Nearly three weeks after the movie premier, the alarm sounded, bringing the five Titans at a run to see their newest threat.
"They look like…" Terra trailed off.
"Dude, are those really…" Beast Boy began.
"Ninjas," Robin confirmed. On the screen, four figures in tight black attire, complete with masks, were wreaking havoc in the local mall. Their weapons varied to include swords, daggers, stars, and staffs.
"Titans, go!" Robin ordered.
"But, Robin, I was just about to…"
"We can resume looking for Raven when we get back, BB," Robin interrupted authoritatively, though there was sympathetic understanding beneath the firm tone. "We need you're help right now. And the sooner we beat them, the sooner we can all get back to looking for Raven."
"Yeah. You're right," Beast Boy said, defeated.
"Let's go."
Once they arrived, Robin took is position in front of the group and addressed the assailants. "Stop terrorizing these people."
"Look," one addressed his fellows in a sarcastic tone. "The Teen Titans have come to stop us."
"More fun for us," a female commented. She then threw three metallic spheres at them.
"Titans, move!" Robin commanded.
The five jumped in different directions. Where they had stood now remained only a shallow crater, dust still lightly raining down.
Robin aimed a kick for the one who had first spoken, but the man easily avoided him. Turning, Robin tried to punch him. Every one of his blows was blocked, but Robin left no opening for the man to counterstrike.
The female ninja had tried to attack Terra when the bombs exploded, but had missed. The woman seemingly became absorbed with dodging the rocks Terra hurled at her. Terra did not see the silver flash from the woman's hand. Ninja stars sliced from her smallest finger to her elbow, leaving a deep cut in their wake, and embedded in the wall behind her. Her gloves dropped to the ground at her feet. Her sleeves dangled loosely, cut by the stars, from her elbows. She tried her best not to move her arms, because of the pain doing so caused. Terra was on the defensive, as the woman, now armed with a long sword, moved forward to strike.
Beast Boy and Cyborg simultaneously attacked one of the other ninjas, a female. As Beast Boy charged at her in many different animal forms, Cyborg fired his sonic cannon. She merely dodged, making no effort to strike either of them.
"Dude, what is with her?" Beast Boy demanded as he stood, panting softly, near Cyborg.
"I've no idea."
As if from nowhere, she suddenly pulled out a thin rectangle of wood. The two Titans looked on, confused but wary. With a snap, she revealed to them a fan, beautifully decorated.
"You've got to be kidding me," Cyborg mumbled. "She's going to beat us with that?"
With surprising speed, she charged at them. Both Titans vaulted backwards to avoid her, and she aimed for the changeling. A swipe of her fan left behind a long, thin rip along his calf from which the red of blood began to well. Beast Boy's leg gave under him, and he fell to the ground, clutching it in pain. Before the woman could deal another blow, Cyborg fired his cannon, forcing her to retreat slightly. Moving to stand protectively in front of Beast Boy, Cyborg noticed the shine of metal at each fold in patterned fan.
Starfire was deftly evading a ninja with a pair of three-pronged daggers. He was just as nimbly avoiding her starbolts. Starfire saw the glint of silver that was the ninja stars embedded in the wall. And she saw Terra barely eluding the sword of the female. And she saw that Terra's arms wet with her own blood.
"Friend Terra!" Starfire tried to go to her companion, only to have her attacker take advantage of the distraction. He lunged, and she again tried to elude him. A few of her hairs fell, severed, to the ground. He just as suddenly backed away. Confused, she watched him out of the corner of her eye as she started to move toward Terra.
"Starfire!"
Then Starfire saw the reason for her attacker's retreat. She tried to flee as well, but was still caught in the blast of the bomb. She was hurled into a fountain. Her shoulder caught on the stone of the statue, ripping part of her uniform and scraping roughly at the skin. Her head hit the concrete ledge, leaving her unconscious, while the rest of her body landed in the shallow water.
