Howdy, dear readers !

Here's Dixxy, back to pick-up where my dear co-writer, Skychild101 (SC101), left off !

So…almost three weeks have passed since last update… Sorry for that, it's all because I've been working on my main ongoing story 'RavInX', which takes so much of my time. I had told SC101 that I needed to update that story first before returning to INLAND EMPIRE, and since I published my latest 'RavInX' yesterday… I can finally get back to this one !

Right, so wzout further ado (delayed it enough already, eh ! XD)… here we go again !

N'JOY !

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(THREE) _ SOCIALIZING AND INQUIRING _

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Starfire was happy beyond the conceivable !

She had asked Friend Robin, and Friend Robin had accepted !

And her gratitude knew no boundaries for his agreement !

"I'm soooo happy that our new friends from the Monster Buster Club get to stay in the Tower !" she gleefully exclaimed as she made a loop in the air in front of Robin.

The Titan leader smiled as he witnessed the alien's exuberant enthusiasm.

"Well, it's good to have allies, Star, plus they look like interesting and nice people. Samantha told me that they would be glad to spend more time with us, and that should we need help to locate some alien, even with all our technological gear… they would be happy to lend a hand !"

Then he walked back to the common room with her and, after everybody had gathered in front of him, he cleared his voice.

"Team, I have a proposal to make about the Monster Buster Club. Starfire has had this idea…"

An hour later, Cyborg, whom Robin had given the address of the bed and breakfast where the MBC had taken up residence, was back with the four teenagers from Singletown.

"Welcome back !" greeted Boy Wonder as they entered the main room.

"Cyborg told us that you wanted to see us… but that we should come with our backpacks ?!" half-said, half-asked Samantha.

"Yes. That's because, after discussing all together, we agreed on this point : that we should invite you to the Tower. And that you remain here with us during your stay in Jump City. That will allow you to spare money, instead of spending it for the bed and breakfast, and we'll get to know each other better. And it would also be possible to share our respective informatics and technical knowledge : we could initiate you to our training sessions, and you could show us how your weapons function. How about that ?" proposed Robin.

The Famous Four certainly weren't expecting that. To be hosted by the local superheroes… yet it was way flattering, and difficult to refuse.

"Well, I guess nobody will vote against that offer. Right ?" spoke up the Singletown leader.

And as she ended her sentence, Samantha quickly eyed her three teammates.

"Oh, that's just zbarmlig !" yelled Cathy, grinning as wide as she could.

Seeing the numerous eyebrows raised, she sheepishly laughed.

"Hum, eh eh… that's Rhapsodian for : super !"

"Ah…!" replied a still perplexed Jinx, scratching her head thoughtfully.

And her answer was more or less the expression of everyone around, who were still slightly disconcerted by that curious alien girl who dazed them just as much as Starfire did.

"Well, I'd say yes… except for the training part ! We're on vacation, so…" Danny reminded them.

"Ah yes, right…" admitted Boy Wonder, who had indeed forgotten about that "detail", and wondered how he could bring up the "mutual assistance" between teams, now…

"But as for me, I would be glad to explain you our weapons' operating. And I would be just as glad to know more about your supercomputer and other devices here !" enthusiastically commented Christopher.

"We're on the same page then !" exclaimed a visibly pleased Cyborg.

"Geeks…" muttered Beast Boy.

"Watch your tongue." calmly yet firmly warned Raven.

The changeling glanced at her… and, seeing her slightly menacing gaze, he sweatdropped.

"Eh eh… uuuh… okay…" he faltered, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

"So, I take it you all agree to stay here ?" Robin asked for formal confirmation.

"You've got four YES and zero NO. Does that answer your question ?" replied Sam, grinning.

"Crystal clear !" indicated Jinx, making a circle with her thumb and forefinger.

"Oh Joy ! We have new Friends in the Tower ! What a glorious day !" shrilled the Tamaranean, childishly clapping her hand and stretching her mouth as much as she could.

