HOME | DD

Description
On one of the rooftops close to the Terror Titans’ tower, Talon and Automaton stood overlooking the city.

Talon was crouched down on the edge of the rooftop while Automaton stood silent and waiting for any orders or questions from his master. They’d been waiting for some time after both having returned from searching the city for the Teen Titans, only to find no trace of them.

Talon perked up when he heard the sound of Azara emerging from a black portal she’d formed from wherever she’d been looking. At the same time he saw Shadowfire and Changeling, in the form of a archaeopteryx, flying towards the roof as well. Both landed, Changeling turning into his normal form as he did, and all looked to Talon.

“Anything?” he asked, after turning to see all of them.

"No sign." Shadowfire answered

Talon looked to Azara and said “You neither?”

“I can find no trace of their emotions.” she said. “It has become more difficult do to the presence of my....sister.”

“That’s it then.” Changeling said, crossing his arms. “They’re with the Brotherhood then. And now they know everything they do. Thanks to that traitor, Atlee.”

“So what now?” Shadowfire asked Talon. “We keep looking?”

“No point.” He said. “If they know what they do, then they’ll have to come to us.”

“I’m for that.” She said, her eyes flaring yellow and her lips curling to a grin. “Let them come. I look forward to ripping each and every one of them apart.”

Talon looked to Automaton and said “Ideas?”

{Given combined forces of both the Teen Titans and the remaining strength of the Brotherhood of Justice,} he began {it would appear we would require more assistance to bolster our own strength.}

Talon nodded and said “I like the way you think. Put a call out to the East Terror’s ASAP.” He looked to the others and said “The rest of you get ready.” He turned back to see the city and grinned, saying “They’ll be coming here for a fight. Well we’ll have one waiting for them.”

********************

The Teen Titans and the few members of the Brotherhood, mainly Brother Bold, Doctor Yong and Atlee were going over the information involving the inter-dimensional technology stolen by the Terror Titans.

They were standing inside one of the main rooms of the base that was basically the same as the others in terms of shape. Inside of it was a large screen, which they were all standing in front of, hooked up to a large computer desktop, a few chairs surrounding a table and a large picture on the wall of a man, older looking with an eye patch over his right eye.

On the screen was schematics of a machine similar to the archway machine the Titans had used to travel to this dimension in the first place. It looked basically similar, if a bit more finished and more advanced than the one in their world.

“This is it.” Doc Yong said. “My machine.”

“Looks in pretty good shape.” Cyborg said.

“But it’s still unfinished.” Atlee stated. “They’ve tried everything and still haven’t gotten it to work. Even had Automaton running scans on it and still couldn’t find a thing.”

“Then that’s where this Portal guy, you mentioned, comes in.” Robin said, looking to Brother Bold. “Where is he?”

“Here, of course.” Bold said. “Although he’s endured much. When the Terror’s got wind of his presence, they’d captured and tortured him for information. Since then he’s been....a bit on edge.”

“But we must have his assistance.” Starfire said. “Without it we may never be able to return home.”

Robin nodded before looking back to the screen and saying “Where’s this stored?”

“In the lower-levels of the tower.” Atlee said. “I can get you access.”

“Well that’s one thing solved.” Cy said.

“But we still have the Terror’s to deal with.” Raven stated. “And they’ll be on their toes now, after this.”

“Then we’ll need a plan.” Robin said. “We’ll figure that out after talking with Portal.” He looked to Bold and said “Take us to him.”

Brother Bold nodded and said “This way.” Before leading them out the door.

As he and the others walked out, Atlee looked to see Beast Boy, who’d been quite and giving her glances the whole time, still looking at the screen with the machine schematics on it. She looked back as the others were walking off and looked back to him, deciding to stay with him.

“Hey.” She said, gaining his attention. “You alright?”

“Uh...yeah.” he said, glancing at her before looking down.

“Ok, I got to ask, what’s the problem?” she said, crossing her arms. “You and all your friends were giving me odd looks ever since I walked in.” She saw as he seemed to be thinking on what to say. “Does it have to do with this ‘Terra’ girl you mentioned?”

Beast Boy hesitated before saying “It’s just....well Terra she...” he scratched his head, trying to think of what to say, before finally asking “How did you end up with the Brotherhood anyway?”

She raised her eyebrow, seeing him give an awkward smile, before sighing and answering.

“Well when I first came to this city, the Terrors found me and took me in. I didn’t have a friend in the world until they came along. For a while I ran with them for a while before I met someone else.” She indicated the picture of the older man with the eye patch in the room.

