Dark Titans

by Lathis

The ongoing adventures of Heroes and Martial Artists alike, as two very different worlds collide. The day of Starfire's wedding is at hand. Shocking family reunions and meddling wedding crashers promise much intrigue. Meanwhile, back home, Ryouga and the not quite Titans are throwing their own party. Kasumi only knows who is on the guest list.

30. Titan Rising! Chapter 5

Dark Titans – Arc 4 – Titan Rising!

Chapter 5

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't

---

Battling off a wave of grogginess, Terra opened her sapphire eyes, only to immediately regret it, as several treacherous lances of sunlight chose that exact moment to assault her. Muttering a minor curse at the evil, sleep depriving sustained fusion reaction in the sky; she quickly flipped away from the window and pulled her blanket over her head . . .

Wait a sec . . . Blanket? Opening her eyes again, the ensuing darkness confirmed that she did, indeed have a blanket pulled over her head.

Well, that was odd. She didn't even remember going to bed; the last thing she remembered was . . .

"Aw maaan!" she groaned in embarrassment. Tearing the blanket from her head, Terra sat up and slapped a hand to her forehead. "I fainted?"

"Like a Southern Belle!" came Beast Boy's helpful voice.

She groaned again. "I can't believe I fainted! I'm a geokinetic super hero that hangs out with aliens and robots! How could I have fainted from that?"

"Don't forget actual shape shifters," Beast boy reminded her, "Don't worry, though. Robin and Kasumi said it was mostly fatigue and junk. All Ryo did was just give you that little push over the edge."

Terra considered that, before letting out a small sigh. "Well, it's still pretty embarrassing. I . . ." She trailed off as she finally unburied her face from her hands and turned to regard her companion.

"What the heck happened to you?" she asked incredulously.

Contrary to her assumption, the changeling wasn't sitting in the chair by her bed. Instead, he was occupying the next bed over. Various bruises and bandages were visible, and Beast Boy winced a bit as he offered her a sheepish grin.

"Beast Boy apparently chose to avenge your fainting spell," supplied a perky Kasumi. The woman, who was currently standing by a large, complicated looking machine, turned to look at them and tapped a graceful finger to her chin. "I must say, it was a rare lapse in judgment on your part Gar – um, Beast Boy."

Terra couldn't help but giggle at that statement. She then turned a suspicious eye in Beast Boy's direction. "So, what did you do?"

The jade teen shrugged helplessly. "I kinda defaulted to the old water balloon prank, though, in Ryo's case it's just sooo much more effective."

Terra's eyebrow rose. "He beat you up over a water balloon? Seems a bit extreme, doesn't it?" A little too extreme; she found herself strangely hoping that her savior wasn't some kind of maniac.

Kasumi sighed politely. "Ryouga has always been rather temperamental concerning his curse. He might have been slightly harsh, but it was by no means unexpected."

"Umm, curse? What curse?"

The lovely brunette smiled knowingly. "You've already seen it in action. In fact, it's why you are here right now."

Suddenly, everything clicked . . . though the picture didn't really make any kind of logical sense. "So, Ryouga turning into a kid . . . that was a curse?"

Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah, totally freaky, eh? Even weirder, it's turned on by cold water and off by hot water."

"Really? That is kinda weird . . ." A sudden thought caused a giggle to escape her lips. "So, does that mean that big bad Beast Boy got beat up by a cute widdle eight year old?"

"Hey! It wasn't like that! He's, like, some kind of super ninja kid!" proclaimed the flailing changeling.

"Suuure he is."

"He totally is! He even beat the tar out of Robin when he was a kid."

That brought Terra up short. Sure, she had been told how good Ryouga was, but it was more a nebulous concept than anything else. On the other hand, she knew how good Robin was, and the idea that this Ryouga person could defeat him while half his normal age . . .

Just what kind of fighter was he?

"Is that so?" Kasumi asked. "Robin told me that that fight ended in more of a draw."

Beast Boy waved dismissively. "Pfft, only cuz Raven broke the fight up before Robin could really get his butt handed to him."

The young blonde rolled her eyes. "Where is Ryouga, anyway? We never really got the chance to finish our talk."

Her emerald friend shrugged helplessly.

"I believe he's down in the gymnasium. He was telling me that he wanted to begin training again," offered the surprisingly knowledgeable Tendo woman.

The green teen shuddered visibly. "Maybe you should wait till later to talk to him. If Ryo is training in the gym, then it's a good bet Robin is down there too. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like getting suckered into any early morning training."

Kasumi nodded absently as she read the monitor on yet another obscure medical device. "Exactly. Why do you think I'm here checking these same three machines for the fifteenth time this morning?"

The brunette then graced them with a smile so innocent, that Terra's hand nearly reached for her wallet to buy the woman a puppy before she even realized what she was doing. Thankfully, before the geokinetic could break her brain trying to figure out if the older woman was kidding or not, Kasumi broke down into a fit of girlish giggles.

Apparently her immune system was still very weak, as Terra quickly found herself infected by the errant strain of giggles. Beast Boy, on the other hand, succumbed to a mutated variety of the virus known as the chuckles.

Finally, Terra was able to shake the giggles and slipped her feet off of the edge of the bed, letting them dangle freely. "Hey, I'm still injured, remember? No training for me, doctor's orders. I think I'm safe to head down."

Across from her, Beast Boy let out a resigned sigh. "Oh, fine, I'll go too, then."

She shot him a queer look. "Um, you don't have to if you don't want to . . . in fact, shouldn't you stay here if you're still beat up?"

In a typical display of macho male ego, the changeling waved off her concern (only wincing three times as a result). "Naw, I'm as fit as a fiddle, right, Kasumi?"

One of Kasumi's eyebrows arched. "If you are implying that you are as healthy as a delicately crafted piece of wood being held together by so much string and glue . . . then yes, I suppose you are."

Terra giggled shamelessly at the look on the changeling's face when he realized that Kasumi had actually made a joke. Kasumi followed it up with a resigned sigh of her own. "Well, I suppose if both of my patients are leaving, then it would be hard for me to justify my staying up here alone, now wouldn't it?"

Beast Boy smirked happily. "True that! Alright, field trip to the gym and I've got both of the most beautiful Titan girls to accompany me. I'll have to remember to thank Ryo for pummeling me later!"

Despite the cheesiness of the line, Terra still felt her cheeks start to burn. Kasumi just giggled in that wonderfully airy manner of hers.

"Oh, my! You had better not let Starfire hear you say something like that."

Terra nodded, but before she had the chance to add 'or Raven', the changeling leapt to his feet (apparently magically healed of his crippling injuries) and pulled her to her feet as well. Beast Boy then turned to Kasumi and winked. "I won't tell if you don't. Now, let's get goin'!"

With their miraculously pessimistic-turned-optimistic guide to lead them, it only took the trio a handful of minutes to reach their destination. They hadn't even managed to make it through the gymnasium doors before they were given a very audible hint as to the kind of training that was going on.

A bone rattling 'Klong' rumbled down the corridor, followed quickly by the boisterous laughter that could only be Cyborg's. The unexpected noise brought Terra up short, uncertain as to what it could mean. The look of excitement that spread across Beast Boy's face, though, promised that whatever it was was likely going to be cool.

Instantly, the shape shifter grabbed her wrist, his excited look growing by the second. "Dude! It sounds like Ryo and Cy are goin' at it! I'd know that 'Klong' anywhere!"

At hearing that, Terra scarcely needed the changeling's assistance to increase her pace. Together, they ran forward eagerly, while the lovely Tendo followed at a rather more sedate pace. They burst into the massive training room just in time to be treated to an impressive sight.

Moving so fast that the blonde could barely follow, Ryouga flowed forward, weaving just an inch to the side of Cyborg's furious haymaker. The martial artist then seemed to slide up the length of the cyborg's arm, effortlessly piercing his defense, and landing punishing strikes to the elbow, neck and temple at a tempo that reminded her of someone playing one of those metal drums.

A fraction of a second later, the bandanna clad warrior was forced to leap up and over Cyborg's head to avoid a devastating roundhouse kick.

Cyborg followed his kick by spinning around and throwing out a wild backhand, obviously hoping to catch Ryouga before he landed. His swing came up an inch short, though, as the nimble martial artist had planned obviously planned his jump to land just beyond the larger boy's reach. Then, rather than break off and reorient himself, like Terra imagined she would, Ryouga's hands flashed out to latch onto Cyborg's extended fist, holding it fast. The martial artist then allowed himself to fall to his back, pulling his opponent with him. Before the enormous teen could flatten him, though, Ryouga's feet shot out and-

Terra's eyes widened.

-launched the massive bulk of Cyborg thirty feet into the air.

The titanium Titan ricocheted off the gym wall, a wide spider web of cracks forming in testament to the force of his flight, then plummeted to the floor with a calamitous crash.

Even as Terra watched in awe at the display, her companions seemed to be taking the battle in relative stride.

