Rain: And I am back with a brand new chapter to A Symbiotic Bond: A Venomous Titan Reborn So sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

Mario: Here we go!

A Symbiotic Bond: A Venomous Titan Reborn
Chapter Nine

Jump City
Titan's Tower

Robin was deep in thought.

It had been a month since Beastboy left the Titans and things were actually looking better since he left. The First two weeks without him was a dreary, lifeless place.

Not even Starfire's natural perkiness could pick them up but as the days went on, the loss of Beastboy was slowly ebbing away to the point that things were finally looking up.

Any of them could mention the former titan without an awkward silence following moments later and they even decided on doing a "Beastboy Night" which involved his favorite movies, games and snacks and it went over greatly and had become a regular night which made his teammates happy.

His team's happiness was important to Robin and he was glad he had done something right but there was something he noticed that was still amiss with his team.

While it doesn't happen often, Robin would notice that when Cyborg would cook, he would look at the door, as if he was waiting for Beastboy to come bursting through to start their Meat/Tofu war.

Sometimes, Starfire's laughter seemed forced whenever he or Cyborg would crack a joke and her perkiness seemed to fade away a bit and world knows, he didn't want her upset because it would take over a week to get her somewhat back to normal and as for Raven….

Raven kept to herself more than she had before Beastboy left and it was obvious that whatever was taking her time away from them was affecting her because whenever she did come out of her room, she seemed distracted by something.

It was then he realized how important Beastboy was to the team. He gave Cyborg a daily challenge with their arguments as well as treating Cyborg like the human he was instead of a machine people thought he was.

Beastboy spent time with Starfire, teaching her new things about their planet as well as giving her a match in exuberant energy and he helped Raven open up more to the team as well as get her to go on activates with them.

And with him, Robin realized that Beastboy was a laid back, easy-going person who bought life into the team as well as his own life.

He kept things from getting too serious and when the team was down and out, especially during the whole Terra/Slade incident, he kept the team afloat when there was nothing left…Even when he wasn't one hundred percent himself.

Beastboy was honestly the heart of the team and that heart was gone but Robin kept hope that the green hero would return one day and until then, he had to keep the team together for not only Beastboy, not only for Jump City…But for themselves as well.

But there was something else that he noticed. Since Beastboy's temporary resignation, the team obviously had a large hole in its fighting force.

Beastboy was a jack of all stats. He could change his form into any animal he pleased and it often saved their lives but without him, their team's all around.

He could be one of their heavy hitters, he could be recon, and he could be fast. He was an all-around fighter and without him, he realized that during a hard battle with Cinderblock when that monster managed nearly defeat them.

Had it not been for Robin leading Cinderblock to a construction site and forcing the other three titans to practically destroy the building to trap him, they would have lost so now Robin was thinking on bringing in some new members to replace Beastboy as well as make their numbers larger. He was thinking of bringing in a few people.

He thought of bringing in Bumblebee (Who Cyborg had teamed up with during his mission to take down the Hive) but she had just formed Titans East with Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash and Wonder Girl so he realized that wouldn't be a good idea to take their leader, especially since they were still at a ripe age of one month.

But there was two heroes he felt would be great additions.

One of the hero's name was Static, who's been making headlines in a city called Dakota and he knew that he would be a perfect choice and the second choice was obviously a magician named Zatanna.

Zatanna was the daughter of Zatara, a famous magician who had helped his teacher and father figure, Batman many times before as not only a teacher but a dear friend and by proxy, he helped Robin as well.

"Yeah…These two will be a perfect choice..." But then he thought about the Titans. They wouldn't take it well if they knew what he was going to do but he had to tell them…He needed them to know that while this was a hard choice, he had to make it.

They needed more people so with a heavy sigh, Robin walked out of his room and walked into the living room where he saw Cyborg, Starfire and Raven sitting on the couch, waiting for him.