They all smiled at her ingenuous excitement.

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Christopher and Cyborg got along just fine, endlessly chatting about technology, while Cathy and Starfire chewed the fat, each one explaining what life was like on their respective planet, and Danny made a point of honour in showing Beast Boy and Jinx that he was the best at virtual basketball.

As for Sam, she had been taking a look at the criminal files and sharing fighting experiences with Robin. But while he was busy making a couple of phone calls, she chose to have some time off and prepare herself a cup of tea.

Once in the kitchen, she found the herbal tea in a cabinet and, curious to taste that new variety she had never heard of, decided to go for it.

Just as she was turning around with her steaming mug, ready to leave the kitchen, her gaze met Raven's, who had silently entered (floating instead of walking) to do exactly the same as Sam and was standing a short distance behind the foursome's leader, quietly waiting for her turn.

Surprised by that unsuspected and unexpected presence, given that she couldn't hear the Azarathian coming, the young African-American female jolted, and her cup's content unfortunately splashed over her hand.

Sam screamed and winced at the acute pain of the burn, hurrying to set her mug down on the counter.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stayed silently behind you like that. I just wanted some herbal tea… but I should have made my presence known, so as to avoid scaring you. Sorry, Sam." the empath regretfully said.

"It's… it's nothing… really…" the yellow MBC member replied painfully, as she held her hand over her aching injury.

"Let me see your hand, please !"

"It will be okay… don't worry…"

Raven didn't reply but merely touched the wound.

Her hand glowed white for a few seconds, then everything was back to normal.

The Dark Titan took a step back and looked at Sam, whose eyes had widened a tad.

"Are you feeling better ?" she asked her new friend.

The black teen, who was staring at her hand, raised her eyes at the cloaked girl, then looked at the previously sore spot again.

"The pain… it's gone !"

The yellow gaze met the purple one again.

"Thank you, Raven ! I didn't know you had healing powers."

The addressee gave a small smile, but as she spoke on, regained a deadpan composure.

"No problem. Yes, healing is part of my powers. As an empath, I can also feel others' emotions and interpret them. For instance, I can tell when someone is lying, or hiding something. And I have telekinetic abilities too, which you certainly noticed during our fight in the wood. There are other powers as well, such as opening portals between dimensions… but I don't want to go too much into detail. That might bore you."

Sam energetically shook her head.

"No, definitely not. That's really interesting ! Why would it bore me ?" she protested.

Raven's smile reappeared.

"Thank you. I will make myself some herbal tea. I always drink some after meditation."

Sam immediately stepped aside to let the Azarathian access the cabinet.

"Hum, yes, naturally." the MBC leader apologetically said.

As she was preparing her cup, Raven glanced at the steaming one her new friend held.

"By the way, you've prepared yourself herbal tea as well, right ? Do you like it ?"

Sam looked almost sheepish.

"Hum, I haven't tasted it yet… let me try…"

She sipped some of the hot beverage and let her taste buds do their job.

"Eh, it's good ! I like it !"

And her yellow eyes were sparkling with pleasure as she spoke it up.

"Glad you like my tea. My teammates don't drink tea, except for Jinx, but she prefers another variety, so this one is kind of "reserved for me", in a sense…" explained the Goth.

"Oh, it's your tea ! Sorry I helped myself to it, then ! If I had known, I would ha-"

But she interrupted her sentence as she saw the grey raised hand.

"Nothing to apologize about. Although I'm the only one drinking it, and although I mentioned it was "reserved for me", everybody can actually drink it. So it's just fine, really."

Sam gave a grateful smile, and both girls moved to the lounge, where they sat at the table.

"And… please excuse my curiosity, but you mentioned 'meditation' before. Robin told me that's why you were absent, and that you meditated every day. I guess that's why you're always so calm, right ? You have acquired an impressive control over yourself, as far as I could tell from the little time I've known you. In fact, I can hardly imagine you angry…"

Raven sipped her tea before answering.

