Alright, Before I begin this chapter, I would very much like to address a small matter. I have noticed that many have been asking me if I will incorporate a romance in this story. Well. I am here to tell you that the answer is yes. But that will only come later on in the story. However, for the fun of it, I have put in a really big teaser in this chapter on who Raven will be paired with. So enjoy!
Chapter 11: How Long is Forever
The Chinese military genius Sun Tzu once said "Know your enemy and know yourself, and in a 100 battles you will never be in peril". Well, Raven knew that in close quarters, her strength lied with a sword, while her enemies' lied in hand-to-hand.
To gain the edge, she needed a sword. Problem was, that boneheaded bird boy broke her beloved broadsword last time they battled. It would have been fairly easy to acquire a replacement for herself, but she was not too keen on just grabbing a new sword.
If there was one thing Raven liked to do, it was upgrade her arsenal when flaws in her old one became apparent. And Robin had already demonstrated that a regular sword was just not good enough in the long run against him and his team. She therefore needed a better sword, one that did not break so easily.
But that took some serious digging on her part. Hacking databases, raiding storages, visiting the black market, bribing the mob. She did all of this and more. Some might say that she was taking the task way too seriously, but Raven preferred to see it as being strongly motivated.
And it had paid off in the end. After weeks of searching, she had finally found something that might suit her needs. It was an old relic, dating back hundreds of years, but the data on it indicated that it was a sword that had seen service for generations.
Perfect for her.
With her goal set up, Raven had already armed up for an excursion into Jump City. If she was fast enough, maybe she could avoid a full out brawl with the Teen Titans. Not that she planned to back down if the situation occurred. Raven was just about to exit the base when her current one eyed employer stopped her.
"Where are you going?" Slade asked without ever even turning around, keeping his eyes locked on the numerous screens he was standing in front of. Behind his back, Raven glanced at him.
"Personal business in the city." Raven answered back neutrally, but was already tensing up. She may be in Slade's employment, but that did not mean that he could control every aspect of her life. And she was more than willing to use her fists and guns to remind him of that if push came to shove.
When it truly came down to it, there was only one person in existence that Raven truly served. And that was herself.
"Very well. Don't take too long." Was all he said on the matter. No further words came from Raven, who had already slipped out. Only then did Slade turn around to cast a quick glance at where the exit lay before, with a disappointed sigh, he turned back to the screens.
She had such potential in her. Her fighting skills were easily on par with Robin, as long as she had a weapon in hand. She never shied away from spilling blood to complete her assignment, nor did she baulk from using underhanded tactics to win. But what she truly had that trumped Robin was her lack of emotional ties to others. She relied on no one but herself.
With Robin far out of his grasps, Slade had once again cast his eye out in search of a new apprentice. It came as no small surprise that his eye quickly landed on Raven. Seeing her in action, subtly testing skills with his missions, Slade was certain that she was a perfect candidate. Better yet, she was already playing for his team.
Another disappointed sight slipped out from Slade. But once again he had been denied. As Slade had approached Raven with his proposal a few weeks ago, she had showed absolutely no interest in accepting it. Raven had made it clear that she was merely is employee, and that was how it was going to stay.
She had said that she was only here for the money, but Slade had easily seen through that. He had always been a master of deducing someone's motives. And her's were as clear as daylight. She had absolutely no interest in the money, they were nothing more than an excuse for her. No, what she truly craved was freedom.
She wanted to be free from the world. Free to go where she chose. Free to live as she pleased. Rules and laws were merely obstructions to her, and she was determined to not allow them to stop her. Slade could admire her for that. Sadly, that also meant that she was adamantly against subjecting fully to his will.
And this time, there was no obvious weakness present that Slade could use to force her under his wing. Here, he was forced to play the long-term game. He kept her around, paid her to do his dirty work, supplied her with all the weapons she desired, developed new tech for her to use and discreetly helped her training. He was, in a way, bribing her into slowly becoming his apprentice.
But in the end, it was worth it in his eye. Even should she never fully join him, it would still be worth the investment as she would always provide reliable assistance and professional skill. But until it was clear whether she really was beyond his reach or not, Slade would keep looking for another apprentice. It never pained to be prepared.
In the end, whether Raven became his apprentice or not, she would still prove to be of utmost usefulness to the one-eyed madman.
