Titan Tamer of The Swordsman

Chapter Twenty Six

Titan Rising

A/N

Karsap: Time for the next chapter.

Yuki: Titan Rising huh what's this chapter about?

Kotemon: Yeah what is it?

Karsap: It's a surprise. So Yuki do the disclaimer.

Yuki: Okay! Karsap doesn't own Digimon or Teen Titans, but he owns Me Yuki Hata.

Titans Tower - Day

What do you enjoy doing to cut back and relax? Do you like reading books? Playing video games by yourself or with others? Or do you perhaps enjoy getting together with friends and throwing together an intense volleyball match?

At Titans Tower, the team decided to unwind with a fun and friendly game of volleyball. Lately, the criminal activity in the city had been on the low end of the spectrum, and honestly, the team couldn't be happier about that. But, that isn't to say that they spent their days lazing about more than normal. They still kept up with their daily training and continued their patrols around Jump City, making sure everything was safe for the citizens. So after another easy day, the Titans decided to take it easy and play a fun sport.

On the roof, Robin released a fierce growl as he pulled back his right fist. Leaping into the air, he swung his fist forward and nailed a flying volleyball over the net. On the other side, Cyborg and Starfire stood ready to deliver the spike right back to their leader. Before the ball could touch the ground, a metal-handed bump sent the ball into the air, back over the net. Once the volleyball was back on their side, the masked teen set the ball for Beast Boy to spike. As the two teams continued volleying the ball. It looked like everyone had a role in the game... well, almost everyone. Three Titans members was missing from the high-adrenaline inducing game.

Raven was floated by the edge of the roof, facing the sun as it set over the horizon. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." The mage chanted, paying absolutely no mind to the fun and sounds of grunts coming from behind her.

Next to her was Yuki sitting as he read The Big Book of Classification of Demons as Kotemon watches, "Hey Kotemon listen to this it says here that the next prince of hell used to be a angel named Lucifer was of the first Angels created by God. After eventually leading a rebellion and starting a war in Heaven, Lucifer was defeated in battle by his fellow angel, Michael, and was banished to Hell alongside the other rebel angels, because of his quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's own importance thus making him prince of Pride." The Tamer read, "Really Yuki what dose he look like?" the Digiomn asked, "Let's see ah Lucifer looked like what a typical angel looks like with Blon-" Yuki reading was interrupted when a certain changeling called out.

"Guys, heads up!" Beast Boy suddenly yelled as the Tamer felt a ball hit the top of his head.

"Ow!" Yuki said, rubbing his head as the ball fell next to the Tamer and he closed the book. Raven used her powers to pick up the ball and threw it back to Beast Boy, which impacted hardly with his chest.

"Thanks, uh...good save," Beast Boy said as he collapsed to the ground.

"Are you sure you guys don't want to play?" Robin asked.

"Yes, please, you must volley the ball with us!" Starfire gleefully agreed as she jumped in the air.

"Come on!" Cyborg beckoned as he removed his left arm, "I'll even play with one hand behind my back."

"I can't. I have to meditate." The Gothic girl replied bluntly.

"And I have to look up what Lucifer looks like." The Tamer said. "It wouldn't be fair." Kotemon said.

Well, they tried. With each of the other four Titans shrugging, after which Cyborg latched back on his arm, they resumed the game.

Once everyone was in position, Beast Boy transformed back into a green gorilla. Raising the ball to serve, he threw the ball high into the air. On its way down, the massive beast jumped towards it and smashed his fist against the ball. Unfortunately, the green Titan hit the ball too hard, and sent it sailing on a collision course this time to the meditating mage.

After landing back on the court, Beast Boy returned to human form and screamed towards his violet-haired friend, "Heads up again!"

The ball zoomed towards Raven; this time, though, it didn't hit her like it did to Yuki. Instead she floated off easily to the left, letting the ball continue toward the edge of the roof.

"OH, NO!" The four players all panicked as they watched the ball sail past the edge and down the length of the Tower. With the ball gone, the game had to be put on hold and the Titans soon gave way to resignation.

"I'll get it." The changeling sighed as the others groaned. He trudged towards the edge, but was brought up short by the reappearance of the ball, which sailed back up from below and rolled across the concrete of the roof. Watching the ball stop at his feet, Beast Boy looked up towards the ledge, a puzzled expression gracing his face as he tried figuring out how the ball came back.

His answer came when a slender silhouette rose into view, long hair blowing in the breeze, hands planted on hips, standing on a levitating rock. Despite the entire appearance being hidden by the setting sun, when the silhouette spoke, Beast Boy, along with the rest of the Titans immediately recognized who just arrived.

"So, which team am I on?" Terra asked, leaving the team to stare in awe at their lost friends' return. Though something was different in her tone of voice, as though something had fundamentally changed in her nature: not an ounce of panic or fear or trepidation that she had when they last saw her was there.

Floating her ride closer to the roof, the geokinetic hopped off and tossed her hair back. No longer silhouetted against the sun, the team was able to fully discern her appearance; she still wore her old brown hiking boots, leather gloves, and belt, but now sported a black crop-top turtleneck with long sleeves and a yellow-orange T on the chest, with no second shirt underneath. She wore a new set of goggles around her neck, and she also traded in her denim shorts for yellow-orange ones.

Once Terra got her hair out of her face, she gave the awestruck team a smirk, finding their wonderment amusing.

Starfire was the first to break out of her trance, "Terra!"

Beast Boy was the second, "Terra!" He called out happily.

"Terra!" Both enthusiastic teens called out as they raced to greet their friend. Noticing each others presence, they shot dirty looks at each other.

