Strength whistled as she entered the main room, it was large with the far wall being comprised entirely of windows over looking Jump City. A large TV screen and curved couch dominated the room, with Cyborg and Robin already screaming at the screen and frantically pressing buttons on their controllers.

"Pretty sweet huh?" Beast Boy asked.

"It certainly is." Strength agreed. "But where is Black Rock Shooter?"

"She's in my room." Said Raven, entering behind them.

"Woah!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "We've only just met her, and you let her into your room already?"

"I trust her to not go through my things and break stuff." Raven drawled. "Unlike some people."

Beast Boy turned red with shame.

"Hey, it was just the one time!" He argued weakly.

Strength looked between them, slightly amused.

"So, what makes her so special?" She asked.

"She's… Different. There's a lot of fear and anguish inside her, yet also compassion and love." Raven said. "She has immense willpower."

Strength nodded.

"That's certainly Black Rock Shooter, she'd destroy the world to protect Mato. But at the same time she will help others if needed." The Otherself said.

Black Rock Shooter was sat cross-legged in the centre of Raven's room, she glanced briefly at the piles of books before closing her eyes.

Mato, are you there?

Yes. Came a weak reply.

Black Rock Shooter let out a silent sigh of relief.

Mato, do you know where you are?

I… I am in Titans Tower?

That's right, we fell into this world. We are far away from home. Black Rock Shooter said. You had a flashback.

I'm scared, I'm so scared. What if she finds me again? What if she hurts me this time?

Shhhh, it's okay, that is just your memories talking. I am here, I will protect you.

Why can't I move? Mato asked, her voice a little clearer.

You are inside of me.

Inside?

We merged, as we fell out of reality, we merged into one.

How?

I do not know, Strength and Yuu are the same.

Am I trapped?

I do not believe so, Strength and Yuu swapped bodies. We can do the same.

Can I come out?

No.

Black Rock Shooter opened her eyes and looked at her leg, still torn, but rapidly healing.

I do not know if these injuries will transfer over to you, I suggest we wait until I am fully healed.

Alright. Mato sighed.

I do not wish to hurt you further, when we figure out swapping bodies I will only emerge with your permission or to protect you.

Okay.

Strength felt like she was trapped, Starfire had cornered her and was plying her with millions of questions.

Or that's how it felt to Strength.

"And how many of the Otherselves are there in your world?" The bubbly titan asked.

"One for every person, so about seven and a half billion." Strength answered.

"What does your society look like? Do you live in cities and form familial units?" The orange teen asked.

Huh, that's a new one. Never been asked that. Strength thought.

She has an interesting view on life. Yuu agreed.

"We have no society, we normally only interact with Otherselves of humans that our human companions feel strongly about. There are exceptional circumstances though." Strength attempted to explain.

"I am afraid I do not understand." Starfire admitted.

"Okay, so, if everyone in this world had an Otherself, yours would only be able to interact with others that you know. So she would meet Raven's Otherself but not a random person's down the street.

"Distance also doesn't matter, I was speaking to Dead Master before we got here, whose companion, Yomi, lives in Japan while my companion, Yuu, was in the UK" Strength said, hoping she made sense.

"I believe I understand, but who is Dead Master?" Starfire asked with a smile.

"I warned you." Raven muttered from behind a book.

Strength and Yuu groaned.

I think I'm ready. Mato said.

Are you sure? Black Rock Shooter asked.

Yeah, I can't let you hide me forever.

Black Rock Shooter stood up and walked over to the door, she held a hand against it.

Remember, I will let no one hurt you.

I know.

Black Rock Shooter stepped out into the main room where everyone had gathered. Starfire was the first to notice her, she immediately flew over to the Otherself, leaving Strength mid-sentence.

"Friend Rock, are you feeling better?" She asked.

Rock took a step back, nodding.

"Hey Starfire?" Robin said, dropping the game controller and leaping over the back of the couch. "Maybe give her some room?"

"Oh, I am sorry." Starfire apologised, hovering backwards a little.

The rest of the titans gathered around her.

Easy Mato, they mean no harm. Rock comforted.

She looked at Strength, who was standing slightly back from the group, and nodded. She touched her own forehead, then her chest, finally her chin and moved her hand forward as if she was blowing a kiss.

The tanned Otherself smiled and nodded in return.

The titans looked at Strength for an explanation.

