Disclaimer: In all honesty, this disclaimer means nothing, since I would have to be severely moronic to try and make money off of someone else's brainchild. However, in the interest of not having my ass sued for everything it's worth, I do not own the Teen Titans or anything published by DC Comics. The main plotline and certain important characters are mine, though I wouldn't be surprised if I unintentionally ripped off someone else's good idea. If you think something in my writing resembles another author's work, it was either an accident or meant as homage to them. This disclaimer applies to all subsequent chapters, unless I come up with something witty to say. If you actually read through this entire disclaimer, you are my new best friend.

Ch. 1: Meet the Cast

Titans' Mission Log: 0005742-ABDHIRTY

21 June 2008. 1929 UTC-8. Jump City, California, United States of America.

Mission Status: In Progress

It was dark…

Quiet…

Cyborg and Beast Boy had hidden themselves unusually well: Robin wasn't able to tell which one was chuckling and which one had just made a joke about Alone in the Dark. As for the Boy Wonder himself, he was one with the shadows. Nothing could be seen of him. Nothing could be heard of him. Even his mentor in Gotham wouldn't be able to find him…instantly.

No easy feat when he still felt so gangly and clumsy after his most recent growth spurt. It looked like he would need to order a set of larger uniforms. Again.

He took a moment to confirm Raven's position on his communicator. Good. She was almost in position. Now they were just waiting on Starfire. Her respective blip was close to Raven's, meaning she was getting near as well.

Robin saw this as one of the most important missions in the history of the Teen Titans. It had been postponed out of necessity when the Brotherhood of Evil had launched the surprise attack on the expanded Titans. With that mess finally taken care of and the honorary members having left for their homes, this was the best chance they had.

Just the original members.

Only those who were in the know.

If they failed, Robin didn't know what would happen. He felt as if his entire life had led up to this moment. The Boy Wonder thought about everything they had done to prepare for this day: the planning, the obsessive coordination, and, most importantly of all, the extreme amounts of subterfuge. They simply could not afford to be noticed before the moment of action. Otherwise, it would all be for naught.

Robin kept his communicator out, staring fixedly at the blinking dots that represented his female teammates. They were finally in position.

Robin lightly rapped his knuckles on the floor, signaling Cyborg and Beast Boy that it was time to be serious.

Dead silence.

Fwish.

The door slid open, revealing two blurry silhouettes. They were obviously surprised by what they saw, or what they didn't see, moving cautiously into the room.

The taller one was the first to speak up. "Why has the lighting been disengaged?"

The shorter one seemed somewhat put off by the question. "Instead of asking me, why don't you just hurry up and turn the lights back on?"

The tall one nodded, and reached for the nearby panel.

'Here it comes.' Robin readied himself to spring.

Click.

'Now!' Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy leapt from their hiding places just as the lights came on…

"SURPRISE!!"

"Eep!!" FLASH! FLASH! F-F-FLASH! F-FLASH!Starbolts flew like a swarm of killer bees.

At the boys.

"WHOA DAMN!"

"DUDE!"

"DAH, STAR!"

Robin heroically dove behind Cyborg's large frame, though the metallic Titan was quick to abandon his leader for better cover. Beast Boy morphed into a turtle in the nick of time, only to be sent skidding and bouncing around the Main Room like an organic pinball.

A wall of glowing obsidian flew up between the singed males and a badly startled alien female. Several pieces of innocent furniture smoldered pleasantly in the silence that followed. Confetti and balloons calmly rained down, as if in mockery of what had just occurred.

"Wh-what is…?"

"Um…hehe…Happy Birthday, Starfire."

Titans' Mission Log: 0005742-ABDHIRTY

21 June 2008. 1930 hours. Jump City, California, United States of America.

Mission Status: Failed


After the wreckage had been cleared away, and Beast Boy had changed into a set of tights that didn't have a smoking hole through the rear, the Titans were ready to actually start the party they had intended for their resident bundle of joy.

Well, almost ready.

"Friends, I thank you for your wishes of the joyous anniversary of my birth, but…today is not that day for me. I am sorry." Starfire may as well have been a child getting told off for stealing cookies, she looked so guilty. Like it was her fault they were celebrating on the wrong day.

Beast Boy was quick to rectify the situation, swaggering over and suavely putting his arm around the much taller girl's shoulders, "We know that Star, but it's not like we had a chance to party then. We were waist deep in Brotherhood nasty, and then we had a bunch of fridge raiders in the house. This is the first chance we got."