Robin merely let out another sigh and walked towards the couch and stood in front of the three. "So Rob, what's up with this rather sudden meeting?" Cyborg asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, me and friend Raven were going to go to the Mall of Shopping," Starfire added with a pout on her face.

She had finally gotten Raven out of her room and out of the tower when Robin had called them back and it made her sad but little did she know, Raven had been silently thanking Robin for his timely interruption.

"Then I'll make this quick…I wanted you three here because I wanted to tell you guys that since Beastboy has been gone, our battles with the forces of evil has been a lot tougher so I've decided that…We need more people to take up the slack that he left behind…" The three Titans merely stared at their leader as if he had lost his mind.

"So…You're replacing Beastboy basically…Is that right?" Raven asked with a cold edge to her voice.

There had been a time where Raven would have loved to hear those words but now, she despised the very meaning of them.

"No! I'm not replacing him at all," Robin replied with a shake of his head, eyeing Raven nervously.

"He's always going to be a titan and he's always welcome here but right now, we're struggling with battling the Hive and any other villains out there because of the missing hole in our team. We need more people to help us right now. That's all I'm saying…"

Cyborg could understand where his leader was coming from but to them, it was still too soon for them to fill in Beastboy's spot, even though having three more people was more than a good idea.

Starfire on the other hand looked angry. "No. I refuse to have anyone take Friend Beastboy's place!"

"Star…" Robin pleaded softly.

"No! We have been doing fine since friend Beastboy left! We don't need these people!" Starfire exclaimed before rushing out of the room, her eyes glowing angrily.

Raven looked at the retreating girl curiously and honestly wanted to follow her but she knew that talking to a mad Starfire wasn't going to do anything.

When Starfire got mad or upset, it took saving her life to even get her to listen to whatever you had to say and Raven didn't want to deal with that, not while she herself was in an angered mood from this news.

Stepping off the couch, Raven walked towards the door but she stopped by Robin and told him in a whisper "Find these people and convince them to join. I don't like this anymore than Starfire but I will admit that we do need the help. We will welcome them here but don't forget that we need Beastboy," Before leaving the room and roaming down the hall to her room, clutching Beastboy's Journal in her hand all the while.

Titan's Tower
Starfire's Room
Starfire

"This isn't fair…" Starfire whispered softly with a frown on her face, staring down at a picture she and Beastboy had taken at the first trip to the mall. She let out a small laugh when she stared down at her form. She looked so confused at everything.

From the cute pink and white floral walls to the large goofy red and white stripped hat that had fallen over her eyes and next to her was Beastboy, wearing an easy-going smile on his face and that familiar sparkling of happiness in his eyes.

Out of all the pictures she had taken throughout her time here, this was her favorite one and it was the one that she kept by her bed, even before he had left. Beastboy leaving only made her treasure this picture more.

Taking a small breath, Starfire placed the photo into her arms and held it close to her chest. "I hope you are safe, friend Beastboy…"

Champion City
Downtown
Garfield Mark Logan and Rocket

"Holy shit!" Garfield shouted out as he dodged a large bolt of energy from the latest villain he was facing.

The villain was in a padded yellow suit with black netting on top of it with a brown trim on the sides of it with a yellow mask on his face with goggles where his eyes would be. The villain was SIN's second in command known as the "Shocker".

"These guys are annoying!" Rocket shouted from above as she swooped down to avoid several beams of energy from a man in a green mechanical suit that resembles a vulture, who was known as well...the "Vulture", SIN's boss.

For the past month since their meeting, Garfield and Rocket had become partners, taking on any enemy that had come their way and so far, their entire goal was battling SIN, who were looking in taking down Garfield after he stopped Rhino a long time ago.

The evil organization had sent out their best but time and again, Rocket and Garfield had taken them down until the police managed to find their secret base so now Rocket and Garfield were in the process of finally taking down the group.

