Terra and Beastboy rushed out the front door. They stopped at the edge of the island where waves crashed against the rocks at their feet. In the distance the sun had nearly set and fires from the city illuminated the streets in an inferno of terror.
Terra looked at Beastboy who's eyes were fixed on the red glow from the the city. She began to wonder if maybe Raven could wait as the city needed their full attention. But Beastboy spun around to Terra meeting her gaze with a chilling sense of conviction. Terra blushed as she found herself staring back at him with admiration.
"Let's go!" Beastboy yelled to her, "Raven needs us! We won't let her down!"
Terra's blush vanished as Beastboy's mind was centered on one thing and one thing only: Raven.
"Right... Um... I think it was this way!" Terra shouted back. She lifted her hand towards the ground and her eyes shined with a bright yellow glow. The ground around the two of them began to rumble as it lifted into the air carrying both of them over the waters below.
"Terra?" Beastboy said in shock. He was about to turn into a pterodactyl to carry Terra off when this took him by surprise, "you got your powers back?!"
"Long story," Terra said quickly, "I'll tell you later!" She didn't want to talk about it considering she only had one hand and it made controlling her powers that much harder. She needed her complete focus.
The rock began to pick up speed and they began moving quickly in the direction of the barren desert not too far from the tower.
Far away in an old broadcasting tower, Raven sat on the cement floor with her legs crossed underneath her. She held her hands up in their usual meditation pose and she was silently chanting.
Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos...
The weight of the collar around her neck had faded as she got used to it. It still held its dimly lit white glow from the symbols engraved around it. Thoughts were pouring through her mind that she needed to dive into meditation to try to understand.
What is he playing at? What does Slade want from me? Why is he so determined to get at Beastboy? Why is he so sure Beastboy will even come for me?
She continued to search her mind for answers. Answers that seemed to have no meaning. It was all so confusing to her. None of it made sense.
Azarath, Metrion, Zin-
"Trying to figure out what my plans are?" Slade's voice sounded into the room, interrupting Raven's meditation, from what could have only been some kind of intercom, "you need only ask. It's not like you'll be around long enough to do anything about it." Slade sounded as if her life was as fragile as glass that he could easily shatter at any moment.
Raven thought for a second but only one thing came to mind that she wanted an answer to, "Why? Why are you after Beastboy? How could he possibly be of use to you?"
"My, my," Slade said with sarcasm, "is that emotion you're showing? Careful Raven, you might destroy the world if you keep that up."
"Sorry to disappoint you but I found another way to control my powers. Now answer me!" Raven's voice grew louder with anger as she demanded the answers Slade had half promised her.
"Well, I suppose we have some time to kill," he said darkly, "if you must know... I don't have any use for your little boyfriend. However, a deal's a deal. And I pride myself as a man of my word."
"What deal?" Raven asked confused.
"You really don't know?" Slade said as if insulting her intelligence, "Rouge was kind enough to lend a helping hand with her DNA. After watching her fight you and your friends an idea came to mind. An idea that was so perfect I couldn't let it pass me by. None of the Titans were a match for her power. But her alone against all of you proved to be too much for her. But what if... there were more like her?"
"Those shapeshifting creatures?" Raven asked making the connection.
"Her DNA has the ability to realign and redistribute her cells in any way she sees fit. With a little genetic engineering I combined her DNA with the periodic table. Allowing my omnidroids to take the form of any element they come into contact with by realigning and redistributing their molecular composition." Slade continued to explain.
"Then why Beastboy? What does he have to do with this?" Raven asked trying to piece it all together.
"Rouge only agreed to help me if I promised to help destroy him." Slade said sinisterly.
Raven gasped. The though of Beastboy coming to save her only to get himself killed sent her heart into a frenzy.
"After you and your friends had frozen the Brotherhood of Evil, I freed her. She seemed convinced the only reason you had rallied and won the battle was because Beastboy brought you all together in desperate times. She wouldn't rest until he met his demise." Slade finished.
