When bad things happen, I tend to retreat back inside my head.

My body doesn't hide or leave, but my thoughts move from the here and now.

We fought against a god, and we beat him.

But, did we really win?

I was dead for a minute there, Chamie's forgetfulness saved the day this time.

In three places at once, and the Tower was still destroyed.

Who am I trying to fool anyway?

No amount of training could give me the strength to win, not by myself.

Zenaku absorbed our attacker. His purpose still alludes me.

But why... Why didn't Zenaku simply end us right there.

Why wait, with the power he commands?

I still feel the echoes of the pain inflicted on me by Darkseid's Omega beams. My whole body felt it, I was able to snatch myself up, but my second body was so close to death, I should have been just that.

Even after I put two bodies together, I could still feel all the pain.

I reabsorbed my third self afterwards, the pain lessens but I still feel weak.

We stopped them though right? We defended the city.

But me... will I forgive myself if any of these remarkable people I swore to help die?

No I can't focus on that, I need to get out of my head.

I need to breathe...

Chapter 28: Rest Arc: What Price for Tomorrow?

"Regal, Yuan, and Stacy are resting. Mewtwo refuses to leave her side at the hospital. She sustained heavy injury but her ring healed most of it." Tyler stands in the sky beside Supergirl, fighting hard to stay calm. He looks down at the ruins of the tower. "Starfire, Sanji, Terra, Nico Robin, Guy-Sensei, and Spiderman Noir are in critical condition. Cyborg's body was severely damaged, Skywalker and Spider-man are at STAR Labs, trying to aid in repairing him. Fortunately as of twenty-four hours ago we have confirmation that all our other friends are alive and assisting with rebuilding the city. With only one exception."

"An exception?" Supergirl wonders.

"Chamie is still missing." Tyler answers. Supergirl didn't need super-sight to see that the boy was in pain. She just couldn't tell if it was emotional, physical, or some combination of the two.

"We'll find her, and I'm sure everyone will be all right." Supergirl reassure's him.

"We saved the city, we lost the tower, and I almost got everyone killed. Again."

"Almost getting killed is something you have to get used to if you want in the hero game." Senshisuru muses, speaking to both Tyler and Supergirl.

"A hero, huh, putting people in danger isn't what a hero does."

"We're heroes, and we choose to put ourselves out there." Supergirl says,

"But-"

"You heard her, enough negativity from you! Stop it now!" Senshisuru snaps at Tyler, cutting him off.

"Right, gotta get out of my head. Need to do what I can." Tyler punches his left palm. "In fact, I might just have an Idea..."

San Francisco Memorial Hospital

"Sir you can't go in there, patients are resting." A nurse says to Tyler, who hides behind a pair of sunglasses.

"I'll only be a minute." Tyler responds, walking through a door into a patient ward.

"Civilians are not allowed in here." a Science-Police officer moves into Tyler's way.

"If I see any, I'll be sure to point them out." Tyler steps past the officer, only for the man to raise his gun.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"*sigh*, I knew I should have made a uniform." Tyler removes the sunglasses, keeping his eyes closed, he reaches into his pocket, pulling out his Titan communicator. "Honorary Titan, coming through." He said with just a touch of sarcasm. "Satisfied?"

"Fine."

Within a few minutes, Tyler is in the room holding Starfire, Terra, and Nico Robin.

"What are you doing here Tyler?" a young man in his own sunglasses and black hair that was kept neat says in a dark tone, whom Tyler picked out as;

"Nice to see you too Richard." Tyler answers Richard Grayson, AKA Nightwing. "Have you seen Chopper around? I might need the awesome Doctor/monster's help in a few minutes."

"I'm not going to attack you here if that's what you mean."

"But if we were anywhere else you would hit me?" Tyler turns to Richard, "You blame me for this," he adds, motioning to the unconscious girls.

"Yes." He answers, his hand reaching no doubt for his concealed utility belt.

"That is... understandable." Tyler answers. "Albeit misdirected."

"Whats he doing here?" Tyler turns around to see both Beast Boy and Doctor Chopper,
"Your here to see Robin right?" Chopper interjects for Tyler.

"I'm here to do the unthinkable." energy forms in Tyler's hand.

"What?" All three are quickly in a fighting stance.

"Spell of Dark and Light healing, Sacrificial Healing art, Pain of Darkness." Tyler holds the energy in front of himself, before cringing with pain as the energy turns black and shoots into himself, before a new white energy shoots from his right hand, "Healing light."

The light flows into the three girls, and darkness shoots from them back into Tyler, who falls to one knee. "I will pay any price, for my friends." the light and darkness continues to flow before the spell finishes. The lights in the hospital room dim and shut off. Turning the room dark, save for the open windows.

"What the hell was that!" Chopper's voice is the first to rise as the lights flip back on. Only to find that Tyler is gone. Quickly checking the girl's vitals, Chopper turns to Richard. "Their vitals are improving quickly. But where is Tyler?"

"After him?" Beast Boy asks.

"That idiot." Supergirl's voice is heard from down the hall. "I have super-speed and flight and he still beat me here."

"No," Richard replies to Beast Boy, putting away a black energy disk. "I don't think we could catch him anyway."

"Was Tyler here?" Supergirl asks Richard, BB, and Chopper.

"Yes" The three answer in unison.

"Can't be too far... where are they keeping the others?"

A flash of light came from the next room, and the four quickly scrambled to it. To her chagrin Supergirl was again the last to get inside.

To the shock of those present. Peter Parker was already getting into his black leather vest, Sanji was tightening his tie and Might Guy of the hidden leaf was doing push ups.

"Wow, best nap ever!" Guy roars, his creepy(ish) smile shining through the dimly lit room.