"Stop moving you pathetic bug!" Shocker screamed as he sent bolt after bolt after Garfield but the web-slinger effortlessly avoided the beams.

"Not a bug! An arachnid!" Garfield exclaimed as he landed on the corner of the ceiling above and shot a web at a crate behind Shocker and tugged it sharply, which caused the crate to fly off the ground and slam into the villain, which sent him slamming into the air with the crate.

Garfield leapt out of the way just as Shocker slammed into the spot he was in before the crate followed, the latter exploding into wood chips.

The unconscious Shocker began to fall to the ground but Garfield swung down, caught the villain and landed on the ground and seconds later, Vulture slammed into a bunch of crates with Rocket floating down to the ground, dusting the dust off her hands.

Rocket grabbed the unconscious Vulture and placed him behind Shocker and Garfield webbed them up nice and tight together before he turned to her and said "Another job well done," as he held up his hand for a high-five, which Rocket quickly gave.

The two could hear police sirens coming from outside the warehouse and seconds later, the police chief came into the warehouse and noticed the two defeated villains and said "Unbelievable! You two have done an amazing job. SIN has finally been defeated!"

"All in a days work, chief," Garfield said before he shot a web up against the skylight. "Now I gotta roll. Let's go Rocket."

Garfield zipped himself up while Rocket flew beside him and soon, the two were out of the warehouse to meet the cool night sky. "Man, that was hella easy," Garfield said as he began a slow swing back to the city.

"You got that right. They didn't put up any opposition," Rocket replied before she looked to him and said "So, the news is playing your interview in an hour. You wanna watch it at my place?"

Garfield's mask suddenly rose up to reveal his mouth, which was formed into a grin as he answered with "Sure. I wouldn't mind that one bit. You cooking again?"

"I was planning too but then SIN happened," Rocket said as she rolled her shoulder. "I'm feeling too stiff. Does Chinese work for you?"

"You know it does," Garfield replied before he landed on the roof of his hotel. "I'm going to get ready ready. I smell like a septic tank. I'll meet you at your place."

Rocket smiled and said "I'll see you there!" before she flew off at top speed, leaving Garfield on the roof. Garfield smiled and walked to the edge of the roof and walked down the building's side. His relationship with Rocket after their talk had grown quite a bit.

So much so that he often stayed at her house instead of the hotel. He even found out something very surprising.

During their night of talking, he found out that she not only knew of the Teen Titans but she actually had a bit of a fangirl crush on Beastboy, which of course boosted his confidence more but he wouldn't allow himself to use his past persona to be with her...He wanted her to see him for who he was now.

If she ever found herself interested in him in that way like he was slowly finding himself being.

"You overthink these things," Symbiote said, which made Garfield snap his head up as he slide his window up and climbed inside. "From the time you two spent together. I have a feeling that she is slowly coming around to liking you."

"You think so?" Garfield asked as his suit slid off from his body into a necklace that hung around his neck as he turned on the shower and stepped inside of it to wash up.

"I am 75% sure," The Symbiote replied.

Garfield smiled softly and said "I hope so because I'm starting to like her too..." Once Garfield finished washing up, he stepped out of the shower, dried himself off and as he walked back to the window, his hero suit formed around his body and leapt out the window and began to swing to Rocket's apartment.

But as he swung, he noticed something strange.

There were two figures jumping from roof to roof beneath him.

'Interesting...' Garfield thought before he landed on the side of a library building and watched them. The two figures had stopped on a building that was the diamond store, one of the famous in the the country in fact.

'What are they here for?' Garfield thought to himself before he began to climb down the wall to get a better look at the two.

Champion City
Rooftop of Eternal Beauty Diamond Center
Red X

"Remember the plan?" Red X asked the teenage girl in front of him as he checked his gauntlets and his various weapons.

"I remember. I go in. Get in, snag the final diamond, get out. You just remember to pull me up, ok?" She replied as he watched her place the harness on her body.

