this unknown foe. Icon was confident, almost nothing could touch him in this state. He was now neck and neck with the stranger. "Who are you?" repeated Icon. "What do you want? Why are you following me and—"

The stranger did the unthinkable and rushed ahead at a blinding speed, faster than even Icon. The stranger then turned and charged into Icon at full force. Icon was sent rolling at top speed and was somehow reverted back into a human in the process. He shook his head in astonishment. What had just happened? A familiar beep interrupted his train of thought. The Omnitrix was already working again. Not even stopping to consider why the device was operating so quickly, Icon slammed his hand on the Omnitirx's dial. He quickly took to the air as a lepidopterran, his transparent wings buzzing like crazy.

"Let's see how you like an air strike!" With that, Icon flew at the stranger and began firing various bursts of green slime from his mouth and eyestalks. Icon would have loved to see how this opponent would turn this situation around. He was high up in the air and could now strike practically anywhere on the field. What could this stranger possibly do now? As if to answer his question, the stranger evaded the blasts of slime in an amazing feat of acrobatics. The stranger then jumped onto a canyon wall and leapt with incredible force, shooting past Icon. The stranger then came down upon Icon with an outstretched foot.

Icon felt the axe-kick make full contact with his head. He was sent down to the ground with such force that he could have sworn that there had been a shockwave or two involved. The unknown opponent merely landed back onto the ground feet first. The shadowy stranger stepped forward to approach the cloud of dust that the fallen insect had made. A red flash blared through the dust and was succeeded by another green flash. A crystal shard shot out from the cloud of dust, missing the stranger's feet by a mere inch.

"So you want to play rough?" A massive crystalline petrosapien revealed himself from the dust, cracking his knuckles. "I can do that." The stranger merely beckoned to Icon, inviting him to fight. Icon responded by charging forward and unleashed a wave of crystal projectiles with a sweep of his hand. The stranger nimbly leapt into the air, easily avoiding the crystal barrage. "GOTCHA!" Icon released a second wave of shards into air just after the stranger leapt. This fight was over now…

The stranger plowed through the crystal barrage with a series of midair kicks. "WHAT!" Icon couldn't believe what he was seeing. The stranger came down upon Icon like a juggernaut. This time a dust-storm was created as a massive shockwave rattled the canyon. The dust eventually cleared to reveal a mostly shattered petrosapien who was now lying helplessly on the ground. Icon was enveloped by a flash of red light and reverted to a human yet again, but this time he was not making for the Omnitrix. He was finished. This stranger, this inhumanly strong opponent, had beaten him. It was a struggle just to move a finger.

The stranger approached a beaten and battered Icon, looking down upon him. "Wh-what are you?" feebly asked Icon as he struggled to make out a face. The stranger merely lifted up a foot over Icon's head and brought it down full force…

Icon woke up with a jolt, his entire body seized with fear. His breathing became less ragged when he realized it had all simply been a bad dream. Icon ran a hand across his face as he turned to his alarm clock that was sitting on his nightstand. It was still very early to be getting up, but Icon's mind was racing. After a nightmare like that he needed to find a way to calm down. Icon crawled out from under his bed covers and walked out his bedroom door.

A few moments of tiptoeing later, Icon was on the tower rooftop. He walked towards the edge, where he could receive the maximum amount of exposure to the cool night air. Icon closed his eyes, stretched his arms out, and deeply inhaled the salty ocean air. His taut muscles began to loosen and his mind started to placate. It was hard to believe that his fixation was troubling him to this extent.

Why was it disturbing him so? Why was he so concerned with that unknown stalker from the desert? It wasn't as if the person was as strong as in his dream. But there had been that look on Professor Paradox's face…What kind of person could instill that kind of unease in someone who had the power to control space and time at will?

"You're up?"

Icon opened his eyes and turned to see Raven sitting cross-legged in midair not too far away from him. "Y-yeah," Icon was a little startled by the unexpected company. "What are you doing up?"

"It's one of the few times when I can meditate in peace," explained Raven as she gave a shrug. "And you?"

"I had a little trouble sleeping," Icon took a seat near the roof edge.

"Happen too often?" Raven quirked an eyebrow.

"Not really," admitted Icon as he drummed his fingers. He took in a deep breath to receive another waft of the night air. "Gotta love that ocean."

"I guess you haven't been to the beach too much," noted Raven.

"Not since I got this," Icon held up his left arm, showing the Omnitrix. "I didn't exactly have a lot of time for breaks before I got here. But now…" Icon simply flopped onto his back.

XXX

It wasn't too long before Icon returned to his room again, his mind calm again. A little fresh air and an enjoyable conversation were all he had needed. Icon crawled back into bed and slowly began drifting off. After what seemed like just a minute later, a loud siren began going off. Icon let out a loud groan before pushing himself out from the warmth of his bed to head for the main room. He ran into the main room to find that he was the last person to arrive. Oddly enough everyone seemed to be rooted to the spot as they watched something on the display screen. Icon frowned. Normally everyone would be springing into action.

