I AM SO SORRY I was having so much fun during the summer that I kinda forgot about this... Not much is up with me; I'm starting school again this Friday and I am NOT looking forward to it. Remember, I don't own Teen Titans.

Richard Grayson adjusted his tie and looked down nervously at his watch. Leaning against a heavily draped column, he waited impatiently for the last of his friends. The Gala had started just a few minutes ago, and students were still flooding in like molasses. The marble ballroom looked something like Beast's castle from Disney and the school had hired a quartet to play. Everything seemed calm, but Dick wasn't convinced. He knew the truth.

Sighing, he pressed his ear communicator one more time, contacting his friend at the other end. "Gar, are they here yet?" he asked, turning away from the growing crowd. Garfield Logan stood at the entrance, scanning the crowd for suspicious activity.

"Nope. Is Rachel on the line?"

"Yeah, I'm here," a raspy voice said. Rachel looked at the scene before her. Koriand'r had torn up the room looking for her missing shoe. Their curtains were torn down, their homework and books were scattered all over the place, the bed sheets were missing and it was raining clothes.

"Koriand'r, did you find it yet?" She asked, annoyed. Koriand'r stuck her head up from under the bed and nodded.

"Yes! It was under the-" Koriand'r paused, seeing that her dark roommate had already left. She ran out of the hall, locking the dorm room and hopping on one foot. Soon, they caught up to Garfield's position.

"Garfield! You look so nice!" Koriand'r exclaimed happily, giving him a hug.

"Thanks, you too Koriand'r. Hey, Rachel, you look..." he looked at her from head to toe. She was clever, and hid her dress beneath a large cloak. "... hot." she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Oh, Koriand'r, Dick's looking for you." Koriand'r gleefully made her way to the anxious boy. Once he saw her and her innocent eyes, his head immediately filled with worry and fear. Fear that he wouldn't be able to keep that smile on her face.

"Richard! You look glorious tonight!" she said, hugging him. His face heated up and she released him.

"Heh, thanks. And you look... Really, really nice too..." Koriand'r wore a soft rose color with beige lace and lined with beads. Her hair cascaded down her front and her back in bouncy curls.

"So... this is what your Galas look like?"

"Yeah... you've probably never been to one before..."

"Actually, back where I am from, we have held many formal Galas. But they were quite different from this. This is wonderful!" Her face glowed with excitement and awe, hypnotized by all the shiny decorations.

"What were galas like where you're from?" he asked.

"Well, we had something called a glorsch, where we would wrestle the great beast Glorb of the Sixth Garden and eat his liver, eyes, and schnozzletlop." His eyes turned to saucers. W... T... F. "We also harvested his gloverborbs to use as the children's entertainment. Oh, and we would also use his schlorbglorg to bathe ourselves, in order to-"

"Hey, why don't you check out the buffet table? I hear they have some really good food there!" He said, gently pushing her towards Victor, who stood in the corner of the ballroom by the table. Sighing again, he wiped his brow and switched back into cool mode.

"Is everybody at their post?"

"Victor, all clear."

"Garfield here, nothing."

"Rachel, nothing."

"Donna, nothing weird."

"Wally, nothi-" *static* Everyone on the line froze. Their hearts skipped a beat and their minds screeched to a stop.

"Wally?" Wally West, the Academy's star track runner, had spotted something. A figure, sneaking into the ballroom. Why would someone be sneaking in? He raced down and followed the person to the back of the large screen that hung from the ceiling, where a large forest of wires was waiting. The person looked left and right, then right and left. Clear. They brought out a pair of wire cutters and started snipping at a few wires and reconnecting them.

"Watch ya doin'?" Jenny jumped, dropping her tool with a clang.

"What do you want, West?" she asked, turning around. But he wasn't there. She turned back to the wires, which he was leaning against.

"Oh please, call me Wally." She shot him a glare and he threw his hands up. "Or you can call me West..."

"Get out of here!" He ran out and back to his post. Jenny turned back to the wires, where she saw that he left something for her... Back at his post, his red corsage was missing from his pocket.

