The next morning …

Mark rolled over in his bed, which was much softer and cozier than his bed back at the abbey. He was feeling restless and buried his face in his pillow, that is until he remembered what day this was. He quickly sat up and rubbed his eyes. As they came into focus he saw where he was: in his parents old room at Titans Tower.

Other than her books, Raven left most of her stuff behind in the room, which Cyborg kept just as she left it, even cleaning and dusting it periodically, as if it was a museum display. There were the strange and even macabre looking artifacts in the book cases. The Comedy and Tragedy masks were still hanging on the wall. There were some things that belonged to his father, like his vast collection of graphic novels and a vintage Clash of the Planets poster signed by members of the show's cast, which still hung on the wall in a protective frame.

He turned over to the bed his parents shared. It had a hooded headboard and wasn't very big, meaning that his parents had to sleep snuggled with each other. Raven was levitating over the bed, meditating as she softly whispered her mantra in the Lotus position.

Mark never felt the need to meditate to control any sort of alleged inner darkness he might have had, but did so because his mother insisted. As he crossed his legs in preparation she opened her eyes and lowered herself to her bed.

"Good morning, Mark."

"Good morning, Mom. So, you and dad lived here, right?"

"Yes, after we married, your father moved into my room."

Raven stood up. She was wearing her leotard and was barefoot. Until the day before, he had never seen her wearing anything other than her hooded Azarathian habit, which was the same thing he and all the monks and nuns at the abbey wore. Her bare legs stood out like a sore thumb to him.

"Don't you feel cold wearing that?"

"I also wore my cape when I wore this. When we were Titans, your father and I rarely wore anything other than our hero costumes."

"You wore pajamas when you went to bed right?"

"Actually, we wore our costumes when we slept. It made it easier to get ready quickly if the crime alert went off." She partially fibbed. He didn't need to know that his parents usually slept together wearing nothing at all.

"Do you still have one of dad's old costumes?" He asked.

Raven's mind appeared to wander away, as if it was traveling through time.

"Mom?"

She snapped back into reality.

"Yes … there should be some here in the room, unless Victor put them into storage."

She walked over to a tall chest of drawers and opened the bottom drawer. Her eyes widened as she looked inside. After a brief pause she lifted a small box, the kind you might get at a department store as a gift box for a fancy sweater. She opened it and smiled.

"Mom?"

Still smiling she walked over to Mark's bed and handed the box to him.

"This was your father's costume when he was a pre teen in the Doom Patrol."

Mark pulled the shirt out of the box and held it up to himself. It looked like it would fit him. There was also a pair of trousers, a utility belt and a pair of fairly new looking shoes.

"Why don't you try it on? It should fit you." She asked him.

Mark quickly changed into the outfit and ran over to a full sized mirror. He liked what he saw.

"I look like dad."

"Yes, you do, very much so. The costume is made of a special material that also morphs, so it didn't tear when you father morphed. Why don't you give it a try?"

Mark nodded and morphed into a dog. Back at the abbey, he would always morph into something small, like a dog or a cat, then crawled out of his habit. He looked at his mother.

"Where did it go?" He said in a canine like voice.

Raven reached for his neck and gently tugged on a thin green string around it.

"It's there."

"Wow, I didn't even feel it. You can't even see it."

"Now become human again."

He did as she instructed and his uniform reappeared. He looked at her with longing eyes.

"Mom, can I take it home with me? I want to keep it."

"You can bring all of them home. You will soon outgrow this one. I suppose I should contact Larry to have more made for you, while it still can be done."

"Who's Larry?"

"Larry Trainor. He was a member of the Doom Patrol, better known as Negative Man. He's the last surviving member of that team."

"What happened to the others?"

Raven's face became very somber and solemn. "They all died in the line of duty. Larry went solo for a while, but after your father died he decided to retire."

Mark nodded his understanding. "Being a superhero is dangerous, right?"

"Very dangerous. There were so many times your father and I were almost killed, in fact, I was killed once, I think."

He became wide eyed. "You were dead once?"