"What is it? What's going on?" inquired Icon. "Who is…it?" Ice filled his lungs the moment his eyes caught sight of the computer screen. He was seeing black and copper.

It was a man. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit that was equipped with metal shoulder pads. From the looks of it, this man was incredibly well built. Icon couldn't see the man's face, the black and copper he had seen earlier was in the way. The man was wearing a mask. It was a peculiar thing. The mask was divided lengthwise. One half of the mask was completely black while the other was copper. The copper side was the only side with an opening for a single eye. That one eye, it had the ferocity of a shark's. No, Icon wouldn't have gotten this feeling of unease from staring back at a shark.

"Wh-who is that?" Icon said feebly. Robin turned to Icon while wearing an unusually grave expression. The answer came in the form of one simple word.

"Slade."

Robin returned to the computer, typing like crazy.

"How bad is he?" asked Terra anxiously. The tension that the senior members were emitting was getting to her as well.

"Way bad," responded a grim Beastboy. The jokester's seriousness only confirmed the severity of the manner.

"Got a fix on his location," Robin finished punching a few keys into the computer. "Titans, move out!"

Terra and Icon were the only ones who lagged behind. "Terra," croaked Icon, "H-he looks just like…" Icon was only able to dumbly point at Slade's image that was still on the computer screen.

"I know," swallowed Terra. Slade greatly resembled the masked androids from the desert.

XXX

Nothing could have prepared Icon for this. Not even an ambush from his former alien pursuers had caught him off guard like this. Then again, the alien droids had merely been machines that had been programmed to seek and destroy. Dealing with the actual programmer of a set of machines was another story. When Professor Paradox had introduced him to the alien warlord, Icon had felt a decent amount of unease upon laying eyes on the being that had been hunting him.

Now, he was about to relive the experience all over again. Icon didn't remember much of the race to the team's location of interest. The only thing on his mind was that sick feeling that was churning in his stomach. Icon hadn't even met this Slade and the man was already getting to him.

"Th-they've taken over the whole mine!" The team had arrived to the entrance of a diamond mine. Addressing them was a tattered looking miner, who was bearing various burns, cuts, and bruises. "They just came out of nowhere," the miner suddenly buckled at the knees as his breathing became more ragged. Robin caught the man by the shoulders in a nick of time.

"He's in shock," stated Robin. He turned to the rest of the Titans. "One of us will have to get him somewhere—"

"On it!" A blue kineceleran appeared in a flash of green light. Icon gingerly took the miner from Robin.

"Catch up with us as soon as possible," ordered Robin. With that Icon rushed off with the miner safely tucked away in his arms. As Icon rocketed away to carry the man to safety, he realized just how quickly he had volunteered himself for the task. Had he actually done it because he felt that he had been right for the job?

"They came out of nowhere…" moaned the miner.

"Stay with me here," urged Icon. Icon may not have been a doctor but a bit of medical training that the Titans had given was telling Icon that it would be best to keep the man conscious. "Uh, tell me more about whoever popped up from nowhere."

"W-we had just cracked open another deposit of diamonds," muttered the miner. "Th-then somebody began firing these lasers at us and all of the equipment. They were these guys with masks…"

Icon's grip on the miner tightened, his fears were being confirmed. By then he had exited the grounds for the above ground facility for the mining complex and had caught sight of Jump City's armored authorities. "Here you go," Icon placed the miner into the arms of two of the officers. "Gotta rejoin my team now!" The churning in Icon's stomach intensified as he headed back to the mine's entrance. Perhaps there had been one other reason Icon had volunteered himself for the job earlier. He had been anxious to face whatever might be down there.

XXX

Tens of feet below the earth's surface, a laser bolt whizzed passed Terra's head. The geomancer responded by blindly hurling a volley of small rocks to provide cover from her assailants as she ran behind a large piece of machinery. Terra glanced past the machinery to get a better view of her opponents. Staring back at her were several black and copper masks that were equipped with pairs of ghastly white eyes.

The all too familiar robot commandos seemed half in mind to open fire upon Terra again when an even more familiar blue blur swept the squadron aside in a series of rushes.

"Perfect timing!" happily exclaimed Terra.

"Happy to be of service," Icon gave a small toothy from behind his Kineceleran windshield. However, his mood quickly changed upon looking back upon the masked assailants.

"It's actually them!" Icon's body tensed upon him getting another look at the scattered masked robot commandos that were pushing themselves back out.

"It sure is…" grimly acknowledged Terra. There was no denying that these were the same assailants from that night in the desert.

Icon was then forced zoom away when a series of laser bolts began arriving from the sides. As Icon ran across a cave wall, he realized just how many more of the androids were present in the underground complex. He was able catch a glimpse of Robin using a bow staff to smack away at a squad of the androids, Beastboy was crushing at least twenty more of the attackers as a stegosaurus, Starfire and Cyborg had just succeeded in tossing away the last of their opponents that had attempted to dog-pile them, and Raven had used her powers to create a miniature storm out of various inanimate objects that was now smashing every android within its vicinity.

