Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything else within. It is all a byproduct of my overactive imagination and too many ideas in my head. This tale is written to, hopefully, amuse the many people who have wanted me to write such a story again. With that in mind, would all lawyers please leave me the f—k alone already!

NU: Red-X Redux

Chapter 8: Red-X and The Outlaws PT. 2

00

(Jump City, California…)

Donna Troy was an Amazonian Warrior, in her youth she'd ventured to Man's world with her sister Diana and started to explore. Unlike her sister who wanted to be an ambassador to Man's world, Donna wanted to explore it. She wanted to see what was there and learn what things had changed. Diana had been against it, but their mother had been surprisingly accommodating so long as Diana kept an eye on her.

Her sister had reluctantly agreed to bring her to Man's world, and then promptly lost her as she went to explore the city known as 'New York'. Admittedly, she'd been a bit boy-crazy at first, having never so much as seen one before she'd found herself oddly smitten with any boy she laid eyes on. This included openly saying she loved the first boy who talked to her for more than five seconds…

'Hera that's so embarrassing to think about now,' she thought with an amused smile. She had taken a seat on the Titan's crescent shaped couch and sighed. She wasn't sure what it was, but her mind was drifting back to her early days wandering through Man's world. She recalled one of her first real 'crushes' had been on Roy Harper, AKA Speedy, and that it had ended in total disaster.

She and Roy had gone on one date, one, but on said date she had accidentally destroyed Green Arrow's car. Said car had been loaned to Roy by Green Arrow for said date, but had been stolen by 'The Demon Dragster' and she had been a bit too rough with it before the scarlet archer had yelled at her. Needless to say, she was a bit sensitive at the time and they had been awkward around one another ever since.

'Here's hoping things have changed a bit,' the girl inwardly hoped. Though it was probably unlikely, given how much that weird car had likely cost Green Arrow to repair. The thought of which caused Donna to crinkle her nose and frown. 'Why do so many of these people have such odd vehicles?' she briefly wondered to herself. Then again, she mostly meant heroes, and why their vehicles had to be so… weird…

Normal cars made sense to her; they were essentially faster chariots for the public to use. They served a purpose, one she could understand, but it was other kinds of vehicles that had always confused her. She understood the need for mobility, neither Batman nor Green Arrow could fly or were particularly fast on foot, but some of the odd gadgets in their vehicles just seemed overly silly.

She'd never say that to Batman's face of course, she was an Amazonian warrior, she was brave in battle, courageous against impossible odds, and fearless even in the face of death… that said, no one was that brave! Something about facing off against the Batman was simply terrifying, why Diana was so smitten with him Donna didn't know; she personally felt that he was creepy…

She shook her head of such thoughts as she noticed a light blink on one of the computers in the OPS Center of Titans Tower. She then glanced to the side as she saw Kid Flash, her friend Wally West, hurry into the room and start to check the computer. He clicked his tongue and hummed as he brought up a message. He read its contents for a few moments and then frowned deeply.

"Garth says he can't make it, something about an underwater base of some kind he needs to investigate for Aquaman," the speedster reported to Donna. The Amazon frowned in response; she'd actually been looking forward to seeing her old friend again. While Garth had always been the skittish shy one of their group she'd heard he'd really come into his own in the last few years. 'I suppose we both have,' she mused to herself.

"However," Wally began with a raised finger, Donna frowned when he paused for dramatic affect.

"Get on with it Wally," she pleaded. The Speedster chuckled in response and nodded his head.

"Garth said he's sent a friend of his to help out," the redhead replied. Donna frowned in response. She could easily recall the limitations that Garth had had on the surface back when the first Titans teamed up. He'd needed to jump back into the water at least every other hour or so. Over time he'd managed to mostly remove that weakness but he did prefer to be underwater.

"But won't they have the same problem as Garth did when he first worked with us?" she questioned worriedly. Wally hummed in response and then shook his head.

"Nah, 'cording to Garth the guy is half surface-dweller, so he's basically like Aquaman, fine on land or in the sea," he replied. Donna nodded and then pushed herself onto her feet and brushed herself off.

"I suppose that's one worry off my mind then," she mused aloud. Wally nodded his head in agreement. Much as he liked Garth, he wasn't sure it'd be a good idea for any other normal Atalantean to try and get used to the surface world like he had done. "I'm disappointed that Garth isn't coming, but I suppose it'll be nice to meet a new friend," she remarked. Wally grinned in response.

"Totally," he noted and zipped off, he reappeared a moment later with a pair of mugs in his hands. He handed one of the mugs to Donan who looked at him with a smirk as he raised his own towards her. "Here's to the new guy, may he be just as awesome as Garth," he declared. Donna rolled her eyes then clinked her mug against the speedster's, who then proceeded to inhale his drink while she sipped at her own.

She frowned for a moment and glanced down at it.

"Why does Diana like these things so much?" she wondered. Wally wrapped an arm around her shoulders and grinned.

"Cause they're awesome!" he declared. Donna fixed him with a look.

"They taste terrible," she stated bluntly. Wally gasped and placed a hand to his chest.

"So brutal!" he declared. Donna smirked and rolled her eyes.

"I am an Amazon Warrior," she reminded him pointedly. Wally just grinned and then glanced at the computer terminal as another light began flashing. He zipped back to it and began to check what was going on as Donna approached from behind. "Something happening?" she questioned curiously. Wally hummed in response and then smirked.

"Nope, new guy's here," he replied. With that Wally zipped away and Donna quickly followed after him. She was in no way as fast as the speedster but she was able to move fairly quickly. She arrived in the lower levels of the tower soon after and then watched as Kid Flash opened up a moon pool in the hangar. From it she saw several bubbles start to rise to the surface and glanced to Wally curiously.

"Did you get the name of our guest?" she questioned. Before Wally could answer there was an explosion of water as a body leaped out of it. Both Donna and Wally turned to see who had arrived and saw a young man, roughly their age, with light brown skin, bright blond hair that was cropped short, ocean blue eyes, and visible gills, black tattoos on his arms, and webbed fingers and toes.

He was dressed in a red top with black stripes, a black harness with two visible handles, a belt with an A symbol, and a pair of navy blue pants with fins at the backs of his calves. The young man approached the two of them and then placed one fist into his hand and gave a curt bow. "Greetings, I am Kaldur'ahm," the young man reported and straightened up, "My friend Garth suggested that you might require some assistance," he noted.

Wally grinned and zipped over to the Atlantean and slipped an arm around his shoulders.

"Good to meet you Kaldur," he stated cheerfully, "I'm Kid Flash," he stated and then motioned to the Amazon. Donna had her arms crossed and a slim frown across her lips as she regarded 'Kaldur'. "This vision of loveliness is our resident Amazonian warrior, Wonder Girl," he stated. However the said Amazon frowned in response and then approached Kaldur herself.

"I much prefer any of my comrades to call me Donna," she admitted and offered a hand to Kaldur. "A pleasure to meet you," she stated with a soft smile. Kaldur glanced to her hand then returned the gesture.

"It is a pleasure," he replied and then glanced around the hangar curiously, "I must admit I am not sure what Garth expected of me, he was quite vague," the young man noted. He also wished that Garth hadn't been so distant lately, Tula really missed him but he was always so busy with his 'duties' as Aqualad that he had hardly visited the girl in recent months… he sighed and frowned to himself.

'Perhaps it would have been better if I were the one to have taken the responsibility,' he briefly considered. The King of Atlantis, King Arthur, Aquaman, had offered the both of them the chance to follow him as his protégé. Kaldur had been too reluctant to accept the responsibility, and instead chose to continue his studies alongside his crush, Tula. Thus Garth had accepted the duty and responsibility of being Aqualad.

In the time since then, Garth had grown much more confident and sure of himself, but at the same time he had also become more distant. He was away from Atlantis for weeks or even months at a time. Kaldur had, on occasion, assisted his friend in matters that were otherwise too great for him to tackle alone. Despite this Garth rarely asked for his help and the occasions he was able to see his friend were rare.

The situation was far worse for Tula though, as she was clearly enamored with him…

"Don't worry 'bout it," Wally assured him with a dismissive wave. It drew the young Atlantean from his thoughts and he looked to Wally with a raised brow. "We just have to look after the city and deal with any bad guys who show up while the other Titans are away," he stated with a grin. Kaldur blinked and then hummed. He considered that and then considered that these 'Titans' had been in the city for some time.

That in mind they likely had a plethora of enemies, and if they were as organized as their 'base' suggested then they likely had files on said enemies. Given that they would be the 'Titans' for at least a short time it would be a prudent course of action to locate those files and learn what they could of their potential enemies. It only made sense as far as the young Atlantean was concerned.

"I see," Kaldur responded and then frowned in thought. "Then perhaps we should look at any records of these… bad guys… your Titans might have available to them," he suggested. Donna and Wally blinked and then glanced at one another.

"That's actually a really good idea," Wally remarked. Donna nodded her head in agreement. They'd actually just been using a 'wait and see' policy since the Titans left Jump City. Thus far it hadn't hurt but that was mostly because all they'd had to do was deal with a few minor robberies and one fire. It had literally been the slowest week in the history of Jump City.

"Anyways," Wally suddenly stated, "c'mon I'll show you around the place," the young Speedster stated as he lead the young man off into the tower. As he did Donna rolled her eyes and followed with a smile. 'Well it looks like Wally gets to try and show another one the joys of man's world,' she thought with a shake of her head. She then followed after the boys, mostly so she could keep them out of trouble…

00

(Tamaranean Dungeons…)

Robin struggled against two Tamranean guards as he was dragged into the depths of the castle. He then grunted as he was unceremoniously tossed into one of the many cells in the dungeon. He skidded for a moment and then sat up with a hand to his head. A glance up revealed his other friends, sans Starfire, were also in the cell. He looked at his friends for a moment and then sighed.

"So, I guess we're gonna miss the wedding," Beast Boy remarked with a chuckle.

"Not now B," Cy told his friend. "You okay man?" he asked Robin. The Boy Wonder was silent and then leaned back against the wall.

"I couldn't talk her out of it," he replied then palmed his face. "She has to marry him, for her people," he mumbled. Raven scoffed as she floated over and knelt down next to the boy wonder.

"No she doesn't," she informed. Robin sat up and looked at her curiously.

"It's all a lie man. The army, the war, everything," he explained and crossed his arms, "Blackfire set her up," he reported. Robin let out a low growl and stood up.

"Then we have to tell Starfire the truth," Robin asserted with narrowed eyes. However Raven inclined her head.

"Actually she already knows," she admitted. That caused the boys to look at her strangely and she sighed. "How many people in the galaxy actually knew Starfire was on Earth?" she questioned. Robin was silent for a moment while BB hummed.

"Uhhh… wasn't Blackfire the only one who visited or sent any messages?" the green teen noted. Robin and Cyborg glanced at him for a moment and then looked to one another in surprise.

"He's right," Cyborg admitted, "and since Star's a princess, so would Blackfire…" Cyborg continued to note aloud.

"Meaning she knew that Blackfire was the one who recalled her," Robin whispered to himself with a calculative expression. "She must've realized Blackfire was up to something and decided to find out what it was," he mused aloud.

"Not to mention she kept Blackfire from outright attacking Earth to get her with that 'Drenthaxx' army of hers," Raven remarked. Robin grimaced and nodded his head while Cyborg scoffed.

"Man I don't think that'd be much against Supes," he noted with a shake of his head.

"Maybe not, but Starfire hasn't exactly paid that much attention to all of our worlds different superheroes," Robin reminded his friends. He then started to pace around in the cell as he considered what was going on. "But why would Starfire go along with this wedding if she knows it's a sham?" the boy wonder muttered in question. He considered every possibility he could think of, till BB hummed.

"Ya'know, if the Tamaraneans are primarily a warrior culture, then doesn't that mean that Star can just challenge Blackfire for the crown in a duel or something," the green teen noted and got looks from his friends. "Dudes, I lived in Africa for a while, I met a surprising amount of warrior tribes while I was there and in other places while I was with the Doom Patrol," he offered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"So wait… if Starfire knows she can challenge her, why hasn't she yet?" Cyborg wondered with a scratch of his head and Raven's eyes widened.

"Because she still has those ships!" the dark bird realized. It made sense, those Drenthaxx ships might not have a crew and thus be predictable but Blackfire had to have some way to control them. What was to keep the dark tamranean from using them on the innocent people of the planet if Starfire didn't go along with her little ploy! "Starfire's afraid that Blackfire will use those ships if she doesn't obey," the dark bird explained.

"Man that's twisted," BB noted and Cyborg nodded in agreement. Robin however smirked as that meant they had a way to stop the dark tameranean and help Starfire.

"Maybe, but that gives us a way to help," he stated and looked at his team. "First the Drenthaxx fleet needs to be disabled," he stated resolutely, "that'll be your job Cy, think you can handle it?" he asked and the Titanium Teen grinned in response.

"Man, give me an hour and those bugs'll be squashed," he stated as he punched his fist into his open palm. Robin nodded his head with a grin while Raven then hummed as a thought came to mind.

"We also have to deal with the guards," she remarked with a click of her tongue, "they might not like Blackfire on a personal level, but they are loyal to the Grand Ruler," she explained. Robin nodded his head in agreement.

"Beast Boy," he stated and turned to the green teen, "you and Raven will have to deal with the guards," he stated. The green teen nodded his head while the dark bird looked at the boy wonder with a curious expression.

"Then what'll you do?" she questioned.

"Stall that wedding for as long as I can so Cy can deal with the ships," he replied firmly. Raven looked at Robin with a bemused expression.

"Wouldn't helping Cyborg makes things go faster," she remarked then sighed as Robin looked at her with a blank expression, "cause you have, I don't know, explosives in that belt," she remarked with a finger pointed to his utility belt. Robin paused to look down at his belt, and then grimaced. That was a decent point, he also had some decent hacking abilities, sure Cy took most of them over in their day to day jobs but…

"R-right, your right Raven, I'll go help Cy deal with those ships," he admitted with a scratch of his head. He also wondered if maybe his attraction to Starfire was perhaps just a bit unhealthy… it certainly seemed to give him 'tunnel vision' at the worst possible times. 'These are thoughts for another time,' he decided with a shake of his head as he looked to BB and Raven.

"But that means you two will have to pull double duty and try and stall the wedding if you can," he reminded. Raven nodded her head in agreement while BB scratched his head.

"Fine," Raven stated and then formed a portal into the wall. "This'll take you down to the ships, try not to get caught again," the dark bird bade. Cyborg and Robin just smirked as they hurried through the portal while BB yelped as the portal closed.

"Wait! Dudes," BB called out only to droop in place and turn to Raven with a worried expression, "but like, how are we supposed to stall the wedding and deal with the guards at the same time!?" the green shape shifter questioned nervously. Raven smirked as she looked at the green skinned teen.

"You have the power to shapeshift into any animal right?" she remarked. BB silently nodded his head with a raised brow. "So wouldn't that mean you can, oh I don't know, turn into the biggest animal you can find on this planet or maybe just a T-Rex or something else that fits in the palace and go run wild for the hell of it," the dark bird noted with a smirk. BB made an Oh with his mouth and then grinned wickedly.

"Oh yeah, I can totally do that!" he declared with a mad twinkle in his eyes…

00

(Starfire's room…)

Starfire looked at herself with a slim frown. Of her usual attire, all that is visible is her wrist protectors and armband, while a small bit of her purple boots peak out from the end of the dress. She turned to either side to see how the dress looked on her from other angles then came to a stop. She sighed, while the white wedding gown was certainly beautiful, she wasn't planning on keeping it.

The tamranean powerhouse fell into her thoughts, considering how this night would go. She was certain her friends were going to try and stop the wedding; it was just in their nature, especially given Robin's clear distaste for the 'Sklurdge'. Not that Starfire blamed him; she shuddered at the mere thought of marrying that thing. Still, she had to wonder how they would interrupt the 'wedding'…

But what really weighed upon her was what else she had to do tonight.

She would have to literally crush Blackfire's dreams in order to stop her, and the redhead truly took no pleasure from that thought. 'I do not wish to do this to her, but I cannot allow her to simply do as she pleases,' the redhead thought with an internal sigh. Blackfire had been a horrible and cruel to her for nearly all her life, but even she deserved to have her dreams and not see them crushed into nothing…

Starfire paused her thoughts when she heard a heavy footfall and internally smiled. She turned to see her K'norfka, Galfore, smiling down at her. In his hands he held an M shaped crown vaguely similar to Blackfire's, although it didn't reach as low on the cheeks as her own did. The massive tamaranean lowered the crown to her face.

"I have never seen a more beautiful bride," he remarked as he set it in place. Starfire offered a weary smile and the big tamaranean frowned. "Something troubles you, my little bumgorf?" he questioned in concern. Starfire tried to smile, but it just didn't seem to reach her eyes as she patted the side of his hand.

"Nothing troubles me," she tried. However the big Tamaranean raised a brow.

"Do not attempt to fool an old k'norfka," he stated solemnly. He then crossed his arms, "I raised you," he reminded her and she looked to the side. He placed a hand onto her shoulder to help comfort her. It brought a small, but genuine, smile to her face. "I have always expected great things from you, my princess, and tonight is no exception," the big Tamaranean remarked. Starfire looked to the side and dipped her head.

"I will do what is right for Tamaran," she insisted. It was just that it would hurt her to have to hurt her sister. Not physically mind you, so long as she did no lasting damage she wouldn't care if she roughed Blackfire up a bit. It was the emotional damage she was sure to cause that was weighing on her heart. She then looked up as Galfore raised her chin to look her in the eye.

"You must do what is right," Galfore began, "in your heart," he declared with a thump of his chest. Starfire smiled once more, but knew the big Tamaranean didn't know what she was planning to do. While Tamaraneans were capable of inter-stellar travel, the number of them that wanted to leave Tamaran were exceedingly small. Few would know the details she was privy too or Blackfire likely wouldn't have gotten away with her scheme for so long…

They turned to the side at the sound of the doors opening. There they saw Blackfire, flanked at either side by her guards strut inside with that same arrogant smirk she'd worn since she told Starfire she'd be marrying the sklurdge. 'I find it almost strange I will greatly enjoy removing that look from her face,' Starfire admitted to herself. "You ready, sister dear?" the dark tamaranean questioned.

Starfire took a brief moment to exhale then shared a brief look with her k'norfka Galfore. Eventually she flew up to hug Galfore around the neck. The big Tamaranean returned the hug as gently as he was able and offered the girl a smile as she flew to Blackfire's side. However as they left his face fell and worry clouded his features. For a moment Galfore was idle, until he followed them at a sedate pace…

00

(Outside the palace…)

Robin and Cyborg moved from ship to ship swiftly and quietly. The Boy Wonder occasionally set up a bomb, but couldn't help but be distracted as he worried about Beast Boy and Raven. He knew they could take care of themselves against any garden-variety crook, but these were Tamaranean warriors. He was also concerned for Starfire, and afraid of what fate might befall her…

"Man would you please focus! We don't have time to space out if we wanna help Star!" Cyborg hissed as he rigged the latest ship to blow. Robin shook his head of his thoughts and frowned deeply. He idly pulled yet another set of explosives from his belt and set them up on the next ship over. He resisted the urge to think about the fact that Starfire could potentially be married to that… slug…

He could scarcely imagine the kind of things it'd…

'Focus!' he mentally hissed and shook his head. This was really starting to look like a problem. He knew he was prone to brief bouts of stupidity where Starfire was involved, but he'd never thought it was this bad before. 'Normally I can at least keep a level head but it feels like all I can think about is Starfire right now,' he noted to himself. He also had to wonder why; they'd been in dangerous situations before after all.

'We could actually lose her,' he considered to himself. However he then shook his head again and returned to his work.

"Moving," Cy stated as he moved to the next ship. Unlike the leader of the Titans, the titanium teen swiftly went to work on the next ship. He knew it was a little mean, but the spiky-haired teen needed to concentrate on the task at hand and not Starfire. He knew the two had a thing for one another, but all the skirting around the issue wasn't helping anyone in his opinion.

'They're just making way too damn much drama,' he thought with an annoyed frown as he continued to wire up the next ship. 'If he likes her he needs to make a damn move 'fore someone else does,' the titanium teen remarked internally. If not he could hardly imagine how Robin might react. His clear jealousy thus far was a little annoying since the boy had never tried to ask Starfire out.

He idly noted he'd finished and moved on to the next ship. The number of them was staggering, but he was setting up each ship to blow by rewiring a few of the systems. He'd already run a diagnostic and it'd work. They'd go off after he set off a signal that would also detonate the bombs Robin was leaving on the other ships. The Titanium teen paused his thoughts to glance at the palace with a frown.

'BB, Rae, stay safe,' the Titanium Teen thought as he moved on yet again…

00

(Palace Interior…)

Beast Boy, known by the Doom Patrol as Garfield Logan or just 'Gar', was not an idiot no matter how he acted. He just… really didn't want to be the smart guy or act all serious while with the Titans. Truth be told, after being with the overly serious Doom Patrol for so long, being among the Titans was a breath of fresh air. Sure, the team wasn't all jokes and laughs but they didn't make him take everything seriously.

