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.

35. Titan Rising Epilogue

Dark Titans – Arc 4 – Titan Rising!

Epilogue

Enjoy if you Will, Tolerate if you won't.

---

The T-Car sped down the freeway, carrying its triumphant passengers home from a job well done. Robin had already left them far behind, speeding back on his R-Cycle, but the driver of this vehicle felt like enjoying the cruise back to the Tower. After all, with Adonis locked up, Terra happier than he'd seen her in quite some time, and an all around great outing, there was only one thing that seemed appropriate at the moment.

"My man, that was the greatest ever!" Cyborg bellowed at the top of his cybernetically enhanced lungs. He then held out his fist to the guy sitting in the passenger seat beside him.

Looking more than a bit sheepish, Ryouga obliged and met the proffered fist with one of his own. "Just so you know, Terra did most of the real work out there."

"Yeah," Terra chimed in, "Ryouga was just my assistant, kinda like my super heroic secretary, y'know?"

Instantly, Beast Boy and Starfire, sitting on opposite sides of the slight Titan, in the back of the car, burst into laughter. Ryouga, on the other hand, crossed his arms over his chest and began to pout. Raven, as usual, simply stared out the window as they cruised down the motorway.

Smile growing even wider, Cyborg nodded enthusiastically. "Aw, c'mon, Terra. You know you're my girl!" Then, in a somewhat reckless manner, he reached behind his head, offering his fist to her as well. "C'mon, gimme a pound!"

Laughing merrily, Terra bounced her fist off his with a dull clank before leaning back into her seat and snuggling back in between Beast Boy and Starfire. To her side, though, the Tamaranian Titan adopted an expression of reflection. Tapping her chin with a long finger, she caught Cyborg's gaze in the rearview mirror.

"But, Cyborg, are not Raven and myself also 'your girls?'"

"Hmph, speak for yourself," cut in the bird named hero in question, prompting Cyborg to chuckle in amusement.

"Don't sweat it, Star. You're all my top girls. Ain't no one in the city better!"

"Dude! Would you quit suckin' up to the girls and get us home already? It's crowded back here, y'know? Speaking of which, why the heck did Ryo get shotgun, anyway? I totally called it!"

To Cyborg, Beast Boy's complaint bordered on the heretical, considering the green teen was sandwiched enviably between Starfire and Terra of all people. Taking something so precious for granted obviously deserved punishment.

"What'chya talkin' about, BB? Law of Necessity trumps Shotgun." Cyborg smirked broadly as he gestured to Ryouga and himself. "In the front seats you got the big, manly men, who take up a lot of space with their big, manly muscles. In the back we got all the people with slender, feminine physiques, allowing us to fit more people in comfortably, y'see?"

Heedless of the merciless giggling abounding on both sides of him, Beast Boy slowly nodded to himself. "Hmm, yeah, I guess that - hey! Wait a second! I'm back here, dude!"

For the first time since the drive began, Raven cracked a smile. "How do you keep that girlish figure of yours, Beast Boy? You'll have to share your diet with the rest of us."

Eyes dancing with mirth, Starfire nodded along. "Indeed, dear friend. You simply must accompany us on our next sojourn to the parlor of feminine aesthetics!"

"Grrr. Quite it already! I ain't no girl!"

Something about the green teen's cry amused even Ryouga, as he began to chuckle. "He's complaining like Ranma. Now even I'm convinced there are some feminine side issues here."

"Awww!" moaned Beast Boy. "Not you too, Ryo. Usually you got the sense of humor of a storm trooper!"

Before Ryouga even had the chance to figure out if he should be offended or not, Terra dropped a reassuring hand on Beast Boy's shoulder.

"Don't worry about them, BB. I still think you're a hunk."

Raven gave a wry chuckle. "A hunk of wha-"

"Annnnyway!" Cyborg cut in, quite heroically, really. "All in favor of changing the subject, raise your hands!"

Immediately, Ryouga's and Beast Boy's hands shot up with Cyborg's. Upon seeing the unanimous consent, he nodded to himself. "Alright, and the guys have it."

"Wait a second!"

"Excuse me?"

"But, the voting was tied . . ."

Ignoring the annoyed stares coming from the back seat, the cybernetic teen turned to Ryouga. "So, Ryo, when the heck are you gonna start using the T-brella? I mean, I slaved over a hot particle accelerator to make that thing, and you're totin' around some old Mary Poppin's style junk. I'm gonna start feeling insulted soon, man."

The lost boy held up the umbrella in question, examining the ebony implement carefully. "I'm sorry, Cyborg. It's nothing against the T-brella. I just didn't think I would need that kind of firepower tonight, is all. We were just out on a standard patrol when all this started."

From behind Ryouga's seat, Starfire issued a rather loud 'humph'. "I believe that you should cease your use of that . . . archaic umbrella as soon as possible."

Terra's head quickly bobbed up and down in agreement. "Yeah … I think Cyborg's umbrella would suit you better. Don't you, Ryouga?"

