Author's Note: Tada! I updated! Go me! Now I don't feel so guilty for not writing a word during my week of vacation. I'm taking a few risks with this chapter, and yearn for feedback. Is the confrontation believable? How about the hints of Robin/Starfire romance? Do I use to many adverbs? I strive always to improve, and only you can help me.
****
In the short time since they had left Titan Tower, the sky had lightened from black to grey, and a thin golden line had appeared along the horizon. Laros strode confidently down the sidewalk, the rest of the group trailing behind him. He talked as they walked.
"It was one of the first Sentinels who discovered the existence of other worlds. The Sentinel -his name has been lost over the centuries- was meditating on the roof of the City's highest tower when a vision came to him. He saw another city, unlike our own in every way. At the time he believed that it was the City to the South, and he became determined to reach it.
"He experimented for years, until, finally, he opened a portal. He died on the other side of it, know one knows quite how. After his death, various Sentinels discovered six other places throughout the city where, when meditating, one can see visions of other cities, each different and each wondrous. These points became known as the Seven Places of the Portals. We all learn to recite them as children. The Tower Roof, the Dungeon Corner, the Eastern Walltop..."
Behind him, walking between Starfire and Robin, Raven joined in softly. "The Green Marble Balcony, the Marketplace Fountain, the Third Column, and the Meeting Hall Rafter." Laros smiled back at her. "Each one leads to a separate world, provided, of course, that you can open the portal."
"Which one leads here?" asked Starfire.
Laros opened his mouth to answer, but Raven spoke first. "None of them. A few years ago, Bentris, my teacher, discovered records that told of a lost, eighth Place of the Portals. He kept it secret, never sending anyone through, until me."
Robin was gazing at the sky, where the sun was slowly rising, a red disk half buried in gold-tinged clouds. "Why did he send you? Why did you come here?"
Raven didn't answer for a moment. Her eyes were turned down towards where her boots hit the cracked sidewalk.
Laros was looking at her, and for once his look was not mocking. Indeed, it was almost concerned.
"I can tell them, if it troubles you."
She raised her eyes and glared at him. "I am perfectly capable of telling them myself."
His impish grin returned. "Tell on, Blackbird."
She fixed her ice-cold gaze on him for another moment before speaking again.
"You'll need to understand what came before."
Robin and Starfire nodded.
"You should understand what my father's like by now, but my mother... She wasn't a Sentinel for one thing. I assume you've been told about the Sentinels?"
They nodded again.
"Well, she wasn't a Sentinel, though she was from a very old House with many powerful Sentinels among it's members, which I suppose is why Father married her. She was a delicate woman, small and quiet. I never was very close to her, or talked to her much. It was mostly because she turned me over to a nurse to raise, but also because I was a bit afraid. Not afraid of her, but afraid... afraid that I might break her somehow. She was so frail."
Abruptly, Laros broke in. "Is."
"What?"
"Is. You've been saying 'was'. Lady Illia is still alive."
Again there was a moment's silence, but Raven soon continued, her voice steady.
"Father scared me too, for different, more obvious, reasons. He would never trust anyone else to train me in the use of my powers, so he did it himself. He intended me to become leader of the Sentinels after he died, and always made sure he knew where I was, always had me within reach. That control terrified me. Then, when I was nine years old, I managed to escape his attention long enough to go exploring. It was wonderful. I felt free for the first time in my life. After that, I was determined to continue my exploration. I found ways to sneak out, and back in again, and, miraculously, was never caught.
"A few months after my first escape, I met Bentris. After that, my excursions weren't just pointless rambles for the sake of themselves, they were visits to Bentris. He taught me so much, trained me as a true Sentinel. He was more of a father to me than Hailorn ever was, though his age made him more like a grandfather.
"Five years passed, and it was almost time for my fourteenth birthday, and my Ceremony. Bentris knew that he had to stop it. If I went through the Ceremony, I would be exposed to the Veldrek's Charm, and receive those twisted powers, which would, in turn, twist me. It was then that he told me of the eighth Place, and sent me through."
Starfire and Raven were silent, seeming to still be taking in all that she had told them. After a moment, Starfire whispered, "How horrible." Her shapely hand reached behind Raven's back to lightly touch Robin's elbow. Raven smiled, seeing the gesture out of the corner of her eye. It amused her to see the comfort her friend could get just by touching him, and yet, somehow, deep within her, it hurt her too.
****
Beast Boy and Cyborg were not listening to Raven's story. Instead, they trailed behind the other teenagers, their heads leaning together.
