2

Quiet. Solitude. They were a rare and valuable thing, and as such, they must be treasured. And none was better at doing so than Raven. She hovered before the great window of the Tower's lounge area, her legs crossed, her eyes closed, her mind lost deep in meditation. The other Titans were currently out, enjoying whatever mundane activities were keeping them occupied, and that was fine by her.
"Azarath, Metreon, Sinthos…Azarath, Metreon, Sinthos…" she repeated softly to herself. It was like a rhythmic hum that calmed her nerves. Her mind slowly turned in on itself, pondering and searching.
RIIIING…RIIING…
Raven scowled as the sound cut through her meditation. She waited for a moment, waiting to see if it started again. When there was only silence, she smiled and prepared to resume her meditation. "Azarath, Metreon…"
RIIING…RIIING…
Groaning with frustration, she placed her feet down onto the floor, pulled her hood back up over her face, and went to see what it was. She made the annoyingly long trip through the corridors of Titan's Tower, down toward the small door that many were surprised to discover served as their main entrance. She opened it only a crack, seeing who was there.
"You a Teen Titan?" The police officer asked her. Raven sighed, all her hopes of it being just a pizza delivery mistake vanishing. She opened the door and stepped out.
"Yes."
"Think you can give us a hand?"
"What is it?" She followed the officer back down toward the patrol boat docked on the shore of the island.
"We picked up this guy," the officer explained as they went, "And now we don't know what to do with him. The hospital won't take him, and I'm afraid to lock him up, so I figured we'd ask you guy's and see if you could help."
Raven stepped onto the boat, and looked toward its interior, where four armed patrolmen were sitting, keeping watch over a bizarre looking man, who seemed uncharacteristically cheerful, considering he was in police custody. He looked up, and seemed to only brighten more upon seeing her.
"Hi kid! What's you're name?" Raven stepped closer to him and gave him a look over for a moment. She narrowed her eyes, and then turned to the leading officer.
"I think you'd better bring him inside."

"I would like cinnamon, and cream, and croissant, and sugar, and…"
"Starfire…" Robin interrupted politely, "Not everything on the menu goes into the coffee." Starfire blushed lightly, and Robin shook his head, unable to ever stay annoyed at her.
"Are you sure this is a place of calm, Robin? There seem to be so many people growing agitated." Starfire looked around, her gaze drifting amongst the increasingly caffeinated people who were chatting rapidly.
"Its okay Star, that's just the caffeine." Robin leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the atmosphere. He could see why Raven liked this place so much. The air smelled faintly of tealeaves and scented candles, and the noise of the people talking was only just audible above the sound of the saxophone. Robin opened his eyes and looked up at the stage at the far end of the room. He had no idea who the man performing was, but he certainly was talented. He stood swayed lightly with his own notes, his handsome face perfectly serene.
"Robin…" Starfire said. He turned to regard her.
"Yeah?"
"That fellow over there…was he here a moment ago?"
Robin followed Starfire's gaze to the opposite wall, where there was strange enough looking man sitting at a booth alone. His thick blue hair shadowed his face, but the piercing yellow eyes were quite evident. He was dressed bizarrely, a flowing white coat over his dark clothes. Spikes pierced through the bulge in his right shoulder. He didn't speak a word, seeming to be entirely focused on the chocolate bundt sitting in front of him. He took small bites, chewed carefully, never even acknowledging that there were other people around him.
"I don't know Star. Just ignore him, he's not bothering anyone." With that said, Robin turned his attention back to the magnificent music emanating from the stage.
Starfire tried to heed his advice, but could not draw her attention from the strange man. With most humans, she could feel the life and vitality. She could felt the pulse of their hearts, hear their breaths, feel the warmth of their bodies. But from this man, she could feel nothing. It was as if there was a great void in that seat where he brooded over his rich dessert.
Both their thoughts were interrupted by the beeping from Robin's belt. He sighed and reached into one of the many pouches, revealing his communicator. He spoke into it with a voice dripping with disappointment. "Yeah Cyborg?"
"Robin, we got trouble. It's the nuclear plant again." Robin grunted and stood up, grabbing Starfire's wrist. In a moment, they were both gone.
The saxophone player finished his number, paused a moment to savor the applause, and then stepped down from the stage. He walked over to the man Starfire had been so disturbed by, and stood against the wall next to his table.
"You hear that?" he murmured.
"Yes. It would seem another party has ambitions similar to ours. We shall have to correct them." He took his final bite, dabbed his lips with a napkin, and then rose.

