Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, all rights to the owners.


ROBYN

I feel terrible saying it, but I almost wish we were bringing Changeling along because she'd probably be willing to execute the Emperor if we needed someone to.

That's an awful thing to say, especially because the whole reason she's on leave is because she murdered someone, but all signs are pointing towards that being part of the solution for Starfire's problem. The Emperor is going to have to die, or else be so thoroughly stripped of his power that he becomes a non-factor. Realistically the latter isn't going to happen, so his death is all but mandatory.

No matter how many ideas we bounce of each other, we can never come up with anything concrete. We just don't have enough information to make a plan.

The only thing useful that comes out of the few days before we finalize the purchase of a Javelin (we get one at a steep discount from the League, seeing as we are technically a branch of them now. I didn't realize that was part of the perks, but apparently it is) is Starfire's explanation of the Yaemanese kingdom.

The Yaemanese are… interesting. Each culture in the neighbourhood of Tamaran seems to have some stereotype associated with it. Tamaranians are primitive barbarians and are favored slaves of other races due to their natural strength, Excelians are living emotion-bombs and their relative lack of technological development means that other spacefaring races can just swoop down and abduct any of them at random whenever they need their spores, and the Yaemanese are stereotyped as being rigidly hierarchical and fanatical cultists who think they're way more important than they actually are, and by consequence have almost no diplomatic ties whatsoever because literally no one wants to deal with them.

The Yaemanese are also more technologically advanced than Tamaranians or Excelians, so they don't have the same issue where other species like to abduct their people to function as slaves or living weapons. Unfortunately, any of them that end up prisoners of war tend to sell well on the slave market anyways, because everything thinks it's just hilarious to "break" the Yaemanese and see them reduced to manual labour or something even less savoury.

"In case it was not clear." Starfire adds at the end. "Those who frequent slave markets are not the most pleasant-minded."

No kidding.

"The Yaemanese are also known for their ferrokenisis." Starfire says. "The exact strength varies between individuals of course, but the royal bloodline in particular is known for extremely potent manifestations of the ability."

Of course they are. That's probably how they became royals.

"Physically they are not unusual by our standards. The are humanoid, limited to monochrome in skin and hair colour-"

"Like Kima?" I question. Kima is varying shades of pink after all. That's monochrome. "Do they vary between colours, with each individual being monochrome?"

"No, monochrome as in black, white, and grey tints. All of them fall into this."

"Ah, so greyscale."

"Yes." Starfire nods. "Their garb is rather… what is the term… flashy? Exotic? No…"

"Ostentatious?"

"A little." Starfire nods. "But it is not scarves and furs. It is more robes, spikes, black, grey, and red colours…"

"So exactly what you'd expect an evil fantasy cult to dress like."

"By human standards, yes."

Great. Fantastic. Starfire's betrothed has the fashion aesthetic of warhammer fantasy dark elves, and might be just as crazy.

"I should remind you, that most of what I have told you is the stereotype." Starfire says. "And while I am not particularly well-verse in Yaemanese culture, I would doubt that all of them hold true."

Right, of course. Don't judge a book by the cover and all that.

"Unfortunately… I do not know much about the Yaemanese beyond the stereotype, so there is not much I can do to prove that they are not as they seem."

So we just have to cross our fingers and pray they're not crazy? Fantastic. This can only turn out well. We haven't had a plan for days, and we won't have one by the time we get our Javelin tomorrow.

CHANGELING

I watch with no small amount of irritation as the others prepare to leave on the Javelin. There's one one more person that's allowed to be brought according to the invitation, and that person could be me… but I'm not coming.

I probably could have come along, but me and Robyn ended up getting into an argument about it. I was angry and implied that Robyn didn't trust me to come along (before checking if she'd even made that decision), and Robyn in turn dug in her heels and said I shouldn't come because I'd just proven I didn't have enough emotional self-control.