For some reason, the Lost Boy began to squirm in his seat, at least until Beast Boy suddenly leaned forward.

"Don't listen to those guys, Ryo! I like the vintage model way better!"

The air was blasted from the green teen's lungs a second later when, out of nowhere, Terra elbowed the changeling in the ribs.

"You do not! There's no way you can like that umbrella more than Cyborg's!"

"What?" Beast Boy wheezed, staring at the girl like she was crazy. "Of course I can. The classic model rocks. You know what I'm talkin' about, right Raven?"

The dark Titan started slightly from her window gazing, apparently surprised to be consulted on such an … important topic. Giving the question some actual thought, Raven then proceeded to shrug.

"I hate to agree with Beast Boy, but … well, it's black. Are you really that surprised?"

"No, friends! You do not understand," Starfire implored in earnest, "Ryouga's current umbrella is most ba-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Ryouga threw his hands up helplessly. "I promise, the next big emergency we get, I'll bring the T-brella, alright?"

Cyborg nodded, smiling broadly. Sure, it was a bit odd that Terra and Star were looking even more satisfied with the response than himself, but he just chalked it up to how awesome the T-brella was. Who wouldn't want to see it in action?

The strong opinions also seemed to have left Beast Boy and Raven looking more than a little confused, but, really, that wasn't Cyborg's problem.

… and speaking of Cyborg's problems.

"Okay, seriously man, you gotta tell me how you pulled off that trick where you pulled Adonis' armor off."

Instantly, Beast Boy was hovering between them again, excitement on his face. "Yeah, dude, that was like, seventy percent as awesome as Terra's 'Stonami'! … Maybe sixty five percent."

"Awwww, you," preened Terra.

"I mean," the changeling continued, "You were living, eating and breathing Bakusai Tenketsu for over a month, man. Even I know that it's not supposed to work on metal, rubber, or anything with a comparatively elastic chi flow capable of compensating for the influx of energy."

He was met by five very blank stares.

"… What? I can learn things too, y'know!"

Giving his head a quick shake, Ryouga eventually nodded. "Good memory, Beast Boy. I tried it quite a few times while I was working on Terra, but the B.T. just doesn't work properly on metal. Unlike, say, stone, steel and most of its alloys are very hard, but also very tough."

"Tough like Clint Eastwood?" Terra asked with an impish smirk.

Cyborg stared at the girl incredulously through the rearview. "Girl, you aren't even old enough to know that name! And no, he means that steel is highly resistant to sudden shocks, which is indicative of high energy transference."

It was Cyborg's turn to be graced with blank stares.

Rolling his one organic eye, Cyborg gestured meaninglessly with his free hand. "Look at it like this. You hit a rock with a hammer, it shatters. You hit a block of metal with a hammer, it barely even leaves a mark."

Ryouga nodded in agreement. "Often, steel is hardened in a furnace by raising it above its critical temperature. This makes it very hard, but also more brittle. So, manufacturers concerned with sharp impacts, such as powered armor producers, will then temper the metal to increase its toughness again."

"That's right, Ryo. The reason for that is that the grain structure of steel while in its Austenitic phase, just after it's been hardened is very rough and full of stresses. After tempering, the grain structure is reformed into Martensite, which possesses a much finer grain structure."

Now actively talking pretty much directly to each other, the duo didn't even notice the swirling, confused looks on the faces of their back seat friends.

"Exactly," Ryouga replied excitedly. "That was one of the problems I was having when I was trying to apply the original B.T. to steel. The grain structure is so fine and the energy transference properties of the material were so high that it made it very difficult to pin point the breaking points, or to actually apply enough energy to any given point to detonate them."

Cyborg nodded back. "I noticed this latest variation didn't involve just blowing the guy's armor up. How did you overcome the grain structure problem?"

Ryouga shrugged. "I didn't, really. Using the standard technique, the most I could accomplish was just flooding the metal with chi, in essence burning out all the breaking points. The process is slow, though, so it just resulted in melting the metal."

"Not exactly something you want to do in a fight," Cyborg noted, sounding a tad worried.

The fanged fighter nodded again. "Far too dangerous to use on someone like Adonis. Also, the stronger and more exotic the metal, the more energy it takes, so it becomes unusable against anything too tough anyway." Shrugging sadly at lost opportunities, he continued, "Even when I finally progressed to the point that I could see the breaking points in steel - not too long after I learned how to differentiate between Terra's aura and the ground's aura, damn tricky, that - the amount of power to actually overcome the structural strength of the material would be just as dangerous to me as to the metal." Ryouga held up his index finger and studied it. "Flooding that much chi through my finger tip would probably blow my entire hand off. Not to mention the idea of having a piece of super hard, exotic alloy exploding in my face didn't exactly seem like a good idea, either. Not liking either of those prospects, I decided to approach the entire concept from a different angle. A little research put me on the right path. I just had to think … smaller."

