The Next Generation

Fortunately, the hallways were pretty straight forward, with no twists or turns or anything. It led them straight to the main control room. Though the heavy door was bolted shut tighter than an oil drum, Rose cut clean through it in an instant, causing the two halves of the door to clatter to the floor. "Morrow!" she screamed, lunging forward and grabbing the man as he stood by the main controls.

"Woah!" Morrow shouted, as Rose grabbed him and pulled him back. He blinked at her in surprise, then looked around. "Oh, well, isn't this a surprise? You're not supposed to be here."

"Well guess what, we are!" she growled, pulling him back from the controls. The screen showed the other three continuing to struggle against the robot army. "Turn them off, now!"

"Uh... I can't," Morrow said with a shrug. "There is no master shut off switch."

Neal continued to run after Rose, thankfully not encountering any resistance after the first two robots that they had attacked. Neal figured that Morrow would have had more security in this part, but he wasn't going to complain about it. Rose cut down the door that they came to, and grabbed Morrow from his chair. She quickly ordered for him to shut down the robots before he claimed that it was impossible.

"Rose come now, you're using your rude voice. Let me reason with him," Neal said before grabbing the man by the throat and holding him up in the air. "Listen to me you bastard. If my friends die than I have no hesitation in making sure that you follow them. The only difference is that yours will be SO much slower. After all, no one knows you're here right?" Neal asked with a small smile.

As Neal finished his sentence Morrow would begin to feel a pain in his feet. It was slow at first, but quickly got stronger. If he looked down he would see his feet getting flattened, as if a steamroller was passing over them. It was only a moment later that he'd feel his bones crack and see the blood spurting out of his feet. The pain continued to press upwards, reaching up to his legs.

"Tell us how to shut down your robots Morrow, NOW"

Morrow just blinked back at Neal calmly. "Um, forgive me for asking, but why are you staring at me so intently? Do I have food on my face?"

Rose blinked in surprise. Wait, what? This bastard should be flailing around in horrendous pain right now, with Neal all over him. But then why... "Oh, fucking kidding me," she muttered. Flashing her sword upwards, she sliced off his arm. The hunk of metal fell to the floor and began sparking. "He's a robot, too! He's got a fucking robot double!"

"Oh, yes, sorry, you didn't think that I'd actually be here myself, did you?" he asked. "No, no, no, far too risky. So I'm controlling this one remotely. And, like I said, there is no master shut off for my army, they'll keep attacking until you're all dead, then they'll move out into the city and cause some more damage. Ta-ta for now."

And with that, the Morrow bot powered down, deactivating. "What! Hey! No!" Rose shouted, staring at it in disbelief.

"You son of a bitch!" Neal shouted before dropping the man to the ground. It had been a ploy this entire time. They should have known that Morrow wouldn't expose himself so easily, he would never really be just sitting here in person and allow himself to get caught. He was elsewhere, and for all they knew there really was no master control key for that army.

Neal dropped the robot before turning back to Rose. "Rose, we need to get back out there and help them. I don't think that we can do any good from here" he said sadly.

"Right, yeah," Rose said, rubbing her temples. Well shit, this was going from bad to worse in a hurry. Quickly, she pressed the intercom button. "Guys, it's no good! Get out of there! Morrow was a fake, and there is no way to shut the robots down! You're just going to keep fighting until you die!"

"Crap," Beast Boy responded, jumping back. "Alright, you heard her, everyone fall back, find a way out. We'll regroup and figure out a way to stop them later."

Terra looked over at him. "What? You mean after they get loose into the city and kill a bunch of people? No, we have to stop them now!"

"We'll never defeat them all, not like this," Raven said, putting up a shield of soul-self between them and the other robots. They were going to break through pretty quickly though, they really had to get moving.

"Well maybe not this way, but we can do it another way!" Terra insisted.

Beast Boy looked over at her with a concerned expression. "What do you mean, what other way?"

"Raven... you take Gar and get out of here. Find the others and teleport them to safety. I'll stay behind and stop them. They might be tough, but they're not indestructible. I bet if I bring the whole mountain down on them before they escape outside..."

"What!" Beast Boy shouted. "Terra, are you insane? No! That's suicide! I'm not losing you again!

Terra just gave him a smile. "It's okay, Gar, really. I'm prepared to do this. We're all supposed to be heroes, right? Well, this is part of being a hero. I wouldn't want to go down any other way."

"No!" Beast Boy yelled, adamantly. He was starting to panic, tears brimming already. "You can't! I won't let you! Not again!"

"Go on, Raven, get them out of here," Terra said, turning around and holding her arms up. The entire mountain began to shake. "And take care of Gar, yeah? He needs someone to keep him in line."

Beast Boy rushed forward to stop her. "Terra, don't do it!"

The next thing he knew, he was running onto the grass outside, about a three hundred yards away from the mountain. Rose and Neal were there, as was Raven. he just blinked, stupidly for a second, before realizing what was going on. He quickly turned back to Raven and ran up to her, grabbing her by the cloak.