"She said. 'We thank you'" Strength translated.

"I recognised, 'thank you' that's standard sign language. But what was the first part?" Robin asked repeating the motions.

"It's her own form of sign language, bits of everything in one mess and it sometimes changes." Strength laughed. "But in this case, touching her forehead meant 'me', touching her heart meant 'Mato', so together it's 'we'."

"Man, that sounds complicated. Can't she speak?" Cyborg asked.

"Only to Mato, I don't personally know where this came from. Otherselves aren't typically a chatty bunch, but Black Rock Shooter refuses to talk to anyone." Strength explained.

Rock tilted her head slightly, Strength subtly shook hers.

What about Voldemort?

That was an exception, explaining would talk too long and potentially trigger Mato again. Were the unspoken words conveyed in the exchange, not even Mato or Yuu noticed the actions.

"You always refer to her by her full name, why?" Raven asked.

"Respect." Strength shrugged. "We fight and kill each other, the emotions we carry might even cause us to hate who we're fighting. But do it for those we love, we respect that because each of us are willingly doing it."

"I thought you were mental constructs for that purpose." Robin said. "How do you have choice over something you were created for?"

"Millions of years of evolution shaped humans into what they are now, survival, life, continuation of the species is a fundamental part of everything biological. It's practically encoded into your DNA." Strength stated. "And yet, you can choose not to reproduce. The need is deeper for us, but we are still sapient beings with our own thoughts."

"Have any of you actually made that choice though? To refuse?" Cyborg asked.

The five Titans jumped as a flare of blue fire came from Rock's eye.

"One has." Strength muttered, staring at Rock whose hand slipped towards the Black Blade.

Strength twitched her fingers in readiness. "We shouldn't talk about her now though."

The Titans looked between the two, tension filling the room, nobody was ready to ask the two questions in everyone's mind.

Instead another question was asked, successfully destroying the moment.

"Does anyone want waffles?" Beast Boy asked.

"Man, I could go for some waffles right now." Cyborg said enthusiastically.

"Ooooh! I can cook them!" Starfire exclaimed.

"No!" Came the loud reply from the other four Titans.

Robin cleared his throat.

"It's been a long day, why don't we go to the wafflehouse instead?" He suggested.

The Titans nodded.

Strength walked over to Rock.

"What the hell just happened?" She asked in a low voice.

Rock shook her head.

The seven teenagers sat in the resturant, five of them eating waffles while Rock and Strength sat with them.

"You guys not eating?" Cyborg asked.

Rock shook her head.

"We don't eat, we don't need to." Strength said.

"You don't eat?" Beast Boy asked incredulously. "Next you'll say you don't sleep!"

The Otherselves looked at each other but said nothing.

"You don't sleep either?" Beast Boy said loudly. "How do you relax and pass the time? I don't know how I could cope without my three naps a day!"

Rock raised an eyebrow.

"We used to find the highest point and stare at the stars." Strength said fondly recalling the nights spent on the roof of Hogwarts astronomy tower.

"That sounds so romantic!" Starfire cried out.

Everyone looked at her.

"I suppose it does." Strength admitted.

"Was it?" Cyborg asked, mouth full of waffle.

Strength frowned.

"Was it what?" She asked.

"Romantic? We ain't gonna judge." Cyborg said.

"No, no romance. We don't form romantic or sexual connections." Strength said. "The closest we can get is verging towards friends. But even that's pushing it."

"But you two are friends right?" Beast Boy asked hopefully.

"I suppose." Strength said slowly, looking at Rock who tilted her head. "As much as we can be, we've fought in the past."

"All friends fight." Robin said.

"We tried to kill each other, with guns and blades." Strength stated.

The Titans looked at Rock who nodded.

The pale teen motioned at Strength and pointed at her own eye then at Strength's.

"Really?" Strength asked. She turned to the Titans and grinned.

"You guys want to see a magic trick?" She asked.

Yuu, you need to start taking control, imagine yourself waking up.

Got it.

Strength's white hair started turning brown from root to tip, her metal hands slowly dissolved and revealed slender human fingers. A faint light glowed from under her skin as Yuu took control.

"Ta da!" Yuu exclaimed with a smile.

Starfire started clapping.

"Yuu?" Robin asked.