"Get up, Cy! You can't let the rookie beat you!" crowed her emerald companion.

"A most exemplary application of the Pentakian Reverse Leverage Thorax maneuver I demonstrated for you!" cheered an equally excited, though oppositely gendered, voice from across the room.

It was about then that Terra realized that Starfire, Robin and Raven were all present as well. While the vivacious Tamaranian cheered enthusiastically from the sidelines, the latter two leaned against the far wall, watching with varying degrees of interest.

In a decidedly casual manner, Cyborg rose to his feet, taking a moment to brush some errant rubble from his shoulder. The wide smile on the larger teen's face spoke volumes. "Heh, what's the problem, Ryo? You're only hitting me with seventy three percent of the force you were using the last time we fought. How the heck do ya expect to beat me like that?"

Ryouga grinned a fanged grin. "Handily, I'd say. Besides, I am two months out of practice, not to mention the fact I don't feel quite the urge to kill you that I did back then . . . yet."

From the far wall, Robin shook his head in amusement. "Don't get cocky, Cyborg. Remember, I asked Ryouga not to use his Bakusai Tenketsu for the same reason I told you not to use your missile launchers."

To the vigilante's side, Raven rolled her eyes. "If that reason was to prevent the gymnasium from being destroyed, then it seems to be failing utterly."

"Ha!" crowed Cyborg. "Like I'm worried about Ryo's Finger of Doom. Cyborg don't get taken in by the same trick twice!"

Considering that Terra had absolutely no idea what anyone was talking about, having become utterly lost around the Back Yard Tent Sale part of the conversation, she was caught completely off guard when the cybernetic Titan made a rather overt display of the simple act of pressing a button on his arm panel.

With startling speed, gleaming plates of metal suddenly began to slide out from Cyborg's limbs, moving to cover every inch of the blue, glassy material that covered so much of his frame. It only took a handful of seconds to complete the bizarre transformation from blue tinted hero to silver plated knight.

"Hah! How do ya like them apples, Ryo? I'd like to see you try your puny little BT on me now!"

In response, the fanged warrior's grin spread out into a vicious looking smile. Lifting a fist, he extended a single finger before him, holding it out like one might brandish a lethal weapon. "Don't tempt me, Tin Man."

"Okay, guys. Remember this is a nice clean fight. Try not to go overboard," Robin reminded the pair.

Sighing sadly, both combatants dropped back into their respective combat stances. Seconds ticked by until, suddenly, at some signal known only to the cyborg and the martial artist, the battle resumed, both surging forward as one.

The two warriors met in a flurry of blows. Cyborg was in rare form, launching punches and kicks as quickly as Terra had ever seen him. His opponent was on another level completely, though, threading through the attacks and launching savage strikes of his own in return. The larger Titan might as well have been fighting a phantom . . . no, that wasn't quite right.

This fight was more basic than that. It was like watching furious ocean waves crash against the rocky shore, the old 'unstoppable force, meet immovable object' cliché. The bandanna clad fighter was absurdly fast and attacked with ferocious abandon, but Cyborg was too resilient to be harmed.

Though she wasn't sure why, the blonde geokinetic found herself willing the smaller warrior to win. Not that she wanted Cyborg to lose, per se, but it felt important to her that her savior was, maybe, just a teensy bit invincible.

"Ha!" cheered Beast Boy, "Ryo can't hurt Cy! It's just a matter of time before he tires out and Cy finishes him off."

To their side, Kasumi tapped her chin. "That is quite possible. I suppose that in ten or twelve hours Ryouga will start getting winded . . . though he has gotten much stronger since that time him and Ranma stayed up training all night long for that Rhythmic gymnastics duel. My, those two always did work so hard."

Terra and Beast Boy both stared at the brunette, eyes wide. "You can't possibly be serious," mumbled the former.

Kasumi's head tiled to the side as she regarded her. "Whatever do you mean? Why wouldn't I be serious?"

The changeling groaned loudly. "Man, there's no way my attention span can last that long! Not even for an awesome fight like this." He turned back to the battle. "Hey, Cy! What's your battery level at?"

"Twenty hours!"

"Aww maaan!"

Using the second's distraction, Ryouga launched himself into the air, soaring into Cyborg's chest with a bone shattering double kick. Of course, considering the massive teen's titanium frame, Cyborg was barely even unbalanced by the attack – at least, until Ryouga used the large teen as a springboard, using the massive strength of his legs to send himself flying up into the air . . . and send Cyborg careening into the floor. The titanium Titan's body dug a furrow half a dozen feet long before grinding to a stop in a shower of sparks.

Ryouga landed on the far side of the gym, smiling. "Don't worry, Beast Boy, I don't plan on letting the fight go on that long."

And then the fanged warrior descended on Cyborg's rising form like a plague of locusts . . . and with roughly the same results that a swarm of small insects would inflict on the steel plated titan.

Slowly, Terra turned toward Kasumi. "Um, Kasumi? You guys said that Ryouga was a normal human, right?"

The elder tapped a long finger to her chin. ". . . well, normal can be such a subjective term . . ."

Terra giggled. "I mean, he's not an alien, or a meta human, or dunked in toxic waste or anything?"

Kasumi smiled back, looking quite tickled. "I can't say for certain about the last one, but yes, Ryouga is a normal human, by that rather loose definition."

The young blonde tilted her head to the side. "Then why exactly is he bouncing around like he was Starfire's and Robin's lovechild?"

The second the words slid from her tongue, Kasumi's face flushed bright red. An explosive outburst of laughter erupted from her other side, as Beast Boy nearly collapsed at roughly the same time.

Even though she had asked the question far too quietly to be heard beyond the three of them, the green teen's outburst quickly drew pointed glances from the far side of the room. Acting quickly, Terra waved innocently to Robin, Raven and Starfire, then immediately turned her attention back to the battle.

A particularly fast jab from Cyborg forced Ryouga to block, rather than dodge. Absorbing the impact on crossed forearms, the martial artist was still sent sliding backwards over a dozen feet, until the gymnasium wall was kind enough to stop his enforced retreat with only minor buckling.

Terra's eyes widened again. It didn't look like Cyborg was pulling his punches at all.

Impressively, Ryouga dug himself out of his shallow crater and shook his arms out gingerly. "Not bad, even with all of my training that actually hurt."

"Well, if ya liked that-" Cyborg's bragging was suddenly cut off by the roar of his boot jets flaring to life and launching him over a dozen feet into the air. Even as he flew up, twin bursts of azure flame carrying him aloft, his right arm clanked and whirred loudly as it reconfigured itself into the familiar sight of his sonic cannon. "-Then you're gonna love this!"

With a deafening 'Thoom' of white noise, the torrent of sonic waves tore into the ground and shattered the wall . . . exactly where Ryouga had been standing just a second earlier.

Terra had to blink twice before she registered that not only had the fanged fighter vanished from ground zero, but he was already in the air and closing the distance to Cyborg in a blur.

The metallic fighter's human eye widened in shock as the martial artist quickly began to fill his vision. He desperately tried to reorient his over-powered energy weapon, but before he even had the chance-

Ryouga flew past him in a flash of yellow and black. Cyborg nearly laughed out loud at his opponent's wild miss – but found his elation cruelly curtailed by a savage jerk on his arm. All the titanium teen had time to notice was the strip of yellow and black spotted fabric wrapped around his sonic cannon before his entire existence became a spinning whirlwind.

Terra winced in sympathy as Ryouga finally released Cyborg from the aerial death spin, launching the larger man into the distant wall with all of the poetic grace of a cruise missile.

The martial artist wasn't done yet, though. Ryouga landed lightly near the center of the room, only to cross his arms over his chest tightly. Terra was just about to ask Kasumi what was going on-

When Ryouga started glowing. An oddly familiar feeling washed over her as he did, like an echo of something she couldn't remember, but could never imagine forgetting . . .

"Ryouga, wait!"

"Shishi Houkodan!"

Whatever warning Raven had tried to offer was drowned out by the crackling roar of the sphere of azure energy which flared to life so dramatically, hanging in the air, dancing wildly to some unheard samba, right before the warrior's crossed arms.

Terra silently tallied another check mark to her 'Starfire/Robin Love Child' scoreboard.

Maybe my definition of normal could use some work, she mused silently.

Then Ryouga extended his hands forward, almost appearing to push the glowing orb of energy towards his staggering prey. Obeying with vicious glee, it blasted off like some kind of roaring bullet, bearing down on Cyborg –

Who frantically tore his sonic cannon from where it was embedded in the wall and swung it around –

"Sonic Cannon Blast!"

Cyborg's transmogrified limb flared to life once more, unleashing a lance of pale blue energy of incredible intensity.

To Terra's surprise (not to mention Ryouga's, judging by the fact that his eyebrows just shot up to vanish beneath his bandanna), Cyborg's sonic bombardment tore through the hurtling comet of energy without even slowing; the beam of force carried on to smash into the fanged boy's chest.