"Sorry, I'm fine." Everyone sighed, with Donna even placing a hand over her heart.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"What happened?" Dick asked, still scanning the room.

"It was Jenny. She was messing around with some of the big screen wires."

Dick closed the conversation and thought. Weird... what are they planning to do with the big screen? Dick scanned the room again, this time looking much closer... Now that I think of it... then he noticed it.

"Guys."

"Huh?"

"Has anyone seen any of the Hive?" Victor scanned the scene and with his height, he had a bird's eye view. Raven pulled her hood down. No one spoke.

"..."

"This isn't good." Back at the buffet table, while Vic was starting to panic and Koriand'r was chatting with the other students, T made an appearance.

"Hey." Vic gasped and looked down to see the mysterious teen.

"What is it? I heard you gasp," Donna asked.

"Ah nothing, it's just T," Vic said with a slight laugh. T rocked back and forth, trying to solve the awkward silence that might come up.

"So..."

"So... You look nice."

"Thanks... You too." The awkward silence came up anyways, and they continued to small talk. Meanwhile, Koriand'r walked back to Richard, with a crumb on her cheek.

"Richard!" she called out, causing him to turn briefly.

"Oh, hey Koriand'r. You enjoying the Gala?" he asked, wiping away the crumb. She giggled and nodded.

"Yes! You Galas are most enjoyable!" he smiled, glad that at least she was happy. Both turned to look at the crowd behind them, dancing and talking. Another awkward silence came up.

"So... uh..." Well, I would be able to get a better view of the crowd from within... he thought. "W-would you... Uh... Like to dance? W-with me?" he asked, turning red and scratching the back of his neck. She turned the same shade, then tilted her head slightly and gave him another warm smile.

"Sure." She placed her hand on his arm and they went onto the dance floor. He tried to focus on his task, but couldn't keep his eyes off of Koriand'r. "Richard... Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, it's nothing. Don't worry."

"But you seem a bit... Preoccupied." he gulped. She was starting to suspect that he was hiding something. Great... What should I do?

"Richard?" Well... I guess I can't help it... I'll have to go into Bishie mode. He pulled her in closer so that he was somehow able to tower over her. His eyes lowered and got a lot more highlights. Basically a bishie. Now, what was that cheesy line again?

"I'm preoccupied with you." While Dick kept Koriand'r distracted, Rachel continued to eye the crowd.

"Rachel, you okay? You look like you see something," Garfield said from across the room. It was almost like she was in a trance, her eyes fixed on one person.

"I see her, Walker is moving fast." Richard turned away from Koriand'r.

"What?!"

"Where is she?"

"She was headed for the control room, behind Wally." Then they saw it. Everything turned black and everyone screamed.

"Up there!" Kitten's face popped up on the big screen. Wally and Donna rushed inside.

"Hello, Iustitiam Academy!" She said, raising her hands up. Dick knew this wasn't good.

"A big screen announcement; it's a cover up! Victor, Gar. Cover the east and west ends. Donna, Rachel, cover the north and south. Wally, get to the control panel, get the lights," he ordered. Kitten continued with her speech.

"Tonight, we have a special announcement..." Wally rushed over to the control room behind the ballroom and the other four to their places. "So we hope you enjoy the results, and have a nice evening." She grabbed a hat full of ripped pieces of paper, rustled her hand around, then slowly took her hand out. But... her hand was empty.

"And our next target is...!"

"Wally! What's taking so long?!" Dick asked, running from the crowd. Right outside the control room, Wally was in a tangled fight with a certain Johnny Rancid.

"Sorry, ran into a bit of trouble!" He looked back up to the screen, where Kitten was holding the hat with two hands. Anticipation ran through the veins of every student and reader, as they waited for the final answer. As they waited for the poor unfortunate soul's name to be called out.