The sun was barely peeking over the horizon as the new day began, and already trouble was brewing. This time, it was at Jump City museum. It was still closed and would not open up until later during the day. But that certainly did not stop a wormhole from being opened right in front of an exhibit; a strange clock device.
And out from the portal stepped a middle-aged man with a beard and goatee and wearing a golden and highly futuristic-looking suit of armor. Though you had to admit, his entrance was anything but subtle here.
"Hey, stop!" and discretion was obviously not ranked highly on his skill set, as he had barely been in the building for about a second or two before he was discovered by two guards.
"Stop yourselves." The thief countered as he waved his hand at them. The poor guards had never even the chance to blink before they were both incased in a block of ice each. Guess this was why he never bothered with stealth.
"I didn't journey back in time one hundred years to squabble, I came to steal." The time-travelling thief stated as he turned back towards his prize, a greedy gleam in his eyes.
"The Clock of Eternity." Catchy name for a mere clock. "Valuable in the past, priceless in the future." This looked to be a rewarding day for him.
"Okay, they seriously need to turn the AC down around here if this happens on a daily basis." A female voice suddenly remarked from behind the thief. Spinning around in surprise, he found Raven standing next to the frozen guards while idly poking one of them. The moment his eyes landed on her, his posture relaxed and he straightened up again.
"Ah, you must be the mercenary known as Raven. I've read a lot about you in historical archives. I'm Warp, I'm a big fan of your work." He commented casually. Raven raised an unseen eyebrow under her hood.
"Time traveler?" she asked rhetorically while her eyes took in his equipment. Yep, definitively too advanced for this age. Not that it mattered to her, what he was doing here was none of her business.
"Well, you obviously have business to take care of, and I have mine. So why don't we just go our separate ways and avoid a brawl here?" she questioned jovially, even as her right hand slowly crept towards her holstered gun. Warp remained oblivious to that.
"What you seek is right over there." He stated while jerking his thumb towards a nearby exhibit. Turning to where he was pointing, Raven saw her prize. Dismissing her suspicion on how he knew what she was after (Helloooo! Time traveler in the house? To him, her theft had already happened), she strode up to it.
The object which she had come to claim was a broadsword. Its blade was made of black steel that swallowed every shred of light that tried to touch it. The crossguard on it was shaped like a pair of golden eagle wings spreading out as if in preparation for the majestic bird's leap into the air. A blood red ruby was etched into the middle of the crossguard, glowing radiantly as the light reflected on it.
"The Sword of Damnation. Forged by pagan cults during the 14:th century as a way of combatting the Holy Inquisition. Legend has it that the blade was made from a rock that fell from the heavens and was cooled in the blood of daemons." Raven explained mostly to herself as she ran a hand over the piece of glass separating her from the blade. "How fitting then that I should own it."
But before either one of them could claim the object that brought them here, a birdarang impacted against the ground between the two thieves. A warning shot. And the one who fired it was about to reveal himself.
"Sorry, but these items are not up for sale. Try the souvenir shop at the entrance." Robin stated as he and his team stared down on the two of them from the floor above. But they were met by a pair of smug grins from below.
"The Teen Titans. This is a treat. I've read all about you as well in historical archives." As the time traveling thief kept talking, two laser guns sprang up from his shoulder pads. "And now you're all history!"
Without further Avado, the futuristic guy opened fire on the five heroes.
"Titans, go!" Robin shouted as the Titans scattered out of the way of the twin blasts of energy that obliterated their earlier spot. But as the battle commenced, Robin quickly lost interest in Warp. His eyes were upon Raven, who was using the distraction caused by Warp to retrieve the sword.
She had just removed the glass case when Robin came down with a kick into her side, knocking her away. Robin was about to press on, but Raven drew a Desert Eagle and fired on him. He was forced to take cover.
But the moment she stopped firing, Robin sprinted towards her, knocked the gun out of her hand and aimed a roundhouse kick at her head. She caught the attack and threw him over her right into another glass case. He was instantly back on his feet and rushing at her again.
"Well, well, well. Aren't we eager here?" Raven commented tauntingly as she ducked under a fist, then sidestepped a kick, before countering with an elbow to his chest. "Did you really miss me that much?"
