Hey everyone! Sorry, this chapter was going to be uploaded on Wednesday! Then Midterms, then Calculus, and then, admittedly, Skyrim got in the way. But no matter! I have finally freed myself after completing the Dawnguard, Dragonborn, and various other quest arcs and am finally, finally ready to deliver you this jam packed super awesome update!

Prepare to be amazed!


Mailbox Time!

SteinMon1920518: Well, if he were to break more than that with a single punch, it would definitely look suspicious. If anything, anyone looking at it on a camera would look it over because of what had been happening. As for the rest... maybetheymightsortofnotreallymendsoon.

HornedGoddess: You know, I can't tell how many hours I put into the last chapter. And in parts of some of these upcoming chapters too. Because I really wanted to capture the emotions going on. And thank you for the compliments! I knew my writing was rusty when I got back, so it's great to hear that I've finally passed the point I was at before!

WarpCrazy: If you think that's crazy, you should have seen how awol he went when he thought his mate and cub went up in a fiery explosion in "The White Stick." Being face to face with that would be freaking scary!

drannaka: Eh, I guess if I were to say anything, it'd be spoilers. So, spoilers.

neslykoki: I think this chapter will definitely make you happy amidst all the chaos going on in it.

Eris: Again, spoilers! We'll see in the future though.

J-Rob95: How long could I drag something like that out... (Evil laughter in the background). It's a good thing you're optimistic. The world needs a lot more optimism in my opinion.

TheAlienHeart: Yes! That's the exact kind of reaction I wanted to draw out! And I'm sorry, but spoiler, it's going to be a little bipolar for a while longer.

Sanzojoe: My dude, I'm just glad you're willing to sink your teeth into this. And don't worry, there's still a good load of chapters left for you and everyone else to wait for!

Pixel-Pie02: Well, I didn't write in two hoboes as an incriminating gesture of any kind. I actually met some nice homeless people on my mission. Some of the best people I got to help out actually. I was more thinking along the lines of two people who would fit the bill for the scene. I didn't know about including the other emotions reactions at first. Like I said it was going to go differently, but then I decided to have a little fun. Especially with Lust. Having her do something that was shockingly out of character as to just make you want to laugh. And dude, I didn't realize you became an author while I was gone! Congrats! (Maybe I'll have to see Fairy Tail sometime so I can read your works?)

frog31791: Spoilers. :)


Since Last Time: 1 more Favorite (Total: 274 Favorites, 317 Followers)


Updated: June 14th 5:30 P.M.


Disclaimer: I don't own the Titans, the Leaguer, the Young Justice members, the two villains, the ex-villainess, and the Doom Patrol members used in this chapter. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy while you find out who is who from the above listed?


Chapter Forty-Two: Meet The Doom Patrol


The sun had set in the distance, and the dark veil of night was slowly moving across the sky. A large dark looking cloud bank was starting to move in on the western edge of the city. It brought with it strong winds, rain, thunder, and lightning.

Most of the citizens of the city had all gone home by this point, and the last few stragglers in the streets were hustling to where they'd parked their cars so they could race home before the storm hit.

"Where the (Bleep) did my car go!?"

A couple of people came to discover that they had parked their cars no parking zones. To add to their stressful day, they now either had to run home, find out where their car had been towed off to, or take shelter somewhere in the city.

"This is (Bleep)ing ridiculous! Who the (Bleep) would (Bleep)ing (Bleep). Stupid (Bleepity) ruining my (Bleeping) day (Bleep Bleep Bleeeeeeee)!"

Well… that one person certainly knows how to cuss. I hope he makes a choice soon, or else he'll have a lot more to cuss about when the rain begins falling.

The scene moved to the industrial section of the city. Everything looked dead, besides the lampposts that turned on to light up the coming night. The rain was slowly starting to fall here. No one was visible on the sidewalks.

Everything was silent…

Kathump.

A sleek black limo went over a pothole and broke the silence on the street. Its lights were off, and its engine was almost as silent as a Tesla's. It maneuvered the streets silently and stealthily as it passed building after building, and factory after factory.

