5 Years Ago

It was a gruesome scene. The police had arrived at the New Jersey house shortly after 9 o'clock one cold December night to follow up on a call from the neighbors concerning a suspicious character leaving the residence. What they found was beyond anything they had ever seen.

One man, one woman, and one teenaged girl from across town had been discovered at the dining room table with their throats slit and their hands on the table palms up. Their eyes had been gouged out and placed in their left hand and their tongues cut out and placed in the right. And on the table, drawn in their blood, were the remnants of some ritualistic symbol. It had been partially smeared away by the time they had arrived, but the police could still make out the outline of the pentagram and a few of the runes in each of the points; but what it was or what it was for was far beyond the scope of their expertise.

Most curious was the man and woman's son. The police found him alone, huddled in a corner of the kitchen, eyes wide with terror, body frozen the scene that had unfolded around him. He was just a teenager having his best friend over to his house for dinner with his family, and as far as the police could tell they were all normal and nothing had been stolen. They had no ties to any crime syndicate to speak of, no history of crime, not even a second-degree connection to anyone connected to any crime of worth.

But the boy, why had he been left alive and unharmed without a drop of blood on him? At first the police were worried that he may have been the perpetrator of this crime, but it didn't add up. How could a thirteen-year-old boy do this? How could it be possible? All evidence pointed to the victims having been killed where they sat with no sign of struggle, almost as if they had done it to themselves.

With a long list of questions that needed answering, they walked the boy out of his house with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and led him to a car that would take him to the station.

As the police and the ambulances let the scene, and as the small crowd of locals dispersed, the boy looked out the window at the house as it disappeared on the horizon. It had begun to snow.

Present Day (3 Years after the Events In Tokyo)

Chapter 1:

It was a warm April day in Jump City and the Titans had convened in the living room of Titan tower. "Are you sure about this?" Robin, in uniform, asked, "It won't be the same without you guys."

"Don't worry, man, I'll be back before you know it," Cyborg smiled, "But this is one mega systems upgrade, and I don't have the tools I need to get the job done here. I'll have to stick around Titans East headquarters for the time being, but when I'm back I will be better then ever…booyah!" Cyborg's enthusiasm eased some of the tension the Titans had been feeling at the separation.

"And you as well," Starfire said to Beast Boy and Raven whilst Robin shook hands and exchange a few more pleasantries with Cyborg. She hovered over to the two and pulled them both in tight with one big hug, "We will miss you so much."

Beast Boy was quick to show the pained expression on his face as Starfire's amazing strength made it hard to breathe, but Raven, ever the stoic, help a calm demeanor, despite internally screaming for air, "Thanks, Starfire," she gasped out and her teammate released them.

Robin stepped forward and held out a hand for Beast Boy, "You'll do great establishing a Titan's branch in Europe." He shook Beast Boy's hand and offered the same gesture to Raven, "Have you settled on a location for the new base?" His hand lingered for a moment before the two separated.

"Oh yeah. London, baby," Beast Boy exclaimed, and Raven let out a small chuckle. It was a rare sight to see, but Beast Boy's antics had been the only thing that consistently made Raven laugh when pain wasn't involved.

"Well just remember, all of you," Robin cracked his normally serious expression and adopted a heartfelt smile as the reality of his friends', his family's departure was underway, "If you ever need help, we're just a call away."

"And do not be afraid to visit. I will be sure to always have Glorrk prepped for your arrival." The four other Titans did their best to hide their fear of Starfire's Tamaranean cuisine, with only Raven fully accomplishing the task, but the alien girl hardly noticed their reactions.

And with a few unspoken gestures of good will, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg left Titan Tower, leaving Robin and Starfire alone.

Neither spoke for a few minutes. Robin took a seat on the couch and turned on the TV, and Starfire watched the skies, hoping to catch one last glimpse of her friends, but had no luck, so she joined Robin on the couch. Worried about her friends and what the near future held, she moved closer to Robin, "Do you think everything will be all right?"

Robin, who hadn't been paying attention to the television, was wondering the same thing, "I don't know," he hung his arm over Starfire's shoulder and pulled her in closer. He justified the action by focusing on Starfire's uncertainty about the change, but he knew that he was just as worried. He was just too stubborn to be as open about it, "But we're not exactly kids anymore. We have to learn to handle things on our own so that we can do more good for this world."

Starfire, comfortably nestled into Robin's shoulder, pushed away and looked at him with worry in her eyes, "But Robin, does that mean that we will one day have to be apart?"

Robin looked in her eyes and assured her, "No," he cradled her cheek in his hand and marveled at her beauty. How odd it was to think that this girl, an alien who had landed in his city on the day he arrived, would be there with him years later, through thick and thin, "We have each other. And so long as we have each other, we can do anything," he pulled Starfire in for a kiss and she collapsed onto him as he lay down on the couch.

But their moment of solitude was to be short lived as a thundering crash shattered one of the large windows to the living room, and in swung a man in a woman, dressed in matching blue suits and top hats, "As I said, milady," he announced as he twirled a cane in his fingers, "the Titans have left."

"And you were right, my good sir," the woman stood beside the man and tapped the ground thrice with her cane. Both of them were completely oblivious to the two current, very frustrated occupants of the room, "But let us hurry, before they—"

"Return?" Robin interrupted as he and Starfire stood, arms crossed, angry scowls on their faces, and the Man and Woman's faces were instantly drained of all color.

"I..I..I…" the man stammered.

"Thought we had left?" Robin finished for him, "Yeah. Tough luck. We're here to stay." The intruders were glued to the spot. They thought they could come in and take the tower before anyone else laid claim to it. Their intel had told them that all of the titans were leaving Jump City. "Here's how it's going to go. You're going to get on your knees and surrender, and we'll drop you off at the prison. Or," Robin cracked his knuckles with a devilish grin as Starfire's eyes glowed green, "you can fight, Starfire and I will beat you, and then we'll drop you off at prison. What do you say?"

The pair of dapper intruders looked at each other for a moment and without speaking a word got on their knees and put their hands behind their heads. "You see?" Robin shot a smile back at Starfire, "We got this."


Unbeknownst to the Titans, something was coming to the city. Something seemingly unremarkable that would shake the very foundation of what they stood for and threaten everything they held dear.

A bus pulled into the station at Jump City and the passengers quickly exited the vehicle. Among them was a young man: dirty blond hair, tall, built like a cross country runner, with naught but the clothes on his back and a few meager possessions held within his backpack. "Hmm," he uttered as he put on a pair of sunglasses and looked at the massive Titans Tower in the distance. Without another thought toward the structure he followed the crowd into the heart of the city.