His way of answering was with a spinning kick that Raven back flipped to avoid. The moment her feet made contact with the floor again, she had already primed a grenade and threw it at Robin. He barely got out of the way by leaping forward, but was caught unprepared by a fist from Raven into his guts, knocking the wind out of him.
But he grasped her arm and preformed a judo throw on her, smashing her into the floor. Before she could recover, Robin straddled her and pinned her to the floor. But instead of becoming angry, like most villains would, she just smiled that damn seductive smirk of hers.
"Got tired of foreplay, did you? You should have just asked." She purred as she leaned closer towards his face. "Not that I mind, I like boys who are straightforward with their needs."
It had the desired effect on Robin. His face flushed a deep shade of crimson and he temporarily lost his focus. That was all the time Raven needed as she wrapped her legs around his waist and slammed him into the ground. Raven was instantly on her feet again, a taunting smirk on her lips.
"Never underestimate the power of a female." She stated smugly. Robin merely gritted his teeth and flipped back up on his feet and rushed at her again. He kicked, he punched, he tried sweeping her legs under her, he punched again, de dodged a counterattack, he leaped back to throw an explosive disc.
Raven dodged and threw a trio of shurikens at him. He deflected them before ducking under a fist and then leaping clear of a kick. He stepped forward and thrust a knee into her before knocking her back with a well-aimed punch to her face.
"That felt most satisfying." He commented quietly to himself. But Raven was not down for the count just yet as she flipped back on her feet with her second Desert Eagle drawn. Three rapid shots impacted against his chest, thankfully the Kevlar held. Though it still hurt like a bitch and distracted him long enough for Raven to close the distance and ram both her fists into him.
But he ignored the pain and tried to sweep her legs from underneath her. She jumped over the attack, but was unprepared for the haymaker that followed and was knocked flat on her back.
"Damn, I really wish I had a sword right about now." She grumbled painfully from where she lay. With the threat neutralized, Robin turned his attention back to Warp. Just in time to see the time traveling villain opening up a wormhole for himself.
"Ta ta, Titans. I have enjoyed our time together, but I got a very bright future ahead of me." He taunted just before he was about to step through the wormhole. But Starfire was not about to let him go that easily and with a furious shout, she flew right at him. Both of them went tumbling into the wormhole as a result.
Robin tried to desperately leap after his friend, but he was too slow and the wormhole closed up before he could reach it. He and the other Titans were left to stare in horror at the spot previously occupied by the portal.
"Starfire!" Robin called out in horror, as if he expected her to hear him. But it was too little, too late. Starfire was gone.
Or so they thought at least. As in reality, Starfire was tumbling through space and time, locked in a wrestling match with Warp. Year after year they passed in the span of a few seconds, yet neither was paying that much attention to that. They were both preoccupied with each other.
"Let go!" Warp protested angrily as he tried to shove Starfire away from him. But she stubbornly held on.
"You have endangered my friends and ruined Glorfag!" Starfire proclaimed furiously. Warp looked temporarily confused by the last tidbit of information, but it soon turned to panic when Starfire's struggles grew.
"Stop! If you damage the suit before we reach my future… NO!" was about all the warning he had time to get out before Starfire managed to tear off a disc that was implanted in his chestplate.
There was a blinding flash of light after that, and the next thing Starfire knew she was freefalling from the sky. Her sudden descent came to a cold stop when she plunged headfirst into a pile of snow. Shivering from the unexpected cold, Starfire peered around at her surroundings.
"What just happened? Why is it cold? And where are my…" the last question died on her lips when her eyes landed on the dark and worn down Titans Tower she had landed outside of. "… Friends?"
Stepping inside what used to be her home, Starfire found the place was a wreck. Parts of the roof were missing, creating holes that spanned entire floors. Junk and debris lay scattered everywhere. The place looked as if it had been abandoned for years.
"Friends? Hello?" she called out, hoping someone would answer her. No answer came. Finally, she reached what used to be the living room. The doors would not open to her, so she was forced to pry them open with her strength. She slowly walked inside, her eyes taking in the wreckage that used to be a living room.
Something suddenly hit her boot and a jiggling noise accompanied it. Peering down, Starfire found the pearls she had dropped to the floor earlier, when she had tried to celebrate Glorfag. With sad and confused eyes, she picked one of them up from the floor, only to see it crumble into dust in her hands. The ravages of time having been too much for it.