So that went well. I'm fairly sure they're going to regret me not coming along at some point. I am the one who dealt with the Emperor last time, but fine. I'm not about to apologize, I don't want to give Robyn the satisfaction, so I guess I won't come along. If Robyn wants to be at a disadvantage by not bringing along another person even though she could, that's on her.

"So…" Robyn says as me, Nathan, and Kima watch the Javelin prepare to launch from the island. Her gaze lingers on me, maybe expecting a last-minute apology, but I only cross my arms and stare back at her. "I suppose this is goodbye for now. We have no idea how long this will take."

"See ya." I say with a hint of a scoff in my voice. "Tell the Emperor I say hi."

Robyn narrows her eyes at me but doesn't respond. She instead looks to Nathan and Kima. "And you two have your jobs. If you finish up before we get back… well it's not like I can give you new orders, so enjoy the free pay I guess."

"We shall." Nathan says. "Thank you, Miss Robyn."

Miss Robyn? Suck up. He never called me "Miss Changeling"... though I suppose that's because he basically never talked to me.

"Stay out of trouble as well. Supervillains might realize we're gone and take advantage, so if trouble arises call Changeling or the league."

"Of course." Nathan says.

"Will listen." Kima agrees. She puts a few tentacles on Nathan's shoulders. "I protect."

Oh, sure, rub it in how you still have your partner. First I had to deal with that stupid reunion between the slime (Ava I think) and the guy who owns Pizza place, and now Kima is rubbing it in too. Yes, I get it, I don't have Ruban! Stop reminding me! I miss him enough without all of you rubbing it in.

"Hopefully you won't have to." Robyn mutters. "Anyhow, stay out of trouble."

"No promises."

With that all out of the way, Robyn, Starfire, Cyborg, Kid Flash, and Mumbo all pile into the Javelin. Once again, there's a brief pause as Robyn stands at the entrance of the ship, the door still open. She looks out at us, me specifically, as if waiting for something.

I raise my eyebrows and say nothing. Robyn sighs quietly, and closes the door. A minute later the Javelin's jets turn on, and after a minute more the ship is flying high into the sky and out of the atmosphere.

Me, Nathan, and Kima all return back to the Titans' temporary home. Nathan and Kima simply go to work, and I take a few minutes to check on Ruban again.

It's not like I expected anything to change. Ruban is still lying on the bed, quiet and mostly still. The only movement is his chest rising and falling, and even that movement isn't so pronounced.

Out of habit, I bring a hand up to his neck and check for a pulse. It's there, of course, gently pulsing under my finger. Ruban is as stable as he's always been.

I sigh quietly and lean down and kiss his forehead. There's no reaction of course. Not even a small twitch.

I don't know what I was hoping for. I leave quickly after that.

###

As much as I might be bounty-hunting, the fact that I stay out late means that sometimes I inevitably run into Jump's nightlife.

Sometimes that means people who are out late at night including club-goers, rebellious teens, and all sorts of miscellaneous criminals, and other times that means a panther the size of a minivan. Square cube law be damned, Chang found a way.

Because this just has to be one of Chang's experiments that we released.

"Where have you been hiding at night?" I ask aloud, dodging the creature as it leaps at me. "Do you just run off into the forest?"

The panther, of course, doesn't talk. Instead it growls at me and leaps again. I promptly transform into a brontosaurus. The panther's claws sink into my side, but a brontosaurus is a big creature. It's painful, yet the damage is still superficial. Panthers don't have biggest fangs or the longest claws, so they can only sink so far into my skin

I slowly turn around and fling the panther off. I then into an ankylosaurus, twist around, and smash the scrambling animal with my armored tail.

Unfortunately, an ankylosaurus isn't nearly as big as the panther, so while my strike is strong it's not enough to take out the panther.

Realizing my animal forms aren't going to be that helpful, I instead revert to my human form. I duck under the next lunge from the panther, twist around, and lunge in return before the big cat can turn itself around.

I dig my claws into the panther's neck, and the thing snarls and vigorously shakes itself, trying to dislodge me. It's no use though. I hold on with claws and my legs squeezing around it's back.

