Terra moaned, getting up on her hands and knees, looking around. She gasped at what she saw. Robin was lying on the ground a few feet away, his breathing labored, holding one of his legs. It took a moment to register that he was bleeding heavily. "Robin!" The shout came from Starfire as she ran to him. She screamed. "Terra! Come, we must help him!" Both girls crouched over their leader, and Terra saw that his leg wasn't just injured, it was missing.

She looked around desperately, and saw a teenage boy with light brown hair standing in the field. "Hey," she shouted at him. "Help us! Our friend's really hurt!" The boy turned, saw their situation, and came running. Why is he wearing Beast Boy's uniform? Terra thought. "What happened?" he asked, in a voice that matched Beast Boy's exactly. His green eyes widened when he saw Robin. "What did they do to you?" he asked, reaching for Robin's cape. "There was…somebody….called himself 'Truth…' said I needed to…pay a toll," Robin said between breaths. The teenage boy tore off Robin's cape and handed it to Terra, who used it to wrap up the stump that used to be Robin's leg.

All three of them lifted him off the ground, looking for someone else to help them. "There," said Starfire, pointing to girl with short black hair, who was looking down the side of a hill. "Excuse me, we need some help!" The girl turned and ran to help them. When she got closer, Terra saw that she had eyes that were almost purple in color, tough anyone less observant would've only seen blue.

The girl opened her hands, muttering "Azerath, Metrion, Xinthos." Nothing happened. Terra eyed the girl. "Raven?" she said, perplexed. The girl nodded, looking at her hands. "I guess that Truth thing was right. It took my powers." "Mine, too," said the boy helping them. "Beast Boy?" all three girls said in unison. The boy nodded.

The four carried their dying friend towards the sound of civilization. They emerged from the trees, finding themselves in the yard of a train station. The two people closest to them were a pair of teenage guys talking to each other. "Hey," called Terra, "help us! Please!" They both looked over and the one with shorter hair ran to get help, while his longer haired companion jumped off the platform.

The boy eyed the costumes they were wearing. "We were coming back from a costume party," said Beast Boy. "A, uh…a hunter thought he was a deer and threw a knife at him, then bolted when he saw it was a guy." The boy looked at them, clearly not buying this story.

"We gotta get him into a hospital," said the boy. "What's his name?" "Grayson," said Raven, "But we're not from here, so they won't have records on him." The boy sighed. "We'll take him to my girlfriend's house," he said. "She and her granny are doctors, along with automail mechanics." None of the Titans bothered asking what automail was.

They rushed inside, as the boy explained what had happened to a short, elderly woman. Within a few minutes, Robin was in their back room, as they tried to keep him alive. Now the four Titans were left sitting on a couch in the main room of this house, as the boy eyed them suspiciously. "Well," he said, "I'm Edward, my friends call me Ed. The guy you saw be talking to was my younger brother, Alphonse." "I'm Raven," said Raven, "and this is Terra, Skye, and Garfield."

Beast Boy shrunk down, blushing at the mention of his real name. Terra tried hard to keep herself from laughing. "Ed," called a girl's voice, "You'd better come see this." Ed left into the other room, and Terra couldn't hold it in anymore. She stared laughing, which only caused Beast Boy to blush even more. "Garfield?" she said. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "That's my real name, laugh it up." Starfire looked at Raven "Why did you choose the name 'Skye' for me?" Raven shrugged.

Ed came back into the main room, a grim look on his face. "I have to talk to you guys. Now." All the Titans bristled. "Your story doesn't match up with the way his leg is just gone," Ed started. "I know it was taken with alchemy." Terra fidgeted and Beast Boy squeezed her hand, reassuring her. "He attempted human transmutation, didn't he?" Ed asked.

"No," said Raven.

"Then what?"

"It's a long story…"

"We've got plenty of time."

Raven sat back in the couch, a smirk on her face. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you," she said. Ed crossed his arms. "Try me." This response came as a surprise to the Titans. Ed seemed like a perfectly normal teenage boy. Clearly, Terra thought, he's seen more than his fair share of danger. "How do you know it wasn't just a really sharp knife?" Terra asked, crossing her arms. Ed sighed. "Because I know from experience what limbs taken with alchemy look like," he said, rolling up his left pants leg.

The four teenager's eyes widened when they saw the gleaming metal where a human leg should be. "Now," Ed continued, "Tell me what happened. The truth." The Titans exchanged looks, and Beast Boy nodded. "OK, fine," Terra said. "We aren't from here. We're…we're from the other side of the gate." Ed stiffened, drawing in a breath. "Back home, we all had special abilities, like alchemy is here," Terra continued, "As payment, Truth took our powers. Ro- I mean, Grayson, was the only one who didn't have powers, so his leg was taken instead."

Ed nodded, showing that he understood. "What kind of powers?" he asked. "I could shape-shift," said Beast Boy, "Into any animal I've seen." "I could move the earth with my mind," Terra said. "I was telepathic, too," said Raven, "But I could move anything, and my powers were harder to control." The two girls shot loathing glances at each other. "I was very strong," said Starfire, "And I could fly, as well as shoot starbolts from my hands and eyes."

Ed looked at each one of them, probably assuming that everyone on the other side of the gate had powers similar to these. "Well," he finally said, "You guys are gonna need a place to stay while Grayson heals. We have an extra room with two beds." Terra quickly did the math. There were four of them, and only two beds. She glanced over at Beast Boy, whose entire face had turned red. Clearly, he had done the math, too.

"Did you attempt human transmutation? Is that how you lost your leg?" asked Starfire. Raven elbowed her in the ribs. Ed didn't turn to look at them. "Yeah," he said. "With Al, to bring back our mother." Terra thought of something, and asked "Did it work?" Ed turned then. "Human transmutations never work," he said seriously. "You can never pay enough in equivalent exchange to create a human soul, no matter how close you cut it with the body. It shouldn't be done because it can't be done."

Terra relaxed at this. It meant Slade had no hope of coming back.