First, a note or two:

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. The Ender's Game series is copyrighted by Orson Scott Card. This item complies with the requirements of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) regulations 1988. Stunts should not be attempted except under the supervision of a trained professional. This message brought to you by my keyboard, the screen of your computer, and a whole lot of little electrons.

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

I've just realized how badly the last chapter sucked. And I was bragging about my SAT. Crap. Now I feel like a fool. Smacks head against wall

10/30/04 - Apparently, Raven thinks that she and Beast Boy were having a "moment." In addition, Beast Boy did look quite concerned for Ipsam Purpuream. I do so like being right. Smiles smugly and, seconds later, is trampled nearly to death by mob of enraged Robin-Ravenists

Urk....

12/10/04 - I have decided once again to take up the proverbial quill and ink and inscribe the drafts of my mental being. It's getting more and more difficult to write now, as I can see the end coming near in many unseen ways, and am to the girl whom I know as the most incredible collection of carburized matter in existence no more than a no more.

Merry Holidayness...

And now, on with the show.

"I'm setting a course for Tameran," said Robin as he sat in the middle one of the five cockpits of the Titans Space Sub. His comment was met only with silence: the other four Titans were still brooding over what one of them had done just a few minutes earlier. She had broken the central code of the team. Sure, Beast Boy had done that not long before, killing the mother of a now-orphaned alien. But that had been just one person. Just one sentient mind, forever banished into the inky blankness of Nothing.

Raven's crime was different. She had extinguished a whole race of beings. Had puffed into the darkness a thousand minds with the whisper of a thought. The purple-haired girl stared silently at the control panel in her cockpit in the left side of the ship, daring not to move, lest her powers harm yet another mind. She had felt all those minds in the infinitesimal moment before she had extinguished them. They were infant minds, and as yet were undeveloped. That only made it worse, however, as the minds were completely free of corruption and unmarred by the greed of life.

As the ship drifted on in the inky void, the other four Titans shifted slightly to the right, uncertain.

"I'm sorry, Raven," said Robin. "I just can't let you go on any more missions until I'm sure you can control your powers again. That kind of destruction was–"

"I understand," interrupted Raven. "I'm fine with that."

She didn't sound fine.

"Must we truly keep Friend Raven separated from us during our exploits?" asked a slightly saddened Starfire.

"We have to be safe," replied Robin obstinately. "And your planet's the only one with the capabilities right now to control her. I'm sorry"– he said this more to Starfire than to Raven –" but we can't risk it."

"Yeah," added Beast Boy mirthfully. "We don't wanna end up disintegrated. We might start popping out of existence if we–"

With that, Raven floated quickly from the room, her soul dragging heavily on the floor. The others were silenced as they watched her retract from the room like the eye-stalk of a snail that had been poked too many times.

"S-1 to mode one alpha"

"Check"

"NSRCS to Standby"

"Check"

"Fuel Cells?"

"Fuel Cell 1 is go. Fuel Cell 2 is go. Fuel Cell 3 is go."

"MDSG power levels at full"

"MDSG is barber-pole"

"Um," uttered Beast Boy, thoroughly shattering the usual pattern of pre-launch checks, "I think the shields are Raven's deal."

"Oh, right," said Robin. He fiddled with the instrument panel in his cockpit for a while, squinting, and then grunted in a satisfied way. The indicator for the Main Defense Shield Generator now showed a reassuring gray square instead of the glaringly bad, striped 'barber-pole' that indicated a malfunction. "Check," he said, continuing the pattern. "O2 tanks?"

"O2 tanks to full."

"Powerplant?"

"Powerplant indicates all gray."

"I have all systems go. Stand by for ignition and launch."

With that, the relative silence of the dusty field in which the Titans had left their yellow spacecraft was shattered by the sudden roar of ultra-pressurized oxygen and hydrogen exploding out of the back of the craft, catapulting it up into the sky. The yellow ship shot up for a few moments, the G-forces obstinately squishing the four Titans into their respective seats, before the sky turned black, and the silence returned once again.

"Stand by for staging."

With a jolt, the Tameranian ship launcher, which had boosted the small craft up to orbital height, detached and drifted back to earth, gliding down slowly like some enormous metal bird.

"Stand by for S-2 ignition and hyperspace." Robin pushed a small red button on his console. The button looked suspiciously like one of those buttons that you'd expect to be told not to touch. Indeed, it was not to be trifled with, as pushing it – as Robin had just done – sent the pusher into hyperspace, hurtling along at around two times the speed of Way Too Fast.

"Damn!" said Robin angrily. "We just came from there! What is it with the Justice League? Are they completely ignoring your planet, Star?"

"I know of no such treaty, Robin. My people have never been particular involved in any interplanetary conflicts, and thus are in no need of a treaty barring assistance."

"Well I guess we'd better hop on over there," replied Robin.

"The ship's gonna start having problems if we keep jumping every five minutes," complained Cyborg worriedly. "It's built off of a submarine frame, for crying out loud."

"Not much we can do about that right now, Cy," replied Robin. "I'm not sure why this just cropped up as soon as we left, but I think we'd be making a big mistake to delay.

"Agreed," said the other three present Titans in unison.

"Aaaaaah!" screamed Beast Boy suddenly, clutching his head.

"What is it?" responded Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg at once.

"I don't know. I think she's... He's..." The green changeling looked at Robin. "Step on it. We need to get there now."

For the rest of the trip, he sat tensed in his seat, looking as if he would attempt to jump through the glass of his cockpit at the slightest provocation. The ship shot on speedily through the inky blackness, chasing the pain that one of its occupants had just felt.