"I meditate because I have to, not because I feel like doing it that often. Naturally, I learned to appreciate the quietness that goes with it, but I probably wouldn't do it that often willingly. I am forced to do it, in order to keep my emotions under control." Raven's eyes lowered to her cup and remained stuck there, not looking at Sam as she continued : "I'm not entirely human, as you probably could tell from the colour of my skin. While my mother was earthling, my father was a demon lord, which makes me half-demon. And with that dreadful genetic heritage comes emotional instability… with a particularly high risk of… let's say, "wrath explosions" ! If those happen… it can range from massive destruction to widespread killing ! And I evidently can't let such an horror take place ! That's why I have no choice, but do all I can to keep my emotions in check. And meditation is a great help in that. I cannot guarantee than nothing bad will happen if I meditate, but there are far less risks if I do."

Sam pondered what she had just been told, before expressing her sympathy to the half-demon.

"So you are under a constant emotional constraint, as I understand… Gosh, that's quite a burden to live with ! I'm sorry to hear that you have to deal with such an obligation."

Raven briefly smiled.

"Thank you for your solicitude, Sam."

"Don't mention it !" the African-American concluded with a grin.

Both teens continued to sip their teas, alternating silence and discussion, and basically enjoying each other's presence, as well as their new friendship.

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On that Monday, Titans and MBC reciprocally exposed their personal powers and their weapons' abilities, appreciating to share all that stuff, which helped them get to know each other better, as well as the team's assets for crime fighting.

And on Tuesday, additionally to these same activities, the MBC also attended two different Titan training sessions, during which the Singletown crew could admire the skills of the Jump City's upholders of the law.

They were all pleased with those nice two days… until the evening news bulletin on Tuesday !

"The Health Department of Jump City has announced today a sudden number of peculiar cases involving exhaustion. About 39 persons have already been on consultation for the past three days. All present similar symptoms of extreme fatigue the following day. Drugstores have therefore noted a significant increase of sleep medication on the physicians' prescriptions. The police have been informed of these facts and have announced that an investigation would be conducted in collaboration with health services and physicians."

"Man, what's that new stuff ?" asked a bewildered Beast Boy.

"First time I hear such a crap…" confessed Jinx. "Is someone using a kind of machine to absorb people's energy during their sleep or what ?"

Chris pondered the details of the piece of news he had just been listening to.

"They said it had been happening for the past three days… So it all started on Saturday, right ? Which means, on the day we met. Which was when we got that alien alert in Wolfram Wood. Could the two things be related somehow ?" he said.

"Dude, that alien alert was linked to Starfire, not to a monster ! So it's got nothing to do with those pooped folks !" Danny said.

The blue MBC member frowned.

"Well, can we be sure it was Starfire who caused the alert ? Because the signal got lost and the sensors of the A-scan screen got these interferences some time before we came across the Teen Titans. So what if the signal originated from a different source and we couldn't determine where that source was ? And in that case… it could indeed be a monster or some mastermind lurking in the wood at the time, and which we couldn't discover because of our fight with the Titans."

Sam was rubbing her chin in the typical thoughtful attitude.

"Alright, but if there was another alien, why didn't you get two signals on the A-scan : one for Starfire and one for the unknown being hiding over there ?" she objected.

The freckled teenager reflected on the problem for only a few seconds before coming up with an answer.

"It may be because the Teen Titans hadn't arrived yet, or weren't close enough at the time for the A-scan to pick-up Starfire's presence, hence leaving only the monster's signal."

Cyborg's eyes lit up.

"We actually also got an alert from Wolfram Wood. It mentioned a 'suspect presence' of unknown origin, but we couldn't get a visual. And when we all befriended, and I learned that Cathy was an alien, a…Rhapsodian, right ? (Cathy nodded vigorously to indicate his being correct)… well I assumed it was her that had triggered the alert. But we also lost the signal some time before brawling with you. And, just like Chris said, the signal could also belong to another entity hiding close-by, while Cathy's presence hadn't been detected because you guys weren't close enough. So, how can we be sure there wasn't really a monster or a fishy presence in Wolfram Wood while we all were in there ?" the half-robot detailed.

