Fan Fiction ❯ Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, For You ❯ A Tale of Two Slades ( Chapter 38 )

Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, For You

 

Chapter Thirty-Eight

“A Tale Of Two Slades”

 

A/N: Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! We have a winner, ladies and gents! Kazzy103, the newest new reader to leave a review, was the first person to get it right! Indeed, Kazzy, Mary IS based on Mariand'r, aka the Titan Nightstar - Nightwing and Starfire's daughter from the comics. For being so good at guessing, this chapter is dedicated to you! ^^ The rest of your questions are answered in the review replies. Also, since this chapter has two Slades in it, to avoid confusion Present Slade shall be called Slade, while future Slade is “Deathstroke”.

 

Ahh, and to all you anime fans; mah very good friend and fellow fanfiction writer, Winter, has created an awesome message board for all forms of anime. You'll enjoy yourself there, so go register today, ya? So join it! And if you didn't, join the Sonic Rapid Board I linked in chapter 37!

 

http:// s12.invisionfree. com/ eatyournufu /index. php?act=idx (Remove the spaces)

 

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Slade Wilson slumped down against the couch, breathing heavily. Wintergreen, his butler, had been servicing his medical needs for the last few hours, but now Slade had dismissed the old man so he could have some time to plan his next move. Slade's right arm, which was severed at the elbow, was covered in bandages. The one-eyed, one-armed mercenary was looking around the room of his hideout, trying to come up with a plan. He was injured, maimed and in a bad mood; but he was far from being counted out. Guns and swords lined the walls of the room, and several other weapons and explosives were encased in cases all around.

 

“Damn it!” Slade yelled to no one, slamming his left fist down on the arm of the couch.

Everything had been going downhill since he made his pact with Trigon. It was supposed to be easy. They would lure the Titans to Tamaran and finished them off during the Trials. The idea of destroying Robin, and doing it when he was searching for love, was satisfying for him. He loved the idea of causing his former apprentice so much pain; but it had all gone downhill. Things on Tamaran had been a failure, and everything that happened since had been even worse. Now he'd lost his demonic powers, he'd lost his arm, and he'd almost lost his life.

 

“Don't be so down, things will pick up.”

Slade whirled around in an instant, grabbing a knife from the wall and holding it in his left hand as best he could. Someone had spoken to him from behind him; but when he saw who that someone was, his single eye widened.

It was Slade; the Future Slade, anyway. The Slade who was known as Deathstroke.

 

“Who the hell are you?” Modern Slade demanded.

 

Deathstroke laughed and took off his mask; when Slade saw his own face staring back at him he gasped. Of course, Deathstroke had half of his real face replaced with a robotic shell so that he had a robot eye; much like Cyborg's.

“I'm you; seventeen years from now.” Deathstroke explained.

 

“And I'm not convinced.” Slade replied. Someone in his line of work, especially someone as good as Slade, knew better than to believe a story like that without some kind of proof.

 

“Adeline Kane shot you in the eye.” Deathstroke announced. “After your son Jericho was slashed in the throat by assassins who were after you.”

 

Slade's eye widened. That was a story he told no one; and it was proof that this `Deathstroke' was indeed Slade Wilson from the future.

 

“What do you want?” Slade demanded.

 

“I want to make things easier on me, by helping you.” Deathstroke smirked and put his mask back on. Then he reached down to his belt and extracted a small vial of a blue liquid that seemed to have the same texture as metal. “Even as we speak, the future has already been changed. The signal that should have brought my masters to this planet was never sent. However, there is still a chance to bring them here, and because of that I have not vanished yet. We must ensure that the future I know comes to pass. We can only achieve this by destroying the titans, and then re-sending the signal. The Titans are still at Luthor's laboratory in Metropolis; I will go and kill them and re-send the signal, you find their friends at Brother Blood's book depository and do the same, Savvy?”

Slade smiled. “Kill the Titans? Why didn't you say so?” He eyed the blue liquid-metal vial in Deathstroke's hand. “What's that for?”

 

Deathstroke opened the vial, and the liquid-metal balled itself up and came out of the small tube. Deathstroke said something in a language that Slade did not understand, and the ball zipped across the room and hit Slade in the bandages on his arm. Slade screamed in pain, but watched as the ball peeled away his bandages and attached itself to the stump of an arm. The liquid-metal expanded and grew into the shape of a hand; and then it hardened into a cold, metal, skeleton-like arm.

 

“Isn't technology grand?” Deathstroke asked with a smirk. “That's the same adamantium substance that makes up my suit; you can transform it at will into anything in the world. A blade, a laser gun, a whip; whatever you want. Now go give my regards to Cyborg, won't you?”

 

Slade was pleased.

 

----

 

The T-Car arrived on the beach, kicking up sand behind its wheels as it screeched to a halt outside of Brother Blood's old cavern. The cave itself wasn't on the beach; but on a hill beside the beach. High above the sandy surface of the smooth beach was a tall, rocky hill. It would be hard to reach the tiny ledge that led into the cave without a perilous climb up the side of the hill. Cyborg knew why Blood would hide his spellbooks here; it would be impossible for most to reach the cave. Of course, Bee could fly, and Jinx knew about an invisible staircase that would serve as her and Cyborg's path.

 

“I don't like this. Not at all.” Cyborg complained as he walked up the invisible steps. Brother Blood had enchanted the staircase so that it could not be seen, even by those walking on it; and since it twisted and winded around and had a few missing steps, it was dangerous to walk on. Unless you knew exactly where to step, it would be easy to accidentally fall to one's death. That's why Jinx lead the way.

“Oh stop complaining.” Jinx snapped as she jumped a step. “Watch out, there's no step where I just jumped. Don't get yourself killed.”

As Cyborg climbed up the steps, careful to step only where he saw Jinx step, he began to think about things that had been happening lately. It seemed like each of the Titans had faced his or her own problems lately. Robin had to deal with Slade, and all of his old Gotham connections coming back to haunt him. Starfire had the issues on Tamaran, and her relationship with Robin had been tested in a way that was anything but fun. Raven had her insane family causing trouble. Beast Boy had been through the most of anyone; having to deal with everything from Slade to Terra to Trigon. So far Cyborg had been spared, more or less, from the drama. Now, as he walked up an invisible staircase with Bee flying at his side and Jinx walking ahead of him, he realized that the drama had finally caught up with him.