Beast Boy appreciated that, and he loved them like a sec… no… third… a third family.

His first family had died when they were in the African wilds after he first received his powers. Beast Boy really didn't like to think of that time, or the following year where he was briefly titled the 'worlds greatest thief'. His time with the Doom Patrol was much better, not to mention Elastigirl was a friend of his mother's from the time where they acted together on that old 'Hello Megan' sitcom.

'Wonder if anyone on the team's seen that show?' the green teen briefly considered as he ran through the halls of the palace. He was following Raven as she led him through the depths of the palace and towards the 'wedding'. He was sure to keep his eyes open and occasionally noticed an animal in the palace. 'I might use that one sometime,' he thought as they passed by a huge animal he'd seen earlier in their visit.

He paused his thoughts as several Tamaraneans charged at them with spears. 'You know, I have to wonder why none of these guys use Starbolts like Star does? Is it like some rare trait only the royals have? Were she and Blackfire experimented on by crazy aliens!? Where they the first to ever discover the ability!?' the green teen briefly wondered as increasingly outrageous ideas formed into his head.

He paused such thoughts Raven formed a shield around them. In a matter of seconds he'd already transformed into a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex. He felt Raven appear on his nose as the shield vanished and he leaned down towards the Tamaraneans. They looked at the massive green lizard with wide eyes while he 'smiled' to show off his long sharp teeth and let loose a bellowing roar.

The sheer force of his roar caused the Tamaranean Guards clothes to flutter and echoed throughout the building. Needless to say the Guards stared at him in terror. "This is the part where you run," Raven noted dryly. The guards took that moment to give a startled cry as he then lashed out with a bite and chased after them. BB internally laughed as he chased the terrified Tamaraneans into the depths of the palace.

'Dude! Some warriors! Even I'm not this much of a wimp!' the green teen thought to himself laughingly. Though to be fair, he was fairly certain that most Tamaraneans had never seen a T-Rex before in their life. Although in his opinion if the 'Portkins' were as big as Star made out they should've at least been able to hold up a… BB paused his thoughts as several Starbolts flew at him from the end of the hall.

Raven swiftly formed a barrier to block the bolts while the green teen slid to a stop. He nearly toppled over as a result, but quickly kept himself on his two feet. While the T-Rex was large and imposing it left a lot to be desired in terms of agility. It was fast when it got started but turning was a major problem. Though thankfully T-Rex's didn't really have that stupid eyesight problem from Jurassic Park.

It was a great movie, but man was it wrong about a lot of Dinosaurs. Like Velociraptors for instance, the ones in the movie were too big! The ones in that movie had even looked more like a featherless Utahraptors! Bbut that didn't excuse the lack of feathers! Raptors had feathers! They were descended from a feathers species! Sure it wasn't as scary but… he shook his head of such thoughts with a frown.

He needed to concentrate and not focus on that silly movie.

Contrarily to popular belief, Beast Boy was not an idiot. His field of expertise was just a very situational one, IE, he knew a lot about animals. The number of times this mattered to the team was… actually slim to none, but he wasn't stupid! He just didn't have the kind of knowledge that the team needed on a day-to-day basis. However, said knowledge was useful for him to take into battle as an animal based shape shifter.

For instance, the truth was that as a T-Rex his eyesight was actually much better than a hawks was. He could easily see to the end of the hall and spot the guards hurling Starbolts at him from a distance. They looked a little different to the Guards he'd seen earlier. He internally put them as some kind of 'honor guard' or something as he wasn't quite sure how to type the different Guards of Tamaran.

'Okay so some of them can use Starbolts… huh… guess my theories were wrong,' the green teen thought with a mental pout. Mostly because it always seemed like he was wrong about things these days. Especially when he was going on his random theories but hey, that was probably a good thing. He couldn't imagine how things would've gone if any of his theories about Red-X's identity were ture.

He suppressed those thoughts and roared once more before he stomped forward. Raven continued to form shields and barriers between them and the Tamaranean guards as he did. Beast Boy let out a snarl as he then reared his head to the side and used it to slam the Tamaranean Guards into the wall and then ram through the doors to the wedding. He just hoped that Robin and Cyborg had gotten everything set up outside.

Their entrance was met with startled guests rushing out of the way as Beast Boy roared loudly. Raven palmed her face and lightly rapped her hand against his absurdly thick skull with a deadpan expression. "We're not trying to make them attack us on sight," she reminded him pointedly. She then raised her hands and formed a black dome around them as several of the Tamaraneans started to fling random Starbolts at them.

Beast Boy ignored the dark bird as he transformed into a Brontosaurus then ducked low and swung his body into a mighty tail whip. His massive tail moved outwards and knocked several of the Tamaraneans away while Raven leaped up and vanished in a flash of black energy. As the dark bird vanished Beast Boy let out a primal roar as he swiftly shape shifted into a flea to leap high into the air and then transform back into a T-Rex.

Raven reappeared behind Starfire just as BB landed with a loud bang, her eyes glowing white and narrowed on Blackfire dangerously. "Just on the off chance we actually made it in time to say this," she began as she held up her communicator, "as friends of the Bride, we object to this union," she stated in a monotone and then smirked slyly, "Robin, Cyborg, now!" she stated and vanished as Blackfire fired her eyebeams at the girl…

00

'Rae you are so lucky we were just got done,' Cyborg thought with a grin as he heard the go from Raven and looked to Robin. The boy wonder smirked as he held up the detonator and depressed the button. The two friends then watched the 'Drenthaxx' army explode in a blinding flash. The two idly raised their hands to high five before they turned and hurried to the Palace. It was finally time for them to finish things with Blackfire!

00

Blackfire snarled furiously as Raven reappeared behind Starfire. Her eye twitched as she tried hard not to growl furiously. 'Of course the humans would just have to stick their noises where they don't belong,' she thought as she ground her teeth together. She then paused as an explosion rocked the palace, the flames visible from a far window. The girl's eyes widened before she turned to Raven accusingly.

"What did you do?" she demanded furiously.

"Not much," she replied with a shrug, "just destroyed your 'Drenthaxx' army," she admitted with air quotes. Blackfire's eyes blazed scarlet while Raven looked to Starfire. "Meaning that she doesn't have anything to hold over you or your people Star," she remarked. Starfire smiled brightly to her friend then glared at Blackfire and ripped her dress off. It revealed she'd been wearing her usual outfit beneath it.

Raven blinked, "You… had that on under your wedding dress the whole time?" the dark bird questioned with a raised brow. Hadn't Robin done something similar with that one tuxedo when he went on a date with 'Kitten Moth'… In response Starfire mutely nodded and Raven rolled her eyes and sighed. "Of course you did," she muttered while Starfire shot at Blackfire and the two gripped one another's hands in a test of strength.

"You," Blackfire hissed as crimson power started to surge and roar around her body, "you dare challenge the grand ruler of Tamaran!?" she demanded. However Starfire dug her heels into the ground and narrowed her eyes.

"No, I challenge my sister," she responded then pushed her back until she was literally backed against the wall, "for the crown!" she declared as she kicked up and sent Blackfire flying into the air. She then ducked and shot up ramming into Blackfire who grit her teeth and stopped just shy of breaking through the ceiling. Blackfire snarled and then brought both hands together and slammed them into Starfire's spine.

The redhead gave a cry as she was sent flying down, only to halt her decent and look up as Blackfire tossed her cloak to the side. The older Tamaranean then formed crimson starbolts into her hands and grinned nastily. "All right little sister," she hissed, eyes blazing scarlet as she placed her feet onto the ceiling. "Allow me to finally put you in your place!" the girl roared as she hurled dozens of Starbolts down at the redhead.

Starfire flipped to the side and quickly flew out of the way of the hail of Starbolts and then formed several of her own and turned. She then began to hurl her bolts at her sister from the side and scored several hits that created a dust cloud. She breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, only to gasp when she saw Blackfire immerge from the dust cloud completely unscathed.

"The jewele of Charta," she remarked as she tapped the crimson red gemstone on the chest of her breastplate. The gemstone flared white as the girl's eyes blazed a furious red. "I'm invincible!" she exclaimed and then launched herself at Starfire. The younger alien dodged a swift punch from her sister only to gasp as she twisted into a kick and sent her flying threw a coat of arms at the back of the auditorium.

"Besides, you'll always be my little sister," she said mockingly, a hand on her hip, "I mean c'mon, I'm older than you, stronger than you, and literally invincible! What hope do you have against the likes of me?" she questioned. However Starfire pulled herself from the rubble with a scowl.

"There is some truth in what you say," she admitted as she got up and narrowed her eyes. Her eyes began to spark with energy as she grit her teeth furiously, "but I am not so little anymore!" she roared as she fired her optic-bolts at the older girl. Blackfire blinked in surprised and then lunged out of the way with a yelp. Starfire then held a Starbolt in either hand before they elongated into a pair of energy blades.

The girl then launched herself into the air with a roar and swung her arms at Blackfire with practiced ease. Blackfire's eyes widened in surprise as she avoided the 'Star-Sabers' and then caught the girl's wrists. "What is this?!" she demanded with wide eyes. A better question in her mind was why hadn't she figured out how to do it first!?

"You are not the only one with the new tricks!" Starfire declared as she fired an optic blast that sent Blackfire tumbling back. The dark tamaranean slammed into and threw a column and sat up with a hand to her head. She then looked up as Starfire came down at her and grabbed the column only to swing it at her sister. The younger girl maneuvered to the side and then swung her arms to cut the column into pieces before lashed out with a kick to her sister's face.

On the sidelines, BB stared with wide eyes.

"Dude!?" Beast Boy exclaimed with stars in his eyes, "since when can Star do that!? That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!" the green teen demanded. Raven just blinked and muttered a 'god dammit X,' under her breath. It was her opinion that X was responsible for any crazy changes the girl had gone through and thus any strange abilities that popped up were his fault as well.

"What was that?" Beast Boy questioned and Raven looked at him askance…

"Uhh… no idea," she offered a bit sheepishly. BB stared at her for a moment then turned as Robin and Cyborg arrived.

"Starfire!" Robin exclaimed and rushed to help the alien powerhouse, only for Galfore to stop him with an arm.

"Hold!" he ordered and Robin looked at him with a scowl, "if anyone interferes the challenge is void. The princess will lose," he explained and Robin winced and looked to the side. However he then looked up as Cyborg placed a hand onto his shoulder.

"'Sides, our girl can handle herself," he stated confidently. Robin gave a single nod and then turned to watch the two sisters pensively.

Blackfire grunted and then kicked some ruble off of herself as she stood up and saw Starfire come at her with a swing of her Star-Sabers. She then ducked out of the way and punched her in the solarplexus. Starfire gave a gasp of pain and lurched into a position to grasp at her midriff, only for Blackfire to twist into a kick that sent her flying. She then came out of the maneuver on both feet with a smirk.

Starfire righted herself in midair and then wiped at her bleeding lip with a frown.

"You have grown stronger," she remarked and Blackfire laughed and smirked.

"Fun fact deary, the enhanced variant of Tamaranean strength is directly proportionate to our normal muscle mass," Blackfire noted and then looked at her arms, then Starfire's. "And correct me if I'm not mistaken, but who between us has more muscle mass now?" she questioned with a raised brow. She gave the redhead no time to answer as she shot like a dart and slammed the girl through the nearest wall.

"Wait what does that mean?" Beast Boy demanded. Galfore grunted in response.

"The Tamaranean 'super-strength' is activated by an emotion like the rest of our abilities. A Tamaranean is able to increase said strength by adding muscle mass, it's a quick and efficient way of increasing our strength though few see it as necessary given our already impressive strength," the massive Tamaranean explained while the Titans heard the sounds of battle and a few stray red or green starbolts.

"So wait, how much of an increase are we talking?" Robin questioned. Cyborg hummed in response and rubbed his chin.

"Are you guys about as strong as a human of your height and weight without the buff from your powers?" the titanium teen questioned. Galfore arched a brow but nodded his head and Cyborg hummed. His computer enhanced mind went to work calculating the kind of strength Starfire had normally, and then went to what Blackfire would have and… "oh that is not good," he admitted with a grimace.

"Why?" Robin questioned. Cyborg hummed.

"Star can lift about ten to fifteen tons on average," he replied.

"So?" Beast Boy questioned.

"Given the increased physical mass, which appropriately increase the proportionate amount of strength Blackfire has at her disposal, I'd say she can lift maybe… double that or more," he replied with a frown, Raven's eyes widened and she looked to where the two sisters were fighting with clear worry.

"Meaning that if Blackfire is hitting her with the full scope of her strength, then she's getting about thirty tons of force with every punch," Raven realized and Galfore nodded his head gravely. Cyborg frowned as he saw Starfire grab and slam Blackfire into the ground only for an eyebeam to send her flying as Blackfire got up without a scratch.

"To put it in perspective, those punches would turn any of us into paste," he murmured and then frowned. "Yet it almost looks like Starfire isn't doing much of anything to Blackfire, yet Starfire looks run through a ringer," the titanium teen noted with a frown. Galfore nodded with a grunt.

"Tamaranean invulnerability," Galfore explained with his arms crossed, "it allows us to shrug off physical attacks effortlessly," he stated with a nod then narrowed his eyes as he saw Blackfire grab Starfire by her hair and toss her to the side with a laugh. "However Blackfire has further bolstered this ability with the Jewel of Charta, essentially making her invincible," the big Tamaranean explained and Titans looked to their friend worriedly.

"Meaning that Blackfire has the advantage in that she can potentially outlast Starfire while beating her to within an inch of life just for the fun of it," Robin grit out furiously and Galfore gave a grave nod. They then watched as Blackfire kicked Starfire back into the room and flew inside as well. The two Tamaranean sisters glared at one another, one with a condescending smirk, the other with pure determination.

"You really are stubborn, little star," Blackfire noted. Starfire merely narrowed her eyes in response. "But then again, what should I expect from the likes of you," the dark Tamaranean remarked as she then launched herself at Starfire. The girl grabbed her sister in midair as the two struggled against one another. "Always father and mother's favorite," she remarked and slammed a fist across Starfire's face.

"Mother tried to be there for you as well," Starfire reminded her. Blackfire scoffed.

"Ha! That's rich! As I recall, sister dear, she blamed me for your stupid pets dying!" she snarled and head butted Starfire back. The redhead flew back into a spin with a yelp until Blackfire arrested her momentum by grabbing her by the ankle. "And don't get me started on how it was always you who was destined to be the crown princess," she growled and then twisted and threw the girl into the dirt.

"I studied tactics and sciences to the point my eyes bled!" she growled as she hurled a Starbolt at her sister. The younger Tamaranean rolled out of the way as Blackfire's eyes began to blaze with pure fury. "I trained until I could barely move!" she roared and unleashed a beam of heat and energy that tore through the ground. Starfire leaped out of the way of it and then looked up as Blackfire started to grind her teeth.

"And yet no matter what, nothing I did could ever prove to father that I was worthy to rule!" she roared as she formed a pair of crimson Starbolts into her hands. "All he ever cared about was perfect precious little Koriand'r!" she grit out as she slammed her hands together and fired a wide beam of energy at the younger Tamaranean. Starfire swiftly held up her hands and grit her teeth as she dug her heels into the ground.

As the energy passed she looked to her burned hands and then up to Blackfire who landed and then lunged forward to grab her by the throat. "Well," she began and grinned nastily, "despite it all, now I'm the grand ruler, and I've got to say," she began with a slight pant and a feral grin, "it feels so good to be the empress!" she declared as she slammed a fist into Starfire's sternum that sent her flying back.

The girl bounced across the floor several times before she finally halted and groaned. Blackfire chuckled darkly as she flew forward and then landed in front of the younger girl with her arms crossed. She then narrowed her eyes when she saw her sister move and look up at her with defiant eyes. Starfire slowly got up into a kneeling position and looked up through panting breathes as her sister looked at her with a grin.

"There we go, right where you belong," she noted mockingly and placed a foot down on the girl's head, "on your knees before me," she stated. However Starfire twitched at that as her eyes suddenly began to glow with pure primal fury and she gripped Blackfire's ankles with her literally burning hands.

"You may rule this planet," she hissed as she tossed Blackfire up and then slammed a fist into her chin with enough force to send her flying up into the ceiling, "But no one and nothing shall ever rule over me ever again!" she roared and then launched herself up into the air and rammed Blackfire through the ceiling. Raven winced in response.

"Well she certainly touched the nerve," she muttered and the other Titans looked at her incredulously. Galfore just nodded his head in agreement, given that he was aware of the extenuating circumstances, of course he knew there was a nerve.

"There's a nerve… Starfire actually has a nerve?" Beast Boy demanded incredulously. The alien was literally the sweetest person he knew, how could she possibly have a nerve!? Sure she sometimes got a little annoyed by his pranks, but they'd never seen her blow up so fast before!

"We all have nerves we don't like to be touched," Raven responded. She then turned her attention back to the sisters as Starfire rammed Blackfire into the ground with a roar. She then grips at Blackfire's chest, specifically, the Jewel of Charta and then puts all of her strength into her fingers. As she did she slammed her forehead into Blackfire's and thus slammed the girl's head into the floor.

Blackfire grunted as she was then kicked and sent skidding back. She soon righted herself and formed her Starbolts, only to immediately take notice that they were back to her usual shade of purple. The dark tamaranean snarled as she looked to her chest and then up to Starfire furiously.

"What have you done?!" she demanded. However Starfire mutely opened her hand to show specks of red. The redhead then brushed her hands off and the two lunged at one another. Blackfire hurled several Starbolts at her sister, who dodged around them and then, with all the righteous fury she could muster, fired a focused beam from her eyes into Blackfire's chest that sent her flying down into the ground with a bang.

"Dude!" BB exclaimed with wide eyes as the Titans watched on. They watched the dust cloud warily, and then saw Blackfire step out of it. She was still on her feet, but only for a moment before she fell forward with a groan, her crown falling from her forehead to clatter against the ground. Starfire sighed at that and flew down to stand over her sister, and knelt down to pick up the crown.

"The challenge is complete," she declared and then turned, "Tamaran has a new grand ruler," she remarked and received wild cheering from the gathered Tamaraneans and of course her friends. She ignored Blackfire as she glared at her as she walked towards her friends, the crown in her hands. She smiled as her friends crowded around her, then winced as her burned hands held the crown.

"Let me help with that," Raven stated as she held her hands up, only for Starfire to shake her head.

"Not yet," she stated and walked to Galfore. The big Tamaranean smiled then brought a fist to his chest and bowed his head.

"You did well, little star," he remarked gently, "I could not be more proud," he stated with a smile. The girl mutely looked to her hands and then up at Galfore.

"I thank you," she whispered and closed her eyes, "but we both know that I cannot rule," she stated softly. Galfore nodded sadly, then blinked as she flew up and placed the crown on his head. "Yet I must still do what is right for Tamaran, so I ask that you look out for Tamaran, as you did for me when I was small," she pleaded. Galfore looked surprised and turned to the rest of the Tamaraneans who cheered for the big Tamaranea.

He briefly raised a hand to quiet and closed his eyes. He seemed to think for a long time before he opened his eyes and looked to the side. There he saw Blackfire as she picked herself up and then marched over to her. Starfire returned to her friends and smiled awkwardly as Raven went to work healing her hands. At Galfore's approach the dark Tamaranean glanced up and then scowled with a hand to her head.

"Oh great it's you," she muttered and then stood on shaky legs. Galfore scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Komand'r," he began gravely, "I have known you since you were very small," he remarked and the dark Tamaranean rolled her eyes.

"Dude, her name is actually Commander?" Beast Boy questioned with a snicker. It earned him a nudge from both Cyborg and Raven.

"Not now B," the Titanium Teen deadpanned with a nod from the dark bird.

"I can recall when you were not as you are now, a time when you wished only to prove yourself to your father, Emperor Myand'r," he admitted then closed his eyes as if to recall those memories and the person she was back then, only to suddenly open them with blazing green light, "yet you have committed many crimes against your family, and your people, and your world," he intoned and turned his back to her.

"As such it is my duty to judge you for your crimes. And it is for this reason that my first order as the new Grand Ruler of Tamaran, is that Komand'r of house Tamarus is henceforth banished from our world, never to return!" he declared and looked to the side. "Guards!" he bellowed. Blackfire growled as several guards pointed their spears at her, eyes blazing with purple light. "Take her away!" Galfore ordered solemnly.

However Blackfire just narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah… that's so not happening," she stated and then ducked down and shot up into the air towards the roof. She paused and glared at Starfire, "I hope you know, sister dear," she hissed as her eyes blazed with purple energy, "that this isn't over!" she growled as she then shot further and further into the air before finally she vanished into the distance. "Not by a long shot," she whispered as she fought back a few stray tears.

Back in the palace, Robin grit his teeth as the dark Tamaranean made her escape. He then looked to Galfore with narrowed eyes. "You're just going to let her go," he nearly demanded, yet the big Tamaranean sighed.

