A few days passed, Mato and Yuu were sat on the couch playing a racing game. Mato was not paying much attention to it however.
"What do you think is going to happen to us?" She asked, as her computer character crashed into a barrier.
"What do you mean?" Yuu asked, tongue out of the side of her mouth.
"I doubt the Titans are going to allow us to stay here, we're not one of them and we don't have any money." Mato said, airing her thoughts.
"Oh." Yuu said, sitting a little straighter. "I didn't think of that, I guess we're illegal immigrants. What's America's stand on that?"
"I don't know." Mato admitted. "Deportation probably."
"To Japan? Or this worlds version of it." Yuu suggested.
"I mean, we are Japanese." Mato shrugged. "But still, we have no money, no ID, nothing to say we exist. We're exiles."
"Hey now." Yuu said gently, pausing the game and putting an arm around her friend. "I'm sure there's somewhere for us to go, Starfire's a literal alien and she found the Titans. If worse comes to worse we could always start our own superhero team."
"Mato laughed softly.
"Us as superheroes?" She muttered. "I can't really see Black Rock Shooter wearing a mask, or a cape."
No. Rock confirmed.
"Robin's the only one who wears a mask, apparently he only does it to hide his identity to protect people close to him." Yuu replied.
"How do you know that?" Mato asked.
"I asked him, I thought is was weird that none of the other Titans did that." Yuu shrugged.
They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"So what would we call ourselves?" Mato smiled.
"Dunno, Titans East?" Yuu suggested.
"Nope. Already taken." Said a voice behind them.
The pair screamed in surprise and fell off the couch.
Mato peered over the back of the comfy red seat and saw Robin standing in the doorway, arms crossed with a smirk on his face.
"You scared us!" She exclaimed, getting up.
"I noticed, I'm sorry for making you jump." The Titan's leader said, uncrossing his arms and walking towards them. "You're thinking of leaving us then?" He asked.
"I just thought that you'd be looking to get rid of us, we're not Titans and I feel like we've already intruded enough." Mato said glumly.
"Why would you think that? Do you have anywhere else to go?" Robin asked, sitting down on the edge of the couch.
"No." Yuu shook her head. "But like Mato said, we're not Titans, we shouldn't even be in this reality. We lost all of our friends and family!"
Don't think about it, you can't change the past Yuu. Strength said.
"How can I not think about it? Masaaki, Saya, all of our friends gone!" Yuu said in a trembling voice.
"Hey now, Yuu." Mato said reasurringly. "Yuu, look at me." She added.
Yuu turned her face towards her but kept her eyes down.
"Yuu, we don't know what happened. But I'm sure somewhere in this world there is the means to find out." Mato said, pouring every ounce of belief behind the statement.
Robin nodded.
"We've had some experience with parallel dimensions, haven't come across one similar to yours but that's not to say we can't find it." He said.
"So you can help?" Yuu said, still looking at the floor.
"We'll try." Robin said with a small smile.
Yuu sighed.
"Thank you." She said, returning the smile. "But what do we do in the meantime? We don't have a home."
"Are you planning on leaving us?" Robin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No." Mato said quickly.
"Then I don't see the problem." Robin smiled. "We can make you honorary Titans and you can stay in the tower, if you do work something out and decide to leave then we won't stop you."
"Really? You'd let us stay here?" Mato asked.
"Yeah, you'd have to do your part of the chores of course." The boy wonder said. "You already know that though don't you?" He grinned at Yuu.
He knows you do. Strength grumbled. Stupid tiny plates.
"Yeah, Strength isn't happy about the size of your plates." Yuu said with a slight grin.
"Well she did suggest it, has she ever done housework before?" Robin asked.
"No, there's no need. Otherselves don't eat or sleep." Yuu said.
"I take it Rock is the same?" Robin asked Mato.
I will clean the plates with the Rock Cannon. Rock growled.
"I don't it would be a good idea, Black Rock Shooter isn't as… Understanding." Mato frowned. "I'll do my part though" She added quickly.
Robin nodded again.
"In that case then, we'll start training straight away. Get you up to speed with how the rest of the team work and how we move." He said getting up.
Mato and Yuu grinned at each other, the weight around Yuu lifting slightly.
"Crime alert!" Robin shouted as a flashing red light and alarm made everyone jump. He and Mato were practising hand-to-hand combat while Strength was gleefully sparring against Cyborg. They all turned and ran into the main room at the top of the tower.
Mato lagged behind as she ran, cursing herself for not being a quick as the others. In the week she and Yuu had agreed to be honorary Titans, they had been subjected to daily workouts and training sessions. Mato had noticed a small improvement, even in such a small amount of time but it was relentless and the struggle to crawl out of bed grew with every passing day for her.
She was just not a morning person.
"What is it? Robin asked as he ran towards the large screen.
"Bank robbery." Raven drawled.
"Who?" Cyborg asked.
"Just normal robbers, they're armed with some sort of high-tech weaponry though." Raven replied.
Beast Boy looked at the CCTV footage.
"Aww man, they're getting owned!" He grimaced.
"We'd better get there!" Robin said.
The Titans stood out of the way while Robin conversed with the policeman in charge of the scene.
