Author's Notes: I just want to take this time to offer a small plug for a spin-off story to this fanfic. A few years ago, the FFnet writer, bearhow and I got together and created a story using both of our OCs. It was a great experience in co-writing for me. If you want to check it out, you can find bearhow's profile on FFnet. Look for the story "Born of Fire." Believe me when I say, it's a good read. Heck, bearhow does a better job of writing Archangel than I do.

Episode 9: Road Trip, Pt 2

Tamaran, 8 Years Ago

"This does not seem like such a wise decision," Zadkiel said, trying to talk his friend out of it.

He and Starfire were out on her balcony. It had been a little shy of two years since they had first met. Much to Galfore's pleasure, and her father's relief, the two really had become good friends. Now, Starfire wanted to expand on that friendship through a rare, but important Tamaranean ritual. Unfortunately, Zadkiel had some skepticism about it. "It is not dangerous," Starfire said. "It does not hurt for long. Besides, this is important to my people. It is important to me."

She had him there. She always did. Zadkiel had quite the soft spot for Starfire, and whether she knew it or not, she could easily talk him into anything. With a sigh, and reminding himself how silly it really was, he pulled his dagger from his belt. "Who goes first?" he said, trying to hide his apprehension.

After a slight pause, which did not make him feel any better, she finally said, "I will."

She took the dagger from him. Despite all her confidence right now, she had never performed this ritual with anyone before. Sucking in a breath, she quickly swiped, making a small nick in each of her palms. Her dark, green blood started to overflow beyond the cut. She passed the dagger on. Wincing as he did so, he made two smaller cuts on his hands. He had only barely made the second cut when Starfire grabbed his hands, pressing her own wounds against his. "Now, no matter what," she said, "we are as close as family."

"I am a Tamaranean," Zadkiel said, remembering the words Starfire told him to recite.

"And I am Visiri," she said back.

Zadkiel could not help it. This feeling of connection and friendship made him truly happy. His palms warmed at the thought of it. In an unexpected instant, a jet of glowing, green flames blasted upwards from their joined hands. He leaped back in shock. Starfire stayed stock still, amazed. "Did you feel that?" she asked.

"Yeah, what was it?"

Both were at a loss for an explanation, but Starfire tried to describe it. "I think it was us, together. It was your fire with my starbolts. At least that is what it looked like."

He rubbed his thumb on one of the cuts on his hands. "Was it because of this?" he asked. "Does this normally happen?"

"Galfore never mentioned anything like this, and he has several blood-friends across the galaxy. But, this is too strange to be a coincidence."

Zadkiel held up his hand towards her. "Only one way to know."

They rejoined their hands, each now putting forth the same effort towards using their abilities. A stronger, brighter flame burst upwards as their hands touched. "Wow," was all they could both breathlessly say.

"We have to try this on the training grounds," Starfire said, grabbing Zadkiel by the arm.

"But…" he tried to object, but to no avail.

New Orleans, Present

Robin sat at a table outside that morning, his head in his hands. Last night was still a vivid and painful memory. Things had only escalated, Starfire left in tears, and he did not sleep. He was starting to shake a little as well. Pretty soon the others would be here, and there would be questions. He could not even dare to think about it. He was still trying to process it himself. A pair of hands slammed down on the table in front of him, startling him. "What happened?" Raven was glaring at him with a look that could kill three times over.

"Not right now, Raven," Robin said. "It's been a rough night already, and I really don't need you and the others turning against me right now."

Raven only gave an exasperated sigh, messaging her temples. "First, you're not the only one who had a rough night. Second, I'm not 'against' you. No one is, yet. I'm just trying to understand what happened. Sorry I snapped. This is just me without much sleep."

Robin looked down, feeling both embarrassed and guilty. "So, Star told you everything."

"Her side of it, yes."

By now, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Archangel had joined them. "So, we having breakfast or what?" Beast Boy asked. "Hey, where's Star?"

He could not look them in the eye. "All right, what'd you do this time?" Cyborg asked shortly. He had remembered Starfire rushing out of their room last night, tears in her eyes. Only now was he starting to piece it all together.

Raven only shot him a look. She might have been able to make some progress if these three had not butt in. "Look, I don't want to talk about this right now," Robin said, getting up. "We're here for the conference. There's a meeting between the team leaders that's going to start soon. I've got to go."

He left without another word. Archangel and Beast Boy were the only two left confused. "So, am I missing something?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg ignored him. "So, how is Star?" he asked Raven.

"Last time I left her, she was asleep. After being up so late with all of this, she needs it."

Cyborg mulled over the options. "Okay, I'll check on her in a bit. There's a tech display in the lobby I wanted to check out. Call me if you need anything."

Beast Boy was a little disappointed that even Cyborg was taking the conference as seriously as Robin. "So, I guess it's just the three of us?" he said, trying to remain hopeful.

"Sorry," Raven replied, "Archangel and I are going to a panel on spirituality and superheroes."

Beast Boy groaned. "Oh, come on. You had to pick like the most boring thing ever."

Raven had already started to leave. "Well, sorry you feel that way, but we are going."

Beast Boy was left all alone at the table. What was the point of going if they were not going to enjoy their vacation, he thought? He was debating what to do on his own when he heard someone approach. Starfire hardly looked like her usual self. It was clear she had been up most of the night, crying, and from the bloodshot eyes, had not gotten a lot of sleep as a result. "Where is everyone?" she said in a voice as small as she felt.

