Chapter 3

"Whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Will, holding the phone to her ear as she lay on her bed. "Slow down, Taranee. I can't understand anything you're saying. Something about Robin calling you, Ruby escaping from jail, and the Legion being here?"

On the other end, Taranee's voice crackled. "Yes. Ruby escaped and the Legion's tracked her here, to the 21st century. But I only saw Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, Phantom Girl, and Brainiac 5 when I contacted Titans Tower. Robin's asked us to help, but Brainy warned me about the possible complications."

"Like?" asked Will.

"Like us being away for long periods of time and getting thrown in for a wild ride with Ruby leading."

"He said that?"

"Not specifically, but I guessed. They all look pretty strained. I guess Ruby's been causing a whole lot of trouble."

Will leaned back thoughtfully, her mind whirring as she calculated the possible risks. "Well, that settles it", she said. "We're helping them, whether they like it or not."

"I knew you would say that!" exclaimed Taranee jubilantly. "That's why I went ahead and told them to count us in."

Will smiled. "I'm glad you did, but next time, warn me first before you do something like that."

"Okay", Taranee agreed. "Oh, by the way, we're all meeting tomorrow at Titans Tower."

"Did you say tomorrow?" inquired Will nervously as she twirled the phone wire around her finger.

"Yeah. Why, do you have something planned?"

"Actually, yes. Matt and I were planning to go on a picnic to celebrate the end of our latest mission in Kandrakar."

"Well, then, we're in a fix", said Taranee. "Unless you can figure out a way to be in two places at once."

Understanding what Taranee was implying, Will answered firmly, "No. I'm not using my astral drop. Not on Matt. And especially not now that he knows about us. I haven't used my astral drop on him since he found out about us."

"I understand", said Taranee. "But we've gotta be at that meeting. Bring him along. I'm sure he'd love to see the Titans and the Legionnaires again."

"I suppose…" Will sounded doubtful. "But I had to break most of our dates while we were dealing with Ari*. I don't want Matt to think I've got no time for him."

"He'll understand. Trust me. I bet he'd take a visit to Titans Tower over a picnic any day. He still hasn't seen it, you know."

"I know." Will sighed. "I'll meet you behind the Silver Dragon tomorrow at ten. Tell the others."

"Okay", said Taranee before she hung up. Then Will dialed Matt's number. It rang five times before he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Matt, it's Will. Listen, about our date tomorrow…"

"You're going to cancel it, right?" Matt sounded disappointed, but not very surprised.

"Yes – er, no, not really", said Will. "I mean, we can't go on our picnic, but…"

"What is it this time?" asked Matt. "Some disaster in Kandrakar involving the fate of the entire universe – again?"

"Would you just let me finish?" demanded Will. "I am not breaking our date, just changing the venue. How would you like to visit Titans Tower?"

"Are you serious!" exclaimed Matt. "You guys have told me so much about it I was getting really jealous. We're seriously going to Titans Tower tomorrow?"

Will grinned at Matt's response. "Yep. Unfortunately, though, it's not just a social visit. Ruby's escaped into the 21st century, and a few Legionnaires are here tracking her. They've asked us for help. If you're feeling up to it…"

"Now let's see…" said Matt in mock indecision. "Which would I rather prefer: you flying off to Kandrakar to fight some threat I can't help you with, or us teaming up with the Titans and the Legion to fight Ruby, whom I actually can help with?"

"I'm guessing that's a yes", said Will, giggling.

"You bet it's a yes! When and where are we meeting?"

"Behind the Silver Dragon, ten o' clock tomorrow. If you can grab hold of Caleb and pull him away from whatever video game he's stuck on now, bring him along too."

"Right", Matt agreed. "I'll be there – with or without Caleb – although I seriously doubt he's gonna turn down this opportunity."


Poison Ivy stepped out of the large hole in the broken concrete wall and patted her giant plant stalk.

"Wonderfully done, love", she said to it. She looked up at the moon, half-hidden behind a cloud, and then back at the bodies of the unconscious guards, and she laughed softly and wickedly.

"The fools. Did they really think they could hold me? Six months. They're getting sloppy." She started walking, but a sudden movement caught her eye. Slipping quickly into the shadows with her plant (which moved far more quietly for a thing of its size than some would think), she waited and watched.

"But why do we have to pass through Gotham City?" asked a plaintive feminine voice. "I don't like this place. It reeks of crime, even with the Batman here. Especially at night."

"We'd attract too much attention in the daytime", another voice, a young man's, replied.

"Which is why we usually take the continental interstate to get to Steel City."

"That's not the fastest way and you know it. Robin did say we have to get to Titans East as fast as possible."

At this, Ivy's curiosity grew, and she turned full attention on their conversation. So these two were Titans, were they?