"How bad do you think it is?" Mato asked.
Yuu, who had taken control, just to fit in the T-Car, shrugged.
"Pretty bad, I mean look at this place." She said sweeping her arm. "It looks like a warzone."
Mato agreed. The front of the building was littered with the burnt out husks of police cars, broken bodies and cratered tarmac and concrete. Smoke and dust obscured the area.
Robin walked over.
"Under normal circumstances I'd lead us all in to apprehend these criminals, however." Robin paused. "Only Black Rock Shooter and Strength will be handling them, we'll be holding back just in case they need any assistance."
There was a cry of disbelief from the Titans.
"But Robin, there are eight criminals in there but only two of them." Starfire exclaimed.
"We can't let them put themselves at risk like this dude! We need to be there too!" Beast Boy shouted.
Robin raised his hands.
"I know! I said the same thing to Yuu when she suggested this. However she adamant that they could do this, if they're going to be Titans we need to show we can trust them. We'll go in at the first sign of trouble however." He shouted over the voices.
He turned to Yuu.
"Are you sure you two don't want our help, we don't know what they're armed with, it's not weakness to ask for help." He said quietly.
Yuu allowed Strength to take control, beside her, Mato did the same.
"I wouldn't have asked Yuu to say that if I didn't believe we could do it." Strength grinned. "Yuu trusts me."
"Alright, go. We'll get into position." Robin replied, he waved at the Titans who sped off in different directions. He turned back to Strength. "No killing, okay? Keep them all alive."
Strength nodded. Robin left and she turned to Rock.
"No killing?" Strength asked.
Rock made a snapping motion with her hands.
"I guess, if it comes to that. Try not to go too hard on them okay? They're only human." Strength reminded her.
Rock glared at her but slowly nodded.
"Don't give me that." Strength sighed.
That bank was built like a fortress, Mato wasn't entirely sure but it looked like it had been modelled after a castle. It stood out from the other square brick buildings surrounding it, it looked… safe. She supposed that's what the architects were hoping for, a sense of security, something that exuded dominance.
You'll be safe here, nothing can get in. It said to her.
As imposing as it was, as thick as the stone walls were. It was nothing compared to the power of an Otherself with metal hands, with the sole driving reason for her life as the protection of her companion.
Strength hammered her fists into the wall, bringing down huge chunks around her. As she broke through, reddish orange beams shot out past her. The Otherself dove out the way and beckoned Rock to go in.
With a nod, Rock ran past and through the gap, ducking to avoid the beams with Strength following. She formed her cannon and dove through the air, quickly noticing where the hostages were, she fired it at the ceiling above them. The energised rock exploded as it hit the surface, sending rubble crashing down. Strength darted forwards, grabbing the hostages and jumping forwards out of the way, ramming her way through the opposite wall.
Rock got to her feet and ran towards the nearest criminal, he was tall and wearing some kind of black armoured bodysuit with a few metal bands on his arms and legs. A plain mask obscured his features. She slammed the cannon into his side and continued forward, thrusting her sword into the second target's arm. Jumping up, she used the second criminal as a spring-board to leap in the direction of a third.
"Shit!" Shouted one as he got to his feet, he was standing right next to the wall when Strength exited. He shook his head and aimed at Rock as she jumped off the second man.
The energy beam crossed the distance in an instant, scoring a hit on her side, burning through flesh and bone.
Rock landed hard.
AAAHHHHHHHHH! Mato screamed.
Mato!
I'm okay. Mato grunted, barely keeping herself awake. Keep going you need to stop them.
Gritting her teeth, Rock shoot up, blue flames sparked out of her eye. She turned, to the shock of the man who fired at her, and faster than he could follow she ran towards him. She grabbed his wrist, twisted it and slammed her knee into his elbow, breaking it.
As he dropped to the floor screaming she focussed her attention on her next target.
"Here you go." Strength said, running up to a random police officer. She deposited the hostages from her hands, turned and ran back towards the bank.
Rock stalked across the foyer, by now the entire room was choked with dust. Weaving her way through the beams, she dispatched two more robbers without them even seeing her.
Strength entered, she clapped her hands together as hard as possible, creating a shockwave that blew the dust away slightly. She charged at the nearest criminal, hands in front of her body, and swatted him like a fly. He crashed to the floor in a broken heap, as she moved on.
Rock raised her cannon and fired a blast at another, the shot missed but the impact sent him sprawling across the room.
The last man standing, looking at the two Otherselves, dropped his weapon. He waited a moment then pressed something on his arm.
With a loud yell he launched himself at Rock, on reflex she plunged her sword through his chest. His momentum carried him forwards and they both crashed to the floor, Rock heard a wet gurgle coming from behind the mask before the man exploded.
The sound of an explosion caused the Titans to react, they leapt into action and charged through the hole created by Strength. When they emerged, they saw Strength covering herself with her hands and standing in a very large crater. They ran forward only then noticing Rock, lying face up in the middle.
"Rock!" Robin shouted, rushing over to her.
The Titans all gathered around her.
"Is she okay?" Starfire asked, slight desperation tinting her words.