Beast Boy swerved in front of his orange-skinned rival, but soon found himself elbowed to the ground.

"Terra!" The eager alien yelled.

However, she was soon rammed out of the way by a large green gorilla. "Terra!" The gorilla cheered as it continued its' path towards the blonde.

The fighting didn't stop, though, as starbolts from the Tamaranean's direction made him jump away, leaving room for Starfire to come back and win the race.

"Terra!" Both enthusiastic teens called out as they raced to greet their friend. Noticing each others presence, they shot dirty looks at each other.

Beast Boy swerved in front of his orange-skinned rival, but soon found himself elbowed to the ground.

"Terra!" The eager alien yelled.

However, she was soon rammed out of the way by a large green gorilla. "Terra!" The gorilla cheered as it continued its' path towards the blonde.

The fighting didn't stop, though, as starbolts from the Tamaranean's direction made him jump away, leaving room for Starfire to come back and win the race.

"Terra!" The auburn-haired Titan cried as she swept the returning guest into a monster hug, just like she did when they first met. This time, however, each squeeze made Terra's head bulge more and more, as if air was being forced into one end of a balloon. "Oh, hello, long-lost friend! You remember me, yes?"

Straining to speak, the victim... er, long-lost friend, replied, "Of course, Starfire." She sounded as though she was being strangled, "I still have bruises from the last time you hugged me."

Releasing her death grip on the petite blonde, Starfire stepped away, letting Terra's head deflate as the air rushed out of her mouth. Once her head was back to normal size, Beast Boy, in human form again, ran to her eagerly. "Terra! You're... I mean, I..." He slowly began losing his nerve as the pretty girl smiled at him, "...how's it... heh, wassup?" He held his hand out to shake, but the young blonde hugged him, causing a flood of hearts to appear behind the green teen. A pinch on the cheek left his entire face hanging slack as he moaned happily before keeling over.

Returning the gesture, Terra smiled.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite little rock-and-roller!" Cyborg said coming up to the girl and extending for a high five.

"Cyborg!" the girl said returning the sentiment. "Robin! What's shaking?"

"Good to see you again," Robin returned shaking hands. Then suddenly Beast Boy popped up in between them.

"Good?! Is he kidding? It's great to see you again! I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" Beast Boy said as he dragged Terra over to Raven, who was still meditating. "Raven wake up! Terra's back! Isn't that great?" He asked.

"Super. Just help yourself to anything in the fridge and don't forget to lock the door when you leave," Raven said.

"Actually, I kinda wasn't planning on leaving again. I'm ready to take you guys up on your offer. I want to be a Teen Titan," Terra said with a smile on her face but stopped when she saw the worried looks on the Titan's faces. "Got it. Sorry. Didn't realize the offer had an expiration date," Terra said about to walk away but Robin stopped her.

"Woah, hold on, the offer didn't expire, We were just concerned," Robin replied.

"Yeah, it's cause, well um last time when you kind of freaked out and ran away, you didn't exactly...uh...you weren't completely, uh-" Beast Boy stuttered nervously.

"You couldn't control your powers," Raven said in a blunt tone as she joined the group. But Terra only responds with a smile.

"Hel-lo? That's why I left! Robin said I needed practice, so thanks to advice form Yuki here I've been practicing," Terra said as she put her goggles on as the Tamer's ear perk up. "Check it out!" She said as she leaps onto the boulder she appeared on and levitated three more boulders as she started flying around the Tower in a roller-coaster like way. The Titans were awestruck as Terra easily flew around them without having a single problem.

"Wow, she really has improved," Kotemon said as he watched in awe, "Yeah she really took my advice." Yuki said.

"She learned a few tricks. Doesn't mean she's any less dangerous," Raven commented as Terra continued to fly around them and the Tower finishing her demonstration by landing on the roof next to the Titans and having the four boulders collide together above them in a flash lights. The Titans cheered at her performance as they walked towards her.

"See? I've got everything under control," Terra said as she took her goggles off when suddenly, the Tower started to shake as a tremor shook the Tower and the city until it stopped. Terra looked around in confusion when she noticed the other heroes staring at her.

"Wasn't me," Terra replied. They headed inside the Tower as Cyborg turned on the computer to see multiple tremors surrounding Jump City.

"Earthquakes. Small ones but they're happening all over the city," Cyborg said as he and Robin pinpointed their locations.

"Too many to be natural," Terra replied.

"That's because they're not earthquakes." The Boy Wonder spoke up, gaining the teams' attention, "They're a trail." On the map, two more dots appeared and looked as thought they were making more quakes. "Something is moving under the city. We need to find out what. Titans! GO!" With a nod from the others, Starfire, Beast Boy, Yuki, Kotemon, and Cyborg charged out of the room. Robin and Raven moved to follow, but stopped well short of the door and turned back. "Are you coming or not?" The masked teen asked their blond-haired guest.

Terra raised an eyebrow at the pair, "Does this mean I'm on the team?" She asked hopefully.

"It means we could use your help." Robin clarified. The eager young blonde gave him a satisfied nod and ran for the door, brushing against the violet-haired mage as she passed.

However, with that slight touch, images from the past flooded Ravens' mind as though an unsettling premonition came to her, leaving her badly unnerved as the vision faded. The only thing that knocked her out of her nervous state was when Robin placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Can't tell." The psychic replied uncertainly, "Are you sure it's safe to have her around?"

The spiky-haired leader shook his head, "Not entirely. But everyone deserves a second chance." He said before running out, leaving the distrusting mage alone for a second before she too ran out of the room.