"Go back! You have to go back!" he yelled, distraught. "Go back and save her! Don't let her do this!"

Neal was about to run off in order to help the others, but he didn't get the chance. He turned and listened as everyone began to speak. They were coming up with a plan, and it sounded like it was suicide. Terra was going to bring down the entire mountain on the robots and either destroy them or trap them completely. It was a good plan, but there was very little chance for her own survival.

Before Neal even knew it, he was suddenly outside with everyone else but Terra. What happened next only served to nearly break Neal's heart. He saw Beast Boy in his pain, begging to save Terra as he didn't want to lose Terra again. She was someone that he loved once, perhaps still did. Neal could relate to not wanting to lose a friend.

"What other choice do we have Beast Boy?" Neal asked as he heard that Beast Boy was begging for Raven to go back. "If those things go out, I don't know if we cant stop them"

Beast Boy looked back over at Neal. His face was a wreck, panicked, wet, distraught. "But-! No, she can't-! We have to do something! Anything! We can't just leave her, we can't just-!"

And just then, the mountain began to crumble. Thousands of tons of earth, rock, and forestation came down, crashing in a violent, thunderous boom. Dust and debris clouded the sky, as the entire earth trembled at the impact. The robots would be destroyed within the devastation, for sure... but then again, so would the one that brought it down. After all, who could survive something like that?

"TERRA!" Beast Boy screamed, sprinting forward. he was in cheetah form already, racing at the toppled mountain. He had to turn into a bird to fly up to the top of the rubble, digging furiously and pulling off chunks of stone, as if hoping to find her somewhere in the debris, even though she was likely buried hundreds of feet below them. "Terra, hold on! You'll be okay! I'll find you, I promise! I'll-! Just hold hold on! Please!"

Rose turned her head away, letting out a long breath. She didn't need to watch another scene of grief like this. They'd witnessed too much of it lately.

Beast Boy continued digging rapidly, though he wasn't really getting anywhere. Tears were raining down his face as he went, his desperate groans mixed with hiccups and sobs. When he had finally exhausted himself, he fell forward and dropped his forehead to the ground, driving his fist against the dirt. "No, no, no! Not again!"

Raven floated over next to him, just standing there and saying nothing for a moment. She... didn't quite know how to react to what just happened. Here she'd been so certain that Terra was still a horrible person... and she'd just given her life to save theirs and stop the enemy... how could she possibly defend her 'Terra is evil' opinion any more?

"Gar..." she uttered.

"What!" he snapped, opening his eyes and staring at the dirt. "Gonna tell me how glad you are she's dead? Gonna say good riddance? Just gonna rub it in?!"

Raven lowered her gaze, looking at him sadly. She then dropped to her knees and took him in his arms, hugging tightly. "I... I am... so sorry, Gar."

Beast Boy then broke down completely, burying his face into her shoulder and crying his heart out.

Neal hated it, but he didn't know what else to do. What else could he say? He hated it when his friends gave his life for him, when the people around him always seemed to have a solution to a problem that Neal couldn't solve. There were too many people that had died so that Neal could live. It hurt, but it also strengthened his resolve to keep fighting the good fight. Neal could understand why heroes retired, but after so many had died it wasn't an option that Neal saw for himself.

It was only a moment later that a loud noise caught all of their attention, causing them to look and watch as the entire mountain had crumbled just as Terra had said that it would. So....it was over. As Beast Boy ran forward, Neal just took his helmet off and bowed his head humbly. The only thing that he could do now was honor Terra's memory. It would do little good to try and comfort Beast Boy, as this was not something that Neal could relate to. He had lost Sarah twice, but there was a difference between a great friend and someone that you loved.

Neal just extended his hand and gripped Rose's with it. He hated scenes like this, people he cared about losing loved ones. Starfire would surely be sympathetic for Beast Boy, perhaps she could help him. Raven would do everything that she could as well.

The funeral was a small one, certainly not as large as someone's like Sarah's had been. The Titans attended, as did a few other heroes that heard of the news. A few Justice Leaguers showed up, most notably Donna and Flash, who had both known Terra from their time on the Teen Titans way back when. Of course, they remembered her being a traitor, but after hearing about what she'd done now... well, how could one not be moved by it? You didn't make the ultimate sacrifice to save your friends without gaining a bit of redemption in the eyes of those who might have scorned you before.

As everyone began to solemnly leave the funeral, Raven remained behind a moment. Beast Boy said he needed to be alone right now, so she would give him his space before going to comfort him. She imaged he felt the same right now as if she would feel if it were Neal who had died... utterly heartbroken. In essence, she supposed that Beast Boy had been right. His relationship with Terra had been much the same as hers was with Neal... it just seemed different because Beast Boy was a much more friendly and outgoing person.