 

Cyborg was so lost in thoughts that he didn't notice Jinx jumping the next invisible step. He put his foot down where he assumed a step was, only to have it fall through. Cyborg yelped and lost his balance, falling right off the side of the cliff and plummeting towards the beach below. He felt Bumblebee grab his arm and attempt to catch him; but he was much too heavy with his metal body for her to hold him. Cyborg looked around desperately for some way to stop the fall, but found nothing. Below him he could see the jagged rocks that lined the bottom of the hill zooming into view and he knew he had only a few seconds before his death.

Then the rocks exploded. Cyborg hit the dirt where they had been only seconds before and grunted. He turned over to see Jinx standing on the invisible steps, her fingers still smoking from her spellwork. She had hexed the rocks, causing them to crumble into dust. It saved Cyborg's life, but it didn't stop him from hitting the ground painfully.

 

“Thanks . . . I think.” Cyborg muttered as he sat up. Jinx jumped off of the steps, flipped in the air, and landed gracefully at his side. Bee buzzed her wings and landed on his other side. Cyborg ignored them both at first, shaking his head and trying to get the sore feeling out of his neck. That fall had hurt, a lot.

“Well its obvious climbing isn't your strong suit.” Jinx said hotly.

“I hate to admit it Sparky, but she has a point.” Bee agreed.

 

“Well, we need that book.” Cyborg snapped angrily. Annoyed at Jinx for her comments, and equally, if not more, annoyed with Bee for her agreement.

 

“I guess we'll just have to take the elevator.” Jinx mused. At first Cyborg thought she was joking, but a moment later she took her HIVE badge out of her belt, approached the solid stone wall of the cliff and held the badge up to it. As the golden honeycomb shaped badge touched the wall, a hidden door opened and sure enough, there was an elevator.

“That's been there the whole time!?” Cyborg cried out frustrated. “Then why did -”

“Because the stairs take us straight to the level where the books are stored.” Jinx explained before he could finish his question. “There's a guard station on the other end of the elevator. They'll take one look at the two of you and attack us. I was hoping to avoid that, but looks like we don't have a choice.”

 

Cyborg laughed. “Please, we can handle some guards.”

 

Jinx smiled at him with a sinister smirk that made Cyborg's blood run cold. “You say that now.”

 

Jinx didn't explain further, instead she walked into the elevator and slumped against the wall. Cyborg sighed and looked over at Bee.

 

“She's up to something, isn't she?” Cyborg sighed, but he knew the answer already.

“Probably.” Bee replied, shrugging her shoulders. “Nothing we can do about it.”

“Just remember, this was YOUR idea.” Cyborg replied hotly as he stood up and hobbled his way over to the elevator. Bee followed, but before she could board the elevator, Jinx took a step forward and held out her hand to block the black girl's entrance.

 

“You can fly.” Jinx pointed out.

“And you can see.” Bee replied, annoyed. “Although you can't see how horrible that Goth look is, but still—”

 

“You should fly up to the cave.” Jinx insisted. “We'll take the elevator, you can go up there and secure the area. Once the guards are alerted by us using this elevator, they may lock the door; if they do we'll need you inside to unlock it.”

 

Bumblebee shot Jinx a repressive look. She obvious did not like the idea of splitting up at all, but she could not deny the sense it made. If the door was locked by the security they were bound to face, then Bee's flight may be their only chance to get inside that room. Bee turned her face to Cyborg.

“I'll meetcha up there Sparky. Be careful.” Bee warned, and it was obvious she was not just meaning the guards. Bee turned and flew up towards the cliff, and as she did Jinx was quick to hit the elevator button, causing the doors to slam shut leaving her and Cyborg alone for the ride up to the top floor.

“How can you stand her?” Jinx asked in an annoyed voice.

 

“Her? Of the two of you, she's the only one who doesn't try to kill me on a regular basis.” Cyborg replied.

 

“I've never tried to kill you.” Jinx replied, batting her eyes sarcastically. “Maim you: yes, mutilate you: yes, injure you: yes, but never kill.”

 

“Oh shut up.” Cyborg snapped. Jinx laughed, this was amusing her.

 

“Jeez, you have no sense of humor at all, do you?” Jinx asked, raising an eyebrow. “Even Gizmo's more fun than you.”

 

“Humph.” This was Cyborg's response. Jinx shook her head again and shrugged, then she leaned back against the wall, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

“You know, I don't buy this act.” Jinx said.

“What act?”

“The way you're acting now. You were actually fun to hang around at school, what happened to you?” Jinx scrutinized his every movement and facial expression as she spoke. “Somewhere inside that tin-can of a body is a decent guy; so why do you run around acting this way for?”

 

Cyborg stared at her with wide eyes for a moment as if she was crazy. “This is how I always act when I'm saving the world, and I'll have you know I am a decent guy.”

 

“No, you're a boring, heroic idiot.” Jinx replied. “You were a hellova a lot more interesting back at school.”

 

Cyborg knew she was trying to get on his nerves, and he decided that two could play at that game. So setting himself up with a big smirk, he spoke again: “Sounds like your disappointed.”

 

Jinx's response, however, caught him by surprise. “I am disappointed. You could have made one hellova villain.”

 

Cyborg shook his head. “No thanks. Not interested.”

 

Jinx shrugged. “I don't get the appeal of you heroes. You work so hard, and get nothing to show for it.”

“That's not true. We get respect, and we're loved by the people.” Cyborg defended his profession.

 

“Pfft. So? I get fame and fortune.”

 

“Hey, you can get that on the good side too.” Cyborg pointed out.

“Yeah, that's what I've always wanted; a bunch of snot-nosed kids asking me for my autograph and a bunch of pathetic cops crying to me every time a law gets broken.” Jinx's sarcasm was thicker than Raven's.

 

“It's a lot better than winding up in prison.” Cyborg remarked back.