Beast Boy was only able to glean enough information to know that something had transpired between here and Robin last night and that things between them were frosty, at best. "Uh, they all had stuff to do with this convention," he replied after a long pause, not sure how to handle the situation.

"Oh." She was quiet for a while before she added, "Perhaps there is somewhere I should be for this weekend's event?"

It was then that an idea struck Beast Boy. "Forget about this convention. I thought it would just be catching up with old friends, but it's gotten pretty boring. Look, we're off for a whole weekend in a great city. Let's make the most of it. Come on," he said, grabbing her arm.

Starfire was not eager to follow. "Beast Boy, I am not in the mood for the joys of the recreation of going out."

"Look, I know something's got you down, Star, and you don't have to tell me what." He stopped her before she could even start. "But if there's one thing I know, it's how to make the next day better. So, come on. Give it a chance."

She had to admit, if there was anyone who knew how to cheer someone up, it was Beast Boy. There was so much conflicting her right now, so much hurt, but she decided to give it a try. His big, dopey, pleading grin made it hard to say no.

They had spent all morning, and most of the afternoon, exploring downtown New Orleans. Starfire, having never seen the city before, and Beast Boy's general curiosity made for a rather enjoyable day out. Beast Boy never once asked about what happened last night, and Starfire was thankful. Despite how horrible she felt, she was not yet up for discussing it again. Raven had tried to help, but Starfire had been inconsolable at that point, and could not process anything Raven said to her. Beast Boy was always the one she could go to when all she wanted to do was feel better. At this point, they were enjoying the shade and cool air from going in and out of some of the shops. "I can't believe the guys want to miss out on a day like this," Beast Boy said, sighing with content. "Ooh, check this place out."

He bounded across the street and pressed his nose up to the window of a shop. It was a store that purveyed in items relating to Voodoo. "I've always wanted to see a place like this," he continued.

"What is all this?" Starfire said in wonder. "It looks like things Raven would have."

"Kinda," Beast Boy replied. "It's Voodoo. You know, crazy witchdoctors, dolls you stick pins in, zombies. That kinda stuff."

Starfire was still unsure. "These look special," she said, "and Raven says we are to respect others' beliefs."

Beast Boy had already gone inside and was like a child, picking up and looking at everything. Starfire could not deny her own curiosity. These were items not typically seen. She was particularly fascinated by all the different types of candles. Perhaps it would be nice to get one for Raven for staying up so late with her last night. Beast Boy must have had the same idea. He was holding something up in a jar. "You think Raven might like this?"

"I think she would prefer one of these candles more," Starfire answered. Suddenly, she became a little suspicious. "Wait, why are you…?"

"Stop! Thief!" a voice shouted from the back room.

This was followed by a loud crash as someone rushed out, right in front of Beast Boy and Starfire. Villains had come with some odd costumes and weapons before, but this one had to top their list for one of the strangest. His clothing seemed incredibly out of date, belonging to an era long gone; the turn of the twentieth century. He wore a large, stovetop hat. Tubes ran in and out of the hat, pumping odd colored liquids from test tubes attached to the outside to some unknown location on the inside. He wore a metal mask, shaped like a skull, covering his face from his forehead to his upper lip. What little they could see of his lower jaw looked a sickly grey color.

The odd garb he was wearing was nothing compared to his main weapon. His entire left arm was encased in a copper apparatus that looked like an antique form of Cyborg's sonic cannon. Four vials, attached at the shoulder contained, white, yellow, black, and red liquids, which were flowing through a winding maze of tubes down to the apparatus, all meeting at a revolver-like device, which replaced what would have been his hand. The liquids combined to form a variety of chemical cocktails that filled the barrels of the revolver.

He stared at the two unexpected guests, obviously a contingency he had not planned for. He was clearly startled but recovered. He straightened his green vest, spun around the chambers of the revolver device, and an inky-black smoke expelled from the barrel.

Beast Boy turned into a snake to stay low to the ground and follow the culprit. It took a little longer for Starfire to find her way out onto the street. None too keen on Beast Boy following him, the thief spun the revolver around again, and a sticky, purple goo was blasted at him. He missed the first couple of hits before the sticky sludge stopped Beast Boy in his tracks. He smirked, knowing he had the upper hand.

However, Starfire whipping around him and pounding him with starbolts prevented him from savoring that victory. Quickly assessing his options, he fired a combination of two chemicals. To Starfire they were unknown, but they managed to neutralize her starbolts, and even burned a little. This kept her at bay, giving the thief enough distance to make a break for it.

"What was that?" Beast Boy asked in disbelief.

"That was not a victory," Starfire replied. "We had better call our friends.

"I'm telling you," Beast Boy said, his story becoming more elaborate by the minute, "it was like fighting a prehistoric Cyborg."

He and Starfire were trying to explain their encounter to Cyborg while the others searched for clues. "Beast Boy exaggerates," Starfire explained. Cyborg only gave her a knowing glance. "But he is right. This thief did have some similar appearances to yourself. His technology was older, though."

Cyborg was still thinking about their descriptions. "Hmm…well, let's hope Robin and the others are having better luck getting a lead."

"Anything?" Raven asked Robin and Archangel.