All at once, a light bulb went off in Cyborg's head - not literally this time, though - and he slapped a hand to his forehead. "D'oy! The atoms in metals join together to form a crystalline lattice! How did I miss something so basic? You aren't trying to detonate the metal along planes of weakness, you're fracturing the crystalline structure of the metal to-"

"Induce metal fatigue!" Ryouga finished excitedly.

The titanium Titan couldn't stop himself from bursting out into laughter. "Oh man, that explains so much. Especially why you were poking the guy to death back there, yo! You must have had to hit hundreds of … fatigue points, I guess you'd call'em, to get any appreciable effect."

"Well over a thousand, and that was just to weaken the structural integrity of the chest plate for me to deform the metal with my normal strength. "

Nodding to himself, Cyborg was already considering the implications. "… Wait. Holy crap, Ryo! Do you know what this means? You've actually figured out how to attack metal on the atomic level! How the heck am I supposed to develop a defense against that!"

The evil chuckle Ryouga replied with didn't instill the cybernetic teen with confidence, at least until the fanged boy shook his head in bemusement. "I don't think you need to worry about it too much yet, Cy. The precision and focus I require to pull that off successfully in a fight is like trying to conduct brain surgery with mittens on." The Lost Boy then offered up a fanged smirk. "For someone as weak as you, it's just plain easier to beat you the old fashioned way."

"Ha! I think someone forgot the result of our last grudge match. Isn't that right … guys?" Cyborg's question died on his lips as he looked into the back seat.

To a man - woman, actually - everyone in the back seat was dead to the world, snoring away merrily. Beast Boy and Terra even had matching lines of drool running down their chins as their heads bobbed back and forth with the motion of the T-Car.

Cyborg and Ryouga shared a quick look before shrugging in unison.

"Some people just have no respect for honest to goodness intellectual discourse, am I right, Ryo?"

"I know!" Ryouga replied, exasperated. "Even Ranma was never rude enough to fall asleep when I explained one of my new techniques. I would have thought at least Star would have appreciated our metallurgical discussion."

"Man, it's too bad, too," Cyborg lamented, " I was gonna try to freak BB out by trying to convince him that you could use your new trick on people too."

His martially inclined companion laughed quietly to himself, obviously thinking the idea to be funny. "Can you imagine how long it would take to actually explain it to him that this technique is useless on pretty much anything but metal and other similar materials? I mean, it's only the fact that metal atoms don't join together to form molecules like most other things that allows the technique to work."

"Yeah, that makes sense," the larger teen replied. "You can set up a cascade effect in the metal lattice, so that a single burst of energy can spread out, damaging atomic bonds as it travels through the steel. In a person, you'd literally be stuck trying to break them down one molecule at a time."

"At which point, it just becomes so ridiculous it's not even worth considering," Ryouga concluded.

"Still … would'a been funny, but, hey, what can ya do, man?"

"I dunno … draw on their faces?"

The titanium Titan wiped away a tear of pride. "Dawg, you have come so far under my tutelage! Who should we hit first, though? BB, or Raven?"

"Touch me, and your suffering will be eternal."

With a start, both boys spun around to stare at the speaker. Raven hadn't even bothered to open her eyes, her head still resting against the window, but the aura of menace emanating from her was palpable.

Cyborg tried to stay quiet, he really did, but within seconds his will eroded and he leaned over to whisper to Ryouga.

"Yo, is it just me, or is it totally hot when Raven talks like that?"

"… I'm pretty sure it's just you."

"You are aware that I can still hear both of you, right?"

Instantly, Cyborg and Ryouga proceeded to stare straight ahead with deadly intensity, and begun to whistle innocently with an impressive amount of harmony.

Needless to say, the rest of the trip back to the tower passed in relative silence.

---

The rhythmic tapping of thick heels against the building face created a soothing background noise to accompany the beautiful view of the city. It was an odd sight, and one that Jinx wouldn't have associated with the city of Gotham after spending an hour or so trotting through its septic system … But Gotham had a really lovely skyline. It was just the perfect capstone to the horrible night she had just endured. She only wished it could last forever -

Stabbing pain shot up her arm and Jinx turned to look up with a furious squawk.

"Hey! What the heck are you doing, Bats? Am I not already in enough pain?"

The bat themed hero in question appeared utterly unmoved by her plight as he double checked the syringe he had just jabbed her with. "Antibiotics. I know the hazards of fighting in a sewer. Trust me, you'll be thanking me later."

Jinx considered arguing, if only for argument's sake, but considering how warm and cozy she was feeling all wrapped up in the bilious cloak he'd been kind enough to lend her, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

So, instead she replied in a sing song voice, "Thank you, Batman."

"That's my polite young Disciple!" Happosai crowed boisterously. Sitting on her other side, the ancient master was smoking away on his pipe as he leaned back, a wide smile on his face. "Words can hardly convey how I feel about your performance, Jinx."