Standing in front of the headstone, Raven let out a long breath and bowed her head. "I feel... stupid," she said, quietly. "I wanted so much to believe that you were still a horrible person that I never gave you the second chance I should have... for that, I am sorry. But you must understand that after you hurt him... I couldn't take that. I love him... and I hate seeing him hurt like that. I didn't... want it to happen again. But now... I see I was wrong. There was never any chance of that, was there? You... really had changed." She allowed another moment of silence to pass, before taking in a deep breath and holding her head high. "Thank you, Terra. I won't forget this." And with that, she walked away from the funeral to join the others.

It truly had been a moving service, as the figure dressed in a long overcoat and concealing hat thought, watching from the treeline in the distance. The figure tenderly gripped the tree she stood next to and bowed her head. She hated having to do this, but it really was the best way. Beast Boy and Raven would never be as happy as they could be with her around, so she needed to be out of their lives completely. She couldn't leave any doubt behind... so she had to disappear, and this was the best way to do it. Plunging her hands into her pockets, she turned and started to walk away. A brief gust of wind blew up a few stray strands of her blonde hair, beneath the hat as she went.

So, where would she go now? Well... she'd figure something out.

The funeral had been moving, although it had been quite smaller than the other hero funerals that Neal had attended before. Superman was by far the largest, but even Sarah's had more than Terra did. Apparently the bad blood that she had left behind was still around, that or everyone else had simply been busy. Regardless, Neal attended and listened to everything that had been said. He didn't know Terra before, so he could only think of her as the way that Neal knew her.

She was a hero, and a good friend.

Neal took a bit of time to speak to the headstone as well, thanking Terra for doing what she did. If they had to keep fighting the robots they all would have died. Neal thanked her, and promised that he would never forget her memory. He would hold a place for her in his mind, so that he would never forget the price that someone else paid so that he could live.

Neal walked away and joined back up with Rose. "Let's go home," he said before heading off. It seemed like no one noticed the figure in the background. But, in the end that was what she wanted. Still, there was no rest for heroes like them. Tomorrow would come, and they had to keep pressing forward.

It was their job.

A few months later...

"Look out!" Cyborg yelled, pointing as the giant robot rampaging through downtown San Francisco turned towards them. They didn't know what or who had sent this thing, but it needed to come down, and now! The giant laser it shot out of its face left absolutely nothing behind, in a decent sized circle area. Literally, the laser hit, and anything that had been caught in it was just gone, vaporized. The street, chunks of building, street signs, cars, whatever. All gone. "Be careful, don't let that thing hit you!"

"Do not worry!" Starfire said, flying around the robot's legs and coming up behind it. She gave the thing a powerful punch that caused it to stumble forward, though did not drop it. "You will stop this at once!" Another punch, another stagger.

Jericho looked left, then right, and ran to the proper spot. He was filling in for his sister right now, since she was taking care of some other business while the Titans worked this mission. Only problem was, his power didn't work on a giant robot. It had no mind to control. But that didn't mean he still couldn't participate. While the others kept it busy, he and Neal were busy running around the street and setting the explosive charges. The goal was to lure it into the center and detonate them, obliterating the robot.

"Beast Boy, Hot Spot, hit him hard!" Cyborg commanded, while firing his sonic blaster at it.

Hot Spot let loose a powerful wave of flames, pushing the robot back as well as super heating its metal shell. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to slow the thing down. Beast Boy tried his luck, coming from behind it and giving it a body check as T-Rex. This pushed the robot into position, they were just waiting for the rest of the explosive charges to be armed now. The robot fired its laser at Hot Spot, but he jumped out of the way just in time. The entire section of street behind him completely vanished from existence.

Jericho placed his last explosive and then ran up to Neal, who would be busy setting the timer now. He held up two fingers, indicating to set it for two clicks, or twenty seconds. That would give them time to get a good distance away before the explosion went off. However, as he was giving this information to Neal, he wasn't aware of the robot turning towards them and firing its laser again.

"Guys! Look out!" Cyborg yelled, holding his arm up desperately.

But it was too late, the laser engulfed them, and everything went dark.

---

Meanwhile, back at the tower, Rose hummed happily to herself as she set up the decorations. While not normally one to hum, this was a special day. A very special day. While she claimed to be not feeling that well when the other Titans went on their mission, in actuality, she'd been planning something a surprise party for Neal (well, she had been feeling a little queasy lately, but for entirely different reasons); his birthday was just a few days away. And she couldn't plan the party on his birthday itself, that was just too obvious! So instead, she'd elected to have it today. All she needed to do was finish getting the last of the decorations up.

When she finished with the decorations, she started putting out all the snack foods and sodas, and everything like that. Satisfied, she took in a deep breath and held her hands to her hips, smiling. Yeah, everything was perfect. And of course, the one thing that would make the day even better... her gift. She held up the small, thin box, wrapped up nicely with a bow. It looked like something you might put a necklace into or something, but that was hardly what was inside. No, it was something much better, much more special... something that would change her and Neal's lives forever.