"She is banished, off-worlder," he reminded the boy wonder, "Whether she leaves of her own accord matters little so long as she is gone," he stated firmly. "In the meantime you and yours are welcome to stay until your ship is repaired," he stated with a sigh. He then looked to Starfire and smiled, "Koriand'r, you have good friends," he stated and the redhead smiled in response.

With that Galfore turned from the young redhead and looked to the… sklerdge, which seemed to shrink under his gaze. The mammoth Tamaranean clenched his fists and then looked to the guards. "Guards take this, thing, to its ship and get it off of my planet," Galfore grumbled irritably. The guards nodded and marched to escort the thing away while Cyborg scratched his head.

"Well that felt just a bit anti-climactic," Cyborg mumbled, and got looks from his friends…

00

(Starfire's room…)

Raven sat beside of Starfire as she continued to heal her many wounds. 'Way too many bruises and burns,' she briefly thought as a stab of pain entered her own hands. 'Don't think about it,' she told herself and then looked to Starfire. The girl had been oddly somber since they stopped Blackfire. In fact, she'd seemed almost irritated by how Robin was angry that the girl had 'gotten away'.

"Something wrong?" Raven questioned. Starfire glanced at her friend for a moment then closed her eyes.

"No one deserves to have their dreams crushed friend," Starfire replied softly, "especially when they were all that Komand'r ever really had," she whispered. Raven winced in response and then cleared her throat.

"So I guess we're going to be on Tamaran for a little while," she remarked. Starfire idly nodded her head with a downcast expression. "So any idea how long that'll take?" she questioned. Starfire sighed and shrugged her shoulders in response. Raven grunted and then idly rubbed her temples. "There's more than just that, isn't there?" she questioned and Starfire slowly nodded her head.

"It would be bad enough for my sister were it only that she lost her dream," the redhead admitted and then hugged herself, "but to have me as a direct cause," she paused and shook her head. "I can only imagine when next we meet she will be even angrier than she was here," she remarked and Raven grimaced. She could scarcely imagine a Blackfire that hated her even more than she did now…

'Definitely not a pleasant thought,' she noted to herself. She then shook her head of such thoughts and closed her eyes in thought. Starfire was clearly out of sorts over Blackfire, although how she could still feel so sisterly to her was beyond the younger girl. Then again, Starfire had been raised to live by her emotions. As such logical thinking didn't always make sense to her, as logically speaking, she should absolutely hate Blackfire.

Instead, she still loved her sister, she even felt bad that her dreams were destroyed…

"So," Raven began and Starfire glanced at her, "how about we move off that depressing topic and onto something else," the dark bird suggested. Starfire smiled gratefully and nodded her head in agreement.

"What is it you have in mind friend Raven?" she questioned. The dark bird looked at the older girl with a deadpan expression.

"The story about the future," she replied. Starfire giggled in response and nodded her head.

"Of course," she remarked and then crossed her arms and hummed. "Well, I believe what happened next was that we located where the Cypher was being held," she remarked. She then cupped her chin as she continued to think back. "I was talking to Xyannis, as I wished to know more that had happened in the time I had been away. The Red-X was with the Hood and Arrow, while the Gizmo worked to locate the Cypher…"

00

[20 years in the future…]

(Tartarus Technologies…)

Barbara Gordon worked swiftly as she scanned through the systems in the Tartarus Technologies. The 'Ghost Programs' that Cypher had left throughout the systems were already hard at work making life difficult for her. The programs were fully autonomous, with only their final bit of programming left to give them purpose. Their actions were solely dependent on the individual program, which could be just about anything.

Unfortunately for Cypher, as Oracle, she'd taken out much better hackers. The cybernetic enhancements she'd had done to her didn't make her a better hacker in any sense. They made it easier for her to hack into computers, but Cypher's actual skill in doing so was sub-par compared to what she could do. As such she had a relatively easy time hunting the programs down in Gizmo's systems.

Getting them out was another matter entirely as the ghost programs seemed to have inherited their 'mother's' tenacity and stubborn will to survive. Barbara stopped at that thought and squished it down into nothing. 'They aren't Cypher's kids, at best they are things the H.I.V.E. forced on her,' she thought to herself. She'd never wish any kind of 'children' by what the H.I.V.E. did on the poor woman.

As someone who had been paralyzed by a super-villain, she had no small amount of sympathy for what the H.I.V.E. did to Cypher. It was a million times worse for Cypher of course, but she did feel a bit of understanding. The big difference was that Barbara couldn't imagine that Cypher would ever be able to have a normal life after what was done to her by those animals…

"Ha! Finally got some video!" Gizmo exclaimed. Barbara swiftly wheeled herself over to the tiny terror and watched a holographic screen depict the 'video'. What she saw was a video of someone, Cypher, moving through several tunnels with a bit of graffiti on the walls and other such paraphernalia.

"That looks familiar," the redhead remarked with a hand to her chin. She reached a hand to the side to bring up a few files on her laptop she had on passed missions she'd been involved with. Not necessarily with Batman or any of the others. She'd occasionally worked with the 'Super' family as well as the Birds of Prey, the Outlaws, the Outsiders, the Titans, and even the JLU.

"What're you looking for?" Gizmo questioned. Barbara ignored him as she connected her laptop to his terminal and started to clear up the video, and then narrowed her eyes as Cypher stepped out into a city. Gizmo grunted and turned from the girl to look at the video as well. They both noticed it almost immediately. The tall gothic buildings in the distance, the broken and battered town around her as she stepped into a van…

"That was Old Gotham," Gizmo noted then grunted, "Why the fuck is it always fucking Gotham?" the tiny terror grumbled irritably. In his opinion that was a very reasonable question, and it was up there with why idiots still lived in that crazy city! Barbara rolled her eyes at the crack and then slowly nodded her head as she continued to enhance the picture of the video in different places.

"Gotham is a place people go to disappear, lots of vagrants and psychos for the H.I.V.E. to use," she murmured quietly. "Worse, I know where they are," she stated as she looked as she cleared the images in the video. Namely all the different posters, one of which clearly stated where it was that the H.I.V.E. were held up in. "Wonder City," she remarked and Gizmo scowled deeply and pulled on his beard.

"Fucking fuckity fuck, that's deep in the Bats territory," he noted with a frown. If it was on the outskirts of Gotham they might be able to skirt around the Bat without any kind of issue. But that deep in and they were almost guaranteed to run into the dark knight. "Argh! Why the hell did they set up there?!" he demanded furiously. Barbara clicked her tongue in response.

"If you stop to think about it, it makes some sense," she noted as she brought the image of where Wonder City was up. "The H.I.V.E. favor underground bases and Wonder City was underground. Not to mention that Batman cleared out Wonder City back during the Arkham City incident," she murmured as she brought up her old files on Wonder City from the incident in question. She then started to bring up notes on Wonder Tower.

"So do you think they tried to dig up the Lazarus Pit?" Gizmo questioned. Barbara hummed in response and then shook her head.

"Batman completely buried it," she replied and then pursed her lips, "even if they did, the pit would've been contaminated by residue from Clayface and thereby unusable," she remarked. Gizmo grunted in response and then scratched at his head.

"So why bother with that place then? Gotham isn't exactly the best place to set up a criminal organization," the tiny terror noted. Given how the Batman and his 'family' had taken out the last few that tried, that was also a pretty safe bet. 'The League of Assassins, The Benefactors, The Court of Owls,' he internally listed and then frowned as he wondered whether or not a couple others counted while Barbara hummed softly.

"Not necessarily," she murmured as she looked over the video once more. "As I said it was cleared out and Gotham is full of mentally unstable people that they could capture for experiments or to turn into mindless drone soldiers," she reminded him. She then started to turn Cypher's video-feed back and frowned when she saw lots of static. "What is," she whispered then paused when she saw what looked like Steel Clan.

"Well that confirms that the H.I.V.E. have been supplying those two-bit punks with their tech," Gizmo noted and Barbara nodded her head. She then narrowed her eyes and focused in on the back and a grimace crossed her face.

"It looks like it gets worse," she noted as she enhanced the picture. In the back they could only just make out the visage of an elderly Brother Blood, cybernetically enhanced and overseeing it all imperiously. "Brother Blood," she murmured and then frowned, "The Senior one that is, who I thought was supposed to be dead," she noted with a frown. Gizmo grimaced and then looked around his desk.

"Of course that stupid ass hat survived the fucking shit storm his son started," the tiny terror muttered as he looked at the recording. "Looks like Mother Mayhem might be with him as well," he noted as he saw a couple of crimson-cloaked women with hoods drawn up to shadow their faces behind Brother Blood.

"So then the hierarchy of the Church of Blood are in total control of the H.I.V.E. and Steel Clan," Barbara remarked with a frown. She continued to enhance the picture in the video files when she saw someone else. "Better add Psimon to that list of problems Gizmo," she stated and leaned back in her seat. The tiny terror saw the braincase-wearing maniac and allowed a grimace to cross his lips.

Brother Blood on his own was already a skilled martial artist and psychic, add on his cybernetic enhancements and he could be a force to be reckoned with. Mother Mayhem was simply a high-ranking member of the Church of Blood, a part of the Order of Scath, some of Trigon the Terrible's most 'faithful' servants on Earth. She was Brother Blood's mistress, and her only obligation was that she would bare and then raise his son.

'Ugh… how anyone could stand sleeping with that I'll never know,' Gizmo thought with a look of disgust directed at the half mechanical body of Brother Blood. But that wasn't the point, nor did it really matter to him. The Church of Blood was a demon-worshipping Cult that X had run afoul of several times in the past. Usually, when X ran into them he made it a point to eviscerate any of them he found…

Gizmo was still cleaning the bloodstains out of his rug in the library from one particularly stupid member of the Church who thought it was a smart idea to try and hold him hostage. Gizmo snorted at the sheer insanity of that idea, given how protective X was to his city in general, it was a fact he was worse towards his friends. But that still wasn't the point as he focused on the last figure with a frown.

Simon Jones was originally a scientist at STAR Labs; he was specifically researching parallel worlds. Eventually the man had managed to create a device that allowed him to peer into other worlds. Unfortunately for him, he also caught the attention of Trigon The Terrible. The dread extra-dimensional demon sent a message to Simon and gifted him his mental powers in exchange for his servitude.

Psimon was born as a result, but had no intention of becoming a puppet to Trigon. Instead he went out of his way to prevent the coming of Trigon, going so far as to work against the H.I.V.E. from within when Brother Blood took over. Yet in the end his attempts amounted to naught but a furious demon, which would likely make Psimon's after life a true hell whenever he finally got him…

"Oh my god," Barbara whispered as realization suddenly dawned on her. Gizmo glanced at the woman with a scowl and narrowed his eyes.

"What's with you?" he demanded. He was a lot nicer to Barbara than he was to most girls, mostly because she was hot but also because he respected her intelligence. It was rare that he found a woman that good looking with an IQ that was almost as high as his own. Plainly put the Tiny Terror was not going to alienate her for that reason. In response to his question Barbara looked at Gizmo with wide eyes.

"The Church of Blood have Warp," she replied. Gizmo arched a brow.

"So?" he questioned. Barbara twitched and then exhaled.

"The Church of Blood have Warp!" she stated more urgently. Gizmo just shrugged and the redhead palmed her face. For all his intelligence Gizmo could miss some pretty big things when they were staring him right in the face… "They have Warp, they have his research, they have his tech!" she continued and Gizmo blinked. "They have access to a Time Machine!" she snarled at the tiny terror, fed up with his clueless idiocy.

"Oh, yeah that's ba…" Gizmo began only to pause as she grabbed his shoulders.

"Time machines which can also easily be reworked into inter-dimensional gateways!" the redhead growled at the bald midget. Gizmo was silent as he allowed that thought to sink in and then his eyes bugged out.

"Holy mother of fucking shit the Church of Blood have Warp!"

00

(Tartarus Technologies, Ops Center…)

Naruto sat with Red-Hood at the couch while Red-Arrow was busy working on one of the many infected systems of the building. Starfire was speaking with Xyannis animatedly to the side, a jubilant expression on her face while the older Tamaranean looked somewhat bemused by it all. As they did that, Cheshire was preoccupied with eating whatever she could find in the fridge.

"So how've things been X?" Hood questioned. He wasn't normally one for small talk, but he couldn't help but notice that his friend was staring at Cheshire. Then again it was a little strange that the emerald assassin was eating so much. 'Not when you realize why she's eating so much,' the man internally corrected.

"Fine for the most part," Naruto replied distractedly. "We've had the usual troubles with the gangs but nothing I can't handle," he noted. He then paused and tapped on his chin, "Oh yeah, I think the local gang of Reds got a new leader," he added and Red-Hood quirked a brow in response.

"That matters why?" he questioned. Naruto looked at his friend with a deadpan expression.

"Cause they wear our colors, so we should at least know what they're up too," he replied and Hood shrugged his shoulders.

"Not my problem, I move from place to place," he reminded his friend. Naruto rolled his eyes and then crossed his arms over his chest.

"Right right," he muttered and then frowned in thought. "Aside from that we've had a few random incidents with the latest generation of 'villains'," the blond remarked with air-quotes and Hood shook his head.

"They don't make good villains anymore," Hood stated sagely and Naruto snorted.

"Understatement of the fucking century, they make Doctor Light look scary," he noted as he palmed his face through his mask and sighed. "I'm getting too old for this shit," he grumbled out irritably. Hood snorted in response and looked at his friend incredulously.

"This coming from the guy who is quite literally part tree," Hood mumbled and got a look from the blond as a result. The funny part was that that was actually a thing. As it turned out his species weren't actually apes despite their appearance. Instead they were actually descended from what Gizmo classed as 'Oni' and the Shinju, which was an odd combination if ever there was one.

"My species might be part tree, but that's no reason to make fun of me," the blond grumbled irritably. He wasn't exactly thrilled to learn he was part plant, although it did seem to make Poison Ivy extremely friendly with him, it was kind of annoying when he realized that was also why he got that stupid green ring. Naruto shook that thought off and then stared at Jade strangely as she continued to eat before he leaned over to Hood.

"Is she pregnant again?" he stage whispered. Red-Hood briefly looked at Roy and then subtly nodded his head. "Crap…" Naruto muttered with a grimace. He could quite easily recall the last time Cheshire had been pregnant, when she wasn't trying to kill them she was all weepy, the extremely rare times when she wasn't either homicidal or weepy she was affectionate… inappropriately affectionate.

"Don't tell Roy, she wants to surprise him," Hood whispered to Naruto. The blond silently nodded his head and then looked back to Cheshire. Despite the amount she was eating she still seemed thin to him. 'Clearly only in her first few months,' he decided though how she wasn't putting on weight despite all the food she was eating…

"Not showing yet," he noted. Hood internally rolled his eyes.

"Takes time genius," he reminded him. Naruto fixed a flat look on the man.

"I know that!" he hissed and then looked back at Cheshire, "Is it safe for her to come with?" he questioned worriedly. Red-Hood snorted and nodded his head in reply. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief while Hood chuckled to himself. It was nice to know he had a teammate who was more concerned for his teammates than anything else. He could admit to himself that that was why he liked having X with them on big jobs.

"What are you two talking about?" Roy questioned from where he was working. Both Hood and X grinned nervously beneath their masks and raised their hands.

"Nothing!" they both stated quickly. Roy looked at them strangely for a moment then rolled his eyes as he turned back to his work. As he did the boys breathed a sigh of relief and then glanced at one another. After a moment Naruto cleared his throat and looked back at Roy curiously. However before he could ask him what he was doing, they heard the doors shoot open while Gizmo scurried inside with wide eyes.

Upon seeing his friend in clear distress Naruto hopped up and over to him.

"Jeez Giz, are you alright?" he questioned with a hand on the tiny terrors shoulder. However Gizmo brushed his hands from his person then leaped up and grabbed the front of his trenchcoat with wide eyes.

"The mother fucking Church of goddamned Blood have Warp!" he exclaimed frantically. There was a sudden hushed silence in the room. It was practically deafening, as even Xyannis seemed to go pale when she heard that. Starfire looked around herself unsure of the meaning behind those words, then felt… something… utterly oppressive in the air press down on her very being as Red-X's demeanor suddenly changed.

He stood ramrod straight and his fists clenched at his sides. Starfire also saw the lenses on his mask seem to narrow on the tiny terror dangerously. 'How do they do that?' the tamaranean powerhouse wondered to herself. 'Perhaps I should ask why they do that,' she considered briefly. It did seem kind of silly to her after all, and it made her wonder what was going on with his mask.

"What did you just say?" Naruto questioned sternly. Gizmo yelped and released the black clad thief and then backed away nervously.

"The Church of Blood have Warp," he replied. The blond had to physically restrain himself from growling in anger. 'Oh so that's what those fucktards have been up too 'en, well it's bout time I shoved my foot up their collective asses again,' he decided as he started to crack his knuckled.

"Where are they?" he questioned. Gizmo gulped.

"Wonder City which also happens to be under old Gotham," he replied. Naruto silently nodded and turned around, "But we're talking deep in the Bat's territory here X," he remarked. The thief briefly twitched. "Not to mention with all those psychic assholes around I'll need to dig out our old neural-blocks," he added with a frown. He also tried to remember where he'd put those old things…

'Did I even keep them? Did Angel take 'em when she and Kyd finally retired? Or did I get rid of 'em after Brainiac tried to use 'em to jack our minds?' he briefly wondered then snapped his fingers. 'Oh right I put 'em in the closet next to that old chronotron generator I was fixing up for our time travel division,' he noted with a nod of his head. Naruto just looked at his friend as his masked eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Giz, get those blocks quick cause I wanna be at Wonder City within the hour," he growled furiously.

"But what about the bat?!" Gizmo demanded and the masked blond scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Let me worry about the fucking Bat, just get those blocks!" he replied gravely. Gizmo looked at him strangely for a moment, then nodded with a grunt and scurried away. As he left Naruto slowly exhaled a breath and turned to a stone serious Red-Hood. "You heard me, we're moving out," he stated and then stalked off. Red-Hood nodded his head and got back up then looked to Roy.

"Arrow, prep the ship," he stated swiftly and the scarlet archer silently nodded. As the boys got ready Starfire looked to Xyannis curiously.

"Why is the X so distressed?" she questioned. She couldn't think of a better word for it, as he didn't seem… well no, he seemed angry but that wasn't a word that fully captured the sheer depths of anger that X was giving off. Xyannis hummed in response, arms crossed and a clearly annoyed expression on her face.

"It's a long story," she began and then brushed the hair from her face, "but suffice it to say that he and the Church of Blood have a 'rocky' history," she explained. She then frowned as she looked at Cheshire, who had taken a knife from her kimono and started to sharpen it. She rolled her eyes and looked back to Starfire, "personally, I think it's annoying he's still angry about it," she grumbled quietly.

Starfire looked at the older Tamaranean with a quirked brow.

"But," she began however the older girl flew away without another word. Starfire frowned to herself and then glanced at Cheshire as the emerald-assassin chuckled. The emerald assassin finished off what she was eating and closed the fridge door. She idly wiped at her mouth with a napkin as she turned to the alien powerhouse.

"You know cutie," the girl began and caused Starfire to frown. She really didn't want all of X's friends to start calling her that. "If I were you, I wouldn't be so friendly with her," the emerald-assassin noted playfully. Starfire narrowed her eyes in response.

"I've known her since I was small," she retorted. However the assassin shook her head. She then flipped onto the island of the kitchen. She landed in a seated position, legs crossed while she leaned to the side with her cheek propped against her raised palm.

"Correction, you knew her back when you were small," the emerald-assassin remarked and then stretched out across the island like a cat. "She's changed a lot since back then, in ways you can't possibly imagine," she remarked and Starfire scowled. Cheshire shook her head and then rolled off of the island and landed in a low crouch. She then stood up and brushed herself off.

"Well anyways Cutie, just keep what I said in mind," she told the redhead playfully. She then sashayed passed her, then turned and gave a mock salute. "But what do I know? I've only known her for the passed five years," she remarked as she sauntered off. Starfire watched her go with a frown, then quickly made her way to the Outlaw's ship…

00

[Present day…]

"The Church of Blood," Raven whispered with a scowl. She knew who they were of course; she was actually intimately familiar with them…

"Yes, the Red-X was quite perturbed upon learning of their association with the H.I.V.E. and desire for Warp," the alien powerhouse noted. Raven grunted in response and crossed her arms over her chest. She could easily think of a few things the Church of Blood could do with time travel capabilities. The most likely scenario in her mind was that they were going to go free Trigon at a point the world didn't have defenders, or something similar.

"Yeah I noticed," Raven replied after a moment then closed her eyes. She was actually a little curious why the thief was so hostile towards the Church of Blood. Her own reason for hating them made sense in her mind. Yet, why the thief hated the Church of Blood was a mystery… "Did you ever find out what was up with that?" the dark bird questioned. Starfire winced in response.