Apparently Ryouga wasn't much of an impediment, either, as the boy was blasted right off his feet. The lance of sonic waves carried him the entire length of the gymnasium, slamming him into the distant wall with enough force to smash a crater over two yards in diameter into the resilient material.

A moment later, Ryouga's smoking form collapsed to the ground.

Terra gasped loudly at the sight, but was quickly drowned out by the rest of the audience's reactions.

"Alright, Cy!" cheered Beast Boy enthusiastically.

Robin and Starfire applauded as well (to varying degrees of enthusiasm).

"Way to pull off the upset victory of the month, Cyborg."

"Indeed! Your ability to resist the savage beating you were receiving was most impressive!"

Even as the former three ran forward to congratulate their friend, Raven just rolled her eyes. "Sonic Cannon Blast? You are such a dork."

Cyborg flashed the dark teen a winning smile. "Hey, it was either that or 'I'ma Firin' mah Lahzar!'"

And with that, the rest of that discussion dissolved into a series of uproarious laughter and disgusted groans.

To Terra's side, Kasumi simply sighed. "Terra, would you be a dear and check on Ryouga for me? He'll probably be feeling a bit down after a loss like that."

The young blonde stared at the woman incredulously. "Down? Isn't anyone even worried that he might be dead?"

It was the Tendo woman's turn to look strangely at Terra. Kasumi shook it off quickly though, and offered her a charming smile. "Don't worry about Ryouga. I'm sure his pride is more wounded than he is. Now you go cheer him up while I go start breakfast. I want to see if I can find the things I need to make his favorite."

Then the tall brunette turned and left, leaving Terra to stare after her for a long moment. She quickly shook her head, though, and dashed over to the fallen fighter's side. Much to her surprise, the elder Tendo's prediction proved true. By the time she arrived, Ryouga was already pushing himself up to his knees.

She quickly knelt down at his side and dropped a hand on his shoulder to help him up. "Hey, are you alright?"

Apparently he hadn't noticed her until that point, as his quiet stream of expletives stopped abruptly. He quickly looked up to stare at her, and she could practically see the male's ego begin to erect a solid wall of macho posturing around itself.

Instantly, the young man sat up, smiling and acting as if he weren't hurt at all. "Terra! I didn't see you there!" The fanged warrior chuckled nervously. "Don't you worry about me. It'll take more than a love tap like that to hurt me!"

He followed his declaration with a nonchalant chest thump, almost managing to hide the wince as he did.

Terra rolled her eyes at the display. Still, Kasumi had asked her to cheer him up, and he didn't appear to be seriously hurt. She quickly wracked her mind for something to talk about that didn't involve his embarrassing loss.

"So . . . um, that spinning around move you did on Cyborg was pretty cool, where did you learn it?"

Oh, so close . . .

Ryouga looked at her oddly for a moment, before shrugging. "I guess you could say a . . . friend of mine taught me that move." The fanged boy quickly mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like: 'Through first-hand experience.'

Hmm, well, that hadn't worked. Now the martial artist looked even more annoyed. He was obviously too macho to accept any help up that she might offer, too; even despite his sour face, he was still maintaining his prideful facade tirelessly-

"So, is anything broken?"

A little shocked at the sudden intrusion, Terra quickly looked up to see Raven standing over them, an uncharacteristically soft smile on her pale lips. Terra scoffed mentally, Let's see how she deals with Mr. Macho-

"I – I think I felt a rib give a bit . . ."

The geokinetic heroine spun, her eyes widening as she stared incredulously at the Hibiki. There wasn't even a trace of the over developed male pride that he'd foisted off on her. The look in his eyes as he looked up at the cloaked Titan was what could only be described as sincere gratitude.

Raven casually knelt down at Ryouga's other side, bringing a glowing blue hand to rest on his chest.

"I tried to warn you," she chided gently. "Even I could tell that your mindset is miles away from being able to use that technique."

Immediately, Ryouga let out a long sigh as the blue energy suffused into his skin. Then, grinning sheepishly, he turned to regard Raven. "I know that . . . It's been getting steadily weaker since we fought Red X, but – but my body still wants to use it."

The genuine frustration in his voice annoyed Terra slightly, as it was all aimed in the darker Titan's direction. The blonde bulldozer quickly felt that there was a loop forming here that she wasn't a part of.

Raven grinned – Raven actually grinned. "You know, most people would consider being unable to use such a technique to be a positive thing."

Ryouga chuckled, "You and Kori, both-"

Terra silently mouthed the word 'kori' to herself, wondering who he could be talking about.

"-Besides, it's not like it would have mattered. I knew that Cyborg's sonic cannon was powerful, but not that powerful." Ryouga winced as the power around Raven's hand surged for a moment. "Hunh. Man, I feel like I got hit by ten of Ranma's Mouko Takabishas."

This conversation was getting really weird. Not only did Terra have absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but what kind of guy openly admitted to being beaten so easily? He'd told her that he was fine, after all.

Oops, her negative thoughts must have been too obvious, as Raven suddenly turned to shoot an inquisitive glance in her direction. Thankfully, before she could even begin to cobble together some kind of lame excuse, the violent eyed woman's gaze softened.

"Terra, would you help me lift this indelible bulk?"

"Hey! . . . I don't even know what that means . . ."

Terra giggled at the comical expression on the fanged boy's face. Feeling a little better at her minor inclusion, Terra quickly slid under Ryouga's arm to help lift him up-

"Hunh!"

To try to lift him up. Her eyes nearly bugged out as she strained vainly against the martial artist's weight. She looked across to see Raven struggling just as unsuccessfully. Heck, there was almost a tinge of color on those pale cheeks of hers.

As one, both girls turned to fire pointed glares at the piece of dead weight hanging between them. The amused grin on the guy's face, with just a hint of fang peeking out, spoke volumes.

"Oh, you were trying to lift me? Here, why don't you let me help you with that?"

Without warning, (unless you counted the mischievous grin) he leaned down and wrapped his arms around both her and Raven's knees. Then, without even the slightest effort, he stood up, hefting the both of them up onto his shoulders.

Exhilarated with the sudden lift, not to mention the free ride, Terra cheered excitedly as Ryouga began to walk them back to the rest of the Titans. Looking over to her fellow passenger, the blonde instantly burst into giggles.

Raven's face was bright red, now. A look of mortification clung to the female's face as she perched on the fanged boy's shoulder. Heh, well, she always was a prude.

As soon as they rejoined the others, Cyborg raised a titanium hand in greeting. "Yo, Ryo, awesome fight there!" The bulky teen then took a moment to examine the pair of ladies resting on Ryouga's shoulders. "Heh, what's that? You provide the bleachers for your cheering section, too?"

Ryouga smirked in amusement, even as Terra whooped happily. "Naw, these two are helping me walk, on account of me being so injured."

Starfire donned a somewhat confused expression. "Does not such assistance appear to be counter-productive?"

"Put. Me. Down."

Lost in the moment, Terra leaned over and wrapped a friendly arm around Raven's shoulder. "Oh, don't be such a spoilsport, Raven!"

A second later, she leaned back hastily as Raven turned a heated gaze in her direction. Apparently sensing the imminent danger as well, Ryouga quickly knelt down and let both girls slide off his shoulders and back to their feet. Immediately, Raven disappeared into the depths of her hood and floated back several feet, trying to hide her flaming cheeks firmly behind a look of abject annoyance. Ryouga also skidded back, blushing badly himself for some reason.

Apparently nothing had come even close to approaching normal with these people during her absence . . .

"So, Terra, Kasumi cleared you to come down for some exercise, did she? I have to say, that's some pretty admirable dedication on your part," stated Robin. While her attention had been elsewhere, the colorfully clad hero had approached her, wearing a cheerful grin on his face.

Immediately, warning sensors went off in Terra's head. "Um . . . not exac-"

"Hey, that's great!" exclaimed Ryouga, clearly desperate to jump onto any change of topic. "Some stretching and light calisthenics would go a long way towards helping your body recover."

"Ah, y'see . . ." she started, looking around desperately. Unfortunately, it was right about then that she remembered Kasumi had already left. Maybe Beast Boy would be able to back up her story . . .

She caught a fleeting glimpse of Beast Boy's rear end just a second before he vanished through the gymnasium doors.

He is such a dead man!

With no argument forthcoming, Robin nodded sharply. "Alright then, we should get started right away."

Ryouga nodded agreeably. "Yeah, between the two of us, we should have you back in top form in less than a week."

Unable to withstand the overly optimistic faces of the two martial artists, Terra manufactured the most enthusiastic expression she was capable of, despite the massive lead weight that it felt like she'd just swallowed.

"Um, yeah . . . can't wait."

---

-Less than a week later-

Terra shifted nervously as she took in her surroundings. It was an odd feeling, this sensation of unease that settled across her, especially considering she was finally back on her home turf. All around her, the vast expanse of the island spread out in all directions, the massive form of Titan Tower looming not too far to the south.

