Author's Notes

With this story, I will be alternating between it and what is tentatively titled "Second Chance", which will be the alternate scenario story spun off of Betrayed, Cast Off, Angry. This story won't be the three-act length of the original, but will be a more modest ten to fifteen chapters. And also unlike the original, this story (and the alternate scenario story) will be rated T.

And compared to the original story, this will be more like a crime drama/sci-fi thriller, just so those of you desiring the same tone as the original won't be disappointed when the truth comes out.

Now, let's begin the story.

It was late at night in Jump City, at least two o'clock in the morning as the streets were abandoned and the moon shone brightly onto the streets as the lamp posts were all turned on.

However, the streets were not all abandoned - somebody was running for their life in these very streets, wearing brown dress shoes, khaki pants, a black sweater, and a red bowtie. Physically, they were above-average but by no means spectacular. This was good enough to keep ahead of his pursuer, who held a Glock 24 in their hand and was clad in all-black.

The pursuer opened fire on the man being chased, but he managed to dodge all of the rounds fired as they harmlessly ricocheted onto the lamp posts and the buildings. However, another chaser, also clad in black with a Remington 870 Slug Gun soon came onto the scene and trapped the man.

With nowhere to go, he ran into the alleyway next to him, jumping the gate as he tried to keep one step ahead of his pursuers. The shotgun-wielding pursuer shot the gate open before the two continued their pursuit of the man.

He tried to run as fast as he could, but his pursuers were much faster and much more agile, quickly closing the gap between him. He was forced into another alleyway but he had no way out of it and was quickly backed into the cold brick wall.

The two pursuers closed in on their victim, preparing to finish him off as they both raised their weapons at him.

Before they could fire, a pink flash came from above and quickly hit the shotgun, causing it to fall apart in their hands. The other pursuer fired the Glock into the air trying to find the source of the flash.

However, somebody jumped down wielding two katanas and kicked the Glock out of the hand of the first pursuer. The two pursuers were forced to flee before someone came along moving super-fast and tripped them both.

At last, somebody came into the air after phasing in through the streets as a white raven. The masks on the two pursuers were surrounded by a white glow and thrown off.

Raven said, "Well, look what we have here. Joan Kyle and Dale Lafferty, so you two are the Two Time Executors. You're both under arrest for the murders of Mayor Olivia Vicente, Ned Seager, and Bob Rupert. Cuff them, Ravager."

Ravager, the katana-wielding girl, replied, "Will do boss." With that, Ravager grabbed two pairs of handcuffs and put them on Joan Kyle, the Glock wielder and the Mayor's publicist and Dale Lafferty, the shotgun wielder and the Mayor's former speech writer.

Kid Flash then sped off with Kyle and Lafferty to bring them to the police station where they would be put in custody for trial of the three murders. Six days ago, two assailants ambushed the Mayor during her 2 AM stroll and shot her repeatedly in the chest and abdomen. As a result, Raven's Titans Central team was called into investigate. Three days later, the two assailants struck again by gunning down computer maintenance specialist Ned Seager, in the exact same place as the Mayor. As a result, the Titans began to suspect that Vicente and Seager were victims of serial killings. Their prime suspect, Bob Rupert, who owned a similar shotgun like that used in the killings and Seager's employer, was found dead early that afternoon with both of his hands chopped off and a shotgun blast driven through his knees, the blood loss being what killed him.

Raven walked up to the attempted victim and helped him up. She asked him, "You alright, Grant?"

Grant replied, "I've been better, boss. Remind me again why I let you turn me into bait."

Raven said, "You specialize in undercover work, plus you were the only one that could get close enough to Kyle and Lafferty. We promised you wouldn't be killed, and you're not dead."

"I guess you're right, Raven. Though you owe me for this."

"Actually, if I'm correct, we're even. Remember the Delmarco case?" Raven shuddered at the mention of that. That was not one of her better days, going undercover as a call girl for one of the city's most prominent mob bosses, only for her cover to be blown and a temporary power suppressor was thrown onto her. Had it not been for the timely arrival of Kid Flash and Ravager, Raven would have experienced much worse. She wanted Grant to go undercover as a new lackey for Delmarco but he insisted that Raven would be much better for the job, and that she is the only one that can change her appearance to accurately disguise herself to him.

"Good point."

"Let's get back to the Tower. We have reports to fill out. The sooner we get them done, the sooner we don't have to deal with them."

Jinx threw in, "I hate paperwork."

Raven rhetorically asked, "Don't we all?"

It had been two and a half years since the formation of the Titans Central team, which based itself in the Teen Titans hometown of Jump City. It's original members were just Raven (the overall leader of the Titans, having been appointed by Cyborg shortly earlier), Jinx (who had previously decided to go the straight and narrow), and her boyfriend Kid Flash.

A few days in, the pendant willed to her by Slade (whom she was forced to kill after he tried to reset time to when the Titans were first formed in order to make Raven his apprentice) began to beep, leading Raven to the middle of a desert in Saudi Arabia. In the process, she found the Diamond of Detriba hidden in the chest.