After a little bit, the limo turned off the road onto a long almost abandoned looking driveway. Lights placed every couple hundred feet or so illuminated the long sleek vehicle as it approached an old, abandoned, dark and gloomy looking factory at the end of the half-mile-long driveway.

Kckckck…

As the limo neared the halfway point, a rusty car garage door opened slowly. It took until the limo had gotten close for it to fully open.

The limo drove slowly into the garage out of the falling rain. Inside the garage looked as dark and gloomy as the outside. Acts of vandalism from broken window panels to spray painted cuss words and stuff were seen all around the outside walls of the garage. Glass littered the cement floor, along with various other peeling crates, rusty shelves, debris, and various junk.

The limo parked itself in a clear parking spot in the middle of all the mess and remained still.

Kckckck…

The garage door started to close behind the limo.

Thoom, kshshsh…

The floor the limo had parked on shifted, and hydraulics sounded as the section of floor lowered the limo slowly into the floor…

kerchunk!

Once the limo had disappeared from view, a slab of concrete flooring went out over the original parking spot. The inside of the garage looked empty again.

Kckck… Boom!

The garage door finished closing, casting the inside of the empty vandalized factory garage back into darkness… masking the presence of anyone inhabiting the area.


The scene showed the inside of a lit up room. It looked to be fully made of metal and painted to look like it was fresh from a military barracks. There were no fancy colors, and it was all bleak.

Kshshsh…

The limo descended slowly on a hydraulic lift near the center front of the room.

Kshshsh… KaThoom!

The hydraulics sounded as they finally finished lowering the heavy load into the room… The limo sat motionless for a moment…

The back passenger door opened itself. "Please, watch your step, Mr. Garfield and Miss Rachel. Steve and Rita Dayton have been anxious for your safe arrival." The robotic limo voice said politely.

Beast Boy appeared first out of the limo. He groggily rubbed at his eyes. "Dude, after everything that's happened, I'd rather deal with getting hurt testing gravity than getting beat up facing another freaking hero." Beast Boy joked grumpily.

Raven stepped out after Beast Boy. She had her hood up, and her cloak wrapped around her body. Below the shadowed part of her face, she had a thin straight line that was her mouth. "Ditto." She said monotonously.

Thump.

The door closed behind Raven. "Steve and Rita Dayton will be waiting for you down the hallway straight ahead. I do hope you enjoy your stay Mr. Garfield and Miss Rachel." The polite robotic butler voice spoke again.

The limo drove silently away from Beast Boy and Raven.

The two looked in time to see a panel open in the wall, revealing a massive garage with different cars on the other side. A jet similar to what they had piloted before was also parked in the center of it. The limo drove through the opening. Then the panel immediately closed afterward, cutting the massive underground garage from view.

The two stood there in silence for a moment…

"I guess we'll listen to what the car said…" Beast Boy suggested.

Raven faced the wall up ahead. A large doorway stood directly ahead of them. "I guess." She said blandly before she wrapped her cloak more fully around herself and walked forward. Specks of black power were coming off random parts of her body.

Beast Boy followed silently along behind her. He looked slightly nervous as they approached the twelve-foot tall door ahead of them.

'Dude… I… I'm actually going to be able to see my old team again. I never thought I'd have this opportunity. I thought it was totally over for us seeing them.' Beast Boy thought.

Kckckck…

The door creaked a little bit as it slid open. Raven appeared first with her blank face, and Beast Boy was behind and to the side of her with an expectant look on his face.

They were faced with a dimly lit plain military colored hallway. The ceiling was twenty feet up above. Various side hallways could be seen branching off from the hallway on either side. There was no sign of the Doom Patrol. Or a clear way on how to get to them.

Beep…

I stand corrected.

A beep sounded, and then a green light illuminated down below. Raven and Beast Boy looked down. At the beginning of the hallway on their right, a series of green lights started to blink on. As they watched, it traveled along the floor of the hallway. It passed intersection after intersection, and then it curved out of sight in the distance.

"I guess that's our path?" Beast Boy asked quizzically.

