The rest of the day proceeded reasonably quietly. Beastboy and Cyborg stayed barricaded in their room, while Robin prowled the halls of the Tower trying to come up with an appropriate revenge. The girls, meanwhile, remained largely oblivious to the conflict; they knew SOMETHING had happened, but they didn't know what. Raven took it upon herself to bring the two shut-ins a portion of dinner- Alfred had prepared his famous Leg of Lamb ala Pennyworth, while Beastboy tucked into a large portion of manicotti al dente. The two ate sparingly, despite the high quality of the food, as they were terrified of Robin's ire and eventual vengeance.

Starfire attempted to get to the bottom of things by confronting Robin directly. When she asked what Beastboy and Cyborg had done that was so terrible, the Boy Wonder had simply blushed and mumbled something about 'lines that shouldn't be crossed' and stalked back to his room to fume. Thus did the Titans spend their day, while Alfred chuckled to himself. He knew from experience that Tim Drake was an experienced practical joker- having studied extensively under Dick Grayson- and the old butler felt it would be good for his young friend to indulge in some childishness. It would help him reclaim his civilian identity.

At midnight, Raven made her way to the Tower common room, to meet the other girls before their rooftop run. Starfire was already seated on the couch, waiting impatiently, excited for a late night outing with two of her closest friends. Beside her sat three large bottles of water, each a different color- black, purple and pink. Clearly, the alien girl had thought ahead and brought refreshment for all three girls.

"Oh, Friend Raven! I am overjoyed that you have decided to join us on this excursion! Please, have you seen Friend Cassie? I am most eager to begin!" Starfire chirped. Raven felt like smiling; it was impossible to truly feel gloomy when Starfire was in such a happy mood.

"No, Star, I haven't" she replied in her usual monotone "Thanks for the water, Star, though I doubt we'll need it."

"Always good idea to have water" Cassie said, appearing silently behind Raven. The empath started in shock- how had she not noticed the Asian girl come in? She spun around and saw that Cassie was wearing her Batgirl uniform.

"All right, Cassie, you're the expert. Where should we start this thing?" Raven asked, her eyes glowing white as she prepared to teleport.

"Big bank on Jergen avenue" Batgirl said without hesitation "Tall one with gold fronting.'

No sooner had she said the words then the trio vanished from the Tower, and reappeared in a burst of energy atop the bank. The Metro Bank's central branch was one of the taller buildings in Jump City, and was surrounded by skyscrapers that were almost as tall. Starfire shivered in the chill night air, and turned to the vigilante with a questioning look on her face.

"Friend Cassie, are you certain you want to begin here?" She asked "T wind is quite up here. It will be most difficult to fly properly in these conditions"

Batgirl gave a small laugh. "Fly, Starfire? Not fly. Run."

Raven looked over the edge, at the long drop down to ground level, then back at her friend. "You're kidding, right/"

In response, Batgirl turned and sprinted towards the farthest edge of the roof. Reaching the edge, she made a leap that any Olympiad would envy, somersaulting twice in the air before landing safely on the next building. Once there, she turned back to her friends and waved in a come-on manner.

"You aren't kidding" Raven sighed.

Raven had never been one for physical exercise. While she kept herself trim, and took a certain detached pride in her figure, she rarely performed any strenuous activity. Azerathian body-control training allowed her to speed up or slow down her metabolism at will- meaning she could eat what she wanted and then order her body to burn off the fat while she meditated. Even her training rarely forced her to break a sweat; as a psychic/telekinetic sorceress, Robin had agreed that she had little use for physical power. The only time she had to run was during missions, and then she was generally aided by adrenaline. She was regretting all of this deeply now.

They had only been running a few minutes but already Raven was suffering. She was puffing and wheezing like an asthmatic, her legs and chest were burning, and her stomach kept insisting it was about to empty itself. Her black leotard was stained with sweat, her thighs were chafing, and her head was hurting. Plus, she was really starting to wish she'd thought to wear a sports bra- though she thanked heaven she'd thought to wear sneakers

. What was worst of all, though, was the way her friends kept encouraging her to keep going. Batgirl kept waving at her to keep going, while Starfire would occasionally double back to help her friend keep up. She knew they both meant well, and were doing this so she wouldn't be totally left out and left behind…But right now, she would joyfully murder the pair of them. Slowly. Horribly. Messily.

She COULD call for a halt. She could announce that she was tired and needed a rest. But that would involve admitting failure, admitting that she was out of shape. So Raven kept running, dragged onward by her own pride.