 

“If you say so.” Jinx replied. Then the elevator stopped. Jinx held down the button that kept the doors from opening, and looked over at Cyborg, her face suddenly tensing up. “Even though Blood's history, his guards will still be here. They're robots. Big, mean robots.”

 

“Great.” Cyborg sighed. “How do we beat `em?”

 

“We? I don't think so.” Jinx paused as they reached a large door. The hallway from the elevator had ended and they had arrived at the book storage area. “Our deal was I take you to the book; I never said I'd help you actually get it.”

 

Cyborg sighed. “You really like making things hard on me, don't you?” He asked, though the answer was obvious.

“Consider it payback for what you did to me.” Jinx replied bitterly. Cyborg opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it again. He had never realized how upset Jinx was over his deception in the HIVE academy. He had always just assumed she shrugged the ordeal off, as he had; but now it seemed that was not true.

“Listen . . .” Cyborg started to say, but he paused. What was he supposed to say? He could apologize, but it would be a lie. He wasn't sorry he had deceived her and the other HIVE children, it had been part of his job and he wasn't going to apologize for fighting crime.

 

“Save it, you've got company.” Jinx pointed to the door ahead of them. It suddenly opened and Cyborg saw what appeared to be a gigantic metal crab scurry out of the open doorway. The robotic crab was blue and about as big as the T-Car was. Cyborg blinked, and then he laughed.

 

“That's Brother Blood's security force? Oh man, I was expecting something a lot meaner.”

 

“Don't underestimate it.” Jinx warned him.

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Cyborg transformed his arm and aimed it at the metal crab. “Piece of cak—OUCH!”

 

Before Cyborg had a chance to fire, the crab opened its claws and fired twin ruby red lasers from each one. The laser blasts hit Cyborg in his chest and he was slammed into the wall behind him with a powerful thud. Cyborg tried to get up, but he found that he could not move.

“What the - it paralyzed my systems!” Cyborg shouted.

“I told you to be careful.” Jinx snapped. “Brother Blood designed these things with electro-sensory lasers; they'll leave any electronic device offline temporarily, and that includes you tin-man.”

 

Cyborg grunted and tried to move; but none of his robotic parts was functioning correctly. His arms and legs were completely frozen up. He could still fire his sonic buster cannon, but it wouldn't do him any good since his arm was aiming off to the right side and the crab was advancing at him from the front.

 

“Jinx, help me!” Cyborg shouted as he grunted and tried to move using his human muscles. Unfortunately his body was too dependant on the mechanics and he didn't budge.

 

“Hmm . . . no, I don't think so.” Jinx replied with a devilish smile on her face. Cyborg cursed loudly, calling her some very rude names as he tried to move. The gigantic metal crab was slowly advancing towards him and it was now only a few feet away from his feet.

 

His feet! Suddenly Cyborg got an idea. He couldn't move, but he could still fire the laser canon installed in his shoe. Cyborg waited until one of the crab's metallic legs was aimed up and then he fired a bright yellow beam from his shoe. It shot and smashed into the crab's leg, causing a small explosion and forcing the crab's metallic limb to snap.

 

The crab still had several other legs, however, and did not slow down in the least. It lost its balance a little, but continued to walk towards Cyborg; and now it was so close that he couldn't fire again. If he did, the explosion would engulf his feet as well. Cyborg watched the crab raise one of its large claws into the air and he saw the metal blade of the claw gleam in the hall light.

 

Cyborg squinted his human eye shut and turned off focus in his robotic one. He did not want to see what would happen next. However, he heard a pulsating noise, followed by the sound of rocks falling. Intrigued, and realizing he wasn't dead, Cyborg opened his eye and reactivated its robotic counterpart. He saw the of the cavern had collapsed on the robotic crab, crushing it flat. Bad luck for the crab.

 

“Thanks Jinx.” Cyborg sighed in relief.

 

“Whatever. I only saved you `cause Bee would've sent me back to jail if you died.” Jinx claimed, dismissing his thanks. “Now let's go find that damn book so I can ditch you losers.”

 

“Jinx . . . I'm sorry.” Cyborg blurted out.

 

“What?”

“I'm sorry. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not sorry I infiltrated HIVE, and I'm not sorry I took down Blood, but . . . I'm sorry if I hurt you doing it.” Cyborg, who had been staring down at his own paralyzed body as it started to gain function again, looked up towards the pink-haired sorceress to see her reaction.

For a split-second, he could see an unidentifiable emotion on her face. It seemed to be an unnatural blend of happiness and sadness, which did not mix well. However, he may have just imagined it, because a second later Jinx scoffed at him.

 

“Don't treat me like I'm one of you sentimental heroes, okay? Just get your fat metal ass up and let's go find the insect queen.” Jinx snapped, and then she quickly headed through the doors that the crab had come out of. Cyborg sighed and grunted, trying to reboot his systems. They had only just started working again, and it was hard to get up; but eventually he managed and he followed her through the doors as quickly as he could.

 

Once he reached the room, he sighed. He could not believe what he saw in front of him. Jinx had mentioned that Blood kept backups of all the books in the HIVE library here; but he never could have imagined something like this. There were mountains of books piled all across the room. Shelves overflowed and there were towers constructed of books. Cyborg's jaw dropped.

 

“Can you say needle in a haystack, Sparky?” Cyborg looked up to see Bumblebee buzzing around the room. She looked depressed. “There's over ten thousand books here; it'll take all day to find the Book of Azar.”

 

“Hmm. That sucks. Call me when you two are ready to leave.” Jinx muttered, then she walked off to a corner of the room and sat down in a chair that had a few books piled on the seat. Cyborg sighed.

 

“Man, when we get back I'm complaining to Robin. I'm a superhero, not a librarian.”

 

“Who says you're getting back?”

 

Cyborg, Jinx and Bee all whipped around; there was Slade. His right arm, from the elbow down, was now made of poly-morphic adamantium. Cyborg noticed that and then he sighed. He wasn't sure how Slade had gotten the enhancement, but his systems identified the substance and he knew how dangerous it could be.