Robin had tried to warn Starfire, but he had been too late. In an attempt to help his friends, Robin threw a hard punch at the ninja he was in battle with, then tried to withdraw.
A staff appeared in the man's hands. He drove it down on the end of Robin's cape, halting the Boy Wonder's progress, then jumped and kicked at his head.
With the sound of tearing fabric, Robin was thrown roughly into a wall. While trying to stand, the staff connected with his side, bruising, if not breaking, a rib. Another hit to the back of the neck left Robin senseless.
The woman fighting Terra managed to bring the hilt of her sword in the same place, and Terra fell to the ground.
"I'm bored with this," she declared, standing over Terra's inanimate form. She sidestepped a shot from Cyborg's cannon.
"I agree," stated the other female, closing her fan decisively. "We have what we came for."
"Why don't we just finish them now?" asked the man who had not spoken before.
"We know they cannot defeat us, should they try to stop us again," the first male said. "Let's go."
Cyborg lowered his cannon as they four mysterious figures disappeared. The Teen Titans were no longer considered a threat to the evil they faced. Looking at his injured friends, he again silently wished Raven was with them. Terra came to, and was able to bring the beaten Titans back to the Tower, where Cyborg treated their wounds.
The Titans gathered around the large television screen, recovering from their skirmish. Beast Boy, Starfire, and Robin's bandages were hidden beneath their uniforms, but Terra's were visible, bandaged from wrist to elbow. Starfire whimpered, looking at her torn uniform. Terra, Beast Boy, and Robin grimaced at their own ragged clothing.
"I'll call Bruce," Robin declared. "Maybe he'll know of a place to get better uniforms."
When he returned, he told them, "He says he knows of a designer who could improve our uniforms. We need to send Bruce a set of each of ours, and he'll make sure they take priority."
So they did. Less than a week later, Bruce invited them to his mansion to retrieve their new outfits. He refused to explain why he would not simply have the costumes delivered.
When they arrived, Alfred escorted them to a back room, where Bruce sat in a comfortable-looking chair waiting for them.
"Welcome. Have a seat." They each took an empty chair.
"Where are our uniforms?" Terra inquired.
Bruce pointed. They were in a large case, surrounded by thick glass, as if for display. "This is what I wanted to show you." He pressed a button. Flames burst forth momentarily from the ceiling inside the container. Once the fire died, the new, as-of-yet unworn, uniforms looked black. Bruce pressed another button, opening the front glass barrier. He stood and approached Robin's outfit, and ran a finger along the cloth. It came away black, and revealed the bright color underneath, undestroyed.
"Now," he said, to the Titans, who sat in shocked silence. "My understanding is that they are not completely fireproof. They cannot withstand a long period of time under much fire, but it will under a brief period of fire, as you just saw. There is also the fact that your uniforms do not always cover your entire body to consider."
"Can they do anything else?" Robin asked, impressed.
"Yes, but first, let's wipe these off." Bruce handed each of them a cloth to clean their uniforms with. Then he approached Beast Boy's outfit. "The material—I'm still uncertain about what it is, exactly—stretches," he demonstrated its elasticity, "but is extremely durable."
"How strong is it?"
"That's what I am going to show you now. Alfred," he called. The butler came in, wearing safety goggles and earplugs. In his hand, he held a shotgun. Once inside the case, Bruce closed the glass door with a push of the button. The Titans watched as he fired one shot at each uniform, only to have the bullet drop to the floor without puncturing the clothing.
"Wow."
"Impressive, isn't it," Bruce said. "I'm told that the range from which Alfred fired is the closest the shooter can be, but it's much better than nothing, I think." He opened the door for Alfred to exit. "Thank you, Alfred."
"Next—"
"There's more?" Beast Boy exclaimed.
"Yes. Most liquids cannot penetrate it, either. Water or chemicals. It does not, however, allow much heat to be held in. Your skin can breathe through it, so to speak, so you will not become overheated. I encourage you to try your own weapons out on them."