"Obviously," Raven replied blandly before she followed the glowing green lights.

Beast Boy looked indignant as he opened his mouth, but then he closed it and it kept it shut. 'Be cool dude… you know she isn't angry with you now. Some of the other girls you saved from stuff like that as a member of the Doom Patrol acted like this in the hours afterward.'' He thought to himself before he followed her.

The two walked along the path through the hallways for a while. The two of them were silent, not saying a word to each other. The greenlit path they were following seemed to stretch into the darkness, making the illusion that they were walking a great distance. The only noise they heard was the swishing of Raven's cape and their silent footfalls on the metal floor.

'I wonder how all the others will react when they see me? Will they be happy? Would Mento be happy? Would they even recognize me? I mean I left the dude and the rest of the team on a bad note last time, but he would have forgiven me by now… right?' Beast Boy thought.

'Yeah, maybe in like a million years.' He thought despondently.

He glanced up at Raven as he walked. Her back was to him, so the only thing he could see was her cloak and the back of her hood. Along with the little specks of black that came off her hair every now and then. He didn't know how, but he could tell she had her arms crossed underneath her cape, and she was trying to do her best to keep from shaking. Like maybe she was scared.

'… dude, I'm still not sure what I should tell her. I don't even know what words I could use that would soften the blow?' His thoughts were immediately diverted to him and Raven.

'Should I be bluntly honest with her? Or maybe ease into it by saying something like; Dude, I'm not sure how to say it to your face, but I've kind of liked you for a while… Oh, and the inner part of me likes you too, and your body, especially your body. He also kind of likes to think of you as his mate. I can't really try to argue with him either because my feelings have been growing for you lately and everything and I've been using that term myself. Would you want to father a family of like ten cubs with me mate?' Beast Boy thought sarcastically to himself.

The Beast didn't respond. It also didn't really help to cheer up Beast Boy either.

'Beast, she's not mad at you anymore. Why can't you drag yourself out of that depressive den of yours and help me out here?!' Beast Boy thought in frustration.

No response came.

Beast Boy continued to walk behind Raven, though his hands clenched into fists at his sides. 'You know what, I'll just save it for later dude. Thanks a ton for helping out with my problems and everything.' Beast Boy thought sarcastically to himself as he grumbled in his dark cloud. 'Freaking green oversensitive little furball…'

Meanwhile, Raven was being silent. She looked calm and collected as she walked. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She muttered quietly over and over again.

No matter how much she tried to utter her calming mantra, she couldn't press down on all her emotions. Fear, anxiety, hope, and various other things from the past few days. The shock of having almost been raped again. And especially the thought that they were either walking into the biggest miracle or the biggest trap ever. It was pretty stressful, to say the least.

'Can I please have at least a little help here? I could accidentally bring down all the cement above us on our heads.` Raven thought defeatedly. She had never thought that she'd be asking her own selves to help keep her in control. She hadn't realized she had come to rely on them so much to help her stay in control.

There was no response from her mind. She did, however, get the strong dark feelings coming off of Beast Boy behind her. She was surprised that even with her powers on the fritz she could still feel his emotions with her empathy. It was almost like something was amplifying them trying to get her to focus on him.

'No, not until he gives his explanation. I already established that.' Raven again thought firmly.

There was no emotional lapse like last time. But Raven was keenly aware of the very tight grip she was having to keep over herself to keep from breaking down and crying after everything that had happened the last few days.

She sighed to herself again. 'Maybe being given the opportunity to explore my emotions wasn't the best thing to take advantage of.' Raven thought in annoyance to herself. She hadn't remembered them being this hard to control before. Though she did know why.

She glanced back at Beast Boy. He looked especially dark and brooding at that moment. She didn't even need her powers to see that. It sent chills down her spine at the sight. Raven faced forward again. 'Am I asking too much of him? I just want an answer…' Raven thought.

'… maybe he doesn't even know the answer.' The thought popped into her mind.