Archangel had been trying to pick up a scent on their thief but was having no luck. "I am not even sure what it is we are looking for," he said, stilling going through the refuse left in the thief's attempt to flee.

"Maybe if we found out what he stole, we'd have something to go on," Robin said, suddenly realizing that no one was around.

That was right, he realized. Starfire was usually the one he would spitball his ideas to. The two had been awkwardly avoiding each other. The anger had subsided. It was the hurt that remained between them. It was still too soon to talk about it, though. He decided to go interview the shopkeeper to take his mind off of it. "So, is this the first time this…uh, man has robbed you before?" he asked.

The woman nodded. "This is the first time he's robbed my place, but there have been several places he's hit. This is the fourth one this week."

Raven and Archangel stopped to listen. "What exactly does he try to steal?" Robin continued.

"Hard to say," the woman said. "He's taken so many things from different stores. He's a dark sorcerer, that one."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"No one goes stealing from places like this, dressed as he is unless he was up to no good. Let me check my shelves. I have an idea."

Robin looked behind him to see Beast Boy and Starfire just outside, talking to Cyborg. He knew that Starfire was aware of him looking, but could not meet his eyes. Already, it was shaping up to be one heck of a vacation. A rough journey getting there, his relationship with Starfire hanging by a thread, if that, and now another criminal to deal with; it was just the cherry on top. He gave a heavy sigh, just trying to manage it all at once. The shopkeeper returned. "Here's a list of items he stole," she said. "Some nasty stuff he's getting into."

Robin could not make sense of the stuff on the list. He handed it to Raven, hoping she could understand such matters. "What sort of spell do you think he was trying to use?" she asked, not all that familiar to this particular tradition.

"He's meddling in the affairs of the unnatural, in the affairs of life and death."

The Titans were making their way back to the convention. "matters of life and death, dealing in the affairs of the unnatural; sounds like a lot of superstition," Cyborg said as Robin brought him, Starfire, and Beast Boy up to speed.

"The Voodoo tradition is an old and sacred one," Raven said, "and it does have a lot of believers."

"Whatever it is," Robin began, "this thief clearly believes in it, and he seems desperate for whatever it is he's trying to do. We have to be wary of that."

The suddenly heard breaking glass behind them, almost a block away. "Desperate is right," Cyborg said. "I think this is our guy."

The thief skidded across the street, breaking into a run. Over one shoulder, he had a small bag slung. His first run today had given him a minor setback. Normally, he would go for weeks before he would make his runs. With the supplies now, at least he could last a little longer. As he turned a corner, he almost collided with the Titans. "Twice in one day, and not even a street over," Robin said. "Some just never learn."

At least this time, they weren't interrupting the robbery itself. Quickly assessing the possibilities, the thief pointed his weapon at them, and once again, it spewed a purple sludge. "Dudes! Watch out for that stuff!" Beast Boy shouted.

Breaking away quickly, they dodged the attack. It had done exactly what he wanted it to, though: split them away from each other. One or two Titans at a time were much easier. Beast Boy and Starfire were his first targets. He already had made short work of them once. At the same time, that meant they knew what to expect. For now, they only stood, waiting for the other to make a move. Starfire hovered overhead. He would have to keep track of that. Beast Boy moved first, turning into an elephant and using his trunk to grab ahold of the thief's weapon arm. Much to Beast Boy's surprise, the weapon was his arm and not attached to it.

As they struggled in their tug of war, Starfire was trying to get a clear shot at the thief. It did not help that every so often, the thief shot something out of his weapon into the air. It had just missed her a couple of times. She was not sure if that was the thief or Beast Boy's grip on the weapon that caused these haphazard shots. Starfire zipped around them and grabbed the thief from behind. Completely pinned, he used what strength he had left to turn the weapon towards Starfire and got off one last shot. A bright blast knocked her back a few streets over. "Star!" Beast Boy called, changing back and running for her.

The thief, rather pleased that this attacked had released him from both their grips, spun the revolver around again and took aim at Beast Boy. A green gas spread around him, and within seconds, he was asleep. Two down, four to go.

He was put on the defensive as both Archangel and Robin were using their weapons to get him from all sides. Metal clanged against metal as his brass blaster tried to parry the attacks from Archangel's sword and Robin's staff. A few times, he was blinded by sparks as the flames from Archangel's sword struck him. He had a couple of close calls with Robin's staff, as it hit and jarred some of the tubes running down the blaster.

Archangel seemed like the easiest threat of the two to deal with. His weapon arm made a series of clicks and whirs as it turned to the right setting. A high-powered jet of water hit Archangel head-on, extinguishing his fire and nearly washing him down a manhole. He clung to the edge just before falling.

This was only a short moment of relief as Robin struck him from behind. The thief turned his weapon on Robin. "You're not the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve," Robin said, pulling something from his belt.

He tossed up three metallic balls that, when they exploded, produced a series of blinding flashes. Disoriented, the thief was completely blindsided by one of Archangel's head-butts. Wobbling to his feet, the thief knew his best bet was to distract. Thick, black smog poured out of the weapon, preventing Robin from seeing, and the smell kept Archangel from finding him as well.

Cyborg had made his way into the fray and was right behind him. "Have we met?" Cyborg said, taking aim. "Because you look like someone I know."