"I HATE robots!" Neal shouted as he ran around the city streets with Jericho. Why were robots always built to just destroy! Couldn't these geniuses ever come up with a good idea that stemmed from robots!? Why did they also always have lasers!? Given what had happened the past year Neal had a fairly decent reason for hating all forms of robotic life. Right now Cyborg was the sole exception to that rule. If this kept up Neal was going to start being afraid of the microwave.

Neal continued to run around the streets, setting up the explosives at the locations that they had designated. If this plan worked hopefully it would take this robot down for good. But hey, at least there weren't a thousand of them this time right? One seemed a lot better despite how powerful it was. As Neal set the last explosive he leaned down in order to begin activating the timer, with Jericho coming over in order to give him the instructions.

It was only at that point that Neal heard Cyborg shouting. "What!?" Neal shouted before seeing what he was warning them about. "Oh God no, Jericho ru-" but Neal never got a chance to finish his sentence as the laser hit exactly where he was.

"NO!" Cyborg shouted, as both Neal and Jericho were vaproized right in front of the eyes. The entire team looked in shock, not able to believe they'd just seen two of their closest friends, their family, vaporized in front of their eyes. It... It wasn't possible. It couldn't be! And oh god, what about Rose...? They'd lost Neal and Joey... how did they tell her this one?

Starfire, at that moment, went berserk. She screamed a wild, uncontrolled wail of anger and agony, tears in her eyes as she unleashed a torrent of starbolts at the robot, flew up to it, punched it with all her might, and then finally flew right through the center of it, tearing it apart from the inside out. She screamed again, blasting the remains with a veritable meteor shower of energy, leaving nothing behind. When it was finally dead, she dropped to the street and felt o her hands and knees, sobbing.

The others just stared unblinking at the spot where their two friends had been only moments before. It wasn't real... it couldn't be.

---

"Hey, Wendy!" Rose called. "Are they done in the field yet? Need to know how much time I have left to get ready here."

The woman in the wheelchair looked over from the center of the lounge. She'd been watching for Lori while the team was out on their mission, and since Rose had to be setting up for the party. Better to have someone there to keep eyes on the curious little Tamaranean girl at all times.

"Uh... let's see," Wendy said, checking her comm device. "According to this, they're on their way back now. Better put on the finishing touches."

"You think he's going to like it?" Rose asked, glancing back at her. "I hope he likes it."

Wendy raised an eyebrow. "Which part? The party, or the big news?"

"Both," she said, with a small smirk.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about," Wendy assured, turning back to Lori. "Come on, little Loriand'r. Let's get you cleaned up before Mommy gets home."

A few minutes later, the doors opened to the lounge and the Titans stepped in. Rose ran forward, ready to yell 'surprise!' along with everyone else... but no one else yelled it with her. She suddenly felt like an idiot, being the only one to say it... and that's when she realized that everyone looked like death had warmed over. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, but they were all so distraught it made her insides quiver. As they filed in, however, that's when she discovered that something was wrong, very wrong.

"....What happened?" she asked, glancing around the group nervously. Where were they? Why couldn't she see them? "Where... where's Neal? And Joey? Where are they?"

"Rose, we..." Cyborg started, unable to get the words out.

Starfire choked out a couple words of her own. "They were... they..."

No one else had to say anything else, though. Rose got the message. Needless to say, though, the message tore her apart from the inside out. Her legs just went like jelly, causing her to fall flat forward against the floor, barely holding herself up on her hands. She lurched her head forward and vomited abruptly, the sickening feeling in her gut being that powerful. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening.

Rose became vaguely aware of some horrifying, frightening sound. She realized a moment later that it was her own voice, her own scream of paralyzing grief. Her face was soaked in seconds, tears raining rivers down her cheeks. Everything she had, her entire world, had just suddenly vanished.

---

Meanwhile, back in the city, two figures watched the ending of the battle on a rooftop, taking careful note of what happened.

"You see?" the woman said. "What better way to take out earth's heroes? It doesn't matter how powerful they are, if they're hit by that beam..."

"Yes, yes," the man replied, with a small sigh. "But the robot itself needs to be further advanced, or it will be taken out just like that before it gets a chance to end anyone of the Justice league's caliber. I'm thinking... a smaller model. Faster, more agile, definitely more durable. We'll need a new base material. But the beam, definitely, and we can improve upon it. Make it faster, hit a wider area... this is promising."

---

When Neal started to come around, the whole world would feel like it was spinning. He'd have one hell of a serious headache, and all the sounds around him would be muffed. When he opened his eyes finally, everything would be blurry. As he began to gain more and more of his bearings, he'd start to hear voices chatting. Three voices, to be precise. Two female, one male.

"Are you sure it is them?"

"Of course I'm sure. Come on, you've seen the pictures."

"Well, yes, but... I mean, how is it possible?"

"Hell if I know, but who else could they be? Look at them. Now look at the picture. You see that? identical. I'm telling you, it's them."

"But I still don't see how-"

"Would you two knock it off? ...you're breaking my concentration. All I ask is for a few minutes of peace to meditate."

"Oh, stuff it, Wylde. If you want peace and quiet, go outside and listen to the sounds of nature. Putz."