It felt amazing, after a week of bed rest, to finally be outside once more. The wind in her hair, the sun on her face and the nearly forgotten feeling of the earth beneath her feet. She could almost hear the planet singing to her, a soothing, sonorous melody played for every living thing to enjoy . . . but sadly, so very rarely heard. It was so clear, too, now that she had her feet planted solidly on the ground, more so than she ever remembered. Probably just a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, or something.

Of course, that wasn't what was causing her anxiety to bloom so magnificently. In fact, the comfortable caress of the earth was the only thing keeping her from freaking out. The reason for her nervous fidgeting was sprawled out before her.

The Titan Obstacle Course.

She remembered the cruel construct well, bursting at the seams with laser canons, death traps and any other form of mechanical horror that Cyborg's twisted mind could imagine to inflict bodily harm to her admittedly fragile frame. Over there would be the giant trap door; over there, giant metal fists would burst out of the ground in an attempt to flatten her out even further. The blonde heroine didn't even want to imagine what other kinds of horrors had been installed since then, eith-

"Well, that's that, then," proclaimed Cyborg loudly.

Terra spun quickly to see the Titan in question straighten himself up from where he had been hunched beneath the control panel of the dreaded obstacle course. Brushing his hands off quickly, Cyborg proceeded to slam the panel close before firing a heated glare in Robin's direction. "I don't know what you did, Robin, but the obstacle course is totally boned."

Robin fired back with an incredulous stare. "Me? I told you that the obstacle course wasn't functioning weeks ago."

Cyborg poked a metallic digit to the masked vigilante's chest. "Hey, you were the last one to use it. So it must have been you that messed it up."

"The last time that I ran through the course, it was working fine," growled their spiky haired leader, "It wasn't until I was going to run Kasumi through it that the computer system suddenly froze up. If you ask me, it sounds more like someone wasn't performing maintenance checks like they were supposed to."

"Ex-cuuuuse me? You'd better not be tryin' to pin this on me-"

Whatever else that Cyborg was going to say died away instantly. The gentle hand that came to rest on the massive boy's shoulder silenced him with the finality of a mute button, just as the hand's mirror did the same for Robin. Kasumi then pushed the two young men apart, a supportive smile on her lips.

"Now, Cyborg, Robin, this is hardly the time to be arguing over something as silly as this. I'm certain that whatever minor programming glitch is affecting your little obstacle course will work itself out soon enough."

Instantly crimson bloomed on the cheeks of both Titan's and they began mumbling apologies to each other. Terra watched in silent awe at the awesome power that Kasumi seemed to possess in that sweet smile of hers. The geokinetic hadn't been around terribly long before she had betrayed the Titans, herself, but she'd seen Cyborg and Robin go at it before, and she had never seen them bury the hatchet so quickly.

Terra was just glad that there was no way that Kasumi's powers could be used for evil.

"Umm, so what are we gonna do for Terra, then?" asked Beast Boy. The emerald changeling shot her a supportive grin. "I mean, she's gotta show that she's still the most butt-whoopin' Titan there is . . . after myself, of course."

A smile curved her lips at the kind words, though it didn't really do much to quell the tight little knot rolling around in her tummy.

From his lawn chair off to the side of the course, Ryouga waved dismissively. "I'm sure we can find something better to do. That obstacle course was way over rated anyway."

Raven, sitting to the left of the bandanna clad martial artist smirked wickedly. "Are you just saying that because you've never actually been able to finish the course?"

"No!" Ryouga barked. "It's just . . . Cyborg didn't have to make it such a labyrinth, did he?"

Starfire, floating to his right side, rolled her eyes. "Even I was astounded that you misperceived Mr. Chan's Dry Cleaners to be a section of the obstacle course."

"Well maybe Cyborg should have thought about that before he built his obstacle course right beside it!"

"It was on the other side of the bay!" hollered the offended Cyborg. "I'm still not sure how you got over the bridge so fast!"

Thankfully (or maybe not, since Terra would have been quite happy to have her friend's amusing bickering last all day) Robin stepped in to end the argument. Though it looked like even their caped crusader in training was on the verge of laughter himself, he quickly composed himself enough to speak. "Okay, that's enough, guys. I still want to see how Terra handles herself on the battlefield now that she's recovered, so we need to think of something."

Immediately, seven pairs of scrutinizing eyes descended on Terra as everyone present began considering alternatives to the defunct obstacle course. Sadly, the possibility of a pie-eating contest seemed remote, considering the looks on their faces. In fact, she was pretty sure that the nature of her test would be a foregone conclusion.

"Well, seems pretty obvious to me," voiced Ryouga, "I guess we need to have a little 'Terra Tournament'."

Terra started groaning somewhere around 'seems pretty obvious', but didn't finish till well after the fanged boy was finished. That was exactly what she didn't want to do. Even if the very concept of fighting her friends (even in play) didn't cause her stomach to twist all up around itself, there was also the very basic fact that each of the Titan's had had nearly a year to get stronger in her absence . . .

Robin rubbed a knuckle against his chin as he considered the idea. "Well, that's pretty much what I was going to suggest. Alright, let's go with that." The colorfully clad young hero turned his attention her way, a wide smile splitting his face. "Okay, Terra, remember that this is just practice. Don't worry about impressing anyone, and don't take things any faster than you're comfortable with."

Terra nodded shakily, but didn't reply out of fear that her voice would break embarrassingly. He thought she was worried about impressing anyone? Utter humiliation seemed like a much more likely fate for her.

Robin then turned to the emerald changeling. "Beast Boy, why don't you go first?"

"First?" barked the irate shape-shifter, "Dude, what's up with that?"

Amusingly, it was Cyborg that replied, dropping a friendly hand on the green teen's shoulder. "BB, seriously, you ain't gonna last five seconds against Terra over there."

"Wha-"

Cyborg's bark of laughter cut Beast Boy off sharply. "Dawg, don't take it personal, but this is Terra we're talkin' about. All she's gotta do is wink at ya, and you'll be hittin' the ground before she can even lay a mitt on ya."

The emerald changeling looked ready to argue the point . . . considered it, then, "Hmm . . . yeah – yeah, you're probably right about that."

Terra giggled loudly at that proclamation. Maybe -just maybe - she was over thinking this whole thing. Like Robin had said, it was just practice. There was no way that Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, or even Ryouga, would really try to hurt her. And as long as she threw a fight to one of them, she wouldn't even have to worry about fighting Robin or Raven.

Sometimes I'm so smart it's scary! She cheered in her head.

Smiling just a little easier now, she nodded to Beast Boy as her green tinted friend came out to join her on the Titan's spacious backyard. Almost immediately, the changeling began to bounce lightly back and forth on the balls of his feet. A wide, fanged smile spread across his face as he began to circle her slowly.

"Y'know, if you were planning on using your feminine wiles, I think I would be especially susceptible to a kiss on the cheek . . . just sayin' is all . . ."

She shook her head, smiling despite herself. She might keep that option open, just in case, but wanted stretch her legs a bit first (metaphorically speaking). After all, she doubted that Starfire would be swayed by a kiss on the cheek nearly as much as Beast Boy.

Knowing that this opponent, at the very least, would likely be more than happy to wait for her to make the first move, Terra closed her eyes and drew in a long, calming breath. The sounds of the changeling's feet swishing across the earth as he circled her helped her keep track of the young man as she tried to figure out just what it was she should do.

Something small, something easy; just like Robin said . . . take it niiice and slow.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, locking gazes with the green Titan.

Yeah, something nice and small.

Terra's pinky twitched-

---

Battling off a wave of grogginess, Beast Boy opened his emerald eyes, only to immediately regret it, as several treacherous lances of sunlight chose that exact moment to assault him. Muttering a minor curse at the evil, sleep depriving sustained fusion reaction in the sky; he quickly flipped away from the window and pulled his blanket over his head . . .

Wait a sec . . . Blanket? Opening his eyes again, the ensuing darkness confirmed that he did, indeed have a blanket pulled over his head.

Well, that was odd. He didn't even remember going to bed; the last thing he remembered was . . .

"Terra!"

The changeling shot up – about five inches. With a flare of pain that he hadn't felt since his first battle with Kunou, his entire chest howled in protest to the sudden movement and dropped him back to the bed instantly. With eyes clenched tightly shut, the only sound he could manage was a weak groan as his body finally informed him that waking up had been a bad, bad career choice.

Then, without warning, the inexplicable pain subsided . . . well, not subsided, but it lessened to the point that he could bear to breathe, anyway. Cracking his eye open slightly, the familiar sight of a delicately pale hand resting gently on his chest greeted him. The otherworldly blue glow that surrounded the hand, and most of his chest – his heavily bandaged chest – made it pretty obvious who was fondling him and why.

"H-hey . . . Rae . . . I'd make some k-" A weak cough, "-some kinda joke . . . but I-I wanna know why my-" a long wheeze "- chest feels like someone tipped over a . . . china cabinet . . ."