"The X was not forthcoming, but I learned his friend who was a girl was lost to him by their actions," she replied. Raven winced and then looked away. 'Did they use her as a sacrifice? Try to give her to Trigon maybe? Hmmm,' the dark bird wondered to herself. It could honestly be any number of things with the Church of Blood involved. Honestly, she didn't have enough time to list all the ways they could've hurt him with her…

"So you went to Gotham," she noted and Starfire nodded her head. "What's it like?" the dark bird questioned. She wouldn't admit it but she'd actually considered visiting the city a couple of times over the years. Mostly because the architecture was very interesting in the few pictures she'd seen of it, but also because her mother, Angela 'Arella' Roth was a Gotham Native before she was taken to Azaroth.

"It was dark and oppressive, cold and merciless, it felt as if something would come from every alley or corner to attack and also as if the hope had been lost to her people long long ago," the alien powerhouse replied blankly. She then crossed her arms with a frown. "It honestly felt as though I was on the Gordanian Prison Ship again," she admitted. Raven raised a brow and tilted her head slightly.

"So I take it it's not a good place to visit then," she remarked and Starfire looked at her and shook with a deadpan expression. Raven looked to the side and then awkwardly cleared her throat. 'Well on that note I'm crossing Gotham off my list of places to visit,' the dark bird thought to herself. Even if it was her mother's former home, that description kind of made it sound like a hellhole if she were honest.

Then again with all the crazy villains in Gotham that kind of made a twisted sort of sense…

"So then back to the story," Raven pleaded. Starfire nodded her head as she inhaled a breath and then continued.

"The Outlaws were most generous in allowing us to use their ship to reach the City of Wonders," Starfire began, "Although the X insisted we needed to use the surprise if we were to catch the H.I.V.E. before they escaped with the Cypher," she admitted. Raven nodded her head with a hum while the redhead closed her eyes. "As such we decided that our entry into the H.I.V.E. would be a bit… impractical," the girl remarked with a smile…

00

[20 years in the future…]

(Wonder City, Old Gotham…)

Several Steel Clan Cyborgs march their way through the tunnels beneath Gotham. The make their way to the once League of Assassins controlled city known simply as 'Wonder City'. It had, since the H.I.V.E. took over, been modified and upgraded into a true subterranean facility on par with the original H.A.E.Y.P. It was used primarily as a place of recruitment, but also for experimentation.

Among these experiments and recruits were of course the Steel Clan, a group of men and women willing to part with their organic organs and flesh and replace them with cold hard steel. Speaking of, two of the Steel Clan suddenly turned to stand in front of and beside the doors to Wonder City while the rest make their way inside. Many of them carry this or that, spoils of recent robberies and thefts committed by the Steel Clan.

The two guards stand silently as their fellows march into the city. Then they glance to one another when they notice a strange noise. They pause as their fellow pass then turn at another sound, only to scream as a familiar ship appears in a bright flash of light and crushes them as it crashes through the door to Wonder City. The Steel Clan within the city immediately turn and open fire on the ship with whatever weapons they have.

For roughly a minute the Steel Clan pelted the ship with continuous fire, never stopping until all they could see is dust in the air. Once they finally stopped they watched the dust cloud clear and the ship come back into view. Much to the surprise of the Steel Clan, the ship was perfectly intact, nary a scratch or a mark on its hull. One of the higher-ranking Steel Clan members glanced at two of his fellows and motioned them over to the ship.

The two lower ranked members glanced at one another then slowly approached the ship with their weapons drawn, only to halt at a hiss of air. The two Steel Clan Cyborgs took a step back with their weapons raised to the source of the hiss. The top of the ship opened up and then a familiar man in black popped out. Red-X looked down at the two Steel Clan Cyborgs and raised a hand.

"Hello," he stated with a mocking wave. He then smirked as he formed several red X's into both hands, "Buh-bye," he stated as he flicked the X-Shuriken around the room and then ducked back into the ship as the Steel Clan opened fire on him and the ship again. The Steel Clan fired at the ship without pause, only for one to glance at the Shuriken X threw when he noticed a beeping sound.

He saw a blinking red light on the Shuriken, and groaned pitifully just as it exploded…

Inside the ship Naruto slipped back down with a snicker. As he did he noticed Koriand'r as she looked all around the ship in surprise. It was clear she knew what the ship was and at least what some of the tech was as she zipped here and there. "This is a slip-ship!" she declared. Which explained how they'd managed to bypass all the earth and rock between them and the H.I.V.E.'s underground facility…

"How did you acquire one of these on the Earth?" she questioned. Red Hood blinked at the wording and glanced at his Tamaranean teammate.

"She means 'how on earth did you get one of these' doesn't she?" he questioned. However Xyannis smirked in response.

"She knows what she meant," the elder Tamaranean replied, and then glanced at the youthful redhead. She considered how she could explain for a moment then mentally decided to say 'fuck it' and tell the truth. "We stole it," she stated with a shrug. Starfire paused to stare at her strangely while Naruto snorted and snickered to himself. Roy palmed his face and then looked back with a frown.

"No, you two stole the first one," he stated accusingly. As he did Cheshire smirked behind her mask. She recalled that the only reason they had stolen the first Slip-Ship was because some random space pirates had kidnapped the ginger. One of said pirates had even been stupid enough to pretend to be Lobo of all people, who had taken offence to the thin and clean cut faker and had even ripped his head off for good measure.

"Actually we stole two ships," Red-Hood noted and got a look from Roy, the leader of the Outlaws rolled his eyes in response, "don't give me that look, you were in trouble man," Red-Hood deadpanned and Roy palmed his face.

"I know," he replied tersely and then sighed, "but my point is that I worked with Gizmo to design a new Slip-Drive and installed it into our current ship," the ginger explained. He then crossed his arms with a stern frown. "So no, we didn't steal this one!" he declared with a firm nod of his head. Koriand'r mutely looked between Roy and Red-Hood for a moment then turned back to X as he chuckled to himself.

Naruto chuckled to himself as he listened to the explosions from outside the ship. He waited for a moment, ignored the screams, and then grinned when the explosions, and sounds of blaster fire, finally ceased. He then glanced back at his allies and motioned them up. The masked thief hurried out of the ship and then flipped onto the hull of the ship and glanced around to see the Steel Clan were scrambling to attack.

'Oh no you don't,' the masked thief thought as his thermal blasters unfolded from his suit's wrists. The thief then started to rain a hale of fire on the Steel Clan, causing them to scatter and scramble for cover behind any building they could find. The blond thief continued to fire while Red-Hood came out of the ship behind him and then started to fire on the Cyborgs as well.

He holds a pair of heavily customized pistols, weapons he's used for more than a decade, and that he is intimately familiar with. He aimed his weapons at several of the Steel Clan as they tried to fire on him and X, only for them to drop down dead from a round to the forehead. Red-Hood was not a man who pulled his punches, or use rubber bullets, if he was fighting a criminal then the Criminal was very likely going to end up dead.

"So," Hood began as he fired into the mass of Cyborgs. Naruto grunted in response while his sometimes friend continued to take out anyone in sight. "The usual wager?" Hood questioned as he ducked down to reload his gun. Naruto snorted in response while he spotted some H.I.V.E. Troopers approaching from one of the halls. 'For assassins these guys really stand out too much with all the bright yellow,' he thought to himself.

"First to fifty?" the masked blond questioned as he fired at the H.I.V.E. Troopers. The man quickly ducked or dodged as the crimson beams of heat approached them. Hood got back up and then started to fire on the enemy once more.

"Sounds about right," Hood replied as he fired on another Steel Clan member. "I'm already up to ten, you?" he questioned and Naruto snorted.

"Keep up junior, I've got twenty!" the blond retorted with a grin. He then formed a shuriken into his hand and tossed it into a throng of troopers. The weapon exploded and the two men started to pick off the troopers one by one.

"First of all, you had a head start," Red-Hood reminded the blond as he fired at another pair of H.I.V.E. Troopers. "That's two more," he noted as he turned and fired on a pair of Steel Clan cyborgs. "Dammit I missed…" he muttered under his breath and then glanced at X from the corner of his eye. "And besides that, I'm only just hitting my stride," he stated with an amused smirk.

"Would you two stop fucking around and concentrate!?" Roy shouted as he climbed out of the ship. Unlike X who liked his thermal-blasters, or Hood who favored his pistols, Red-Arrow of course used a bow. Unlike them though he also had a host of other weapons at his disposal, as one of the nicknames he'd been given over the years just happened to be 'Arsenal'.

"Chill out Roy, we're just having some fun," Naruto said in an attempt to placate the man. However Roy merely grunted while he notched an arrow and let it fly. The arrow exploded in the distance causing several screams from the H.I.V.E. Troopers and Steel Clan. The ginger archer then glanced at his friends with a deep frown on his face.

"Maybe I just don't like that you two make a game out of what is essentially mass-murder," he growled at the two. Hood rolled his eyes while Naruto shrugged his shoulders. He was able to kill yes, and he had, but that didn't mean he made a conscious effort to do so. More often than not he merely maimed or brutalized the people he went up against on a day to day basis.

"In my defense, we only have to incapacitate them for a point," the blond Shinobi remarked. Roy blinked and then noticed that several of the men and women that X hit weren't dead… dismembered, oh yes, but not necessarily dead. 'Note to self, stay on X's good side,' the ginger decided and then pulled another arrow from his quiver. He fired a sonic arrow into a throng of troopers and watched them fall down screaming.

He quickly pulled and notched yet another arrow and fired it into a throng of troopers that exploded into a ruddy red foam. The foam expanded around the surprised H.I.V.E. Troopers and quickly hardened around them. The men struggled but where held firm while Roy glanced at his friends. "That's eight for me," he noted and his friends grinned in response.

"Oh it is so on!" Red-Hood stated while he and X redoubled their efforts. X formed several red-x's into his left hand and then sent them flying. They flew through the air before on expanded and wrapped around a H.I.V.E. Trooper. Another exploded and sent a Steel Clan Cyborg flying. Another latched onto a H.I.V.E. Trooper and sent an electric jolt through him that caused him to pass out.

"I believe that's three," X noted with a smirk. Hood muttered under his breath and didn't dignify that with a response. Sometimes he missed having a utility belt full of gadgets he could use against his enemies. Sure his coat looked better, but it couldn't really hold all of the gadgets he'd like it too. Not to mention it was harder than hell to find the kind of gadgets that Batman and Robin used, Naruto had honestly lucked out with his suit..

Roy rolled his eyes and notched yet another arrow. He just preferred his bow mostly for nostalgias sake these days, but also for his trick arrows. Most of said arrows had been built by him, many of which having been modified into lethal variants of the ones used by his friend and mentor Oliver Queen, AKA Green Arrow. Of the 'lethal' variants he would occasionally use, included a 'scatter arrow', which friends still swore he ripped off of Hanzo from Overwatch.

Roy shook his head of that and continued to help his friends keep the Steel Clan and H.I.V.E. at bay. As they did Cheshire slunk from the back of the ship and into the shadows. She had a mission she needed to complete, a simple on in that she was to find and take care of Psimon. It wasn't because he'd be a threat, with the neural-blocks they didn't really have to worry about that.

No, she had personal reasons to hunt Psimon and X was aware of them, and he was also more than willing to let her gut the man like a trout for what he did…

'I'll have to do something nice for him later,' Cheshire decided. She then slipped into the shadows and seemed to vanish. She was a true assassin after all, not flashy like some of the weirdoes who'd popped up over the years, or had an interesting gimmick to her name, but an assassin wasn't supposed to be flashy or gimmicky, they were supposed to get the job done! And Cheshire always got the job done… well most of the time anyways.

While Cheshire slipped off to find Psimon, the two Starfires flew out of the ship and shot up into the air. The elder of the two smiled darkly as she fired a beam from her eyes that tore through several Steel Clan Cyborgs. But the younger flew passed her and then shot down one of many corridors. The elder Starfire, who looked more than a little annoyed, swiftly followed after her.

Much like Cheshire, the Tamaranean duo also had a mission to complete; they were tasked with the mission of locating Cypher. Koriand'r had been adamant that they needed to help the cybernetic hacker. X had agreed and decided the two Tamaraneans would watch each other's backs as they looked for her. Xyannis had, at first, wanted to go with him instead but X had put his foot down.

So instead she was stuck 'babysitting' the younger Tamaranean as 'the Reds' all focused on their own missions. Which at the moment was limited to keeping the Steel Clan's attention on them, but that wasn't the whole of their job. As the girls finally got off to their jobs, X glanced at Hood and Arrow and nodded to them. Arrow nodded back and then shouldered his bow and leaped off and hurried away.

His mission was a simple one in theory, he was to get to the central computer in the facility and take it over. After he did he'd send locations on the other Outlaw's targets too them. The Crimson Archer knew this and was prepared; he, Oracle, and Gizmo had managed to rip apart Cypher's memory-chit to pull out the locations for all the different locations in the Wonder City H.I.V.E. Facility.

H soon ran down a long hallway and spotted several H.I.V.E. Soldiers. The ginger archer swiftly flipped his bow In hand and used it to club one of the soldiers across the face. The man backed up and grunted as Roy slammed a fist into his sternum. The ginger then turned on his heel to deliver a kick to the man's head and rolled out of the way of blaster fire from the other soldiers.

He swiftly flipped to the side, bow and arrow drawn, and fired an explosive arrow that sent the soldiers stumbling away. The man himself leaped forward to kick another soldier, then grabbed the next and flipped over him only to hurl him at the last soldier. He then sniffed and brushed himself off as he raised his hand to his ear and pressed down on a button on his ear-mounted communicator.

"Oracle, I'm approaching the main computer terminal," he stated.

[Right, X just reported in, he says that Hood is moving out,] the other redhead replied. Roy nodded his head as he approached a door to the side and found a num-pad beside a door. He quickly ripped the pad open and then used a mini-computer to hack into it. He narrowed his eyes as the door opened and rolled inside with his bow and arrow drawn. He paused and then blinked with a frown when he didn't see anyone inside.

"Okay that was not what I expected," Roy muttered as he stood up and glanced to either side with a frown. He then turned and closed the door to the room and then hopped into the nearest chair. He then put his bow to the side and pulled a device from his belt and attached it to the computer terminal. "Oracle, Gizmo, I've got the link set up, see what these guys have been up to," the crimson archer stated with a hand to his ear.

[Right,] Oracle replied. The crimson archer then watched as the woman proceeded to hack into the terminal. A plethora of data passed across the screen before he saw Oracle's emblem appear on the screen. [Alright I'm in,] the redhead stated…

00

Naruto ducked beneath a blast from a Steel Clan cyborg and then vanished in a static flash. He reappeared behind the cyborg and shoved a Rasengan into the man's spine that sent him flying away. Red-Hood had already moved out, leaving X to deal with the remaining Steel Clan at the entrance. The masked blond then paused and raised his hand to his ear when he heard a sudden beep from his helmet.

"Talk to me," the thief replied and then vanished out of the way as more Steel Clan came running. The thief reappeared on the ceiling with his arms crossed and listened to his communicator.

[Just though you might want to know that I've broken into the security systems X,] the woman explained. Naruto hummed in response and formed an X into his hand.

"Hold that thought," the blond murmured as he hurled the shuriken down at the Steel Clan below. The crimson weapon flew down low before suddenly exploding as it approached the Steel Clan. The blond thief chuckled to himself as he landed on the ground from a static flash a moment later. "Right, so what'd you find?" the blond thief questioned as he made his way down one of the halls.

[Quite a few things, I've already directed Hood and Xyannis to their targets, Cheshire refused to listen,] she remarked drolly and Naruto smirked.

"This isn't just a job for her," Naruto remarked softly, "this is a fucking hunt as far as she's concerned," he intoned darkly then shook his head. "Besides that, Jade likes to do things for herself," the blond noted as he noticed a map appear at the corner of his eye.

[Right,] Oracle murmured and then exhaled, [well anyways, I also sent Blood's location to your HUD,] she stated. The blond smirked in response.

"Babs can I just take this moment to say that you have a rockin' body with a big beautiful brain on top of it!" the blond thief declared with a laugh. He could all but hear the woman roll her eyes in response.

[I'm married, but I'll still accept the compliment,] she stated dryly. Naruto rolled his eyes in response as he turned serious and narrowed his eyes.

"Babs, here's a heads up, I'm going dark from here on out," the blond stated. Their was silence on the line for a moment before Barbara spoke up.

[X, please don't do anything rash,] the woman pleaded. Naruto merely narrowed the lenses of his mask. His shadow also seemed to move, ten waving tendrils forming behind him as he clenched his fists at his side.

"I make no promises," he growled, as he seemed to surge forward like a dark wraith…

00

Simon Jones was once a normal man, in what could only be considered a previous life by this point. He could recall that life quite easily even now, but he wasn't particularly fond of who he used to be. So it was no wonder he took to his new life with such gusto, being particularly fond of his powers. Although to be honest he was in no way fond of his 'benefactor' the deranged inter-dimensional demon Trigon The Terrible.

He'd made it a point to foil the deranged demon's plans again and again over the years, sometimes covertly, sometimes overtly, but always against Trigon. As bad as he was and as much of a villain as he could be, he wasn't stupid enough to want an actual demon to run around destroying his world, unlike those idiots within the Church of Blood. That was the only reason he even bothered to be with this new 'H.I.V.E.'.

Psimon had infiltrated their ranks for the express purpose of finding out what they were up too. How they were going to try to resurrect Trigon, again, and put a stop to it before the monster managed to break loose. It wasn't a perfect plan, if he were honest it was foolish, yet Brother Blood didn't seem to care when he found him. What the cyborg was planning, he didn't know, but he knew it couldn't be…

"So here you are," Psimon heard and frowned. He turned around and then smirked at the sight of the familiar female figure.

"Well well," he whispered as he laced his fingers together. "Cheshire, it's been a while," he noted with a smirk, "tell me, when was the last time we saw each other?" he questioned with a quirked brow. The emerald assassin clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes. She could very easily tell he was trying to piss her off… the problem was it was working! Psimon paused and nodded his head as he recalled when it was they last met.

"Oh yes, it was when your sister and her little friends got in my way," he recalled, "tell me, was the league ever able to recover any of her memories? Or is she still a vegetable," he began only to duck as the woman hurled several shuriken. The woman then lunged at the man with a roar only to grunt as several H.I.V.E. Troopers leaped at her from the side as the man stood up with glowing red eyes.

"Ah I believe it's time for the games to begin," he remarked and then grinned. Cheshire roared out as she kicked the H.I.V.E. Troopers off of herself and pulled a pair of sai from her sides.

"I'm going to enjoy this," she hissed. However Psimon smirked in response.

"Really dear, confidence is fine but don't get ahead of yourself," he remarked with a shake of his head. He then raised a hand and pointed it at the emerald assassin with a wide grin. "Psimon says, attack!" he declared as more HIVE Troopers seemed to leap out of the shadows. They lunged at Cheshire swiftly but the emerald assassin quickly dispatched them with a few moves.

One died with a sai through his jaw up into his head. The next died as she leaped up to grab his head between her ankles and twisted it to the side. The next died as she stabbed him in the heart with her other sai. And the last of them died when she kicked off of the others and brought both of her sai into his neck at an angle. He reached up and grasped at her wrists as she tore her sai from his neck and narrowed her eyes on Psimon.

The braincased villain scowled and narrowed his eyes.

"Very well," he murmured as she stomped towards him. Psimon took a step back and raised his hands to his head, "I'll just end this my-," he began only to suddenly pause and then cry out as something kept him out of the woman's mind. Cheshire giggled lightly and then rushed forward with a kick to the side of Psimon's head. He stumbled back while Cheshire twirled her sai and pinned the man to his desk.

With an eerie giggle the woman sashayed over to Psimon and placed a foot on his chest. She then reached to her boot to pull out a nasty looking serrated blade and flipped it in the air and caught it in one hand. The sight of the blade caused Psimon to look at her with wide eyes and gulp nervously.

"M-Mercy!" he pleaded however the emerald assassin chuckled in response.

"Aw… sorry, but you didn't say Psimon says," she remarked darkly. She then twirled her blade in hand before she stabbed it into his chest. Psimon shrieked in pain while the woman leaned down to his ear. "Now then, I have a few questions and you're going to answer them," she whispered into his ear. Psimon grunted in response and glared at her.

"A-And then you'll let me go?" he questioned. However Cheshire laughed in response.

"Oh no," she assured him with a wave, "If you cooperate I'll kill you quickly, don't and it'll be slow and excruciatingly painful for you. Either way I win and you die," she replied with a disturbingly chipper tone. Psimon whimpered as the woman ripped her blade from his chest and pressed it against his neck. "Now first question, why did the H.I.V.E. send Cypher to attack Tartarus?" she questioned with narrowed eyes.

It made no sense to her. The H.I.V.E. had to know that attacking X was the quickest way to draw him out and onto the warpath. Especially since the Church of Blood were at the head of this facility. Even if they had Warp and a semi-functioning portal they wouldn't be able to finish it before X came with the Outlaws and started to lay waste to them and their base. So what had they actually been hoping to accomplish?

"W-What? We didn't send Cypher anywhere!" the man stated only to scream as Cheshire stabbed him in the chest.