The young sorceress giggled in amusement, giving herself a little hug. "Really? How about 'Proud', or 'Amazed', or 'I'm taking you out for ice cream because you were so mind blowingly wowful!"

Batman eyed her critically. "Wowful?"

Happosai tapped his pipe against the roof to empty it as he considered her suggestions. "Hmm, actually, I was thinking more along the lines of 'Disappointing', 'Embarrassing to watch', and 'I hope Cologne never gets a copy of the video, or I'll never live down the shame'!"

"What! You - you crotchety old man! I was awesome out there! What fight were you watching?"

"The one where you were showing off like a rodeo clown, that's the one I was watching. Dropping yourself in the sewer like that? And actually letting that weakling lay a finger on you? I might as well have trained a rock for all you learned!"

"Oh! Oh, you …!" Jinx's cheeks began to burn with righteous fury.

The Dark Knight could only shake his head in disbelief. It was hard to believe that this girl had been a stone cold criminal. It was even harder to believe that this ancient old man and this young woman might have been the very same pair that had been spreading terror and confusion through cities like Bludhaven and Metropolis over the past few months. Seeing them act like this, overt fondness hidden just below a veneer of shameless teasing …

"You did good in taking down Killer Croc, Jinx," Batman finally stated in between the bickering. "But your choice to fight him at all was incredibly reckless. You were fortunate that you weren't killed."

"Aww," Jinx cooed, "Batman was worried about me! I bet you wouldn't have actually let Croc finish me off, would you?"

Before the detective had a chance to reply, Happi jumped in between them. "Hey! I was worried about you too! In fact, if this little punk hadn't kept attacking me, I would have been down in that sewer a second after you!"

A second's glance up at the capeless crusader gave Jinx all the confirmation she needed in the form of a perfectly flat expression.

"Riiiiight, Happi. Suuure ya would'a." A second later, she looked up to Batman again. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be in the market for a sidekick, would ya? Unlike your last one, I'm already potty trained, and I work for peanuts … literally, Happi, like, never feeds me!"

The Dark Knight managed to stifle his chuckle at her reference to Robin, but couldn't stop himself from smiling at the look of betrayal on the ancient martial artist's face.

"Jinx! You're already being trained by the preeminent martial artist on the planet! How could you forsake me for this-" Happi gestured to the Batman incredulously. "-This rank amateur?"

"Rank amateur?" The detective repeated, a touch insulted.

"Oh, come on, can you blame me? I mean, it's the Goddamn Batman!-' Realizing what she'd just said in front of the man himself, Jinx quickly backpedaled. "-Um - ahem - Pardon my French, sir …"

They stern look on the hero's face held for a moment, before finally softening. Giddy again, Jinx kicked her heels off the building face. "I couldn't even say it's the villainous equivalent of working for Luthor, cuz there is no villainous equivalent for working for the Batman! He's a legend, he's been kicking butt since before I was in diapers!"

"Feh, and I was already doing that while his grandparents were still in theirs!"

"Oh, don't be such an old fuddy-duddy, Happi! We were gonna take a break from training to head to Steel City after this, anyway."

She quickly turned back to Batman, bouncing up to her feet. Clasping her hands in front of her, she leveled her very best attempt at the Puppy Dog Pout in the detective's direction.

"Please, Mr. The Batman. Let me team up with you for a bit. We already got matching costumes-" She held out her arms, spreading the wide cape she now wore. "-And just imagine what it would do for my reputation!"

"Imagine what it would do for my reputation," The Batman fired back. "Besides, I prefer to avoid working with criminals whenever possible."

Jinx quirked an eyebrow. "Oh really? Then how do you explain that crime against all fashion that is Robin?"

The Dark Knight didn't respond, simply glanced down at her own shredded, mismatched costume tellingly.

The sorceress hastily drew the cape in around her to cover her outfit. "Hey, I'm totally working this cape combo and you know it. Besides, I'm like ninety percent reformed … eighty five percent. Anyway, I'm barely a crook at all."

"There's a large difference between barely a criminal and not a criminal." The tone in his voice was surprisingly light, as if he were trying to hide his amusement at the situation. Still, things weren't looking good.

Thinking quickly, Jinx's finger suddenly shot up. "Aha! But think about it, The Batman. If I worked with you, even for a bit, I'd never be able to work with another villain again. My evil rep would be shot."

"Unless, of course, she betrayed you in some epic and tragic way," Happosai offered helpfully.

"Happi, shut up! I'm workin' here."

To her amazement, Batman actually seemed to be considering her words. "That does make a bit of sense. And, I suppose that having a positive role model for a few days couldn't hurt someone so far along in their 'rehabilitation'."

Jinx's catlike eyes widened into large saucers of strawberry milk. She was about a second away from 'squeeing' in a most embarrassing fashion, when he suddenly raised a hand to forestall her.

"There will be conditions, though. Most notably, no criminal activity of any kind."

The sorceress scratched her head. "Wait, isn't vigilantism still illegal for the most part?"

