"Titans, go!"

Within seconds, the team of five spread out, each was covering an escape route. Other than the fighting, the dock was fairly silent and the night air was calm and still.

Robin ran past several tall metal boxes, undetected by the figure they were chasing. The creature was busied and distracted by the green glows being shot at him from the sky, the blue glows from behind him, the black bird and a green bear in close pursuit behind him.

The creature ran unsuspectingly to the right, getting out of the way of the four pursuers behind him, but running into the fifth waiting behind the boxes. Robin came at him with his staff held over his head as he readied to bring it down forcefully on the creature, but he grabbed it with his clawed hand as it came down and lifted Robin effortlessly off of the ground. He snarled viciously, its drool covered fangs glinting in the light of the moon, but he did not attack. Instead, he tossed the stick Robin clung to and began running again, looking for a spot he could take a moment to rest at.

Robin jumped up off the ground, dismissing the aching shoulder he had received during his fall and began chasing after the beast again.

"Robin! He is cornered," Starfire yelled from the sky, pointing down at the dead end the creature had inadvertently run into.

The Titans came to the dead end and stood at the entrance, ensuring that the creature had nowhere to go. As they approached, the creature turned to them and spoke something.

"What did he say?" Cyborg asked.

"Maybe he's talking in wolf," Beast Boy suggested. He morphed into a wolf and attempted to communicate with the creature, but it appeared to be as confounded by his woofs and whines as they had been at his own speech.

"Alright, that's enough. Cybrog, net him," Robin said.

Cyborg lifted his gun to fire when the wolf suddenly lashed out, but not at any of them. Instead, he sliced at thin air. To the Titans surprise, he actually created a tear. It opened what looked like a entrance, which the wolf immediately jumped into, disappearing.

Having little time to think it through, Robin ran to the tear and jumped inside as well. Beast Boy and Starfire followed him quickly, but Cyborg and Raven were a bit more hesitant to jump into a tear in the world leading who knew where.

As they entered, Beast Boy and Cyborg screamed in panic at the sight of an endless black nothingness, yet they did not fall. There were swirls of green and purple like clouds and several islands of broken rock glowing ominous neon green.

"Whoa! Where are we?" Beast Boy thought aloud, waving his hands and legs around in alarm as he floated weightlessly in the air. When it finally occurred to him he wasn't going to fall, he took the opportunity to air-swim around in circles, laughing to himself at the freedom. "This place is awesome!"

Cyborg and Robin- also unaccustomed to flight- waved around unsteadily, the surprise of having not fallen taking a moment to pass.

Starfire gasped with delight. "Oh, Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, you are flying! This is truly wonderful," she said.

"Raven, do you know where we are?" Robin asked, gaining control of himself and floating around uncomfortably.

She shook her head. "I've never seen any place like it," she said with her usual dull tone.

"Hey, Robin. I saw the wolf!" Cyborg said, pointing at one of the larger islands. Robin began thrusting his arms and chest out in attempts to move, but was finding it difficult. Finally Starfire grabbed a hold of his arms and carried him towards the island. Beast Boy morphed into a pterodactyl and grabbed Cyborg. Raven followed behind them, glancing around cautiously.

Beast Boy and Starfire dropped their load onto the island and landed beside them. Raven fell softly to the ground as well and began scanning the area. "Something's here."

Robin looked at her and then around the island. It was mostly covered in tall jagged rocks and boulders that would be easy enough to hide from, but as he continued his inspection, he noticed the remains of what would have been a black castle. "That wolf must be hiding in those ruins over there."

The team headed cautiously over to the towering remnants of the ancient structure. Raven ran her hand across a burn mark on one of the black stone walls thoughtfully. "There was a battle," she said.

"Who won?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't know. I wasn't there."

"Cyborg, over there," Robin said, pointing to a mound of boulders. Something had moved behind them. Cyborg replaced his hand with his gun and the two began guardedly approaching the rubble. Beast Boy followed behind them, bouncing around with the hyper energy he always somehow maintained.

Raven meanwhile left to what looked like the remains of a doorway and began to read the inscriptions above the frame.