His grim faced friend looked up from her work, offering him a pained smile. "It's good to see that you've woken up, but you might want to refrain from speaking until I've finished healing you."

Beast Boy started at her words, and especially the pained look on her face. As quickly as his aching body would allow, he grabbed the sorceress' hand and pulled it away from his chest. The pain flooded back in just as quickly as the funky blue energy stopped seeping into his skin, but compared to what it had been, it felt pretty manageable.

"W-what are you doing, Beast Boy?"

He chuckled a little wetly. "Y-you think I don't know how . . . your mumbo jumbo works?" he asked sardonically. "I kn-know that you gotta hurt yourself to help me . . ."

The dark Titan's eyes widened at his declaration, before narrowing sharply. She struggled against his grip for a moment, but stopped the second a pained grunt escaped his throat. "Stop it. If you know how my power works, then you also know that my recovery rate and pain tolerance are both much higher than your own. I can handle it."

This time he almost managed to laugh. "Big mistake, R. . . Rae. N-now if I let ya help me, I-I'll look like a wuss . . ." Raven's eyes narrowed further at his macho boast, but before she could tear her hand from his grip, he gently lowered her hand to her side and graced her with a sincere smile. "Besides, as much as . . . as this hurts . . . seein' you hurt cuz'a me'd be twice as bad."

For just a moment, he could have sworn he'd seen a flash of color grace his friend's cheeks, but it passed too quickly for him to be sure. A second later, Raven let out a defeated sigh and took a step back from his bed. Staring at him with resignation in her eyes, she shook her head.

"Will you at least let me administer some painkillers, then?"

"Oh, God yes!"

And there it was, the rarest of the rare, the one thing he had sought since first entering this tower.

Raven laughed.

It was short and sweet, very much un-like the girl herself, but it almost made the pain worth it. . . . almost.

In short order, Raven did as promised: supplying him with a generous handful of Flintstone Chewable Morphine, and the worst of the pain subsided once again, replaced with a familiar, cottony sensation wrapping itself around his brain. He wasn't any stranger to pain killers, though, so with that unpleasantness out of the way, Beast Boy figured it was time to finally get some answers, as he was very confused.

"Ra-"

"How is he doing, Raven?" Robin's voice, and coming from the entrance of the medlab. Both Beast Boy and Raven turned just in time to see the Boy Wonder, flanked by Cyborg and Kasumi. The latter pair wore excruciatingly worried expressions on their faces, while, in true Robin fashion, their leader hid any possible emotions beneath a mask of cool indifference.

Before Raven even had the chance to explain his condition, the three newcomers saw his condition for themselves and like the flipping of a light switch, joy flooded their features. Quickly, Cyborg and Kasumi rushed past their now smiling leader and made their way to his bedside. The former pulled up just short of dropping a massive, titanium hand on his shoulder, but the latter glided right past and wrapped his head in a gentle hug.

"Garfield! Thank goodness you're alright. You had us all so worried," exclaimed the lovely Tendo woman as she oh-so tenderly embraced his head to her bosom.

Must . . . hide . . . bliss . . . was the closest thing to a coherent thought he was able to process until the lovely brunette finally released him to step back in line with Cyborg.

"Yeah, how ya feelin', little Buddy?"

Beast Boy looked between the concerned duo for another moment, before finally pulling in enough breath to reply. "Heh, I'd say I'm fit as a fiddle . . . right, Kasumi?" He shot her a teasing wink.

Surprisingly, a small sniffle wracked the young woman, before she nodded with a bright smile. Even to the changeling's admittedly lax perceptions, he could see the tell tale signs of someone that looked to be on the verge of tears.

Man, what is up with everyone?

"So, what the heck happened, anyway?" he finally asked. "Why's everyone actin' so weirded out?"

All around him, the weirdness only compounded. Cyborg and Kasumi suddenly began to look at each other uncomfortably. Raven pulled up her hood, as if the shadows which bathed her face would hide her from his inquiry. Thankfully, Robin proved to be just as unflappable as his namesake wasn't, and stepped forward with a comforting certainty in his step.

"What is the last thing you remember?" he asked in his 'all business' voice.

Hmmm, well, that was easy. It had been the first thing he'd thought of before he'd noticed Raven trying to heal him. "I was outside. Me and Terra were just about to have a sparring match . . . then . . . nothing."

Well, that was troubling. As with every memory involving the blonde Titan, every minute detail had been captured with crystal clarity: the curtain of her hair blowing in the breeze, the delicate curve of her lip, the endless depths of her eyes . . . so why was there a sudden blank there?

He looked around absently. "Say, where is Terra, anyway?"

The guilty looks on everyone's faces only deepened, and even the Boy Wonder tugged at his collar nervously. "She's on the roof . . . with Ryouga and Starfire."

Beast Boy looked at his leader oddly. "Why the heck would she be up there?"

Still looking uncomfortable, Kasumi answered for Robin. "She is . . . distraught."

"Why-"

"Look, BB," interrupted Cyborg, an unusually serious look on his face. "Terra dropped you, man; dropped you harder than I've ever seen."

Beast Boy's entire world flip-flopped for just a second. There was something profoundly wrong with what his friend had just said. His confusion made itself more than apparent.

"Wha . . . No, she wouldn – couldn't have . . ."

Robin shook his head slowly. "It wasn't intentional; we know that much for certain. She just . . . lost control."

A disdainful sniff came from deep within the folds of Raven's hood. "If only it were that simple."

Beast Boy tried to fashion his glare into cold steel as he swung his eyes her way. "What's that supposed to mea-"

The rest of his outburst was cut off as the dark Titan lifted a hand to silence him. Not exactly sure why he stopped, he continued to level his scowl in her direction.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Beast Boy. This situation is much more complicated than Robin is indicating," Raven explained . . . not at all, really.

Mollified only because it was one of his closest friends that made the statement, Beast Boy allowed himself to calm down enough to repeat his question more calmly.

Robin sighed in defeat and nodded to Cyborg. "Cyborg, maybe it would be better if he saw it, first. Can you help him to the window?"

Despite looking more reluctant than the time Starfire had offered him a plate of her home made Glork, the cybernetic teen nodded. Without even a pretence of effort, Cyborg gently scooped Beast Boy out of his bed, eliciting only a few groans of pain, not to mention several pointed glares from Raven and Kasumi.

The changeling chuckled internally; with so many beautiful ladies working in the medical ward these days, maybe he should get beat up more often-

A sharp twinge in his rib cage quickly disabused him of that idea.

A few steps later, Cyborg had him at one of the large windows that presented a pristine view of the outside world. It was still light out, though the few clouds hanging in the sky were tinted orange by the setting of the sun. (Hadn't it been morning when they'd gone out to train?) Overall, if he had been the mushy kind of guy to think about that kind of stuff, he'd say it was a pretty sight.

So what the heck was it that his friends wanted him to see? Slowly, his eyes trailed down from the clouds, past the distant city that sat across the bay, trailed over the vast waters that filled the bay . . . finally rolling across the beach that rested several . . . stories . . . below?

"What the . . ." he trailed off weakly.

There, rising up from the center of the beach, was a massive stone spire, resting at roughly a sixty-degree angle. The jagged peak had torn itself from the bedrock of the island, rising over forty feet in height, vicious looking spurs of solid stone jutting out at every possible upward angle from the impossible construct. The base, nearly as wide around as the tower was high, tapered quickly to a rounded point no more than a foot around . . .

Roughly the size of a certain changeling's ribcage . . .

The angled spire wasn't the whole of it, either. Shooting off in the exact direction that the spire was pointing, and traveling beyond the view that this window afforded, a trail of demolished earth carved a shallow crevasse across the island. It looked to Beast Boy almost as if a comet had slammed into the beach and bulldozed its way across the island until it finally pushed up too much debris to continue . . . though, disturbingly, he knew that was likely the exact opposite of what happened.

For some reason, the sight of a trio of shattered lawn chairs half buried in the rubble, several meters back from the spire caused Beast Boy to shoot a quick glance back in Raven's direction.

The empathic woman simply shook her head, her blue hood swaying from side to side. "I wasn't injured. Ryouga was nearly caught in the . . . event, but Starfire was able to get him out of the way in time."

Kasumi nodded thankfully. "It was actually Raven that saved you, Garfield. She managed to catch you before you landed . . ." The elder Tendo offered Raven a look of sincere gratitude which set the dark Titan to shifting uncomfortably. "I can't even say how relieved I was."

But why the heck would Terra use such a deadly attack on . . . me? Beast Boy's unasked question trailed off as he slowly turned back to look at the devastation that had so neatly bisected their real estate. It was easy to remember where he had been standing, what with the forty foot high monument to him getting his butt whooped, which meant that Terra had been standing . . . there.