The problem isn't subduing the panter. I can manage that. The problem is subduing it without crippling it, and finding out where the heck this thing is going to be kept. I don't think the JCPD are prepared to properly contain giant animals.

Still, there's not exactly anyone else I can call, so they're going to have to figure it out.

Subduing the panther is an exercise in patience. If I can't cripple it, and I can't pin it (because it's way too big), so I have to exhaust it instead.

That's easier said than done. It's not that I can't do it, but making sure there's not a lot of collateral damage or that the panther doesn't get away from me in the meantime is a challenge.

And so I spend nearly an hour wrangling a giant panther in the city streets, and it's as not-fun as it sounds. I have several new cuts to show for my efforts (most of which will be healed by the time I wake up tomorrow. Sakutia is useful like that), and the panther probably has numerous holes in its neck from where I've dug my claws in while trying to stay on it's back multiple times.

Eventually, though, the creature is too tired to move, and I can call in the JCPD to come and deal with it. Half a dozen troopers show up along with a veterinarian specializing in big cats.

I don't pay too much attention to what's being said otherwise. There's something about bringing in a biologist of some sort to work with the vet to document the changes in the panther, but I really don't care. My job is done. As soon as I've given my report on the whole situation, I leave to see what else I can hunt tonight (if anything at all).

Going out at night means I'm no stranger to these strange animals. Any of Chang's modified animals were rapidly captured in the days after Rose's attack if they were diurnal, leaving only the nocturnal ones to roam the city and wilderness surrounding it, when the JCPD has a harder time finding and responding to them.

Of course, Chang didn't only have animals for her experiments. The more intelligent of her creations can be problematic. Not all of them were like Ava; as in perfectly friendly and just happy to be out of the lab. Some of them were and are criminals, and some of them are just insane.

I bring this up because dealing with Chang's metahumans is a pain, and I've had to deal with some of them. I'll give her this: Chang knows how to engineer a nasty set of powers. Her modified animals are slightly annoying but no big deal; it's in augmenting and modifying people's metahuman abilities that her true capabilities are on full display.

And I bring that up because I run into another one of her metahumans tonight, and not one of the friendly ones who've gone back to their families or whatever.

The abandoned apartments and houses near Jump City's northern docks are a well-known hiding place for criminals and the homeless, as it's hard for the police to navigate the maze of crumbling buildings, and even if they can navigate it they won't do it quietly, giving the people that live there plenty of time to get out of the way (especially considering the people that live there actually know decent paths through the place).

If you're looking for trouble, this is a perfect place to go. It's a regular place I visit when doing bounty-hunting, and now that I am quite literally looking for trouble of course I'm still visiting.

The abandoned apartments are in various states of disrepair. Most of them look to be straight out of the twenties and thirties, and for good reason. This area of the city was largely abandoned because of the Great Depression. It was just being built up before the market crash, and so when the Depression hit everyone either moved out to live with family, couldn't afford to pay rent and so started squatting or went homeless, and all the new businesses rapidly failed, leaving nothing but housing complexes filled with people who couldn't pay rent and with no jobs in the area. Only the docks really survived the Depression, and even now it's a hotbed of various illegal activities.

The abandoned area being a cesspool of crime is also why attempts to rebuild this part of the city often fail. Any new project is one supervillain attack away from cancellation, and there are a lot of supervillains that live here.

Anyhow, Chang's metahuman.

I'm creeping through one of the biggest abandoned apartments. The wood of the main stairways haven't held up very well, so I use the rusty metal fire escapes to ascend levels, and explore whichever ones have little enough debris and rotted floors to actually be traversable.

It's in exploring one of these levels that notice some unusual movement. It's not odd to find rats or some sort of animal in abandoned buildings; that's nothing to note. What's unusual is that, while maneuvering around a large hole in the floor to reach some rooms at the other end of the hall, I look down through the hole to find a pair of red, pinprick eyes staring back at me.

