Chapter 9: Collaboration

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.


Jinx sat on a rooftop holding binoculars to her eyes as she watched the package delivery truck turn the corner. She spoke authoritatively into her com-link, "Package is ready for pick-up." See-More's voice responded in her ear, "Roger."

A laser shot from the sky, took out the back tire of the truck, and caused the driver to veer off of the road. The rosy haired girl smiled, and waited until the driver got out and walked around to inspect the blown out tire.

She then quietly gave another command, "Begin Phase Two." Gizmo shot a tranquilizer dart at the driver from his rooftop vantage point, and all eyes watched as the man slowly slumped against the truck, unconscious.

"Three," Jinx commanded. Billy Numerous emerged from a nearby alley, and snatched the keys to the truck from the unconscious man's hand. He unlocked the back of the truck, and slunk back into the alley. A drop of sweat trickled down Jinx's forehead as she sat atop the roof, tensed with anticipation, "Four..."

The doors became encapsulated in Gizmo's tracter beam, and they flew open, seemingly of their own accord. All of the teens sat at the ready, muscles taut with apprehension.

They waited for what felt like hours, when in fact, it had only been a few minutes. Unexpectedly, a figure emerged from the doors of the truck. A malevolent expression stretched across his face as he raised his voice tauntingly, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

The teens remained silent, and Gizmo whispered into his com-link, "He's got it in his hand. Take him down." Mammoth, See-More, and Billy all attacked as a unit, and Psimon merely raised his hand at them, "Psimon says, stop!" The three teens froze in their places, and the telepath grinned condescendingly, "Now. Where's your tiny leader?"

Gizmo used his jet-pack to lower himself down to the ground across from Psimon, and the tall man laughed, "Ah, there you are. Shouldn't you have given up already? You must know that you cannot stop me."

The boy genius gritted his teeth angrily, and his many laser guns emerged from his mechanical backpack and buzzed to life as they charged with energy, "Eat crud, barf-bag!" He then released a volley of laser fire in the direction of the telepath.

The slender man raised his arms and conjured up a force field, but oddly enough, he lost focus and it fell down long before he intended it to. One of the blasts caught him square in the chest, and sent him sprawling on the floor.

Psimon was shocked into silence as he wondered what had gone wrong, when a tranquilizer dart shot toward him. He threw up a partial field, which deflected it easily enough, but the projectile bounced off of the roof of the truck and embedded itself in his arm.

His eyes grew wide, and he swiftly yanked the dart out, but could still feel his thinking becoming more sluggish by the second.

"How unfortunate," a female voice purred. His angry gaze landed on Jinx, who held his precious package in her hand. The telepath chuckled in amusement, "Very clever. But that won't work twice." He pulled the pin from a teleportation grenade, and disappeared.

'What is this berry you seek?', Scarlet inquired of the sorceress. Raven gave her a ghost of a smile, and answered patiently enough, "It's an ingredient for my spell, but it is located on Expiry Isle." The dragon snorted, 'That region is full of large hunting creatures, hence the name.'

Raven nodded, "That's why I decided it would be wise to retrieve it while I had someone to help me." Elliot would have continued studiously ignoring the empath, but his head snapped over in her direction upon hearing this exchange. He realized that he would be putting his life on the line for a girl who wouldn't even remove his hated collar. How absurd. As aggression bubbled up inside him, he could feel his face contort into a humorless sneer.

Scarlet looked him in the eye, and spoke to only him, 'This girl does not trust you. Perhaps if you prove yourself to her, she shall remove that device from your neck.' He sighed silently, and then nodded at his companion. He had to admit, Scarlet's idea was worth a shot.

He had fully intended to bring Raven back with him when she removed the collar, though now that she had refused to do so, a more spiteful part of him was seriously considering leaving her behind if he ever got the chance. His frame shook with a soundless chuckle at the thought, which received a suspicious glare from said sorceress.

They continued their trek into the forest in silence, until they reached the expanse of water that divided the island from the region in which they lived. Elliot and Raven were prepared to swim across, when Scarlet stiffened and emitted a low growl from deep in her chest.

Her mental voice roared loudly in both of the teens' minds, 'Come no further, heathen! Or you shall be dealing with ME!'

Raven flinched, and rubbed her temples, "What was that about?" Elliot brought his finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. Suddenly, they were both drenched with water as a gigantic green creature emerged from the depths of the ocean. Raven took a few steps back, and spoke with equal amounts of anxiety and admiration, "A sea serpent."

The monster roared threateningly, and reeled its massive head back in the manner of a snake about to strike.

Scarlet leaped from Elliot's shoulder, and launched herself toward the water. In the breadth of only a few seconds, the cat-sized dragon grew in size until she was roughly as large as Malchior had been. She roared fiercely as she crashed into the serpent and dug her teeth into its neck.

It ducked down into the the water, attempting to either drown her or force her to let go. The crimson reptile did nothing of the sort, and pulled the creature back out of the water before she shot out a jet of flame that severely burned the section of scales she held in her mouth.