After a moment of hesitation, Cyborg discharged his sonic cannon. Nothing. The same result from Starfire's attack. Beast Boy tried to bite the material in different animal forms, but it stretched to meet him. Robin tried using a bird-a-rang. He succeeded in the slightest of tears, but only when he stood directly next to the costume.
"That's amazing," Terra commented, awe in her voice. "Who made these?"
"I'm not really sure," Bruce replied. "She's new. Must be, because none of us had ever heard of her before this month. Wonder Woman recommended her to me. Not much is known about her, very mysterious girl."
"New..."
"Mysterious…"
"Girl?"
"Yes. She's called Crescent Shrijani. She reminded me quite a lot of your friend Raven, actually." When the faces of the Titan's fell, he added, "Still not having much luck? I'm sorry."
"Wait, you said she reminded you of Raven? Did you meet her?" Terra questioned.
"No. I researched her before contacting her about making my, and then your, uniform. After all, we can't trust just anybody. I did not find much information—as I said, she is enigmatic."
"Is that all that reminded you of Raven?" Robin asked.
"No. I found a picture of her during my search." They followed him as he approached a large computer screen. After punching a few keys, a photo appeared. The Titans stared. They could understand how Bruce could mistake her for not being Raven. He did not know her like they did.
But the photo was of their teammate, Raven. Her purple hair was streaked with green, and hung loose just below her shoulders. She was not looking at whoever took the photo, but at whatever task she was currently working on; it was probably a candid shot. But they could still see that her eyes were a purplish blue, as if she had tried to hide her violet irises beneath too-thin blue contacts, though anyone else would think the opposite.
With great hope, and with the help of Crescent's other clients, the Titans tried to discover her whereabouts of Raven. But she was nowhere to be found. Apparently, the Titans' uniforms had been her last project. She was gone, again.
Starfiresucks: Thank you for the review, and welcome to Most of my ideas just suddenly enter my head, but everyone is different. I would be happy to help you in any way I can. Just let me know how I can assist you. E-mail me personally, if you like.
Raven of the night 676: No, some people just had some aspect that made the Titans at first think the person was Raven. But upon closer inspection, they discovered they were sorely mistaken. I take no offense. If you have a question or are confused, please ask. I am glad you liked the chapter. Several more are certain to come before the end. Thanks for the review!
Defafaeth Mechqua: Yes, you are right. I forgot to take into account how long movies tend to take to make. However, I did not want the Titans to have to wait for so long before seeing Raven again. They might think her dead otherwise, no? Also, her jobs are separate. She does not hold more than one at once. Anyway, thank you very much for reviewing!
DarkSin: Thanks so much! I'm happy you think so!
The Last: You are very welcome. I am glad you liked my description of her dress. Thank you very much for the review!
EvilYellowCrayon: Lol. I am pleased you are enjoying my story. Thanks for the review!
Sparrowing: Thank you! I am glad you liked the last chapter. I did read your story. You are an amazing writer, and your attention to detail is magnificent. You should continue with it. Good luck with your writing, moving, and life.
Zicora: Thank you very much! I am glad you are pleased with Raven's career choices thus far.
outthere101: Thanks! I will try to make sure there continues to be more for you to see.
papersak: Lol. You shall find out eventually. Thank you for reviewing!
cd lover: Lol. Thank you! I was extremely surprised when you mentioned Raven being a doctor, because I had already been planning for Raven to have a medical occupation at some point. Anyway, I will update when I can.
V-Gin: I am glad you like the story so far. I hope it continues to meet with you approval. Thanks for the review!
Darkofthenight: Thank you so much! I am glad you are so happy with it. I will update when I can.
BlackShield: Thank you! I am glad you are still enjoying my fiction. And, yes, there is much more to come.
DelofDani: Shhhh, don't tell anyone. Lol. Yes, I thought about that, but I am not going to allow the others get her back that easily. They are replacing her on the show? How cruel! Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing!
NevermoretheRaven: That is cruel! I hope she does not die. Thank you for informing me!