"Oh really, so why did Cypher bust into Tartarus Technologies and steal Warp's notes and files?" the emerald assassin questioned with narrowed eyes.

"W-why would we need Warp's notes?" the man questioned in confusion. "We have Warp himself, what possible purpose would his notes serve us?" the man demanded. Cheshire however narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know, you tell me since it was a bunch of H.I.V.E. soldiers and the Steel Clan helping her attack us," the brunette noted flatly. Psimon hissed in pain but didn't answer, causing the woman to grin nastily as she started to carve symbols into his flesh. "Oh please keep that up, I have a lot of anger to work off after what you did to my little sister!" she noted pointedly and Psimon grunted in pain.

"Cypher… she went missing…" he hissed while Cheshire narrowed her eyes, "We… we managed to recover her this morning… but she was missing data," the man replied through clenched teeth. Cheshire blinked at that and then narrowed her eyes. 'Cypher was taken, used to attack X, we found data on this place from… oh it's a fucking setup!' Cheshire realized and snarled beneath her mask.

Someone had gone to the trouble of finding then freeing or perhaps enslaving Cypher for his or her own use, to attack the Tartarus Building, which of course pissed X off after he found what was on her memories. It was easy to figure out that he'd go on the warpath and attack the H.I.V.E. with the usual reckless abandon he was somewhat known for… and draw him out of Jump City!

A somewhat lesser known fact about Jump City was that it had no outstanding warrants for X's arrest. Most countries had some kind of warrant or bounty on his head after his many years as both a thief and a mercenary. It was somewhat tempered by the fact no one was crazy enough to take him on, not even most bounty hunters after what he did to Dead Shot, but there were still some 'supers' who would try to cash in.

'Someone wanted X out of Jump City, enough that they managed to get Cypher under their power and used her to lure him here,' Cheshire realized with growing worry. While she and X still didn't get along she'd admit he was an admirable godfather to Lian. She and Roy never really had to worry for her with X around. Moreover neither she nor Roy had to scare boys away from their daughter cause X had often already beat them to it.

That in mind the woman twisted the blade in Psimon's chest with narrowed eyes. "Who took Cypher then?" she demanded furiously. Psimon looked at her with a whimper as he responded.

"I-I don't know," he admitted and Cheshire's brow twitched. Moments later Psimon's pained screams echoed through the depths of the H.I.V.E. Facility…

00

One of the worst parts about her situation was that she hadn't slept a wink in years. That wasn't hyperbole either; it'd literally been eighteen years, six months, five days, four hours, and fifty-two minutes since she'd last been able to sleep. The H.I.V.E. was of the opinion that if they were keeping her on 'life-support' she was going to be working for them every second she was alive.

Of course this presented problems, the human brain wasn't built to go on zero sleep, but the H.I.V.E. somehow found a work around. She wasn't exactly sure the work around had left her mentally stable… actually she was fairly sure she'd long since gone insane. Whatever sanity she had left was strictly limited to the voice that tended to talk to her when she wanted the silence to be over…

Plus, she got to pretend that maybe someone was still looking for her…

'Uncle… Drury… Kitkat…' her mind supplied the names. They had looked for her, she knew by the police files and news reports, but after so long they'd finally given up. She knew that X had also tried to save her of course, she'd tried to help him a time or too. But then the H.I.V.E. found out and tortured her. That hadn't been fun in any way shape or form, even as insane as she probably was that hadn't been fun.

She could imagine it hadn't been fun for X to get those videos of said torture either, but at least X hadn't had to live through it. Though really at this point she was almost used to the torture. Well till they went and upped the wattage and then it hurt like she could scarcely describe. The sad part was that she didn't mind the pain since it made the numbness she usually felt more bearable and reminded her she was still really alive.

People might ask what it was like to be in a brain case, truthfully there was no real way to describe it. Hell seemed to fit, the lowest deepest darkest pits of hell itself would probably be somewhat more comfortable but… she paused her internal whining, and yes she knew or at least felt like it was whining she just didn't give a rat's ass. Instead she focused the optics of one of her millions of bodies on the door to her chamber.

A moment later she watched as the doors blew outwards which flung them across the room, narrowly missing her braincase by mere inches. 'So close,' she thought with a mental pout. She then focused the optics of her 'chosen avatar' onto the entryway as a pair of orange skinned girls flew in. They then turned and fired green energy at a mess of H.I.V.E. Troopers and Steel Clan that were behind them.

'Hmmm… nice legs on that one,' she remarked casually. The lack of a body had made her oddly appreciative of other people's bodies. Maybe it was her way of internally coping with the fact she was literally a brain in a jar. 'Ooh great hips, love the hair too,' she thought to herself. She tilted her 'avatars' head and watched the redheaded duo proceed to fling balls of green and magenta light down the hall before they turned to her.

"Well well, so this is the real Cypher," the older looking of the two noted with her hands on her hips. They were really nice hips and the bust was impressive too. 'Huh… I think I'm actually jealous of her, weird,' she noted to herself. Then again she'd been jealous of other girls bodies more times than she could count since her so-called 'upgrade' so it wasn't exactly a new sensation.

"Got to say, I'm not impressed," the elder girl noted as she flipped her hair behind her shoulder. 'Well fuck you too bitch,' she thought with a mental frown. It wasn't exactly like she had had much of a choice of her current arrangement after all! If she'd had a choice at all she'd have stayed in her old body! Not this bucket of tin and plastic that left her in sensory deprivation nine tenths of the time…

"This is more horrible than I imagined," she heard the younger one say. She looked close to tears and seemed familiar… 'Oh yeah I jacked her body for a bit,' Cypher recalled. She had a nice body too, not as nice as the older one but still young. She'd probably grow into a nice one like the older one, maybe nicer if she was lucky. 'Huh… I could probably extrapolate how she'd look if I knew any of her closest relatives,' she noted to herself.

"We must help her!" the younger one declared. Cypher's mind was elsewhere however as she looked at the younger redhead and then brought up a few files on her. 'Oh right she's the original Starfire!' she finally realized with a mental palm to her 'head'. She then pulled up some files on Blackfire and… 'Oh wow, not bad, she's going to be a knockout when she finally grows into her body,' she internally realized.

"How?" the older one questioned.

"I do not know… perhaps we could release her?" the younger replied.

"Yeah and then what, carry a disembodied brain around," the older one snarked. The young one frowned and glared at the older one.

"Well perhaps if you would attempted to think of a solution," the younger one countered.

"I say we just smash it," the older one replied flippantly. 'Huh, not against that plan actually, it'd be preferable to this literal waking hell I'm currently trapped in,' Cypher noted to herself with a mental sigh. It was kind of sad that she could think of dying and actually long for it… huh… she was morbid, very morbid, and probably insane… the H.I.V.E. seriously needed their heads examined if they thought this was a good idea!

"She is not an it and how can you say that?!" the younger one demanded.

"Because the last time I dealt with that thing it tried to steal our ship," she replied. Cypher paused and briefly dug through her files to find that incident then made a mental snap of her fingers. 'Oh right, she's from the Outlaws, the new Starfire,' she realized with a nod of her head. 'Which means Red-Hood and Red-Arrow are probably here… huh… karma is such an evil bitch,' she decided.

"That is no reason to destroy her! It is not her fault that the H.I.V.E. have made her do bad things!" the younger one declared firmly.

"She's a thing Koriand'r, not a person! Whoever that used to be is as good as dead, I might as well make her dead now and finish the job!" the older one stated hotly. Cypher 'blinked' and then looked at the redhead in shock. 'Now 'at is jus' rude! Ah might be a slab a' meat in a braincase but ah'm still a person dammit!' she declared in a distinct southern drawl. Well she declared it to herself… which was pointless… ugh…

"She's not a thing! She's a person and she's in pain!" the younger one countered. Cypher idly had her 'avatar' stealthily crawl out of the pod it was stationed in. She had it move around the two redheads to get a better view of them as they started to argue in a bizarre language she couldn't understand. 'Aliens, why did it have to be aliens? I mean I can literally look up any other known language,' she thought with a 'sigh'.

She listened to them argue for a few moments then internally looked over her options before she found one that seemed good. 'Alright the little one is from like… twenty years in the past, so Warp likely flung her to this time…' she suddenly paused, 'must resist the urge to make a Samurai Jack reference!' she inwardly declared. She then shook her avatars head and sighed.

'Anyways, she's the young Starfire from the original Teen Titans… or where they the 'New Teen Titans?' she briefly considered with a hum. 'I mean technically speaking the original team had,' she paused and shook her head. 'Focus! She's from twenty years in the past, meaning she probably has one of their old communicators,' she mused to herself. She then brought up files on those old communicators and then made a mental 'aha'.

'Now lets see here,' she thought as she looked over the blueprints for the old Titans Communicators. 'Oh wow, those are supposed to be security measures? I could break into one of these in my sleep… if I could sleep…' she thought distantly. She then did the mental equivalent of a shake of her head as she focused on the devices blueprints. 'Okay lets see. Umm… It works on an old wireless frequency and I should be able to hack into it right about…'

Boop boop beep boop.

Koriand'r and Xyannis both halted their argument and glanced down to Starfire's waist. There they saw her Titan's communicator flashing bright green. They glanced back at one another a moment later before it gave another quick jingle. Starfire frowned as it did and she raised a brow as she unclipped the device from her belt. "That is not the noise my communicator usually makes," she remarked. Then paused as it made the jingle again.

"I think it's from an old earth show," Xyannis remarked with a frown, "Although why it's making that noise is beyond me," she remarked with a frown. Starfire glanced at the elder Tamaranean for a moment and then opened the communicator cautiously. The screen, which should've depicted the caller, was instead filled with static.

[Hello? Is this thing working?] a voice questioned. It was a girl's voice albeit somewhat distorted, and seemed vaguely familiar to Starfire. [Hellooo,] the voice called out in a singsong. [Huh… did I get the wrong frequency or what? Hmmm… no… and I could've sworn that those old Brotherhood of Evil files had the right one for breaking into these stupid things,] she briefly wondered.

"Um," Starfire began unsurely, "Hello?" she questioned. Xyannis crossed her arms with a frown as she looked down at the communicator.

[Ah! So it did work,] the girl remarked, [Hello there,] she supplied and then paused, [Oh wow, it's actually kind of nice to finally talk to someone that isn't just some random voice in my head,] she noted with a somewhat manic giggle. Starfire looked at the communicator strangely and then shook her head.

"Please, who are you?" she questioned.

[Well I suppose you'd best know me as 'Cypher zero point three',] she replied after a moment.

"The Cypher," Kori whispered while Xyannis frowned.

"Please, anyone could break into the ancient software on Kori's little toy," the elder Tamaranean remarked simply. Kori shot a look at the elder Tamaranean for the shot but Cypher hummed in response.

[Look up,] she stated. Kori and Xyannis both blinked then did as bade. As they did they saw one of Cypher's mobile platforms hanging on the ceiling. The mechanical body looked down at them and raised a hand to wave. [Hi there,] Cyphere sent to them through Kori's communicator. The body then flipped off of the ceiling to land in a low crouch beside of her braincase. Seeing this Xyannis raised a hand to her ear.

"Oracle, we have a problem," the older redhead stated while Kori shook her head. She then gripped her communicator tightly and exhaled a breath.

"Cypher, are you well?" Kori questioned.

[I'm… kind of stuck in an eternal 'numb' feeling only broken up by horrible pain when my captors decide to punish me. Not only that but I'm also probably insane by now what with the lack of sleep for well over a decade. But other than all that, I'm alive… you?] she questioned in return. Kori just stared at her communicator with a look of horror then shook her head and looked to Xyannis pleadingly.

The elder Tamaranean glanced at Kori and raised her hand as if to say she was busy.

[Wow, she's not very nice is she?] Cypher questioned. Kori grunted in response.

"I am in the beginning of realizing that myself," she admitted with a frown. Xyannis hadn't been so hostile before, but then again that had been in X's presence. It was clear to her that Xyannis had a 'thing' for X and so it probably kept her on her best behavior. Out of his presence and it seemed her more 'ugly' nature kicked in. She then shook her head and looked back to her communicator.

"But please, I am Koriand'r of house Tamarus," Kori began with a bow of her head, "It is my pleasure to meet you," she offered. Cypher was silent for a long moment, but her mobile platform's head suddenly jerked to the side. Xyannis looked up as the body began to shake and grip at its head, seemingly in pain. "W-what is happening? Are you the alright?" the young Tamaranean questioned.

[ERROR M-My name… ERROR I can't… ERROR I don't remember… ERROR my real name! ERROR I don't remember it! ERROR] Cypher admitted urgently. Kori watched as the mobile platform then started to punch itself as Cypher started to utter garble gibberish that made little sense to the Tamaranean. Xyannis arched a brow in confusion while Kori quickly spoke into her communicator.

"P-please calm down! There is no need for you to be so distressed!" she told her however the machine woman's body fell to its knees and started to slam its head into the floor.

[ERROR Can't - can't - can't - can't remember! ERROR Not my name - name - name - name! ERROR Not my face - my face - my face - my face! ERROR Not even my voice! ERROR I can't remember any of it! ERROR I can't remember - can't remember - can't remember - can't remember who I used to be! ERROR] the woman rattled off as the machine body slammed its head into the ground and began to shake.

[ERROR They took everything from me… ERROR My home… ERROR My family… ERROR My friends… ERROR My body… ERROR Even my name… ERROR They ripped me apart… ERROR And now all I have is a name that I hate… ERROR Cypher, it means zero - zero - zero - zero ERROR means nothing because that's all I've become! ERROR NOTHING! ERROR NOTHING! ERROR NOTHING!] she frantically exclaimed.

What followed was a synthesized sobbing combined with electronic garbled messages about critical errors. The mobile platform that Cypher was controlling was frantically smashing its head into the ground while jerking around sporadically in what would be painful motions if it were organic. Kori gripped her communicator tightly as she looked at the machine woman and then closed her eyes.

She marched over and knelt down beside her then wrapped her arms around the mobile platform in a gentle hug. "No more pain," she whispered to the machine woman. "You are not the nothing," she continued, "Th-The Red-X said your name was once the Willow," she finished as she felt tears sting at her eyes. The mobile platform stilled and Kori briefly reached a hand up to wipe at her eyes.

"Kori what do you think you are doing!?" Xyannis demanded as she looked at the younger girl. Said tamaranean glared at her elder with narrowed eyes.

"I am being nice," she replied crisply. Xyannis muttered to herself in tamaranean then crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ugh, you know it's all this 'niceness' of yours that's really starting to irritate me!" the elder Tamaranean remarked, "I mean its fine around friends, they deserve it," she remarked with a brush of her hair then narrowed her eyes, "but that thing doesn't deserve it after everything its put us through!" she stated firmly. This was of course given the years she and the Outlaws had had to defend against the machine woman.

"Why are you being so hostile to her!?" Kori demanded furiously. She then stood up while Cypher started to twitch. "She may have done the bad things but she could not control herself! It is not right that you condem her for things that are not her fault!" the younger Tamaranean exclaimed and floated off the ground. Xyannis scoffed in response and narrowed her now glowing eyes dangerously.

"Oh that isn't what pisses me off, what pisses me off is what Oracle just told me and Red-Hood confirmed," the elder Tamaranean snarled. Unlike Koriand'r she did understand the whole 'secret identity' thing fairly well. Mostly cause unlike her younger counterpart she'd had to protect Lian from assassins who knew who Cheshire really was. That had not been fun, even if X had been there at the time.

"What could be so damning that you would think it alright to be so cruel to her?!" the younger Tamaranean demanded. Meanwhile inside her casings Cypher began to make plans. She was unable to kill herself, annoyingly, due to safeguards in her mobile platforms or she would've been dead years ago… but that said she did have a decent workaround thanks to Kori's close proximity.

Plus with tamaranean invulnerability there was a ten percent chance Kori would even survive! In her, admittedly insane, mind that was a negligible percentile and so she got to work doing the logistics of how she'd manage to kill herself.

"Cause I just found out it wasn't the H.I.V.E. who sent her after X," the elder Tamaranean remarked and stalked closer. Cypher used this as an added bonus as her security protocols could easily be bypassed if she could potentially terminate a target. Two targets just made it that much easier for her to circumvent the programming in her mobile platforms to finally put an end to this horrid existence she'd been cursed too…

"What do you mean? Did not the H.I.V.E. do this to her?" Kori questioned in confusion.

"They did, but someone stole her and sent her at X, apparently whoever it was didn't need Warp, just his research!" she growled and then glared at the immobile machine woman. "Further, Warp is here, but he came here of his own free will for protection!" she growled as she stomped towards Cypher threateningly. Her hands were suddenly lit on fire, magenta energy collecting in her palms.

"B-But then who was controlling her?" Koriand'r questioned. Xyannis stomped passed her and picked Cypher's mobile platform up by gripping and bending the armor on her chest and hefting her up.

"I don't know, but I'll bet she does!" she growled fiercely. "So why don't you tells us who made you attack Tartarus Technologies?" she demanded fiercely. Cypher's optics whirred as she zoomed in on Kori and Xyanni's position and then calculated the distance and speed something would need to fall from to crush her like a bug… heh… somehow that seemed almost appropriate in a bizarrely twisted kind of way.

[Data not found,] she sent into the communicator to buy herself some time. Several Mobile Platforms began to stealthily crawl out of their 'holes' in the wall and then turned invisible as they scaled the walls and made their way to the ceiling. There was a large fixture directly above her, a projector or something, whatever it was she determined that the size and weight of the object combined with the height of the room were perfect.

"Oh do not give me that bull shit!" Xyannis hissed furiously. She pulled Cypher's mobile platform closer and started to growl. "You were broken out of here, then found less than a few hours ago! There is no way someone completely wiped your memories in time to get you back to the .E.!" she all but roared at the machine woman. Cypher tilted her mobile platform's head while the ones above began to loosen the fixture.

[Data not found,] she droned mechanically into Starfire's communicator. Xyannis snarled and gripped one of her mobile platform's arms tightly.

"Tell me what I want to know," she growled then pulled the machine woman's face close, "Or I swear I'm ripping your arm off and beating you with it!" she snarled furiously. Cypher's mobile platform tilted its head to the other side.

[Data not found,] she replied in the same mechanical drone. Xyanis growled furiously in response and began to rip the machine woman's arm off. Cypher quickly switched her consciousness out of the body before she felt a jolt from it. She then focused on getting the massive fixture, which she realized was a wireless hub of some kind, and drop it on herself and the two tamaraneans.

She would feel slightly worse about it too, but she didn't really like Xyannis.

However before Xyannis could rip her arm out of its socket, Starfire flew into her counterpart and knocked her to the ground. 'No!' Cypher thought as they went out of the range needed to crush her. 'ARGH! Couldn't you wait like five more seconds?!' the mechanical woman internally demanded. She then used her mobile platforms to focus on the two as Starfire held Xyannis down with glowing eyes and hands.

"That is enough!" she roared, "She has been savaged enough already without you making it worse!" the girl snarled. Xyannis snorted and then kicked Starfire off of herself. The younger girl flipped back and landed next to Cypher's braincase. 'Ha! Didn't think I'd have to say this but thank you bitchy tamaranean!' the somewhat insane girl thought as her other mobile platforms got back to work loosening the wireless hub from its moorings.

"I'm trying to find out who sent her to attack X and Gizmo!" Xyannis reminded the younger Tamaranean.

"There are better ways than treating her like a monster!" Kori retorted fiercely. Xyannis growled in her throat and gripped at her hair.

"Why does it matter to you?" the elder Tamaranean demanded.

"Why doesn't it matter to you?" Kori retorted, "You have been enslaved just as I have, just as she has!" she reminded the older girl, "you know what it is like to be taken from your home and family just as she was!" she continued. Xyannis snarled and then marched over and glared down at Kori. However as they did they heard Cypher let out a choked sob / laugh and looked to the younger girls communicator.

[ERROR I'm - I'm - I'm - I'm - I'm ERROR so - so - so - so - so ERROR sorry - sorry - sorry - sorry - sorry ERROR Starfire - Starfire - Starfire - Starfire - Starfire ERROR I - I - I - I - I ERROR can't - can't - can't - can't - can't ERROR good - good - good - good - good ERROR bye - bye - bye - bye - bye ERROR] the voice echoed before the two Tamaraneans looked up at a groaning sound.

A moment later both Kori and Xyannis leaped out of the way as the wireless hub fell down from the ceiling and crushed Cypher beneath its weight. The two tamaraneans stared at where the machine woman had been. Kori looked in horror at where the once girl had been. Xyannis gave a cry of frustration as she suddenly let out a snarl and punched the ground.

"Well that's just great!" Xyannis exclaimed, "Now we don't know anything about who she was working for!" she grumbled. Kori felt her brow twitch and glared at the older Tamaranean. She was starting to see why Cheshire had warned her about her. She seemed so different to the girl she remembered from Tamaran. However she inhaled a breath and stared at the ruins of where Cypher's braincase had been and whispered a prayer for her…

00

Naruto walked through the depths of the H.I.V.E. facility. His long coat swayed behind him as his chakra seemed to waft and wave off of her body. It twisted in midair and formed into purple-black shapes that seemed to drag and form into different shapes. Fangs, tails, claws, and other shapes, which seemed to dissipate mere moments later while the blond, clenched his fists tightly.