"Koriand'r." Kitten flipped the hat over, dropping all of the scraps of paper. The chandelier suddenly lit up, and small scraps of paper started raining down on everyone in the ballroom like confetti. A few of them landed in Rachel's open hands. They all said 'Koriand'r'.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"TARAA!" The lights came back on. And in front of the buffet table was Tara, bent over and crying. She had been stabbed. Soon, everyone was screaming, running around like blind mice. Victor tried evacuated the room as calmly as possible. Rachel, Donna, and Gar sprinted over to Tara while Dick took Koriand'r by the hand and dragged her outside.

"Where's T? Is Tara okay?" Donna asked. Garfield gently sat Tara up as she clutched her bleeding stomach. A red 'X' shaped blade was stuck inside the side of her abdomen.

"Rachel! Do something!" he yelled. She pulled down her hood and brought out some herbs.

"The wound isn't too deep, but she's loosing a lot of blood. I need to pull this out quickly," she said slowly. Donna held Tara's hand tightly as Rachel yanked out the foreign object. "It's okay Tara, it's okay..."

"Richard, what is going on?" Koriand'r asked, trying to keep up with his running.

"We need to get you somewhere safe." Koriand'r gripped his hand and yanked him aside.

"No! You are hiding something, and I demand you tell me!" she ordered. Richard looked left and right. Students were running about, some running right past them.

"Koriand'r, there's something I should tell you."

"What?"

"Not here. This is too open." He grabbed her arm and dragged her again, this time to the large school garden. The garden consisted of a large maze surrounded by beds of mostly tulips and some daisies and finally, a small forest of trees. He pulled her into the small 'forest' and sat down underneath a pine tree.

"There is something you are not telling me." he stayed silent. "I do not want anymore or the mystery or the disappearing." He looked away for a moment, then took a breath and asked her.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His hand stopped midway so his head was down and his arm leaned on his knee.

"This academy... has a secret."

"And... Done," Rachel said, finishing tending to her wound. Tara sprung up, but Garfield pushed her down.

"Whoa, you just got stabbed. I think you should rest."

"She'll be okay as long as she doesn't do anything too stressful." Donna and Rachel helped her up.

"Thanks." Rachel nodded in reply. Tara started hobbling over to Wally's station, where Kitten most likely was.

"Where are you going?" Tara stopped and turned.

"I'm going to talk to Kitten." The three stayed silent.

"Good luck," Vic called out. He raced over to the other three as Rachel once again pulled up her hood. "I've lost all connection with Wally."

"I'll go after him." Donna followed Tara's direction and went to look for the speedster.

"We need to find Koriand'r."

"No, we should look for the Hive. What if they're planning something?"

"Hey!" Victor yelled. "Don't start something, we're already in trouble as it is. Rachel, Gar, go find Dick and Koriand'r. I'll get the students back to their dorm."

"The Hive is a group of students who are nothing but savage and hostile. Kitten's one of them, as you might've guessed. We're not sure who the ring leader is, but we have our suspicions. Every month, they target one student, and will do anything to get them out of the school. They've bullied them, they've tortured them, they've chased them away, everything. All for no reason. At least, not one that we know of," Dick explained.

"Who is 'we'?" she asked.

"Donna, Wally, Vic, Gar, Rachel and I are the only ones to have survived them. Most other students have left the school because they were targeted, but not us. We stayed. We formed a group called the Teen Titans to prevent the Hive from doing more damage. So far, it's worked. And..."

"And... I am the next target?" he nodded.

"We think so." She remained silent for quite a while. Richard couldn't tell if she was confused, scared, shocked, or something else.

"So... All this time... was... Is this the only reason we are friends? Because you suspected that I was next?" she asked. Her voice trembled and her eyes started to water.

"What? No! We're your friends because we care about you. We'll always be your friends, " he said. She calmed down and smiled.

"I am glad..."

"Great..."

Tara was able to find Kitten, in a nearby hallway. "Kitten, wait!" She stopped and turned around.

"What? What do you want?" she asked. Tara walked closer, and found that... she was crying?

"Are you okay?" Kitten realized that she was shedding tears, then quickly wiped her eyes.

"I'm fine. Now what do you want?"