But a red light, almost like an eye, suddenly sprang to life behind her. Starfire spun around with a startled gasp, but somewhat calmed down when she saw it.
"Cyborg?" she questioned hopefully as she approached while activating a starbolt for light. "Oh, Cyborg. Thank goodness you are…"
That was when she discovered that it was not her mechanical friend, but what looked more like some kind of mechanical spider. Starfire's first reaction was to yelp in fright, right before she blasted the thing apart with her starbolt. But more of the same infernal devices began popping up all around her.
In desperate fright, she fired off starbolt after starbolt, obliterating the machines one after the other. But it seemed someone was still living in the tower, and said person had just noticed that he had uninvited guests.
"Yo!" a very familiar voice shouted angrily from the doorway, right before Cyborg came charging in while brandishing a steel pipe as a club. "Who's up here blasting my…"
Whatever else he had planned to say, it got burned right out of his systems when he caught sight of who it was that had broken in. "Star?"
Starfire was equally shocked by the appearance of her friend. He looked so… old. His robotic parts were no longer as shiny and polished, now they looked worn, beaten and cracked. His whole body looked like it might collapse together any second now. Definitively not how she remembered him from just a few moments ago back at the museum.
"Starfire. I don't believe it. You… you haven't aged a day." He said in obvious disbelief as he stepped closer towards her. Starfire gently laid her hands on his cheeks.
"Cyborg, what has happened? Why are you…" she began but found herself hesitating from uttering the last bit.
"… Old?" Cyborg finished for her knowingly. Despite himself, he could not stop a sad smile from spreading across his face. It quickly vanished though again.
"Well, that's what happens to folks when you go away for 20 years." He revealed grimly as he walked past her towards the window. Starfire was left smacked senseless by the revelation.
"20 years?!" she burst out in shock. Had she been gone for that long?
"You disappeared, Star. That battle with Warp, that was a long time ago. You fell through a wormhole." Cyborg explained tiredly as he tried to clean some of the mess up before he just gave up and stared out at the city. "Welcome to the future."
"The future? But…" she brought out the piece of Warp's suit she had managed to tear off in their little battle. "… I damaged his technology."
Cyborg was quick to pick it up and inspect it in wonder. "Warp was planning on jumping ahead 100 years, right? Looks like you stopped him at 20." He handed it back to Starfire.
"Still, I am confused. Please, why are you in disrepair?" Starfire asked in concern, truly pained to see her once proud friend reduced to such a state. Cyborg looked just as pained when the question was brought up.
"Let's just say things haven't gone so well since you left." He said as he turned around and walked absentmindedly towards the windows again.
"But what of the other Titans? Where are our friends?" Starfire asked. At least that had to be good news. At least she hoped that. Sadly, she was about to be disappointed.
"The Titans… are history, Star. Your friends… aren't friends anymore." Cyborg revealed with a heavy heart. None of the Titans had ever liked to be the bearer of bad news to Starfire, the most naïve of them all.
"No. you are wrong. This… everything is wrong! How could such terrible things…" that was when a thought seemed to strike Starfire as she suddenly began glaring at the piece of tech stolen from Warp that she was still clutching in her hand. "Warp. His interference in the past must have changed our future."
A logical conclusion, in its own way. But Cyborg was not that confident concerning the accuracy of that statement.
"Star, I don't think…"
"He caused all this badness to happen! He made this technology, and he is the one who can make things right!" Starfire rudely interrupted with her idea on how to fix this. She quickly flew up to Cyborg.
"We must find Warp. You will help me?" she practically pleaded with him. A deep look of sadness instantly appeared on his face.
"I wish I could, but my last power cell burned out years ago." He explained while staring at a piece of machinery that he was connected to via a multitude of cables. "I've tried adapting this new stuff to my old circuits but… I can't leave the tower, Star. I'm obsolete."
He was silent for a while after that, and Starfire found no suitable words to utter at this hour.
"Maybe one of the others can help. I can tell you how to find BB and Argent." Cyborg suddenly offered, trying to offer some assistance at least.
"And Robin?"
"We lost touch a long time ago. If you're looking for him, you're on your own."