"Yep, that's me." Yuu said, still grinning. She looked down at herself, her smile dropped slightly and she sighed, seeing Strength's short black dress and white thigh socks.

"Of course I wouldn't get my clothes back." She muttered, pulling her hood back. "Strength! Why is your dress so short!"

I don't know, and it didn't bother you when you were me.

"But I'm in the human world now Strength!" Yuu grumbled attempting to pull her dress down to cover her legs slightly. She could hear giggling in her head from Strength.

"Dude, are you okay?" Beast Boy asked.

"I'm fine." Yuu sighed. "Hello everyone, I'm Koutari Yuu. Strength's human companion. Nice to meet you all." She bowed.

"Friend Koutari Yuu, it is nice to meet you too!" Starfire smiled.

"Just Yuu is fine." Yuu smiled back.

Starfire looked confused.

"Just me?" She asked.

"No Yuu, Y-U-U." The brown-haired girl said, spelling her name.

"I do not know why I am me, Koutari Yuu." Starfire replied.

Yuu facepalmed.

"Can someone explain please? I haven't gotten used to her speech pattern yet." She said.

Cyborg took it upon himself to explain to Starfire.

"You seem very at ease and familiar with us Yuu." Robin said.

"Why shouldn't I be? You helped me when we first arrived here, plus I've been inside Strength, I've seen and heard everything she has." Yuu replied.

"So that would be the same with Rock?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, it's how Strength helped those two." Yuu replied.

She turned to Rock.

"How you doing Mato?" She asked.

Rock blinked, and made some rapid movements with her hands.

"Right." Yuu said. "Strength? A little help please?"

She says she's starting to feel a little better, Black Rock Shooter wants to wait until she's fully healed before letting Mato take control. Mato wants waffles.

"Black Rock Shooter has a word for waffles?" Yuu asked, slightly bemused.

Apparently.

"Of course she does, why am I surprised?" Yuu sighed with a smile.

Rock shrugged.

"I have so many questions." Cyborg said.

"Mato's slowly getting better. They're just waiting for Black Rock Shooter to heal, and Mato wants waffles." Yuu said.

"That hasn't answered any of them!" Cyborg replied.

Back at the tower, Yuu, Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing video games. It was currently a fighting game and they were using winner stays on rules. So far, they had fought each other an equal amount of times.

"Hey girl, you're pretty good at this!" Beast Boy cheered as he watched her and Cyborg face off.

"Thanks, I used to play tons of games when I was younger." Yuu smiled, sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth as she concentrated.

Kick his butt Yuu!

"Not helping Strength." Yuu grinned.

Starfire and Robin were quietly conversing with each other in the attached kitchen area, and Rock and Raven were sitting next to each other on a small couch, reading. Raven had given Rock a book on meditation that she said helped her in the past. Mato was suspiciously quiet in her mind though, which concerned her.

Mato?

Silence.

Mato!

More silence.

MATO! Rock screamed in her head.

Huh? Wha..?

Were you asleep?

Yeah, I guess or daydreaming. 'Spose the two are the same thing in here.

Rock looked down at her leg.

It will not be long until I am healed, then you can be free.

Thanks, Black Rock Shooter. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've given you.

Do not. I love you Mato, it is no trouble for me. I am with you.

Thank you anyway.

When the Titans had gone to sleep, Rock silently exited onto the roof of the tower. Waiting for her, next to the edge, was Strength who smiled when she saw her.

"I knew you'd be coming up here." She said.

Rock gently touched her own chest.

"Yuu gave me permission, but she's quiet now. I think she's asleep." Strength said quietly.

The pair lay down on the hard concrete roof.

"Same stars, different world." Strength commented. "How is that possible?"

Rock didn't respond, she stared up into the clear sky. After a short time had passed, she glanced at Strength.

"Don't." Strength replied. "We can't think about our sisters, I told Yuu that it's possible our worlds joined. I'm hoping with everything I have that it's true and I didn't inadvertently lie to her."

Rock shook her head slightly.

"I couldn't bring myself to confirm her thoughts, that our worlds are gone. I'm refusing to believe that." Strength muttered.

Rock sat up and placed a hand on Strength's chest.

"I know. We're closer now than we've ever been but if we're here for a long time, I'm hoping these titans can become her friends. Both will need them." The white haired girl said.

They didn't say another word for the rest of the night, instead watching as the stars drifted by until sunrise the next day.