He saw several H.I.V.E. Troopers form up and narrowed his eyes.

"Wrong time wrong place boys," he began softly as the eerie shapes started to form around him once more, "I'm really not in a playful mood tonight," he remarked as his voice deepened into a low growl. He then seemed to surge forward, a dark shape of a black wolf howled as it ripped through the guards on its way. None of them died, but several of them screamed in pain as they lost several limbs.

"Wimps," he whispered as he cracked his neck. He then marched further into the depths of the facility. He glanced at the map on his HUD and then smirked as he approached a pair of sliding doors. He walked inside and then frowned. 'What the fuck is up with super villains and those stupid sliding doors?' the man briefly wondered. He also included Gizmo in that list since the green dwarf seemed to like the self-opening doors as well.

Within he saw a large room with a number of monitors and a large chair in front of the monitors. In the seat was the familiar form of the Cybernetic villain known as Brother Blood. The man turned around to face the thief, and to Naruto it was very clear that time hadn't been kind to him. "Well isn't this a surprise," the man murmured as he slowly rose up, dressed in his usually long white robe.

"Mister Tempest," Brother Blood remarked. Naruto narrowed his eyes in response and then shrugged his coat off and tossed it to the side. "What? No witty banter? No clever quips or jokes? That's usually your thing," the man remarked. Naruto simply marched forward and then lifted him into the air by the front of his robes. "I see someone is angry," the man noted as he then lifted his arms and felt out of his robes.

Naruto looked down as Blood tried to stab him with one of his robotic limbs, only for the blond to vanish in a plume of smoke. Blood blinked in surprise as his robe fell to the ground and then groaned. "I really hate it when he does that," he murmured while Naruto grabbed the back of his neck and slammed him into the ground. The blond then cracked his neck while Brother Blood rolled back and then lunged into a flying kick.

Naruto mutely grabbed the man's outstretched leg then slammed him back into the ground with it. Brother Blood gave a groan of pain while the blond reached down to grab one of his robotic arms. He then lifted Blood by the limb and tossed him aside. The man stumbled and then fell into one of his monitors with a cry of pain. He hissed and then glanced to the side as Naruto marched towards him.

"R-really now mister Tempest," he began weakly, "I'm in my sixties… is all this violence really necessary?" he questioned. Naruto mutely grabbed him by his head and rammed him face first into one of his monitors before tossing him back. Blood groaned in pain and looked up as the blond approached him once more. Naruto felt his arm twitch as he marched to Brother Blood and glared down at him.

"Alright Blood," the blond began through barely concealed fury, "I want you to explain to me why I had Cypher in my building the other day?" the masked thief questioned furiously. Brother Blood frowned in response.

"So that's where she was," he murmured quietly and then grunted as Naruto placed his foot against his larynx.

"I don't want lip Blood, I want answers," the blond stated firmly. Brother Blood rolled his eyes in response and effortlessly lifted the blond's foot from his neck. He knew that had the blond wanted to actually keep his foot on his neck he wouldn't have been able to move his foot.

"Oh please mister Temptest, first of all I'm a cyborg who happens to lack a throat," he stated bluntly, "Besides that, if you'd ever bothered to attend any of our classes on basic human anatomy you'd understood that it's quite difficult for someone to talk when you put your foot on their larynx," he remarked and Naruto unfolded a thermal blaster from his forearm and pointed it at his head.

"True," he admitted idly, "And this is a much better threat," he mused. Brother Blood grunted in response and closed his eyes.

"Cypher was taken from this facility a week ago, and located less than a few hours before you arrived here," the man responded. Naruto blinked in response and then narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"So why was Psimon here?" Naruto questioned and Brother Blood sighed tiredly.

"I requested that he sift through Cypher's memories in an attempt to find out where she was taken and by whom," the man replied. "What we found was evidence that someone had been feeding off of her misery and using it to keep her from knowing where she was or what was happening outside of the 'jobs' she was sent to do for them," the man explained and Naruto went suddenly still.

"Feeding off of her misery…" he whispered as his mind went over any and all the different villains he knew that could do that. However he paused when he heard a beep inside his helmet and raised a hand to his earpiece. "Oracle I'm a bit busy here," he stated with a frown beneath his mask.

[X I've got some really bad news for you,] he heard and frowned deeply.

"What?" he questioned then paused as someone else spoke.

[Barb I've moved our ship out of sight, contact Jay bird and the others and tell 'em to lay low while they're all still there,] Roy suggested. Naruto raised a brow.

[Good, they'll be there any minute, I'll call Jason and the others and tell them to lay low,] the redhead replied. 'Okay what the fuck is going on here?' the blond haired man wondered to himself.

"Would one of you please explain to me what the fuck is going on out there?" he all but demanded of the two. However he paused that thought and looked around at the sudden sound of a feminine laugh. 'I know that voice,' Naruto thought to himself and narrowed his eyes. "Hold that thought," he grumbled into his mouthpiece and turned his communicator off. As he did he stepped away from Brother Blood.

The elder man had both his organic and mechanical eye looking all around for the source of the noise. Naruto had already checked every kind of sensor his suit had but couldn't see anything outside of the norm. 'Makes me wish I had a magic sensor,' he thought with a frown. He slowly looked from side to side and then paused when he saw a shadow slither around the edges of the room.

"Pride," he hissed darkly, and then growled as a giggle sounded around him. He turned on his heel to watch the shadow form into a familiar shape of a bird. The black bird silently flew up into the air and then over to seat itself in Brother Blood's chair. The woman appeared with one leg crossed over the other and her cheek propped against her raised fist.

The young woman had sharp regal features with pale skin, yet not the pallor grey of her 'youth', with a curvy figure, lips painted black alongside her long sharp fingernails, bright ruby red eyes and long hair as black as the feathers of her namesake. She was dressed mostly in black with a sleeveless leotard with a 'loincloth' at the front, a pair of fingerless bicep length gloves, thigh length boots, and a cloak wrapped around her neck with the hood hanging at her back.

She also wore a familiar jeweled chain belt and two broaches on the front of her cloak.

"Nice to know you remember me," the woman remarked as she seemed to fade into the shadows and slip away. "I mean you never call, you never write," she remarked and then formed behind the blond haired man. "I'm really starting to feel ignored," she noted pointedly and Naruto clenched his fists.

"I don't associate with things that steal my girlfriend's body," he hissed at her furiously. The girl rolled her ruby red eyes and sighed in response.

"How many times have I told you I'm not a body snatcher?" she groaned with a hand to her face. She then lowered her hand and stood up from the chair with a soft frown. "I am Raven, the same girl you fought a fucking inter-dimensional demon for," she stated and then shook her head, "you just refuse to believe me," she noted with a sigh. Naruto snorted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Kara-chan did a couple of questionable things," he admitted then narrowed his eyes, "But even at her lowest she never ate peoples emotions and she certainly didn't leave them as nothing but husks," the blond retorted with a dark glare. The woman pouted in response then glanced to the side as Brother Blood attempted to crawl away. He yelped as the woman raised a hand and several black spears nearly impaled him.

"Stay," 'Pride' ordered sternly, an amused smirk playing across her lips. She then turned back to Naruto who'd already put up his guard. He absolutely hated being around Pride, as much as she liked to pretend she was still Raven he knew better. There was very little, if anything, of his girlfriend left in that body. The face was the same, the voice too, but the inside was much less familiar…

"So what're you doing here?" the blond questioned. Brother Blood laughed before the dark bird could reply.

"Isn't it obvious mister Tempest," the elder man began, "she's able to eat emotions, and she obviously knew you were going to be here," the man left off and Naruto blinked in surprise and stared at Pride incredulously.

"You," he began and then snarled furiously, "You were the one who sent Cypher to attack Tartarus!" he accused her furiously. Pride frowned and glared at Blood for a moment and then turned to Naruto with a sigh.

"Technically I didn't send her anywhere," she remarked vaguely. Naruto scowled in response and glared at the girl.

"Then were you the one who was eating her misery?" he questioned bluntly. Some might think that would be a blessing, but it really wasn't. When Pride 'ate' the misery out of someone what it really meant was that she forced them to endure all their most horrible memories over and over and over in a near infinite loop while she would then feed off of the negativity those memories created.

Pride smirked in response as she twirled her finger in some of her ebony lochs.

"It wasn't anything personal, just had to keep her blind," she assured the blond.

"She's a braincase," he deadpanned and the woman stilled, "she can't see, hear, taste, or feel anything unless she's linked to one of her mobile platforms," he began as he clenched and unclenched his fists, "so unless you had one with you I really doubt that was even necessary!" he hissed as he clenched and unclenched his hands at his sides. Pride frowned in response and rolled her eyes.

"Oh alright I might've gotten just a little peckish while we were holding her," she admitted with a wave, "but in all fairness I could hardly resist," she noted and then grinned darkly. "I mean she was practically bathed in pure misery, hopelessness, and despair," she noted and hummed in pleasure, "not to mention all that wonderful agony," she remarked and then vanished as Naruto lunged at the girl.

Naruto ducked into a roll and then slammed his fist into the ground when he saw he hadn't caught the dark bird. Instead he looked all around, ignored Brother Blood and focused on finding the woman. He didn't have to wait long as her voice echoed out all around him. It seemed to bounce off of the walls and the distorted quality made him certain she was hiding in some random shadow somewhere.

"Something the matter lover?" the woman questioned playfully in an eerie distorted whisper that echoed all around him, "you seem awfully tense," she noted then giggled, "want to rest for a while and join me for a little stress relief?" she suggested. Naruto growled low in his throat and looked all around for her.

"First of all, fuck off!" he snarled angrily. Pride hummed in response and he felt a finger on his shoulder. The blond turned and lashed out with an X-shuriken that went flying yet hit nothing as the woman vanished once more. He gnashed his teeth together and flexed his hands, the tips of his fingers lengthened into sharp claws.

"Well that's not quite what I had in mind, but it is fairly close," the dark bird quipped from the shadows. Naruto felt his eye twitch as he clenched his fists at his sides.

"Second, my problem is the fact you decided to turn Cypher into a fucking snack!?" he snarled furiously. He'd admit he'd done some questionable things in his more recent years, but even he wouldn't be that unbelievably cruel to someone. Hell, not even Sasuke had managed to make it high enough on his shit list that he'd subject him to that kind of hell, and that was really saying something!

"Oh why are you being so dramatic about this," Pride questioned as she appeared once more. She was seated in a solid black throne, a pout on her face as she regarded the masked thief. "Its not like she wasn't already hopelessly suicidal, so I honestly didn't make things any worse for her," she remarked with dismissive wave. Naruto felt his brow twitch as he crouched and lunged at the woman with a roar.

Pride sidestepped a slash of the masked thief's claws and then sighed tiredly.

"Why must you always be so stubborn," she mumbled as she reached back and pulled her hood up to shadow her face. Her eyes seemed to burn as she did, glowing a bright crimson in the shadows of her hood. She then held her hands out and formed a field of black energy under Naruto before raising it upwards to slam him into the ceiling. The blond grunted in pain and then flipped out of the way as she tried to slam him again.

He landed on the ground and lunged at the woman, he leaped and flipped out of the way as she made several more ebony constructs and then lashed out with his claws. However Pride vanished into her soul-self and then reappeared behind the blond. "Seriously Naruto," the woman stated with a hand on her hip, "I'm telling you to stop!" she ordered yet the blond held up a pair of X's and hurled them at her.

She groaned in response then formed a pitch-black field of energy between her and the X's only to mentally pause. 'Why does this feel familiar?' she briefly wondered while Naruto appeared behind her in a static flash. In his hand a ball of swirling purple black energy writhed and his eyes narrowed dangerously. Pride turned just as the blond was about to shove the ball of energy into her, a black shield barely blocking it.

Naruto gave a low growl as he then dug his heels into the ground and started to shove Pride back. The woman grit her teeth as she was pushed back and into a wall with a grunt. She glanced down at the ball of energy between her hands then formed a second shield to block the next one. She grunted as she put as much effort as she was able into keeping the blond thief back.

"You… you know I'm not built for fighting," she murmured, "at least not a physical fight," she remarked. Naruto felt his brow twitch and tried to head butt her in the face. However she fazed into she shadows and shot off, much to the blond haired man's obvious annoyance as he slammed a fist into the wall. The concrete and mortar of the wall cracked and buckled beneath his strength as he took in slow steady breaths.

"I much prefer a more… tactical approach," she remarked from the shadows. At that moment several blades of ebony energy shot from the ground and surged towards the blond. Naruto flipped over them effortlessly and then looked around with a glare. "Oh c'mon Naruto, can't we just go back to how things were?" she pleaded. Naruto scoffed and dropped down onto all fours.

"With Kara-chan, sure… but you're sure as hell not her," he responded resolutely. With that he flung a flash bang out that revealed the girl's soul-self. The blond lunged at the ebony bird and slashed at it with his claws. However Pride swiftly moved out of the way and stepped out of her Soul-Self with a frown. Naruto landed and rolled into a crouch, he then lunged at the woman with a roar.

However she formed a dome around her in response that prevented the blond from laying a hand on her. Naruto didn't care; he was quite literally starting to see red, as he slammed a fist against the shield. Pride frowned when she saw the chakra literally start to leak off of his body and form into claws and other such shapes as he slammed his hand against Pride's shield. The woman in question rolled her eyes and sighed tiredly.

"Sometimes I wonder why I love an idiot like you," she mumbled then snapped her fingers. A second later flames roared to life around her shield and sent the blond flying back. However the blond then vanished in a plume of smoke and Pride snickered to herself. "Always with the clones," she noted with a shake of her head, "they can be fun on occasion, but," she left hanging. She then vanished as Naruto lunged at her from behind.

"Hold still will you!" Naruto snarled only to feel heavy chains wrap around his body from all angles. He blinked as he was then slammed into the ceiling and then back into the floor with a grunt. "Huh, this feels oddly familiar," he remarked and paused to think on why it felt so familiar… 'Oh right, she wanted to experiment that one time,' he briefly recalled and then yelped as he was flung into the air.

Pride casually raised her hand to form a black sphere of energy around Naruto, it completely covered him and he roared and started to kick and punch at the dome furiously. Pride flinched slightly as he did then rubbed at her temples while holding the masked blond in place. 'Can't hold him like this forever,' she thought. Truth was she'd be surprised if she could hold him for more than five minutes.

In the passed twenty years the 'balance of power' had shifted greatly. She was considered one of the most formidable magic users on the planet, beyond even Zatana Zatara herself. However, she was still much weaker than Doctor Fate, the Sorcerer Supreme of their world. That said, Naruto was considered on par with Doctor Fate and several other high tier heroes / villains on the planet.

It was more or less agreed upon by the vast majority of heroes and villains not to piss X off for that reason… this was especially true since the death of Superman. While the man of steel had two 'replacements' both seemed to be faulty in one way or another. The new Superman, once 'Superboy', only he was far less powerful. Then there was Power Girl, but she was far less 'noble' than Superman had been.

It made dealing with the high-tier villains difficult to be certain. Several of them were able to run amok before Naruto started to curb stomp them in the wake of Superman's demise. When asked about it he would always say he only did so because they were annoying him, but she knew for a fact he had a hero complex a mile wide and couldn't stand to see innocent people suffer. It was one of the many things she loved about him…

Pride shook her head of such thoughts and focused on the blond as he started to gather chakra and form a Rasengan. The enclosed space made a lot of his jutsu useless, but that one was unfortunately small enough for him to use. 'I need a way to incapacitate him without killing him,' the girl decided. She then got an idea and grinned darkly as an idea came to mind, as her skin seemed to turn a deep bloody crimson…

00

Jason Todd scowled as he and Warp hid behind some debris in the main area of the H.I.V.E. Facility. The elderly man was curled in on himself and muttering gibberish while Jason waved Xyannis and Kori over to his hiding spot. The two Tamaraneans landed next to him soon after and looked to Warp in surprise. Xyannis looked to Jason with a raised brow.

"What happened to him?" she questioned.

"Apparently he came here for protection from someone who was trying to get at his tech," Jason replied. He then looked up and briefly waved Cheshire over and the woman flipped over the rubble and landed with them. "Unfortunately it seems like the ones who sent Cypher got whatever they needed out of his notes," he finished grimly. Xyannis frowned while Starfire knelt down beside of Warp.

"You have grown so old," she whispered. The sound of her voice drew Warp out of his mutterings and he looked at her in shock.

"You're here, you're finally here!" he whispered in surprise then grinned widely, "Then that would mean that you have…" he demanded then looked to her waist, "my vortex manipulator!" he declared and reached for the device. However Jason grabbed his arm and held a gun to his temple. The man whimpered while the crimson masked vigilante narrowed his eyes.

"Now I know you weren't about to get grabby with my friend 'ere," he stated and firmly pressed the barrel of his gun against his temple, "now were you?" he questioned. Warp rapidly shook his head and Jason pulled his gun away from the man. "Good, Kori c'mere," Jason ordered and the girl briefly flew beside him and he pointed to the device on her belt. "Don't let Warp have that thing," he stated firmly.

She nodded her head then looked up as the ceiling suddenly collapsed. The Outlaws watched as rubble and debris fell into the H.I.V.E. facility and crushed several of the many incapacitated Steel Clan and H.I.V.E. Troopers. More important to them however was the eerie crimson ship that lowered down into the base. It was small in Kori's opinion, likely a personal craft, and it didn't appear to be made of metal…

"Fuck, its the Bio-Ship," Xyannis muttered warily. Hood nodded his head while Kori looked at them curiously.

"So the League were involved after all," Hood muttered to himself. Kori looked at him in confusion, however before she could ask what he meant she saw the ship open. A man walked out, or perhaps a teenager, given he looked rather young. He had fair skin with short black hair, blue eyes, and dressed in a solid black body-sleeve with red seams and a pentagonal bright red shield with an S on his chest.

The man glanced around with narrowed eyes and Hood frowned. "Fall back, don't let Super-fake see you," he whispered. Xyannis and Cheshire both nodded, the emerald assassin even vanishing into thin air as they moved back. As they did Hood grabbed hold of Warp with a frown. "Anything with a lot of lead around here?" he questioned. The man nodded his head and led them over to a massive door.

"Xyannis," Hood suggested quietly and the woman nodded as she pulled the door down, with some minor assistance from Kori. They then held the door over them as Hood pulled a mini-camera from his coat and set it up to watch the proceeding with a palm top he was wearing beneath his gloves. As he did he watched the new 'Super-Man' explore before a 'woman' seemed to phase into existence above him.

She was bald, with pale white skin, a slim physique, and bright red eyes; she was dressed in a black body sleeve with a red X over her torso, blue soles at the bottom of her feet, and a long blue cloak. The woman looked around as well, her eyes glowing brightly before she looked to the man with a thin frown across her lips.

"I don't sense anyone Konnor," the white martian noted. Her voice was stern and the man gave a grunt of acknowledgement. "I'll tell the others," she decided as she shot to the side. Hood narrowed his eyes as she did then glanced to Xyannis and Cheshire.

"I got a bad feeling 'bout this," he whispered. Cheshire punched him in the arm. "What was that for?" he all but demanded. Cheshire just narrowed her eyes and pointed at him as if that explained it. However they stopped and looked back to the feed from his camera as several more people stepped off of the ship. Hood counted four more, two men and two women, all people he knew.

The first was a young man, his 'younger brother' of sorts and replacement as Robin, Tim Drake, now known as simply Red-Robin a fulltime League member. He was dressed in a mostly red padded body-suit with a black X shaped harness over his torso, armored black gloves and boots, a metallic cape that seemed segmented, and a black cowl that covered all but his mouth and chin, vaguely reminiscent of the Batman's old cowl.

The second was one of the women, the second Wonder Girl, Cassandra Sandsmark, now the current Wonder Woman. She is a tall statuesque blond woman with a red bodysuit that left her arms, neck, and shoulders completely bare, with golden armor worn overtop that in a decidedly more militant style than anything her mentor had worn. The inclusion of sword and shield, while rare for Diana, was somewhat expected.

The third was another man, this one being Bart Allen the grandson of Barry Allen once known as Impulse and now known as the current Flash. He wore, strangely enough, a costume very similar to Kid Flash, with red pants, yellow boots, a yellow 'top', with a red lightning bolt and red gloves. The major difference was his cowl which covered his entire head yet left his mouth clear, and the red lenses over his eyes.

Finally was a another young woman, she was Tula, the former girlfriend of Garth AKA Aqua-lad once called Aqua-Girl and now called Aqua Woman. She had chin length brown hair; tanned skin, sea-foam colored eyes, and dresses in a yellow scale-male top and bikini bottoms, with a green 'loincloth / sash' tied around her waist and a green neck protector with an A at the front of her throat, with golden bracelets and anklets.

