The Titans made their way to the danger zone at top speed. When they arrived, the flying heroes landed while the other two disembarked from the T-Car It wasn't hard to find Cinderblock's trail- the stony giant had cut a swath of destruction through the heart of Jump City. Cars had been thrown around the streets, street signs and traffic lights had been uprooted, and fist-shaped holes had been smashed into buildings. Thankfully, it didn't seem as though anyone had been hurt- apparently the area had been evacuated as soon as the monster's rampage began. Finally, they reached the monster's location. THe beast was currently inside the Jump City Stock Exchange, and sounds of destruction could be heard within. A small crowd of police had cordoned off the area, and awaited the Titans arrival.

"What is he doing?" Robin asked himself aloud "He's not taking anything, and his path seems to be random. If he has a specific target, why all this destruction? And if not, why act at all? What is the plan behind this?"

"Boyfriend Robin, I have a thought" Starfire said "We know that Cinderblock is always in someone else's employ, yes? And that his most recent master was the hateful Joker. Perhaps, without anyone to guide it, the beast is simply lashing out at random. Perhaps there IS no larger plan at work, merely a frustrated and powerful monster venting its anger."

"That fits the situation pretty well, Rob" Cyborg added "Ol' Rockhead has always been an attack dog- first Slade's, then the Joker's. And we all know what happens to guard dogs with no one giving them commands."

Robin considered the thought from all angles, like any true disciple of the Batman would. It seemed to hold up in the face of available evidence. "Maybe. If that is true, then he'll be easier to subdue- he'll be all aggression and no tactics. But everyone keep your eyes open for any nasty tricks, just in case. Beastboy, you stay here and make sure the police don't get involved- Cinderblock is too much for them to handle. TITANS! GO!"

Raven paused to briefly take her boyfriend's hand "Stay here, Gar. We'll be out soon." She said, before taking to the air and entering the building.

Beastboy had been a professional hero for the majority of his young life. As such, he wasn't familiar with waiting on the sidelines of a metahuman battle. It was much harder than he'd thought it would be- harder than actually fighting such a battle was. In battle, all you had to worry about was combat. All your thoughts were centered on your fight and your immediate surroundings. There was no time to worry about your friends, or about your own mental problems. Now, though, he had ample time to worry about both.

'Cinderblock is one tough nut, will they be all right without me? I'm sure they're fine…But, is this my future? Just another helpless bystander? How long have they been in there, anyway?' These were the thoughts that echoed within the changeling's mind. The police officer's had all heard rumors of what the green boy had been through and while no report had been made about his mental state, they were experienced police officers. They'd seen enough horror, even in relatively placid Jump City, to know that no one walked away from that kind of experience without some problems. They did their best to comfort him, and to keep his spirits up.

"How ya holding up there, Beastboy?"

"Hey Beastboy! I heard where the Joker tried to break you and couldn't do it! Guess he didn't know how tough folks around here are, huh?"

"They're gonna be all right, kid, don't you worry"

Beastboy smiled and nodded and made all the appropriate responses. And then went right back to worrying.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (but was only ten minutes) the four Titans emerged from the building. They were scuffed and tired, and Robin was holding his side as though it pained him, but they were all right. Raven walked up to hims and gave him an approving nod.

"Good. It seems I can trust you to listen to reason and stay out of danger"

He gave a smile "Rae if I cared at all about staying out of danger, I wouldn't have ever spoken to you or told you a single joke. Is that what you want?"

Raven snorted "Oh, I didn't mean it like that, Gar. Feel perfectly free to court danger that way- just be warned that it may be more dangerous than you know."

"Danger's my middle name, Rae. Well, no, actually it's Mark, but Danger sounds cooler."

Cyborg chuckled at the scene and called out "hey, if y'all are done flirting, can we get back to the Tower? Gar and I haven't played video games together in almost a month!"

Beastboy started and did some quick mental arithmatic "Holy Nintendo, Cyborg! You're right! Quick chum, to the Tower!" he cried, and took to the air. Cyborg raced to the T-Car, laughing hysterically.

Behind them, Robin ground his teeth. "I really wish they would stop making those damn jokes."


Beastboy was battered, bleeding, but not yet beaten. He'd seldom faced an opponent who could dish out pain the way this one could, yet he remained determined that he would prevail! "You're going down Rustbucket!"