"I feel great too, Chopper, you should ask what kind of medicine they use here." Sanji stretches himself out as he removes his IV. The Straw hat's Doctor simply had his jaw hanging open.

"Did any of you see where Tyler was going?" Supergirl asks before 1930s Spiderman could speak.

"He said something about a laboratory on the other side of town." Noir Spidey informs her,

"Well then, if your ready, shall we follow him?" Nico Robin inquires of the group. Starfire and Terra behind her.

Outside STAR Labs in Downtown San Francisco

"hmm... how to get in without tripping any alarms or having to explain myself later..."

"Perhaps I can help you." Anakin Skywalker says to Tyler, who swiftly turns around to look the man in the eye.

"Actually it was you I wanted to see." Tyler announces, his breath strained and looking as though he could drop at any moment.

"Okay. What for?"

"Being an Ex-Sith lord and former almost-ruler of the galaxy, you wouldn't happen to know where I could get a very special type of metal from and someone able to make it into armor for our cybernetic friend in there."

"Define special metal." Anakin crosses his arms, giving the boy an inquisitive stare. He noticed that one of the boy's eyes had changed to a dark yellow color with a black cornea.

"Something capable of stopping a lightsaber."

"Mandalorian Iron. It would be hard to find someone willing to give some to us." Anakin ponders, "and that's assuming your master is able to take us there."

"I- Right." Tyler looks down at his right hand. His left had been at his side the entire time. Anakin decided to press him.

"Whats going on Tyler, your eye has changed."

"My eye?" Tyler looks up, "I haven't noticed any change."

"Have you seen a mirror lately?" Raven appears behind Tyler. Which startles him as again he sharply turns around.

"No... I haven't had much chance to slow down either." Tyler winces as he speaks, like every word is physically damaging. "To much to do."

He walks past Raven towards STAR Labs.

"Alright." He stops for a second as he raises his right hand to his face. "That just leaves..."

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos." Raven chants as she channels her power.

Tyler takes a deep breath, before he collapses on the ground sound asleep.

"And the reason behind putting him to sleep?" Anakin questions Raven.

"I could feel his emotions racing, flipping through them far too quickly. He needs to get some sleep."

"Because his emotional range is higher than normal?"

"Because his emotions were going to give him a heart attack. You saw his eye, he can't continue like this." Raven calmly returns, she takes a step towards Tyler. "I'll take him back to the secondary safe house." She says, and with a wave of darkness, the two are gone.

"That was a great story, where you explained absolutely nothing." Anakin sighed. The fighting he could handle. But what exactly had he been pulled into?

Near the site of the destroyed Titans Tower.

"How long will it take to rebuild it?" Nightwing asks,

"About two weeks." John Stewart (Aka Green Lantern, Hal's back-up) says, "they have the best in the city working on it."

"Good, but I had an interesting idea." Kid Flash interrupts. "Is it really such a good idea to live in a big 'T' shaped building?"

"This time we'll be living underneath it." Nightwing answers him showing him the first blueprint. "Everyone will be able to give ideas on what they think should go into it. We'll have more than double the space, and we'll have twice as many bedrooms to accommodate all the new members that keep popping up. We will have a decoy Tower on top, being rebuilt. The top will still be the site for combat practice and such, the main living quarters will be underneath."

"I have just one question." Kid Flash looks at Nightwing. "Can I move in too?"

Underneath the city

"The time will soon arrive for us to act." Greed says, his suit still professional looking, if you looked past the symbol of Agent Orange on his chest.

The room looked like a penthouse suite, no doubt built with stolen materials from above.

"Soon I will have the power to bring Trigon once again across this world."

"You will need our help." Sloth's voice is heard in the room.

"Who?" Greed stood up from his fancy leather chair, to see Sloth and Gluttony, covered with the Orange light of Avarice, behind him.

"I killed you." Greed says with no emotion.

"Sin is eternal, as are we." Gluttony says,

"When you killed us you inadvertently gave us the power of the Orange light." Sloth adds, "With an unfortunate side effect." Sloth raises his right hand, an orange power-ring on his finger.

A blast of destructive orange light bursts from the ring, the pristine room engulfed in the blast, when the dust settles most of the room is in flames, but Greed is completely untouched.

"Our rings cannot touch you."

"So you still belong to me." Greed says, a smile on his face. "My own Corps. The light of Greed will spread, we will bring Trigon again across this world, and then the world will be MINE."

Inside Tyler's mind. (Tyler's POV)

"How far will you go, for the power to protect tomorrow?" An almost robotic voice echoes around me as I lay against the darkness. "Do you even understand the price those who loved you paid to ensure your own survival? Do you know what seeking power will do to yourself?"

"I seemed to have stopped caring, about what happens to me." I answer.

"You should care. You should realize that hastening your own death proves nothing, and gains you nothing!" The voice roars louder as it reprimands me.

"As long I have the power to protect everyone, I don't care about anything else."

"You have no idea what true power is. Neither did Darkseid, nor Dracula, not even Zenaku." a new voice, one far darker, interjects.

"The price for the power you already wield has yet to be paid." The first, emotionless voice adds.

"And you will be made to pay it." the dark voice demands

"How high a price will you pay, for the promise of an unknown tomorrow?"the emotionless voice asks.

"And how can you be sure that there is a tomorrow?" the dark voice inquires

"Because I will have the power to defend it! I will pay any price to protect it!" I roar in defiance.

"Then you will do so alone." both of the bodiless voice return. before the darkness swallows me completely.

A small light appears before my face in seconds, as Senshisuru's familiar voice speaks this time;

"We'll just have to see about that."