It was amusing to watch the Dark Knight roll his eyes through his cowl. "Excepting that, of course."

"Now wait just a minute!" Happi leapt in between them, suddenly seeming much larger than his height would indicate. "What makes you think I'm just going to let you take my favorite disciple and pollute her mind for even a minute?"

Sighing wearily, Jinx pulled out her small purse and, with a wince, snapped it open. She then proceeded to pull out a small roll of bills she had been saving up for a much needed spa day. Though it pained her more than Croc's bear hug, she handed the cash to her master.

"Here, master, consider it a present. You've been working so hard lately. Why don't you treat yourself to a nice bender for a few days and then we can meet up before we head out?"

The money disappeared in a flash, and a beaming smile appeared on his withered face. The idea of a good booze soaked sojourn seemed like just the perfect reward for his efforts.

Even as Happosai prepared to leap off the roof, Batman, wide eyed, suddenly called out. "Wait! I think we can work out a bargain here. I'll take care of Jinx for the next two or three days, food and shelter inclusive, and provide her transport to Steel City afterwards."

Jinx giggled ecstatically. She'd almost forgotten what food and shelter were. Happi, on the other hand, looked suspicious. "That's awfully generous, detective. And what do I have to do to pay for such an agreement?"

Batman's eyes narrowed.

"Get out of my city."

The ancient master stared at Batman for a moment … then another -

"Bwhahahahaha! Well played, Detective, well played." With that, Happi leapt onto the ledge, only to look back at Jinx one last time. "You made me proud today, Jinx, very proud … Though, I have to say, that was an awfully mean joke you played right at the end there."

Jinx donned her patented Cheshire grin. "You know you loved it, Happi. Now, have fun and I'll see you in a few days."

With a final nod, the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts leapt off the roof and vanished into the morning dawn.

Jinx had to blink several times as the rays of the rising sun finally reached her pink hued eyes. After spending so long in the dark, it felt … good to finally see the light again …

The sorceress shook her head furiously.

"Blech! I think I just thought a stupid good guy metaphor!"

For the first time since she met him - roughly twenty minutes ago - Jinx actually heard the Batman laugh, well, more of a quiet chuckle, really … an almost inaudible snicker? She could'a sworn he'd made some kinda sound, but the guy was so damn inscrutable.. A moment later, he dropped a strong hand on her shoulder. "It happens to the best of us. … I would like to know, though. I'm not exactly certain what Happosai was talking about. What joke did you play on Croc?"

Jinx tittered to herself. "Oh, the joke wasn't on Croc. Let's just say that it was something of an international inside joke. I'm pretty sure it'll be making the rounds soon enough."

Her temporary mentor stared at her oddly for a moment, so she shrugged. "Anyway! I could have sworn someone mentioned taking me out for ice cream, on account of how awesome I am." She made sure to flick her eyelashes quickly as she said it.

The corner of the Dark Knight's mouth quirked up into a grin. "Actually, I think we should get right to the training. Happosai was right, you were an absolute mess out there."

"Ohhhhh!"

---

The elevator ride up to the main room of the tower was filled with excited chatter. All around Raven, her friends continued to laugh and joke, sometimes enacting a few of the more memorable moments of the earlier fight to garner more laughs.

Beast Boy's attempted reenactment of Ryouga falling ten or so stories with Adonis had nearly ended in hilarious tragedy.

The wave of friendship and joy settled over the dark Titan like a warm blanket. Having everyone so close to her, and so happy was a heady experience. Despite her staunchest efforts, she could feel a small smile tugging up at the corner of her lips. She was almost to tempted to join in with the jocularity.

Almost. She did have a reputation to maintain, after all.

Above the door, the flashing number quickly approached the intended floor, and in a matter of moments, the door would open and disgorge them from its clutches. Silently, Raven steeled her resolve. She had waited patiently at the chemical plant, patiently on the car ride home, and patiently on the way up the tower, but now she would finally be able to get Ryouga somewhere so she could privately congratulate him.

Not just for the battle, but for all of the hard work he had done on their behalf. For doing something that Raven knew would have been impossible for herself: giving Terra the confidence to at least try to control her powers better.

The violet eyed Titan could still scarcely believe how far Terra had progressed under his tutelage. Her control obviously still needed work, judging by those tremors earlier, but the fiery determination she had developed in tackling the issue was without precedent.

It was odd, now that she thought of it. Ryouga had joined the team to take her own place while she recovered from her injuries. In all that time here, he had barely gone on a handful of patrols, had only fought two criminals of note … yet he had done more for the Titans] than she could ever even imagine repaying.

He was supposed to have been a new heavy hitter, and yet he had ended up becoming the Titan's resident problem solver. She doubted that any of his friends back in Nerima would have possibly foreseen that development.

With a pleasant chime, the elevator doors slid open and everyone began to exit. Moving just a bit hastily herself, Raven exited the car and, in a very forward act for her, wrapped a hand around Ryouga's elbow to stop him from walking into the kitchenette with everyone else.