Robin picked up where Beast Boy left off, though he substituted an arm-over-the-shoulder for his personal favorite: the hand-on-the-shoulder-while-looking-eye-to-eye-with-a-kind-smile. "Yeah, you didn't say anything, so we kind of forgot about it until Raven looked at the calendar. We wanted to make sure you got the party you deserved, however late it was."

Robin had lied a little bit there. He hadn't forgotten, not even when the Brain was monologuing about his apparent victory.

"Wait, we have a calendar? Like, to keep track of stuff?" Beast Boy looked confused.

"What else do you use a calendar for?" Raven was not amused. Big surprise.

"Well, I keep this one under my bed for when I'm alone, so I ca-ACK!"

Cyborg dumped an extra large handful of fallen confetti down Beast Boy's shirt and continued the story, "Since the honorary Titans left for home, we've been scramblin' all over the place when you weren't looking to get this ready. Robin contacted Galfore to get a translator and sat down with one of your cook books for days so he could make you some Tamaranean food. Beast Boy set up most of the decorations. I even repaired and upgraded Robo-Me so you wouldn't notice I was gone on shopping trips."

During the explanation, Starfire's expression had gradually lifted to her usual joyous face. Now her eyes were watering with unshed tears, and she crushed her friends in a massive bear hug.

"Oh dearest friends! I am filled with the shaggy sensations to hear that you engaged in the devious sneaking around for my sake! I am very grateful, but, you should not have gone to such trouble for me. I had forgotten it myself."

When she finally released them from her hold, Beast Boy fell to the floor in a boneless heap, hacking and wheezing, while Cyborg surreptitiously checked for dents. Raven lifted her hood to hide her pained expression. Robin was the only one who was able to ignore the suspicious cracking sounds coming from his ribcage, putting on his bravest face for her.

"I think you mean fuzzy feelings, and it wasn't some kind of burden. We wanted to do this for you. Over a year ago, your trip to the future showed us that, without you around, the Titans are pretty much done for. This is the least we could do."

"Then I will accept your offer without guilt. Raven, what did you contribute to this endeavor?"

The mage in question had already started drifting towards the couch, her eyes flicking between Starfire's overly expressive visage and the book of poetry lying tantalizingly near the edge of the table. "…I took you to the pet store to see the kittens so that the boys could finish preparing. I think I deserve the most credit of all."

While he was getting older, Beast Boy was still young, and therefore was prone to gaps in memory. "Hey, no way dude! I totally deserve the most credit! I'm the one who came up with all the party ideas in the first place!"

"Beast Boy, the only halfway coherent idea you contributed was that we should invite Jessica Simpson and Jessica Alba. Which got vetoed."

"And how come?! They woulda been the life of the party!"

"They would have been the life of your party. Which, I'll remind you, was two months ago at the Dayton Manor. You seemed fine without them, anyway."

Beast Boy kicked at the floor, grumbling something about lost chances and party poopers.

"Ahem," Robin got everyone's attention. "Now that that's been cleared up, why don't we actually start this party? What do you want to do first, Star? Food? Games? Presents?"

"I am getting rather hungry, so could we please begin with the repast?"

Naturally, Cyborg was ecstatic. "Ah yeah, baby! It's time for Cyborg's Patented Stairway to Heaven Feast of Heroes©! You won't even know what hit you until you're too far gone to care! I've got ribs, hot dogs, burgers, steaks, smoked ham, turkey, chicken, and even some Tamaranean foods whose names I can't even pronounce! All tasted and approved by yours truly. Now dig in!"

Cyborg waved his large arms dramatically in the direction of the kitchen table, drawing attention to a spread that could have fed an entire football team. Even Beast Boy couldn't help but stare, though he recovered quickly and narrowed his eyes menacingly at the table.

"Easy there, green bean. Robin, fearless leader that he is, made a whole pile of that tofu junk for you. So quit glarin' at my masterpiece."

"Oh. I knew that."

"Uh-huh."

"I did. It's easy to tell the food of the gods from your blasphemous stuff."

"Blasphemous?! Now you're gonna get it, ya little gremlin!"

"You two keep it up and you're going to miss out on all the 'fun.'"

Raven's warning was like a switch. Both fell silent and made for the table, as if the argument hadn't even happened. Raven, however, hung her head.

She just knew that things would get messy.


When all was said and done, Raven was surprised. They had somehow managed to keep the mess confined to the table, though not for lack of trying. She had been more than a little wary of sticking her hand out, lest servo powered jaws or beastly appendages take it off. Once finished, she and Robin had done a quick clean-up, using telekinesis and an unusually dexterous combination of a sponge and dish soap to clear the table and get everything in the dish washer in less than five minutes.