Raven shook her head. 'He drew me without clothes on. Even an idiot would have an answer for that… …'

Raven didn't finish the thought. She instead sighed as she crushed the line of defense in her mind that tried to make the pessimistic thoughts come to life. 'I just want things to work out for the better… but it's so hard to see that happening when it seems like everything is falling apart.' She thought glumly.

The two turned onto one last intersection. The green lights ended a few dozen feet in front of them at the base of another large doorway.

Raven was brought out of her thoughts and stopped a few feet in front of it. She looked up at the doorway. Beast Boy walked up beside her. She could still sense that he was feeling dark on the inside.

"Any thoughts on turning back?" Raven asked dryly.

Beast Boy shrugged. "Nah, what's the worst that could happen?" He asked.

Raven took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "We could walk into a trap, get captured, and then get exiled to Outer Perdition together in the next few moments," Raven said blandly.

"Thanks for the optimism, Raven." Beast Boy said sarcastically.

"I was being optimistic." Raven dryly replied.

Beast Boy didn't even look at her, and he pressed the button on the wall.

Kckckck.

The metal door started to sweep open. "Well on the bright side, if that happens, at least you'd get payback for me having those drawings-" Beast Boy started to joke as he walked into the room.

Slam!

A tall female figure slammed into Beast Boy. Surprising him as he walked in. "Garfield!" She yelled happily.

Beast Boy's eyes were the size of dinner plates, and Raven almost lost control as she dropped into a defensive stance. But almost instantly he realized who it was, and hugged her back. "Mom!" He yelled happily.

Raven relaxed from the defensive stance she had taken behind him. Her heart was beating a million times a minute. She was barely able to keep herself from blowing more than a few of the green bulbs behind them with her powers. 'Too close, way too close.' She thought as she tried to calm her racing heart.

"Oh thank goodness, are you okay? Did the Justice League hurt you? Did you have any problems getting here? Are you eating well and brushing your teeth every day and night? Do you still remember to shampoo while you shower and flush the toilet after you're done?" Rita asked like any worried mother would as she looked all over Beast Boy for cuts and bruises and the like. Her talking also made Raven lose her train of thought.

'Was he the one who left the toilet unflushed in the Tower before?' Raven found herself thinking curiously.

Beast Boy paled a little bit. "I'm fine Rita. The Justice League hasn't hurt us recently. Yes, I'm still nice and healthy and avoiding all my former childhood issues. The only problem I had getting here was getting Cliff to recognize me on the freaking cameras!" Beast Boy said almost in annoyance, though there was also happiness in his tone.

"Oof!"

Speaking of whom, a pair of giant robotic orange arms wrapped around both Rita and Beast Boy and squeezed them tight. "Hahaha! That was a genius idea bud! Way to go using that vegan mess up in that small head of yours!" Cliff said happily.

"Robodude! I haven't seen your bucket of bolts in like years!" Beast Boy said happily even though he was getting crushed.

Cliff set the two of them down, and then put his hands on his hips. "And just who are you calling a bucket of bolts you small green freaky elf." He said down to him.

"You, you rusty outdated tech baboon! I'd know since I took you apart one time!" Beast Boy said before he laughed.

"Alright grass-muncher, that one deserves a noogie!" Cliff said before he grabbed Beast Boy again.

"Ah, not the hair, not the hair!" Beast Boy complained as Cliff laughed gleefully. Rita rolled her eyes at the sight of it and rested a hand on her hip.

"Boys." She muttered to Raven.

Raven stood in her spot. Silently watching the little reunion going on in front of her. "So that's how he became like that." Raven drawled out.

"It's like when he first joined the team." Another calm apathetic voice spoke next to her.

Raven turned her head. Larry (Negative Man) was standing nearby with his arms crossed. His bandaged face was looking towards Cliff and Beast Boy. "He was smaller then, but after he loosened up from being rescued from that hospital, he and Cliff interacted the same way. It's like some things never change." He said calmly.

Raven looked back to the two. Beast Boy was trying to force Cliff's hand away from his longer ruffled hair. She was silent as she observed the playful banter between them. The darkness from before was already retreating again.

'Some things never change I guess…' Raven thought sadly.

"Hey now, are you going to forget about the rest of us here?" A voice asked.