Downtown Jump

The Titans arrived at one of the tremor sites to see a giant wormlike machine with a drill on the front of it emerge from the ground, sending cars and pedestrians into chaos. The drill suddenly disappears as another head appears with a mouth and a red light on its head. They look down to see a bus right next to where the worm emerged and they saw the machine head straight for it, intending to crush it but Raven thinks fast and moves the bus out of harm's way.

Yuki then took out his D-Arc and the Matrix Digivolution card

*Cue DigiModify!*

With that said Yuki whirls the Matrix Digivolution card around catching it in his hand he then swipes the card through the D-Arc. "Digi-Modify..." as he shouted letting the data of the card run through it, "...Matrix Digivoltion!"

*Cue Digimon Tamers~Digivolution Theme (US)*

The words MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION appeared on Yuki's D-Arc and it begins the Digivoultion process with Kotemon shouting "Kotemon... Digivolve to.. Asuramon!"

Asuramon them picks up and puts his Tamer on his shoulder and comes up to bus and reached the door, pulling it open before herding the people out, Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Terra charging past them to confront the mechanical beast before them.

"You missed the bus," Robin said curtly.

"Looks like you'll have to take a cab!" Cyborg shouted as he hefted a now-empty cab above his head before lobbing it through the air and scoring a bull's eye on the worm's head, the mechanical invertebrate rearing up and screeching at them after recovering, heading right for them.

"Azarath Metrion-"

"I got it!" Terra said cutting in front of the mage, the girl raising a large stone spike in the worm's path, which when plowed into flung the thing backward. As the thing's head tilted backwards, it overbalanced before gravity gained the upper hand, the mechanical beast falling to the asphalt, shacking the entire block and ruining a few cars. Once it was down, Beast Boy thundered perpendicularly to it in the quise of a massive woolly mammoth, ramming the head end into a nearby building. The changeling trupetted as best he could as he looked into the thick curtain of dust that had risen, about to trumpet again at his victory before an infernal red light shone within the dust. Before he could react, a beam shot forth and nailed Beast Boy, sending him flying across the street before he returned to human form, which at that point had bounced off the pavement before striking the side of a building face-first."Beast Boy!" The worried Earth mover cried.

Out of the smoke plumes, the worm rose once more, revealing a red spot on the head glowing, indicating where the blast came from.

After regaining his bearing, Beast Boy sat up as he rubbed his head as a yellow flare encircled him and turned into a pavement fracture. The green teen could see the worm fire its' laser down at him, but Terra ran in front of him, got on the chunk of pavement she broke, and carried him and herself to safety.

As they continued their ascent, the beam of red energy tore into the surrounding architecture as it followed them. Once they rose past the rooftops, Kylar flew in and primed a few spheres. "Oh, no you don't!" He growled before hurling his powers at the machine. Catching the monsters' attention, the worm let loose another laser beam and swiveled to sweep it after him. However, the worm then found itself getting a full barrage of starbolts to the face as well, causing it to swivel its' head back and forth, trying to hit both of its' airborne attackers.

Back on the ground, Cyborg had his sonic cannon going full tilt, while Robin stood by him and watched. His gaze was soon drawn to behind him as he noticed the floating rock carrying Terra and Beast Boy touch down.

"Good work, Terra!" The masked Titan complimented, "Now help me get in his face!"

With a determined nod, the rock mover swept one gloved hand through the air with a yell. With the motion, a large hunk of pavement broke loosed and started to rise, followed by a dozen more identical pieces of pavement, creating a floating staircase.

Once his route was ready, Robin bounded from one step to the next, dodging laser blasts that blew the steps into dust behind him, and went into a long leap accompanied by a handful of grenades that he flung forward.

The projectiles sailed toward the open mouth until they disappeared into the dark abyss that led down the worm's throat. The Boy Wonder dropped out of his leap and was caught and carried away by Starfire just in time as a string of internal explosions bulged out the monster's sides and sent smoke belching from its' mouth. The attack look like it had done some damage.

As soon as the Tamaranean fighter towed her companion a safe distance, a green pterodactyl flew through the skies with the bionic bruiser in its' grip. Cyborg unloaded a salvo of cannon fire that left the worm reeling, but the worm recovered quickly and shot back, causing the two Titans to swerve out of the way.

Starfire carried Robin in again, so low that his chest barely cleared a rooftop; she let go and peeled out, leaving him to drop into a dead run toward the worm. As another sphere of aura blew into the metal body and distracted its attention, the sprinting masked leader pulled out a grappling hook, leaped over the edge of the building, and fired it at the machine. The line wrapped around its' body, allowing the Dark Knight's sidekick to swing down and stay just ahead of a laser beam that slashed through the pavement behind him.

Robin's momentum carried him to the upper surface, where he landed behind the head of the worm and brought his fighting staff out for a quick twirl. Extending it to full length, he jammed one end under the edge of a panel and leaned with all his weight to try and lever it up, only to have the shaft break in his hands. The worm reared up and thrashed about in an attempt to buck him off.

Starfire and Asuramon shot up through the air to get Robin to safety, Beast Boy in the form of a triceratops with Cy on his back charged at the thing, horns and cannons blasting the thing's metal hide together. Stumbling backwards from the force of the hit, Cyborg quickly fired again, Terra lifting a large piece of pavement behind him, which was large enough to cover the full width of the street. However, before she could lob it, Raven's ink-colored magic took hold of the heavy material and stopped it in its tracks.

"No!" Raven called out as she held it back.

"What are you doing?" Terra cried as she glared at her.