(Alright, since we have all seen what happens when Starfire meets the other Titans, except for Argent since she was not a part of the real episode, and since I am eager to get to the really juicy bits, I will just skip ahead here.)
This was not happening, this could not be real. Her friends, her strong friends, had all been reduced to mere shadows of their former selves. It was truly shocking, and sorrowful, to see them all brought so low with the passage of time.
So occupied was she by her thoughts as she walked down the street, that she barely got out of the way from a pair of laser blasts aimed at her. And who fired them exactly? Warp. And he was really pissed now.
"What's the matter, dear? Have I come at a bad time?" he asked mockingly as his shoulder mounted blasters opened fire again. Not liking the idea of just sitting in the open like a target, Starfire took to the air in pursuit of her opponent. She tried blasting him with her starbolts, but they just bounced harmlessly off his personal shielding.
Growing tired of this pointless battle, Warp just waved his hand at Starfire, encasing her in a block of ice. With her power of flight gone, the poor girl plummeted back towards the ground. Her ice prison shattered when it made contact with the ground, and Starfire was left barely conscious in a small crater.
She shakily got on her knees, groaning in pain, while Warp approached her confidently. In his view, he had already won the fight, the girl was just too stubborn to see it. Starfire's eyes began to glow green as she made ready to continue the fight, but it was only then she caught sight of a vast change in her adversary.
"You have also become old." She commented. And it was true. Warp, the once young and strong man, now looked like a fifty year old man. Apparently pointing the fact out to him was not something he appreciated as his face scrunched up in anger.
"That's what happens when someone steals my vortex regulator." He stated as he held out his hand. "The regulator, if you please? I really must get back to my future."
His attempts a politeness was meet with a furious expression from Starfire as she held up the regulator with a starbolt powered up and ready to turn the device into dust.
"If you ever wish to see your future, you will repair the damage done to my past!" the demand was supposed to put fear and compliance into Warp, not certainly the confusion and amusement he currently had.
"Damage? Silly girl. There's nothing wrong with you past. One cannot damage history, because history cannot be changed." He revealed to a shell-shocked Starfire, probably enjoying it as well.
He held the Clock of Eternity up in plain sight as he continued. "I went back in time to steal this, because history says it disappeared. And history says it disappeared, because I went back to steal it. Past, present, future. It's all written in stone, my dear."
The news devastated Starfire. This future, where her friends were broken and divided, was impossible to change. It would come to pass, no matter what she did. The fighting spirit went out of her and she lowered her attack, allowing Warp to retrieve his piece of technology.
"And nothing you do can ever change it." He added as he aimed a wrist mounted blaster at her. A dark shape suddenly tackled him away from Starfire and threw him into a nearby alley. Warp impacted heavily against the wall and fell painfully to his knees. That had to be a real killer for a man his age.
The dark shape suddenly whipped out a trio of discs and threw them at Warp. The projectiles exploded on impact, bathing the time traveler in flames. The dark shape was already leaping to attack again when the flames dissipated, revealing an unharmed Warp behind his shield.
Seeing the imminent danger, Warp leaped to the side before rolling up to his knees with his wrist mounted blaster aimed at his attacker.
"No more heroes interfering in my affairs!" he snarled out. He never got a chance to fire before a shuriken came flying in from nowhere and sliced off his weapon. Before long, a blue cloaked individual carrying a very familiar broadsword landed on the snow covered ground with a soft thud.
"Then how about a mercenary, grandpa?" a feminine, and highly familiar voice asked from beneath the hood.
Warp was never given a chance to respond as the cloaked woman leaped at him, delivering a devastating barrage of kicks to his chest and stomach. Warp's shoulder mounted blasters unfolded yet again, but he was never given a chance to fire before the woman vanished from sight.
"What?!" he burst out in surprise, right before he felt a fist smash his face, at least he thought it was a fist. A blow to the stomach followed, then one to his back, then one to his left knee, then one to his right side and finally an uppercut to his chin that sent him flying into a wall… again.
With a weak groan, Warp staggered back to his feet, just as his assailant reappeared in front of him again, this time holding her broadsword in her hands and pointing it right at him. Now that Starfire got a better look at it from the sidelines, she recognized it. It was the same sword Raven had been after twenty years ago.