"You gonna stay behind?" muttered Cyborg.
"Duh! You know me better than that!"
Cyborg clamped a hand over his short, green friend's mouth. "Hey, quiet down. They'll hear us."
Beast Boy nodded and the hand was dropped from his mouth. "Now," said Cyborg, "how are we gonna do this?"
"I guess we'll just slip in after them."
"Raven'll kill us on the other side."
"She'll have to catch us first."
"She'll so be able to catch us."
"Well, maybe you, but Beast Boy can get away from any chick, scary mind powers or no scary mind powers."
Cyborg rolled his one organic eye. "Whatever, dog. I just feel sorry for poor Star. She's got to handle all the crime by herself."
Beast Boy dismissed his worries with a wave. "Eh, she can handle it."
"Whatever, d-"
"Hey!"
Absorbed in their conversation, Cyborg and Beast Boy had crashed into the group in front of them, who had come to a stop. Cyborg's bulk knocked the much lighter Robin off his feet and into Laros, while Beast Boys's feet became entangled in the end of Raven's cloak.
Swinging around, Raven grabbed the cloak and tugged. Beast Boy was pulled off his feet and into the air, his arms and legs flailing. Just before he hit the sidewalk he disappeared, replaced by a green butterfly. It fluttered up to Starfire's shoulder, dodging out of the way as Raven attempted to swat it.
Meanwhile, ahead of them, Laros gave Robin a not too gentle shove away from him. "A little close for comfort there, Maskie," he said, brushing off his clothing.
"Sorry Robin."
"It's okay Cyborg. Not that I wouldn't have preferred being shoved into Starfire..."
Laros cut in, "And not that I wouldn't have preferred Starfire being shoved into me..."
Robin wheeled around to face Laros. "Listen here, Laros Kukuk of the house of Teething."
"That's Kuruk of the house of Teleth, but it's fine that you forgot. I can't remember your name either. It's some sort of bird, right? Parrot, Toucan, Sparrow -stop me when I get it right-, Pheasant, Duck..."
Robin took a step closer to Laros, so that their faces were inches apart. They were almost the same height, though Robin was perhaps an inch taller, so they could look directly into each other's eyes. Robin was perfectly still. Every muscle in his body seemed tightened, as if it would spring with the lightest touch.
Laros stopped listing bird names, but otherwise did not seem intimidated. He smiled. "You seem upset, Pigeon. Anything I can do to help?"
At that moment, Robin moved- like a snapping rubber band. Laros stepped back his eyes flying open. For the first time since breaking into Titan Tower he seemed to lose his composure. "Wha..."
"Azerath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"
An orb of black light surrounded Robin and Laros and the two were wrenched apart and up into the air. Raven stepped forward, power trailing like flames from beneath her hood. Her hands were raised before her, holding them suspended above her head. "Children," she muttered, dropping her hands to her sides and letting her power die away. Robin fell to the sidewalk in a tangled heap, but Laros managed to land neatly on all fours.
He brushed a blue grey curl away from his forehead as he climbed to his feet. While his startled expression was gone, he had not yet regained his smug calmness. "I suppose I should open it now."
"Open what?" asked Beast Boy, who had resumed his usual form during the excitement.
"The portal, what did you think he meant?"
"No need to get all uppity, Raven."
"I am not uppity. I am never uppity."
"If you say so," said Beast Boy, chuckling.
Raven's low-throated grumble sounded almost like a growl as she turned away from him and addressed Laros. "I will be opening the portal now. You have already seen what your powers are like in this world. It would not be wise to attempt something as... unpredictable as an opening."
Laros raised his blue-grey eyebrows. "I didn't know you were an opener."
She shrugged. "I came back here a few years ago. I wanted to know whether I could see Azerath again. I could."
"Okay then," said Cyborg uneasily. "Let's get on with it-the locals are getting curious."
He was right about that. Raven's miniature light show had drawn the gaze of the passerby, many of whom now stood gaping at the motley group.
Robin nodded at Cyborg's suggestion, before turning to Raven. "Open it, then send me and Lord Kukuk here through," he said, sending a belligerent look Laros way.
Raven turned toward the building they had stopped in front of. It was a pet shop, its windows full of squalling animals. She ignored them as she walked around the corner of the building into the narrow alley separating it and the neighboring music store. The rest of the Titans and Laros followed her.
She closed her eyes, whispering, "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos," and rose to the air. When she was about ten feet above the concrete, she folded her legs beneath her, resting a hand on each knee.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos."