The resemblance was not lost on the thief, and with a tip of the hat, he bowed respectfully to Cyborg before spinning around the revolver once more. A green, slick liquid spilled forth. It only took Cyborg a moment to realize just how slippery it was as it pooled out into the road. "You think you're so smart with your fancy chemicals," Cyborg said. "Try this one on for size."

A blast from the sonic cannon knocked the thief back, and his back slammed against the pavement as he skidded to a stop. He looked at Cyborg in disbelief. He truly was a worthy adversary. There were ways of dealing with such opponents, though. A quick glance up, and he saw what he needed. Before Cyborg could do anything else, the thief hosed him down with water, and in the blink of an eye, fired a flashing shot upwards, severing a powerline. His calculations were correct, and the live wire struck the wet Cyborg, giving him a good shock.

Now was the perfect time to take his leave. He had, however, forgotten about one last Titan. Raven was blocking his path of escape. Come quietly, and I won't hurt you," she threatened.

He hardly did anything. He seemed completely entranced, staring at her. "Okay…" Raven said to herself, not entirely sure what was going on with him.

She slowly made a move to apprehend him. This seemed to bring him back into reality as he jolted back from her. Raven had a spell at the ready. Quickly, the thief produced a small metal rod from his vest pocket and held it out to her.

As if coming to life, the metal began to unfurl in small sheets, and the rod began to take shape. Within a few seconds, it had turned into a magnificent, metal rose, with gold, silver, and copper petals. It truly was a work of art. Now, it was Raven who was stunned. He nodded once more, indicating to her to take it. In that moment, looking in his eyes, she saw not something evil but just misunderstood. It seemed that he was unable to communicate the way he wanted to. He just needed someone to understand him and give him a chance.

She slowly reached out for the flower, trying to convey that she meant him no harm. Her fingers had only just touched the stem, complete with copper thorns when they heard the sound of a cocking sonic cannon. The other Titans had him surrounded. "End of the line, pal," Cyborg said.

The thief threw himself around Raven, using her as a human shield. The movement was quick and rough, and Raven's hands were stabbed against the thorns. His free arm was clutched around her neck and shoulders, his weapon pointed at her friends. "Easy," Robin warned, "this will go a lot smoother if you work with us."

Desperate, he looked around and found what he needed at his feet. He kicked up the nearest manhole cover, and dove in, taking Raven with him. "Raven!" Beast Boy called, making a useless effort to catch her. "Oh, when I get my hands on that guy, he's gonna get it."

"Always the sewers," Cyborg grumbled. "C'mon, we'd better go find this crazy witch doctor."

"You do not sound too worried about Raven, Archangel said.

"Trust me, knowing Raven," Robin said, "he's the one who's going to be in trouble."

"This vacation has become work very quickly," Archangel commented, as they walked through the cavernous tunnels underground.

"That's life in the big city for ya," Cyborg added. "At least the tunnels are pretty straightforward. Nowhere else they could've gone."

This conversation did not ease Starfire's worry. "Why would he take our friend?" she asked. "What could he possibly want with her?"

She was half-expecting some reassurance from Robin, but he was walking far ahead of the group. She could not blame him. This whole day had been this awkward dance of avoiding each other, not out of anger, but the fear of hurting each other even more. That did nothing for what they already felt, though. Starfire also had some guilt to go with that pain. She had been, after all, the one to land the final blow. What she had even meant when she said it? Needing time to think over their relationship. Was that really true? "There!" she heard Robin call, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Before them was a large, elaborate door. Much like the being, they were following, the door was made entirely out of brass and copper. A bizarre-looking apparatus appeared to be keeping the door locked. Copper, movable pipes surrounded the device. "It's a puzzle," Robin murmured. He looked to Cyborg and Starfire. "Normally, Raven would be the one for this sort of thing, but…"

"Yeah, we can give it a try," Cyborg said. "Just wish we knew what it's supposed to do."

After a little bit of debate, and between their shared knowledge of the sciences, they turned the pipes into what they considered to be the best possible path. "Alright, try it out," Cyborg said.

Starfire pushed a button on the center of the main device. A gurgling sound bubbled from it, and they could hear a rushing sound going through the pipes. At last, they heard a whistle as white steam billowed out of a tiny pipe at the top of the door. After several seconds, and once the steam cleared, the door swung open. "Woah!" Beast Boy said, at a loss for words.

"It's a whole city under here," Robin added.

Sure enough, it was an underground city. Short, squat, brownstone buildings lined the streets. Factories, with walls of metal, had their smokestacks connected to the ceiling of the tunnel, pumping out white steam up to the world above. Gears and cogs could be seen on these buildings, turning all the while. More brass pipes surrounded the walls of this underground utopia. A large clock sat in a small metal contraption at the center of the city. In fact, the entire city seemed to run like clockwork. The only things that seemed real were the dozens of people walking about the street, eyeing their new visitors. Like the thief, they too were dressed in clothing befitting the turn of the 20th century, and also like him, their bodies were not entirely human, containing mechanical devices to replace limbs or parts of their faces, though they were not as dependent upon them as their culprit. "It's like a whole city full of Cyborgs!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

Cyborg looked back at a woman, who had half of her head replaced by a bronze plate, with steam coming out the ear. She was giving him an odd look. "More like a bunch of old-school me's. Let's find Raven and get out of here."