For her part, Starfire was having a wonderful time. She hadn't been out running like this since she was a youngling on Tamaran. The cool night air, coupled with the glow of the cityscape, put her in mind of nights spent racing her friends through the glow-flower orchards of the palace. She laughed, as she thought of how odd she would look now to her old friends. She was glad that Friend Cassie had invited her to run tonight, but she was saddened that Raven seemed unwilling to keep up. Starfire was unaware that humans (and part-humans) lacked the phenomenal stamina of Tamaranians, who had evolved from plains dwelling predators. Consequently, she assumed that if Raven could not keep up with them, it was because she did not wish to. So she would sometimes go back and pull her dear friend forward , or help her to her feet when she tripped. 'Perhaps then Friend Raven will see that we wish her to join us' Starfire thought as she prepared to go back again 'and she will begin to run on her own'

Cassie, meanwhile, was puzzled by Raven's difficulty in keeping up. She wasn't trying to be cruel to the dark sorceress at all. What Cassie didn't know was how different her standards of comparison were from ordinary people. The daughter of David Cain had been subjected to rigorous training almost from birth- she had almost as little knowledge of normal human limits as Starfire. In deference to her friends' lack of training, she had limited her pace to a brisk jog- and still the pale girl lagged behind, wheezing with effort. She wasn't sure she could go much slower without slowing to a walk. Eventually, she decided to give them all a rest and see what the trouble was- when the decision was taken out of her hands.

A massive explosion rocked the night air, followed by boisterous yells and cheers. As one, the three heroines raced in the direction of the sound, with Starfire and a very grateful Raven taking to the air. Within moments, they found themselves outside of the Jump City Medical College, where the explosion had blasted a large hole in one wall. From within more shouting could be heard- apparently, the culprits were still inside. They could hear sirens wailing in the distance as the police approached, but experience had taught the Titans that the JCPD weren't equipped to deal with this sort of thing. Therefore, it was up to them.

"Raven, you seem unable to battle at present. I believe it would be best if you remained outside and informed the others. Friend Batgirl and I shall enter and seek out our nemeses" Starfire said, issuing orders with the ease of those born to rule "Tell Robin that we shall not act until he and Cyborg have arrived. Are we all in agreement?"

"Sounds (gasp) good" Raven wheezed. She still hadn't gotten her breath back, and knew that she'd need a minute or two before she could fight "But one thing, Star. When you (pant) see who's responsible, come right back. Robin will need to know."

"Affirmative" the warrior princess said, as she moved to enter the building "Come, Batgirl, we must move quickly"

Starfire crept forward, with Batgirl moving behind her in complete silence.


Back at Titans Tower, Tim fumed in his room. He was seated at his desk, trying vainly to concentrate. This had never happened to him before- and although he'd heard it happened to every guy sometimes, he still felt ashamed. He had Pranker's Block. He couldn't think of a single trick or joke that could even come close to paying his teammates back for the humiliation he'd suffered. It was intolerable!

"What the hell happened to me?!" he cried aloud in frustration. "I used to be able to nail Dick with brilliant tricks and perfect pranks, all on a moments notice! Now I can't think up one single lousy gag?!"

'You've lost your touch' his treacherous mind said 'You've gotten out of practice. After all, Robin doesn't play jokes or tricks- they're beneath him. Tim Drake liked them and you haven't let yourself be Tim for a long while now'

With a sigh of resignation, Tim sat back and contemplated this idea. Maybe it was true- he'd been so caught up in the role of the serious young hero that he'd forgotten how to be himself. He'd have to work on that, starting by getting back at his so-called friends, Beastboy and Cyborg.

His thoughts were interrupted by the chiming of his communicator. "Robin here" he said as he answered.

"Robin this is Raven" came the reply. She sounded hoarse, tired and out of breath.

"Raven? You sound terrible. Have you been fighting?"

"…Something like that, yes. There's been a break-in at the Jump City Medical College- and I think we're dealing with some heavy duty crooks here. They entered the building by blowing up half of one wall. Starfire and Batgirl have entered the building to scout out the situation, but want you to know they won't act until you get here"

"Got it." Robin said, standing up to change into his uniform. "Anything else?"

"Yes" Raven replied "I'm…sort of…unable to fight just at the moment. I hope I'll be all right by the time you get here, but I'm not sure I will be. Be warned. Raven out."

"Great" Robin said as he reached for his mask. Tapping the communicator again, he called Cyborg. "Robin to Cyborg- your demise is postponed. Someone's attacked the medical college. Meet me in the garage in three minutes. Robin out."