Though the boy could have easily dragged her across the room without even noticing, he quickly turned to look at her, a tinge of confusion on his face.

"Fighting the urge to pull her hood down further to cover her eyes, the cloaked Titan soldiered on. "Ryouga … I was wondering … wondering if I could talk to you?"

An amused grin spread across his fanged face. "You can talk to me whenever you want, Raven. You're doing it right now, even."

Raven rolled her eyes. "I think you and Cyborg have been hanging out far too much lately," she muttered. She followed with, "I meant privately."

Ryouga's eyes widened in sudden realization. In an instant, she could see crimson colour creeping up his face as his imagination took a simple invitation and started running a marathon with it.

With fond annoyance, she swatted him gently upside the head - though she probably could have clobbered him with the fridge to similar effect - and shook her head. "I just wanted to thank-"

"Ryouga, Raven!" Robin's voice cut through the mood like some kind of mood killing chainsaw. Raven grit her teeth as Ryouga instantly turned to see what Robin wanted. Why did something always interrupt her when she was trying to do anything these days?

"You two are going to want to see this," Robin explained from across the room. He then gestured for them to join the rest of the Titans, all gathered around the main monitor of the T-Computer.

With a world weary sigh, Raven began to float over. "What is it?" she asked evenly.

"It's in regards to the message from Batman. He sent us a link to a news report from Gotham city."

"So what's the big deal, Dawg?" Cyborg asked, perplexed. "They aren't raising some kinda Robin statue, are they? Cuz, let's face it, your ego is outta control enough as it is."

Even as everyone else burst into laughter, Robin met their mirth with a flat, deadpan tone. "My ego is not out of control. And the report is about an old friend of ours-" He gestured tellingly to Ryouga, "Or, more to the point, and old friend of yours."

"Mine? What, did Akane mallet Ranma to Gotham on account of him saying something idiotic?"

Instantly, Raven smirked and nudged the Lost Boy. "See, even though you make fun of him, Ranma is the first person you think of when you hear the word 'friend'."

"N-no he isn't! I was thinking of Akane, that's it! Ranma and I aren't friends!"

Raven just smiled knowingly.

"Yeah, Ranma's a jerk, anyway!"

Everyone paused at that, and then turned to regard the speaker.

Terra dug her toe into the carpet, looking down bashfully at the sudden scrutiny. "Well he is …"

"Terra, you are the only person in this tower that has never even met Ranma. Why would you possibly say something like that?" Raven asked a bit testily.

"What can I say?" Ryouga cut in, stepping beside Terra. He then dropped a hand on the girl's shoulder, causing Terra to instantly start beaming. "The girl is a quick learner."

A bark of laughter came from the resident Cyborg. "Dude, we told you to teach her how to fight, not turn her into a Ryo-Clone!"

Ryouga shrugged helplessly. "Hey, I teach what I know … And I know Ranma is a jerk. What kind of person would I be if I didn't pass on important knowledge like that?"

"A gracious one," Raven replied quickly.

"Oh, that hurt, Raven."

"Besides, Star makes fun of Ranma all the time, too," Terra stated forcefully. "If she doesn't like him, then he must be, like, the biggest jerk in the history of jerkdom!"

A light blush tinged the alien girl's cheeks as Raven turned a dark look her way. "That is … not exactly true, friend Terra. My perceived dislike of the Ranma Saotome is largely for Ryouga's benefit."

"Huh?" replied more person than one.

"Ryouga takes great joy in his rivalry with his dear friend, Ranma-"

"Oh, come on!"

"-So I chose to play along with his game. In truth, Ranma is quite amusing. In fact, during our days of captivity in the medical bay following the destruction of the HIVE academy-"

"Ah, Starfire," Kasumi began hesitantly. Starfire quickly turned to her, at which point the Tendo woman continued. "I'm not certain that 'captivity' is the word you meant to use."

Starfire nodded amiably. "Of course. I did not mean to offend." She then turned back to the rest of the Titans. "During the days we were held prisoner by the Nurse Lord Kasumi, Ranma taught me much concerning the application of and theory behind the Soaring Dragon Ascends to the Heavens Wave."

Kasumi let out a rare sigh. "… Captivity is fine, on second thought."

The loud clearing of Robin's throat brought the quickly slipping focus back to the group.

"Are you guys done yet? I want to get Ryouga's opinion on this video. I'm not exactly sure what all the ramifications of this development could be."

Without any further explanation, Robin hit a button on the keyboard and the video began to play.

A shot of the Gotham port filled the screen. The image was shaky and from high up, obviously recorded from a helicopter. The shot seemed to wander aimlessly for a moment, before centering in on what appeared to be a large hole in the center of the street.

Beast Boy let out a low whistle. "Man, I'd hate to run into the brute that made that hole."

Robin smirked knowingly, . "You're about to, in 3 … 2 … 1-"

Right on cue, a different section of the street erupted in a brilliant column of pink flame.