The sea creature screeched in pain, and Scarlet released her death grip on its neck. It cowered down before her, and she roared in triumph, 'Begone, insolent creature!'

The serpent gratefully retreated into the dark abyss of the ocean, and Scarlet turned to face the two teens who stood speechlessly ashore. 'I will carry you both across in order to avoid more fighting than is necessary.' Elliot nodded blankly, still shocked at what had transpired before him.

The crimson dragon lifted off into the air, and grabbed each teen in her front claws before she took off toward the deadly island. She couldn't help but wonder whether a few disgusting berries were worth all of this trouble.

Robin had been on the receiving end of many a dirty look lately, and he had to admit that he deserved every bit of it. Even Starfire seemed to be less affectionate towards the Boy Wonder, and he could not seem to figure out how to make it right.

Robin reasoned that Jinx had quit of her own free will, and he could not apologize to her for his behavior if he had no clue where to find her. That detail didn't seem to matter much to his angry teammates, and though they still followed his orders, he sensed that they were reluctant to do so.

Beast Boy sat atop the roof, staring out at the crashing waves and the incoming storm clouds. He smiled to himself as he muttered, "Could really use a nice storm right about now."

He hoped there would be plenty of blinding lightening and earth-shaking thunder, as those things always served to clear his mind of unwanted worries. He heard Robin arrive and close the door behind him. The masked teen took a seat beside Beast Boy, who acknowledged him with a forced smile.

Robin sighed, and put his head in his hands. The green boy furrowed his brow as he realized how upset his leader was, and spoke softly, "I know it seems like I'm really ticked at you, but I'm actually really upset about Raven. She's been gone almost two months now, and we haven't come any closer to finding her. Plus we can't even lay a hand on Psimon. It's frustrating, and I'm sorry for taking it out on you."

Robin sucked in a deep breath, and let it out slowly, "I understand. I feel the same way. And... I guess I sort of blew a gasket when I had that disagreement with Jinx, huh?" Beast Boy chuckled nervously, "Definitely."

The masked hero rubbed his forehead before speaking again, "I'll try to fix it, I promise." Beast Boy placed a comforting hand on his leader's shoulder, "I'm sure it'll work out, Rob. I think she was having a bad day."

Robin sighed deeply, "I sure hope so. Er- that it'll work out, I mean."

After having fought off multiple carnivorous creatures, the trio arrived at a clearing that they deemed a good campsite. After lighting a fire, Scarlet shrank back down to the size of a cat, and resumed her place on Elliot's shoulder.

He gave her a funny look, and Raven stared at her thoughtfully, "That was impressive. Is that a unique skill?" Scarlet gazed back at her and replied matter-of-factly, 'All dragons have the ability to change their size'. Raven furrowed her brow, "Do you think dragons native to other dimensions lack that ability?" The red reptile shook her head, 'Dragons do not originate from other dimensions.'

Raven chuckled doubtfully, "Whatever you say. May I ask how old you are?" The dragon nodded, 'I have recently passed the halfway point of my first solar cycle. In our terms, I have recently reached adolescence, which is why I have gained the ability to shift my size.' Elliot gazed at her with appreciation in his eyes, while Raven nodded thoughtfully.

The dragon scoffed, 'Why do we need such a disgusting plant product, anyway? We are more likely to die on this wretched island than we are to find the bush you seek.' The sorceress sighed softly, "I know, but I have to keep trying to get home. I can't give up."

Kyd Wykkyd felt the urge to comfort her, and carefully placed a hand on her shoulder. She obviously missed her teammates. From what he had observed, they acted almost like a family unit. He'd never really had interpersonal relationships like that, but he imagined it must be hard to have those ties severed through no fault of your own. His red eyes met hers with a gaze that was meant to convey his sympathy.

Though the coloration of his irises was unsettling, the emotion behind it was reassuring. The purple-haired girl realized that, if he had his telepathic abilities, he may have been able to share whatever was on his mind.

On one hand, she was curious as to what he would say, but was still too suspicious of his motives to bring herself to remove his collar yet. Raven realized that she had mentally tacked on that last word to her thoughts, and chided herself for letting him get to her.

She looked away quickly, and the boy removed his hand from her shoulder. He then lay down on his side, pillowing his head on his arm. Scarlet climbed down from her perch on his shoulder, and cuddled into his stomach, much like she had the night before. He smiled and scratched her chin before he closed his eyes.

Raven could tell that he wasn't asleep yet, but she watched them from across the campfire, a contemplative expression on her face. She then lay down on her back, and stared up at the vast tropical canopy above her.

There were barely any stars visible through the dense leaves and branches. The crackle of the fire gave her something to listen to, rather than the snapping of twigs that signaled the presence of various nighttime animals that prowled nearby. She closed her eyes and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

When she awoke in the morning, the dark-haired boy was gone. Eyes wide with surprise, Raven cursed herself for trusting him to help with her mission. She would have to brave these woods on her own, and these were even more treacherous than the ones on the mainland.