Starfire was about to join Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy but stopped when she heard something like a whisper behind her. She turned and looked around, but saw nothing. Yet as she turned to leave, she heard it again, but this time she was able to make it out.

"Help me…"

Starfire's eyes darted from one place to another in search of the voice, but saw nothing. "Hello? Is someone there?"

"Help me."

Starfire entered a fairly intact room where she thought she had heard the voice. Inside she found it completely empty except for a rusted metal cell. Within it was a tall block of ice. She stared at it, wondering how it wasn't melting when the voice spoke once again.

"Please. Help me."

"Where are you?" Starfire asked. She opened the door to the cell with ease, the hinges breaking at the slightest touch and falling to the ground. She entered, her breath immediately puffing out in smokes from the ice. Her question was answered when she felt something cold touch her arm. She jumped back in alarm. She looked at the ice and gasped at the sight of a man frozen within. He looked to be in his thirties or so, but his figure was terribly sickly and malnourished.

"Oh my!" she floated daintily to the ice and stared in at him. "Are you alright? Here, let me help you." She tapped the ice to test the thickness. "You poor man."

"Yes… pity me. Pity this poor, pitiful wretch doomed to eternal, agonizing peace," he said angrily. "Please, help me."

"Do not worry. I will get you out," she said, inspecting the ice. If she was careful, she could blast him out easily. Stepping back, she aimed her hands at the ice block. "Hold still…" she blasted it, sending pieces of ice rocketing through the air. She put her arms in front of her face to guard herself from the shards.

The man collapsed weakly to the ground. Starfire went helped him effortlessly to his feet. He looked at her gratefully, a charming smile crossing his face.

"Thank you, my friend."

"Oh, I am Starfire."

"Thank you, Starfire," he said.

"What is your name?" she asked conversationally.

"At the moment, I am Benjamin McElroy," he answered. He attempted to stand on his own, gesturing for her to release her hold on his arm. He tried to buckle his knees, but didn't have the strength to hold the bony body and he fell to the ground again. "Curse that loathsome Clockwork and his paltry Seers!" he growled with a tired sigh.

Starfire knelt down beside him, staring at him concernedly. "How long were you in there?"

"Tens of thousands of years, my friend," he said. "And I thank you greatly for freeing me from that contemptible ice-prison I was unjustly sentenced to spend eternity rotting in! You are a kind soul," he said. He nonchalantly placed his hand on her chest and kept it there for a moment as though he were checking something.

"You breathe?"

Starfire gently removed the hand and nodded. "Yes. Does not everyone?"

Benjamin smiled softly. "How did you come to be here?"

"My friends and I followed a wolf here."

"You have friends with you?"

She nodded.

"Do they breathe as you do?"

"Yes," she answered, giving the question little thought or suspicion.

"That's good to hear," he said. Once again, he tried to stand, but to no avail. He fell and Starfire caught him before he touched the ground. She put him down gently and stared at him sympathetically. "Who would do such a cruel thing?"

"A cruel man… now, would you help me yet again?"

Starfire nodded.

"My cane is standing frozen over there in the corner," he said, pointing a shaky finger towards the dark corner. There was another mound of ice, but instead of a man, there was a tall cane, much too tall for a man his size. "Would you please retrieve it for me?"

Starfire patted his back and went over to the corner. She held out her hands and shot the green glows from her hands, breaking the ice into more spear-shaped pieces. She covered her face as they passed and then grabbed the cane off of the floor. It had a handle at the top that was long enough for the man to place both hands on. She brought it from the corner and handed it to him.

The man took it gratefully and stared at it for a moment affectionately. Then with a swift, almost unseen movement of his hands, he squeezed the side of the cane just below the handle, releasing a sharp blade at the end. In another swift motion, he lifted it from the ground and jammed it into his chest, but not too deeply.

Starfire gasped in surprise. "Robin! Help!" she shouted, helplessly staring at the man. Strangely, he did not make a sound, nor winced. Instead, a smile passed over his lips and a sigh of pleasure left his mouth softly.