Walking through the streets, they had very little luck. Not only did they have no clue where to begin, it seemed that no one in the city had even heard of the man they were searching for. They did not seem to know much of anything. No one could quite put their finger on it, but something was not quite right with this city. "We need to find someplace that looks suspicious," Robin concluded.

"Dude, this whole place is suspicious," Beast Boy said. "This place has 'fishy' has written all over it."

"It is the people," Archangel said. "Nothing smells human about them."

Robin thought for a moment. Maybe this was what the shopkeeper meant by this thief dealing in matters of life and death. "Wait a minute," Cyborg said. "I think I've figured it out. This whole city…"

A trap door sprung open, and both Cyborg and Starfire fell through. Taken by surprise, Starfire did not react quickly enough to fly out, and the door immediately shut behind them. Robin, Beast Boy, and Archangel ran to it, and try to pry it open, but it was as if the door never existed. Robin pounded his fists against it in frustration. "This guy's crazy!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "He's trying to pick us off one by one."

"Then we stay together," Robin said, standing. "It's our only chance of helping everyone else."

Archangel's ears pricked in response to an odd clicking sound. It was getting louder and sounded more like a swarm of angry hornets as it got closer. "But who is going to help us?" he said, becoming rather distressed.

Robin and Beast Boy began to hear it too, and turned around to see what was coming. A horde of flying metal contraptions, with wings that beat like a hummingbird's, had found them, and it seemed pretty clear they were hostile. Beast Boy gulped. "Uh, I think I've had enough fun on this vacation now."

Cyborg and Starfire fell into what seemed like a mechanic's shop. Each had landed on a work slap, and upon landing were immediately strapped in. "This is most frightening and unpleasant. Please release us," Starfire said as she struggled against her restraints. The slabs were rotated to an upright position. Standing and waiting for them was a man whose arm had been replaced by a primitive looking rivet gun. "Now, what seemed to be the problem?" he said in an all-too-friendly voice.

"Nothing was the problem until you brought us here," Cyborg said, becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Hmm…" said the man, coming closer, examining them, "seems your power supply's missing. We can fix that in a jiffy."

"What are you talking about?" Cyborg nearly shouted. "My power systems are fine, and Star doesn't even have one."

He was holding several tubes, with what looked like a catheter needle on the end, and two buckets of oil. "I know, how about that weather?" he said, completely oblivious.

"He's insane!" Cyborg said. "This guy's completely lost his mind."

"Does he intend to replace our blood with oil?" Starfire asked, struggling that much harder.

He was now looking over Cyborg. "Hmm, these parts an unfamiliar to me. We'll have to take them out and start replacing them."

"The heck you will! Don't you be messin' around with my circuits."

Raven was watching a TV screen that showed her friends first entering the underground city when he returned. "This city, it isn't real," she said. "They're all mechanical dolls. It's like a big wind-up toy, isn't it?"

He shrugged, a little perturbed that his masterpiece was being called a "toy." Raven was still putting it all together. "Those goggles my friends have on, it makes it all look real to them?"

He nodded. "And they don't even know they have them on, do they?"

She was deep in the bowels of her captor's workshop. Rusty pipes and dirty stone walls were the only scenery, save for all his gadgets and machinery. He gingerly tapped on one of the pipes. "Right, the steam was actually a gas," Raven reasoned. "They don't even realize there was a lapse in time. You really are a man who thinks of everything."

She could see a hint of a smile under his mask. Raven began to look around her surroundings. She did not notice him turn off the screens just before Cyborg and Starfire fell through the trap door. "So, you built all this?" she said. "It is impressive." She found an old photograph. It had a happy looking couple. "Was this…was this you?" she asked, starting to put it all together.

He was hesitant, but he slowly nodded. "But, this picture must be at least a hundred years old. That would mean…"

She never got to finish her thought. He suddenly stumbled and lurched forward, clutching his machine-arm. One of the vials of liquid, the red one, had run out. He frantically scrambled about the workshop, clearly having trouble standing, and later even breathing, as he tried to find a replacement. He finally reached the cabinet where he had rows and rows of replacements. Taking another red one, he haphazardly switched them out, only regaining his stability afterward. He took a deep breath of relief as everything resumed to normal. "Are you even alive?" Raven asked, becoming suspicious.

He made no effort to answer her. "Why do you do this to yourself?"

He only looked at the cabinet full of vials, wondering that question himself. However, Raven deduced it again. The workshop was full of machinery, but nothing to indicate chemicals. "Because you didn't do this to yourself. You're stuck like this until those run out."

She could see that it would be years, if not decades before those would run out. She could hardly imagine the suffering he went through. "Is that why you rob the Voodoo shops? Are you trying to find a way to die?"

He stood up quickly, eager to show her his real motives. Tugging her arm, he led her down a couple of hallways to a doorway separated only by a curtain. As he pulled it back, she was nothing short of surprised. It was a fairly spacious room, at least more so than the cluttered workshop. On a platform was a mechanical doll, not all that, unlike the others, he had made in the city. It was a woman with a delicate porcelain face, who looked almost real. Strung around the room were all the various items he had stolen from the Voodoo shops, hung in a web of string in purposeful points. Raven was careful not to disturb them as she went under the web to get a closer look at the doll. "It looks like the girl in that photo," she said, touching its face.