“You want to hear something ironic?” Slade asked with his usual sarcasm. “Raven's already gotten her powers back; your entire quest here is wasted. Of course, by now I'm sure she and all the other Titans are already dead.”

 

“Well for your sake you better hope they aren't.” Cyborg grunted as he aimed his arm cannon. Slade merely smirked behind his mask.

“Do you think the three of you can match me?” Slade asked. Slade and Cyborg had never actually fought that much - not for much longer than a minute, anyway. Slade's eye flipped to Jinx. “I can't believe whose side your on now.”

“Aren't you the one who sold out his entire species; TWICE?” Cyborg asked loudly.

 

“Yes, but I remained a villain through both times. At least I'm loyal to that.” Slade rebutted.

 

“You know, all this `pre-battle' chit-chat, I've never really been a fan of it.” Jinx announced. She waved her arms and the pink beams of light crashed into the ground. “And if we don't need the book, then let's just burry this idiot!”

The floor beneath Slade gave way, and Slade fell through. Slade's adamantium arm shot up with a whip and grabbed onto the roof; but Bee was too quick. She fired blasts from her golden B's that hit the roof and knocked Slade's arm free. Cyborg then fired his Sonic cannon against the roof, and several rocks broke lose and fell into the hole after Slade.

 

“C'mon, we better get down there and finish him off.” Cyborg announced.

“No need too.” Jinx laughed. “Remember the metal crab?”

“Yeah.”

 

“The room below us is filled with them. Let them handle Slade.” Jinx informed them.

 

Sure enough, the sounds of a battle beneath them raged. They heard Slade shouting loudly, and explosions followed that.

“You sure we outta take a chance like that Sparky?” Bee asked.

 

“Eh . . . we should probably go down there, but I'm more worried about the others, from what he said.” Cyborg admitted. “We should get back.”

 

“Then let's go Sparky; follow me, I found a shortcut out of here - speaking of which, why didn't YOU lead us in using the back path?” Bee demanded, turning to Jinx.

Jinx' pale face lit up into a fiendish grin. “Whoops. Slipped my mind.”

 

“Yeah, I bet it did.” Bee was still suspicious.

 

“Can we debate this later? I just want to go home.” Cyborg complained.

 

----

 

“Starfire has a daughter?” Robin choked out.

 

“Raven! If you read my mind, you must have read the part where YOU forbid me to talk to anyone in the past; so why would you even mention this?” Mary asked as the secret was revealed to the group who stood in the floor of Luthor's laboratory.

“Starfire has a daughter?” Robin repeated, as if he couldn't believe the news.

 

“. . . Actually, I didn't see that part, no. Reading minds is a lot more complex than reading a book, I only saw bits and pieces.” Raven replied, her face suddenly falling.

 

“Starfire has a daughter?”

“We heard you the first fifty times Robin.” Terra butted in, placing a hand on the boy wonder's shoulder, although he appeared to be in a wide-eyed trance and unable to speak anything but those four words.

 

“Maybe someone should explain, from the beginning.” Beast Boy suggested.

 

Mary sighed and bit her lip. She was not supposed to talk about the future, but because they had already seen and learned so much, she gave into temptation. Raven had forbidden her from talking to them; but the Raven in this era was asking her to talk about it. She knew this Raven would probably agree with her future counterpart if she knew everything, but she decided to disregard this fact and go on as if nothing had happened.

 

“Okay, I'll tell you.” Mary decided. “But you must swear that you won't interrupt me, you'll just listen, and if I say I can't tell you something for your own good, please believe me.”

 

“Deal.” Raven agreed.

“Sounds fine with me.” Beast Boy decided.

 

“Starfire has a daughter?”

 

“Whatever you say.” Terra also accepted the terms.

Starfire nodded her head; she hadn't spoken a word since the revelation came out.

Mary sighed. “Okay . . . in the world I come from, that machine of Luthor's that I destroyed sent out a signal when it fired. It attracted a group of powerful creatures known as The Dark Ones to earth. There are Seven Dark Ones, and their Empire. In my timeline, the Dark Ones arrive on earth a little more than two years from now - not long after I'm born, to be honest. A war begins, and in that war all of the world governments, and most of the finest superheroes on the planet, die.”

 

“Die?” Beast Boy repeated looked uneasy.

 

“Not you.” Mary shook her head with a small smile. “Actually you and Raven are some of the only survivors. But . . . the rest of the Titans, and the entire Justice League are wiped out. I was just a little girl at the time.” Her voice cracked and it was obvious she tried to fight back a tear or two now.

 

“That's awful.” Terra stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Mary's shoulder. Mary nodded.

 

“It gets worse. The Dark Ones had help fighting the heroes. They hated all humans, but they did find one earthling who they liked enough to work with. They gave him a robotic body made of adamantium; making him immortal and nearly invincible. He . . . he led their armies in the battle. He was also the one who single-handedly killed most of the Titans.”

 

“A human who sided with them?” Robin repeated, finally saying something new as a horrible realization dawned on him. “It was Slade, wasn't it? That explains that tricked-out Slade we saw before.”

“Yeah, it was Slade; but he uses the name `Deathstroke' in my time. He betrayed his entire planet to them in exchange for power, and he got it. In my time, Deathstroke is commander of all of their armies. He hunted down and murdered the superheroes himself. Superman, Batman . . . Nightwing . . . he killed them all personally.”

 

Starfire gasped. She, who had experienced time travel before, knew that Nightwing was Robin. She looked over at the dark-haired boy next to her and saw him looking at the ground, depression soaking into his face. She did not know if it was caused from the idea of being dead, or from the fact that it was Slade who killed him - or if it was leftover depression from the notion of Starfire's daughter.

 

“You say he kills them all two years from now; but you're from seventeen years from now.” Robin said, ignoring the pain and the questions. “What happened for the rest of those years?”

 

“Well, the surviving heroes fled underground and started a rebellion to try to save the earth. We found new superheroes, too. Raven and Beast Boy raised me after . . . the four of us fled underground and hid using Raven's powers. She and Beast Boy trained us -”

“Whoa `four of us'? Who else was there?” Terra asked.