"It's too dangerous. Someone could get hurt," Raven said as she pulled the pavement towards herself, trying to make it as safe as she could for her team, whereas Vent was climbing up the thing's back trying to finish what Robin started.

"I know what I'm doing! Trust me!" Terra called out as she willed the stone fragment to come towards her again, only for Raven to pull the thing back, the sheer magnitude of their opposing powers causing cracks to appear in the pavement. It was as the worm was about to fire at the two that the Ultimate above its head abandoned his primary objective, flew sidelong around its face before the Ultimate gave a powerful kick to the underside of the thing's chin, causing the red beam to sail over the two girls instead of at them. The shockwave however caused the crumbling piece of pavement to detonate, sending both Terra and Raven backward in opposite directions, the radiant wave of energy from the explosion knocking the worm to the ground as well.

"Way to go," both Raven and Terra growled to one another, Robin coming between them and putting a hand on both their shoulders as the others ran off.

"Come on! That thing's getting away!" he said leading the two towards the new tunnel, the only trace of the worm left being the slight rumbling of the ground as the worm dug its way through it. And even that disappeared after a few seconds. It was at this moment that Robin's T-Comm. went off, the Boy Wonder opening it to see Slade's face on the static-lined screen.

"Slade." Robin stated icily as he gazed upon the man's visage.

"Robin. Good to see you again." The villainous commando greeted from the other end of the line, "I do hope I haven't called at a bad time." He teased.

The brightly dressed hero wasn't in the mood for games, "The worm! What are you planning?" He demanded from the villain.

"Well, now, Robin. If you're so very curious, why don't you come down here and find out?" Slade asked imposingly. On his final word, the screen went dark, leaving all seven teens and Digimon to stare, absolutely stunned, at the silent communicator in their leader's hand.

The criminal masterminds' message held one of impending doom. So knowing that time wasn't on their side, the team steeled themselves and made their way down one of the tunnels that the robotic worms created. However, as they walked, each Titan noticed something very important about the tunnel: It just kept going... and going... and going...

As the team continued their descent into the dark depths far below the city, Cyborg had to use his built-in flashlight on his left shoulder to light the path for them. During their search, the Titans found themselves falling into an impromptu formation; Cyborg and Robin leading the pack, Yuki, Asuramon, Beast Boy, and Starfire in the middle, and Raven and Terra bringing up the rear.

"Those evil worms left a very long trail." Starfire spoke as they kept pace through the tunnel, her voice echoing in the emptiness. "This tunnel continues for at least two more plinthorgs."

"And we're more than three hundred meters below sea level." The cybernetic member of the team added. "What's it doing down here?"

"Whatever Slade tells it to." The wary leader replied.

The group kept walking in silence for a few minutes, which left the blonde recruit a little nervous since she was walking next to the resident ice queen. To ease the tension, she tried thinking of something to say. "So, sorry about our little tug-of-war back there." She apologized, finally breaking the ice. "You know I wouldn't have let anybody get hurt. Least of all, Big Bro."

"Whatever." Raven deadpanned, clearly not persuaded by the girls' assurance.

Her attitude irked Terra a bit, "Okay, look. I don't know what your problem is, but get over it." The geokinetic shot back, "If I'm gonna be a part of this team, we have to get along."

That statement caused the violet-haired mage to stop walking, causing the blonde to stop as well, "You're not part of this team-not yet! And if you endanger my friends again, you never will be!" She stated matter-of-factly. "The next time I tell you something's too dangerous, TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!" On her last five words, Raven's head grew three sizes as she glowered at her counterpart, causing a cold sweat to drop down Terra's temple.

As the angered Goth deflated and stalked away, Beast Boy and Yuki stepped up to her on opposite sides. "Um, why does she hate me?" Terra asked, a little scared at the ferocity shown by the gray-skinned girl.

"She doesn't hate you." The Tamer reassured as he placed a hand on the geokinetic ' shoulder, causing her to look over to him, "Raven may not show it, but she does care a lot about everyone's safety." He said with a smile.

"Yeah, Terra, it'll be fine." The shape-shifting Titan stated confident, "She just needs time to get used to you. I think she's still getting used to me." He said a little quieter to his two friends, causing them both to smile.

The scenic walk through the underground burrow was absolutely riveting. Complete silence filled the tunnel, and only the smell of wet dirt assaulted the senses, giving the team a truly pleasant rest from the fight that had transpired above ground... I am, of course, being entirely sarcastic. The walk was incredibly mundane, but it didn't last that much longer as they soon proceeded cautiously into a large open underground cavern.

Once every hero and heroine made their way into the enclosure, they scanned their surroundings for any sign of the mechanical drillers or Slade.

"Dead end." Raven was the first to speak once she had finished looking over the area.

Robin wasn't entirely convinced, however, as his communicator continued beeping. "Not necessarily." He said as he crossed the room. He approached the wall and was rewarded with faster beeps. "I'm picking up a signal from deep inside the rock."

Cyborg then walked up next to him and adjusted his eye implant, "Way deep. Electronics- and one... no, two heartbeats."

"Slade." The Boy Wonder deduced.

Wanting to be of more use to the team, Terra stepped up, "How about we dig down there and see what's up?" She warmed up her hands and prepared to start moving bits of rock, but stopped with a gasp when the whole place began shaking.

Rock fragments fell from the ceiling as each teen and one Digimon braced themselves for what was to come; Terra and Raven backed into each other as the tremor died down, after which the Titan fired a very nasty glare at the wannabe.

"Are you gonna give me that look every time there's an earthquake?" The Earth mover asked, making her annoyance clear to the Goth.