But did that mean that…
"What's the matter? Getting too old for this, old man?" the woman taunted, and all three that were present were sure beyond any doubt that she was smiling underneath that hood of hers.
"Another time, then." Warp grumbled out as he sunk into the ground, fleeing with his tail between his legs. With the imminent threat dealt with, the first figure that had shown up turned towards Starfire.
"It's good to see you again." that voice, it was unmistakable to Starfire. She could have recognized it anywhere, even if it sounded older than she remembered.
"Robin?" she questioned hopefully.
"I haven't used that name in a long time. Call me…" he began as finally stepped into the light, revealing long outgrown hair and black bodysuit with a blue bird emblazoned on its front. "… Nightwing."
Starfire stared in awe at her friend. He looked so much stronger than he ever did twenty years ago. It was unbelievable how he could have changed so much during that time.
"So it really is true, then. The prodigal son, or should I say daughter, has returned." The cloaked woman from before stated humorlessly as she approached them, having sheathed her sword along the way. Besides Starfire, Nightwing gave threatening growl from his throat.
"What the hell are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be off causing chaos somewhere?" he questioned. The woman merely laughed mockingly at him, completely unmoved by his hostility.
"Why, didn't know you cared so much, bird boy?" she countered playfully. Nightwing scowled.
"I thought I'd told you to stop calling me that! I'm over 30 years old, for crying out loud!" he burst out, eliciting more laughs from the so far unidentified woman.
"You could be over 60 for all I cared, I'll still remember you as that uptight little bird boy who could never keep a straight face from my teasing." She countered humorlessly. It was obvious she was enjoying this. The two continued trading jabs and insults with one another.
Starfire meanwhile was observing the whole scene in confusion. Who was this woman? It was obvious she had some form of connection with Nightwing, and there was something awfully familiar about her.
"Excuse me?" she finally interrupted the bickering par, causing both pair of eyes to be directed at her. "You seem to be very familiar with friend Nightwing, but who are you?"
The woman stared at her at first before a wide grin split her face underneath her hood. "You mean you don't recognize me? And after all those times I kicked your leader's butt."
As she said that, she lifted a hand and drew back her hood, to expose the face of the one person Starfire definitively had not expected to see.
"Raven?!" she burst out in surprise. It most certainly was her, even if she had undergone some changes. Her violet hair had grown way past her shoulders, and her face had become more angular and matured.
Now that Starfire also could get a better look at her attire, she found that Raven had ditched her old leotard and was now wearing a long sleeveless dress (same as in the comics). Knee high combat boots still adorned her feet and leather gloves that reached to her elbows were worn on her hands. Thick stockings covered up the upper parts of her legs while her cloak covered the exposed parts of her arms.
She was however still wearing the same belt with a pair of unknown sidearms holstered there. At the sight of Starfire's wide eyed expression, Raven burst out laughing.
"Oh man! You should… you should see the look on your face!" she managed to squeeze out between gales of laughter that finally forced her to bend over from exertion. At this, Starfire could not help but feel annoyance wash over her. Twenty years had passed, and Raven was still as infuriating as before.
Nightwing suddenly took a step forward, but was immediately forced to leap back to avoid a trio of x shaped shurikens that impaled the ground. Without warning, a nimble figure leaped down from the roof and landed in front of Raven.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Nightwing." A synthesized voice announced from the diminutive figure, and Starfire even rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing right.
"Red X?" she asked in shock. The figure certainly reminded her off Robin's criminal alter ego, but there were differences. This version had no cape for example, and the top of the mask was removed to allow a really dark shade of messy violet hair to spill out. Apart from those, and the height, this could very well have been him.
"The name's Kid X, lady!" the young boy corrected grumpily as he crossed his arms over his chest. Raven walked up next to the kid and chuckled lightly.
"Now, now. No need to be so rude, sweetie." She said playfully as she ruffled his hair, to his apparent great displeasure.
"Mom!" he whined loudly as he tried to swat her hand away, with no luck whatsoever. Raven just smiled fondly at him as she removed her hand. Starfire was staring wide eyed at Raven before shifting her eyes to Kid X and then back at Raven.
"Raven, is that child…?" she asked hesitantly. Raven's way of answering the unfinished question was by giving a conspiratorial grin.