 

“Hmm? Oh . . . Sparrow. She was my friend.” Mary's voice cracked again, like it had when she spoke Nightwing's name before. “Sparrow and I wanted to restart the Titans . . . make a new Teen Titans like our parents had, but—“”

 

“Whoa, Sparrow's parents were Titans too?” Beast Boy blinked.

 

Mary nodded, feeling a bit amused by him of all people asking that, but her depression in having to tell them the sad tale, and thinking of her lost best friend, over road the amusement. “Sparrow was your daughter.”

 

“Oh.” Beast Boy replied, then his eyes widened to the size of baseballs. “Wait, what!?”

 

“Maybe we should let her finish the story about the end of the world, and then we can gossip about people's kids.” Raven interrupted before Beast Boy could go further.

 

Beast Boy opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. Raven's `suggestion' was more of an order than a suggestion, and he knew it, so he fell silent.

 

“Anyway . . . we did restart the titans, three years ago, when I was only twelve. We were young, but we were well trained . . . there were five of us, but . . . only I survived. Sparrow and the others were murdered by Slade. That's when Raven decided that we had to go back in time and stop this future from ever coming to pass.”

 

“But you have stopped it, have you not?” Starfire asked. She shifted uncomfortably, filled with awkwardness by speaking to her daughter whom she had no only never met; but was only a couple years younger than she was.

 

“No. I would have, by destroying that machine, but since Deathstroke is here too . . . I'm sure he's got a backup plan to make sure the Dark Ones still come. We have to find him and stop him. It's the only way to save your future, and my present.”

 

“Of course Deathstroke has a back-up plan.”

 

The Titans all twisted around with a gasp. The blue-plated Slade, Deathstroke, had appeared at the doorway near Lex Luthor's unconscious body. Deathstroke walked over to the railing and then jumped down from the catwalk onto the factory floor where the Titans had gathered. He stood up to his full height and looked at them.

“Slade.” Robin spat the name with hatred.

 

“It's Deathstroke now, dear Robin. You're not the only one who changed his name in the future.” Deathstroke replied with his usual sarcastic tone. “However, you are the only one who had his skull crushed.”

 

It was hard to tell who was shaking with fury harder; Robin or Mariand'r. Both of them looked ready to run forward and attack Deathstroke, but neither of them did.

 

“You know, I'm not sure what will please me more, Mary, killing you at last; or killing your father for a second time. Ah, well, I know one way to find out.”

 

“Father?” Robin blinked as a sudden realization dawned on him that he was the father of Starfire's daughter. It made sense - Mary was his mother's name. That meant sometime two years from now, Robin and Starfire had a child together. While the news was not exactly bad, it could not have come at a worse time.

“Can you flip out after we fight the bad guy?” Raven interjected.

 

“Fight the bad guy? My dear Raven, it won't be much of a fight, I'm afraid.” Deathstroke grinned. His blue armor seemed to be moving over his body, almost as if it was made from a liquid. Raven didn't like the sight of that.

 

“Be careful.” Mariand'r cautioned the present Titans. “His suit is made of a poly-morphic adamantium.”

“Say what?” Beast Boy was as clueless as even when it came to `science words'.

 

“Remember Terminator 2? Same principal, but much deadlier.” Mariand'r obviously did know Beast Boy well in the future, Robin thought to himself, since she was smart enough to explain things by referring to movies.

 

Beast Boy may be content with this explanation, but Terra was not. She hated Slade, whether he was the Slade of their time or the Deathstroke of the future. Since he revival, she'd been through hell, and while she knew her own personal torment was mild compared to that of her friends, she had her own reasons for doing what she did. Since her return, Terra felt unconnected and out of place. This was partially due to what she had done, and partially due to all the changes that occurred during her long absence. She still sought a way to make up to her friends for all the harm she'd caused. She tried to do that before, by helping Raven when she needed a body for her soul - but it did not feel like enough.

 

However, she knew if she killed Deathstroke that would be more than enough. Punishing the man who sold out his entire planet and single-handedly hunted them down and killed them, on top of all of his past deeds, would make amends for everything and allow her nervous soul to rest. So while the others waited for some advice from Mary, or for some first strike from Robin, Terra decided to take Deathstroke down.

 

She yelled loudly and her eyes and hands flashed with a brilliant honeysuckle aura. The floor around Deathstroke cracked and broke; and two large pieces of flooring and the rocky earth beneath them lifted up and smashed together; sandwiching Deathstroke between the harsh rocks. The sheer force alone would be enough to smash bones and break skin. He should have died.

 

However, he did not. Deathstroke's armor, the poly-morphic adamantium, was not just a suit. It was integrated into his central nervous system. It was not a suit - it was his skin. Just like the adamantium could morph and change shape, and then reform like a liquid; so could Slade's future self. Blue liquid-metal seeped out from the cracks in the rock and reformed to created Deathstroke once more.

“The Dark Ones improved me quite a bit, as you can see.” Deathstroke noted the astonishment on their faces. His amusement only grew when his fingers became long, pointed and nail-like. “I've never felt stronger.”

 

“How do we hurt him?” Terra asked, stepping back in fright, as she turned pale from fear.

 

“You don't.” Deathstroke replied sarcastically. “It is I who will hurt you!”

Deathstroke's fingernails grew even longer, until they were like whips made of the crisp blue liquid metal. He slashed forward with one of his hands and the finger whips slashed across Terra's face and chest. Where each finger struck her, a thin red line appeared. There was one across her face, two over her chest, one on her waist and one across her knees. A second later blood exploded from out of each of the cuts. Her clothing became torn and soaked with the crimson stain of blood and she screamed and fell down, hitting the ground. The other Titans stared in horror.

 

“Let's dance.” Deathstroke laughed, then he swung his bloodstained whips at the rest of the ground. Robin did a back flip to avoid them, but one of the whips slashed at his cape. Starfire and Mariand'r both flew up and backwards, gracefully dodging the blood-soaked blue blade-like fingers. Raven put up a shield using her powers; but the shield was torn in half by the attack. Beast Boy transformed into a small hummingbird and avoided the whips. Then, remembering one of the battles on Tamaran, he flew at Deathstroke.