"Shh!" the girl, obviously much closer now, warned. "You never know who or what might be around in this city. Even Ruby herself might be here – whoever she is."

Ivy involuntarily emitted a soft growl. So Ruby was back in the 21st century, eh? And for some reason, she was driving these two Titans into hiding. Why? Ivy thought about that for several seconds before she decided it wasn't important. She wanted revenge on Ruby, not figure out what her plans were. After all, that treacherous red-garbed woman had plucked her from Gotham City and the 21st century and strung her along, promising glory, conquest, and revenge if she went along with her scheme. And she had, and what had that brought her? Nothing! Ruby hadn't even allowed her to come out of that stupid warehouse until the big battle, forcing her to stay hidden until her say-so.

Well, she was done following along with Ruby's plans. They had brought her nothing but another six months in jail, a loss of revenge on Batgirl, and humiliation at the hands of new heroes. No more! Ruby would pay for what she'd done. She had failed to fulfill her promise and she had failed to give Ivy credit for her part in what had happened in the 31st century. Ivy had intended to seek her own means of revenge on Batgirl, but after this bit of news…well, Batgirl wasn't going anywhere, and who knew how long Ruby would be in this time?

And she stole away on her plant stalk in the direction where she'd first heard the voices, just before the two Titans stepped into the moonlight which revealed them to be Jinx and Kid Flash.


"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Cyborg stared at the plasma screen. Beast Boy loped over to him and glanced at the screen too.

"Control Freak? Again? Good grief, he's another one who can't stay put."

"I suggest you don't tempt fate with wisecracks", warned Raven. "With Ruby on our hands, we don't need anymore villains escaping out of prison. We're lucky Control Freak is only a third-rate villain."

"I am not!" Control Freak declared hotly from the screen. "I could zap you in here with me, right now, and you wouldn't be able to escape without this remote." He dangled his newest modified controller in front of their faces. "But I won't, because I'm untouchable here, and from here I can do things that will keep you on your toes for the whole night. Hehehehe. Ah-hahaha!" He laughed maniacally, but stopped just as he noticed Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl enter the room.

"And who's this?" he asked, leering at them. "New members? Excellent. They will witness firsthand the brilliance of Control Freak!"

"Freak is right", said Lightning Lad, glaring up at the screen. Control Freak ignored him and squinted at Saturn Girl.

"Hey, cutie. Care to join up with me?" He puckered his lips and made a kissing sound that disgusted everyone in the room.

"That was just gross and inappropriate", Saturn Girl told him.

"You leave her alone", Lightning Lad said.

"Oh, is she with you?" inquired Control Freak. He chuckled. "I'm sorry. But really, I'm not. Hahahaha!"

"I don't have time for this", exclaimed Lightning Lad as he short-circuited the system, making the screen go blank as Control Freak disappeared, a surprised look on his face.

"Hey!" exclaimed Cyborg. "What'd you do? Did you just short-circuit my baby?"

"Relax, Cyborg", said Lightning Lad as he rebooted the system with a controlled voltage of electricity. "I just got rid of him for you, with no harm to your 'baby'." He looked over at Saturn Girl, who had sat down. "Hey, are you okay?"

"This is a problem", said Saturn Girl. "Now he'll go blabbing about the 'new members of the Teen Titans'."

"It's not like he knows our names."

"No, but there's a chance he'll describe us well enough for Ruby to realize we're here if she hears it."

Lightning Lad sobered while Beast Boy said, "Uh-oh."

"Relax, Saturn Girl", said Cyborg. "We'll get Control Freak before he has a chance to spread the news to Ruby's ears. He's an idiot, really. He'll probably appear on the TV later tonight, and Lightning Lad can get him out then. Or we'll hunt him down ourselves. But don't worry about him. He likely won't think about telling anyone – at least not until he knows more. He'll be too busy trying to get back at us."

"I hope you're right."


In the 31st century…

BOOM! As the time-bubble disappeared, a flash of blinding white light enveloped all of Legion HQ, accompanied by an enormous sound wave that shook the ground. When the light faded, everything seemed the same as before.

"What just happened?" asked Bouncing Boy.

"I don't know." Cosmic Boy, his arms folded, looked very cross. "But I hope Lightning Lad doesn't even think of doing that again – for his sake."

"Uh…I don't think that was Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy", said Shrinking Violet as she looked out the window. "You might want to have a look at this."

Cosmic Boy, Bouncing Boy, and the other Legionnaires who were in Headquarters went over to the window…and were horrified by what they saw.


A/N: Here's the extra Chapter 3, like I promised. Oh, and just to clarify, since the animated series of W.I.T.C.H. only covered two seasons, and thus only two storylines, I had to take the Guardians' 3rd major villain from the comics, which was Ari of Arkhanta. Oh, and Merry Christmas, everybody!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Teen Titans, Legion of Superheroes, or W.I.T.C.H.