It finally became apparent then that there were others who hadn't yet been introduced. Beast Boy escaped from Cliff the noogie robot and looked over Cliff's shoulder. What he saw almost made his mouth drop.

"Dude!" He yelled.

Blue Beetle was leaning against the command console. "Not to ruin the reunion or anything amigo, but I think me and the rest of us here would like a formal introduction too." Blue Beetle said as he pointed out the other heroes behind him with a smirk on his armored blue face.

Superboy, Miss Martian, Blue Beetle, Artemis, Jinx, Jericho, Kole, Pantha, Herald, Thunder and Lightning, surprisingly a crippled kid leaning on a crutch, and a couple of other figures could be seen behind him. Most of them were watching with smiles on their faces.

Beast Boy laughed to himself as he walked forward. "Dude! This is sweet!" He said happily. Then he stopped in confusion. "Wait, there's two of them!?" Beast Boy asked in surprise as he pointed out the last two heroes in the room.

"Oh yeah, I'm the faster, more good looking of the two. Name's Wally. Wally West. I also prefer Walls, Waltzy, and good looking hunk of Wallsville." The Teen Titan's version of Kid Flash said quickly and offhandedly before he put an arm around Jinx's shoulders. "And this here is my new favorite girlfriend of a few weeks, Jinxie." He added as he played with her cheek.

Jinx rolled her eyes and pushed his hand away. "We've already met." She said coldly. "And you better not be trying to show me off, Wally." She said agitatedly.

"I'm not Jinxiepoo." Kid Flash replied in a teasing tone that made Jinx blush.

"Wait, what do you mean?! I thought I was the better-looking one!" The other Kid Flash in the Young Justice version of the suit asked angrily.

"Quiet Wally, you're lucky that I call you good looking on a good day," Artemis said next to him, though her tone had an undertone of affection to it that made her boyfriend sulk.

(You know, I'm not exactly sure how to explain why there were two Kid Flashes in the same universe. But hey, I don't see a reverse Flash around here, so it must be safe, right?)

"Oh please, your Wally doesn't look anything good like my Wally," Jinx said with an eye-roll to Artemis.

"Are you insulting my Wally?!" Artemis angrily asked.

"I don't know, am I blondie?" Jinx snidely asked.

(It was at that point the author realized the potential fight that could happen, and quickly moved on since the last thing he needed to describe now in all this mess was a catfight between two pairings from two separate universes the author has worked so hard for years on combining into something sensible.)

Superboy looked down at Miss Martian beside him. She was one of the only few not smiling. Despite everything he had told her, she still looked nervous at the sight of the two heroes a few dozen feet in front of her. "Is there something on your mind Me'gann?" He asked her curiously.

Miss Martian looked up at Superboy and forced herself to smile. "I'm just resisting the urge to fight with them. You know, since we've been trying to hunt them down for the last half year or so." Miss Martian admitted nervously.

Superboy chuckled. "Don't worry about that Me'gann. They don't want to fight you or anyone else either. Trust me. You'll grow to like them." Superboy said before he walked away to join Blue Beetle and the others who were approaching the two heroes.

Once Superboy had walked away Miss Martian's smile came off her face. She then glanced down at her hand, where the tracker Zatanna had given her before was hidden. She looked deep in thought like she was fighting an internal battle as she followed along behind Superboy.

Raven had almost lost control of her emotions again from the surprise of seeing so many heroes gathered together who weren't fighting them. She had barely caught hold of herself and was forcing herself to stay calm and blank. Still, if you looked closely at her, you'd see black sparks like little Mexican jumping beans bouncing off her cloak.

'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zintho-'

"Oh yeah. Cliff and I saw what happened on the city's cameras. Are you okay?" Larry asked her calmly.

Boom.

A muffled explosion sounded in the hallway behind her. "I'm, fine for the moment." She said quietly. "I just need space is all." She added.

Larry didn't fight her on it. "Alright. Just know that they're all here to support you should you need it. Especially Garfield. I've never seen him look so pissed at anyone before." He said before he walked away to lean against a console.