Strength looked down and smiled.
"She's okay, she took the full brunt of that explosion though." She grinned.
"What's so funny?" Cyborg glared. "Don't you care that she's been hurt? She's your friend!"
Strength's smiled dropped.
"I said she was the closest thing I had." She reached down and picked Rock up. "And if we were as fragile as you, I'd be worried."
Strength poked Rock in the chest.
Rock silently gasped, jumping out of Strength's hand and pointing her cannon at them.
"If a mere explosion could kill her, she'd be dead years ago." Strength said, smile back on her face.
Rock lowered her weapon and nodded.
"You still put yourselves at incredible risk." Robin stated.
Strength sighed.
"You're still thinking as if we're human Robin, we're not." She said sadly. "I'm not even sure if we're really alive, by your definition anyway. We've been over this."
"So, any idea who these guys were?" Beast Boy asked, changing the subject.
Robin scowled at Strength then walked over to one of the unconscious bodies. Strength mouthed a 'thank you' to Beast Boy, who looked unhappy but nodded.
"I don't know." Robin said kneeling down, he looked up at one of the others. "But this armour looks familiar."
Rock's eye was drawn to one of the gaping holes in the wall opposite, a dark shape swiftly passed, so quick that she could be sure she had even seen it. For a moment though she could've sworn it had looked at her.
"So." Strength said as they entered the tower. "How'd we do?"
Robin's eye twitched.
"You're impulsive and reckless." He said. "However you did rescue the hostages unharmed and took down eight guys yourselves."
"Seven of them, the last one committed suicide." Strength corrected.
"Still very impressive." Robin said. "With proper training, you could work well with us."
Strength smiled as Yuu squealed inside her.
"How's Rock doing?" Robin asked.
"Huh? Fine, why?" Strength replied, confused.
"She had a long burn across her torso." Robin said, lifting his arm and drawing a line with his other hand across his side. "You didn't notice?"
Strength shook her head.
"She's still alive so she'll be fine." She said.
"But…" Robin started.
"No, no buts." Strength warned. "If we're alive we can heal anything, we don't 'bleed out' or anything like that Robin."
"So anything?" Robin asked.
"Yep." Strength said. "Black Rock Shooter had her arm damaged once, she tore it off in frustration."
"I remember Mato telling me Rock lost her arm once." Robin said rubbing his neck.
"She didn't tell you that part though did she?" Strength guessed.
"No." Robin said.
"Well, she wasn't exactly herself." Strength said sadly. "It was a dark time for everyone, but we all got through it."
Rock was sitting with Raven in her room, they were running through breathing exercises for Mato.
"How is Mato doing?" Raven said once they finished.
Rock held her hand over her side and pretended to wince.
"Still hurts?" Raven asked.
Rock shook her head.
"I meant for her." Raven clarified.
Rock nodded.
"Here, let me." Raven said, she slowly moved over to Rock. Her hands glowed with a pale light and she gently pressed them against Rock's side. After a few seconds, Raven frowned slightly and closed her eyes.
She smells nice. Mato said in a slight daze.
Rock shook her head slightly.
"There." Raven said moving back. "I can't speed up the healing but that should help with the pain."
Rock nodded and gestured her thanks.
Raven's so pretty and nice. Mato said dreamily.
Mato. Rock sighed internally.
"Has it worked?" Raven asked after a few seconds.
Rock nodded, then dropped her head and nodded more.
"Too well I'm guessing?" Raven said.
I should buy Raven some flowers, maybe a bunny with a heart on it.
Rock rolled her eyes and fell backwards in annoyance.
Later, Rock stepped out onto the roof, into the night and looked out at the bright lights of Jump City, there was something relaxing about the scene, people going about their business despite all the dangers their world possessed. She twitched as she heard foot steps behind her.
"Contemplating humanity?" Strength asked.
Rock turned her head and nodded slightly.
"All those years in their world and they never ceased to surprise me with their capacity for love." Strength smiled.
Rock frowned.
"I know." Strength said standing next to her. "But you have to remember we only know of their pain, we never feel the other side."
Rock stared towards the city, not moving.
"You're troubled, and it's not just Mato. There's something else." Strength said.
Rock's shoulders dropped slightly.
"You know you can't hide it from me." Strength said smiling again.
Rock tilted her head and stared at her.
"It's the merging, you're worried about having Mato in your head again." The tanned Otherself said. "Especially when she's so fragile."
The pale teen turned her head away.
"You're not going to become, her, again, Mato is safe inside you." Strength said, turning Rock towards her and poking her chest. "The safest place she can be."
The taller teen closed her eyes.
"How am I always the voice of reason?" Strength asked with a smirk. "You're the one with more experience with humans."
Rock glared at her.
"Okay, so you're not, I did have to pretend to be one of them." Strength admitted. She let out a small chuckle.
Rock looked at her quizzically.
"You've changed, sometimes you think like a human." Strength said.
The blue-eye girl frowned.
"Not in a bad way." Strength said. "You're understanding them more, and I think that's what's getting to you. You've spent so long in the human world you're struggling to remember who you are."
Rock tilted her head.
"So how about I show you?" Strength grinned.