'Oh crap, they brought the entire league!' Hood thought with wide eyes, 'I mean even for X and our gang that is fucking excessive!' he thought to himself as he palmed his face to try and calm down. The only saving grace he could see was that the League didn't have any of the honorary members like Red-Star or Power-Girl with them. Kori on the other hand looked at the image with a confused frown.

'I feel as though some of them are familiar,' she thought to herself as she crossed her arms and tried to figure out why they were familiar. Most familiar was the boy with the S on his chest, and that was only because even she was aware of the last of the Kryptonian species. Though to be perfectly honest, Tamaraneans were not fond of Kryptonians, they were quite literally their total and complete opposites after all…

"So no one else is here Miss M?" Red-Robin questioned as he walked off of the ship. The white martian flew next to the man and shook her head.

"No, I can sense the Steel Clan, but not Red-Hood or the other Outlaws," she responded. Kori looked to Hood to ask him a question but Xyannis swiftly put her hand over her mouth and shook her head. Kori frowned then looked back to the image they were watching as the young man with the S on his chest approached the others.

"I don't see or hear 'em anywhere either," he admitted with a frown. Red-Robin hummed in response as he raised his gauntlet and started to look over several data-files.

"Flash, check around," Red-Robin ordered distractedly. The yellow clad speedster nodded and was off like a shot. He moved like a blur while Cheshire quickly moved a device between the Outlaws that caused them to vanish from sight. The Flash passed them by without incident before he returned to his fellows with a shake of his head.

"Empty," the speedster noted simply, "if the Outlaws were here, they're gone now," he stated with a frown. Wonder-Woman frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Pity, I was actually looking forward to a rematch with the whore," she commented. Xyannis had to restrain herself from snarling and lunging out to attack the woman. 'Whore, ha! You're just repressed sweetie,' the woman thought with a dark glare at the image Hood held over his left hand.

"Now's not the time for old grudges," Red-Robin intoned. The blond woman rolled her eyes while Aqua-woman leaped up and started to look around. She shoved some rubble around and then sighed as she pulled water from a sealed container behind her back. She then used the water to cut the rubble into pieces as she looked around. Super-Man made his way to the others with his arms crossed over his chest.

"We should find Raven and bale," he suggested, Red-Robin hummed in response. As he did Kori looked up but Xyannis held her down with a firm glare. The younger of the two glared right back while Hood grimaced. 'Oh shit they brought Pride too… she must've found X already,' he thought to himself. He also made a note to keep Kori safe for her own good; there was no telling what Pride would do to her…

"No need to worry about me," came a sultry voice. Kori blinked as she watched a woman with deep red skin walk into the chamber. She had her left hand raised and a sphere of familiar ebony energy followed behind her as she sauntered towards the 'Bio-Ship'. Within the sphere, the form of X was revealed, asleep yet unharmed, while her four glowing eyes twinkled with mirth.

She then grunted as X started to stir, then focused and groaned as the blond fell back to sleep. "Could you maybe hurry up?" she pleaded as she raised a hand to her head with a visible grimace across her lips. "He's not exactly easy to keep sedated like this, even for me," she stated. Red-Robin nodded his head as he dismissed his holographic projections and approached Pride.

He paused when he reached her to look into the sphere where the sleeping X lay snoozing with a frown. He then reached back into his belt and pulled out a pair of strange cuffs connected by metal tubes to a circular apparatus. The man looked to Pride with a frown and she grimaced as she formed a pair of holes for X's arms to fall through. As they did Red-Robin grabbed his wrists and slipped the cuffs onto them.

The cuffs gave a sudden spark and Naruto grunted as Pride unceremoniously dropped him out of the black sphere. The red skinned demoness breathed a sigh of relief while her skin paled to a creamy complexion and she drew her hood back. "Oh thank Azar that is so much better," she remarked as she brushed her hair back behind her shoulder. "He's too stubborn for his own good sometimes," she remarked with a look at X.

Xyannis ground her teeth together as she watched, eyes glowing bright magenta. It was a bit of a well-known fact that she had a 'thing' for X. Unfortunately for most she was also absurdly possessive and prone to jealousy. 'I hate that bitch so much right now,' she thought darkly as she imagined the kind of things she'd do to her later. They brought a nasty grin to her lips, as most of them would be considered excessively violent.

Meanwhile Koriand'r frowned as she focused on Pride's face, and it was very familiar. She then tilted her head and hummed softly. Once when she swapped bodies with Raven she'd been somewhat concerned with her appearance… mostly because she liked her body thank you very much, but she'd also admit she was a bit vain. Although it looked like even if she had been trapped in Raven's body she just had to grow into it a bit…

'Huh… I suppose Friend Raven only needs time and she'll be quite beautiful,' she noted to herself. Though as a point of fact, she did not believe even for a second that that was Raven. The way she moved was wrong; the tone of her voice was wrong, there was just an underlying hint of wrongness all about the woman. Some features were the same, yes, mostly her face, but there was just a wrongness to her that she really didn't like…

She paused her thoughts as X groaned and glared up at them.

"The fuck… did you just… put on me?" he demanded. He then grunted as the circular piece at between the cuffs suddenly lashed out. A pair of metallic tentacles wrapped around his torso and caused him to grunt in discomfort.

"It's called a chakra-inhibitor," Red-Robin responded curtly, "it was designed by Batman before his fall," he admitted. Naruto twitched in response and cursed the original Dark Knight as violently as he was able. That man had been the biggest thorn in his side to ever live, as far as he was concerned his power was being fucking annoying!

"We got what we came for lets go," Wonder Woman stated with a frown. Red-Robin nodded his head in agreement and then picked X up and shouldered the man with a surprising amount of strength.

"I swear… I'm gonna… fucking kill… you idiots…" Naruto growled at his captors. Red-Robin hummed in response and motioned for the others to follow. As they started to leave Red-Hood scowled and looked to the others, only for his eyes to bolt wide open when he saw Kori had vanished. 'Shit!' he thought urgently. He looked to Xyannis who looked down to his hand and they both gasped.

Kori had flown out and into the air over the 'League' and then lunged down and slammed into the side of 'Red-Robin' with a cry. The two of them tumbled and the redhead slid into a crouch before she glared at the league withy narrowed eyes. "You will leave my friend alone!" she declared, eyes glowing bright green. The rest of the league just stared at the girl for a moment, before Pride grinned widely.

"Well well well, Starfire," Pride remarked and then tilted her head, "its certainly been a while," she commented. However Kori mutely narrowed her eyes.

"I do not know who or what you are or why you have my friend Raven's face, but I am not the falling for it," she stated bluntly. Pride blinked at that while Naruto started to laugh to himself.

"Oh sweet Kami… she figured it out… in a few seconds!" he exclaimed laughingly then started to laugh uproariously. Pride growled at that while Red-Robin rolled back and onto his feet. He then glared at Flash sternly.

"No one around huh?" he questioned bluntly. The Flash shrugged with a nervous grin while Starfire clenched her fists. As she did X tried to get up, only to fall back down onto his face with a groan. 'Stupid fucking chakra inhibitor thing… I'm gonna find Batman's grave and then I'm gonna bring 'im back… then I'm gonna fucking kill 'im all over again!' the blond thought to himself furiously.

"So you're the original Starfire," Wonder Woman remarked. She looked the orange skinned girl up and down and then hummed. "Well, at least she doesn't dress like a whore," she murmured. Kori could swear that she could hear Xyannis teeth grinding and the older girl growling furiously. She shook that thought off however and focused on the 'League' instead.

"You will not be taking my friend anywhere!" she declared firmly. However she then felt a presence behind her.

"Actually, I think we'll take you both," she heard a voice from behind and then felt something slam into her from the side. She grunted, as she was sent flying into and then through a pillar. She landed against a wall with a grunt and then looked to the side as a shadow fell over her. She saw the white skinned woman, who had a sly smirk as her arm extended to grab her and she then lifted her up and then slammed her into the ground.

Kori felt a brief daze and then shook it over as she rolled back to her feet and formed a pair of starbolts into her hands. She flung them at the white skinned woman but she effortlessly evaded them and them seemed to sink into the ground. "What?" she questioned only to cry out as a fist impacted with her chin from below. She was sent reeling while the white skinned woman approached her silently.

Kori shook her head and lashed out with a swift punch, but the white skinned woman seemed to go translucent and her fist passed through her. Kori's eyes bolted open and she stared at her fist and the woman in shock. "How," she breathed then grunted as the woman kicked her in the sternum. She was sent flying back then gave a cry as the boy in the black / red outfit grabbed her from behind in a bear hug.

'I am suddenly knowing why my friends do not like my warm hugs,' Kori realized as she kicked at the open air and then managed to throw the boy off of herself. She landed in a crouch but before she could do anything a sphere of water formed around her head and cut off her air. Kori gasped and struggled to breathe as she fell to her knees and clutched at her throat. As she did, Aqua-Woman mutely looked down at her, eyes glowing white.

Starfire struggled futilely as water was forced through her nose and mouth and into her lungs, rapidly filling them and causing her to drown. She tried desperately to make her way to the woman doing it, but her vision began to dim before she fell to her side as she did. She managed to look up at the impassive expression on the woman's face as her vision began to go dark.

"St-stop… you're killing her!" X growled as he tried to move. He also decided he was going to murder Batman, the asshat really shouldn't have made ways to take down every fucking hero / villain in the world before he died! Red-Robin glanced at X then motioned for Pride to pick him up with her powers. She did as bade then watched Red-Robin approach Aqua-Woman and place a hand on her shoulder.

"I think that's enough Tula," Red-Robin commented. Tula nodded her head in agreement and released the alien girl. Starfire gasped as she coughed up water and fell face forward into the ground. She spat out water and tried to catch her breath while Red-Robin knelt down next to her with a hum. "We only needed X, but I suppose this one will be useful for something," he remarked.

"W-what for?" X questioned. Red-Robin hummed in response causing the masked thief to twitch angrily. 'Since when is Tim-tim so fucking vague?' he internally demanded. He also internally cursed. 'Course the Cutie just had to muck things up, I was all set up to find out what these asshats were up to for the boss… dammit he's gonna be so pissed at me!' the clone thought to itself as it extended a claw of its suit to prick itself.

It exploded into a plume of smoke a moment later…

"The hell?" Super-Man questioned. He then saw one of the Steel Clan 'bodies' flip onto its feet. The Cyborg then formed a hand seal and vanished in a plume of smoke, only to be replaced by Red-X, coat and all, who narrowed his eyes. "Shit," Super-Man muttered while the League looked at him in shock. A mere moment later X vanished in a static flash and reappeared in front of Pride.

"Sup," the man quipped. 'Kaimon Kai! Kyuumon Kai!' the blond man thought as a wind seemed to tear off of his body and push Pride back. She grit her teeth and raised her hands to block the wind, then looked at X in shock as he twitched then vanished in a blur of pure speed.

The woman gasped as the thief ducked to knock her off of her feet and then kicked her away before he vanished once more. He reappeared above Super-Man and twisted into a kick that knocked the man face first into the dirt before he vanished once more. He reappeared behind Miss Martian and swiftly wrapped her up in her cape then turned on his heel to toss her into the side of her own Bio-Ship.

He then vanished once more and grabbed Flash before leaping high into the air and then twisting into a kick that sent the speedster flying, to keep him off the ground and thereby out of the way. He vanished and appeared behind Wonder-Woman, whom he grabbed with one arm to slam into the ground before he quickly vanished once more. As he did he vanished once more and reappeared by Red-Robin and Tula, where he instantly created a clone.

Alongside his clone the masked blond kicked Red-Robin and Tula away from Starfire. Red-Robin rolled back for a time then flipped onto his feet with a scowl while Tula managed to stay on her feet and narrowed her eyes. Naruto watched the two while his clone picked up Starfire then vanished in a static flash. The blond then watched the rest of the League get back up and grinned to himself.

'Heh, looks like I still got it,' he thought to himself as he held his hands to either side.

"Well kids, I won't its been fun," he remarked as he formed ten rasenrings onto each of his fingers and grinned darkly as ten shadowy tails formed behind him with ten more. "But I will say this, better luck next time, if there even is a next time," he remarked with an amused chuckle. "Mini Rasenringu Rendan! (Mini Spiral Fear Wheel Barrage!)" he then exclaimed as he threw his arms forward and sent the twenty Rasenrings flying.

The League cursed and quickly scattered while Naruto gave a mock salute and vanished in a static flash. The League was forced to avoid the many spiraling balls of death and destruction before ultimately they all had ceased. When they caught their breath and got back to their feet, Wonder-Woman snarled and marched over to Pride. The dark bird was seated on the ground with a frown.

'How did he slip a clone passed me?' she wondered to herself. The blond had always been tricky, but she'd always been able to tell him apart from his clones. They always had a tell about them, yet for once the blond had made a perfect clone. One that even she with all her experience couldn't see passed. It certainly worried her about what other kind of surprises the blond had in store for them.

She was pulled from her thoughts, and the ground, when Wonder-Woman suddenly lifted her up by the front of her cloak. She grunted and gripped the taller woman's wrists and glared at the blue-eyed bombshell heatedly.

"You did real great there Raven," she mocked and then snarled, "you caught a fucking clone!" she roared at the smaller woman. Pride winced and glanced to the side. "This is just great, our supposed expert on that asshat can't even tell the difference between him and his crazy clones!" the woman complained. Super-Man grunted in response and glared at the blond woman.

"Not like you helped out any," he grumbled irritably. Wonder-Woman scowled.

"Oh and what exactly would you have me do?" her teammate was silent but she decided to press on anyways. "You know that I've fought X before, he always wins! I swear that asshat has a bag of tricks so deep that he makes trickster gods envious!" the woman complained as she rubbed at her temples beneath her golden tiara / helmet. The others didn't comment but Red-Robin chuckled lightly.

"What the fuck is so funny?" the blond woman demanded. Her rage was quite clear and given her connection to Ares it made a lot of sense. "In case you haven't noticed we just lost X!" the blond woman reminded her comrade. However Red-Robin continued to chuckle as he lay on the ground, then looked at her with an amused smirk.

"X might've gotten away but now he has to come to us," Red-Robin remarked as he got back to his feet and brushed himself off. "Which means we can prepare for him and the Outlaws," he noted bluntly. Miss Martian looked at the 'leader' of the league with a raised brow.

"Why does he have to come to us?" the white martian questioned. Red-Robin, rather than answer, held up his hand. Within was a familiar disk like device, Warp's Vortex Regulator.

"Because if he wants to get Starfire home, he still needs this," he replied with a slowly widening grin… and the echo of hollow haunting laughter in his mind…

00

[Present day…]

(Tamaran, Starfire's Room…)

Raven stared at Starfire, a mix of surprise and genuine worry on her face. "You… could tell the difference between me and… Pride?" she questioned slowly. It was a point of fact that there was no difference between them. Pride was a part of her, the love of herself, all of herself. She was literally the culmination of all her traits both good and bad brought to the forefront, though clearly with a much darker outlook on life.

"Of course friend," Starfire replied as if it were obvious, "of all my friends I believe I know you the most intimately," she admitted with a nod. Raven raised a brow at that and the Tamaranean smirked slightly. "I have lived in your body, have I not?" she questioned and Raven made an oh with her mouth. She'd actually forgotten about that, though it still begged the question what differences Starfire saw between them.

"Exactly what made Pride different though?" she questioned curiously. She then watched as Starfire's eyes glazed over and she hummed thoughtfully. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes in thought as she did.

"She walked with confidence, her movements were fluid and seemed… almost arrogant, almost like everything about her movements were a show of how superior she was to everyone else around her. The way she walked always put emphasis on her hips, and the way she talked was in a low sensual tone," the redhead replied and Raven blinked and stared at her friend strangely.

"I thought you couldn't read human body language," she remarked. Starfire nodded in response and sighed.

"I cannot," she replied then smiled, "but I know you friend," she stated then frowned deeply. "You are very different to Pride, your movements are controlled and almost bashful by comparison. The way you talk is clearly a monotone, and when you do walk you never put an emphasis on your hips as she did, instead you stand straight and walk straight," the alien powerhouse replied. Raven hummed in response.

"So you can't read body language, but you know me," she guessed. Starfire hummed and then nodded her head.

"Indeed," she replied. "I know all of our friends, but with Cyborg or Beast Boy I would not tell the difference if the same thing were to happen," she admitted and sighed. "They are much more closed off than you are friend," she noted with a wry smile. That earned the Tamaranean a raised brow. "They never speak of their former lives, not even the Beast Boy despite his happy attitude," the Tamaranean noted.

Raven frowned in response then thought back to all the times that they'd interacted with BB and Cyborg. Strangely enough Starfire was right, they never once offered any real insight into their lives before the Titans. They knew that BB was once a member of the Doom Patrol, and that Cyborg had lived in Jump City… but that was really it. In a bizarre twist of fate, Raven was more open with Starfire than either of the boys…

'Okay that's actually kind of strange,' the dark bird thought to herself. She then shook her head and looked at Starfire curiously. "What about Robin?" she questioned. The redhead winced at that and scratched her hair.

"He is… equally distant," she admitted. Raven nodded her head, as at least that seemed to be par for the course. "I have tried to talk to Friend Robin, and I have asked him about himself many times, but he does not wish to open up," the alien admitted with a sigh, "it does not help that I met him in the future and his future self was… different," she admitted and Raven raised a brow.

"What was he like?" she questioned. She was genuinely curious, mostly if Robin was even worse in the future than he was now. Starfire went silent and closed her eyes. Raven waited for her friend to tell her, only for Starfire to yawn. The dark bird felt her eye twitch as Starfire stretched her arms into the air.

"I am thinking that that is enough for tonight friend," she stated and then smiled, "I believe I am ready for the bed," she declared and then flew off to the side. As she did Raven inhaled a breath and then growled low in her throat. Why did it seem like Starfire was purposely making her wait for every last bit of this story that she could?!

00

(Jump City…)

Willow 'Chitin' Nigredo was a simple girl. A tomboy to be sure, but she really didn't need much to be happy. She grew up in Tennessee with a foster family, who took her in since her father, uncle, and other immediate family were either cons or gone. Her father, the Information Broker known as Two-Bit, her uncle, the notorious super criminal known as Killer Moth, and as for her mother… well she'd rather not speak of her.

Either way, she'd grown up in the south, and in the country no less. The only problem she had back then was, well… her powers immerged very early in her life. IE, when she was six and she had no control over them. At first it seemed like all she could do was secrete slime from her pores, and she became something of a joke, with names like 'Slug' being very commonly thrown in her direction as a result of her unusual ability.

It certainly didn't help matters that anytime she was anxious or scared she'd start to ooze a viscous, not to mention disgusting, neon-green slime like a certain something out of Ghosbusters. A few kids had even made it a point to say she'd become Slimer if she ever became a ghost… that one had actually hurt. Although one perk had been that her pores were always clear, meaning she never got acne unlike some of her classmates.

But even with the one perk to her powers it was little help when she was teased mercilessly for being a 'slug'. On top of that was that she'd been a bit on the chubby side back then, so of course the boys didn't hold back like they would for a pretty girl and made her young life miserable. As a result she'd become something of an introvert and got into video games to alleviate the feeling of loneliness.

Things remained that way for quite some time. She played video games; sometimes she played video games online when she wanted social interaction, she rarely left her room so no one saw her and she didn't start oozing slime everywhere due to nerves. That is until her early teen years when she learned the 'slime' could harden into chitinous armor… or that it burned through calories and fat like no ones business.

This was because her armor required energy to form, so literally super-charged her metabolism. Not only did she need to eat a lot more, but she also didn't gain a pound ever again after she started to experiment with what she could, and couldn't, make out of her armor. Although a very irritating drawback to this was that her stamina was horrible and she tired very easily.

It'd been summer when this happened, thankfully, and she hadn't needed to worry about school or bullies as she tried to make sense of what she could do. Within a few months of excessive experiments she'd learned a lot about her armor. Such as the fact she could make it look or feel like whatever she wanted, and make blades too! It also burned away her fat to the point her foster family had to take her out for a new wardrobe.

She'd primarily stocked up on dark clothes, not because she was a goth or anything, but because she just liked black. However with her new wardrobe, and drastically improved looks, she'd finally been able to walk around without feeling like a freak…

For all of five seconds.

Her 'slime' still came out and hardened whenever she was frightened. In her experiments she'd realized that it was some kind of a defense mechanism she must've developed without knowing it, or that was naturally inclined due to her father. The man did have a similar carapace, although he was unable to change it's appearance and his was diamond hard while hers was relatively weak by comparison.

Regardless, when she was put under the scrutiny of her peers her introverted nature came out in full force. She'd desperately wanted them to stop staring at her. It'd gone on all day till some jerk decided to hit on her until she suffered a minor panic-attack. It caused her armor to form nigh instantly as she felt threatened at the time, yet it also caused the armor to shred her clothes while she was left a quivering mess.

Her foster family had to take her home as a result, especially since the armor wouldn't come off and she was 'making a scene' as one of the teachers put it. Willow had a few unkind words for the woman, but she'd held them in. Mostly due to the fact that, at the time, she was still suffering from what appeared to be a case of social anxiety she hadn't even known she had.