After his quick recon of the area, Icon swerved about and ran back onto the floor. He had caught sight of a group of the androids that he could single out. Icon struck like a lightning bolt. He tackled one of the androids at full force and then struck a second one with a sweep of his tail. Icon then made a few swift evasive maneuvers to avoid several shots that were fired in his direction. Icon then came upon his remaining foes with his extended claws the moment he saw an opening…

CRACK! BANG!

Both Icon and the androids were knocked off of their feet as the ground beneath them suddenly shifted and twisted. Icon struck the rocky earth as a dreaded realization came to him. He had experienced this all too familiar phenomena before during that one week in the desert. Icon turned his head and sure enough, Terra was in the center of a whipping whirlwind. She was curled up in a ball trying to calm herself back down as her opponents were being effortlessly thrown aside.

Well, Icon knew the drill. Every now and then Terra's geomancy would go out of control for some reason and someone would have to take her to a safe spot to minimize the damage that the power would cause. This loss of control had been occurring less and less frequently since Terra and Icon's arrival to the tower but there had still been the occasional mishap.

Icon pushed himself off the ground and ran, zigzagging past the rocks that had been shaken loose from the ceiling. Fighting through the lashing wind, Icon succeeded in wrapping a clawed arm around Terra's body and then proceeded to exit the mine. The sooner they reached the surface the less likely anyone would be buried alive on the account of Terra's unintentional geomancy.

"Heh, we sure showed them," Icon gave a weak chuckle as he navigated the caverns. Terra had entered that usual state of depression that normally followed her loss of control and was in need of some cheering up. Feeling like a burden was never a pleasant emotion.

"Yeah, I guess we did," Terra actually broke into a small smile.

Icon was approaching a crossroads.

"And come to think about it, I guess I didn't totally mess up," mused Terra. "It's kind of a record. I haven't lost control like that for—" She was caught off when an odd explosion went off at Icon's feet. Terra flew out of Icon's grip as the two were sent flying in opposite directions. More odd explosions went off and a wall of fallen rocks that had broken off quickly separated the two teens.

XXX

"ICON!" Terra picked herself off from the ground and attempted to shift some of the rocks out of the way. After an avalanche like that it would be too risky to use her geomancy lest she wanted to chance creating another disturbance. After a few attempts to remove enough of the rocks with her hands, Terra stopped and sighed in defeat.

Terra's slumped posture quickly straightened when she heard the sounds of footsteps. She turned to see a tall muscular figure dashing away from her. The figure looked back at Terra only once to reveal a masked face. "Slade!" growled the geomancer. Terra ran at the fleeing criminal mastermind at top speed.

Part of this was exhilarating for her; she might actually be able to catch this dangerous enemy of the Titans. Thinking quickly, Terra raised a hand and focused her attention on the ceiling ahead of Slade. The ceiling caved in, blocking Slade's escape route.

"Looks like I've got you," Terra smirked as she warily approached Slade with a glowing pair of hands.

Suddenly, Slade leapt into the air and landed on his feet behind Terra with cat-like reflexes. He then delivered a swift sweep to Terra's legs, knocking the girl onto the ground. Slade then produced a metallic sphere…

XXX

"TERRA!" yelped Icon. He raced towards the rocky barrier in a fraction of a second and rapidly began removing any rocks that his slender arms could remove. Icon was forced to stop when his arms gave way to overexertion. "Well this is just great!" he moaned. Icon's Kinceleran claws quickly engaged themselves when footsteps echoed through the tunnel. He turned to see a man with a lean yet well built frame in the distance. The man was simply standing there with his arms folded in front of him. The electric lights that were lined across the tunnel revealed that it was a masked man who was watching Icon with a single eye.

"Slade!" blurted Icon in spite of himself. At Icon's outburst, Slade turned to run. Icon smirked to himself. Did Slade really think that he could escape that way? Icon rushed at Slade in pursuit, unaware that Terra had done the exact same thing in the opposite direction on the other side of the rocky wall or that the masked sociopath had created at least one mechanical duplicate.

"Going somewhere, punk?" Icon easily caught up with his quarry using the Kineceleran's speed. In a blink off an eye, Icon cut off Slade's only opening for escape. "I've got you now…"

The Slade that Icon was facing seemed unnerved as he pulled out a metallic sphere. "On the contrary…" Slade's voice was deep and sinister.

At that moment, the two Slades, which Icon and Terra were each facing on opposite ends of the underground complex, tossed their respective metallic spheres. The Slade that Terra was facing tossed the metallic sphere over his shoulder while the Slade that Icon was facing tossed his metallic sphere past Icon's head. Both spheres detonated, dislodging more rocks from the rocky ceilings and trapping both pairs of opponents.

The two Slades also had one simple thing to say to each of their opponents: "I've got you…"

Author's Note: For those of you who may be concerned that I may be following too close to the original Teen Titans story line, I can assure you that I plan on making my own modifications. If Slade plans on pulling any strings, it will be in an even craftier matter than before, which wouldn't be too difficult for a criminal mastermind.

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