Elsewhere, Starfire eased cautiously away, ready to throw a starbolt, but stopped and gasped as another drilling worm broke the surface behind her. Following suite, two more worms came up for air and then aimed themselves at the eight fighters."Titans! Ready!" The spiky-haired leader announced as his teammates gathered around him, each ready for a fight.

Just as the heroes got into position, the metal monsters took off in a heartbeat-but instead of attacking, they charged at an empty patch of wall and dug through it to clear out. Once they were gone, Beast Boy walked over to the newly made tunnels.

"Hel-lo?" The young changeling called into the burrows as he waved his arms. "The good guys are over here!" His words echoed in the broad path as he turned around to face his friends, "Dude, we got snubbed!"

"Because we are not their target." The Tamaranean Titan pointed out as the green teen walked back to the group.

"One of those worms destroyed an entire block." Asuramon stated.

"Three of 'em together could wreck anything in the city." The bionic warned as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yikes." Yuki said.

"We have to stop them!" Terra asserted with a determined look on her face.

"We have to stop Slade." Raven argued, earning her a dirty look from the blonde.

"Then we split up." Robin declared, "Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, go after the worms." The Titans just named all nodded in response, "Yuki, Asuramon, Terra, and Raven, we're going after Slade." He finished, earning more nods from the quartet.

With their orders given, the first group readied themselves for the chase. "Star, BB, let's move!" The bulky African Titan exclaimed, taking them no time at all to set off in pursuit.

With half the team gone, Robin stared intently at the wall as he scanned it with his communicator..

"I can make a tunnel on my own." Terra stated as she narrowed her eyes at the cloaked girl. "Shouldn't she go with-"

"No." Robin called back as he continued examining the rock, "Raven's just as good at using her powers for moving earth as you are."

"We're digging through solid rock." The masked teen continued as he turned to face the two girls. "We're going to need you both."

With the Boy Wonder's explanation, Raven shot the blond-haired teen a hard glance. "Nice try." She said as Terra returned the glare with equal intensity as Yuki and Asuramon shrugged.

A beeping from Robin's direction drew everyone's attention as he backed away from the wall. "I got a track on the signal." He said as he showed the communicator to Yuki and Asuramon, "Forty degrees down, six hundred meters deep."

"Right." Yuki nodded as the geokinetic and psychic moved in front of them, "Terra, Raven, got that?" Asuramon asked.

"No problem." Both super-powered females stated confidently as they warmed their powers up. Their combined powers struck the stone face and sent up masses of dust and fragments.

"Is that as fast as you can go?" The blonde rock mover challenged.

"Not even close." Raven shot back with equal determination. With the challenge accepted by the violet-haired beauty, both teens increased their power output, digging quicker and deeper into the Earth.

"Careful. It looks like this rock isn't stable." The Boy Wonder explained as he pulled out his own communicator and looked at the screen, "Just take it a little..."

He was cut off when he felt a nudge on his side. Looking over, he saw Yuki pointing in front of them.

Confused by his actions, Robin turned his head to see for himself just what he was pointing at and saw both girls already at least a hundred yards downrange without breaking pace. "...slow." He stared incredulously for a moment at the speed the girls were moving before following his two teammates into the bore.

As Robin, Yuki, Asuramon, Raven, and Terra made their way deeper underground in the hopes of finding their archenemy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy, in the form of a green leopard, all continued their ongoing pursuit of the three metal diggers. The worms proceeded steadily through the dirt and rocks until one of the three turned upwards, leaving a thick haze that disrupted the each Titans' view. When the dust cloud cleared, the trio found themselves staring at three separate tunnels, two level courses diverging from the upturned center.

After examining the scene in the light from his sweeping shoulder beam for a moment, Cyborg decided to pick his own target. "I'll take the ugly one." He said as he moved to the left tunnel, "Teen Titans! GO!" With a quick nod, each Titan headed into a different tunnel.

While barreling after his own worm, Cyborg raised his left arm with a yell. A panel flipped open and exposed a small launcher loaded with a clamp/suction cup device. It was then fired ahead, trailing a long line, and hooked the worm's rear end. The big man hauled in with all his strength, feet striking sparks from the tunnel floor as he was dragged along. Suddenly, his face registered great surprise when the leviathan angled sharply downward and dragged him screaming into the depths.

The sudden change in momentum threw the cybernetic Titan off balance and dumped him onto his chest. More sparks flew up from the contact, and he ended up spitting out a mouthful of gravel. Unfortunately for the bulky bionic, the worm kept dragging him through the dirt as it continued drilling through the Earth.

Just as Cyborg's worm disappeared further into the Earth, another digger broke through the tunnel floor and continued ascending while Starfire flew after it. She chucked a couple of starbolts to destroy falling rocks before unloading an eye blast. The neon green beam melted a ring of stone around her prey's back end, welding the body to the tunnel walls to stop it could. The auburn-haired beauty stared and giggled at her work; however, the worm quickly broke loose and bore its way upward. Once the debris cleared, she charged off after it again.

The final Titan chased his target as it shattered rock after rock. Once Beast Boy caught up, he launched himself at the worm, turning into a wolverine on the way down and digging his long claws into the metal hide. Unable to get a firm grip, he slid back and was dumped to the tunnel floor as the prey thundered into the distance. After a surprised look at his claws that had been ground down to nubs, he resumed human form.

"Guess I won't need to cut my fingernails for a few years." The greenling whimpered before picking himself up to sprint after the worm.