Neal was first aware of pain, the pounding in his head that it made it feel like it was about to crack open. God what had happened? And how on earth was he even thinking? Didn't he and Joey get hit by that giant death ray? Neal heard the voices, but he had absolutely no idea who it belonged to. "Joey.....Joey are you here?" Neal asked as he began to push himself up. He felt too weak though and fell back down.

It was only then that Neal realized the voice were still speaking around him. "Hello? Is someone there?" Neal asked as he tried to get his eyes to focus in the direction of the voices.

Rose sat alone in her bedroom, knees curled up to her chest. She'd been like this for the past six hours, just siting motionlessly on her bed and sobbing. She stared blankly at the wall, her eyes losing focus. This... wasn't supposed to happen. this was supposed to have been a great day, a special day, a new step in her marriage with Neal. Instead... it had been disaster. Not only had she lost the only man she'd ever loved, her husband, but she'd lost her brother as well. Her family... ripped away from her in one horrifying day.

"It's sad, isn't it?" a voice said.

Flinching Rose brought her hands up to her head and widened her eyes, staring a hole into the wall. "No, no, no. Go away, not you."

"Oh, Rose, that hurts," Deathstroke said, stepping out from the shadows. "Is that the way to speak to the only family you have left?"

Rose lurched back off her bed with a startled cry. She sprang back to her feet, staring with wide eyes at her father. "No... you're not real... you're not here. Just... in my head."

"Now, Rose... of course I'm really here." Deathstroke came forward slowly, calmly, then reached forward with his hand and gripped her neck tightly. "If I were just in her head, could I do this?"

"No... you... go... away..." Rose choked out, trying to claw his hands away from her throat. She was crying harder now. She just wanted it all to end... and then, suddenly, he was gone. She blinked, and Deathstroke had vanished, allowing her to breathe easy again. But it did little to ease her mind. She sank back to the floor and began to cry again. What scared her most of all about that little mental breakdown, was that he was right... her father was now her only biological family left alive.

Glancing down at her hands, Rose noticed they were shaking violently, as if a drug addict going through withdrawals. Christ, what was happening to her?

---

"Oh, hey, he's awake. About time." Suddenly, a hand would appear in Neal's vision. The fingers snapped a couple of times. "Focus, focus. Easy does it... don't sit up too fast or you'll probably puke everywhere. You don't look so hot." A quick, snarky voice. Female. It would actually sound a bit familiar to someone Neal knew.

"Yes, please... be careful." Another female voice. This one calmer, higher pitched, formal. "We do not wish you to hurt yourself."

A sigh. Male voice. Disinterested, annoyed. "Get this over with, I need my meditation time. You know what happens when I don't get it."

As Neal's vision began to come into focus and clear up, he'd noticed four people gathered around him. Well, one of them was a still unconscious Joey, so he didn't really count, but the other three were awake and all staring at him.

"So, how you feeling there?" the white haired girl asked. The white haired girl with a striking resemblance to a certain someone, not to mention in strikingly familiar attire. And with swords. "You're paler than Wylde over there, and that's impressive."

The cloaked boy named Wylde glared over at her, but said nothing.

The third person, the clearly Tamaranean girl, leaned forward. "You are not hurt? Are you hungry? We could get you something to eat."

"Later, Sunfire," the white haired girl said. "We got to ask him questions first." She narrowed her eyes at Neal. "So, yeah, that's Wylde, Sunfire, and I'm Blade. What's up?"

Neal continued to try and focus, hearing the voices that were around him. They told him to be calm and to ease into it, saying that he didn't look that good. Well at least whoever he was surrounded by were a group of friendlies. If they wanted to hurt Neal he was certain that they would have done it by now.

Neal's vision began to clear, and what he ended up seeing a very strange sight in front of him. His eyes widened as he saw a white haired girl, a pale boy, and a tamaranean. They all looked very familiar, but it was the one with white hair that he couldn't stop staring at. The resemblance, the voice, the swords....who was this girl?

"What's up?" Neal repeated. "What do you mean what's up?" Neal asked as he tried to look around and figure out where exactly he was. "Last thing I remember I was fighting a giant robot before getting hit by some giant laser..........where the hell am I right now?"

What was she doing? Why was she leaving? She shouldn't be. She should be staying, trying to figure things out. Sure, everything was gone, her life was in shambles, and she didn't know how she'd go on living... but she still shouldn't be leaving the tower. She still had friends there, friends who cared about her, friends who would help her through this tragedy... But no, they couldn't help her, not really. She was too broken now. She'd been a headcase before, but now... no, if she stayed, she was afraid of what she might end up doing, whether to herself or her friends. Leaving... it was for the best. Besides, they wouldn't miss her. No one ever missed her when she left...

Rose looked down at the small pack she carried, opening the top and gazing inside. Her old mask stared back up at her. Why had she taken this uniform again? Why not her new one? ...she couldn't remember. She just... did. It felt right, so she'd taken it. Her old swords even felt right at home on her back. She missed that familiar weight... it felt right.