The statement almost made Raven lose her focus again. 'Argh! Thanks a lot for bringing that mess back up.' She thought in frustration.

Larry walked past a quiet, white-haired girl. She had an eye patch over one eye and a pair of katanas sheathed on her back. She didn't say a word or join in anything. She rested against a wall and watched the action.

Raven didn't think much on it and instead went back to observing everything that was going on while keeping a tight mental focus on her powers.

'At least he's looking brighter again.' The thought came to her as she observed how happy Beast Boy looked as he hugged Superboy, then Blue Beetle, then Thunder and Lightning, Kid Flash, and others. The thought at first made some of the emotions pressing on Raven fall back…

'He always seems happier lately when he isn't focused on me, doesn't he?' Raven thought. The thought saddened her and made her feel even more guilty and conflicted. The emotions again pressed upon her tight control.

Should she just bury the hatchet… but there was still the freaking drawings! Logic doesn't dictate having naked drawings of someone else…

Beast Boy let go of Herald, then looked around at everyone with a look of awe on his face. Cliff and Rita had backed away to allow all the other heroes to get closer. Both of them smiled at the scene below.

"Dude, I can't use words to describe how happy I am… this is just so cool!" Beast Boy said happily.

"Yes, yes it is." A calm voice finally said.

Beast Boy looked to the side, and Mento finally appeared from behind a pair of consoles. He had his helmet on his head, and he had a rather hard look on his face.

Beast Boy's face lost a little of the happiness, and he stood up straight. The other heroes quickly backed away and made room for Mento as he approached. He looked like a sergeant staring down his private.

Beast Boy might have been a private when he left, but now he stood like a captain. Better, he looked like a weathered leader. And he stared down his stepfather/military dad as he approached with the glare of one. Everyone in the room was silent as Mento took only a few more steps before stopping to stare down at Beast Boy.

Rita, Cliff, and Larry stared almost expectantly from their spots at the two. Raven and the unknown white-haired girl also observed silently from their spots.

A few seconds of silence passed between the two.

'You've grown since last time.' Mento's voice sounded approvingly in Beast Boy's mind.

"I didn't have much of a choice, Steve." Beast Boy said out loud.

A small, almost invisible smile came onto Mento's face as his stance softened. "Life doesn't tend to give you a choice in the matter, son. I'm proud you've taken it well." He said out loud before he opened his arms.

Beast Boy was a little surprised at first. Then he relaxed and dropped his stance. He had tears poking at his eyes as he hugged his father figure.

"Welcome back to the team Garfield. I'm glad that you two made it okay." Steve said.

"Glad to be back, dad." Beast Boy replied endearingly.

The rest of the heroes relaxed. Rita and Cliff were now smiling widely. It seemed the talk Rita had given to Steve before the two's arrival had done its wonders. Larry gave a thumbs up from where he was standing.

"I was never part of the team, but yeah, I guess I'm glad to be back too," Raven said dryly with a roll of her eyes as she approached.

Mento looked her over. "And you must be Raven," Mento said as he turned to shake her hand.

"Yes. I am." Raven said flatly.

Mento gave her a small nod. Much to her relief, he didn't make any jokes at her expense. "I say this with all seriousness Raven. Thank you for keeping my son safe from the Justice League."

Raven was almost left speechless at the statement. And it made her feel guilty enough to pull her hood farther over her head. "It was nothing. Gar's kept me safe along the way too." She said quietly to herself.

Miss Martian stood in the back of the now chattering group of heroes. She looked tense as Raven walked up to stand next to Beast Boy. She still looked to be fighting with an internal conflict…

'Should I?... should I not…'

Finally, a hardened look came onto her face. 'I might not trust Zatanna that much… but I still trust Batman, my uncle, and the rest of the Justice League more than them. The evidence pointed to them killing Jason and Tula, and I'll be damned if I don't help Kaldur to get Justice for that.' She thought.

The button of the tracker finally appeared out of the glove of her hand. Then Miss Martian closed her fist and pressed the button down. The single unknown signal then went out to find the one device it was connected to. Almost perfectly untraceable to any outside devices.