"No..." Raven said softly under her breath. She couldn't accept it. But it all made sense now. Luring him away with Terra. Forcing him into hiding by making him hurt innocent people. Using Terra as bait to get him alone. Their target from the beginning was Beastboy and she, as well as the rest of the Titans, had missed it. Which is exactly what Slade had intended from the beginning.
"I'm impressed Raven," Slade said mocking her, "your level of emotion for this green changeling was quite unexpected. But lucky for us he feels the same way towards you. This will make things much more... fun."
"If you hurt him I swear I will-" Raven began before getting interrupted.
"You'll what?" Slade spat, "your powers are useless, you're chained to the floor, and the only person coming to save you is an injured shapeshifter who can't even form a half decent plan of action."
Raven lowered her head. She wanted to prove him wrong but from where she sat she knew he was right. But something deep down told her that he was wrong. Memories of Beastboy defying the odds ran through her mind. Like the time he saved Terra which in turn saved the city. He was faced with death but his words and actions granted Terra the strength she needed to over power Slade. Then the time he managed to form a plan to get the remaining Titans into the Brotherhood of Evil's lair and save the rest of the Titans and save the world as well.
Moments like this started to drown her thoughts. Despite all the evidence that pointed to her assured demise she had hope. Hope that they would make it out of this. With her head held held low she respond to Slade's evil words.
"He might be an idiot... He might be gullible... He might even be weak..." Raven closed her eyes as images of his face, his smile, and his strong body filled her mind, "but he's my idiot. He's my weakling. You'd better not underestimate him. I know him better than anyone. He won't go down easy. Not without a fight!" Raven lift her head to the ceiling where the intercom seemed most present and her face held a look of ferocity as if she knew something Slade didn't.
Slade turned the intercom off and spoke to himself, "hmm... That was unexpected... We best keep our guard up." He said with angst as he stared back at Raven on the screen in front of him.
Rouge approached from behind and stared at the screen with Slade as a wicked smile cracked across her face. She was confident there was no threat from any of them.
Jump city continued to burn. The omnidroids were attacking anything and everyone without hesitation. A woman carrying her small child was running from one of the creatures while the father did his best to fight it off allowing them to escape. But his efforts were useless as the creature was made out of bricks from the building nearby and swung a back hand across the man's chest sending him flying into the street.
An out of control car was zig-zagging down the road trying to navigate through the chaos and was on a collision course with the man. He braced for impact and was accepting his end when Cyborg dropped down from above landing in between the car and the man.
With a loud grunt he slammed his hands into the front of the car stopping it dead in its tracks. The airbag deployed on the driver and when it deflated the man driving got out of his car and started running.
Starfire had flown down from where she dropped Cyborg and picked the man up off the street and pointed to his family.
"You must get to safety! Evacuate immediately!" She ordered.
The man snapped out of his shock and turned for his family in a dead sprint. They all started heading for the outskirts of the city as fast as they could.
The creature made of bricks began chasing after them until Cyborg hit it in the back with his sonic cannon. The creature turned around to face his new enemy.
"That's it!" Cyborg taunted, "come and get a piece of Cyborg!"
Three other Creatures had witnessed the strike to their comrade and jumped down off the buildings they were attacking to aid in combat.
Cyborg felt dumb for opening his mouth. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of his head as he now faced 4 enemies instead of one. Each was made out of different material. One remained as bricks, another was asphalt from the street, while the other two were made of iron and water.
"Hold on... Can't we talk about this?" He said nervously as they approached him.
The whirring of a bike engine roared as Robin leapt off of it with a perfect backflip, sending the bike into the four creatures like a bowling ball at four pins.
It landed dead center in first creature toppling it back into the others. Robin then landed in a strike-ready stance as he threw an explosive disc at the bikes gas tank detonating the bike along with it. In the massive explosion the creatures were sent flying in different directions.
