First, a note or two:

Oooo, long chapter. Yay.

This is the second of my stories, and once again, I beg those of you who know everything about the included series not to complain. I am not trying to be as faithful to the comics or TV series as possible, so if you want accuracy, I suggest you look somewhere else.

KEY:

'Blah' = thought

"Blah" = speech

I don't own the Teen Titans or any of the undermentioned items. Teen Titans is a trademark of some large comic company and Cartoon Network. Sign on a optometrists near me: Will's Eye Drop Off here. Wonder what exactly you're supposed to drop off...

Please review if you've read this story. I will not continue to update unless I get reviews.

Raven's mom is Arella. I got this information from , which in turn got it from various DC Comics.

Bit adapted from 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke in here...

And now, on with the show.

"Dude, how can we not find a 20 ft tall, blue haired, stony alien?" Cyborg cried out suddenly. The three remaining Titans were currently cruising over the treetops in a modified T-Sub. Much like the one that had been used to rescue Starfire from the clutches of the Chrysalis Eater, it was simply the Titan's submarine fitted with removable engines. This time, however, the sub was designed for atmospheric flight; the titans had decided that Robin and Cyborg's inability to fly for extended periods of time was a liability, and thus had sought remedy by invention. A single main engine, as well as numerous vector-control thrust engines, powered the modified craft.

"I still just don't see anything, Cyborg," answered Robin. "Maybe we should go down and have a look."

"You two go down," replied Cyborg, "and I'll stay up here – keep watch over the scene." He turned to Robin as the smaller teen left. "And Robin? Pop the damn question."

"Should we separate paths, dear Robin?" inquired Starfire gently.

"No, we should probably stick together. It's too dangerous for just one."

The two friends walked in silence for what seemed like an eternity, scanning the trees for signs of unusual movements. Then, suddenly, something clicked in the Boy Wonder's head. In a moment of time too short to measure, time stopped, and his universe collapsed on itself. Like a giant typewriter, his mind sorted through lists of possible endings. The ending appeared, and possibilities folded in on one another like a house of cards, until only one was left standing. It gleamed brilliantly before him, and his choice was made clear. Pop the damn question.

"Hey, um, Star?" asked Robin meekly.

"Have you found something, Robin?"

"No, I was just going to ask if you'd –" WHAM.

Starfire was knocked off of her feet by a giant stone arm. "Star!" cried Robin as he leaped out of the way of a second strike. He radioed Cyborg, and in moments saw and heard the yellow craft roaring over the tree tops. He looked back to his foe just in time to see her send another giant-fisted punch his way. He turned to dodge, but she had anticipated, and he felt a sickening crunch as the stone fist connected. He saw stars for a moment before darkness surrounded him.

Cyborg looked down from his high vantage point in dismay. It certainly wasn't going well. The large stone monster had already knocked Robin unconscious, and Starfire was beginning to wobble slightly, her energy bolts flickering. Then suddenly Cyborg felt a giant lurch as something heavy hit the underside of the sub. The craft wobbled, alarms sounding, and then dived head first into the ground. It flipped end over end, tossing the man inside around like an overly shaken bottle of salad dressing. He attempted to hold on, but to no avail. A panel rushed up to greet him, and beckoned him in to the black world of unconsciousness.

The Tamaranian princess, the only remaining member of the abbreviated Titans left standing, felt a fear deep within her heart. She was fighting to stay conscious. Already the other two lay down, perhaps unconscious, or even – 'No,' she thought, shaking her head. Starfire had to fight to maintain control.

A smell drifted across the young girl's nose. A slightly metallic smell that was barely noticeable. She put her hand to her nose and pulled it away. Starfire saw that her fingers were soaked in red. She was so overrun by fear that she nearly fainted.

Starfire was losing, and she knew it. She lifted her fists again, pulling on her last ounce of strength, and concentrated on her deepest anger: the splitting asunder of her team, and the defeat of her best friend. Her faced turned grim, and her hands glowed with the energy of the stars. She was drawing back her hand to deliver the bolts when the lights suddenly began to flicker and then died altogether. She sank to her knees in shock, surprised at her own defeat, and then hit the ground with a dull thud.

Robin pulled his head up from the cold dirt, and his head swam. He knew somehow instinctively that he had only been out for moments. He tried to focus his eyes, and saw a scene that made his blood run cold. The T-Sub was smoking in a field beyond, obviously crashed. And right in front of him, lying face down in the mud, was Starfire. She wasn't moving.

Above her stood a huge creature of stone. She opened her mouth, and spoke.

"Now Reidou will make you pay for your insults to poor Soto. Attacking a poor youth. Humiliating him. Now you will pay."

The giant raised her and prepared to bring it down on Starfire's unconscious body. Robin tried to shout "No", but all that came out was an unclear grunt. He squeezed his eyes shut – he didn't want to see it – and waited for the end.

Suddenly a deafening roar broke the silence. Robin's eyes flew open and he saw, standing just a few feet from him, and obviously attempting to drive back the giant known as Reidou from the body of Starfire, a huge, green Tyrannosaur. The tyrannosaur roared again, and snapped its jaws menacingly, but the stone giant was too large, and was unperturbed. She advanced again towards the body of Starfire

The Tyrannosaur stopped, looked pensive, and promptly disappeared. In its place was something much larger. A huge dinosaur, towering over 40 stories tall, with immense, elephantine feet and a long neck that seemed to stretch up forever barely fit itself into the clearing. It craned its lengthy neck downwards, gave a long, low, menacing groan, and kicked Reidou. She went flying, and hit a raised mound in a field nearby, plowing into it by several feet. The stone giant struggled to get to her feet when a giant, cylindrical foot came down upon her and crunched her out of existence.

The dinosaur vanished, and in its place was a small, green boy. He walked over to where Starfire was lying, and flipped her onto her back. He looked at her thoughtfully, and then walked over to Robin. Beast Boy pulled his friend up his hand, and looked at him.

"You came back!" said Robin, overcome with both happiness that Starfire remained relatively un-squashed and shock at Beast Boy's violent and ruthless termination of Reidou.

"Yes," answered the green boy. "But I never said I'd stay."

He didn't smile.