"No turning back now." Miss Martian said quietly to herself, as she made her way around the group.

"I'm just curious dude, how did you manage to gather all these people here?" Beast Boy asked Superboy. Mento now stood to the side with Rita next to him, and the heroes had all gathered in front of Beast Boy and Raven.

"It wasn't all him. I was the one who organized most of the support." Artemis said next to Superboy.

"Yeah, it was a lot of running, but I needed the exercise anyway." The Young Justice Kid Flash said.

"Didn't we beat you both up in that one forest though?" Raven asked blandly.

"Eh, it's all forgiven. I wasn't exactly myself when we fought at the time." Artemis shrugged it off.

"Yeah, apparently Zatanna used some form of magic to manipulate her mind, at least as far as we can tell." Kid Flash supplied.

"And she's done it on a few other heroes as well," Superboy said.

"Quite a few of the others." Blue Beetle added in a grave tone of voice.

"How bad is it?" Mento calmly asked.

Superboy shook his head. "We're not sure. Artemis was able to tell immediately after what had happened to her. But I didn't know that I had a slight one on me until after I had taken that large electric surge attack from Beast Boy in Midway City that shattered it. Even after that, it took allowing me some of my own time of thinking things through before I finally shook off the remnants of it."

"Okay. How can we tell that everyone else here doesn't have Zatanna's spell on them?" Beast Boy asked.

"I personally scanned their minds one at a time. If any of them had had a trace, it would have had to be very well hidden." Mento replied.

Miss Martian, under everyone else's notice, was sneaking slowly around the group. "Still, I thought the Justice League had us painted out to be criminals. So why are there so many here?" Beast Boy asked.

"Simple," Pantha replied this time.

"We knew something isn't going right with the Justice League." Thunder said.

"I can verify that. I've never seen my friends in the JL so distrustful or hateful over any other villains than what they've painted you two to be." The crippled kid said. Beast Boy looked a little confused at how the crippled kid knew members of the Justice League. Though the others nodded to him.

"And we wanted to help you out," Kole said for both her and Jericho. Jericho gave a thumbs up with her. Gnnark gave two big thumbs up behind both of them. "Gnnark!" He added.

If Beast Boy and Raven were confused at the caveman's response, they didn't show it.

"Plus, I was the one who did all the running by the way, not him." The Teen Titans version of Kid Flash said smirking as he pointed to the other Kid Flash.

"Why you-" The other Kid Flash started to say indignantly.

"I wanted a fight, but yeah I guess I wanted to help out too since I figured out she was involved." Jinx interrupted with a shrug and a smirk as she pointed to Raven.

Raven chose not to respond.

Miss Martian was getting closer to the outside edge of the group closest to Beast Boy. 'How can the others be so easily fooled?! Don't they realize what these two have done?! Are they out of their minds?!' She thought angrily to herself in her mind.

She looked to be taking in deep breaths. She knew the Justice League was on their way. And she knew that even though she was heavily outnumbered that she could still do something. Even if it meant getting beat in the process.

'It's time that those two fugitives are brought to justice. And if they won't do anything about it, then I will.' Miss Martian thought. She focused on the two unsuspecting heroes and prepared to launch a mental assault. It would buy her a few seconds before the others realized what was going on.

She only wanted to do what was right… her eyes started to glow red.

"Well, now that we're all here and introduced and everything, what are we going to do now?" Raven dryly asked.

The other heroes looked from Beast Boy to her. "I don't know about you, but I didn't come here to fight against the Justice League." She dryly, yet seriously said as she glared lightly to Jinx.

Jinx shrugged her shoulders. "No promises on that if the occasion pops up." She said lightly.

Raven's comment made Miss Martian freeze. Her eyes that were glowing red from the mental attack she had had ready turned back to normal. 'Wait, what?' She thought in confusion.

"Yeah, I agree with Rae dudes." Beast Boy added. I know you're all gathered here to support us through thick and thin and all that. But we want to try and avoid any more conflicts with the Justice League if it's possible." Beast Boy said seriously.