He closed his eyes again, as a strange thought entered his mind. Again the crystal clear image of Terra entered his mind. The subtle curve of her lip as she smiled so nervously. The endless depths of her sapphire eyes; the tiny twitch of her pinky finger-

Her sapphire eyes!

He gasped suddenly, realization washing over him. "B-but her eyes weren't glowing!" he choked out.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen such displays of power from Terra before. She was easily on par with Raven as far as sheer destructive potential was concerned, and like Raven, there were several pretty obvious signs when she used her powers to their utmost. Beast Boy gasped for a second time as the ramifications of his realization suddenly slammed home with freight train force.

"She wasn't even trying!"

Side by side, now, Raven and Robin nodded forlornly. Silence pervaded for a moment, as Cyborg returned him to his bed. The mild discomfort of a chest full of shattered glass barely even registered as he tried to come to terms with his epiphany. Again, it rested on Robin's shoulders to break the silence.

"Exactly . . . We can't even begin to explain why, but something happened to Terra, something which has increased her power . . . we don't even know how much, yet."

Cyborg gestured dramatically to the walls around them. "The girl nearly shook the whole Tower apart when she realized what she did to ya, man. She didn't even know she was doin' it, either. Why the heck do ya think we got her up on the roof?"

The massive teen quickly shrunk back from Kasumi's disapproving look. Beast Boy just did his best to try to take in the information he was receiving. He didn't have much success in sorting out his thoughts before he noticed Raven shaking her head from side to side.

"It is hardly a shocking development. In fact, I'm ashamed I didn't foresee this problem myself." Raven's gaze slowly drifted across the room to match the questioning looks she was receiving from everyone. "Consider this: If what Ryouga told us concerning Terra's petrified state was true, and I have no reason to doubt him, then in her last ditch effort to save us all from the volcano she created, Terra expended nearly all of her power."

Beast Boy nodded slowly. He remembered the golden fires of her power which had consumed Terra, setting the slight girl alight like an avenging angel from on high.

"And," continued the violet eyed Titan, "Due to her armor, her energy was unable to return to her body naturally, as Ryouga believed it would. Thus, for nearly an entire year, Terra's power, her very essence was trapped in the earth itself, the source of her power, blending together to such a degree that it took Ryouga over a month to even be able to differentiate between her energy and the planet's."

Cyborg waved his hand dismissively. "Pfft! That's just mumbo jumbo! I'm sure there's an actual, scientific, reason for this."

Had they been physically capable, Raven's eyes would have hurled daggers at Cyborg by the handful. "Well, by all means, enlighten us, O' Master of Technology."

"Ahh-"

"None of that matters," interrupted Beast Boy. He looked to Raven emphatically, as she was the only one that seemed to have any real answers. "So Terra's more powerful now. That's a good thing . . . isn't it?"

The dark Titan's annoyed scowl melted away to nothing in the face of his imploring expression. Her shoulders rose in a helpless shrug. "Beast Boy . . . Terra could barely maintain control of her powers before. And even though months have passed for us, Terra has been trapped in time. To suddenly be awoken from her imprisonment and then burdened by such a dramatic increase in her powers . . . I'm – I'm not certain that it's safe for her to remain here any longer."

Beast Boy's shocked gasp was drowned out by Kasumi's. The normally docile woman spun on Raven, a look of pure outrage (well, on anyone else it would have been mild disappointment, but on Kasumi it was the equivalent to foaming at the mouth). "You couldn't possibly be suggesting asking Terra to leave? For all of this vaunted power you keep talking about, that poor girl is filled with confusion and loneliness and guilt. She – she would be helpless if we abandoned her in such a state!"

Beast Boy's eyes widened. He couldn't remember hearing Kasumi sound so passionate about anything . . . ever.

Raven's violet eyes narrowed within the depths of her hood. "You think that I don't know the emotional turmoil she is experiencing? I-"

The dark Titan's retort was cut off when Robin suddenly stepped between the clashing females (once again proving Beast Boy's theory that the Boy Wonder had a serious death wish) and held up his hands to placate them both. The masked hero then turned a serious look to first Raven, then Kasumi.

"Raven, Kasumi, please. This isn't the time to be arguing, and you both raise valid concerns." Robin turned to look at Raven. "You are absolutely correct, Raven. Terra's unexpected increase in power and her already shaky control of that power make her a serious danger to all of us with every moment that she is here."

Before the disbelieving looks in Beast Boy's and Kasumi's eyes could develop into disbelieving outbursts, Robin quickly turned to look Kasumi in the eye, a small smile spreading on his lips.

"Which is exactly why we can't let her leave."

Beast Boy's shout (which had been about ninety percent likely to be an expletive) died on his lips. He maintained his disbelieving expression, though it was for a different reason, now.

Robin shook his head. "Raven is right, Terra is almost a ticking time bomb the way she is. It would be irresponsible of us to send Terra out into the city in the state she's in . . . so what safer place, for the city and all the people that live in it, for her to stay than right here, on an island in the middle of the bay?"

Cyborg nodded in complete agreement. "And, really, who out there is better equipped to help Terra train her power than us? Girl ain't gonna learn nothing up on no Satellite, that's for sure."

Beast Boy finally allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. He'd been really worried there for a minute.

Raven shook her head ruefully, a small, knowing smile gracing her lips. "You speak as if that outcome was ever really in doubt. I do have one question, though: Who, exactly, is Terra's miraculous instructor to be?"

Every set of eyes (excepting one) quickly came to rest on the dark Titan, appraising looks abounding. Kasumi's smile was positively sunny as she studied Raven. "It would be a wonderful chance for the two of you to bond. It's obvious that there is still some small amount of tension between the two of you."

Cyborg grinned wickedly. "And, if Terra's power is all mumbo jumbo like you said, then who better to teach her than you?"

Raven's eyes narrowed to slits. "You did not just compare me to that top hat-wearing nit-wit."

Even as the massive teen quickly ducked behind the much narrower frame of Kasumi to hide from Raven's growling visage, Robin nodded in agreement.

"Terrible analogies aside, no one here has more knowledge of energy control than you. Between your normal meditation techniques and everything you've learned from Cologne, I can't imagine anyone better to train Terra."

The dark Titan seemed to consider Robin's words for a long, long moment (far longer than Beast Boy was able to pay attention – Hey, shiny monitor!), only to shake her head. She quickly raised a hand to forestall any coming arguments.

"You all know Terra as well as I do. Do you really think that meditation and self-restraint would suit her? Then, of course, there is the fact that I've never actually trained anyone in anything before. I find it highly unlikely that I would have the patience for such an endeavor, or that Terra would respond to my methods," explained the hooded Titan matter-of-factly.

Beast Boy grumbled loudly. "But, Raven, you gotta do it! It's not like we have a butt-load of experienced meta-human trainers sitting around the Tower. I mean, you don't wanna send her off to train with Batman or something, do you?"

Even as Robin blanched at the mental image of Terra training under his old mentor, Raven shook her head again, her smile growing more sly. "Actually, we do have one experienced meta-human trainer under the roof. In fact, considering just how close Jinx came to defeating me in our last encounter, I would say his credentials are quite excellent."

Beast Boy, Robin and Cyborg all shared a singular confused look. Kasumi, on the other hand, suddenly brightened considerably.

"Oh, my! Do you really think that would work? He did focus mainly on combat training, after all."

Raven shrugged. "His knowledge of energy manipulation is second only to mine, and where Terra would likely resist my influence at every turn, I believe that she would respond positively to any lesson he offered."

The three males continued to share their confused glance, until Robin's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Oh! Right! Ryouga was a combat instructor at the H.I.V.E. Academy." His look of revelation quickly descended back into confusion, though, as he turned back to Raven. "But, what makes you think she would respond to Ryouga's training any more favorably than yours?"

At that, Raven simply smiled, the twist of her lips as unfathomable as the ocean.

"Oh, I have a feeling, is all."

---

A low growl rumbled in Ryouga's throat . . . but it quickly died away as his anxious pacing once again brought the huddled form of Terra, so tenderly held in Starfire's powerful arms, back into view. The flame haired beauty continued to run a gentle hand through the younger girl's long blonde hair while she whispered into Terra's ear.

Terra was still awake, though she had cried herself out a few hours earlier. A good thing, that, since even thirty stories up, some of the slight girl's outbursts had caused the tower to tremble worryingly.

And then he turned again, and the dark growl welled up in his throat once more. It was a problem of his, he knew, letting his anger rule him so easily. It was even worse in this situation, since there was absolutely nothing for him to pin his anger to. Who could he blame? Beast Boy, for getting himself hurt? Terra, for an accident she couldn't have possibly foreseen? Or himself . . . for some reason even he couldn't figure out yet.

Damnit, where was Ranma when you needed a scapegoat?

It was so hard to accept that this was just . . . just an accident. Wasn't there always someone at fault when something bad happened? Life had always seemed so much simpler when that had been the case.