Just long enough for their now bloated friends to burp the alphabet. Many…many…many times.

"Okay, dudes and dudettes! It's time for Starfire to claim her bounty! Star, you know you wanna open mine first. I guarantee you'll love it better than everyone else's."

"Yeah, nothing says 'We love you' better than a gift certificate."

"Hey! I so did not get her a gift card! Just watch Raven. You'll be green with envy."

Raven could only raise an eyebrow in response.

Intrigued, Starfire proceeded to unwrap the man-sized lump of crumpled, neon pink wrapping paper that Beast Boy had indicated. Much to her delight, a large number of cuddly stuffed kittens tumbled out. All dyed green.

"Just in case everyone's favorite superhero isn't around to pet."

"I wasn't aware that the Man of Steel gets petted." was the droned response.

She picked up and hugged each and every one of the stuffed animals before wrapping the green changeling in an enormous embrace. Beast Boy was once again left gasping for air.

"Top…top that." was the satisfied challenge from the floor.

"As you wish."

Raven handed Starfire a box wrapped in simple blue. Inside the box was a collection of DVDs and VHS'. Starfire let out a slow gasp, wonder creeping onto her face.

"Snow White and the Seven DwarvesBambiBeauty and the Beast…Oh, thank you dear friend! They are wonderful!"

"There's a lot more. You didn't get to the bottom."

Starfire rifled through the stack at Raven's suggestive tone, freezing when she reached the bottom. The Titans could faintly see her trembling at what she saw. She reached in and tenderly withdrew the object of her attention, cradling it like a newborn child.

"…The Little Mermaid...an original release video cassette…"

"It took me forever to win a bid on eBay for that one. I thought you might li-GUH!"

Raven was suddenly tackled to the floor by her best friend, who started nuzzling her cheek to cheek, exclamations of, "Glorious!" and, "Most thankful!" periodically escaping her mouth. This continued for a good minute until the boys managed to pry the excited Tamaranean off of the petite sorceress.

"Okay," Cyborg was ready to show off again, "now that Raven's had her daily snuggle points, I think it's time to move on to the main event. Here's my gift to you. Get ready to flip your lid, girl."

Cyborg picked up a silver wrapped box that was as large as an SUV, setting it in front of Starfire for examination. No one was sure how they hadn't noticed it before. Starfire didn't exactly care.

"Indeed, I shall prepare myself for the 'tossing of the cover'. It is certainly large, is it not? Perhaps it conceals a space faring vessel of some kind."

She tore into the paper, in similar fashion to the table manners they had glimpsed on Tamaran. Glossy shreds went everywhere.

SPARKLESHINEGLITTER!

The Titans' eyes were assaulted by reflected light that made the not-quite-setting sun seem dim by comparison. After taking a moment to adjust to the glare, they dared to look again. Sitting in front of them was a collection of assorted technology that made Robin wonder, not for the first time, where Cyborg got his income. At first glance, he spotted a flat-screen TV that had to be at least sixty inches, a set of surround sound speakers and a subwoofer, and a pair of what looked like noise canceling headphones. All sporting Cyborg's signature white and transparent blue paneling that identified his handmade creations. The Boy Wonder tore himself away from the extravagant display to catch the end of his second-in-command's characteristically over the top sales pitch.

"…and a media player that supports any format, including vinyl and your new video cassettes. All custom built by me, for you. You'll never need to buy another entertainment center ever again."

Beast Boy was crawling, hands and knees, towards the pile of electronics. He had an expression of something like worship plastered on his face as he slowly reached a shaking hand out, "Nyah…it's so shiny…"

"Though I am curious as to what sickly vines are, there is something else I would like to ask. Please, why would such a system be so necessary that I would, 'be living in a proverbial hell without it'?"

Cyborg smacked away Beast Boy's hand, leveling a glare at the metamorph that Robin couldn't help but be proud of. "Uh-uh, BB. Ain't no way you're touchin' Star's present. I heard about how you single handedly bankrupted Gamestation Labs when you were tryin' to buy a moped. Now we're never gonna get our hands on that superhero fighting game. Looked so awesome, too…"

Cyborg and Beast Boy both sulked at being newly reminded of their tragic loss, though Cyborg kept kicking Beast Boy in the shin. Purely by accident of course.

Starfire had been wiggling back and forth for the last minute, trying to rein in her curiosity. Nature got the best of her. "Um, your attention please?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, Star. Heh, sorry 'bout that. Anyway, it was Raven who gave me the idea. I found out what she was getting you, so I thought you should be able to watch your new movies with the best equipment, on your own time. Now you won't have to worry about the rest of us using the TV out here."