“That the guy called Wilson Brother Bold mentioned?” BB asked her, walking over to it.

“Yeah. That’s him.” She said, standing next to him. “When he first came to me I thought he was just some old man trying to fill my head full of nothing but garbage. But then...I don’t know. It started coming to a point here the things he’d said to me kept playing over and over in my head. Eventually I went looking for him, instead of the other way around. And then it happened.”

“What?” he asked.

“He showed me how wrong I was joining the Terror Titans. I saw I was hurting and stealing from people when I should’ve doing things for good. So then I made my decision. I walked out of the Terrors and took what I could from them.” she looked to him and said “And that’s my story.” She saw the questioning look in his face and sighed. “Now what?”

“Well it’s just that in our world it was sort of the same thing.” He said. “Only Terra went with the bad guys. But then in the end she was good. So maybe that means you’re just playing good when you’re really bad. Unless you’re always bad anyway, so maybe your just being good for your own reason. But then maybe Terra was good with a bad center and your bad with a good center or..”

She giggled at his rambling and said “Beast Boy.” She held his shoulder and smiled. “I’m the good guy. You can trust me.” Both gave each other a reassuring smile before she asked “So what happened to this other me from your world?”

He seemed taken aback from the question and said “Uh....well you see....”

“Hey.” Robin said, making them look to see he was standing in the doorway. “You both alright?”

“Uh, fine.” BB said. “Just...got a little sidetracked. That’s all.”

He nodded and said “Well hurry up.” Before walking off.

BB shrugged to Atlee before catching up with Robin. She gave an odd look before ignoring it and catching up as well.

********************

Eventually all three reached the others who were standing outside one of the doors to one of the personal rooms of the base.

Bold, seeing the three arrive, said “There you all are. We were worried.”

“Fell behind.” Robin said, glancing at BB and Atlee. He indicated the door and asked “Is this it?”

“Yes.” Yong said. “But I would suggest that all you Titans stay here for now.”

“Why?” Cyborg asked. “I thought Portal was supposed to help.”

“And he will.” Yong continued. “But the sight of those....similar...to the Terrors would make him uneasy.”

“He’s right.” Raven said, looking at the door. “I can sense his feelings. Even now he’s scared beyond reason.”

“We’ll try to comfort him into knowing what’s happening.” Bold said. “Atlee, will you help?”

“Uh, sure.” She shrugged.

He nodded and looked to The Titans, who also nodded knowing that they would need to wait for their say so. He and Yong opened the door and walked in.

The room was a moderate size, able to hold a bed, a small table, a hair, a bureau with shelves, a case that held Portal’s armor, and a large collection of clocks that were scatted on almost every possible surface. Some clocks hung on the wall, others were those that stood on their own on top of tables and shelves and the like. Other were just lying on the floor, intact or in pieces.

Sitting on the floor with his back turned to the others stood was a skinny man, looking a bit withered, and wearing nothing but a blue sleeveless jumpsuit. His hair was long and grey around areas, which he seemed to scratch from time-to-time as he mumbled to himself.

“Tick...tick...ticking.” he muttered. “Must keep ticking....eventually...reach home. Then ticking no more. No more. No more.”

“Portal?” Bold said, as he Yong and Atlee walked in.

Portal turned so they could see his withered face, which had a heavy bread as grey and black as the rest of his hair.

“Br...Brother Bold!” he said, standing now. “Y...Yong and At...Atlee as well.”

“Yes, Portal.” Yong said. “It is us. Your friends.”

“Th...then I’m still in the wrong time.” He said, turning back now. “Must w...wait longer. Wait for enough ticks before I see home again. Must continue to wait. Must keep with ticking.”

Bold looked to the other before walking up to Portal and saying “Portal....there’s something we want you to see.”

Portal turned back now and said “What? An...another plan against the T.T...Terror Titans?”

“In a sense.” Yong said. He walked up and placed his hand on his shoulder, saying “You remember my project? Into other dimensional travel?

“Y...Yes. Inter-travel. Between dimensions. Equations. Estimations. Based on parameter and sting theory reached fifty...fifty two possible...”

“Portal.” Yong said, stopping his rambling. “It worked. It is possible.”

“Bu...but how?” He asked. “Technology stolen. Hidden away. Have not used my ar...armor.”

“We’ll show you.” Bold said. “But, Portal, I need you to relax an understand that what we're about to see isn’t what you think. Do you understand?”

Portal gave a quivering nod before Bold walked over to the door and said “If one of you will please.”

Robin decided to go first and walked into the room. Portal did not see him fully at first, but jumped at the shape of him.