Robin was standing beside Starfire. He glanced over at her and saw that she was gazing up at Raven, not noticing his look. Her hair was rippling, shining, smooth, flowing down her back in a red-brown wave. As for her face... There was something about Starfire that was different, exotic. Something in the shape of her face, in those large, green eyes, marked her as a stranger to this world. But there was nothing unpleasant in that strange quality. It only made her that much more fascinating, that much more her.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos." A black spark appeared a few feet above Raven's head.
He leaned over to her, and spoke softly, so that only she could hear. "Um, Starfire?"
"Yes, Robin?" She was looking at him now, those beautiful eyes of hers fixed on his own. Strange that she could pour destruction out of those eyes that now shone with the bubbly, curious innocence that was Starfire.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos." The spark lengthened into a rip, outlined in white and wavering in the air.
For a moment he was speechless, but then words seemed to bubble into his mind unbidden. "Starfire. Star."
"Yes, Robin?"
"I'm going to another world soon. I may not come back for a long time. I may not come back ever. But I want you to know... I want you to know that wherever I am, whatever world I'm in... I will always think of you. It's you, above everything else, that will give me the strength, the strength to survive in that dangerous world, so I can come back to you. Do you understand me Starfire?"
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos." The rip became an opening, as tall and wide as a door. Onlookers could see shapes in it, faint and hazy, as if reflected in a black glass mirror.
Starfire turned her eyes toward the ground as she answered, solemn and sweet, "I will think of you as well, Robin. I will think of you always."
Just then, Raven lowered herself to the ground in front of them. They both tore their gazes from each other to look at her. "It's stable," she said to Robin, "but I'll have to keep a hold on it to keep it that way, so I won't be able to spare the power to lift you up there. Laros can probably manage it, but you'll have to surrender completely to him. It's harder to lift someone who doesn't want to be lifted. You'll have to trust him."
He stared forward, past Raven's shoulder, considering, before at last nodding stiffly. "I suppose I can manage."
"Good. Now for you." She turned to Laros.
"Yes, Fair One?"
"I need you to concentrate. If you drop him, I will..."
"Understood."
"Okay then. Do it."
Laros beckoned to Robin to stand before him. Grudgingly, the other did so. Once Robin was positioned before him, he spread his legs slightly, fixing his feet firmly upon the ground. He raised his hands, closed his eyes, and furrowed his brow.
"Azerath, Kuruk, Teleth." Black and white light appeared around Robin. Unlike Raven's steady power, it flickered like an old lightbulb. Slowly, jerkily, he lifted from the ground. At last he reached the portal, and as simply as if it truly was a door, he stepped through. Laros lifted up behind him, just as jerkily, and followed through.
"How are we gonna get up there?" muttered Cyborg to Beast Boy out of the corner of his mouth.
"I don't know about you, but I got wings and I am not afraid to use them."
Cyborg scowled. "If you turn into a bird and leave me behind, I will blast you out of the air."
"Okay, okay. You think a pterodactyl is strong enough to hold up chubby old you?"
"It had better be."
It was now Raven's turn to pass through the portal. She turned toward the remaining Titan's. "I'll miss you." It was a simple farewell, but they could tell that she meant it, and from Raven, that meant a lot.
She didn't turn away from them as she lifted through the air, but kept her body turned in their direction, her face lifted into the air. She moved backwards into the portal.
"Now," hissed Beast Boy, "we gotta go now." Feathers popped up along his neck.
"Oh no you don't!" Cyborg placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, yeah, Pterodactyl."
He hunkered down, ready to transform.
"Starfire!" It was Raven's voice, faint but unmistakable.
Starfire's head snapped up toward the portal. Raven was calling to her, and though her voice sounded as if it traveled across a long distance, it was clearly a cry for help.
"Raven!" She blasted from the ground and was through the portal in an instant.
The moment she was gone, the portal lost its steadiness. It grew larger and then smaller, then larger again, changing shape as well as size.
Cyborg turned to the still untransformed Beast Boy and shouted, "Hurry up already! The portal thingy isn't holding up too good."
"Wait. I just got an idea. Climb up me."
"What? Climb up..."
But instead of Beast Boy, a green elephant stood at his side. Quickly grasping his friend's plan, Cyborg clambered up the elephant's side, onto its back, and leaped at the portal. Even before Cyborg was entirely gone, Beast Boy became a bird and flew through the portal, now a bubbling mass of black light. His emerald tail feathers had barely disappeared when the opening imploded, leaving only a black spark hanging in the air. A moment later, and it too had winked out of existence.