 

He remembered poking Slade's eye as a hummingbird once before; and decided to try to repeat the trick. Deathstroke thrust his other hand forward and brought all five razor-like finger whips down on Beast Boy's tiny bird form. The bird slammed into the ground, blood spewing everywhere from fresh wounds.

 

“No!” Raven watched him fall in horror and she flew forward, her eyes pulsating with fury. Slade whipped around and slashed at her with his fingers. The whip-like appendages cut at her face, but she used her demonic aura to shield herself from the blow. She landed beside the crumpled green bird that now lay amidst a pool of dark red blood and she scooped him up into her arms. A dome of black light surrounded both her and Beast Boy, protecting them from Deathstroke.

 

Deathstroke's fingers smashed against the light, wanting to break it so he could kill the pair. His bloodlust was consuming him, driving him mad with anticipation. However, before he had a chance to shatter Raven's shield, several starbolts slammed into him, sending him flying across the room. His long whip-like fingers wrapped around some of the rafters of the building and stopped him in mid-flight before he hit a wall.

 

Starfire, whose hands and eyes were blazing green, and Mariand'r, whose hands and eyes had begun to glow with a harsh red light, both floated above the surface of the ground. When Deathstroke was on his feet again, he launched his whip-like fingers at the girls; but they both fired beams from their eyes, which cut across the length of Deathstroke's fingers, severing them with small explosions.

 

Deathstroke did not show even the slightest bit of pain as his fingers were severed. Amazingly, the adamantium suit re-grew his fingers for him and once again, they became as if razor whips.

“I guess I should have mentioned . . . he's kinda immortal.” Mary blushed and bit her lip.

 

“Eh, that's nothing new.” Robin stepped forward, walking between the girls and facing Deathstroke. He had his bo-staff extended, and a passionate look of loathing in his eyes. “Get them out of here; I'll handle him.”

 

“No!” Both Koriand'r and Mariand'r shouted at once.

 

“Yes.” Robin replied harshly. “I need you to trust me. Please.”

 

Starfire sighed. There was a super powerful Slade from the future here to kill them, and Robin wanted to fight him alone. She knew how crazy that sounded, but she also realized this was probably their only chance to save their injured friends.

Mariand'r could hardly remember her father, because she'd been so young when he died. It amazed her seeing him now. He was only a couple of years older than she was, and yet he showed every good quality she'd always heard Nightwing possessed, plus every quality one could wish for in a parent. What he was asking of them was impossible, but it was just as improbable to deny him his request.

 

“Don't worry.” A monotone voice spoke. “I'll make sure Robin doesn't do anything too stupid.”

Raven had reappeared from beneath her shield. She did not look so good. Her eye were darkened and she was clearly in a lot of pain; and it was no wonder why. She had used her healing powers on both Beast Boy and Terra, and it had caused her to suffer a great deal of anguish on their behalf. She handed the unconscious green bird to Mariand'r, and then using her powers she lifted Terra's unconscious body into Starfire's arms.

 

“Get going.” Raven commanded. Mariand'r was even less enthusiastic about leaving her future foster mother here to face Deathstroke, especially with her injuries, but she couldn't argue. Starfire nodded sadly, looking from her best friend to her lover and she wanted to find some way to protest.

 

“I'm sorry, this is very cute and all but I'm getting bored; I think it's time we spill some more blood.” Deathstroke's fingers had finally returned to normal, but the poly-morphic adamantium on his hands had changed shape again. Now both of his hands resembled guns, and they were aimed at the group. Red lasers fire from his gun-hands and headed for the group. Raven created a shield of black light which blocked the blasts, but because she was weak the shield shook and cracked under the thunderous assault.

 

“Go, now!” Robin commanded.

 

“Robin I—”

“Starfire, GO!”

 

Starfire and Mariand'r, each holding one of their fellow heroes, turned and sped away from Luthor's lab out of the window on the wall. They flew as fast as they could, neither one happy about being told to retreat, but neither able to argue with Robin.

Back at the lab, Robin watched them fly off for a moment before turning to Raven beside him. She was down on her knees, groaning and shaking as she tried to keep her shield up as long as she possibly could.

 

“Go Raven.” Robin said in a soft voice.

 

“Not a chance.” Raven replied.

 

“It's not a option. You're in no condition to fight.” Robin insisted.

 

“And you can't fight him alone. You'll die if I leave.”

 

“And we'll both die if you stay. If I'm going to beat him, I need to be at my best; and I can't fight at my best if I'm busy worrying about you in the fight. You're not healthy enough for this kind of battle, Raven; and if I lose the Titans will need you to lead them. So go.”

 

“. . . I wish I was gullible to believe that.” Raven sighed between grunts of pain. “But I'm not. This is personal for you because it's Slade; but it's personal for me too. I saw your daughters memories, I saw what this bastard did in the future to everyone I care about. No Robin, I'm not leaving.”

 

The black shield suddenly shattered with a monstrous boom. Deathstroke charged forward, his hands again transformed. This time they had become like gigantic mauls. Deathstroke headed straight for the fallen Raven, but she vanished into the floor and reappeared behind him.

“Azarath, Metreon, Zinthos!” Raven called, her eyes blazing black. The catwalk, which still contained Luthor's unconscious body and the broken bodies of the TK-series androids, turned black and was ripped out of the wall. The catwalk then flew directly at Deathstroke, but Deathstroke's maul hands changed into sword-like appendages and he cut the part of the catwalk that flew at him in two. Luthor's unconscious body and the androids fell onto the floor, and the two halves of the catwalk hit the wall.

 

“You'll have to do better.” Deathstroke laughed.

 

“Hyah!” Robin slammed his bo-staff into the back of Deathstroke's head. Deathstroke fell forward onto the ground, and Robin made quick word of hitting him with a freezing disc, which encased his body in ice.

 

“Nice play.” Raven said, then her face turned to a painful expression and she collapsed onto her knees. Robin quickly ran to her side.