Again his aimless meandering brought Terra and Starfire in sight, and again the growl in his throat was silenced. What kind of jerk was he, anyway? It was obvious that Terra was the one really suffering, and all he could dwell on were his own feelings of uselessness. If only there were someth-

"W-would you please stop pacing? You're starting to drive me crazy."

Ryouga started at the young blonde's ardent request. "Ah? Oh – yeah, yeah, no problem, Terra!"

Not sure what else to do, he quickly moved and knelt beside the pair of girls. His would-be sister offered him a weak smile as he did, though the strain of that smile was woefully apparent. Wanting to do more than just sit there, he tentatively dropped a callused hand to the blonde's narrow shoulder.

". . . You – you really shouldn't feel bad, Terra," he offered uncertainly. "I – I mean, Beast Boy is gonna be fine. Kasumi told us herself! It's only a matter of time before he wakes up."

Unfortunately, his words didn't seem to help, as the young woman suddenly sniffed loudly, her voice choking up with unshed tears. "B-b-b-but – but now he'll hate me!" she cried fervently. "I'm gonna . . . I'm gonna have to leave, I just know it!"

Ryouga quickly lifted his hands in a warding gesture. "Hey now! That is not going to happen!"

Starfire pulled the nearly crying girl to her chest tightly. "Never would we allow for your ejection from the tower. You are our beloved friend, and we will never turn our backs on you!"

Slowly, Terra looked up, catching the Tamaranian's brilliant emerald eyes with her shimmering, sapphire gaze. "D-do you really mean that?"

The alien girl simply nodded, her smile filled with boundless confidence.

The fanged warrior nodded, trying to match the vivacious girl's boundless certainty. "And I'm pretty sure the only person more fanatical about keeping you here than us . . . is Beast Boy. There's no way that he'll let anyone even think about kicking you out."

Terra looked to him, then back to Starfire, before shaking her head forcefully. "But I hurt him. I hurt him so bad! There's no way he would want to see me again."

Starfire shook her head slowly, an ironic smile spreading across her lips. "I believe that there is nothing that would please our dear friend so much as the sight of you."

"But . . . but how could he possibly forgive me?"

It was Ryouga's turn to shake his head. "You . . . would be surprised at just how forgiving the Titans can be."

Unexpectedly, the blonde haired hero fired a heated glare his way. "How would you know? How could you understand?"

The martial artist rocked back slightly. "I-"

The sickening crack of bone snapping rang through his ears as his leg collided with the dark Titan's side . . .

"- I . . . Just – just trust me . . . I understand," he muttered in a low voice. He felt a strong desire to run to the elevator right then and there. The unsettled feeling that just surged through his stomach made the prospect of finding a washroom very appealing.

Something in his voice, or maybe even in his eyes must have registered to the youngest Titan, since she quickly took to staring at the toes of her dusty running shoes.

"Do not worry yourself, my precious, precious friend," came Starfire's soothing words. "This troublesome scenario was an accident and nothing more. You are no more at fault for what occurred than I, myself, was, and I know, with all of my heart, that you will find forgiveness to be in great supply this day."

Ryouga almost cracked a smile at his dearest friend's whimsical words, would have, if not for the vile sting of memories-best-left-buried. How lucky he was, all of them, really, for the presence of the Tamaranian princess. She had been his life raft through the darkest days that followed his escape from the Academy, and so it seemed fitting that she would do the same for Terra.

The blonde in question turned a weak smile Starfire's way. "T-thanks . . . Starfire. That means a lot to me. Terra then turned her gaze his way, a bit of guilt flooding into those saucer sized sapphire eyes. "I'm . . . I'm sorry, Ryouga. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I know that you've had problems too . . . and you're just trying to help.."

He smirked at that. "I think trying is the operative word, here. You know, if Ranma was here, he'd probably be making some lame joke about me actually trying to cheer someone else up."

"Heh," came a weak, heartening chuckle, "T-this Ranma guy sound like kind of a jerk . . ."

Instantly, Ryouga's smirk bloomed into a wide smile, even as Starfire's emerald eyes rolled with aplomb.

"You just let me tell you about Ran-"

His excited rant was cut off by the audible sound of the rooftop elevator door sliding open. The three Titans turned quickly, palpable anticipation in the air, to regard the duo which exited the transport. Robin and Cyborg joined them on the roof, the glinting rays of the setting sun reflecting brilliantly across the latter's indestructible armor. A hush covered the roof for a moment, even the eternal whisper of the ocean breeze muted itself as the pair stood over the huddled trio . . .

And then Cyborg smiled.

All at once, relief flooded Ryouga, and he saw Starfire nearly collapse to the roof with an audible sigh of joy. Terra, though, leapt to her feet and ran forward to drop her hands desperately on Robin's shoulders.

"Beast Boy, he's alright, right?" she asked with equally intense desperation.

Not wasting a moment, the Boy Wonder nodded, a smile growing to match his cohorts. "He just woke up a little bit ago. He's still pretty sore, but he'll make a full recovery in no time . . . provided he actually lets Raven help him."

Terra's groan of relief was enough to drop her to her knees, and tears began to flow anew from her eyes. Thankfully, these new tears didn't evoke the same feelings of guilt and uselessness that the last ones had, as the girl's joyous laughter proved quite quickly that she was ecstatic about the news.

All too soon, though, both the tears and the laughter dried. Slumping back to rest on her bottom, Terra stared avidly at the ground between her knees. "I . . . I guess it's time for me to leave, then? I-I completely understand, I don-"

She was cut off by Robin's gentle pull on her arm, raising her back to her feet. The wide smile that had adorned his lips had vanished as well, replaced by a grim line. With a sort of finality, the masked vigilante shook his head from side to side.

"We didn't come up here to ask you to leave, Terra . . ."

Hopeful expressions began to bloom across the rooftop-

"We came to tell you that you can't leave," stated Robin, deadly serious.

" . . . Huh?"

Ryouga wasn't sure if it had been him to say it, or Terra, or Starfire, or even all three of them. Hope crashed into confusion at the alien statement, and the trio could only stare at their leader in anticipation of an explanation.

Robin took in a long breath, only to release it in a beleaguered sigh. Cyborg, looking extremely uncomfortably, crossed his arms before his massive chest, and stepped up to support his friend.

"Terra," Robin began slowly, "This wasn't an easy decision for me to make, however, we cannot, in all good conscience, allow you to leave the tower as things stand."

Terra tilted her head to the side inquisitively, apparently still a few bananas short of comprehension. Slowly, Starfire rose to stand beside the slight blonde, a questioning look in her eyes as well.

"Please explain yourself, Robin. Your words are joyous, but the tone with which you speak them is highly disturbing. How could the prospect of our friend remaining in our company be such a difficult decision for you to arrive at?"

Ryouga found himself in total agreement. There was a wide difference between telling someone they could stay, and telling them they couldn't leave. What was the masked vigilante's angle?

Carefully, Robin rested his hands on Terra's shoulders and matched her gaze with white, pupil-less eyes. "Terra, you know why we have to do this. Your powers have grown beyond your ability to control them. We can't risk letting you out into the city."

Dismally, Terra's gaze dropped back to her toes. At the same time, Ryouga felt his hackles raising; his unruly heart and his common sense argued back and forth to balance both sides of the situation, but considering how uncommon said common sense was, it was a fairly one sided debate. He prepared a scathing response –

When Robin smirked knowingly.

"We can't risk letting you out into the city . . . until we've completely helped you to bring your powers under control again," stated the Boy Wonder happily.

Even as Ryouga's anger flagged, Terra's hope surged forth again. She looked up, an expression of joy in her eyes that was more commonly found in certain Tamaranians. "You – you really mean it? You're actually . . . you're actually going to help me?"

Robin nodded. "That's what friends are for, Terra. Besides, now that Ryouga isn't busy trying to revive you, he's obviously going to need something to fill all of his free time now."

Ryouga nodded-

"Wha-? Hey, wait just a second! What do you mean, 'Ryouga'?"

Cyborg let out a bark of laughter and dropped a hand onto Ryouga's shoulder. "Dawg, why are you even acting surprised?"

Terra leveled an unreadable glance his way. "What? You don't want to train me?"

Oh, crap . . . "No! No, that's not what I meant! It's just – just that-"

"I believe what Ryouga is attempting to state," came the blessed assistance of Starfire, "Is: Would it not be Raven whom would be the more obvious choice to train Terra in the use of her power?"

Even Ryouga noticed the visible wince from Terra the moment that Raven's name was mentioned, but wasn't completely sure what it could mean. "Yeah, Kori's right. Raven knows a lot more about this kind of thing than I do."

Suddenly, Cyborg slid closer, wrapping his arm around Ryouga's shoulders. "Hey, you're preachin' to the choir here, Ryo. It's just that Raven suggested that you should be Terra's teacher."

"Oh . . . she did?" asked the fanged boy quickly. Well, that changed things. If Raven thought he could do it, then obviously she had a good reason. "Well, I guess that's alright then."

