Disclaimer: I owneth not the Teen Titans! They art the property of yonder comic publisher, DC! DC, sueth not I, thy meek and honorable author, for I writeth fiction for thine masses of insatiable fans!

Beast Boy: What the hell does that mean?

Overseer47: The Titans aren't mine! Please don't sue!

BB: HA HA! You're gonna get sued!

Overseer: Shut up now, or I'll kill you in the third chapter.

BB: Shutting up! Shutting up!

Overseer: Good. Roll it. Go.

BB: ...

Overseer: NOW!

BB: Yipe!

Oh, and one last note. Since asterisks don't seem to work on this stupid site, a character's thoughts will now be typed in italics, so if you see a long passage thusly written, then know that it implies thought, not stress. For instance:

"Crap!" = stressed word

"I wonder if the new episodes of Family Guy start soon..." = thoughts

Just thought I'd clear that up.

Prelude to Insanity; Chapter 2: You Mean YOU Care? Why?

The sound of gunfire tore through the night air; the sound of rapid bursts of automatic fire occasionally interspersed with singe shots from a handgun were easily heard from blocks away.

"Shit!" Robin cursed, "It wasn't supposed to go quite like this..."

Though to her credit, Starfire's plan had worked quite well, and would have had an even more impressive effect if not for Robin's slight miscalculation. You see, when Robin threw his three Birdarangs, two hit dead on, disarming the two gunmen guarding the hostage. However, his errant third projectile missed its target by several inches due to his slightly off aim, most likely a result of his severe lack of sleep. As a result, he was now under slightly heavier fire than he had been planning for, and he was trying desperately to stay alive: dodging jumping and rolling to avoid the deadly bullets. He knew that his Kevlar body armor would protect him, but only if he was hit in the chest. Not only that, but the Desert Eagle .50 cal Magnum pistol clutched in the palm of one of the men would most likely blow right through his protective suit. Thus, he concentrated on dodging, keeping the mercenaries' attention on him so that...

Starfire flew up behind the men, eyes and fists glowing green... and instantly saw that something was wrong. Not only were there seven men instead of the assumed six, but Robin had failed to disarm one of the three delegated to him. Now the Boy Wonder was under fire from five men, all armed with automatic weapons (except the one with the Desert Eagle). Starfire remained calm and worked quickly, throwing starbolts at a ludicrous pace, disarming the five robbers in the space of a couple of seconds.

"What the FUCK was...?!" A mercenary managed to shout before Cyborg crashed through the front door and blew him away with his sonic cannon. The rest of the thieves had barely enough time to yell their own expletives before a gigantic green bull blasted through the door, pitching men everywhere with its horns.

The battle was over in a matter of seconds.

Cyborg's sonic cannon became a hand again, Beast Boy became human again, Starfire floated to the ground, and Robin began plucking a bit of 9mm out of his armored vest.

"That was too easy," said Cyborg in an almost complaining tone.

"Hey, you should be glad," responded Robin, "we've still got time for some sleep before morning patrol... or we could start early..."

"NO THANKS!" Came the response by all.

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Meanwhile at the fast food restaurant, Ryan, holding the cashier up by the collar, considered investigating the source of the shots he had heard.

"Crap, those must've been some guns... It's probably just the bank, not my problem. The cops'll take care of it, or those...heh...'Teen Titans'." But in the end, his conscience got the better of him. Or maybe it was just curiosity.

"Call the police," he said over his shoulder to the cashier as he walked out the door. "And wait here, I'll be back. Probably... "

He walked briskly over to the bank two doors down, and saw that the front doors had been blown in. Deciding that perhaps the front was not the most tactical entrance, he looked around the corner and saw that a sizeable gap was blown through the wall as well, a result of Cyborg's sonic cannon. Ryan saw the fallen mercenary, also blasted through the wall, and strode up beside him and knelt down. As he checked the man for a heartbeat, he noticed a metallic glint off an object in the moonlight near the unconscious thief's hand.

"Hmm, this might come in handy later..."

Inside the wrecked building, the Titans gathered around the hostage. Cyborg removed the man's bonds.

"Thank you all," said the rather elderly man. It was quite odd that he still had his job as night watchman, considering the high crime rate in the area and the fact that he looked as though he were in his mid-fifties. Most of the security and police force veterans in the city had been retired or removed from active service, and been replaced by fresh recruits.

"Where did they put the money?" Robin asked.

"It's in the van outside," said the watchman, "but you'll never get it!"

"Huh?!" The Titans all said at once.

Suddenly the 'hostage' jumped up, pulled a gun, and pointed it at Starfire's head.

Slowly walking around behind her, the mystery man laughed jubilantly, grasping Starfire about the neck with his arm.

"Ha-HA! I knew it! I knew this plan was foolproof! I am the king of all thieves! The lord of villains! The conqueror of the mighty Teen Titans! I AM EDWARD JAMESSSSS!!!" Shouted the revealed criminal.

The Titans readied themselves for combat, but were halted by Edward's raised palm.

"Ah-ah-ah! Don't take another step, or I blow out the lady's brains!" he cackled.

Robin ground his teeth as well as his brain, desperately trying to find a solution, a way to get them all out. There had to be a way... there HAD to.

Robin let out a sigh. "Titans, stand down!"