Instantly, Raven's eyes widened in recognition. "Noooo …"

Apparently Ryouga drew the same conclusion, as he suddenly leaned forward, nearly blocking the monitor completely.

On the screen, a grey figure slammed to the pavement several seconds after the explosion. The large person appeared to be wearing little more than a pair of tattered jeans and a strange pair of tribal tattoos on his scaly chest.

"Who is that?" Terra asked, sounding repulsed.

"Killer Croc," Robin replied matter of factly. "One of the worst that Gotham has to offer."

Beast Boy leaned forward, curious. "Soo, he made the hole in the road?"

"Oh my, no," Kasumi answered. Everyone turned to fire puzzled looks at the tall brunette. In reply, she pointed back to the monitor. "She did."

The gathered gawkers spun back just in time to see another person leap out of the hole. The view zoomed in on this new arrival as much of the news crew's camera would allow. A second later, they landed in a low crouch.

And then she stood up, her pink hair blowing dramatically in the wind.

"Jinx!" Ryouga shouted, half shocked, half ecstatic.

Cyborg quickly leaned in as well, nearly shoving the Lost Boy out of the way. He then let out a low wolf whistle. "Holy, would you look at her? Jinx is lookin' fine!"

Beast Boy nodded frantically. "Look at that outfit!" he cried, pointing to the appreciated halter top and skirt she was wearing, very much a departure from her normal conservative costume. "It's like she tossed out half of her dress!"

At the back of the crowd, Starfire shuffled a bit self consciously.

"It certainly is revealing," Kasumi added, sounding a tiny bit reproachful.

Frowning, Starfire grabbed the hem of her skirt and tried to pull it down slightly.

"It's indecent, is what it is," Raven stated fiercely. "She's dressed like a tramp."

Cyborg and Beast Boy did pointedly not give Raven the 'look'.

"Excuse me!" Starfire's sudden outburst startled everyone silly. "Is that how you all perceive my garb?"

Robin, despite paying the second most attention to the video, spun around, his finely honed senses warning him of danger.

"No, no, no, Star! No one here thinks anything like that!" He spun to glare at everyone pointedly. "Right, guys?"

Raven quickly backpedaled, unsure of how she'd let her petty rivalry get the better of her like that. She didn't exactly have a lot of room to maneuver, though.

"That's - that's right. It's not … not what she's wearing. Its how she's wearing it."

Cyborg nodded enthusiastically. "Ya got that right. Jinx is wearin' the hell outta those threads!"

"Cyborg!"

"Victor!"

"Please! Everyone be quiet!" The earnest request from Ryouga, who hadn't even turned from the screen to make it, instantly set a pall over the jocularity.

Raven wasn't sure what she felt when she saw the look of raw concern on the Lost Boy's features as he absorbed every second of footage, analyzed every movement on the screen. Obviously, it was noble of him to be so upset over another's welfare …

But did it have to be Jinx's welfare?

Beside her, Terra squinted, studying the screen intently. "Okay, dumb question number two. Who the heck is Jinx, and why are we watching her fight?"

Robin intervened before Raven could give her own very detailed recounting of Jinx's character -

What? Ryouga had done it, why couldn't she?

"You weren't around when we dealt with them, but Jinx was a member of a diabolical academy of villainy. She was one of the worst that we had to offer."

"Okay … Question number three-"

"No," Robin preempted, "I have no idea why she is fighting another criminal. That's not the most puzzling thing, though. Ryouga, what can you tell me about the fight so far?"

Eyes narrowed in concentration, the martial artist continued to study the screen as he answered. "Something is odd about how Jinx is fighting. It's like watching a completely different person." He quickly pointed to the screen. "See that Axe kick? That was way beyond a 180 degree split. Jinx wasn't flexible enough to pull that off before. Heck, I cringe just thinking about doing it myself."

A wide smile began to form on Cyborg's face, only to have him fold nearly in half, an orange elbow driven deeply into his stomach.

"S-Star?"

"Even I was cognizant to what you were thinking." The alien girl rolled her eyes and gave an annoyed 'humph' as Cyborg finished his collapse to the floor.

Ignoring them, Ryouga continued his analysis. "She actually seems faster and stronger as well, but there's something else. The way she's fighting, the style she's using … It's rough, unrefined, but it's very familiar for some reason…"

"Unrefined?" Terra laughed incredulously. "She's amazing!"

The slight blonde peered more closely at the figure dancing around the screen. She then looked down, apparently checking something on her shirt. Then, in rapid succession, Terra looked at Starfire, Kasumi, and finally Raven, her face darkening with each glance. With one last look down at whatever was on her own shirt, the young geokinetic suddenly thrust her fist into the air.

"Go Jinx! Teach that scaly jerk a thing or two!"

Six sets of shocked eyes suddenly settled on Terra, who seemed to shrink under the scrutiny. "What? Jinx is awesome. I think I'm officially appointing her my new hero … Sorry, Star."