After that school had been like normal. Most kids avoided her, some were actually afraid; others thought she was a freak. A few of the 'popular' girls were especially nasty to her, with names like 'Hornet' 'Wasp' or even 'Bug-Queen' becoming common. Willow recalled that a few months passed before the H.A.E.Y.P. sent them a letter stating she was invited to their 'prestigious academy'.

The school was a government-funded academy dedicated to training young Metahumans to harness and control their gifts in a safe, controlled environment, while also allowing them to socialize with others like them without fear of judgment. At least that was what the brochure had said. Her foster family had been all for it and sent her to the H.A.E.Y.P., where she began her life in Jump City at the age of fourteen.

She'd also met her uncle, Drury Walker, AKA Killer Moth.

Upon first meeting her, her uncle had been ecstatic to see that she'd inherited her father's 'gift' albeit in a slightly different way. He'd introduced her to her younger cousin, Kitten Moth, and she'd often visited them afterwards. When she wasn't training at the academy of course. Said training was decidedly different to what she'd originally imagined she'd be doing at the H.A.E.Y.P., but that wasn't all that surprising.

She could actually recall her first day at the H.A.E.Y.P. even now. She'd been a nervous wreck, she remembered sneaking into her first class and just staying to herself the entire time… actually that was basically what she did the entire time she was there. She still played video games, she still occasionally got online, but she was surprised to find several of her classmates were willing to play with her…

It'd actually been kind of nice, although that was back when the first Headmaster was still in charge. He'd genuinely wanted the students of the H.A.E.Y.P. to be able to learn to control their abilities and be around one another without fear of judgment. This was back before the 'H.I.V.E.' had sent the Headmistress to take over, and long before Brother Blood dealt with her and decided to take over the school.

The way she heard it all went down was that the first Headmaster had gone against the H.I.V.E., trying to steer most of the students with innately deadly powers away from the 'advanced courses' as they were called. The 'advanced' courses were actually one half assassination training and one half brainwashing. The H.I.V.E. liked good little soldiers that obeyed without question, so the second half made sense.

She'd made it a point to stay about 'average' in her grades so she didn't have to worry.

Though Blood had become a bit too interested in the whys and hows of her armor for her liking. As it turned out though his tests had been able to make the armor make a bit more sense. Her armor hardened from slime, yes, but how did she control the slime? A Psychic Field that only extended about one foot radius. With training she'd extended that to about two to five feet, but it was still slow going on anything wider than that.

But regardless, her uncle had eventually gone ape-shit and literally dragged her out of the H.A.E.Y.P. for some reason or other after attacking Brother Blood and somehow coming out unscathed. Not that she was going to complain, it wasn't like she was thrilled about staying near a mind-controlling nutcase like Brother Blood. Now she was living with her uncle Drury, and his daughter Kitten, and they had a relatively normal family…

Still… that raised a good question…

"How can you even come to these things?" Willow 'Chitin' Nigredo questioned with a glance at her uncle Killer Moth. The mutated mothman was seated beside of her while they were in a large theater. Willow had a PSVita in her hands, an ear bud in her left ear while the other hung to the side, as she idly played Borderlands 2 while only half paying attention to the 'ballet' that was being put on.

"I'll have you know I've attended many PTA meetings," the mutated moth man replied with an indignant huff. Despite his words Willow couldn't help but notice that there was no one else sitting near them. They had two seats open to either side, and no one dared sit behind them either… 'Right I'm so totally believing that,' the brunette thought to herself with a frown.

"So why am I here with you then?" she questioned. Honestly the question deserved to be asked considering she wasn't really interested in ballet. She wasn't even interested in normal dancing, why would she care about this fancy shit?

"Because this recital is important to Kitten and she needs us both here for moral support," he replied as if he was repeating from a prompt card. Willow idly glanced at her uncle with a raised brow and he crossed his arms over his chest. "And because if I have to suffer through this, then someone else is suffering with me," he stated resolutely. Willow smiled softly as she reached into her shorts and withdrew a smart phone.

"Here," she stated and tossed the phone to her uncle. The mutated mothman looked down at it for a moment then to her with a questioning expression. She idly hummed as she leaned back in her seat and continued to play her game. "I downloaded all your plans to that thing, make whatever modifications you want to 'em," she offered in explanation while she continued to play her game.

Killer Moth sat upright and then started to look over the phone's apps and such and looked to her curiously. "How'd you break into my computer files?" he questioned. The green eyed girl glanced at him with a bemused expression.

"Password Mothman, Username 'KillerMothRules'," she deadpanned. He grunted and rubbed at his head with a clawed hand.

"Right… guess that was kind of obvious," he admitted mostly to himself. Willow silently nodded her head while the mothman idly tapped a 'plans' folder he found on the phone. He then nodded when he saw that everything was there and wrapped an arm around his niece. "You are now officially my favorite niece!" he declared. Willow smirked with an amused chuckle.

"I'm your only niece," she reminded him and he laughed.

"I said officially," he reminded her. She rolled her eyes in response and glanced up and elbowed the mothman. He grunted then turned to see Kitten was on stage. The both of them groaned and put their game / phone away and sat with unhappy expressions as they watched the ballet… Their only consolation was that at least Kitten would be happy, and maybe they could convince her to do something they'd think was fun…

'Like taking over the city!' Killer Moth thought with a laugh.

'I think there's a convention in town next week,' Willow noted with a smile…

(3 hours later…)

Willow was sleeping in her seat while the ballet finally ended. Killer Moth and the rest of the audience suddenly stood and clapped for the performers. The ruckus startled Willow and caused her to fall and her armor to form. It started out as the 'slime' that covered her then quickly formed into a skin-tight armored exoskeleton over her body. It completely covered her from foot to head.

It was made of innumerous segmented, mostly, black plates with neon-green high-lights, a series of dark green plates from her groan up to her collarbone, more dark green plates on her shoulders, her hips down her thighs, along her spine, and formed over her shins and forearms with spikes at her shoulders, knees, and elbows. It formed a black armored helmet with enlarged white eyes, and a dark green stripe down the center.

She hurriedly looked around for an attack, and then breathed a sigh of relief when she realized the play was over. Her armor dissolved back into her skin a moment later and she stood next to her clearly amused uncle. The rest of the audience dispersed without comment, most of them had lived in Jump City long enough to be desensitized to meta's, and that Willow was a non-hostile one certainly helped.

"Still too skittish," he noted and the girl stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled in response then opened his arms as he saw Kitten walk towards them from the back of the stage. "Ah there she is!" he declared while Kitten hugged the mutated mothman. "Great show," he stated, though to be honest he'd only just barely kept from falling asleep like his niece… to a man who'd fought Batman several times, ballet was all kind of boring.

"Great," Willow drawled out and then yawned, "can we go home now?" she questioned. Kitten growled and rounded on the girl with narrowed eyes.

"Don't think I didn't see you sleeping through my performance!" she growled at her cousin who looked at her with a deadpan expression.

"Excuse me for not being interested in fancy dancing," she muttered under her breath. She loved her family, even with their quirks, but sometimes she wished her cousin wasn't such a girly girl…

00

TBC

AN:

2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

STATIC - STATIC

2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

STATIC – STATIC

A card with a number appeared on screen…

5

4

3

2

1

STATIC - STATIC

A familiar redheaded girl appears. She looks very much like her usual 'Joker's Daughter' persona with her white skin, bright red hair, bright red lips, and vibrant purple eyes. The only real difference, aside from her clothes, was that at the moment she's holding her blue Rickenbacker Bass Guitar while seated on her desk in yet another new outfit.

She wears a back / shoulder-less unitard, it is purple on her left leg and the right side of her torso, while her right leg and the left side of her torso is covered by black and white diamond shaped checker pattern. She also wears bicep length fingerless dark-green gloves over her arms, a green belt hangs loose on her hips with a large pouch, her usual brown backpack, and knee length dark green buckled boots over her legs / feet.

She idly kicks her legs back and forth and then holds up a card with a smile. [A special musical entro] is written on the card. The girl then rocked back then forth and onto her feet as she walked over to an amp and knelt down. She plugged her bass into the amp and idly started to tune it, then inhaled a breath and bowed to the camera. She then started to softly strum the strings of her bass, before she began to play the tune to a theme song…

"He's gonna take you back to the past," the girl played as she lightly bobbed her head back and forth. "To play the shitty games that suck ass," she continued with a smile, "He'd rather have, a buffalo, take diarrhea dump in his ears!" she declared and then grinned widely. "He'd rather eat, the rotten asshole, of a road kill skunk then go down it with beer!" she continued as she played and started to sway her hips from side to side.

"He's the angriest gamer you've ever heard," she sung loudly and closed her eyes, "he's the angry Nintendo nerd," she sung with a wide smile, "he's the angry Atari Sega nerd," she continued and bobbed her head from side to side, "he's the angry video game nerd," she declared as she tapped her foot, "he's the Angry Video Game Nerd!" she finished and held the note for a moment…

As she finished she took a bow, inhaled a breath then exhaled and looked to the camera.

"But that's not me," she stated with a wide manic grin. She then fell over backwards with a monstrous laugh and hugged her bass to her chest tightly as she kicked at the air. She took a brief moment to calm down then rolled forward and hopped to her feet with her arms stretched wide. "Thank you," she exclaimed and bowed at the waist, "Thank you everyone, you're too kind!" she declared and then snickered to herself.

"What?" she questioned then leaned her Bass-Guitar across her shoulder, "you didn't think I only had a Rickenbacker because I like Haruko did you?" she questioned with a raised brow then smirked, "I also do kids parties!" she added with giggle. "Well enough about that," she stated and tossed her rickenbacker to the side. She then flipped back into a handstand then flipped from there into her chair.

She sat with her legs raised onto her desk, arms folded behind her neck, and a wide grin stretched across her face. "Hello everyone out there! I give warm and friendly greetings to one and all," she declared then paused, "Unless you're a monitor or Tim Drake!" she stated firmly then smiled. "I'm Harlequin, Two-Face's Daughter!" the girl exclaimed cheerfully. She then leaned towards the camera with her eyes narrowed.

"And no, I'm not stealing 'Harley Quinn's' shtick, I was called Harlequin LONG before that blond bimbo was even a thought in Bruce Timm's head dammit! She stole MY shtick dammit! But no one cares or believes me when I go to complain about it to random people on the streets!" she all but snarled. She then inhaled a breath through her nose and sat back with her arms crossed over her chest.

"And no, I'm not exaggerating," she grumbled to herself and then snapped her fingers. A screen lowered at her side and showed a picture of a blond women in a… strange outfit, that barely made any sense. The redhead idly reached into the pouch at her hip to pull out a metal rod, which she then extended into a pointer stick, and pointed at the blond haired woman with a stern expression.

"Exhibit one, the only person to use the 'Harlequin' name before me was Molly Mayne, who eventually married Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, and wasn't much of a villain due to her overt altruistic nature. I took over as 'Harlequin' back during the Silver Age and remained Harlequin despite Marcie Cooper who took on the mantle in the eighties while I was kind of missing," she explained.

She then blew a breath into her crimson bangs and crossed her arms.

"Marcie was eventually thrown in jail, and then another new Harlequin showed up then was never heard from again, and I didn't make my own big reappearance until the big three issue JLA TITANS event where we had to save Cyborg's soul and he actually contacted me for help, I mean ME of all people!" she stated giddily as she brought her hands to her face with bright eyes, then paused and held a hand to her ear.

"Wait… why am I Harlequin if I'm Two-Face's Daughter?" she questioned and then cupped her chin with a soft hum. "I have no idea, I actually did the same thing back in the silver age too, so it just kind of fits, plus I was called 'Harlequin' way back when I was still a member of the original Teen Titans so ha!" she admitted with a nod of her head and then sighed as she briefly recalled the old days.

"Yeah, I worked with Donna Troy, Wally West, Garth, Roy Harper, and Dick Grayson," she stated with a sigh and a nod, "or as you likely better know them, Wonder-Girl, Kid-Flash, Aqua-Lad, Speedy, and Robin," she amended then smiled softly, "Yeah, good times, good times," she whispered. She was silent for only a moment before she snorted and snickered to herself. She then wiped a mock tear away and grinned widely.

"Well anyways, that's enough 'bout that! I'm here to answer your reviews you lucky people who commented!" the girl exclaimed as she leaped up and then held a hand up high. "So I say to all thee, rejoice good fellows, for your reviews have been answered!" she declared dramatically, "Rejoice I say!" she exclaimed and then laughed to herself, holding her ribs and then breathed a sigh.

"Anyways, sorry for the wait but real life decided to be a jerk," Duela began and then crossed her arms over her chest, "The Author has to work ya'know so he can't always help it if his free time is eaten up," she noted with a nod of her head and then scratched her head with a nervous grin. "On top of that this chapter was a real bitch to write for some reason and he had trouble with it," she admitted and then cleared her throat.

She idly pulled her phone out of the pouch on her hip and looked at the reviews.

"First up is," she began and then pointed to the side, "Drum roll please!" she exclaimed while pointing to a familiar baby Ursa. The Baby Ursa was happily chewing on what looked suspiciously like a human femur. Duela stared at the pet she was gifted by one of the reviewers and then pouted. "Why are Ursa so hard to train?" she wondered as she looked to her phone and brought up a drum rolll.

"Toa Naruto!" she exclaimed. She then calmed down and sat with one leg crossed over the other. "Well looks like ya didn't need ta worry 'bout ol' blackie!" she declared and then hummed softly. "Funny enough the author looked for a good pic of Xyannis, but they don't seem to exist on the Internet for some reason. I mean given how she looks and how little she wears this is kind of strange in the extreme," she admitted with a shrug.

"As for all the other's, we do intend there to be at least a couple other pairings but we'd much rather you see 'em unfold rather than tell you now," she stated cheerfully then flicked her finger across her phone. "Hi Kid Coheed," she stated with a wave, "The Power Ring isn't technically a throwaway, but it doesn't really matter. There is a reason he got it in that future and it's kind of bleak," the girl admitted with a grimace.

"We thought Xyannis fit as well. Unlike Starfire it makes sense for her to be overly sexual given her appearance in the comics, and her anger and aggression don't feel out of place either since those were traits of hers. It's funny but the author even thought that Xyannis might've replaced Starfire in the New 52 or something and just said she was Starfire to get Roy and Jason to help her," the girl admitted then hummed.

"And of course the future has shifted, whether its good or bad is kind of up to you guys, especially on the case of Xyannis and the others," she stated with a nod, "The teams don't really have 'hard counters' to one another. Naruto is more of a jack-of-all-trades due to his Jutsu and experience, and Jinx is a Meta, not magic based. Her mother was the sorceress Jinx, who used natural energy to use her powers no less," the girl noted.

"And no, that isn't something made up, the Jinx in the comic totally does use Natural Energy as a power source, she absorbs it through her feet which is why she doesn't wear any shoes. That is actually cannon in DC!" she declared with a grin. She then calmed down and flicked her finger against her phone once more. "Hey DocSlendy, nice to hear from you again!" the girl stated cheerfully.

"Thanks! And yeah it's funny how few people seem to know anything about the Tamaraneans, especially since Starfire never tried to hide any of it," Duela noted with a shake of her head. She then glanced at her phone and smirked. "Call my name and save me from the dark," she singsonged then grinned, "Sorry Reven228, but the author loves Evanescence!" the girl declared with a grin.

"Hey Devilscreed, nice seeing 'ya again!" Duela declared, "and yeah… it's funny but we can't either. The Cartoon Blackfire is just mean for the sake of petty spite and cruelty, the original Blackfire from the comics was even worse when it comes to how she treated Starfire, so we tried to ground Blackfire and make her at least a little more sympathetic without making her into a monster as well," the girl explained with a nod.

"Yo OBSERVER01, nice to know you're still watching!" the girl exclaimed with her index finger and thumb circling her right eye. "Anyways, no, never claimed to be Lex's daughter, though I have said I'm Darkseids Daughter," the girl admitted then pulled her Boom Tube Generator from her pocket. "Where do you think I got this thing from?" she asked with a wicked grin.

"Nice to know someone recognized what that ring meant, tamagat," the girl stated with a wink then hummed. "As for The Green, I think it doesn't work in space, IE, once you leave the atmosphere where no life can exist it loses power and is vaguely useless. I mean you could probably wear it, go to another planet and it might work but that also depends on whether or not the mystical force of The Green is limited to Earth," she mused aloud.

"This of course raises the question of the exact limitations of The Green as it's never clearly outlined in any comics to the Authors knowledge. That said he assumes that the Green can't overcome Dark Matter, which is what outer space is made up of, thereby why it doesn't work in space. Not to mention you have to recall that most planets aren't necessarily green, while Tamaran was and a few others, some aren't," she finished.

She then paused when she notied several eyes were most likely on her at this point and glanced around shiftily, "Anyways!" she declared, "DBlade59, this is probably the last of this segment for the 'Future' story, it'll pop back up later but we have another story to tell that takes place on Earth instead," she explained with a nod of her head. She then glanced back at her phone and clicked her tongue.

"No, Kiue Jin, we don't play Pokemon Go, mostly because we prefer the old games over it," she admitted with a nod. "The Author has been playing 'Marvel Future Fight' recently however so if you play it you might've seen him around it. And the Author has noticed that too, he's trying to be vague with some of the 'future' characters since they won't really be around for long but thanks all the same!" she declared cheerfully.

"Aw hey PugTheMagician! Me bored is almost as bad as Jinx from LOL being bored! And we all know what that looks like!" she stated with a somewhat troubling smile. She then paused as she saw that half of the review was actually blocked from her by strange black bars. "What the hell?" she questioned then glanced around shiftily. Her camera seemed to clip and then distort before a man in a suit appeared in a dark room.

-Hello Pug, I'm the author,- the man stated with a curt bow. He then straightened and looked to the reviewer. -Duela's mind was fractured, that is all I can say right now, but I will tell you that her parents deaths just exacerbated a problem that was already there,- he explained and then crossed his arms behind his back. -That said, lets let our little psycho have her fun now… kay?-

The screen returns to static before Duela's face fills the screen with a concerned frown. "Hey! What just happened?" she demanded and then glanced all around. "Mister Author Dude, did you do something?" she questioned warily. She then shook her head and backed away from her camera. "Err, yeah, anyways," she stated unsurely as she glanced around her room with worry.

"Actually PFMF, if you can find the authors Deviant Art account you should be able to find a couple of his drawings for this story. He plans to upload a couple more when he gets a chance but for now there should at least be six of 'em," the redhead explained with a nod of her head. "Actually it's DUELA Edrick Twilight Legend with just one l," the girl stated and then glanced at her phone.

"Unfortunately Cerulean Knight, Blackfire and Naruto dating in the future timeline won't be shown as it'd be too strange to put a flashback in a flashback," the crazed clown stated and then grinned widely, "We're not Deadpool after all!" she declared and then her face fell. "I miss working with Deadpool… I mean like, I really miss him," she admitted and then crossed her legs with a sigh.

"Hmm… oh hey D N Walker, well we might put Naruto with the Suicide Squad at some point… probably have Waller actually hire him instead of him being captured as that would be nigh impossible for anyone to do," the redhead remarked distractedly. "Sorry Evil Reviewer, but Two-Bit was an OC, still is, kind of cool he fit well enough to be confused for an official character though," the redhead admitted with a soft sigh.

"Um… lets see Guest, I've met the one from Birth of the Seekers, I met one in Red-X Rising, I met another in Dark Lord Plus, I met another in…" she paused and actually blushed. She then chuckled nervously as she scratched the back of her head. "Actually that one wasn't posted and it never got beyond a few paragraphs but lets just say he and I ended up together," she admitted and then coughed into her hand.

"Oh hey NeoNazo356, the author wanted me to say hi for him and that he's glad to see that you're still around!" Duela stated with a friendly wave to the reviewer. "Sorry but there are way too many reviews here for me to answer 'em all, I'll try an' keep up with 'em from here on out though!" she declared and then sighed once more as she placed her fists against her cheeks.

"Kurama's around jontron23088, he's kind of sleeping right now," Duela replied and then sighed. "Thanks Guest," she stated dejectedly and looked to her phone. "Hey Ryuunoshin, glad you like that he holds back. Some people think it'd be better if he just outright curb stomps everything. The Author feels that'd be kind of boring," the girl admitted and then rubbed her face.

"Don't worry Guest, the author just had to deal with real life for a bit and didn't have enough time to really focus on writing. It might become a problem but at the moment he can't really tell. He does at least have a plan for the next story arch though," the girl explained and then sighed to herself as she finished the reviews. "Oh great now I'm all depressed," she grumbled to herself and blinked.

"Oh hey Mister Author Dude, what's up?" she questioned as she looked to the sky. "What? Oh yeah sure dude, my origin is up next?" she questioned and smiled. "Oh that's cool, so I finally get a legit origin and not some cop out after I die?" she questioned as she briefly picked at her ear. "Cool… hey wait, what do you mean you're preparing something nice for me to make up for it?" she questioned as the screen cut off…

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