****
In the short time since they had left Titan Tower, the sky had lightened from black to grey, and a thin golden line had appeared along the horizon. Laros strode confidently down the sidewalk, the rest of the group trailing behind him. He talked as they walked.
"It was one of the first Sentinels who discovered the existence of other worlds. The Sentinel -his name has been lost over the centuries- was meditating on the roof of the City's highest tower when a vision came to him. He saw another city, unlike our own in every way. At the time he believed that it was the City to the South, and he became determined to reach it.
"He experimented for years, until, finally, he opened a portal. He died on the other side of it, know one knows quite how. After his death, various Sentinels discovered six other places throughout the city where, when meditating, one can see visions of other cities, each different and each wondrous. These points became known as the Seven Places of the Portals. We all learn to recite them as children. The Tower Roof, the Dungeon Corner, the Eastern Walltop..."
Behind him, walking between Starfire and Robin, Raven joined in softly. "The Green Marble Balcony, the Marketplace Fountain, the Third Column, and the Meeting Hall Rafter." Laros smiled back at her. "Each one leads to a separate world, provided, of course, that you can open the portal."
"Which one leads here?" asked Starfire.
Laros opened his mouth to answer, but Raven spoke first. "None of them. A few years ago, Bentris, my teacher, discovered records that told of a lost, eighth Place of the Portals. He kept it secret, never sending anyone through, until me."
Robin was gazing at the sky, where the sun was slowly rising, a red disk half buried in gold-tinged clouds. "Why did he send you? Why did you come here?"
Raven didn't answer for a moment. Her eyes were turned down towards where her boots hit the cracked sidewalk.
Laros was looking at her, and for once his look was not mocking. Indeed, it was almost concerned.
"I can tell them, if it troubles you."
She raised her eyes and glared at him. "I am perfectly capable of telling them myself."
His impish grin returned. "Tell on, Blackbird."
She fixed her ice-cold gaze on him for another moment before speaking again.
"You'll need to understand what came before."
Robin and Starfire nodded.
"You should understand what my father's like by now, but my mother... She wasn't a Sentinel for one thing. I assume you've been told about the Sentinels?"
They nodded again.
"Well, she wasn't a Sentinel, though she was from a very old House with many powerful Sentinels among it's members, which I suppose is why Father married her. She was a delicate woman, small and quiet. I never was very close to her, or talked to her much. It was mostly because she turned me over to a nurse to raise, but also because I was a bit afraid. Not afraid of her, but afraid... afraid that I might break her somehow. She was so frail."
Abruptly, Laros broke in. "Is."
"What?"
"Is. You've been saying 'was'. Lady Illia is still alive."
Again there was a moment's silence, but Raven soon continued, her voice steady.
"Father scared me too, for different, more obvious, reasons. He would never trust anyone else to train me in the use of my powers, so he did it himself. He intended me to become leader of the Sentinels after he died, and always made sure he knew where I was, always had me within reach. That control terrified me. Then, when I was nine years old, I managed to escape his attention long enough to go exploring. It was wonderful. I felt free for the first time in my life. After that, I was determined to continue my exploration. I found ways to sneak out, and back in again, and, miraculously, was never caught.
"A few months after my first escape, I met Bentris. After that, my excursions weren't just pointless rambles for the sake of themselves, they were visits to Bentris. He taught me so much, trained me as a true Sentinel. He was more of a father to me than Hailorn ever was, though his age made him more like a grandfather.
"Five years passed, and it was almost time for my fourteenth birthday, and my Ceremony. Bentris knew that he had to stop it. If I went through the Ceremony, I would be exposed to the Veldrek's Charm, and receive those twisted powers, which would, in turn, twist me. It was then that he told me of the eighth Place, and sent me through."
Starfire and Raven were silent, seeming to still be taking in all that she had told them. After a moment, Starfire whispered, "How horrible." Her shapely hand reached behind Raven's back to lightly touch Robin's elbow. Raven smiled, seeing the gesture out of the corner of her eye. It amused her to see the comfort her friend could get just by touching him, and yet, somehow, deep within her, it hurt her too.
****
Beast Boy and Cyborg were not listening to Raven's story. Instead, they trailed behind the other teenagers, their heads leaning together.
"You gonna stay behind?" muttered Cyborg.
"Duh! You know me better than that!"
