The ocean current felt unseasonably cold to Kaldur and the surroundings, while familiar felt … wrong. He continued to swim alongside Garth, knowing that they were approaching their destination: Atlantis. They continued swimming in silence for a while until Kaldur broke the silence.
"I suppose that I shouldn't expect a welcome home parade."
"They know we're coming, but I have no idea what to expect. Aquaman was away when I called but the Queen sounded … well surprised or maybe shocked. She wouldn't believe me; she thought that it was some sort of prank."
Kaldur sighed. He was beginning to wonder if visiting this parallel Atlantis was such a good idea after all. He silently hoped that Aquaman would understand.
Soon they were approaching the outskirts of the capital of the underwater kingdom, as simpler and smaller structures began to dot the seascape. Word had gotten around, as the furtive looks by the curious and unbelieving were increasing in their frequency as they peeked from behind doors. The few who were out and about simply stopped what they were doing and they stared and gawked at the ghost from the past. As the two Atlanteans continued to swim towards the palace something caught Kaldur's eye: it was a large statue of him, depicting him in battle with Trident.
Kaldur darted off to examine the monument and discovered that it was where he was entombed. As he looked upon the statue he recalled the day he had been ambushed by Trident. He floated motionlessly in from of the watery grave, with a distant look in his eyes. Garth glided up next to him and stopped, floating next to him.
"The only reason I didn't die was because you were there."
Garth placed a hand on Kaldur's shoulder.
"I wanted to come with you, but you told me to stay behind, that you would take care of him. I didn't want to, but you convinced me to stay behind and protect the Queen since Aquaman was away on Justice League business. She told me that she would be fine and that I should go help you, but I arrived too late… "
Kaldur returned the gesture to Garth.
"It was the same in my realm, except that I was able to fend of Trident, even though I was seriously injured, until you arrived to help me."
Garth looked remorseful.
"If only I had hurried …"
"Do not blame yourself Garth; your duty was to protect the Queen."
"Had I arrived just a minute earlier …" He replied, struggling to not break down.
"Forgive me Garth; I should not have stopped to linger here. Let us continue to the palace."
The two Aqualads resumed their trek to the gleaming structure in the middle of the underwater city.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Get ready guys, they're coming." See-More announced as he emerged from his hiding place.
"Who are we up against?" Gizmo sneered. "I'll be it's that snot muncher Beast Boy and that pile of obsolete tech."
See-More flipped through his different filters as he peered through the solid concrete that separated them from the Titans.
"Yeah, it's them. I also see Starfire." He replied as he continued to flip through his eye filters. "But something's not right, I see two Robins."
"Two Robins?" Mammoth remarked.
"It's true, I saw both of them. And there's a teenage version of Superman." Rancid added.
"Barf bag!" Gizmo yelped. "We gotta get out of here. Cinderblock, pick up the pace! Billy, start dividing!"
The redneck villain responded with a southern rebel yell and began to replicate himself.
"Those city boys won't know what hit them! And once were done with them we'll keep that purty alien girl all for ourselves, right Billy?"
"Damn right Billy, we'll show her what a real man is like! Yeehaw!"
"Stop clowning around you stupid yahoo! They have a Kryptonian with them, and he creamed my robots!" Rancid howled.
Gizmo turned around just in time to see Superboy leap off the stairs and land on the basement floor, slightly cracking the floor with impact of his feet. The bald genius was prancing around on his signature spider legs when he fired a volley of miniature guided missiles, which careened around the room until they locked onto their target: the Kryptonian youth. All 5 missiles hit Connor at the same time, enveloping him in a dark cloud of dark smoke as the concussion effect of the combined explosions rocked the basement.
"Score!" The bald midget crowed.
Superboy emerged from the smoky mist, looking unfazed.
"Sludge! He really is a Kryptonian!" Gizmo shrieked as his spider legs turned him around and he began to flee. He them heard a familiar humming sound and braced himself as two pairs of bird-a-rangs sliced through his 4 mechanical spider legs.
"W-whoah!" He shouted as he faced planted onto the hard marble floor, and was knocked out unconscious. Meanwhile Mammoth cracked his knuckles as Superboy grinned at him, looking like a lion about to claim its prey.