The diamond's knowledge entered her mind and she soon found Slade's three children standing in front of her - Joseph (Jericho), Grant (Red-X), and Rose Wilson (Ravager). She thought that had been impossible, seeing how they had been murdered by rogue Justice League illusionist Zatanna Zatara and Richard Grayson (the former Robin turned killer Claw), but they were real and their injuries gone.

Raven discovered that when Slade's children were each born, Slade had touched the Diamond of Detriba to their brain and heart, placing a piece of their soul inside. After their deaths, Slade hit the diamond in the chest in Saudi Arabia for Raven to find and ultimately resurrect them.

She also learned that the diamond had restored their bodies from the grave and undid the damage that was done to them - Jericho regained the voice he lost as a child and his neck was healed; Ravager's head was reattached and she regained her right eye lost at the HIVE Academy; and Grant's body now lacked the damage from the xenothium explosion that killed him.

Soon after, Raven brought them back to Titans Tower and they stayed there briefly for evaluation. In the following week or so, Raven ultimately cleared all three of Slade's children for duty. Rose kept the moniker Ravager and joined Titans Central while Grant decided to change his identity to something new, since Red X was associated as a thief. Grant's new identity would be Hustler, and his uniform consisted of a black and gray kevlar jumpsuit with matching gloves and boots, plus a mask that covered his upper lip and eyes.

Joseph retook the moniker Jericho, but unlike his siblings, he was moved to Titans North. While his older siblings were unhappy about it, they ultimately accepted it. Jericho's transfer was not because of fears of sibling rivalry - it was instead to keep the strength of Titans North at five members.

Shortly before Jericho's transfer, Kyd Wykkyd had infiltrated the Titans North tower and murdered See-More by repeatedly slashing his throat before leaving the body inside of See-More's room. The body was not found until the next day when See-More failed to show up for practice.

While Wykkyd was ultimately linked to See-More's murder, the HIVE member remained at large along with the vast majority of the HIVE population, ever since the school went defunct with Brother Blood's downfall. Gizmo and Jinx were promptly hidden until the Titans were sure that they were not targets because of their turn to the good side. After five months in hiding, the Titans realized that See-More's death was done to discourage others from joining the Titans from the HIVE - and only he was killed because Jinx and Gizmo would be too well protected to get to, not to mention that the Titans would have made measures to prevent what Wykkyd did.

At Titans North, the four other members took a quick warm-up to Jericho, who quickly entered a relationship with Kole. Raven knew that Jericho was what she expected in a gentleman - and that they were in many ways, similar. As a result, the two have developed a deep bond, similar to that between Kid Flash and Jinx.

The other Titans teams had been handling themselves remarkably well. Pantha and Wildebeest made for an effective double team on the Titans South, combined with Mas y Menos and Cyborg, criminal activity had decreased but was not altogether gone. The Titans South had also begun espionage on Cuba, providing surveillance requested by the US government and the Justice League, getting wary of recent events.

For the Titans East, Beast Boy had developed a strong relationship with Terra, and the two were now engaged, set to be married in a few months. All of the Titans are expected to be there, and hopefully nothing would interfere with it. Wonder Girl, however, was having a few issues with Speedy, his cockiness was annoying to say the least to her, and his manners would put most of the Amazons to shame. Herald frequently had to act as a mediator to prevent things from coming to blows.

On the Titans West, Hot Spot had transferred in while Kilowatt had transferred to Titans Tango. The reason being was that he wanted to be closer to Argent, whom he had warmed up to (no pun intended, there). And Bushido was making sure Thunder and Lightning were not causing too much damage with their elemental powers.

On the Titans Tango team, Gizmo had ultimately proven his worth and his loyalty by saving the Titans several times with the assistance of robotic drones he had created during his time with the HIVE (but never got the chance to use). And while Bumblebee was having a few issues working with Aqualad again, Tramm was keeping Aqualad busy for the most part so Bumblebee was less annoyed.

After returning to the Tower and filling out the necessary reports regarding the apprehension of Kyle and Lafferty, the Titans ultimately decided to crash for the night. Kid Flash and Jinx rushed off to their room (which was formerly Cyborg's room) to do their "thing", and after Raven accidentally watched them, chose to leave them alone regarding the issue, not wanting to know anymore about their love life than she ever wanted to know.

Ravager went to her simple dojo-style room, which Raven noted was often similar to Robin's old room (which was where he is), where she removed her mask, swords, and armor. She then switched out her clothing for a loose white tank top and black sweats before going to sleep.

Grant, or Hustler, went to his room (formerly Beast Boy's room) and stripped out of his business suit, which he felt was overwhelmingly constrictive before slipping on a gray undershirt and some shorts.