He gazed down at the bleeding wound for a few seconds, and then began to slice downwards, skillfully avoiding stabbing the blade too deeply. As he cut downwards, his heart became visible, an unmoving, deep red body-part sitting uselessly silent. The gaping wound suddenly became bordered by what looked like a blue bruise, but as Starfire stared in horror and surprise, it became clear that it was something completely dissimilar. The blue began spreading from the wound like water, traveling through his chest, up and down his arms and legs and up his neck to his face. As it passed like a burning flame, his eyes began changing as well. The dull brown became flooded with a glowing blood red color, covering the entire eye. His smile suddenly turned into a fanged grin. A snake-like tongue escaped from between the bottom and top teeth, tasting the air.

"Robin!" Starfire called again, turning around and scanning the area for him, but there was no reply. There was no sight of him anywhere. When she turned back around, her eyes went wide.

A tall, dark blue-skinned figure stood before her. He was almost a head taller than Cyborg. An exposed heart sat nestled in an open wound on his chest, freely bleeding green. The weak, sickly body had improved some. He had a better build, but was still unnaturally skinny. The face was that of an attractive thirty-year-old with red eyes and a fanged smile. The figure held a cane in his left hand and was leaning tiredly against it. The blade had disappeared back to where it had come from.

"Ah. Thank you!" he said, smiling with relief. He glanced down at his form with pleasure and then diverted his eyes up to hers. "I owe you greatly."

"What has happened to you!" Starfire asked, staring up at him confusedly.

"I have merely returned my strength. The man you released was a weak form. Now, you say you followed a wolf here?"

Starfire nodded, speechless.

"That wolf tears through space. His portal has most likely closed, so you will need to locate another. Where do you come from?"

"Jump City."

Benjamin pondered a moment. He reached down and picked up a relatively thin piece of stone. He then rubbed his fingers on it. Smoke rose from the stone slab as he moved his fingers gracefully over it. When he finished, he handed it to her. "There is a map to the portal you require. It will return you and your friends to Jump City. It is the least I can do to repay you for the kindness you have done for me. Follow the instructions precisely and they won't fail you. Now, go. I have very little time."

"Little time to what?"

He put his hands on her shoulders. "Go home and do not return."

"But-"

He glanced up as though he saw something.

Starfire looked around and saw Robin and Cyborg and Beast Boy coming towards them. "Oh. Do not worry. Those are my friends-" She looked back only to find that Benjamin McElroy was gone.

"Starfire! Where have you been?" Beast Boy asked in curiously.

"Yeah. We needed you back there. We lost track of the wolf."

Starfire turned around and stared at them, her eyes wide with bewilderment.

"Starfire, are you alright?" Robin asked, coming to her and placing his hand gently on her back.

"Yes. I am fine. It is only that-"

"Robin!"

He turned around as Raven approached.

"Find anything?"

She nodded. "I know where we are now."

"Where?"

"The world of the dead."

Robin's eyes widened and he looked around.

"What?! Does that mean we're dead, too?" Beast Boy asked fearfully, looking and pinching himself.

"No. But we should probably leave. We might disturb one of the spirits," Raven said.

"Okay. How do we get out of here, then?" Cyborg asked.

"Here."

Robin looked as Starfire handed him the stone slab Benjamin had given her. He examined it a moment, reading the instructions and following the map with his eyes. "Where did you get this?"

Not wanting to say that she had 'disturbed a spirit' and upset Raven, she answered hesitantly. "I… found it."

"What is it?" Beast Boy asked.

"It looks like a map."

"It will take us back home," Starfire said. "He- I mean, we should follow the instructions exactly," Starfire said, repeating the advice Benjamin had told her.

Robin stared at the slab a moment longer and then looked up at the limitless black sky. "Let's go."

Starfire grabbed hold of Robin, Beast Boy grabbed Cyborg and Raven flew solo, following the map- as was instructed- precisely. Finally, it led them to another tear. They flew into it, but not before Starfire had glanced back in time to catch a glimpse of Benjamin, waving her farewell. As soon as they had left, the tear closed.