'And maybe it'll spare us from any more documentaries about mustard or fungus,' was the continued thought from all four human/part human Titans.

"Oh, that is most considerate of you! I will be sure to view my new collection of the motion pictures on my new telling vision while cuddled up with Silkie and my new green fuzzies!" Starfire was, naturally, overjoyed. She was currently looping and spinning about in the air while singing praises to her friends.

"And Robin, what manner of gift have you chosen to bestow upon me?" The Tamaranean girl had made a complete one-eighty from her behavior mere moments ago, suddenly quiet and reserved, and apparently unable to look her leader in the eye.

If anything, Robin was the worse off of the two: he had frozen in place, his eyes were as wide as could be behind his mask, and it appeared that his tongue had somehow become stuck to the roof of his mouth.

"Uh…well…um…"

'Oh, good start there Boy Wonder.'

"I couldn't figure out what to get you for a while, so, I hope you like it." Oh great, she was giving him that look. The look that said she cared for him oh so much. That look always threw him off balance. Even after nearly two years on the same team, it still had the power to bring his brain to a complete halt.

"Whatever it is, I am sure it is wonderful." And there it was. Her emerald eyes as large as baseballs, promising eternal adoration for him, no matter how terrible his gift might be.

Just as Robin was taking a package out of the cupboards that was rather modest in size compared to the other gifts…

WRI! WRI! WRI!

"Trouble!" Robin ran over the main computer, rapidly typing in commands to isolate and identify the threat.

TAKATATAKATATAKATATAKATATA.

"What do we got Rob? The Hive Five?" Cyborg was doing a diagnostic of his energy and ammunition reserves. Raven levitated her hood up over her head. Beast Boy flexed his hands into faux claws and bared his elongated canines. Starfire spared a moment to gaze at her single unopened present before lifting into the air and subtly stretching her muscles.

"No, they're still on ice in Belle Reeve." Robin was still typing madly at the computer, several dots beginning to appear on the city map as news reports flooded in.

TAKATA TAK TAKATA TAKATA TAK.

"They finished with those upgrades to the cell's yet?"

"According to the reports I've been receiving, they're just two days away from completion. Then we can transfer them here from Belle Reeve. There!"

TAK! The Titan leader hit one last key, mapping out where and what the threat to the city was.

"Seven attacks?! Since when do bad guys coordinate like that?" Beast Boy shrieked at city map.

"Where were you the last three months?" Raven, as usual, had a response.

"Oh, it gets better. Look at what the trouble is."

Robin pulled up a profile from the Titans' database, complete with full color photographs. The gathered heroes gazed upon a body that they knew from several days worth of experience was roughly eight feet tall. Completely white, aside from the black and white face with robotic red eyes. The same strange robot that had given them the run around after they had finally come home.

"Aw, man."

"Du-ude, I hate that thing."

"I had thought we had eliminated that rather tiresome machine."

"A single one of those adapting robots gave us the worst runaround we've had in a long time. You're telling me we have to deal with seven of them? I'm going to be meditating for days to ease off that kind of stress."

"Stress or no stress, we've got a job to do. Starfire, Beast Boy. I want you two to take out the Adapter near the Sunset Mall. At this hour, people are going to be crowding up the stores and restaurants there and in the surrounding area. Raven, you're going after the one that's attacking the Cloudline Bridge. Cyborg and I are going to stop the one in Mahogany Park. Notify me when you're done and I'll direct you to the next one. Titans, Go!"

Party forgotten, the Teen Titans rushed out of the Main Room to their assignments. All except Starfire, who lingered in the doorway and looked forlornly at her only unopened present.

"Starfire…"

The alien princess turned to see that Robin had also hesitated, and was looking rather downcast himself. "Yes?"

"…I'll give it to you as soon as we get back." A meeting of the eyes.

"…Promise?" A slight smile.

"Promise." A full blown grin.

After a short pause, both headed in opposite directions; Starfire for the roof, Robin for the garage.

Neither had stopped smiling.


As the Titans headed their separate ways to deal with their assigned targets, four other areas in particular would not be seeing any Teen Titans quite so soon.

Pier 23.

A suburban neighborhood on Green Dolphin Street.

The Nucor Steel mill.

And Lead Street. Jump City's very own Suicide Slum.