Cyborg and Robin just smiled knowingly while Starfire rolled her eyes fondly. Terra, on the other hand-

"What? That's it? Suddenly you're all ready to play Mr. Teacher?" Hmm, for some reason, the young girl looked to be annoyed, though for the life of him, Ryouga couldn't figure out why.

"Um . . . yes?" he replied tentatively.

The young blonde held her glare for another second, before finally dropping it with a loud sigh. A moment later, she looked up once more, a cheerful smile beginning to split her face. "Well, I guess it isn't all that bad. One on one lessons with a legendary martial arts master?"

"This could be pretty fun!"

---

The familiar sensation of ancient wood crushing into her shoulder heralded an explosion of searing pain which wracked her entire body. It was quickly followed by the feeling of the ground being torn from beneath her feet. Even as the stars danced through her vision, she managed to herd up just enough of her scattered senses to twist in the air so that she didn't land straight on her neck.

Another explosion of agony, as that same shoulder slammed into the roof beneath her, though it was short lived, as the force of the blow sent her skipping like a stone. All semblance of control was left behind with that first impact, the second and third bounces landing on her leg, then her back at awkward and painful angles.

Then, for just a flash of time, everything went white. Her head cracked into the masonry of the rooftop bunker with a crunch that would have been worrying had she had the sense to hear it. The rest of her body rebounded from its harsh contact with the wall, dropping her to hands and knees, but through some miracle, not completely into the darkness of unconsciousness.

A wheezing cough rocked her narrow frame, and even through the darkness of the night and the swimming of her vision, the dark crimson stain that sprayed onto the roof was quite vivid.

Again with the taste of copper in her mouth . . . she was really starting to hate it.

With a wet groan, Jinx lifted her gaze to her attacker, the look of determination never leaving her slitted eyes.

With a resigned sigh, Happosai slowly shook his head. "Sloppy, Jinx, very sloppy. Honestly, sometimes I feel that training you is like trying to train a Ming vase."

Despite the pain that ravaged every inch of her body (. . . actually, her little toe was feeling okay . . . either that or it was too numb to feel any more) Jinx chuckled, doing her best to ignore the red line of spittle dangling from her crimson lips.

"H-heh . . . does that . . . does that mean you think I'm priceless?"

Her master's wizened lips twisted up into a warm smile (was it odd that she could tell it was genuine?) and casually tapped out his pipe on the ledge. "At the very least, I will say that you are an investment. Only time will tell if it will pay off, though." He looked her over, a calculating look in his eye. "Having trouble getting up, Disciple? You don't need a hand, do you?"

Jinx shook her head furiously (only pulling two more muscles in the process). Drawing on reserves of sheer will that she hadn't even imagined existed mere months ago, the slender sorceress pushed herself to her feet and used her sleeve to wipe the blood from her lips. A single step forward informed her that her left ankle had been twisted in that last tumble, but not badly enough that she couldn't walk on it.

Wincing with every step, she eventually managed to cross the twenty feet to shakily sit beside her master. By the time she did, he had already refilled his pipe and was taking in a long draw from it.

"I wasn't sloppy," she mumbled darkly after a long silence. "There was no way I could have dodged that one."

Her master let out a lungful of air, whimsically shaping the forming cloud into the shape of a brassier, apparently by sheer force of will. Taking a moment to study his work before he was satisfied, the ancient warrior then shook his head. "You weren't meant to, Disciple. I wanted to see how well you recovered from the attack. Sloppy . . . very sloppy."

Her eyes clenched shut and her fingers curled into the torn and stained ruins of her skirt. He was right, of course. She knew how to fall, had learned those basics long before starting this insane training. She had just let herself get distracted by the pain, and the surprise of the sudden increase in his speed. Even her first landing had been sloppy, but bouncing twice and slamming into a wall? Who the hell was she supposed to be: Mammoth?

"Tut, tut, my dear." She felt a tiny hand on her shoulder, offering a small amount of comfort. "Don't tear yourself up over it. That is why we're training, after all."

Her eyes opened at that, and she turned her pink orbs towards her master, a weak smile forming on her stained lips. "Don't worry, I'll get it perfect next time."

"Heh, I've no doubt, no doubt at all." He met her determined gaze, a trickle of pride sneaking into his owlish eyes. "Despite your glass-like constitution, your training has been coming along quite well."

Jinx rolled her eyes at the backhanded compliment. Her body might not have shattered the brick wall to dust, but neither had the brick wall crushed her body to paste.

"And you've very nearly mastered the technique I've been teaching you. Even faster than I expected, considering the . . . complications," he continued proudly.

Jinx nodded again, though her attention was only half on her master by that point. The catalogue of ouchies that her mind was tallying up was nearly done, and some of the nastier scrapes were starting to burn in the cool, night air.

"In fact, your training is coming along so well, that I think it's almost time that we finally made our rendezvous with Nabiki. You've more than earned a short vacation."

The young sorceress perked up immediately. "You really mean it?"

She would have injected a little more excitement into her inquiry, but the ringing in her ears was starting to annoy her. Judging by recent experience, it shouldn't last more than another minute or two, but then, mild concussions always were bothersome.

Her master nodded again, taking another draw from his pipe. "Indeed. However, before we do, I wanted to set up another small test for you, considering our last one was . . . co-opted, if you will."

Jinx's lips twisted into a vindictive sneer. "So what hero are we going after next, then? I could use a good punching bag after these past few weeks."

Happosai graced her with an odd look for a moment, before shrugging his tiny shoulders. "You know, my Disciple, there's more than one way to build a reputation. Sometimes the only thing more impressive than defeating your enemies . . . is besting your allies."

She returned his odd look with interest. "Huh?"

His chuckles rustled like fallen leaves. "Think about it, girl. Heroes aren't the only ones with reputations. Villains have reputations too . . . and very few villains on this continent have darker reputations than those of Gotham city."

A shudder of apprehension ran down Jinx's spine and her eyes widened at the very thought. Fighting villains? But villains fought for keeps, villains fought dirty, villains were just plain evil.

She would know, considering she was one!

"Wha-? But why?" she asked in confusion.

"HA! What better way to confuse the heck out of everyone? Besides, Gotham city is on our way to Steel City, anyway."

"But . . . fighting other villains? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Apparently she wasn't hiding her nervousness very well, as her master matched her gaze seriously for a moment. "I know it might be an intimidating prospect, but think about it, Gotham is the perfect place for you to make your move."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Explain."

He smiled a knowing smile. "Well, consider this Joker fellow I've heard so much about. Here's a man that paints his face and dresses like he was blind, and yet his name is spoken in hushed tones from one side of the country to the other."

Jinx nodded. The Joker was practically required reading back at the Academy. 'Keep your enemies close, and keep your friends at least ten yards away at all times.' As the old motto went.

"However, despite his reputation, he is still just a man; granted, a bit loopy, but a man nonetheless. He doesn't have any powers, nothing I've read about him indicates he's much in the way of a fighter. So, once you look past the glitz and glamour of the legend, what, really, is stopping a highly trained metahuman like yourself from just waltzing in and trouncing the young upstart?"

Jinx just stared at the diminutive master for a long moment. Her common sense battled her pride in a one on one showdown for the ages. The former screamed at her that she was a colossal idiot for even considering the idea, while the latter crowed that even humiliating Superman would be nothing compared to the name she would create toppling the Crown Prince of Crime himself.

Happosai must have been able to see her internal struggle, since he chuckled in amusement. "Not that I'm saying you need to go after that one so early in your training. The Batman has gathered himself a most cunning gallery of rogues, and powers or not, if you let yourself play by their rules, you'll likely find yourself dead before you realize it."

Her eyes rolled dramatically. "Yeah, that makes me feel sooo much better."

Another bark of wheezing laughter. "You just have to learn to pick your battles, Disciple, and learn how to make your opponents dance to your tune and not the other way around. Don't you worry, though, I'll help you understand what I mean on the way."

The young sorceress considered his words carefully, already trying to piece together his intended meaning. Overall, the plan sounded stupid and dangerous . . . but no more so than was usual for her master's plans, now that she thought about it. Besides, it was just one more hurdle between her and finally getting to see Ryouga again . . .

A wistful sigh escaped her lips as the image of a certain fanged boy filled her mind. It had been so long. Months filled with nothing but her training and her master. Granted, she'd grown fonder of the ancient pervert than she would ever, ever admit, but ever since her chance meeting with Mousse, it seemed like the only thing keeping her going lately was the thought of seeing her clueless Lost Boy again.

Okay, sure, so maybe she was traipsing a little close to the edge of obsession, but it wasn't exactly like she had any other over-arching life goals to strive for.

"Alright, then, Happi, let's get this show on the road!"

Her ancient master leapt dramatically to his feet in response, brandishing his pipe with flair. "Happosai and Jinx of the Anything Goes School of Indiscriminate Grappling are going to Gotham City!"

And may the gods have mercy on their souls.