Cyborg clamped a hand over his short, green friend's mouth. "Hey, quiet down. They'll hear us."
Beast Boy nodded and the hand was dropped from his mouth. "Now," said Cyborg, "how are we gonna do this?"
"I guess we'll just slip in after them."
"Raven'll kill us on the other side."
"She'll have to catch us first."
"She'll so be able to catch us."
"Well, maybe you, but Beast Boy can get away from any chick, scary mind powers or no scary mind powers."
Cyborg rolled his one organic eye. "Whatever, dog. I just feel sorry for poor Star. She's got to handle all the crime by herself."
Beast Boy dismissed his worries with a wave. "Eh, she can handle it."
"Whatever, d-"
"Hey!"
Absorbed in their conversation, Cyborg and Beast Boy had crashed into the group in front of them, who had come to a stop. Cyborg's bulk knocked the much lighter Robin off his feet and into Laros, while Beast Boys's feet became entangled in the end of Raven's cloak.
Swinging around, Raven grabbed the cloak and tugged. Beast Boy was pulled off his feet and into the air, his arms and legs flailing. Just before he hit the sidewalk he disappeared, replaced by a green butterfly. It fluttered up to Starfire's shoulder, dodging out of the way as Raven attempted to swat it.
Meanwhile, ahead of them, Laros gave Robin a not too gentle shove away from him. "A little close for comfort there, Maskie," he said, brushing off his clothing.
"Sorry Robin."
"It's okay Cyborg. Not that I wouldn't have preferred being shoved into Starfire..."
Laros cut in, "And not that I wouldn't have preferred Starfire being shoved into me..."
Robin wheeled around to face Laros. "Listen here, Laros Kukuk of the house of Teething."
"That's Kuruk of the house of Teleth, but it's fine that you forgot. I can't remember your name either. It's some sort of bird, right? Parrot, Toucan, Sparrow -stop me when I get it right-, Pheasant, Duck..."
Robin took a step closer to Laros, so that their faces were inches apart. They were almost the same height, though Robin was perhaps an inch taller, so they could look directly into each other's eyes. Robin was perfectly still. Every muscle in his body seemed tightened, as if it would spring with the lightest touch.
Laros stopped listing bird names, but otherwise did not seem intimidated. He smiled. "You seem upset, Pigeon. Anything I can do to help?"
At that moment, Robin moved- like a snapping rubber band. Laros stepped back his eyes flying open. For the first time since breaking into Titan Tower he seemed to lose his composure. "Wha..."
"Azerath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"
An orb of black light surrounded Robin and Laros and the two were wrenched apart and up into the air. Raven stepped forward, power trailing like flames from beneath her hood. Her hands were raised before her, holding them suspended above her head. "Children," she muttered, dropping her hands to her sides and letting her power die away. Robin fell to the sidewalk in a tangled heap, but Laros managed to land neatly on all fours.
He brushed a blue grey curl away from his forehead as he climbed to his feet. While his startled expression was gone, he had not yet regained his smug calmness. "I suppose I should open it now."
"Open what?" asked Beast Boy, who had resumed his usual form during the excitement.
"The portal, what did you think he meant?"
"No need to get all uppity, Raven."
"I am not uppity. I am never uppity."
"If you say so," said Beast Boy, chuckling.
Raven's low-throated grumble sounded almost like a growl as she turned away from him and addressed Laros. "I will be opening the portal now. You have already seen what your powers are like in this world. It would not be wise to attempt something as... unpredictable as an opening."
Laros raised his blue-grey eyebrows. "I didn't know you were an opener."
She shrugged. "I came back here a few years ago. I wanted to know whether I could see Azerath again. I could."
"Okay then," said Cyborg uneasily. "Let's get on with it-the locals are getting curious."
He was right about that. Raven's miniature light show had drawn the gaze of the passerby, many of whom now stood gaping at the motley group.
Robin nodded at Cyborg's suggestion, before turning to Raven. "Open it, then send me and Lord Kukuk here through," he said, sending a belligerent look Laros way.
Raven turned toward the building they had stopped in front of. It was a pet shop, its windows full of squalling animals. She ignored them as she walked around the corner of the building into the narrow alley separating it and the neighboring music store. The rest of the Titans and Laros followed her.
She closed her eyes, whispering, "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos," and rose to the air. When she was about ten feet above the concrete, she folded her legs beneath her, resting a hand on each knee.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos."
