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Robin was now certain that New York City had no need for a Titans branch, because it had skilled mutant ninja Turtles guarding it already. (Meanwhile, Beast Boy finds a kindred spirit within this new team, and enemies team up to bring them all down...)

"I don't like this Donatello." Leonardo was anxiously pacing, waiting for the Teen Titans to arrive. "I mean, you heard Splinter: don't let anyone see you, besides these five people. But they're famous; they'll have cameras all over us if we don't watch our backs..."

Donnie sighed, somewhat exasperated. "Leo, we can trust them... I mean, Robin is honorable. His friends must be too."

"Not necessarily," Raph grumbled as he inspected his sais. Next to him, Mikey, who was hanging from a fire escape, sighed.

"Raph, I bet they will be great. We'll finally have more friends other than April. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Look, shell for brains," Raph snarled, causing the younger to almost fall off the fire escape in shock, "do you not remember what happened with Bradford? How do we know this won't end up the same way?"

"It won't," Donnie shot back in Mikey's defense. "We can trust them. I know it!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Donatello."

The four Turtles spun around to find Robin leaning casually on a wall in the alley, still somewhat covered by shadows. He grinned as he stepped into the light, and offered a hand to each of them in turn.

"It's good to see you again," the Titan continued, addressing the whole group. "I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Eh, it's all relative," Don shrugged, causing Leo to roll his eyes.

"Where is the rest of your team?" the leader asked. Robin simply smirked in response, and suddenly a green snake was slithering past their feet. All four Turtles yet out surprised yelps, until the snake began to grow and shift and gain arms and hair.

Beast Boy chuckled. "Beast Boy. Pleased to make your acquaintance - to those I don't already know."

Mikey grinned and fist-bumped the shapeshifter, though Leo shot him a look that clearly read 'we'll talk about this later.' Assuming, of course, they could get a moment of peace.

The shadows were moving now, coming together in front of Beast Boy and Robin and beginning to rise off of the ground. Again the ninjas watched in shock as the shadow began to form into a large raven. It let out a shrill cry, before slowly dissolving into a girl wearing a blue cloak.

"Well," Raph said after a moment of silence. "That was impressive."

"Thanks," the girl said, lowering her hood to reveal purple hair a shade darker than her brilliant violet eyes. "The name's Raven."

"Unfortunately I don't have as impressive an entrance," another voice said, and the brothers turned to see a metallic man entering the alleyway. "I'm Cyborg - a cyborg, if you couldn't tell."

As he joined the other three, a shadow passed over them, and the Turtles looked up to see the last member of the Titans flying over them. The orange-haired beauty landed gracefully beside her teammates.

"I am called Starfire! It is a pleasure to meet you, new friends!" Suddenly she grabbed Mikey and was smiling at him enthusiastically. In a rush she exclaimed, "Please, tell me - where-do-you-live, how-did-you-come-to-existence, what-is-your-favorite-color and do-you-wish-to-be-my-friend?!"

Mikey blinked before attempting to answer. "Uh, sewers, mutagen, orange, and sure...?"

"Oh, wonderful!" Starfire proceeded to lift Mikey into the air and hug him - very, very tightly. As the Turtle began to turn blue from lack of oxygen, Leo shook his head and stepped on a manhole cover, causing it to fly into his hands.

"Feel free to follow," he said. "We'll happily lead you to our humble abode."

"The Titans have come to assist the Turtles," Katarou growled to Shredder. "Do you want me to continue with my original plan?"

"If you feel it will still accomplish the goal," Shredder muttered, pacing in front of the pool where Fishface swam. "But you are, of course, free to take any measures necessary to eliminate the Turtles and Splinter. If that includes taking out the Titans, so be it."

Katarou grinned.

"Our ship is parked a few miles out of town, in a secluded forest that no one ever visits. We've made sure that the cloaking tech will work for the next month, if required."

"That's so cool! Would you mind showing it to me if we get a chance? Ooh, the stuff I could do with that tech..."

Robin rolled his eyes as Cyborg followed Donnie to his lab. The two had met barely ten minutes ago and were already having a nerd-fest. Mikey had towed Beast Boy off to his room, and so it was now just Leo, Raph, Starfire, Raven, and himself in the living room.

Oh - and Splinter too. And the human-turned-rat did not look pleased at all.

"Robin," Splinter stated, walking over to greet them. "Not that I do not like seeing you, but why are you here and why have you brought your friends with you?"

Leo and Raph had flinched away at their sensei's harsh tone, but Robin met Splinter in the eye and replied with confidence. "Your sons are being hunted, Splinter. Shredder hired an old enemy of ours, an assassin named Katarou, who will stop at nothing to get to your sons - and you. We have experience in fighting him, so we came to lend our assistance."

Splinter narrowed his eyes at Robin, and then hissed, "While I appreciate your concern, we could have handled it ourselves - or, you could have come alone."

Starfire had begun to back away, but Raven stepped forward to support her leader. "Listen, Splinter-san, we will not tell the world of your existence. You have our word. We wish to help, though if you feel it is not required we will respect your wishes."

Robin nodded at his teammate's words, and Splinter studied the girl closely. Finally he sighed. "Fine," he said, turning to leave for his own room. "Welcome to our home."

As they watched him go, Robin let out a small sigh. "Well, now we can start."