One of the soon-to-be infamous Adapters was wreaking havoc on the already ragged houses of Lead Street. People of many skin colors and native languages ran screaming as ramshackle house after ramshackle house was turned to scrap, momentarily forgetting their usual prejudice against those superficially different from themselves. One in particular was following the crowd, though he was noticeably less urgent than the rest, and periodically stopped to look back at the robotic menace.

'Damn, why did I ever think coming here was a good idea? This sort of thing is too high profile for what I had in mind. There is no way I'm staying here much longer.'

No one seemed to notice the young man in the oversized hooded jacket, as wearing several layers of clothes that were too big was relatively common in the area, whether they were worn by a gang member or a homeless man. While he would have stood out horribly in a middle- or high-class neighborhood, he was completely in the ordinary here. Which was exactly what he wanted. He was just glad that no one had looked down to see the black combat boots that weren't quite concealed by his massive pants.

'Well, now what? I could ignore it, it's not like anyone would expect me to do anything. Or…' He watched as the Adapter suddenly grabbed up a teenager wearing a red bandana and threw him several blocks. The boy ragdolled his way down the sidewalk before finally being stopped by a tree. If the visitor's guess was right, one arm was dislocated, several ribs and a femur were broken, and the opposite ankle had been twisted. He probably had a concussion too. Maybe even internal bleeding from that last impact.

'Now it's attacking people, not just property. Guess that settles it. Damn it, Will! Why the hell did you volunteer for this?!'

Will looked both ways, and then ducked into an alley. When several more people ran in to hide from whatever it was that was destroying their neighborhood, the alley was empty but for multitudes of trash cans, bags, and dumpsters.

And a large hooded jacket with matching denim pants.


Author's Note: I'd like to say hello to everyone who was kind enough to read my work.

This is my first fan fiction ever. In fact, it's the first fiction I've written since a seventh grade English assignment. Given that I'm in my third year of college now, you'll understand why my writing may seem horribly stiff and clumsy. I feel like my dialogue doesn't flow very well, especially between the entire team at once.

This idea has actually been cooking in my head since Easter of 2007 when, during a three hour mass (my parents are the religious ones, not me), I became so bored that I invented an original character that would join the Titans. After a few months, I came up with Will, who you will start learning about in the next few chapters. His personality and abilities intrigued me so much that I made him the main character, with the first one becoming a secondary character, though he'll still appear later and become important in his own right.

I'm planning this to be a rather long story, though not to the extent of Post's These Black Eyes, but longer than Lord Belgarion's Titans' Song. Those two fics were my direct inspirations for my own OC story. For those of you who caught the reference, Superhero Smackdown belongs to Lord Belgarion. I couldn't resist. By the way, if Post (or someone currently in contact with him) reads this, it would be awesome if he could repost and continue his story. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who nearly fell out of my seat when all of his works were removed. I'm sincerely hoping that he only deleted them in order to revise them, like what Lord Belgarion did recently.

This story will also be slightly AU, though not much. The changes I made dealt with backstory, rather than actual plot points. As such, I have to disregard the Teen Titans Go! Comics, as some of the stories would directly contradict my changes. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, these backstory changes deal with two cases of secret identity. I'm not making any personality changes, just some minor identity switching so that the Titans are part of the DCAU. I'm also leaving out Titans in Tokyo. To incorporate it would mean changing what happened in the movie, having it happen in the background, or having it happen before my story. I loath changing canon (those identity changes I mentioned were like pulling teeth) and I don't like keeping major events in the background unless I'm deliberately trying to keep up a mystery. All three options felt like major copouts on the RobxStar element. I want to try my hand at romance, so in end, it had to go.

For the last subject of this absurdly long author's note, I'm looking for someone to beta my stuff. I have a very knowledgeable reference when it comes to anything comic book related, but I'm fairly certain that he doesn't read fan fiction much, if at all. Even if I do get any offers, I might not necessarily choose any of them. I have a very high standard when it comes to reading fan fiction, and as such will have a very high standard for my own writing. The problem is that something I think might be good out of bias might really be as lame as a quadriplegic, or a joke about a quadriplegic. I need someone to be able to point those mistakes out, so I'll be looking at examples of writing before I make a decision. Someone who can not only correct my mistakes, but also suggest ways to accomplish certain events smoothly would be much appreciated. So, really, what I need is something like a co-author, rather than just a proofreader. Any constructive criticism or compliments left in reviews are welcomed. Flames will be ignored, unless I find it really funny or constructive in their own childish way. If someone wants to get in contact with me to discuss something at length, let me know in a review and I'll figure something out, like AIM or something.

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think. I hope to see you all again soon!