"I'm not sure. When I became the portal for your grandfather I think I briefly ceased to exist, at least my body did, I disintegrated when I became the portal. When I regained consciousness I was a small child. Maybe I wasn't dead, I really don't know."

He tenderly placed his hand on hers.

"You've had a really hard life, mom."

She pulled him into a hug.

"Not always, there were many good times. I made wonderful friends and I married your father." She cupped his face in her palm. "And then you were born." She kissed him on his forehead. "The only thing I would change is to have your father with us now."

A loud knock on the door interrupted their moment.

"Breakfast is ready! I made pancakes and waffles!" Cyborg's voice boomed though the door. "The T-Ship's ready to go to Anaheim, so let's get going!"

-(-)-

It was the first time Mark had flown in any sort of aircraft. He of course could fly using his powers, either in an animal form or using his mother's flying powers. But this was different. They were above the clouds and flying far faster than he could. He was sitting in his father's old compartment and the instruments indicated that they were flying at 60,000 feet above sea level at mach 2.7. When he looked up the sky looked dark instead of blue and the ground looked far, far below. He looked over at his mother's compartment and she appeared to be meditating.

The flight was short and they soon began their descent into the greater Los Angeles area, which seemed to spread in all directions, dwarfing the much smaller Jump City. Eventually Cyborg landed the T-Ship on a helicopter pad on top of the huge Disneyland parking garage. As they disembarked a parking lot attendant approached them.

"That will be $250, to park your helicopter … airplane … whatever that is ... please." What people said was true. Disneyland was not only the happiest place on Earth … it was also one of the priciest.

-(-)-

There had been some discussion whether or not they would wear holorings that day. Since the one Cyborg made for Mark didn't seem to want to work, they decided to go as themselves. Fortunately, they did have VIP tickets and didn't have to wait in one of the huge lines at the entrance turnstiles. Cyborg also arranged for them to have a private tour guide, not because they couldn't find their way around, but because it meant they wouldn't have to stand in any lines for the attractions. It was very pricey, but for them is was worth it. Still, wherever they went they stood out like sore thumbs. Many of the other patrons called out to them to say hi and the Titans occasionally signed autographs.

Raven seemed to be enjoying the outing. For some reason the park wasn't all that crowded that day and things were going smoothly until she overheard a conversation.

"Hey, look, it's Raven and Beast Boy!"

"No way, Beast Boy died years ago."

"Then who's that?"

"Beats me. He looks like Beast Boy. I didn't know they had a kid."

Raven kept Mark's birth a secret. Other than his birth certificate, there was no other record or announcement of his birth. He never attended any school, as she along with the monks and nuns home schooled him. Cyborg made sure he received his inoculations and Raven dealt with the rest of his health care.

Mark didn't overhear the remarks and appeared to be having a grand time as he chatted with Mar'i, and that was when it dawned on Raven that when he grew up he might choose to leave the abbey. He would probably attend a university some day, but there was also the possibility that he might want to follow in his father's foot steps and become a superhero. Raven quickly dismissed the thought, as he never had given any indication that he wanted to be a superhero.

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted as the ground began to shake.

"Earthquake!" Someone shouted.

Tremors were a common occurrence in southern California and the throng in the park seemed to shrug it off as they continued with whatever they were doing. But the shaking intensified. Soon there were snapping and popping sounds as well as the sound of glass breaking. The patrons stopped dead in their tracks. It was now shaking so hard that some people lost their balance and fell to to ground.

"It's the big one!" Another voice shouted.

The quaking continued to intensify and the ground cracked open near where they were standing and a small family, complete with a stroller, fell into it. Raven quickly used her powers and pulled the family out of the chasm and into relative safety, as some of the structures around them began to collapse. Explosions were heard in the distance, as natural gas lines ruptured and caught fire.

A matronly woman ran up to Raven and shouted: "You're the Titans! Do something!"

Raven stared at the mayhem around them. The Titans had many talents, but stopping earthquake's wasn't on their curriculum vitae. She saw Mark, who's face looked fearful, ball his fists … and then he shouted.

"STOOOOP!"

The park became eerily quiet.