 

“How much of Beast Boy's injuries did you absorb?” Robin demanded.

 

“As much as I could stand too.” The Goth replied.

 

“And you absorbed part of Terra's wounds too?” Robin inquired.

 

“Yes . . . they were both dying, don't give me that look.” Raven snapped.

 

“And now you're dying.” Robin responded in a whisper.

 

“Don't be a drama queen. I'll live.” Raven insisted, but then she took in a sharp intake of breath and fell forward. Robin had to catch her in his arms so she didn't bang her head into the floor.

 

“Give me the glove.” Robin demanded.

Raven looked up at him inquisitively, and then she remembered Arella's glove, which she had tucked into her belt after she lost the need for it. After Mary had used the glove to restore Raven's powers, she had returned the glove to Raven. Raven pulled it from her belt and handed it to Robin, who put it on once again. The gem on the top was still a green emerald, but when Robin placed it on his hand, it became the white healing diamond.

 

Robin gently set his gloved-hand down on Raven's chest and her body instantly became engulfed in white light. Raven closed her eyes and she could feel the internal injuries heal themselves. Her strength was returning, and she shut her eyes as it did. A moment later, she heard a scream - from Robin - and the sound of something shattering. She opened her eyes to find the gauntlet had shattered; Deathstroke had transformed his hand into a laser gun once again and shot the glove - he had escaped from his icy prison.

 

Robin was clutching his sore hand, but Raven had regained enough of her strength that she now knew how she could defeat Deathstroke. Crossing her legs she sat in mid air and hummed her mantra; and her soul-self sprang from her body and flew at Deathstroke. Deathstroke jumped back, trying to avoid Raven's soul-self, but he could not. She flew into his body, and a moment later Deathstroke screamed and exploded from the inside out.

 

His adamantium could repair itself; but he himself could not. Deathstroke was dead. The blood-drenched spirit flew back into its body and Raven opened her eyes and looked over at Robin, who was staring at her, wide-eyed.

 

“. . . Let's see him recover from that.”

 

----

 

Several Hours Later, in Gotham City

 

“That's quite a story.”

 

The Teen Titans, both East and West, had reunited at Bruce Wayne's mansion in Gotham. It had taken a long time for them all to get in contact with one another, but eventually they had, and they had agreed the best place to regroup at would be the Batcave. Now they were all in the small hospitalization section of the cave. Beast Boy was awake and lying in one of the beds, which Raven sat on the end of. Terra was lying in another bed, several bandages on her body. Robin, Starfire and Mariand'r all sat a table, Batman and Superman both sitting across from them. Cyborg, Bee, Speedy, Jinx, Aqualad and Mas Y Menos were all sitting at another table, Alfred at their side taking request on food and drink orders.

 

They had all just finished recounting their separate tales.

 

“Okay, hold up.” Beast Boy interrupted, looking around the room. “Is it over now?”

 

“What do you mean?” Raven asked her forest-colored boyfriend.

 

“Well, Luthor's in prison, right?” Beast Boy asked.

“At last.” Superman confirmed. He had heard the entire story from Bruce and returned right away to give his thanks to the Titans for helping with his own archenemy.

 

“And ALL of the demons are gone?” Beast Boy asked, this time looking at Raven.

 

“Not all of them. I still have a few hundred brothers and sisters out there.” Raven replied, but when she saw the horrified look on Beast Boy's face she shook her head. “Relax, all the homicidal planet eating ones are dead.”

 

Beast Boy didn't looked relaxed, but he decided to continue. “And Slade?”

 

“Oh, he's dead.” Raven replied, shuddering a bit at the memory. “Trust me, he's dead.”

 

“Yeah, and the Slade from our time's dead too BB.” Cyborg added, then he bit his lip. “Well, I think. I mean . . .”

 

“Relax Sparky, he's crab bait.” Bee hit Cyborg's arm playfully and leaned back in her chair.

 

“Okay . . . and those Dark Ones? What about them?” Beast Boy looked over at Mary. Everyone looked in her direction. She was sitting next to Starfire, and when all eyes turned to her, she shook her head.

 

“I don't know. I won't know if we've changed the future until I return to it.” She told them simply.

 

“Don't worry about them Beast Boy.” Robin interjected.

“Dude, they wiped out the whole planet; how can you say that?” Beast Boy asked.

 

“Beast Boy, over the last few months we've fought Slade, Trigon, Joker, Luthor and a thousand lesser evils in-between.” Robin reminded him. “And every time our enemy got darker and stronger, we just became more determined. I don't know what's coming in the future. Dark Ones or not, there will be more evil for us to fight. Every day will be a new challenge; that's part of the business. But as long as we stay together and stay strong, we WILL defeat whatever comes.”

 

No one spoke. Everyone just sat in quiet for a few minutes, thinking about Robin's declaration. Then, at length, Mary stood up.

 

“I had better be going.”

 

“No!” Starfire, who had become quite attached to her daughter, protested.

 

“I have too. I can't stay in this era . . . besides, I want to see how the future's changed.” Mariand'r replied sadly.

 

Starfire threw her arms around Mariand'r, pulling her into a tight hug. Luckily, Mariand'r was half Tamaranian and the usual bone-breaking super strength didn't effect her as much as it could have. When they broke away, Starfire's eyes were welling up with tears. Mariand'r then walked across the room and drew a runic circle on the ground in silence. When she finished, she stood on it and faced the group.

 

“As much as I hated the reason for our meeting, I'm glad I got to see all of you.” She told them.

 

“We'll see each other again.” Robin promised.

 

“I'm looking forward to it.” Mariand'r nodded.

 

“Azarath, Metreon, Zinthos!” Raven called. The runic portal beneath Mariand'r blazed with white light, and the group squinted from the brightness. When eyes opened again, Mariand'r was gone. Starfire began to cry and grabbed onto Robin, burying her face in his chest and sobbing silently.

 

“Aww, c'mon Star, cheer up.” Terra begged her friend from her bed. “If you really want to see Mary again, you and Robin can borrow my bed for a while.”