Deep beneath the surface, far below sea level, the four remaining Titans and Terra finally excavated through the Earth and found themselves in a huge underground expanse whose walls were lined with steel framework. The sight that greeted them left all four teens and one Digimon speechless as Robin shouldered his way past the two female digging crew. Sitting at the center of the room was a cylindrical computer console, with keyboards spaced at regular intervals around its perimeter. A broad beam of green light emanated upward from the middle of the rig and generated a holographic image. But that wasn't the best part; the computer stood on a platform that had walkways connecting it to the walls, and the hologram was an image of Titans Tower and its island.

As the five made their way to the center of the platform, they looked up and saw three worms, identical to the drill worms from earlier, joined to form a circle, oriented horizontally and spinning near the center. Once they reached the computer console, each teen could only stare in awe as they deciphered the plans before them.

Back with the busily digging worms, Cyborg managed to reel himself in and crawled along the side of his worm, working his way toward the head. Before he could reach the top, though, he looked up in alarm and saw a large chunk of stone break away from the tunnel. It plowed into his face, throwing him off his perch and leaving him to watch the monster continue its headlong rush.

Standing up, he checked his forearm panel and saw an image of one worm tunneling straight up, while the other two joined it on converging paths that all headed above ground.

"BB! Star! We're getting close to the surface!" The metallic teen shouted into his communicator feed. "Whatever their target is, they're about to hit it with everything they've got."

One by one, the three worms broke through the surface and rose into the air with the help of small rocket thrusters mounted along the body lengths. As the three airborne metal monsters flew in different directions, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy, in the form of a green gopher, emerged from the underground and watched as the giant drill bits retracted into the segmented bodies. The free ends of the worms hooked up while red emitters on the sides opened up. Once fully combined, the three worms resembled the same spinning ring that was found in the underground chamber.

Beast Boy returned to his human form and stood frozen in shock with Starfire, while Cyborg moved closer and stared popeyed. Without a moments notice, the red emitters from the worms came to life and fired three laser beams, one from each worm, straight down to cut a circular incision into the Earth. At ground level, the three Titans were forced to make a run for it as one of the beams ripped toward them. Once the dust cleared, the bionic African stood up and addressed his arm-mounted communicator.

"Robin! It's the Tower!" He shouted in a panic, "They're attacking Titans Tower!"

Inside the underground shaft, the worms circling overhead started firing beams of their own, but up toward the ceiling instead of down to chew through the Earth.

The holographic Tower image now had a cylinder marked around it and a flashing red arrow pointed downward from the bottom end showed the structure's intended movement.

"It's not just under attack." Robin replied solemnly as he stared at the image, "It's about to be underground."

Time was truly against the Titans now. With two lasers working their way around the Tower, it didn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that it would take no time at all to submerge the structure.

"Our home!"

"Slade's trying to sink it." Starfire and Beast Boy cried in worry as they watched helplessly as the aerial worms continued the siege on their home.

"One drill going up and another going down." Cyborg stated after learning of Slade's plan from their team leader. "If either of 'em break through, we're gonna need a new place to live!"

With renewed determination, the Tamaranean Titan's eyes light up like beacons, "I like where we live!" She stated icily before taking off into the air to defend her home.

Following his alien teammates' example, Beast Boy transformed into a pterodactyl and hoisted his robotic friend up. Starbolts and sonic cannon blasts were brought into play against the wreckers, but failed to do any noticeable damage to the machines.

On the opposite side of the drill, Robin whipped out a few birdarangs and tossed them at the worms while Asuramon and Raven fired shots of their powers. As the latter two kept shooting, Terra primed her powers and looked toward the wall, bringing two large boulders out and projecting them at the worms. Even with the combined strength of the three super-powered Titans, nothing proved to be effective enough to even slow down the drilling process.

"Not even a scratch!" The spiky-haired Titan concluded before he and the other three ran to the center console. "If we can't break the drill, hacking this computer is our only shot at shutting it down!" He explained as he quickly typed away on the keyboard.

As his gloved fingers flew across the keys, the sound of a weapon being primed caught the team's attention. Before anyone could react, a brilliant blue ball of energy blew past the Boy Wonder, the Tamer, and two girls, finding its' mark on Asuramon. The result of the blast had him De-Digivolve back into Kotemon and sent him tumbling along one of the walkways before coming to a stop, leaving his body in a heap.

"Kotemon!" Yuki called out a he run to his partner and pick up the Digimon.

Completely caught off-guard by the assault, Robin didn't have any time to prepare himself for the next attack that came. Hearing the sound of clanking on one of the other metal walkways, the masked Titan turned his head and saw Slade charging straight at him from the other side of the console. With a furious roar, he launched into a flying kick.

The blow drove the Boy Wonder past Raven and Terra and dumped him on the walkway behind them. The masked criminal rushed at him, and as Robin sat up to rub his shoulder, another steel boot zeroed in on his head. He rolled away just in the nick of time, but found himself on the defensive as he continued dodging strike after strike as they worked their way toward the shaft wall and into a service elevator at the outer end of the walkway.

"Robin!"

"Hang on!" The mage and geokinetic called out as they ran to help their friend.

"Forget about me!" The fighter shouted back as he continued trading blows with the super villain, "Help Kylar and shut down the drill!"

"Good, Robin." Slade titillated as he slammed his fist against the elevator button, bringing up a waist-high gate, "Now I have you all to myself." He threatened before lunging toward the teen to continue their fight.

With the elevator scaling the shaft wall, Terra, Yuki, and Raven were left alone before finding their attention caught by the sound of groaning from the Tamers arms. Looking toward the source, they saw the Digimon opening his eyes.

"What happened?" Kotemon groaned as he tried shaking the grogginess from his head.