"First this Knives guy, and now Slade. Where does it end?" Robin snarled as he the other Titans, minus Raven, raced into the nuclear power plant.
"Dude, I was almost to level nine on Halo 2!" Beast Boy shouted as he tried to keep pace, "If anyone has a reason to be mad, its…"
"Where is Raven?" Starfire said with real concern.
"Don't worry Star, she'll catch up." Cyborg assured her.
They raced into the main wing of the plant, and were confronted by a small army of Slade's robot minions. They were attempting to steal as much equipment as they could, yanking panels from the walls, picking up computer's from their places on the tops of desks, gathering files from their drawers.
"You guy's need to get a new hobby." Cyborg quipped. Half of the robots stopped what they were doing and turned to face the Titans. The other half simply continued with their theft.
"Titans…" Robin started to say when the first shot pierced the air.
It happened all at once. A series of bullets tore the air, raking the robots into scrap. A massive pair of arms burst out of the floor, grabbing several of the robots at once, squeezing them to pulp. A piercing blast of pure sonic force, resembling the notes of a saxophone, ripped tiles from the floor as it tossed a dozen of the machines into the air. A series of traffic cone sized spikes flew through the air, tearing holes into the guts of more of the robots. Within just a matter of seconds, it was over. The machines that had threatened the Titans were nothing but scrap spread over the facility.
"Dude…what just happened?" Beast Boy said as he struggled to raise his jaw off the floor.
"We are victorious?" Starfire said, her confusion evident. The answer came not in words, but in the form or a birdarang exploding right in her face. Starfire shrieked and was thrown to the ground.
"Robin! What are you doing?" Beast Boy shouted, only to be knocked to the floor himself by a blast from Cyborg.
"What's going on?" Cyborg shouted as he tried to lower his arm, but it was suddenly as if he had lost all control over his own body.
"I don't know!" Robin snarled as he struggled with the full power of his will and mind against the unseen force that had wrested control of his limbs from him. His collapsible staff extended to its full size in his hand, and he dropped into a battle ready stance.
"Friends, what is wrong?" Starfire said, rising to her feet, her concern for her companions written on her face. She stepped closer to Robin, who floored her with a slap across the face from his staff. She was then slammed against the wall but a green ram, which morphed back into Beast Boy, who was also growling with frustration as his body refused to listen to his brain.
"It would seem the girl is somehow immune," a deep voice said from the hallway behind her.
"It doesn't matter." A soft, female voice said from one of the offices nearby.
"We handled those tin cans easily enough." A muffled voice said from the catwalk above.
"We can take care of them." A child's voice said from behind one of the desks.
"That is enough, all of you." Another, deeper, and cultured sounding voice broke in. Starfire looked up at the hallway she and the other Titan's had entered from, and watched as the same pair she and Robin had seen at the coffee shop, the blue haired man and the saxophone player both stepped into the room. "These human's can scarcely help their inferiority." The blue haired man said with contempt, an arrogant smirk playing across his face.
"I am not human." Starfire said between her clenched teeth as she rose to her feet. "What have you done to my friends?"
"If humans are weak enough to be so easily manipulate, what business is it of yours?" He said. Starfire's eyes blazed green, and with a snarl she lunged forward, balls of energy glowing on her fists.
A blast of pure sonic force from the saxophone leveled her back to the floor. She moaned softly as she struggled to pull herself up. Then she felt the cold sharpness of the sword blade against her throat, and the hard roundness of the gun against her temple.
"Shall we finish her, Legato?" The woman asked, her finger steady on the trigger.
"Disappointing that there are no challenges worthy of our skill here." The man holding the sword muttered.
As if summoned by his words, another gunshot tore the air, knocking the woman's gun from her hand.
"Azarath, Metreon, Sinthos!" Raven's voice shouted, and a black glow formed around the sword, yanking it from its owner.
"Don't move Legato, or I swear, I'll shoot." A new voice said. Starfire watched, her face brightening as Raven and another unfamiliar person stepped out from the hallway. The blue haired one, Legato, closed his eyes and smirked with a vein resignation.
"I was so hoping the gateway had disgorged you somewhere a little less hospitable…Vash the Stampede."