"I would love to stay and chat some more, I've got some quality time with my family to catch up with." She said and before either Nightwing or Starfire could stop her, she pressed a button on her belt and vanished from sight along with the kid.
"I hate that woman." Nightwing grumbled under his breath.
(And again, since I am in a bit of a hurry here, I will skip ahead here as well.)
There had been a hectic time after their last encounter with Raven. Returning to Nightwing's base, sending a distress signal to all the Titans, tracking down Warp's sorry ass to Metro Art Technologies (conveniently located were the museum where it all started used to lay).
What had followed after that was a sound trashing of Warp, as each Titan had popped in along the way to give their own beating of the villain. Probably as a form of payback from twenty years ago.
In the end, Warp realized that he was hopelessly outmatched here and that it was time for a retreat. Luckily, his suit was now operational again and he could escape back to his own time. A wormhole sprang into life ahead of him and he made ready to step through. But in true supervillain style, he just had to have the last word.
"It seems my time has come!" he shouted back at the Titans. But Nightwing was not about to let him get away and threw a birdarang (at least I think that he calls these new versions that) right at him.
Warp threw his own flying disc in response, but it was sadly cut right in two by Nightwing's weapon. It flew straight and true and impacted against Warp's regulator, causing the whole thing to go haywire. Electricity sparked around Warp's form and he began shrinking.
No, not shrinking. De-aging, if such a word even existed. With each second, he just grew younger and younger, to his amounting horror if his panic filled shouts were anything to go by. Finally, there was apparently nothing left but an empty suit.
The team cautiously approached it and Beast Boy (Beast Man?) lifted up the chestplate, to expose the crying baby underneath. From grown man to toddler, how humiliating was that?
"Okay, I'm not changing any diapers." Beast Boy was quick to state in advance, lest he ended up with such a disgusting task. But they quickly lost interest in the toddler when they noticed the wormhole was growing smaller.
"Gotta get you home, come on." Cyborg said to Starfire as he stepped forward and picked up Warp's regulator. He connected it to his sonic cannon before he fired at the wormhole, forcing it open again.
"I'm redirecting the wormhole. Starfire, go!" he shouted to her. Starfire meanwhile turned her gaze to Nightwing, looking dejected, before slowly approaching the wormhole. She suddenly stopped and turned back towards her team.
"Please, must this really be our future?" she asked in sadness. She truly wished it could be changed, but how could she do it when she did not even know what went wrong in the first place? "Is there nothing I can do to change it?" she even sounded a bit desperate on that last part.
Nightwing suddenly walked up to her, staring deeply into her eyes. Starfire found herself captivated by him and just stood as still as a statue, staring back at him with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry, Star. There isn't time." He simply said before he placed the Clock of Eternity in her hands. With nothing else to say between them, Starfire stepped through the wormhole with a sad smile on her lips.
Back to present time, we find Warp right in the midst of stepping through his little wormhole.
"Ta ta, Titans. I have enjoyed our time together, but I got a very bright future ahead of me." He taunted just before he was about to step through the portal. But Starfire was not about to let him go that easily and with a furious shout, she flew right at him. Both of them went tumbling into the portal as a result.
Robin tried to desperately leap after his friend, but he was too slow and the wormhole closed up before he could reach it. He and the other Titans were left to stare in horror at the spot previously occupied by the portal.
"Starfire!" Robin called out in horror.
"Umm… where did she…" Beast Boy began asking, but was interrupted when a blue light suddenly began shining behind him and Cyborg. And when they turned around, they found the same wormhole Warp had created earlier. And out of it came Starfire. The team quickly gathered around her in shock.
"Star, what happened?" Robin asked as he stepped forward.
"History said it disappeared, but history was wrong." Starfire answered. The Titans merely looked at her in even greater amount of confusion, none of them getting what she was talking about.
"Uhhh… guys? I think we missed something important here." Argent suddenly stated. When the team looked to her for clarification, she pointed to where Raven laid. Or rather where she used to lie. Moreover, the sword she had been after, it was gone as well.
It seemed like Raven had taken the Titans' moment of distraction to slip away with her prize. No doubt she was already miles away by now.
"Aw man! She got away… AGAIN!" Cyborg burst out in irritation. Robin let out a groan from the discovery.
"I hate that girl." He grumbled under his breath.