There was a moment of silence, all being busy cogitating on a solution to the problem.

Finally, it was Raven who came up with a proposal.

"These interferences Cyborg and Chris's A-scan experienced were produced by the origin of the signal which both our systems detected. So either the origin of the alert is a monster, or it's Starfire and Cathy simultaneously. And there is a simple way to check if our friends disrupted our tracking devices : it's to test these on Star and Cathy, right now ! And if nothing special happens, if there is no disruption… then we will know for sure that there actually WAS an hostile presence in Wolfram Wood that day !"

"Bravo, Raven ! Well thought and said ! Let's do it !" congratulated Robin, putting his fist up t shoulder height, in a gesture of pure determination.

Chris took the A-scan out and held it in Starfire's direction, while Cyborg set up his radar and checked its reading as he observed Cathy.

"Nothing wrong with the A-scan. No interferences." commented the indigo-haired boy.

"And same goes with my sensors : all clear !" added Cyborg.

"Then we weren't the cause of the problems ! Cool !" yelled the pink MBC member.

"I am so relieved that we did not cause anything bad because of our alien origins. That is most joyful, is it not, Cathy ?"

"Definitely !" concluded the blonde teen as she briefly stretched her arms in a typical Rhapsodian way of celebrating a victory.

"That means… that there really was a monster in Wolfram Wood while we were there !" Sam reasoned. "It naturally fled when he heard the din of our battle. And if a bad guy was around that day, on which the exhaustion issues began, then…"

"…it could well be him the cause of that problem !" completed Raven after Sam had left sentence purposefully unfinished, having guessed the girl's thought rather than read it with her empathic power.

"So what's next ? Do we try to track down the bastard or do we first try to find out what he did exactly to the victims ? Maybe we could find clues if we do the second thing… first !" proposed Jinx.

"The second thing first… ah ah ! Way to go, Cat's Eyes (1)!" mocked Beast Boy.

"Why don't you shut your garbage lid, giant pea ?" caustically retorted the Badlucker.

"Hey ! Watch your mouth, Pinkie !" indignantly exclaimed the morpher.

No talking back from her, this time… but a mere gesture : she blew him a raspberry !

The green boy's face turned into a mask of wrath.

"You little -"

"Alright, alright, bickering ends here and now !" cut Robin, raising his hands in the typical placation attitude. "We've got better to do than quarrel !" He paused. "I think Jinx is right : we should try to determine what exactly affected the victims, and if there could be side effects or unwelcome consequences."

"But to do that we will need to convince health services or physicians to let us access medical data from the exhausted patients. And as you know, there's patient confidentiality…" remarked Raven.

Another pertinent input from the empath.

They all were thoughtful for a short while, until…

"How about we try to hack into the medical data ?" proposed Jinx.

"What ? We can't do that ! It's protected and all !" almost screamed Danny.

"Yeah… but guess what ? We have Cyborg here who is a master at computer manipulation !" continued the Pink Witch.

"And I'm sure Chris could lend a hand. Right, Chris ?" added Sam.

"Well, that'll be everything but a cinch, yet… we can try !" hopefully replied the MBC Tech.

"Cool !" shrilled Cathy.

"Not easy indeed, but with two brains like ours… BOOYAAAH !" confidently uttered the Titan Tech.

"Glorious !" concluded Starfire.

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Christopher and Cyborg spent hours working on the supercomputer… but they finally managed to access several physicians' patients data, bypassing various firewalls and cracking a number of passwords codes !

Then they individually proceeded to intently read the info relating to patients suffering from physical draining during the past three days.

The common point between all the people in consultation was a great physical fatigue the following day… and also a strange sensation of emptiness, as if they had been deprived of something.