"Good choice!" The criminal laughed. "But I'm afraid my purpose was to kill you all along! I hardly needed the money anyway." He placed the gun to her temple and prepared to fire...

...and stopped suddenly as he felt something cold and metallic pressed into his back.

"Let the girl go," said a voice from behind him. "Or I blow you away."

Edward paused momentarily to consider his options, and decided that it was the most prudent decision to let Starfire go. Edward James was criminal, a psychopath, and a killer, but he was not stupid. He knew there was no other way that he would get out of the situation alive, and no matter how badly he wanted the Titans dead, they weren't worth giving up his own life for. He withdrew his arm from her neck and she flew back to her friends.

"Good choice," chuckled the mystery voice, "now, drop the gun, and turn around. SLOWLY."

Edward bent down and laid his gun on the floor, then suddenly, a strange smile spread across his face.

"Hehheh... ghehehehe...GHHEHEHHEHE!"

"Titans!" shouted Robin, "get ready!" The Titans assumed fighting stances.

"I'm not going back to prison! I'm never going back! Never!" Edward James was clearly going completely nuts. "I'll-never-go-back! NEVER! I'll KILL YOUUUUU!!!" He whipped around, clutching his gun, and started to pull the trigger...

WHANG.

...and was promptly hit by a pipe. He flew halfway across the room, smacked head-on into the service counter, flipped over it, and slid about thirty feet across the floor before finally coming to a stop against the far wall. Ryan stepped out of the shadows, twirling the pipe dexterously with his fingers. Suddenly he stopped twirling. Starfire stared fixedly at the man who looked very familiar. A single thought lanced through her mind: Could it possibly be him? A single thought was in his mind as well: Holy crap, it's her.

Robin was completely caught off guard by the sudden turnabout. "Wha-who are you, and where's the gun?"

"Gun? Oh, that. No gun, I just jammed this pipe in his back and he totally bought it," Ryan laughed.

"Heh, then nice improv, we owe you one. Thanks," Robin complimented, regaining his composure. "By the way, who are you?"

"It depends," grinned Ryan, "do you want that in English or Tamaranian?"

"Huh? Wha-"

"I knew it!" Starfire shouted, "It IS you! It's you! It's really you! Ed ec oui Ryand'r! It's you it's you it's you it's you it's you!" she spouted gleefully, doing a happy little jig that somewhat resembled a cross between a freak dance and a mild epileptic seizure.

"Hey, Kory; ruf ryja oui paah?"

There was a slight pause in the conversation as everyone just sort of stared at each other.

Finally Starfire introduced him:

"I would like you all to meet my brother!"

"You have GOT to be kidding me." Beast Boy muttered.

Both Tamaranians raised an eyebrow at him.

"I apologize for my teammate," said a slightly annoyed Robin, "he's a little oblivious. Anyway, I'm Robin."

"Sup," said the Tamaranian, grasping the hero's outstretched hand.

"Beast Boy."

"Yo."

"I'm Cyborg"

"I gathered."

"No, no. I'm Cyborg. My name is Cyborg."

"Ah, that's creative."

"Oh, real funny."

"I'm glad you think so."

"I see you've got your sister's literalness."

"I did for the first couple of years, but it wore off. I was just being sarcastic."

"The first couple of years?"

"Ug. Looong story."

Starfire, who had somehow manged to stay silent all this time, could no longer contain her excitement, and erupted into a long stream of questions for Ryan, all of which were in rapid Tamaranian.

"Whoa, Kory! Hold it! I'd love to catch up, but I just finished driving here from Los Angeles, and I'm kinda beat."

"Whoa, all the way from LA? That's a long drive," said Cyborg, "d'you have a place to stay?"

"Not yet, but I'll find something."

"You can come and stay with us!" Starfire said eagerly.

"You guys have a place?"

"Yeah, we- Oh, hold up," said Robin, looking down at his wrist communicator, "we're getting another alert."

"But- but I have not yet acquired the opportunity to talk with my brother!" Starfire objected, "I have not seen him in nearly ten years!"

"What?!"

"Another long story," Ryan explained.

"Well, why don't you come with us?" asked Cyborg, "If you're anything like Star, then we could really use you."

"Nah, superheroing was never really my thing. Besides, you guys are a team, I'd probably only get in your way."

"Aight, then you can meet us back at our place. Here's the address," said Cyborg as a slip of paper printed out of a slit in his robotic arm. You'll know it when you see it; you really can't miss it."

"Thanks, seeya Kory. I'll tell you everything later."

"Farewell! We shall talk soon!"

"Uh-huh. Later."

The teenagers all hopped into their respective cars and sped off into the night, the Titans heading off in the direction of the alert signal and Ryan heading for Titans tower. Unfortunately for him, he would be having another surprise that night, and this one wouldn't be half as pleasant as the last.

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Well, chapter two is done, Ryan is identified, and I have yet another disclaimer. The name Ryand'r is not mine, and neither is the fact that he is Starfire's brother. All credit for that stuff goes to DC. Other than that, everything else about him is mine. As for all you comic book junkies, as I explained before, I HAD to change his looks. He looked like He-Man, OKAY?! I'm sure most of everyone has no idea what I'm talking about. Who reads comic books these days anyway?