When the kids arrived at the scene, their suspicions were confirmed. Genesis was back, and his kinetic energy made the sidewalks ripple. The villain wound up and slammed his fists upon the ground, sending a tremor across the street to the superhero standing before the glass doors of the hospital. The seismic distortion from the blast caused the doors and several windows along the ground floor to shatter and blow shards of glass into the back of the brave heroine. The glass settled and ShadowFox emerged from the shelter of her cape and ran to strike at the powerful enemy again. The Titans came upon the scene just as ShadowFox lost her balance and fell backwards onto the ground. Genesis was about to wrap the sidewalk around her when the concrete turned black and was yanked out of his hand. Genesis cried out and turned around to find the Titans ready for action.

"All right, Raven!" Robin cried.

"Glorious!" cried Starfire, soaring past her to take the next shot. Mustering all of her fury, Starfire's hands and eyes glowed bright green as she rained down her starbolts on the unwitting enemy as ShadowFox and Robin ran in to take Genesis out hand to hand.

Ten minutes into the battle, Genesis' eyes glazed over and he stopped fighting.

"Stop! It cannot be! I sense a beginning among us! Creation is under my control but a new life is something I cannot bring harm to! I would be destroyed! Take me away if you will, but I cannot risk hurting a new life!" Genesis cried, lifting into the air and disappearing.

The stunned heroes meet in front of the hospital, winded but unhurt.

"Okay, that was way beyond creepy. What was his deal?" Beast Boy asked, rubbing his sore arm.

"What was he talking about?" Robin asked, picking shards of glass out of his hair.

"Starfire, what's wrong?" asked Cyborg. The Tamaranean girl was hanging her pretty head, having apparently put two and two together and come up with four.

"On my world, the words for 'baby' and 'beginning' come from the same root word," Starfire replied.

"Are you saying...?"

"Yes. There was a baby in this battle...a beginning," Starfire added.

"Well, there's nothing more we can do here. We need to go back to Titans Tower and figure out what this means," Robin said, leading his friends as they left the scene as ShadowFox disappeared into the hospital. As the Titans disappeared into the distance, Jinx and Gizmo tiptoed around the corner with a box in their hands. Jinx's wicked smile would have been proof enough that they were up to something, but what?

Back at Titans Tower, Robin went to his lab to start tracking Genesis' next strike and the others went about other duties. By nightfall, it was raining again; this time, with a vengeance.

Raven sat at her desk trying to reconfigure the distortion factor of...oh what good did it do? Her homework wasn't going to get done as long as she was feeling this distracted. It was bad enough that she had been attacked at all, but now, after the battle with Genesis, she was certain that her suspicions had been correct. Leaning back in her chair and putting her feet up on her desk, Raven rested her hands on her abdomen. The team still had not managed to find her attacker. What if he had been some sort of demon? She knew that that very thing had happened to her mother and Raven herself had been the result. Suddenly afraid that she was a greater danger to the team now more than ever, Raven considered her options. There only seemed to be one that made sense: leave.

Taking the time to write a note explaining the reason she left, Raven wept as she left the note on her dresser as she tiptoed out of the tower. None of them even noticed that she had gone.

Resting in her bedroom, Starfire contemplated just how much of this was her fault. Certainly the battles with Genesis had not been, but Raven's situation was. The dance had been her idea and as a result, Raven had been hurt. Violated. shudder Raped. Sitting up, Starfire decided that it was time for something a little more drastic. She decides that it is time to invoke the Rite of Persequita. On Tamaran, if a woman or girl is violated in any way, be it physical, emotional, or sexual, it is the responsibility of her sister or other female relatives to find and punish the offender.

"But Raven is an only child and her mother is far away. She has no sister..." Starfire thought out loud. A look of determination suddenly crowded out her worry. "If Raven has no sister, I shall be her sister. I will defend you, Raven! I will be your sister!"

Starfire floated out of her bedroom and down the hall to tell Raven what she had decided but found the room empty. Looking around, Starfire saw the note on the dresser and read it carefully:

Friends,

Due to recent events, I don't feel that I can be productive member of the team. Not in my condition. Not ever again. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I allowed whatever it is that's inside me bring harm to my friends, so I have gone. Please don't follow me. You won't find me. I will always be grateful for what you have given me as a Teen Titan. I'll never forget you. Any of you. Everything will be all right now. You're better off without me.

Signed, Raven

Tears suddenly sprang to Starfire's eyes. She looked at the dresser again and found Raven's communicator and the tracking device from her belt.

"No! If Raven truly is with child, she is in no condition to be anywhere! It's dangerous out there!" Starfire cried. She panicked, leaving the note on the dresser and heading for the roof. Without waking her sleeping teammates, Starfire threw open the door to the roof of Titans Tower and soared off into the blackness and driving rain.

"This is all my fault! I need to find Raven before she does something drastic!" Starfire cried. In her rush to find her friend, Starfire left the door to the Tower open, and even though she couldn't hear it, it slammed shut behind her.