"There's a good girl," Deathstroke whispered, standing next to her and watching with his arms folded. "You're starting to remember..." He smirked behind his mask. "Remember who you really are."

---

"Well, don't know about any giant robot or lasers," the girl called Blade said, with a small shrug. "But you're in San Francisco. Or, on the outskirts, anyway. Rebel camp, medical tent. Welcome to paradise."

"I think he... may be even more confused now," Sunfire said, scratching her cheek. "If Wylde's hypothesis is correct, you may want to just... show him a paper?"

Blade glanced back at Sunfire with a raised eyebrow. "Fine, fine..." she muttered, grumbling under her breath. She reached for a nearby newspaper and pushed it in front of Neal's face. Ignoring the unknown and wild stories on the front page, the date itself was what mattered... a date twenty years later to the day after Neal and Joey had been hit by the beam.

"And perhaps our... real names may help him understand more," Wylde suggested, folding his arms. "Garth Logan."

Sunfire held her hands together and smiled. "Loriand'r Sanders."

Blade glanced back and forth and then sighed, bowing her head. "Sure, whatever, we'll do it your way." Leaning back against the gurney behind her, she shrugged. "Lillian Anderson... Hey, Dad. How's things?"

"Yeah, definitely more confused," Neal said as he heard Sunfire suggest that maybe they should be a bit clearer with him about what exactly was going on. Yeah, that would definitely be nice. If they were outside of San Francisco than what revel camp could they possibly be a part of? There wasn't a war going on in San Francisco or anywhere near it!

It was at that point in time that Blade handed Neal a newspaper. At first Neal wasn't certain about what he was supposed to see, but then his eyes widened greatly. "What!? That's impossible!" Neal shouted as he took the paper and held it up as if it that would help him confirm whether it was true or not. "But this.....this is twenty years in the future. How is this possible?" Neal asked.

What came next only made Neal stop and stare for several moments. He looked over at Wylde. "You.....you're the son of Raven and Garfield Logan?" he asked in disbelief before looking over at Sunfire. "Lori.....but I just saw you earlier today? You weren't even two last time I saw you. You could only say like.........ten words," Neal muttered as everything seemed to be overloading his mind.

It was what Blade said that nearly pushed Neal over the edge though. He knew that she looked like Rose, but part of him thought that it had been impossible. Was this really what his daughter would be like twenty years in the future. "You......you look just like your mother," he finally said as he couldn't take his eyes off of her. "And you seem awfully calm for just seeing me, and something tells me this is the first time that we've ever met"

Rose walked into the bar, glancing around nervously. Her eyes darted quickly, frantically, like a frightened rabbit. She didn't know why she was going in here... normally it would be just her kind of place, a biker bar off the side of an old highway through the middle of the Arizona desert, but for some reason she was terrified just to be in here. She'd been having mroe hallucinations lately. Her father kept showing up in them, mocking her. She couldn't stand it much longer. Sooner or later, she was going to snap.

The biker gangs present in the bar were in the middle of talking loudly, laughing, and jostling with each other when she walked towards the counter, her pack slung over her shoulder. They seemed to be paying her no attention, at least not yet... that is, not until they noticed her. A few of the big men began whistling at her, saying dirty things, what they wanted to do to her... she ignored them, kept going to the counter.

"Well, what will the pretty lady have?" the bartender asked.

"Give me hardest vod... ginger ale," she muttered. Right, she couldn't drink alcohol right now.

The bartender gave her a funny look, but went back behind the counter to pour her a glass of ginger ale.

After she received her drink and started sipping from it, a few of the more inebriated patrons began to gather around her, continuing to whistle and make comments.

"Wouldja look at this!" one of them proclaimed, laughing loudly. "What's a hot young thing like you doing in a place like this, pretty woman?"

"Looks like she needs some attention," another said, leaning in and grinning. His beard was flecked with bits of peanut shells and droplets of beer. And his breath stank something awful. "Howdja like to take a ride on my Harley? I'll rev ya up real good."

Rose continued to ignore them, though her hand was clenching her glass so tightly that it was starting to crack. She could put up with this, she could be fine... just so long as they went away soon. But they didn't go away... they stayed, kept mocking her. Then... one of them put a hand on her shoulder. That was it. She snapped. She lost control. She was vaguely aware of the sound of steel drawing from a sheath, and flashes of metal flicking out at everyone in range. None of it registered, though, her mind was gone, lost in the bloodlust.

---

"Wouldn't know," Blade muttered, glancing off to the side, her arms more firmly crossed against her chest now. "Never met my mother, either. Same as you... until now, apparently." She just shook her head, clearly getting a little ticked off now. "Oh, do I seem calm? I'd say I'm calm, right? Sure, calm, yeah. That's the word for it. My parents abandoned me, I grow up in hell, and now you suddenly come back into my life out of nowhere. And looking like... like that. Same as Uncle Joseph, too, it seems." She grit her teeth, trying not to let too much emotion show. "But no, you're right, I'm totally calm."