“N...No! No! Talon!” he said, backing away. “Not th..them. Not...not again.”

“No.” Bold said., walking over and holding his arm. “It’s alright. It’s not Talon.” He waited until he was fully in the light before introducing. “This is Robin.”

“R...Robin?” Portal said, starting to relax. “But...but look like...”

“We know he does.” Yong said. “But this is not the same. He’s from another world. Another reality, Portal. Just like we theorized.”

Portal seemed to relax as he looked closer and saw how different Robin was compared to Talon.

“It’s...nice to meet you, sir.” Robin said, holding out his hand.

Portal hesitantly walked up and looked back-and-forth between Robin and his hand. He slowly reached up and held it. Once he felt it he seemed to perk up and smile.

“Real.” He said. “You...you are real. It’s...it’s true. Other worlds. Other realities. Fifty two.”

He let Robin go and walked over to the back wall, muttering happily to himself. Yong went over to him while Bold stood next to Robin.

“What did they do to him?” he asked.

“It was Talon mostly.” Bold said. “He’s not one to be denied his chances at power. When Portal refused to give him what he wanted, he had Azara slip into his mind and...twist it in so many ways.”

“He was much worse than this when he found him.” Atlee added.

Robin’s eyes narrowed at this news, giving another reason for helping to take down Talon and the rest of the Terror Titans.

Portal mumbled to himself more before Yong stopped him and said “Portal. There’s more. But we need you to help. We need you to put the armor back on.”

He seemed to grow worried at this and said “But...technology no longer functional. Can...cannot return home. Cannot be of help.”

“The weapons still work.” Yong said. “And it’s not the technology we need. It’s this.” He tapped on his forehead. “Please, my friend. It’s for a good cause. It’s to help us, and Robin and his friends. Help them, Portal. Help them get home.”

Portal looked down and said “...home...” before closing his eyes.

For a moment he was silent, but then he finally looked up and nodded. He walked over to the case which held his armor and took a few moments to put it on. Once he was done, all looked to see Portal fully armored in his old suit once again.

His chest was covered with a large gold chest plate, much more brighter than Warp’s in the Titans home reality. On the center of it was a blue circle. He wore similar colored gauntlets and boots, each with a series of wires attached from the chest plate to them. The gauntlets had extensions to them, circles similar to the one on his chest, that reached to his palms, also with wiring attached from the armor. And finally on his head was a helmet that looked more like an armored hood. There was a circular opening where his face was and another blue circle, smaller than the others, on the forehead part of it.

Portal made sure his armor was secure before looking to the others and saying. “I am ready.”

Robin nodded and said “Good. Because we’re going to need all the firepower we’ve got.”

********************

The following night, the Teen Titans and the Brotherhood of Justice began their invasion of the Terror Tower.

They’d split into three teams to infiltrate the Tower. The first being Robin, Cyborg, Brother Bold, Cadet Courage and Lens-Cap. The second was Starfire, Raven, Mat-Multiple, Circuit and Mastodon. The third team was a only Beast Boy and Atlee, who were to help Portal and Professor Yong into the Tower after the others had managed to clear a path for them.

The first two teams were standing in the alleyways on both sides of the Tower while the third waited behind the second team for the signal.

Robin activated his communicator and said “Team A in position.”

“Team B is ready.” Starfire said, from where she was.

“And team C is waiting.” Atlee said over her own communicator.

“Alright people.” Robin said. “Let’ move.”

With that the two infiltration teams made their way towards the tower. Once both reached the base, Lens-Cap and Raven used their powers to create portals to walk inside. Once both teams were in they followed, leaving Team C to wait.

********************

Team A found themselves inside one of the hallways of the Tower. Cyborg looked around before finding a junction box on the wall nearby and ripping the cover off of it. He attached one of his wires to it and began to hack the security.

While this happened, Team B found another junction box which Circuit began to hack the same way he did before.

“Hacking sensors.” Cyborg said, still at it. “Almost done....There.” he said.

Robin nodded and activated his communicator again, saying “Team B report.”

“I managed to knock out the sensors too.” Circuit said, over his own comm. “They won’t know we’re here until we come knocking.”

“Copy that.” Robin said. “Make your way to the lower levels. We’ll see you there.”

Once he was done, Bold said “The lift is this way.” He pointed down one hallway to the right. “We can reach the storage level from there.”

Robin nodded and started walking with the others towards the lift.

********************

As team B made their way to the lift, Starfire stopped at one door that said “Cotton ball” on it. Her curiosity got the better of her as she opened the door to see. Inside was a massive insect creature, with four large green eyes and massive black pincers. It snarled at her, making Starfire squeak with fright before closing the door.