After further reading, it turned out that, after seeing a few patients presenting the same symptoms of exhaustion, and who all mentioned great difficulties to wake up, some of the doctors had decided to contact the hospital to know if they had also had any cases of physical draining lately.

And indeed, they had had several.

Three of these victims had had brain injuries – yet no coma - and the hospital had been running electroencephalogram tests on them these past nights. Then all three had woken up the next morning with great difficulty and shown signs of extreme tiredness… and all three also mentioned the same curious sensation of vacuity, as if they were missing something…

The analysis of the three electroencephalograms results had then confirmed the absence of an element related to sleep.

After working each in solo for a long, long time, they finally decided to compare their data, the results and their respective opinions about these.

And although it could have sounded less bad than they dreaded, they still felt an unexpected shiver run down their spin as they came to the same conclusion…

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Titans and MBC were all gathered in the common room, some sitting on chairs, some on the couch, and some levitating.

In front of them, the two technology specialists were standing almost awkwardly, a vague concern haunting their features. Therefore not devastated, but clearly not serene neither.

"So what were the results of your search ? Did you find anything ?" asked the black leader of the Singletown squad.

"Hum… we did…" slowly replied Chris, who rapidly glanced at Cyborg.

The latter mistook that quick eyeing him for an invitation to pursue, so he took over.

"We discovered that, after seeing a few really spent patients who all presented the same symptoms and gave exactly the same feedback about their conditions, some physicians decided to liaise with the hospital, to try and see if they also had had cases… which they had !"

The cybernetic teenager paused, and the freckled genius continued.

"Three of the hospital victims were being run electroencephalograms on during the night preceding their great fatigue, and it turned out that the results of these electroencephalograms tests all gave the same indication…"

"Alright, alright, why don't you cut to the chase, Chris ?" interrupted Danny. "Instead of using those long complicated words no one knows about…"

"Sounds like Beast Boy…" ironically said Jinx after snorting.

The changeling was about to counter-attack when he met Robin's serious stare on him. So he only glared at her, and she teasingly winked at him, smirking.

"So what were the results of your analysis ?" asked Boy Wonder.

"The patients, be it at the doctor's offices or in hospital, all had mentioned, apart from fatigue, a strange sensation of vacuity, of emptiness, as if they were missing something. And the electroencephalograms confirmed that impression, as they showed the absence of a characteristic element of sleep…" explained Cyborg, still delaying the final conclusion a tad more.

"And this element is…" Chris began, then took a panoramic look at the whole group gathered in front of them and literally hanging onto the techs' every word, and he finally took a deep breath as he exhaled the truth in a quick rush of air : "These people do not dream anymore."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

Cat's Eyes : that nickname originates from the title of a popular Japanese cartoon series, manga-style, starring 3 women of different ages, who run a café during daytime… but are cat burglars at night ! Used to watch it as a kid, during weekend evenings… Nostalgia, nostalgia… :P

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Suspense, suspense…

The duet of techno-guys made an important discovery there : no more dreaming for those three patients, as per their electroencephalograms results. Hence that curious feeling of vacuity, since humans dream every night (even if they often fail to remember that they did, and what their dreams were all about) ! And since the other victims all mentioned the same sensation of emptiness… it is quite certain that they also stopped dreaming !

So what's the link between the mysterious origin of the alien alert in Wolfram Wood and that odd disappearance of dreams ?

What measures will our two hero teams take ? What plan will they come up with to solve the problem ? Where to start ?

The replies, you'll find… IF you keep on reading ! So... a bit of patience, a few guesses on your side before truth shows the tip of its nose, and you'll find out… maybe. XD

Anyway, hoped ya liked this new chappy, and if anyone cares to review… SC101 and I definitely will love her / him ! :P

Now's the time for Skychild101 to get the mike back for chapter 4. Let's see what she'll "cook" us up… ;)

Back at ya, Ana !

Peace, Love, Ecstasy !

(Dixxy)