"Slade." Raven answered him. "He attacked us and now he's fighting Robin. We have to shut down the drills." She explained as they made their way toward the console again ad Yuki put the Digimon down.

Looking up toward the ceiling to see the laser beams cutting more of the bedrock, Terra, Yuki, Kotemon, and Raven ran toward the computer.

"We have to hack in." The blue-cloaked mage stated as she approached the console keyboard.

Thinking of something completely different, the blonde rock mover readied her powers and pulled a boulder from the wall, "Why hack when you can smash?" She smirked as she propelled the massive rock toward the hardware.

Before it could come into contact with the hardware and reduce it to nothing but scrap metal, Raven exerted her powers, stopping the projectile in midair. "No!" She shouted defiantly, "We don't know how this thing works. Destroy the controls and we might never be able to stop it."

This statement only annoyed the geokinetic more, "Or we might stop it sooner and save our home!" Terra sighed angrily as she put more effort into trying to move the weight, but Raven only increased her resistance, not letting the boulder budge at all. "Why can't you just trust me?"

"'Cause you don't deserve it!" The normally stoic Goth shouted angrily, causing the blonde to stare in surprise. "I have to meditate every day to keep my powers under control. And I'm supposed to believe that you can just suddenly control yours?" Raven explained as she struggled to keep the rock from moving, "Trust is something you have to earn!"

"How? How do I earn it?" The sullen blonde asked, desperation apparent in her voice.

"You can start by trusting me." The mage stated simply.

For the second time that day, Raven was able to bring the hardy geokinetic's resolve down, causing her to relax her hold on the stone. With Terra's influence now no longer on the boulder, Raven was able to easily place it on the platform. With their second tug-of-war finished, both teens turned their attention to the console and got to work. However, fate had other plans as the rock ceiling finally began giving way to the constant slicing of the laser beams.

"Okay. Maybe smashing the computer wasn't the best idea," Terra sweatdropped.

"The console!" Kotemon cried before both Digimon and his Tamer's eyes went upward. "The Tower!" Yuki cried as the trio of cutting laser beams made another pass, the slab of rock overhead being forced down by the Tower's own weight.

Inside the elevator, Robin wasn't faring any better against his opponent. In fact, he had received a punch to the chest from Slade that knocked him back to the lifts' wall, but he quickly collected himself and continued throwing more punches and kicks at the hulking mastermind. The spiky-haired Titan didn't gain any leverage on his opponent, but he finally started landing a few blows. His momentum, though, was cut off when the elevator jolted sharply and threw him to the floor. Looking up, he found that they had nearly reached the ceiling and the drilling worms.

"The Tower!" Robin cried as the lasers cut deeper into the stone ceiling, causing the interior section to tremble and break apart. Upon closer inspection, the masked teen noticed that the circle the worms cut began sliding down into the cavern.

"Going down." Slade stated menacingly as he looked down at his opponent. With a nimble leap over the back half-wall, the dual-colored villain jumped through the scaffolding around the enclosure and made his escape.

Robin rushed to the guardrail to follow, but was too late as his archenemy had already disappeared. Looking up, he saw the ceiling approaching fast and, without a second thought, jumped from the lift just before it crashed into the rocks above. He fired off a grapple, caught it on a neighboring set of guide rails, and perched himself safely on one of the horizontal bracing members.

Back at the Tower, Starfire carried Cyborg up toward the rotating wreckers as a green hawk flew up alongside them. Once the two boys dropped onto the upper surface, Beast Boy transformed into an octopus while Cyborg converted his hand into a drill and put it to work on the metal exterior of the worm.

Blinding sparks flashed over the two for a moment before dying down. "Beast Boy! Go!" The bionic African in charge shouted once he finished drilling through the skin.

The octopus flipped him a salute with one tentacle before morphing into a mouse and scampering into the newly bored hole. Once inside, the tiny rodent found bundles of wiring running along the interior and started chewing on what it could. As a result of the damage, crackling arcs of electricity flashed inside as the mouse made its' way through.

On the outside, the worms' bodies bulged from a series of internal explosions before blowing apart. One blast threw the shape-shifter clear, who had taken the form of a turtle to protect himself from the damage, but soon morphed back into a hawk and cleared the scene.

Now completely separated, the three worms fell out of the sky in three different directions toward the bay before splashing in. On the shore, Cyborg and Starfire cheered wildly as the changeling landed and resumed human form.

"Robin, we did it!" The cybernetic teen exclaimed happily as he activated his communicator, "We took out the drill!" However, his enthusiasm didn't seem to reach the leader since he didn't receive a response. "Robin?"

A split second later, a laser beam erupted from below the water and started to trace around the shore. All three Titans were thrown down with a yell due to the accompanying tremor. Sure enough, all three lasers pierced the bedrock, and after a long moment, the entire island began sinking into Jump City Bay.

Inside the newly made hole, the three teens stood up and stared in despair as the realization hit them. "No!" Cyborg cried as his two teammates gasped in horror.

With nothing left to do to save their home, the orange-skinned alien flew off, carrying her non-flying friend with her, while the green teen became a hawk once again and followed them.

"We have to go! There's nothing we can do now!" Raven called out as the slab of rock bore down upon them.

"Yes, there is! Trust me!" Terra shouted as she let Vent stand by his own power as her eyes and hands began to glow bright yellow, a pair of wide-angle beams firing from her hands and into the rock face with a savage yell. The energy struck the lower face of the monolith bearing down on them overhead, the blast smashing the drill around the AOE apart and causing them to crash around the team, flattening the surrounding walkways leaving the center area isolated. While she had held it up for a few seconds, the sheer weight from above proved too much and began to drop again, her knees buckling from the strain as she fought a losing battle.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven chanted before twin ebony beams fired off from her hands, eyes glowing bright white as she began to push up against the stone formation above, Terra straightening up and pushing up against the rock formation as well. However, even with their combined efforts, it still proved to be too much for them. The massive weight above was still bearing down on them, and their powers were beginning to breach the rock face instead.