"I always wanted to take on a Kryptonian, and you know what? You don't look that tough!"
At the other end of the room TT-Robin joined his girlfriend while Cyborg used his sonic cannons that had been tuned to a special frequency that cancelled out Billy's self replicating powers. With a panicked shout the copies of red clad villain began to collapse into each other, until only one was left. With a big grin adorning his face Cyborg punched him out cold.
Mammoth threw a haymaker at Connor who easily dodged it while he smirked and countered with a right jab that sent the villain flying into a pile of gold ingots. Mammoth staggered back to his feet while Superboy gestured to him to bring it on, which Mammoth did as he began to throw the heavy golden bricks at the Kryptonian and while they bounced of the lad the villain could see that it did cause the boy of steel some pain.
"I knew it! You're not as strong as Supes, are you punk?"
Upon hearing the unwelcome comparison Superboy went into a rage and pummeled Mammoth. The bulky villain tried to parry his strikes but was no match for the clone. With a swift upper cut he knocked the villain out.
Starfire and Robin had no trouble in subduing the concrete brute and Robin took inventory of the situation that remained
Beast Boy morphed into a T-Rex and after bumping his head on the ceiling he shrank back to his default form while YJ-Robin captured Johnny Rancid with a bolo rope, which tightly twirled itself around the villain who fell to the ground and flopped around like a fish out of water. TT-Robin took down one of the robots with one of his electrified bird-a-rangs, which fried the mechanical ape's circuits.
Beast Boy shook his head, attempting to regain some clarity after bumping his head. He stood up to face the silver gorilla just as Raven and Miss Martian flew into the basement, they were unoccupied as the authorities had already carted off Plasmus' dormant human host.
Instead of charging at him the robot opened its mouth and a high caliber rifle barrel telescoped out of it, aiming straight at the changeling's heart. Summoning ever fiber of his animal reflexes he tried to dodge out of the way. The robot fired just a split second before Superboy demolished it with a body slam.
Raven watched in horror as time appeared to slow down. She raised her hand to conjure an obsidian shield but she was too late as she heard the sickening sound of the bullet passing through the changeling's chest. He staggered for a moment with a dazed look on his face before collapsing onto the floor.
"GARFIELD!" Raven screamed in horror.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As Kaldur approached the palace the curious crowds became larger and less self conscious and soon people were pointing at him, whispering to each other in hushed tones. The two lads picked up the pace and swam faster and were soon on palace grounds. Kaldur noticed how the guards retreated from him in a gesture of deference, which was beginning to wear on him. They continued swimming until they reached the inner courtyard of the palace where they both saw a black submarine.
"It looks like Bats came back with the King." Garth remarked.
The two young men swam up to an airlock and opened it. After cycling through it they entered a large, air filled chamber. Batman was in the final steps of setting up a temporary lab with Aquaman's help. The senior Atlantean heard the hatch open and stopped assisting the Dark Knight as he locked eyes with Kaldur. He stared, unable to hide his incredulity.
"I thought Garth was mistaken … but …it really is you!"
The Atlantean king rushed to the lad and threw his arms around him.
"Kaldur'ahm, you have been returned to us!"
The prodigal son lowered his head.
"No my king, I am not who you think I am."
Batman stepped from his workbench, holding a strange looking device in his hand. Kaldur took a good look at the Gothamite. Again, as with so many things in this world he looked familiar … and yet different. His cape was longer and dragged on the floor and he seemed a tad less ominous than the Batman he knew back home. He waved the sensor over Kaldur several times before heading back to his console, where he docked the sensor and began to tap on the keyboard. After a couple of minutes he addressed the ghost.
"Your quantum signature doesn't match this universe."
"I believe we already knew that Batman."
"But now we know for certain. The next step is to find your universe and get you home."
For the first time since they had crash landed on this world Kaldur felt a sense of relief.
"Thank you Batman, I shall return to Titans Tower to share your good news."
The Dark Knight shook his head.
"Before you begin celebrating, you need to know that it will take some time before we can locate your universe. It will be months, possibly years before we can locate your origin. But I agree that you should return to Titans Tower and remain with your team."