He had clearly taken care of it every day. Not even a speck of dust was on the creation. It was only now that she could see that look of loneliness that seemed permanently etched onto his face. "That's why you're doing all this?" she said. "You just want to bring her to life, to not be here alone?"

He nodded, but also showed her the photograph once more. Raven looked between the picture and the doll. She was almost an exact replica, but there was something else she had not noticed. "She…she looks a lot like me," she said.

He nodded again and walked her over to a small podium with an old book resting on it. Raven was still trying to piece together his meaning. "Look, I don't know what you think is going to happen, but I'm not actually her. You understand that, right?"

He brought the book forward, pointing to several pages. "Look, I really don't understand," Raven said. "It's another spell. As you can see, those are clearly not working. She's a doll. You can't make her into a real person."

He opened a small compartment on the chest of the doll. Raven now looked closely at the pages in front of her. "You need a heart for this one," she said, reading through the pages. He did not meet her gaze this time. "You need my heart." She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Without a word, he pointed his weapon at her.

Robin was trying to beat back as many of the mechanical fliers as he could, but only more kept swarming upon them. "I'm open to any ideas, guys," he said as he ripped the circuitry out of one.

Archangel had only just sliced through another, only to have handful more cling to wings, weighing him down. "It would help if we knew where they were coming from," he said.

Beast Boy had been trying his best to stomp on as many as he could as a rhino. "Who cares?" he said, shifting back to catch a breath. "For every one we get, there are like ten more."

Robin was suddenly swarmed by a dozen more of the little devices. With pincer-like, they clung to his body. Robin worked fast to try and pry them off, throwing them this way and that as he did. One stray one he threw hit a pedestrian, knocking them over. However, they did not get up. They just laid there, their body stiff and unmoving. "Huh?" Robin said to himself. Something was incredibly wrong here.
He did not have much time to think about it. Archangel was trying to set some of the bots on fire as he flew away from the ones chasing him. He was flying low enough that Robin grabbed him by the ankle and yanked him down. "What do you think you're doing? We're in a vacuum-sealed chamber underground," he said. "Set something on fire and we're all doomed."

"Heads up!" they heard Beast Boy call out.

Another stray bot was coming at them. Archangel heard Beast Boy and ducked just in time. Robin was hit in the face and knocked back. Opening his eyes once more, he noticed something off. It looked as though his vision was cracked. Wait a minute! He was wearing goggles. When did he have these on? Had he had these on the whole time? He pulled them off and threw them aside. He also noticed that Beast Boy had them on too. Robin was becoming more aware of what was happening. With the goggles on, he could now see this world for what it was; a very elaborately designed hoax. This world was nothing but the inside of a clock, practically. Everything and everyone was mechanical, all running on well-designed tracks, going through the same clockwork motions every day. The small bots attacking them were still very real. Robin dashed over to Beast Boy and helped him take off the goggles. "Hey, when did I get these?" he asked, completely dumbfounded as the veil was lifted.

"Don't know," he replied, "but they've been altering our perception of this world."

Archangel was still beating back bots as he made his way over to them. "Wonderful realization," he said, "but what now? These things are relentless."

Robin was still thinking as he spoke. "That's just it. Everything here runs like a watch, doing the same thing over and over again. But these things are outliers. They're trained to attack any living intruders."

"So, what now?" Beast Boy asked, swatting yet another away.

"We have to figure out where they're coming from. I think if we find that, we're that much closer to finding the others."

The mechanic had decided to start with Starfire. She found the restraints well-reinforced as she struggled harder. The needle was incredibly close to her skin. "Hold on, Star!" she heard Cyborg call.

He launched his hand, attached to a metal tether on his arm. It whipped around the room, circling the mechanic around his feet, and Cyborg pulled hard to knock him down. There was a sickening crunch of metal and sparks flew. The mechanic did not get up, but seemed to convulse, repeating a few phrases he said over and over again. "I am confused," Starfire said, calming down after the threat had subsided. "There is something not normal about him."

Cyborg grabbed a set of keys off the man, retracted his hand, and proceeded to unlock their restraints. "Something's off about this whole place," he agreed.

He proceeded to examine the man. "Just what I thought," he said aloud. "The guy's not real. It's just a robot."

"But, it is so life-like," Starfire said.

As Cyborg was scratching his head, pondering, he felt something unusual. Either is depth perception was off or… He pulled off the goggles. "When did these get here?" he said to himself.

He noticed Starfire had them on too, and he reached over to take them off. Only then did they see how mechanical their attacker really looked. Both were dumbfounded. "But how? When did he…" Starfire began, utterly confused.

"They altered our perceptions of this world," Cyborg said. "Quite advanced really. I'd like to look at these some more. I wonder if-"

Starfire grabbed ahold of him. "There is no time," she said.

Raven groggily came to. She could see her captor preparing various surgical instruments, and checking a few readouts on devices whose purpose she did not know. Slowly, it was all coming back to her. She tried to sit up but realized she was strapped to a slab. No matter, she thought. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she said under her breath, but nothing happened.

She rolled her head over just enough to see the glowing restraints binding her. She looked back to her captor. "I really underestimated you, didn't I?"

He only shrugged nonchalantly. "And there's nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?"

He shook his head. The slab lurched as wheels and pulleys moved, bringing it to a horizontal position. He stood over her, a bladed instrument in hand. She could hear something else whirring to life behind her. "Please, you don't have to do this," Raven said, giving it one last try.