She muttered angrily to herself as she stomped around the burnt out campfire, when a sudden movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention.

She whirled around in time to see Elliot emerge from the trees, his black hair dripping wet, and two fish in hand. He gave her an innocent smile and sat the fish down on top of a piece of tree bark. Scarlet flapped furiously as she hovered in place above it, and cooked the fish with a stream of fire. She then darted back in the direction from whence she came.

The dark-haired boy offered the food to Raven, who accepted it awkwardly. The sorceress couldn't help but feel a bit foolish for assuming he had deserted her, and was glad to have the fish as an impediment to any possible conversation. He looked much less menacing without his cape and cowl, and she vaguely wondered if she had been premature with her judgment of the teen. Perhaps he wasn't evil after all.

She stared at her pallid hands, and then glanced over at the boy. She noted the grayish tinge of his skin and the resemblance it bore to her own coloration, and she almost asked if he were half demon as well.

She then decided that it would be unwise to reveal such a deep secret of hers to an enemy, and quelled her curiosity by concluding that he was probably so pale because he didn't get out often. The cafe back home must have been the only exception to his hermit-like tendencies, Raven noted with a slight smirk.

He noticed that she was staring at him, and raised an eyebrow with an expression that almost looked playful. Raven promptly rolled her eyes, pulled out her T-communicator and gazed at it wistfully.

An involuntary gasp escaped her lips as it was abruptly snatched out of her hand. When she looked up, Kyd Wykkyd was standing a few feet away, inspecting the object with mock interest. "That's mine!", she snapped angrily. He smirked devilishly and nodded his head once, as if agreeing with her statement, before he turned and marched in the opposite direction.

Raven growled her frustration as she leaped to her feet and pursued the thief. He laughed silently and dodged her snatches at the object in his hand. She reached the end of her patience, and launched a kick at the black haired boy's head, which he avoided with obvious ease, his ever-present smile growing in size. The sorceress began throwing punches, which he continued to effortlessly block and dodge.

She noted with great satisfaction that her opponent's breathing had become heavy. Her gratification was short-lived, however, as she noticed exertion begin to settle into her own limbs as well.

Both teens leaped apart, and stood battle-ready, their chests heaving with exhaustion. After a stretch of staring each other down, Wykkyd shot her a cheerful smile and extended his hand, in which her communicator rested.

She stepped forward and promptly snatched it away, turning her back to the boy.

In unison, both collapsed onto the ground, muscles aching from the workout. A small chuckle escaped from Raven's parted lips, and she spoke between pants, "That was...fun. I didn't notice...I'm so...out of shape."

The boy let out erratic puffs of air, which Raven assumed were actually a laugh. Her face grew solemn, and she inquired softly, "Have you always been unable to speak?" Elliot's face instantly hardened, and he jerked upright stiffly.

Her purple eyes widened as she recognized her error, and her expression took on a more embarrassed tone, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." He shook his head, and she couldn't tell if he meant to reject her apology, tell her he wasn't offended, or answer her prior question.

He abruptly rose and stalked off in the direction Scarlet had gone almost an hour ago. He walked through the trees until he heard the rushing of the river, and headed toward the noise. When he arrived, Scarlet seemed to have been waiting for him, a pile of fish bones arranged neatly before her.

'What is the matter?', she inquired, concern coloring her mental voice. Elliot sighed and sat down beside her, thoughtfully fingering the collar around his neck. The red dragon huffed and placed her head on his lap, 'It would be good to know how to remove that device.'

The pallid teen nodded at her unhappily, and gently rested his hand on her head. They heard a rustling in the brush behind them, and Raven emerged, rubbing her arm nervously. She took a seat beside the other teenager, and offered him a stick.

With a bewildered expression, he took it. She gave him a small smile, and then spoke carefully, "Would you tell me your name?"

He gave her a blank look, as if it was a ridiculous question. She shook her head, "Well, I meant your real name." Scarlet's head perked up, and she gazed at her companion expectantly. He deliberated for a few seconds, and then picked up the stick, tracing two words in the sand, 'Yours first.' The sorceress shrugged, "You already know it. Raven is my real name."

He stared at her with distrust in his eyes, and she sighed. "Really, I promise. And... if we make it out of this place, I won't tell anyone yours."

The boy gazed at her, mulling it over. He then raised the stick and traced a single word into the sand. Raven's expression softened, and she spoke gently, "Elliot... that's a nice name. It suits you."

Scarlet's eyes sparked with satisfaction, before she closed them and drifted off to sleep. Her companion gathered her up in his arms and began to carry her back to their camp. The sorceress trailed behind him,

"I guess we'll resume our search when she wakes up."


A/N: Short installment, but I suppose it's slightly eventful. The tension between Raven and Elliot is being addressed, at least.

I'd like to thank all of you for your wonderful reviews! You all made my day, so I decided I would go ahead and post up another chapter!

Later Days,

~Rose