How in the world did he wind up in this situation with the Catwoman's apprentice in the first place?

Ah, he remembered, he was visiting some strange ruin and found a beautiful diamond that seemed to glow with power beneath the light of the moon and he had happened to spot this thief eyeing the same treasure.

After confronting her about this little fact, she bared metal claws that sprang up from her gloves and that's when the battle began.

Their battle was very similar to his old mentor and her current one but during it, the two of them were caught by these strange warriors known as the Shi'ar led by a very intimidating woman known as Deathbird.

She immediately took them down, collared them with explosive collars and forced them to do her bidding…

And that was ten months ago.

The two thieves had become as thick as…thieves during that time and he honestly fell in love with her and she, to his shock, had returned his affection for her own.

It was too bad the two of them were trapped by these people which was a definite downside because now if either one of them failed any mission, the one they loved would be forced to watch the other die.

And neither wanted that.

The former apprentice of Batman falling in love with the apprentice of Catwoman...It was some sick rewind of time.

But he didn't mind this one bit.

"I'll remember," he said with a chuckle.

"Good because if you don't, we're both dead," Black Cat said before she sauntered in front of him and pulled his helmet off to reveal his face, which held an "X" shaped red domino mask.

"Cat, is this really the ti-" Red X began before her lips crashed against his in a hard kiss, which he instantly returned, his hands sliding to her hips but then she pulled away and took a step back with a coy grin on her face.

"For luck," she said before she turned around, opened the skylight window and hopped backwards into the building. The rope that the harness connected to began to be pulled into the window before it stopped with a snap.

She was at the mark.

Just this one last hit before the two of them were free.

"You know, I remember on my first date, I took my girl to a restaurant, the ice rink and things like that, not robbing the joint," a voice said from behind him.

Red X instantly turned around and held out his hand and several bolts in the shape of an "X" came shooting out from his palm but the figure flipped away from the bolts then jumped up into the air and shot out several...webs?

Red X leapt to the left to avoid the webbing before he leapt into the air and launched several "X" disks at the figure but the figure avoided them by twisting and bending his body in a way Red X could only he was dancing.

Red X dashed forward and threw a right fist then a left at the intruder but the figure moved left then right to avoid the fists before the intruder leaned back and kicked Red X in the chest, sending him staggering backwards towards the window but just as he stopped, he was kicked in the chest by both feet of the figure, which caused him to fall backwards into the center.

He recovered during the fall and pulled out a grappling gun and shot it towards the window and quickly zipped up out of the building and into the air where he pulled out dozens of "X" disks and launched them towards the figure.

He watched as the figure's big bright white eyes widen before he began to dash left and right while twisting and bending his body at a rapid pace, avoiding the rain of Xs but the figure couldn't avoid the Red X's right fist slamming into his jaw.

Red X landed on the ground but was instantly taken off his feet by getting his legs swept from under him but Red X rolled backwards back into his feet and dodged a right kick that was meant for his head with a back flip and when he landed, the two were at a stand-off.

"You are damn quick," Red X said as eyed the figure, who's mask eyes arched upwards, which made Red X realize that the figure was smiling beneath the mask.

"You are very quick as well. You nearly got me with the rain of metal," The figure responded with a good natured tone, which caught Red X off guard. Why was he so...friendly towards an enemy like this?

"But alas Red X, I must take you and your girlfriend in...Do you both mind coming peacefully because quite frankly, I don't want to have to beat you into submission," The figure said.

Red X chuckled and said "Not a chance hero. You're going to have to kill me to stop me. I will fight for our freedom..."

"So be it..." The figure said before he dashed forward, while Red X pulled out a red, metal sword and ran towards his opponent where the then leapt into the air, the figure's arm cocked back while Red X's blade was high in the air.

Rain: And that is the end of this chapter. So the first part of "Champion City Ending" Arc has begun and it's going to get even better so until the next chapter...

Mario: See you next time!