"Lilly..." Sunfire said, leaning close to her and holding a tender hand on her shoulder. "It isn't his fault... So far, what Wylde has suggested appears true... Your father never died... somehow, he and your uncle were transported to the future many years ago. I do not know how or why... but it appears to be the case."

Blade scoffed, standing up and starting to march out of the tent. "Yeah, whatever you say. Doesn't change anything."

Wylde held his hands together and took in a deep breath. It was finally quiet... for the moment.

Neal's eyes widened once again at what Blade said next. She....she never knew her mother? Than what the hell had happened to Rose? Was she alright? Had she died as well, what had happened to them? What had lead to things turning out like this? As Blade continued to speak Neal almost felt like she was throwing daggers right at him, as if telling him that everything that had happened had been his fault. If he wasn't there.......perhaps it was. God, what had happened after he left?

Neal appreciated what Lori was trying to do, but he could tell that it wasn't having much effect. Rose had been stubborn, and it looked like their daughter had picked up more from her mother than she had from him. "Blade wait!" Neal said before running after her as she left the tent.

"Look, I don't know what's going on. I was fighting with the Titans one day before Joey and I got shot, next thing that I know I'm waking up here and I see Wylde and Lori and.......and you," he said weakly as he looked towards her. "I'm not that calm myself but I'm holding it together right now, but please just tell me what happened? If Rose abandoned you, who raised you? What rebel group are you a part of...........just what's going on?"

"Please help me Blade. I know that I apparently haven't been there for you, but please don't push me away now"

Rose took in deep breaths, slowly looking around the bar. The entire place seemed stained with the same crimson hue... she couldn't turn her head anywhere without seeing the carnage splattered all over the walls, the floor, the chairs, the tables, the counter, even the ceiling. What had happened? What had she done? She... did do this, didn't she? Slowly, she glanced down at the sword in her hand... the blade was gleaming with bright red fluid. Oh no... oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no... she had done it. No, no, no... not again, she couldn't have... no, no, no!

"That's my girl," Deathstroke said, watching from the corner. He leaned against the bloodied wall, but he didn't have a mark on him. Well, that's because he wasn't really there. "You know what you have to do now, don't you?"

Rose began sobbing again, holding an unsteady hand up to her forehead and starting to shake. Again, like an addict without her drugs. "I didn't... mean to..."

"Of course not..." Deathstroke came forward, put his hands on her shoulders. "It's just who you are. Who you were meant to be. Now... go on. Come home... and we can be together again."

"N... no... can't..." Rose uttered, stepping over the bodies and exiting the bar. "I... no... I won't... I'm... not you..."

She looked back as the whispers stopped; Deathstroke was gone. But... what he'd said... it seemed so right. Maybe she did know what she needed to do? No... or maybe? ...Christ, what was happening to her?

---

Blade kept walking as Neal ran after her. She didn't stop, even as he'd have to continue walking after her to keep pace. She just kept marching through the camp, which consisted of a large grouping of military style tents, with numerous people walking to and fro, taking care of various jobs. A lot of them were soldiers, but there were plenty of civilians as well, and a few doctors, mainly congregated around the medical tents.

"I grew up for twenty years without parents," Blade said, still not looking at him. "And I got on just fine without them. Now you show up after this long, and you want to be there for me? Look, I don't care how it happened, it doesn't matter. Fact is, you weren't there for me. Mom wasn't there for me. The only ones that were there for me were the Titans, and my friends."

She sighed, shaking her head. "They're the ones the raised me. I don't know what happened with Mom, all I know is that I showed up on the tower's doorstep eight months after you vanished. Mom was nowhere, she left me there. She's probably dead now, but whatever. Don't really care."

Continuing her march through the camp, she led him towards one of the larger tents near the center. "I don't really need you doing the whole 'let's go throw the ball around' parent thing, right now, either; there are a lot more important things to take care of. If you really want to know what's going on, better talk to her."

Blade opened the main flap of the tent and pointed to the Tamaranean woman inside, who was in the middle of pouring herself a glass of water. "Aunt Kory... he's awake."

The girl kept walking, moving as if she was completely determined to get as far away from him as possible. As Neal tried to catch up with her he couldn't help but look around and see exactly what was going on here. It almost looked like they were in the military, but just what the hell was all of this for? What was going on in San Francisco that required all of this?

"Blade I didn't mean for any of this to happen, I still don't even know how it happened," Neal said honestly as he kept walking after his daughter. "When I......died, I didn't even know that Rose was pregnant at all. If she knew she didn't tell me, she probably didn't know by then I'm guessing," Neal said since he had no idea why Rose wasn't even on the mission that day.

"Look, I'm not saying you need to start calling me dad or respect me or anything.......I wouldn't if I were you either," Neal admitted. "But just.....I don't know what to say to you," he said weakly as he he kept walking. Everything that he could possibly come up with just sounded dumb. "I'm not in the best situation either. I'm twenty years in the future, I have a daughter I didn't know about, and for all that I know my wife's dead," Neal said as he looked after Blade.