Robin was standing beside Starfire. He glanced over at her and saw that she was gazing up at Raven, not noticing his look. Her hair was rippling, shining, smooth, flowing down her back in a red-brown wave. As for her face... There was something about Starfire that was different, exotic. Something in the shape of her face, in those large, green eyes, marked her as a stranger to this world. But there was nothing unpleasant in that strange quality. It only made her that much more fascinating, that much more her.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos." A black spark appeared a few feet above Raven's head.
He leaned over to her, and spoke softly, so that only she could hear. "Um, Starfire?"
"Yes, Robin?" She was looking at him now, those beautiful eyes of hers fixed on his own. Strange that she could pour destruction out of those eyes that now shone with the bubbly, curious innocence that was Starfire.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos." The spark lengthened into a rip, outlined in white and wavering in the air.
For a moment he was speechless, but then words seemed to bubble into his mind unbidden. "Starfire. Star."
"Yes, Robin?"
"I'm going to another world soon. I may not come back for a long time. I may not come back ever. But I want you to know... I want you to know that wherever I am, whatever world I'm in... I will always think of you. It's you, above everything else, that will give me the strength, the strength to survive in that dangerous world, so I can come back to you. Do you understand me Starfire?"
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos." The rip became an opening, as tall and wide as a door. Onlookers could see shapes in it, faint and hazy, as if reflected in a black glass mirror.
Starfire turned her eyes toward the ground as she answered, solemn and sweet, "I will think of you as well, Robin. I will think of you always."
Just then, Raven lowered herself to the ground in front of them. They both tore their gazes from each other to look at her. "It's stable," she said to Robin, "but I'll have to keep a hold on it to keep it that way, so I won't be able to spare the power to lift you up there. Laros can probably manage it, but you'll have to surrender completely to him. It's harder to lift someone who doesn't want to be lifted. You'll have to trust him."
He stared forward, past Raven's shoulder, considering, before at last nodding stiffly. "I suppose I can manage."
"Good. Now for you." She turned to Laros.
"Yes, Fair One?"
"I need you to concentrate. If you drop him, I will..."
"Understood."
"Okay then. Do it."
Laros beckoned to Robin to stand before him. Grudgingly, the other did so. Once Robin was positioned before him, he spread his legs slightly, fixing his feet firmly upon the ground. He raised his hands, closed his eyes, and furrowed his brow.
"Azerath, Kuruk, Teleth." Black and white light appeared around Robin. Unlike Raven's steady power, it flickered like an old lightbulb. Slowly, jerkily, he lifted from the ground. At last he reached the portal, and as simply as if it truly was a door, he stepped through. Laros lifted up behind him, just as jerkily, and followed through.
"How are we gonna get up there?" muttered Cyborg to Beast Boy out of the corner of his mouth.
"I don't know about you, but I got wings and I am not afraid to use them."
Cyborg scowled. "If you turn into a bird and leave me behind, I will blast you out of the air."
"Okay, okay. You think a pterodactyl is strong enough to hold up chubby old you?"
"It had better be."
It was now Raven's turn to pass through the portal. She turned toward the remaining Titan's. "I'll miss you." It was a simple farewell, but they could tell that she meant it, and from Raven, that meant a lot.
She didn't turn away from them as she lifted through the air, but kept her body turned in their direction, her face lifted into the air. She moved backwards into the portal.
"Now," hissed Beast Boy, "we gotta go now." Feathers popped up along his neck.
"Oh no you don't!" Cyborg placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, yeah, Pterodactyl."
He hunkered down, ready to transform.
"Starfire!" It was Raven's voice, faint but unmistakable.
Starfire's head snapped up toward the portal. Raven was calling to her, and though her voice sounded as if it traveled across a long distance, it was clearly a cry for help.
"Raven!" She blasted from the ground and was through the portal in an instant.
The moment she was gone, the portal lost its steadiness. It grew larger and then smaller, then larger again, changing shape as well as size.
Cyborg turned to the still untransformed Beast Boy and shouted, "Hurry up already! The portal thingy isn't holding up too good."
"Wait. I just got an idea. Climb up me."
"What? Climb up..."
But instead of Beast Boy, a green elephant stood at his side. Quickly grasping his friend's plan, Cyborg clambered up the elephant's side, onto its back, and leaped at the portal. Even before Cyborg was entirely gone, Beast Boy became a bird and flew through the portal, now a bubbling mass of black light. His emerald tail feathers had barely disappeared when the opening imploded, leaving only a black spark hanging in the air. A moment later, and it too had winked out of existence.