With the added help, Terra was able to straighten up and push her powers further. Ever so slowly, the combined force of the trio began pushing the collapsed rock back up the way it came.

On the surface, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy stood on the shore of the bay, sadly regarding the site of their lost home. The Tamaranean had become so saddened by the loss that she couldn't even bring herself to look at the sight. But their sorrow only lasted for a brief moment as a loud rumbling caught their attention.

"No way." The changeling awed as he stared dumbfounded.

"Starfire, look!" The metallic teen beckoned as he also stared in disbelief.

"I cannot. Our home is..." The auburn-haired warrior princess cut herself off when she rose her eyes a bit just in time to see the Tower emerge from the water until it finally stood as tall as it did when they all played volleyball on the roof. "...saved!"

"But how?"

Beast Boy already knew the answer as a smirk grew on his face, "Terra." He replied smugly as he folded his arms to admire the work.

A beeping from Cyborgs' forearm caused him to raise it and open the panel for his communicator. On the screen, Robin's face could be seen with a smirk of his own. "And Raven. Working together." The leader stated proudly. With triumphant smiles, the three heroes watched as the island and structure were pushed up the last few feet, back into proper position.

It looked as though the Titans had yet another run-in with their arch nemesis and once again came out on top. The sudden threat of losing their home as it fell into the Earth was quite nerve wracking, but with their combined effort, and with the added help of a certain guest, the team managed to pull through. Even if Slade and his young apprentice managed to escape, they didn't care. One day, he would slip up, and on that day the Teen Titans would be there to put an end to him.

After saving the Tower and making sure the island wouldn't budge ever again, the five Titans underground made their way back home where they were greeted by the trio on the surface. Once there, everyone made their way back inside their home for some major relaxation.

But even though everything ended up alright in the end, there was still one very, very important issue that needed to be resolved...

A few days had passed since their long lost friends' arrival and Terra and Raven found themselves walking along the top floor hallway side by side.

"So... friends?" Terra asked the Goth.

"Close enough." The mage smiled as she stopped walking, finding herself in front of a door.

"Sorry we kinda got off to a rocky start." The nervous geokinetic apologized. She didn't want to admit it, but she did some very rash things without thinking that weren't exactly what you'd call 'safe.' Had it not been for the violet-haired Titan, someone, even her big brother, could have seriously been injured.

"Actually, I thought things went pretty well." Raven replied with a smile, calming the blondes' nerves. "It took me a year to stop hating Beast Boy." She jokingly admitted.

Terra giggled at the mage's embarrassment as she opened the door to reveal a pitch black room.

The young rock mover advanced through the threshold of the doorway and looked around the area, trying to adjust to the lack of light in the room. "Um... where are we?" She asked, puzzled by the new location.

"Your room." Raven replied simply. With a flip of the switch, the room lit up with a brilliant light to show the inside in all its' glory. The walls were painted to show a mountain landscape under a starry night sky with a ceiling painted in the same format as the sky portion of the walls, a big green bed at the far wall with a cactus next to it, bookshelves along the end wall, and a large couch and coffee table facing the window.

But more importantly than all the interior decorations, the other five Titans were there as well. "SURPRISE!" They all cheered, leaving the blond-haired girl flabbergasted.

"You guys did all this... for me?" Terra asked as she looked around the room. The emotions that filled her at that moment were too much for her to handle. Still, she held herself together well as she approached the welcoming committee.

"Yeah, since you helped save our home and all," Beast Boy began as he slid over to the young beauty, blushing and cocking his eyebrows, "we thought you deserved your own room."

"And I think you've done more than enough to have this." Robin approached the girl and placed something in her hand. When she looked down to see what it was, she couldn't help but smile as she looked wonderingly down at the communicator in her palm.

"So I'm-"

"-a Teen Titan." The Boy Wonder finished her sentence, confirming her apparent suspicions. "Glad to have you on the team." He said as he held out his hand to shake.

The new member of the team eagerly returned the gesture as the other Titans spoke their thoughts.

"Aw, yeah! Very nice!" The bionic cheered.

"This is the best thing that's ever happened to me." The changeling awed with hearts in his eyes.

"I promised myself I wouldn't cry." The Tamer struggled to keep his tears of joy from flowing from his eyes.

"Yeah you deserved it." The Digimon added.

"Welcome, new Titan!" The Tamaranean finished as she raised her arms gleefully above her head.

"Congratulations, Terra." Raven was the last to welcome their new teammate as she walked over to join the group, "You earned it."

All Terra could do was give her friends a gratified smile.

"All right. There's only one way to commemorate such a momentous occasion." Cyborg stated with a huge grin plastered across his face, "Waffles!" He said as he headed for the door.

"Mmm!"

"Perfect!"

"Can they be non-dairy waffles?" Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Yuki, Kotemon, and Raven all followed their taller friend out of the room.

"Sounds good. I'll catch up in a minute, okay?" Terra asked, the others leaving before she looked down at the T-Comm., a smile on her face, and almost on the verge of joyful tears. "I don't believe it. They actually trust me."

A/N: Wow that's another loong time to write, and Terra has returned and has joined the Titans. What happens next? Find out next time on Titan Tamer of The Swordsman. R&R