Miss Martian looked confused. 'What are they talking about?!' She thought. It didn't make any sense. She was frozen in her place, almost as though she was unsure what to do.

"Hey Me'gann, are you okay?"

Miss Martian almost jumped out of her skin as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She turned her head to see Superboy staring down at her. He had finally noticed his girlfriend after focusing on Beast Boy and Raven, and she looked rather pale.

"Yes, yes I'm fine." She said almost shakily.

"Okay, just making sure. You look more on edge than usual. Are you sure you're alright-" He was asking quietly.

"Yes." She quickly interrupted him. "Just, continue conversing with them. I'll be okay." She said quietly.

He looked unsure, but he gave her a smile regardless before rejoining the conversing heroes.

Miss Martian looked down at her hand. She didn't say anything though and instead decided to wait for something to happen.

"Yes, we don't want to get in open conflict with the Justice League either." Mento agreed.

"And I'd rather not face Superman again like before," Superboy said as he looked to the others again. He turned to face the two of them. "Besides, there's something I've been meaning to ask you two." He paused. "Did you know that Aquagirl and Batman's new Robin were killed shortly after you two escaped Smallville?" He asked.

The two looked genuinely surprised at that. "Two heroes were killed?" Raven asked.

"Batman had a new Robin?!" Beast Boy yelled incredulously.

"Yes, and based on your reactions, it's obvious now that you two were framed to be their murderers," Superboy said.

Beast Boy's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "SAY WHAT NOW?!" Beast Boy yelled.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Raven was shocked speechless. So much so in fact that a row of ceiling lights up above exploded.

Miss Martian quickly took the opening. Instead of attacking them like her thoughts were strongly suggesting her to do, she instead probed the surface of their minds. And what she saw confirmed what Superboy had just said.

The two of them hadn't killed the heroes. They had never even heard of them, much less met them.

There was only one logical conclusion. The two of them had been framed.

Somewhere inside Miss Martian's mind, a carefully hidden spell cracked.

'What's happening!? This doesn't make any sense! I thought-' She thought to herself. The very slight yet effective enough mental manipulation that had so obviously been hidden from her mind was starting to fracture.

"It's official then. We can't get in another fight with the Justice League. Not when there's obviously more going on than we knew of." Beast Boy said in a serious leader like tone.

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Aw please, if we aren't going to fight, then what's the point of us being here?" She asked.

"That would be where I come in." A cold voice finally cut in.

Beast Boy, Raven, and everyone else turned to face the voice. The white-haired girl from before had silently walked up next to them. "And where the heck did you come from?!" Beast Boy asked in surprise.

"The name's Rose, and you'll understand where I come from better in a moment if you're willing to listen," Rose said calmly as she pulled a USB from a pocket in her belt.

Beast Boy looked to Mento in confusion. "Don't worry. I also probed her mind long before you two got here. She can be trusted." He said calmly.

Beast Boy looked back to Rose, and then calmly stepped to the side. Rose walked between him and Raven up to the control console and inserted the USB into it. "I'd suggest the goth witch should keep a good grip on her powers before this finishes loading. I'd rather not have this place collapse on us before my father delivers his message." Rose dryly suggested.

Raven looked like she wanted to bristle at the comment. Before she could though, the USB finished connecting to the mainframe. Rose's meaning suddenly became very clear, as the hologram of a figure appeared above it. A cold feeling went down Raven and Beast Boy's spines at the sight.

'What…' Raven thought

"What the hell!?" Beast Boy yelled in shock.

The orange and steel masked figure locked his hands behind his back. "Greetings, Titans. It's been a while." The armored figure of Slade said in his normal baritone voice.


Author's Notes:

What a cliffhanger to leave you all on! (Laughs evilly to himself, all alone in his dorm room) So much going on, so many questions left to be answered. What does Al have planned for you all down the road now, hmmm? Guess you'll have to wait till next week (and hopefully not the week after that if Calculus gets harder, or if Skyrim becomes more tempting with its many sidequests)! Hope you all continue to enjoy!

Till Next Time

Allen