"Why did you stab me? I thought you were supposed to attack Koriand'r. I thought I was your friend." Kitten laughed, then unknowingly shed another tear.

"Are you kidding? We know. We know all about your little secret."

"What secret? What are you-"

"So... how did you know I would be the next target?" Koriand'r asked.

"Well, the Hive has attacked you multiple times without any other activity. Plus, our double agent, T, reported that they were planning on attacking you during the Gala. Guess they found out about T."

"Who is T?" Ah, dear readers, the moment you've all been waiting for...

"Tara Markov. The girl who got stabbed. We call her T for obvious reasons."

"We know you're the double agent, Tara! Or should I call you 'T'?" she snarled, still crying. Tara stayed silent.

"How did you... Is that... why you're crying?" Kitten swiped her eyes again.

"No!" Tara reached her hand out, and Kitten slapped it off.

"Kitten, you can just tell me if-"

"I said no! You're nothing but a TRAITOR!" The words struck Tara right in the heart. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Anything to prevent tears.

"Get out of here!" Tara backed away, then tried to run back to the ballroom but ended up hobbling. After she left, Kitten sniffed. A tear ran down her face. Then another. And another. She began sobbing for a minute, then… she laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

"Hahaha... Richard is mine... Mine..." And laughed.

When Donna arrived, the hallway was empty. There were scratch marks, burns, and a few holes all over the walls. She went into the control room and gasped. What a mess!

"Looks like a tornado went through here..." She walked through the narrow hall, stepping over sparking wires and ducking under dangling circuit boards.

"Ugh... D-Donna?"

"Wally!" She followed the voice and found him, all tied and tangled up into a ball of wires. Donna rushed over and uncovered his face.

"Wally! Are you okay?"

"Yeah... Just suffocating... Anything from Dick or Vic?"

"We'll deal with that later. Right now, I gotta figure out how to get you out of this..."

Garfield and Rachel were sitting against the wall, panting heavily. "We've searched the entire school…"

"And we haven't found them." Both teens looked to each other, then back at the transparent walls. Then, Gar sprang up with smile.

"Hey, maybe their banging in the-"

"Eww." Rachel scooted a bit further away from him and he slumped back.

"You know, I haven't even seen your dre-"

"There," Rachel pointed. Gar looked in the direction she was pointing and saw.

"The garden?" she nodded.

"Can you see them?" he pressed his face against the glass and squinted. Two figures, One with a spikey head and the other brightly clothed.

"Yup. It's them. Should we-" Garfield turned to look at Rachel, but it seems that she has already left. Ah, same old Rae, disappearing and appearing…

"Why are you under a tree?" Richard and Koriand'r gave out a little squeak, startled at Rachel's sudden appearance. They stood up, brushing themselves off and picking twigs from their hair. "Uh… don't tell me you two were…. Uh…" Garfield popped up over her shoulder, with eagerly evil eyes.

"Were you two doing 'it' under there?" Dick and Koriand'r turned redder than her hair. Rachel gave Gar a light bump on the head and moved aside. Dick shook it out of his system and went back to leader mode.

"Argh, Gar! Forget it. Where's Wally? How's T? Are all the students safely in their dorms? What of the Hive?" Rachel and Gar's eyes turned to saucers. He grabbed the boy by the collar and whispered, 'Dude, not in front of Koriand'r!' Dick brushed him off. "Don't worry, I already told her. Anyways, report?"

"Donna's getting him. Tara's fine."

"Vic's handling the students, and… we have no idea about the Hive," Garfield finished.

"What?!" Vic ran out to meet the rest of the Titans in the garen.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere!" he said, hugging Gar.

"Wait, did you say that you have no idea where the Hive is?!" Dick asked, hyperventilating.

"Whoa, dude, calm down. It's a bit late for more panicking…" Gar said, patting his back.

"We should turn in…" Everyone agreed. The five started walking back to their dorms, when one stopped.

"Koriand'r?"

"… I want to be a Titan."

WHEW! Well, that happened! So, we finally know who T is, and the school's secret! Comment, I'd love to hear your opinion!

xXarcherXx, out!