She saw as Raven looked at her and said “I believe I have found this worlds silky.” She said with an awkward smile.

“Just stick with the plan, Star.” She said. “I’m having enough concentration problems trying to keep Azara from sensing us.”

Star nodded and followed the rest towards the lift. Eventually they reached one large room that looked like the entrance hall of the Tower. The front door was, of course, at the front, with a series of chairs propped up to the side.

“The lift should be through here.” Circuit said.

“Yeah...” Mat-Multiple said. “...well why do I get the feeling this is all too easy?”

Before anyone could answer, there was an explosion behind them that forced the doorway to cave in, keeping them from escaping the way they came. They all looked to see Shadowfire, Azara, Changeling along with two other new Terror Titans, standing in the opposite doorway.

“What do you know.” Shadowfire said, her hand still glowing from the blast she’d made. “I guess you’re not as dumb as you look.”

As the others stood ready to fight, Raven said “You already knew we were here. How?”

“Not that hard to figure you were coming.” Changeling shrugged. “That’s why we invited our own friends to help.”

He indicated the two new Terrors as he introduced them.

The first saw this world’s Aqualad. He wore a red suit instead of blue and had short blonde hair instead of black. His pants were black and his exposed hands showed they were more fin like, along with the gills on his neck.

The second was this world’s Speedy. He had a sleeveless black hood and black pants to match. He also carried a black bow and quiver of arrows. His face was hidden underneath the hood, but his mouth was exposed to reveal a grin.

“Meet a few of the East Terror’s.” Changeling said. “Maelstrom and Black Bow.”

They took a stance, looking ready to fight as well, while the others stood ready for anything.

Both Starfire and Shadowfire looked at each other before she said “This will not be as our last encounter.”

“You’re right.” Shadowfire said. “Because this time, I’m not letting you live!”

With that the two teams charged at each other.

********************

Team A had wondered around and eventually found themselves inside the main room of the Tower. They looked around before Robin walked over to the window overlooking the city.

“We obviously went the wrong way.” He said.

“Indeed.” Bold said. “But I thought we had this planned out. How did we end up here?”

“Because we wanted you to.” A voice from the other end of the room said.

They all looked to see Talon, Automaton, and three new Terror members present.

The good guy team stood together and looked ready to fight.

“Bold.” Talon said. “Nice to see you again. Finally decided to come out from under your rock?”

“I’m done hiding from you and your gang, Talon.” He said. “This ends now.”

“I know it does. That’s why I brought my new friends.” He said, indicating the three members of the East Terrors.

The first was the counterpart of Bumblebee. She was dressed in a full body suit that covered everything buy her face. Her eyes were covered with a pair of large green goggles that looked more insect0like in appearance. She had yellow patterning around the arms and legs part, and a pair of insect wings on her back. In her hands were two prong-like weapons that sparked with electricity.

The other two were the twins that, in the Titans world, would be Mas Y Menos. Both were dressed the same in black jumpsuits that had had red patterning to them and wore red goggles as well. On their chest were the Greek symbols for Alpha and Omega.

“I’d like you to meet Stinger and Alpha and Omega.” Talon said, indicating the three.
Robin and the others stood ready before he said “I’m putting a stop to all of this right now.”

“Fine then.” Talon said. “But you’ll have to go through me first.”

With that both teams charged as well, meeting in the middle and sparking their fight.
Robin and Talon engaged, as did Cyborg and Automaton, while Brother Bold took on Stinger and Cadet Courage and Lens-Cap took on Alpha and Omega.

The twins zipped around the two before trying to come in for a super-speedy punch. Courage managed to get in front and block the two before they could hit, knocking them away. Both got to their feet in time to avoided being hit by red eye-beams shot by Lens-Cap. They started circling while he kept trying to fire.

Bold managed to use his own arm cannon, thanks to his cyber implants, to fire at Stinger. She flew around to avoid them and eventually started firing at him, making Bold raise his free arm and create a blue energy shield. It deflected the shots she made before forcing Stinger to shrink down to the size of a bee. She came flying at Bold just as he dropped his shield, making him cover his eyes as she started pelleting him with tiny blasts.

Robin had managed to land a kick to Talon’s back after flipping over behind him. Talon reacted by turning and swiping with his razor gloves. He found and opening after Robin avoided being clawed, and managed to grab his arm and throw him over his shoulder. Robin landed on his back against the floor near the large table before blocking another hit from Talon by grabbing his wrist. But Talon found the advantage and kicked him away, making him crash against one of the chairs.

