*ATTENTION! ATTENTION!* Despite the fact that this is a Teen Titans fanfic, I have managed to sneak in one or two characters under the radar to give BB and his gang a little help. Hopefully, you'll like them. If you don't, well...not much I can do about that ;). Please read and review, and I will get the next set of chapters up in a sort while. Enjoy!

"So, are we up for blood and guts tonight, or are we feeling a little romantic?"

These were the first words to roll off of Beast Boy's tongue in nearly a half-hour, and he immediately knew that he was going to regret them.

A half-hour before, he had suggested to his friends, the superhero team better known as the Teen Titans, that they take a night off from battling ne'er-do-wells and take in a movie at the theater located in downtown Titan City, nearby the local pizza joint. Seemed like a good idea at the time…

Fifteen minutes later, the Cy-Car pulled up alongside the theater. That's when everything started going downhill. It seemed that Cyborg's old team, the Teen Titans East, had stopped in town in preparation to see a national stand-up comedy show featuring comics from across the world – and a few from across the galaxy. Unfortunately, they had picked this night, at this exact time, to see a movie at the theater. Even worse, there were still some residual grudges between the two Titan teams, the main one being that Bumblebee felt that Robin's team was hogging up all the spotlight for themselves.

"You're stealing all our thunder!" That's exactly how Speedy had worded his concern. With that, the two teams began a blame game, insulting one another while simultaneously trying to rep their own group.

Beast Boy sighed, shaking his head in embarrassment. This had been going on for the past fifteen minutes, bringing time all the way up until he had said that fateful line. Now, the eyes of the Titans East and West were upon him like hawks. Granted, BB was all for getting attention, but as of this moment he felt like a criminal mere moments away from execution. Summing up all his courage, he decided to play referee.

"Listen, guys," he began, slowly. "The movies start in five minutes, and none of you are making anything easier by causing such a big scene –" the speech was interrupted by a loud RRRRRR sound. It seemed that the Titan's stomach had chosen this moment to speak up in defense of its' owner. " – plus, I'm getting really hungry," he added, in a whiny voice, before continuing. "So, why don't we just shake hands, go inside, choose a film, buy some Swedish Fish and a couple of Iccees, and we'll leave everything at that, okay?"

The silence was deafening as the Titans considered what had been said. Beast Boy fidgeted, feeling a lot like a guy who had just farted on an elevator and was now trying to pass the blame…only this wasn't as funny.

Finally, Robin broke the silence. "You know, BB's right," he said to the others. "There's no need for any of this. We should stop trying to one-up each other and just enjoy our night off for a change."

"Oh, really?" Bumblebee scoffed, clearly annoyed. "So, the big bad Titan leader is just going to listen to the lowest guy on the totem pole?"

The Boy Wonder narrowed his eyes into slits. "At least I listen and consider ideas that are proposed to me by my teammates, One-Girl-Army!" he shot back.

The girl's face burned, but her tongue remained just as sharp. "What's that supposed to mean, Bird-Boy?" she quipped.

Now it was Robin's face that was burning. "Don't call me that!" he shouted, angrily.

"Cu-Caw! Cu-Caw!" Speedy called out jokingly, flapping his arms up and down like wings. "Look at the pretty birdie!"

"Who are you callin' 'birdie'?" Raven growled, her eyes glowing white from beneath her hood.

With that, the shouting and the accusations starting flying once again. Seeing all his hard work go to waste, Beast Boy threw his hands up in despair.

"Well, I tried," he muttered to himself as he turned and headed inside the theater.

The refuge of the movie theater provided some relief from the noise outside, but did nothing to stem the indignity of a bunch of superheroes throwing insults at one another like a playground throwdown. Beast Boy could feel his face growing redder as other people were staring at him. On any other day, it would have been him embarrassing the Teen Titans, not the other way around. Now he understood how they felt when he was doing something stupid. Still, at least he has escaped the blame game…

"Hey, where do you think you're off to, 'Garfield'?" a voice called out mockingly from behind him. The shape shifter grimaced. So much for that.

"Man, what do you want with me?" he asked, turning around.

As he expected, there stood Aqualad, now a member of Teen Titans East, and formerly the guy who had shown up Beast Boy on more than a few occasions. He had a few habits which annoyed the Titan, the main one being his ability to make both Raven and Starfire swoon with his very appearance and hang on his every word. Beast Boy couldn't get that type of attention from them if he were on fire. As far as this guy was concerned, BB was certain he was no Antonio Banderas. At Aqualad's side was none other than Tremm the Fishboy, his perpetual shadow.

"Nice little speech outside there, champ," the aquatic superhero said, smirking. "To be honest, I was just waiting for you to screw it up."

"I don't need your help with that!" The words flew off of Beast Boy's tongue before his brain had a chance to proofread them.

That remark sent Aqualad and Tremm into a bout of laughter. "No, I guess you don't after all, eh, BB?" the boy said, smiling.

The shape shifter just sighed, and mentally kicked himself for allowing himself to be played like that. This was going to be a long night.

"…and another thing-" Robin's mouth shut as he heard footprints scurrying through the alleyway near the theater. The boy knew that nobody goes for a evening jog through the backstreets of Titan City unless they either had a death wish or were up to something a little less kosher.

"Guys, did you hear that?" he asked quietly, looking around.

"Boy, the only thing I can hear is the mindless dribble coming out of your mou-!" Bumblebee was cut off as Robin uttered a loud "SHHH!" and put his finger up – the universal code for 'shut up, something's happening'. However, this served only to piss the Titan off even more. "Boy, Don't you 'SHHH' me!" she said, defiantly.

"Just shut up and LISTEN!" The Boy Wonder hissed through his clenched teeth.

For a few moments, the two bickering teams fell silent, their ears open to catch all the sounds around them, waiting for something that could mean trouble. However, the footsteps Robin had heard had faded into the night, and the city seemed nearly as quiet as they were.

"Well, that was certainly a complete waste of time-!" Raven's words were cut off as the teens were enveloped in a blinding white light emanating from the alleyway. Temporarily blinded, Robin quickly shielded his eyes with his cape, as Raven followed suit by pulling her hood down. The others were not as fortunate.

"AHHH! Jeez! Stupid night vision mode," Cyborg yelled, clutching his face. "Why'd I ever install that da-!" The voice trailed off as the mechanical man's silhouette disappeared from the light.

"CYBORG!" Robin called out. As he reached out, he saw both Bumblebee and Speedy sink back into the dark void beyond the light. "What's happening! Guys, report!"

"Robin, we need a way out of heeerreeeee!" Raven cried out as two hands gripped her shoulders. Within a moment, she was gone, along with Mas and Menos.

As the Titan finally found his bearings, he turned – only to see Starfire struggling against an unseen force. "ROBIN!" she screamed "HELP!" But it was too late. The Boy wonder watched helplessly as the Tamaranean disappeared into the blackness.

"STARFIRE!" he shouted, charging towards the point where she had slipped away. However, he only got a few steps before the back of his head exploded in immense pain, forcing him to the ground.

Then… darkness.