He hesitated, certainly giving it some consideration. He started to move his hand away when a blast of green energy blew open a vent. Seconds later, he heard a door being broken down. The other Titans had found him. "Let's see how you do when we play your own game," Robin said with a smirk. "Titans go!"

As a gorilla, Beast Boy pried open one of the large water pipes lining the walls and aimed it at the villain as water blasted out. Archangel aided by igniting an incredibly hot flame alongside the water. The Villain was it with a blast of hot water and boiling steam. Raven could only make out a muffled sound that she assumed was his attempt at screaming.

As the steam cleared, Robin took to close combat with him. Now used to the weapon, Robin used its momentum and speed against him as he tried to follow Robin with it to get a clear shot. At one point, Robin had twisted his weapon arm behind his head. He started to grab the villain's mask. "Now, what is it you're hiding?" Robin said, straining to reach.

With a panicked look, he quickly used every bit of his strength to wrestle himself out of Robin's hold. With a blinding blast, he knocked Robin off his feet, and he was not too quick to stand up. Starfire was at his side in an instant.

One would have thought an entire army, not a single alien, was attacking him with as many starbolts that were being thrown his way. He was knocked back and almost tipped over his cabinet of vials. Quick as a whip, he recovered and was able to steady it, with only a few sounds of clinking glass. "Uh, thanks, Star," Robin said, not knowing what else could be said.

"You are unharmed?" she said, also not sure what else to say. It was, after all, the first time they had spoken since last night.

Cyborg, however, interrupted, "Can this wait for another time? We still got a bad guy to beat. Hey, witch doctor! Try some of your own medicine."

Using a bucket of oil from the mechanic they had escaped from, he tossed it upon the villain. Dripping with oil, and starting to lose his balance, he was running out of options. He tried firing at Cyborg but found his weapon gummed up from the oil. "Not so tough now without all your fancy toys," Cyborg said.

Archangel was standing by, fists ignited. The villain swallowed hard, knowing his predicament. He made a mad dash to get away.

While Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Archangel tended to the battle, Beast Boy made it his mission to free Raven. "Don't worry, Raven," he said. "If I push enough buttons, one of them's got to let you go."

"Beast Boy, wait, don't-" Raven said, trying to stop him.

But fortune was on their side. The first thing he touched released the restraints. "Cool, I did it!" Beast Boy said. "I mean, uh…I knew what I was doing. So, you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks."

"You sure?"

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Yes."

"You're sure-sure?"

"Beast Boy…" Raven was starting to lose her patience.

"Right," Beast Boy said, slowly backing away.

He turned into a bull and was ready to go on the offensive. Their adversary was reaching his limit with his patience. Shaking off the excess oil from his weapon, he fired several shots of sludge at Beast Boy. Effortlessly morphing into a cheetah, he bobbed and weaved, just dodging the shots. He made a running leap, attempting to pounce on him. He reacted quickly and caught Beast Boy before he landed. He hurled him away, knocking him against the platform where his precious doll stood.

In the light aftershock of being bumped by Beast Boy, the doll wobbled and began to tip over. Panic-stricken, he rushed over, nearly leaping over Beast Boy and caught it before the disastrous could happen. Glowering at each of the Titans, he lifted his weapon as it reached maximum power, ready to launch a most explosive blast. "Wait!" Raven called out, standing between him and the Titans.

Everyone warily stood down, waiting for the other's reaction. Raven took a deep breath, knowing she had to play this carefully. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but he's not dangerous," she said. "Lonely and a little misguided, yes, but not a threat."

"You're kidding, right?" Cyborg said. "Lonely? Not a threat? This guy just tried to saw you in half a few minutes ago."

"Kinda," Raven defended, "but he wasn't going to do it." She turned back to him. "Look, I know it's not much, and maybe it isn't exactly what you wanted, but maybe we can do something to help. Will you trust us?"

He looked at the doll, then the Titans, then the doll again. He sighed and nodded in the affirmative.

It took much of Cyborg's mechanical know-how and quite a bit of Raven's magic. It did not help at all that the thief was standing over their shoulders, constantly breathing down their necks. Of course, he was nervous giving them his creation to work on.

Meanwhile, Robin found Starfire sitting off to the side. "Hey," he said, feeling stupid for not coming up with anything else.

"Greetings," she replied, scooting over for him to sit.

Robin thought he might pass out, his heart was pounding so hard. He could feel the slight tremor in his body from being so nervous. "So, what now?" he managed to ask.

She looked at him as though that should have been an obvious answer. "We wait until Cyborg and Raven are done."

"No, I mean us," Robin said. "What happens with us?"

She had been hoping he would not ask about it. "I still need the time for thinking," she said, feeling devastated when she saw the heartbroken look on his face.

"So, until you've had time to think it over, are we…you know…done?"

"I do not know. That is why I have to think."

This was not going the way either of them planned. "So, what? That's it then?" Robin said. "I just wait around until you figure it out?"

"You might also want some of the time for thinking as well, Robin," she said a little shortly. "You ask a lot of me, yet I wonder how you would feel if I asked the same of you? What if I were to inquire about your relationship to the man who associates with bats? What if I were to ask your real name?"

They were interrupted by a loud clang as Beast Boy knocked something over while poking around the workshop. "Uh, sorry," he said, realizing he had disturbed something important. Archangel only shook his head.