Neal stopped talking as Blade said that there were more important things that they needed to worry about. He would drop it for now, but he just hated the idea that his daughter completely hated him. It was like she didn't even want him around, and how could he blame her? She grew up without her actual parents, that had to be hard on her. Neal was pulled out of the thinking though when a very familiar name was said.

"Aunt Kory? Starfire?" Neal asked in disbelief as he stepped into the tent. "Is that really you?"

Starfire looked up suddenly as they entered the tent. She immediately put down her glass of water and flew over. "Neal! It really is you!" she exclaimed, excitedly, pulling him into a warm, friendly hug. "It has been... so long. So very long. We all though you were... well, you know. I still cannot believe you're here... and you look the same as when you left."

As Neal would probably notice right away, Starfire was older; twenty years older, in fact, and she looked it. Oh, she still had her amazing good looks, for sure, but her appearance had still quite matured over the years. Meanwhile, Neal still looked twenty five years old... only five years older than his daughter, in fact. How's that for a creepy thought?

"Uh huh, great reunion, happy, whatever," Blade muttered, folding her arms. "You might just want to tell him what's going on, though. He still has no clue."

"Yes, of course," Starfire said, taking a deep breath and leading Neal farther inside the tent. She had him sit down and poured him a glass of water. "Well, as you have probably noticed, things are a bit... different since you left. The world is a very unstable place nowadays. Ever since the last election, the President has expanded America's control a very large amount, across the globe. It started by just taking control of Canada and Mexico, but eventually reached into South America and across seas. Fifty percent of the world's governments are still untouched, but more are falling all the time. This is of course wonderful advancement for the United States, and our government supports it... of course, it is terrible for the rest of the world. The entire balance of the world's power has been thrown out of balance."

"And here's a clue on how bad it is," Blade said, leaning back in her chair with her arms held behind her head. "The last election was sixteen years ago."

Starfire nodded and let out a sigh. "We are part of a rebel group that moves to take back control of this country, and run it as it should be, as it was before. A lot of earth's heroes joined our cause, but some actually supported the country... and many super villains were also given special benefits to serve as the President's personal fighting force. We are in the large minority right now, and we operate in small groups like this all across the country. Some of the old team runs a few of them in various locations... we consist of some super heroes, defectors of the military, civilians, and anyone else who wishes to join our cause. It is an uphill battle... but we never lose hope."

A momentary pause passed between them. "No, go ahead and tell him who the President is. He'll get a kick out of that one."

"Yes... of course," Starfire said, lowering her gaze. "Neal... the President... is Slade Wilson. Deathstroke."

"Good ol' Granddad," Blade muttered, glancing up at the ceiling and shaking her head.

Neal was never fully prepared for one of Starfire's hugs. "It's great to see you too Kory," Neal said as he returned the hug until she let go and set him down. "Yeah well......I have basically no idea what's going on. The last thing that I remember is getting hit with that laser before waking up here. It's like it sent me into the future rather than killing me," Neal remarked as he placed his hands in his pockets. He still had no idea how he got here, but it wasn't something that they could look in to right now.

Apparently they had bigger problems to deal with.

Neal listened carefully as he heard about what had been going on in the time that he had been away. The more that he heard, the more he just stared at Kory as she spoke. No....how could that be possible? Why would America allow a president to go out and unleash such a wave of destruction and terror? What had really happened so many years ago? Over half the world had been claimed? Neal didn't think that America was even capable of that military power, but according to Kory that was exactly what he had done and they continued their conquest every day.

Neal had several questions, but all of those were forgotten as Blade and Kory revealed exactly who this mysterious president was. "WHAT!?" Neal shouted as he actually jumped to his feet. "But that's impossible! How could someone like Deathstroke ever become President!? He's like the most famous assassin and mercenary in the world! Everyone knows what he does! Plus Rose and I sent him to jail personally!" Neal said before quickly grabbing the glass of water that Kory poured earlier so that he could take a long drink of it.

Once he finished the entire glass he looked at Kory once again. "Who broke him out of jail?"

"Neal, that's the thing..." Starfire began, looking even more uneasy. "No one broke him out of jail. He was released. Many, many years ahead of when he should have been... We do not know the reason that it happened, all we know is that one day the State declared him reformed. He gave up his mercenary life and received a full presidential pardon... then he began to focus on politics, outlining his goals for the country in the next presidential election. Somehow, the people actually selected him as the an independent candidate... and he won."

"They always did say that Granddad was a master manipulator, right?" Blade said, swiveling around in her chair. "Guess that applies to the American people as much as it does whatever hero he's up against on any given week."

Starfire let out another long sigh and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Neal. I wish I had better news for you on your return... but this is what we are faced with."

"Uh huh," Blade added, standing up. "So basically, this world sucks. Get used to it. Anyway... see you later." She gave them both a nonchalant wave and started heading out of the tent.