Aqualad looked around at the strange yet familiar Atlantis, an Atlantis that knew him as a fallen hero. As much as he wanted to stay he knew he didn't belong there. He felt as if he was a counterfeit version of himself.
"I understand Batman."
Aquaman placed a hand on Kaldur's shoulder.
"Before you leave, I would like to spend some time with you. I wish to hear what you have done … since you've been gone. There also some people who wish to see you … including your mother."
Batman turned and began to walk away.
"Kaldur'ahm, I'm going back to Gotham to take care of some unfinished business. When you return to Titans Tower tell Robin that I will be coming to visit ... soon."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"GARFIELD!" Raven screamed in horror.
Robin, Starfire and Cyborg stared in disbelief at the changeling's slumped body. Rancid grinned, acknowledging that even though they had been defeated that the day wasn't a total loss. Raven ran to the green Titan's side and examined his wound. The bullet had pierced his left lung and had missed his heart. He was bleeding profusely and she began to work on stemming the blood that was hemorrhaging from his wound, using her healing powers. Within seconds the bleeding had stopped.
"We need to get him to a hospital." She announced, unable to hide the trepidation in her voice.
"Starfire! Take him to Jump City Central Hospital; they have a trauma center there." Cyborg howled.
The princess, now at Raven's side, gently picked up the changeling and flew out of the basement, followed by Raven who was oblivious to the blood stains on her own clothes. By this point the entire combined team was assembled in the bank's lower level and the mood was somber. Dozens of police officers charged down the stairs, flooding the basement with their blue colored uniforms and took the captured villains into custody.
"Cyborg, take everyone back to the Tower and set them up in the guest rooms. I'm going to the hospital."
The younger version of the Boy Wonder noticed the look of worry on his doppelganger's face. It was a feeling he knew all too well, for he experienced years ago after the trapeze incident which had claimed his parents' lives. The sense of helplessness, it was the one thing he had never learned to deal with. And now they were helpless, there was nothing they could do to help Beast Boy.
Artemis watched as Starfire and Raven rushed the changeling to the hospital. Raven had not even bothered to try hiding what she was feeling now, and she wondered if the gray girl might find herself regretting not having told Beast Boy how she felt about him. She saw the local version of Kid Flash talking with Jinx, and both looked shaken up over what had happened. As she continued to watch they embraced and shared a kiss. YJ-Kid Flash was standing over the small puddle of blood that Beast Boy had shed before Raven came to his aid. Artemis approached him and he looked up at her.
"Are you OK?" She asked him.
"I guess so, how about you?"
"I'm not hurt." She replied as she took his hand. "Let's go with Robin to the hospital."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Slade leaned back in his lab chair, staring at the high definition display on the electron microscope. He was examining the sample from Miss Martian's ship, which much to his displeasure was dead. He had deciphered why the organic sample had died: it needed nourishment. The problem was he didn't know what sort of nourishment it needed. He first tried feeding it sugar compounds, starting with glucose. The sugars only exacerbated the sample's condition, and it quickly began to deteriorate. He switched to non sugar carbohydrates and while they didn't hurt the sample, they didn't help either. He then tried proteins, electrolytes, vitamins, etc. Nothing helped and within an hour the tissue sample perished.
The post-mortem yielded no clues as to why the sample did not survive. Slade rose from the lab workbench and walked to the small mess hall in the lair, where the blond geomancer, who was now a shapely young woman, was preparing a simple supper for the two of them.
"Any luck Slade?"
The one eyed villain crossed his arms behind his back.
"The sample from the ship did not survive. We will need to collect more samples, Terra."
The blond served the contents of her skillet onto a pair of plates, handing one to Slade.
"Where will we get them? We already checked the park, there aren't any left there."
"The ship's wreckage has been moved to Titans Tower. We will have to procure it from there."
Terra snorted derisively.
"And how are we supposed to get in there? Cyborg's upgraded the security since I lived in the Tower. How are we supposed to break in?"
Slade removed his mask and took a bite of his dinner.
"We won't break in."
"Oh no! Don't even think of it. I'm not going back to them, just to betray them again. I doubt Raven would let me get past the front door anyway."
"You will do as I tell you Terra; this is not up for negotiation."