 

Robin turned about as red as his girlfriend's hair and he shot Terra a dirty look. The blonde simply laughed, as did everyone else.

 

During that moment, that laughter was all they noticed. The Teen Titans had been through hell and survived; and they had all become stronger, wiser and happier from it.

 

Unfortunately, the Teen Titans story was not over yet. What none of them ever realized, was that the Dark Ones had never wanted to conquer earth. They had been on their way to a completely different planet when Luthor's beam attracted their attention. While it was true that the Dark Ones would not be coming to earth, they were on their way to their original destination.

A planet the Titans knew all too well - Tamaran.

 

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

 

A/N: Well, there you have it! Chapter thirty-eight is complete. Heh. Remember a while ago I said this story would be going “full-circle”? Well, so it has! Mmm. We've now entered the final story arc. It's my plan to have another twelve chapters - and end on a even fifty. So enjoy it my friends. Review Replies are below, as always.

 

Kazzy103: Aww, thank you. ^^ You've gone and made me blush with your kind words. No, actually I have never read the comics, believe it or not; but I have read ABOUT the comics. That's where I got the stuff about the Ravager and Deathstroke and Jericho and Mariand'r . . . but never actually read them. I'm glad you liked the fight scenes. I tried hard on them. AHHH! I wondered if anyone would ever mention Rose Wilson, the fourth Ravager. You know, I've thought about bringing her into it, and . . . maybe. I don't know, but maybe. Thank you very much for your kind review, hope you enjoyed this chapter. And since you were the first person to guess about Mary's parents, this one was dedicated to you; so yay!

 

scathac's warrior: As I said in the opening notes, the character is based on Mariand'r, Rob & Star's daughter from an AU world in the Titans comics.

 

TheSkeet: ^^ I'm glad you enjoyed it. Time travel, robots and future children are fun to write; and I'm happy they were fun to read.

 

Pickles12: I know you have been; you were one of the very first readers. ^^ I'm glad you stuck with it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Goddessruling: Mary's superhero name is Nightfire. >< I know I took way too long between updates. I'm sorry my friend, it won't happen again. I've just been busy lately. Thanks for reading, as always m'dear.

 

HRH-Ft-Louie: Yeah, I love romance and action too. It's so much fun. ^^ Thankies.

 

WHOCARES?: Heheh. Yeah, a lot of stuff's happened since Shady's visit; and there's still more going to happen yet. Just you wait! I'm sure you'll love it. Thanks for readin'.

 

Leftd: Naw, it just took a while to update. >_> Sorry `bout that.
Heh, you're very smart at figuring out what I'm going to do next, aren't you? Indeed, the Dark Ones shall appear soon - but not on Earth! XD

Ding! Ding! Ding! You are correct! Sparrow was Raven and BB's daughter, who was murdered by Slade. DING DING! Correct again; as you'll soon see, Jinx is still sticking around even after completing her deal. We'll get more into that in the next chapter, though. Thanks for reading dude, I'll see you later.

 

april4rmH-town: Naw, I believe ya. Heheh. Thanks for reading my friend - oh and if you do post that fic you mentioned, I'll be sure to read it! Just tell me if you do post it, okay?

 

GizmoBunny: I'm glad you liked the future thing. And don't worry, Terra is staying a Titan. I like Terra too - although I don't like BBxT, but that's probably obvious. XD. Anyway, thanks for reading.

 

Mirielle: Yep, you were also right `bout Mary's lineage.
Eep. >< Thanks for the correction on the whose/who's.
Eh, BB's great in any situation. He's even humorous when he's dying. O.o
Since I know you're a Slade-lover, I'm sure you were less than pleased about him, well, exploding. XD But . . . Slade's died before. I wouldn't count him out just yet. ^_- Mwa hahahaah! Thanks for reading.

 

SparkyX: You were right, they did meet. O.o And all hell broke loose. XD Thanks for reading, ya?

 

Samanthe2121: Yep, you were right; Robin's the dad. ^^

 

Lambbaby: Dude, I'm sorry to hear about your dog. That's horrible. My first dog died when she was only three. >< She had seizures. I remember how sad I was. I hope you cheer up dude.
Oh a lighter note, you were correct with both who Mary was, and who Sparrow was. Kudos.
Hehe. Yeah, Bee mighta been a little jealous. Just wait for the next chapter… Heheheh. Love triangles are grand!
Anyway, I hope this next chapter helps you tune out the sadness a little more. I'm sorry for your loss, m'friend.

 

xBxMYxJaMeSxDeANxcandyclouds: Seattle? Whoa! Have fun Caitlyn dear!

 

Oranfly: I shall try. ^^

 

Ravensavior: ^^ Well thank you for saying so. I'm glad you found the fic, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll update soon, I promise.

 

IllegalDayNightSnappingIguana: Well good. I tried to make the death scene a good one, and I'm happy to hear it paid off. O.o
Who says I'm not an insanely strange robot attempting to take over the world? I mean . . . of course I'm human. What else would I be silly?
Flan is a form of dessert darling. It's sugary and brown and O so delicious. I wish I had some. The green haired boy BETTER be making out with the purple haired empath. XD Actually that gives me a great idea for a scene…. So THANKS! ^^

 

lilac-lily510: Thanks, I hope you liked it.

 

Random Reviewer Man: XD Yeah, those gifts from the future can be a real pain in the butt, huh? Thanks for reading man, it's awesome to hear you liked it. HEY! They're replaying The End … right now. O.o So here's hoping your watching it.

 

Girl Wonder 2005: I'm glad you liked it. ^^ I hope you liked this chapter too.

 

Primaballerina: More has been written; I hope you liked it.

 

Girl Wonder 2005: I hope the update was worth the wait.

 

Shiny Black Boot Buckles: Naw, you don't have to worry about me leaving this story dude. I'm not ending it until, well, the end. XD

 

Ziek: Well I'm glad you enjoyed it. Heheh. I like writing Robin's reaction, and it's good to know you liked reading it.

 

Inuluvsu: Hey! You're back! Yay! Yeah, Cyborg was walking around while plugged up. The plug has a long cord. XD Thanks for reading darling!