"Booyaahhh!" Cyborg yelled happy to see he wasn't about to get his butt kicked.
"No time to celebrate. These things don't go down easy. We need a way to beat them!" Robin shouted trying to figure out how they can win against an indestructible army of elementals.
The four creatures started getting up after being hit hard by the explosion.
"How?!" Cyborg asked with frustration, "now matter what we do they just keep coming at us!" He began firing his cannon at the creatures as they began to get up.
Starfire flew above the other two Titans, her hands glowing green with starbolts and joined Cyborg in a barrage of warcries as her bolts came raining down on them. As the four omnidroids regained their composure they assumed their natural pale form and started heading back towards the three Titans with poweful starbolts and sonic blasts impacting on top of them and their surroundings.
Robin started straining his head for any kinda of plan to take them on. But nothing came to mind. Behind him he could see more of the omnidroids attacking civilians. He threw more discs at the creatures exploding on impact getting their attention. They turned from the civilians and started to move towards him... This gave Robin an idea.
"If we can't destroy them, then we have to lead them away from the civilians. Start rounding them up and forcing them to the center of the city!" He said with confidence.
The other two Titans didn't hesitate and started moving through the city with Robin. They were going to start from the outer edge of the city and spiral inwards through the buildings and streets getting the attention of every last one of the omnidroids so the people could escape safely.
As they continued to maneuver through the city like a maze, throwing explosives, starbolts and sonic blasts at every creature they saw, the ranks of the omnidroids began to grow steadily. Before long there were 100 of them on the Titans tail and they hadn't even made their way through a fraction of the city.
"Man..." Cyborg said nervously as he fired his cannon behind him at the creatures, "I hope BB finds Raven soon!"
Terra and Beastboy zipped through the air towards the destination that Terra had in mind. As they approached, Beastboy recognized the area. It was where the Titans had first met Terra. He looked up at her as her eyes continued to glow yellow and his mind flashed back to how he felt when he first saw her.
The feeling of butterflies flapping around in his stomach. Unable to speak clearly and anxious to get her approval. A time when things were simple. A time when they were happy. However, as he stared at her these feelings did not return to him. He admired her but he didn't feel the same as he did back then. He looked out at the horizon as the darkness of the sunset continued to overtake the land. He closed his eyes and pictured Raven.
Her amethyst eyes. Gorgeous pale skin. That small smile that rarely ever appeared, but when it did, it could light up the darkest room.
His heart started racing. His stomach felt light as if something was floating around inside and he desperately wanted to see her. The feelings he had when he first met Terra now seemed to resurface when he thought of Raven. He grit his teeth. He was going to find her no matter what the cost.
Terra began to slow them down as they crossed the vast empty land in darkness. She landed gently and they both jumped down off the rock.
"I think it was somewhere around here..." She said unsure of herself.
"It'll have to do," Beastboy spout. He changed into a bloodhound and started sniffing the air and the ground around him searching for Raven's scent.
Terra followed close behind him as the stars above began to appear in the black sky. She looked around for the constellations she remembered from when she was laying in the dirt. When she finally found them she looked in every direction to see if anything looked familiar.
Her eyes went wide and she pointed to her left and shouted to Beastboy, "I think it's over here!"
Beastboy looked up to where Terra was pointing and they both ran in that direction. Terra slowed to a stop and started searching the ground for any signs of their presence the night prior. She didnt find much considering a small breeze could easily kick dirt over their footprints and place they put themselves. But Beastboy started sniffing more and more intensely and finally returned to his normal form.
"I've got her scent!" He exclaimed.
He returned to the form of the bloodhound and continued sniffing and began walking in the direction where the scent continued to remain strong. Before long he had a trail to follow and began running in trace of it. Terra put herself on another levitating rock and began flying next to him to keep up.
Beastboy's determination grew and his confidence started to boost as he had a glimmer of hope that he could find her. As he chased her scent he thought to himself...
Hold on Raven... I'm coming!