Terra glanced at the small ring, which was a thin and narrow platinum band on her left ring finger. She reached for it with her right hand and slid it off her hand. As soon as it was removed her finger began to turn into stone and within seconds her entire hand was petrified and the effect was working its way up her forearm. She quickly slipped the ring back on her finger, which within seconds reverted to being flesh and blood.
"I brought you back with that ring Terra, an artifact that I collected while I temporarily served Raven's father. And do not forget that it obeys me, and only me, Terra. All I have to do is say the word and you will once again return to your old stony form."
"I won't hurt Beast Boy, Slade."
"You won't need to harm him. All I want are more samples, and the knowledge of how to keep them alive and even grow them. If you do that for me Terra I will liberate you permanently from the curse of the Earth, and you will be free to indulge with the changeling in any way you desire."
"That won't be easy to do Slade. I just can't walk up and ask them the secret to the alien ship."
"You know me Terra, when it is worth it I can be very patient."
The geomancer sighed. Slade had kept her under his control since resurrecting her in the cavern using the magic ring. He sent her to Murakami School to complete her education and Beast Boy had showed up at an inopportune time, and had almost ruined his plan to bring Terra back as his apprentice.
"So what am I supposed to do? Just show up at the Tower and say I'm back?"
"Have you not been watching the news? Beast Boy was shot and is in the hospital."
Terra stared dumfounded. The news hit her like a bucket of ice water. Without saying a word she turned and ran out of the room.
"That's my girl." The one eyed villain chuckled.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The three heroes marched into the lobby of the city's main hospital, which was relatively calm, much unlike the way they were feeling. They were quickly noticed by the staff and a young aide trotted up to them.
"Please come with me." She told them and began to lead them down the labyrinth like hallways of the huge facility.
"What is Beast Boy's status?" Robin asked.
"I know is that he's in surgery right now." She replied. "I'm afraid that's all I know."
The aide stopped in front of a door that was labeled 'In Use' and led them in. It was a waiting room of medium size. It had a few couches and a television in a corner hanging from the ceiling as well as a water fountain.
Raven was sitting on a couch, leaning forward with a devastated look on her face. Starfire sat next to her and had an arm draped around the gray Titan's shoulder while she also sported a sorrowful expression. They both looked up at the door and neither was able to conceal their disappointment that it wasn't a doctor with some news regarding Beast Boy.
Starfire then stood up and ran to her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around him as she began to bawl. Raven looked away and dropped her head, staring at the floor with a vacant look in her eyes. Artemis walked over to the couch and sat down next to the sorceress, who looked up at her.
"Are you OK?" The archer asked her.
Raven sighed.
"I don't know."
Starfire released Robin from her embrace while YJ-Kid Flash stood by, not knowing what to do.
"Friend Raven is doing the anguishing for her heart mate." The alien announced. Artemis took Raven's hand.
"I'm sure he's gonna be OK Raven."
"I guess the cat's out of the bag … it's true … I love an idiot." Raven confessed sotto voce.
"So do I." Artemis whispered back. "I guess they're our idiots now."
Raven looked up and saw Robin standing before her. He took her hands and she rose, as he drew her into an embrace.
"Artemis is right, he'll recover, I just know it."
Raven tightened her arms around Robin.
"I'm such an idiot." She murmured.
"Don't beat yourself up Raven." He replied. "When he wakes up, you can tell him …"
Robin was interrupted by the waiting room's door opening again. The five of them turned to see who it was. Kid Flash and Artemis didn't recognize their visitor but it was apparent from the looks on the three Titans that they did. Robin and Starfire looked surprised while Raven was unable to mask her contempt for the sudden arrival, who self consciously raised her hand and waved at the three Titans.
"Hey guys, it's been a long time." She said with a weak smile.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And that's chapter 4!
Reviews were a bit down but the chapter hits are still strong, so I know you're out there reading. Thanks for your support!
Lots of things are happening. Batsy is threatening to visit the Tower, BB's hurt, Raven and Artemis are coming to terms with how they feel about a couple of goofballs and Aqualad has found out that getting home will be more difficult than he had originally hoped.
And then there's Slade and Terra.
Since I'm a bit busy tonight I'll skip the mail bag.