"My meaning is that maybe we both need to think about what we expect of each other."

"So, this is it then? We're done? But Star-"

"Of course not," she said. "We are still friends, and maybe it will be more than that again. We just need time."

"Well, s'not much, but I think Raven and I were able to do a pretty good job, if I do say so myself," Cyborg said.

The doll could now wheel about on its own and seemed very lifelike in its movements. The thief stared at it in awe. The doll smiled, seeming a bit flustered herself. "It's got a lot more of a range of motion than your others," Cyborg continued to explain. "And it doesn't go through the same motions again and again. It responds to you."

"And I may have added a little something too," Raven added. "I used a spell involving your memories of her." She pointed to the woman in the photo. "She can speak too. But remember, it's only your memory of her, not really her. It's the best we could do."

He nodded a thank you. A few tears of joy could be seen dripping from under his mask. "Just promise us," Cyborg said, "no more knocking off Voodoo shops, okay?"

Though it was in a joking manner, he gave a non-committal shrug. "You know, in all this time, I don't think we ever learned your name," Raven said.

He thought for a moment, then quickly grabbed some paper. He hastily scribbled out a message and handed it to her. "Call me Pygmalion" it read. "I hope this is not the last time we meet."

Raven laughed a little, a rare occurrence. Only she would have seen the significance of the name. "Fitting," she said, "and I hope we do meet again, just on better terms."

"So, that's what she told you?" Cyborg asked.

He, Robin, and Beast Boy were sitting on the terrace of Robin and Cyborg's room. "Yeah," Robin said, feeling even more disheartened as he had to retell his conversation with Starfire. "So, what am I supposed to make of it?"

"Knowing Starfire, she always means what she says," Cyborg replied. "I think it's just that. She needs time. Look, I'm sure it'll be no big deal in a few weeks."

Raven appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and startled Beast Boy. "I think it's a little more serious than that. To her, this is something important, and I think it's going to take more than a few weeks."

Cyborg only gave her a look. She was not helping. "Well, Star's a lot faster than you at thinking things over," Beast Boy said, trying to be reassuring. "I'm sure it'll work out."

Cyborg stood. "C'mon, man, no use sitting here worrying over it. Besides, we've got all our friends to say goodbye to. I'm gonna ask Bee if she'll give us and the T-car a lift. I think we're done with road trips for a while."

"Thank you!" Beast Boy said with a great sigh. "I was afraid we'd have to do that all over again."

Robin tried his best to focus on other things, to actually pay attention to the conversations and farewells from the other Titans and honorary Titans, but it was no use. He noticed Starfire was nowhere to be seen, which made him worry even more. He was also aware that Archangel was nowhere in sight. While Robin knew, in a logical sense, that there was nothing to that, it did prickle under his skin a bit.

Starfire was conflicted. While on the one hand, she wanted to be alone, but on the other, she wanted someone there, just to talk to. Alone, she had time to think, but it also made her mind race, which was solving nothing. "You do not wish to see your friends of the other Titan groups before we leave?" she heard a voice ask.

Somehow, she had a feeling he would be here. "No," she replied, "but I assume you have already heard."

"Hard not to," he said, his ears perking up.

True, she had long since learned that with Archangel, secrets were hard to keep secret. "I just wish it was not so difficult," she said.

He was silent as she tried to explain. On the one hand, there was some merit to Robin's point, he knew. There was something bothering Starfire, and she was only hurting herself more by not talking about it. He had picked up on it early into his stay with the Titans. Unlike Robin, he knew it was no use trying to get her to talk about it. On the other hand, Starfire had a point. It seemed to him that the two kept far too much hidden from each other, and therein lay the problem. "And I do not understand," Starfire finished.

Archangel was very straightforward with his answer. "You are not the same person I knew eight years ago. Much has changed. And I think that even you do not know this new you yet. Take this time and get to know you. Only then, will you know the right thing to do."

She thanked him with a friendly hug. He knew it was meant only in friendship, which always made his interactions with her hurt all the more. That soft spot for her had never faded and had instead burned brighter. Yet, he knew he was her friend, and for now, that was enough.

The Titans had just gotten back to the tower and were still regaling Bumblebee with all the tales of their antics on the road. "And I thought Beast Boy was really gonna get it when he complained to that cook," Robin finished.

"You kidding?" Beast Boy said. "The funniest thing was when Starfire cursed out that cop in Tamaranean."

Archangel added, "To be fair, I think some words she made up, she got so mad."

"Or how about Raven's driving?" Beast Boy teased. "So, we're going down the highway, and-"

"Wait," Cyborg interrupted, "you mean to tell me that you guys actually enjoyed the trip? I thought you hated it?"

They all looked at him as though he had lobsters crawling out of his ears. "All the time. This trip on the road was not very enjoyable," Starfire answered.

"Yeah, you can't laugh about it until after it's happened," Beast Boy added.

"Besides, looking back on it, it was okay," Raven said.

"But, that was nothing like what I used to do with my family," Cyborg said.

Robin put his arm around Cyborg's shoulder. "That's only how you remember it. It probably wasn't a lot of fun when you did it back then, but looking back, it's a lot of good memories."
Bumblebee shrugged. "That's how road trips were when I was a kid."

"So, then we could do it again?" Cyborg suggested.

Everyone answered in unison. "No!"