At first I think it must be an animal of some sort. The apartment is very dark, and while I might have good night vision I'm really only seeing shades of grey at the moment. That's why I can't quite make out the figure's outline.

I know damn-well it's not an animal a moment later when it lunges though the hole, and only my quick reflexes stop me from getting mauled.

If that was an animal, it would have made a tell-tale noise by now (unless it was an owl or something). A growl, a hiss, a snarl. This thing makes a wheezing sound, and a very human one at that.

"Hello to see you too." I say quietly, just to check if this person will respond with words. Instead I get a gasping moan and the owner of the pinprick eyes staggers towards me at surprising speed.

It's also at this point that I learn this person has claws, when one of them scrapes my arm when I try to dodge out of the way.

Deciding that I will be kicking this person's ass, I strike back with my own claws, aiming for where I presume their shoulder is in a hope to cripple them.

Our fight quickly devolves into a grapple that keeps our hands busy, and eventually biting when we get close enough. It's not fun to realize they have fangs just like I do.

Seeing that this might be a problem, especially because I can barely see what I'm doing. I take a moment (despite the claws scraping my arms) to heave my foe up into the air, walk a few paces down the hall, and hurl them out a window.

I feel relatively safe doing this. It's very rare that being thrown out a window has ever killed a meta human because of their powers, and I'm pretty sure this person is super-humanly durable anyways.

I leap out after them, and finally get a good look at who I'm fighting (and get confirmation that they are, in fact, one of Chang's metahumans). The moonlight does little to make them less creepy. They're a (roughly) five and a half foot tall female with black obsidian coloured skin, sunken eyes that have red pinpricks as pupils (I suspect they must be reflective like most animals with night vision), simple, navy-blue clothes that are exactly what most people kept in Chang's lab wore (though this person's clothes are now very tattered), and long tangled hair. They also have five-inch claws on their fingers and a somewhat emaciated appearance.

Honestly, they look like some sort of clawed zombie dunked in black paint. I can also see the cuts and bites I've given them are rapidly healing up, indicating a high level of regeneration.

I don't think I'm winning this fight in my current state. Their regeneration is just better than mine, and I'm already worn out from fighting the panther. I know when to beat a retreat, and this is a perfect time.

Despite impressive speed and strength on the part of this wheezing zombie-like girl, I quickly slip away. A quick jump and transformation into a bat allows me to escape into the night without another scratch.

Once I'm far enough away I call the JCPD again to tell them what I saw, but I'm under no illusions they can do anything about it.

It looks like I might have a project on my hands while the others are gone. Someone has got to clean up Chang's rogue experiments, and I guess it's going to be me.

Just as well. Bounty-hunting was getting boring. I never realized how much I appreciated the physical challenge of superheroics until my only other stress cure was put into an indefinite magic coma.


Did you think Changeling would be doing nothing while the Titans went off to Tamaran? No no no, she's got her own problems to deal with.

I had to restrain myself from going into more detail than I already did about the abandoned area in Jump City. Heck, I had to hold back on talking more about the Yaemanese too. Worldbuilding is fun.


Origami Stars: Changeling is already on a short fuse, and taking Crow away from Changeling would only ever end badly, and Robyn knows it.

I think the biggest challenge with Mumbo is going to be keeping her speech patterns consistent, because she has a very distinct way of speaking.

Kima and Nathan are always a joy, and Kima is finally getting some proper character exploration. Sure, we've looked at her biology and such, but her personality has been limited to being protective of Nathan until now.

Robyn and Starfire… I have some ideas now, but we'll see.

iHateFridays: I'm glad you like Kima. She's so much fun.

TREBOR.E: I mean, he's in a coma from over-using his magic, but aside from that, yes.

Azarath Cat: I love Martian Manhunter too! Such a good character! The Justice League cartoons were something I remember fondly. It's been forever since I went back and watched those. You'll be getting more looks into Kima and Nathan over time. I don't want to overload on them all at once. Gotta have some restraint.