"Phht! As if, green bean! Your health meter is almost empty, your supermove meter IS empty, and I'm about to deliver your knockout punch!"

The green teen smirked, one of his fangs peeking out from his lip. Tapping out a complex series of commands on his controller, he unleashed a devastating six0hit combo, which not only drained Cyborg's fighter almost to death, but left the pixelated pugilist dazed and unresponsive. Cyborg could only watch in horror as the changeling wound up to deliver the killing blow…

…only to be interrupted as the television went black. Raven stood beside the set, holding the power cord in one dainty hand. "Garfield, it's time for our meditation." She droned "Meet me on the roof in five minutes."

Beastboy sat with his mouth open, until he finally found his voice "RAE! I was just about to win!"

"And I'm about to lose my temper. You. Roof. Five minutes." His girlfriend said, as she walked away.

"Well, good match Kiwihead" Cyborg said, as he rose from the couch "of course, since I had a sliver more life left than you did, I win by default. The Champ retains his belt for another day, I guess."

Beastboy grumbled to himself as he went to his room to get ready.


It was another beautiful afternoon in Jump City, and the roof of Titan's Tower afforded a wonderful view. As he often did these days, Beastboy gave a small prayer of thanks for having survived to see it once more. Raven sat in the middle of the roof, surrounded by a large circle of multi-hued crystals of varying sizes. Beside her was a small, green hand mirror. She waved him over.

"Thank you for being so prompt, Garfield." She said as he sat down next to her "Today, I will teach you the basics of meditation but be warned: it's not as easy as it looks. Do you have anything to say before we get started?"

Beastboy sheepishly rubbed the back of his head "Just one thing, Rae. Do you think we could stay up here a while after we finish? I'd kinda like to enjoy the view with you…privately"

"Hmmm…Are you surreptitiously asking me for more displays of affection?"

"Er, yes?" the shapeshifter replied uncertainly. "Depending on what surreptitiously means"

"I see" Raven said, with a trace of humor in her voice "Well, I may be able to indulge you this time, but don't count on it occurring every day. I don't want to spoil you, after all."

Grinning broadly, the changeling sat down beside the empath.

"the first thing to do" she said, assuming the lotus position "is to clear your mind of thought. There are many ways to do this- I personally focus on my chant to the exclusion of everything else. But you can use any phrase or word that you wish. The important part is that you focus on it totally."

"Would a song be all right? There's one I know that means a lot to me"

"Yes, providing it's not too complicated. Now, I don't expect you to manage success the first time- it takes a good deal of practice before one can attain the right state of mind. Just do your best. I will open my mind, so that I can monitor your progress."

Raven closed her eyes, and a moment later they shot open again as her face went bright red. With a great deal of effort, she managed to keep all emotion from her voice as she said "Garfield, I told you to clear your mind not cast it into the gutter"

Beastboy blushed and shrugged "Sorry, Rae, but I'm a teenaged boy alone on the roof with a gorgeous young girl. Some thoughts are hard to avoid, y'know?"

Slightly mollified the empath resumed her meditative stance "Yes, well, see that you avoid them in future when my mind is open."

Beastboy closed his eyes, and began to softly sing. Raven had expected him to choose a pop song, or something of that sort. Instead, he was singing well in a language she didn't recognize. After making a mental note to ask him about it later, she opened her mind. Beastboy's mind was more placid than normal, but still not truly quiet. After a half an hour she tapped him on the shoulder.

He opened his eyes and looked at her sadly "I tried my best, Rae, but I couldn't keep my mind free of thoughts. I'm sorry"

Raven gave him a small smile. It was as beautiful as all the others he'd ever gotten from her, and Beastboy became even more determined to one day get a full fledged smile from her. "I told you Gar" she said quietly "I didn't expect you to manage it your first time. It takes practice to reach a true meditative state, and for a first timer you did very well. Tell me, what was it you were singing? It was beautiful, but I didn't recognize the language"

Beastboy shook his head "It would surprise me if you did, Rae. It's an dialect of Swahili that I picked up in Africa. The song was one my mom used to sing to me at bed time. It's all about how a little boy is safe in his bed, but having fantastic adventures in the world of dreams"

"That sounds like a nice lullaby." Raven said, knowing that Beastboy was often sensitive about his birthparents.

"It was" he said sadly, and changed the subject. "Now, I believe a display of affection was mentioned earlier?"

Meditation was quickly forgotten, needless to say, in favor of more earthly concerns.