Raven returned to her room before slipping off her cloak and calmly going to sleep. It had been a very long day for the Titans Central team, especially with sending in Grant undercover to track down the killers. They determined that both victims (Mayor Vicente and Seager) had attended Club Old Finger in downtown Jump and the killers followed them from there. They sent Grant in as "Jeremy Lammon", giving him a covert earwig and watching over him. "Jeremy" found that the victims both had taken a swing of the Marquita Tequila after an anonymous patron bought it for them.

Ravager used the security camera feed to discover that the Marquita caused a slight disorientation, which made their victims easier to kill. "Jeremy" faked taking a sip before leaving, slipping a sample for toxin analysis. Kyle and Lafferty chased after him knowing that he could destroy their operation but were caught by the Titans.

In the past two years, the Titans had been facing much more different types of crimes - serial killers and rapists to embezzlers and fraud. The Titans broadened their skill set as the criminals widened theirs. Their efforts had ultimately brought over 600 criminals to justice, which was more than the other Titan teams, who dealt much more with the old-fashioned criminal types.

It was around noon when the Titans woke up, having been exhausted from their late night sting mission. Hustler awoke the other Titans by making his signature cream cheese and green chile empanadas, which had become a favorite amongst all of the Titans.

While the Titans were having brunch, Raven received a call from an unknown number. She accepted the call and asked, "Hello?"

An unknown voice, an apparently female and hoarse voice responded, "Is this Raven I am speaking to?"

Raven replied, "Yes. Who are you?"

The female replied, "Doctor Light."

Raven snorted slightly. "Doctor Light has been dead for about three years now. You cannot possibly be Arthur Light."

"I am not Arthur Light. I am Angela Light. His apprentice, his top student. You were responsible for his death. You drove him insane. After that first confrontation, he was never the same man he was."

"He was a monster, Angela. Not only was Light a criminal but we discovered soon after that Light was a rapist and killer. He did not deserve to live."

"A monster, you say? What a hypocrite you are, Raven, or should I say, Gem? As in the Gem of Skaath? You are the true monster here."

"If you are here to make a threat, I suggest you don't. If you threaten me or anyone on my team, the consequences will not be pleasant for you. I guarantee it."

"Good luck. If you can even find me. Don't expect to trace this phone to where I am."

The caller on the other side hung up, leaving Raven. Ravager came into the room. She said, "The caller was bouncing the call off of satellites all across the globe."

Raven sighed, "Did you get anything?"

Ravager eagerly replied, "Yes. The bouncing signal is at the docks. Pier 37. A lot of electricity is being used there as well."

Raven confidently added, "And now we're gonna get ourselves a light. Tell the others to move out."

After quickly getting dressed and ready for combat, Raven teleported her team over to Pier 37, where the caller, Angela Light was currently packing up her things.

Angela soon noticed the presence of the Titans and turned around to face them, her hands in the air like she was surrendering.

Raven asked Angela, "Why did you make that call? What the hell do you want?"

Angela replied, "Your doom." With that, she pressed a button she held in her hand to turn all the lights on incredibly bright, slightly blinding the Titans as she put on her gear with two light guns.

Jinx threw hexes at the lights, destroying them and darkening the place. However, Angela opened fire with her light guns at the Titans, forcing the Titans into cover.

Hustler moved out of cover first, throwing several smoke discs at Angela, slightly blinding her but her light guns tore through the discs like they were nothing. Hustler threw some exploding shurikens at her, but she dodged all of them as they impacted and exploded.

Angela was able to land two clean hits on Hustler's abdomen, blasting him back. He had some nasty burns on his abdomen but was otherwise alright. Ravager jumped in and managed to get two clean swipes at Angela's light guns, destroying them. Angela replied by blasting Ravager away with two palm light weapons.

Ravager cried out, "She's armed to the teeth with light."

Raven replied, "Then someone has to show her the dark." With that, Raven grabbed two of the lights and threw them at Angela. Angela struck both lights before they impacted, but they released a bit of shrapnel in the form of broken glass and tungsten and spark damage that briefly blinded her.

Kid Flash soon came in and zipped around Angela, removing all of her weapons and rendering her harmless. After Angela regained her sight, she saw she was completely defenseless and was now constrained into two arms of white energy.

Raven levitated up and was now right in Angela's face. Raven asked, "Why did you make the call?"

Angela replied, "To bring you to your knees."

"Why bring up your mentor Doctor Arthur Light?"

"To remind you who you were dealing with. His only weakness was his fear of you, and I don't have that. He trained it into me."

"Why now? He's been dead for so long. It was all over the news. What in the right mind would possess you to make a threat about a guy who's been dead for three years? And to a person you've known where they were?"

"Because it was time."

"For what, Angela? Tell me and we may lighten your sentence?"

"For it to begin."

"What, Angela?"

Before Angela could speak, a bullet ripped through the side of Angela's head, killing her in an instant. A shocked Raven dropped Angela to the ground.

Hustler asked, "What just happened?"

Jinx added, "Somebody offed Light before she could tell us something."

Ravager then said, "And whatever it is, it is not good at all."