As Robin picked himself up he said “You said before you wanted us here? How?”

“A subconscious thought pattern made by Azara.” Talon stated, cracking his knuckles in the process. “We knew you’d be coming. And when I prepare...I prepare for everything.”

Angered, Robin threw the chair towards him, only for Talon to kick it into pieces before charging at him.

Cyborg avoided a blast from Automaton before shooting out his hands, which detached from his arm, and sending them both straight at him. Both made contact and punched Automaton hard enough to send him on his back. As he picked himself up, Cyborg charged and him, with both fists together in a ball, and slammed down towards him. Automaton managed to grab his hands before he could bring them down and kicked him back. He stood in time as Cyborg regained his footing before arming his shoulder missiles and firing. Cyborg jumped out of the way in time before the missiles blew the front window wide open.

********************

Down below, Team C saw as the front window blew open from an explosion.

Worried, BB activated his communicator and said “Robin! What’s going on?”

“Change of plans.” He said over the other end, while the sound of struggling could be heard in the background. “Get Yong and Portal down to the machine now!”

“Copy that.” Atlee said, overhearing on her own comm. She looked to all of them and said “Let’s move out!”

“Wait!” BB said. “What about my friends? Your teammates?”

“Once we get the machine operational, we’ll try to help them.” Atlee said. “I’m not about to abandon anyone today, Beast Boy.” She gave him a reassuring smile, making him nod, before saying. “Now let’s go.”

With that all of them ran towards the front door of the Tower. Once they were close enough Atlee stood in front and held her arms out, activating her powers.

“Stand back!” she said to the others, making them back away.

She used her powers to make a large boulder form behind her out of the ground. She threw it straight at the door which forced it to crumble and break, revealing the way in. Only once the door was down, the team could see as The Titans and Terrors, as well as the Brotherhood members, were engaged in their fight.

Mastodon was being pushed back by Maelstrom, who was using water from the pipes in the tower to make a powerful spout. Circuit, using his techno-spider arms and blasters from his backpack, was engaged in a fight with Changeling, in the form of a Utahraptor, who was biting and clawing at him. Mat-Multiple used his powers to make copies that were being taken out, one-by-one thanks to both close combat attack and shots fired by Black Bow. Starfire was pinned to the wall by Shadowfire, who was actually about to throw her, and Raven and Azara were firing their magic at one another, while Raven tried to create a shield to block some of her hits.

The third team had time to duck before Starfire was tossed there way. She landed into BB who helped her up before seeing Shadowfire walk out and her eyes blazing yellow.

“Well, well.” She said, stopping and looking at Atlee. “Look who it is: little miss turncoat. I’ve been waiting to see you get what you deserve.”

With that she raised her hands and fired her bolts at Atlee. BB was about to intervene but Atlee managed to summon a large pillar of rock to block her blasts. She then used her powers to create two large slabs the smashed into Shadowfire from both sides.

“That will not stop her.” Starfire said.

“How do you know for sure?” Yong asked.

“I know.” She answered.

Just then Shadowfire used her strength to break from the slabs. She looked angered as she tried to fire, only for her shots to be blocked by Portal who used his technology to create a small portal that absorbed the shots. She gave an angered scream as she tried to fire again, only to be knocked away when Starfire elbowed her hard enough to send her flying to the side.

“Star!” BB said to her.

“I will handle this.” She said, looking back. “Go Beast Boy, ready the machine.”

He seemed to hesitate before nodding and running off with Atlee and the others, into the Tower. Starfire looked back in time to block an oncoming punch from Shadowfire, but it sent her into the air.

As the team made the way though the small battle going on, Changeling, in his normal form after having knocked out Circuit, looked to see them running by and into the next hallway. He grew angry when he saw both Beast Boy and Atlee together and gave chase.

Raven saw this and said “No!” trying to fly after him, only to be blocked by Azara.

“We have our own score to settle. she said as she held her arms out.

She created a large black portal which Raven found herself being sucked into it.

********************

There was a rush of motion and feeling as Raven was transported to somewhere else, thanks to Azara. When she finally landed she found herself in a darkened area.

“Wha...where am I?” she asked, looking around.

Suddenly she saw it. She was standing on large floating rock with a familiar looking city on it. But the city was crumbled and decaying, with black clouds swirling above it.

“It...can’t be.” Raven said.

“But it is.” The voice of Azara ringed out. She reappeared behind Raven making her turn to see her, before saying “I’ve brought you back to where it all began. Both your story and my own.”

“No...” Raven said, half shocked.

“Yes, Raven. I’ve brought you back to Azarath. Welcome Home.”