"But, Terra. She could not possibly be your hero. She is a villain," Starfire explained, sounding a bit hurt and a little concerned.

"Why would you want to be like Jinx, anyway?" Raven followed up a second later.

On the ground, Cyborg stifled a mighty guffaw, but wisely held his tongue this time.

Back in front of the monitor, Ryouga hissed for silence again. "I think things are coming to a close."

On the screen, Croc and Jinx had just gained some distance from each other, and it looked like the former was preparing to make on last, desperate charge at the young woman.

A second later, just as expected, Killer Croc began to rush in.

And then … Jinx snapped her fingers.

The assembled Titans watched the rest of the fight, a few winces of sympathy here and there…

And then the fight was over.

And then it happened.

And then, Ryouga collapsed to the floor, laughing his ever loving ass off.

---

Nabiki idly tapped the mouse again, dragging the eight of hearts to the lie on top of the nine of spades with speed and grace borne of a depressing amount of repetition.

Around the rest of the make shift rec room of their hidden base, Mammoth was in the open kitchen, fixing himself a ridiculous sandwich. Billy Numerous was busy doing his designated chores - i.e, all of them - and Gizmo sat on the small couch across from the lounger that Nabiki was curled up in.

Every little thing began to annoy her during downtime like this. Waiting for Kyd Wykked to get back from recon. Mammoth, eating all of their food. Billy, being Billy. The uncomfortable warmth of her laptop on her legs and finally, that Gizmo was able to play a game he wanted to, but she wasn't.

Honestly, she hadn't seen Jinx or Mousse online in forever. They hadn't been able to get a good WoW game going for weeks and it was starting to tick her off.

With a low sigh, she moved a seven of clubs up to one of the holding spaces, hoping to unbury one of the aces.

Kunou-baby wasn't talking to her, either. He was still livid about the fact that her crew had actually managed to pull off their last tech heist. She smirked at that. Gizmo had already reverse engineered the gadget and incorporated it into the latest doohicky he was working on. Hopefully it would be ready for shelves in a month.

Considering it hadn't even been a major plan, or involve taking over the city in any way, the samurai wannabe sure was being petty about it. What, did he expect a perfect record? The Kunou's Angels - as Nabiki had started a viral ad campaign to make public knowledge - had already foiled six of her eight plots to date. Stupid heroes didn't know how easy they had it.

Sure, the bad guys had better toys, more fun, and were better looking …

She quickly looked around the room again. Then sighed sadly.

Okay, the bad girls were better looking.

But the villains were the ones that had to do all the real work. All the plotting and planning. The research and fabrication, the manipulation and implementation. It took a horrendous amount of effort to put a proper scheme together, like crafting a work of art.

And then, all the hero has to do is blindly stumble in and throw a spanner into the delicate machinations to screw everything up. If she was the Da Vinci of crime, then the Titans were the inbred tourists smudging the painting with their fat fingers going all 'ooh' and 'ahh'.

And the worst thing - the worst thing - was that smug satisfaction when the heroes won. Like they were so clever, what with the ability to drop through sky lights and disrupt plans that were plotted out to the second.

'Oh, look at me, I hit people with oversized cookware, aren't I just so amazing?'

On the brightside, she was slowly beginning to build up that tight little ball of resentment and loathing that all good villains needed. Still, there was no reason for Kunou to be such a jerk about it. It was just business, after all.

Maybe she should step up her 'Kunou's Angels' campaign; try to get some more risqué pictures of the girls up on some posters. That would drive those heroic smart asses nuts-

The sudden flashing of her Instant Messenger derailed her spiteful thoughts. It looked like an email, but not to the business account she'd set up. A personal email? Not too many people had this address to be sending her anything. Curious, she clicked it open …

It was from Jinx! Nabiki wondered what had happened to the girl. She'd been threatening to come visit forever, but then vanished. The absolute tedium made the excitement of the unexpected email disproportionately high, so Nabiki clicked it open quickly. Maybe it would be a racy limerick, or pictures from another sweet rave party …

It was … a youtube link?

Not even a message, just a link. Nabiki felt let down instantly. The pink haired ninny finally gets online, and doesn't even have the decency to entertain Nabiki while she was at her most bored? Still … She had nothing better to do, so she clicked on the link.

The video which proceeded to play caused Nabiki's eyes to widen and a smile to bloom on her full lips.

Jinx, fighting Killer Croc? Befuddling.

Jinx, with a hot new look? Titillating.

Jinx, fighting like she was a real student of Happosai? Slightly worrying.

And then … Jinx snapped her fingers.

Nabiki watched what happened next with the occasional wince of sympathy … until the fight finally ended.

"…"

The villainous Tendo nearly dropped her laptop on the floor, bursting out into an uncharacteristic bout of belly laughs. 'Oh, God! No she didn't!'

What Jinx had just done? Priceless!

Even as everyone turned to stare at her, looking at her as if she'd gone insane, Nabiki just laughed harder.

"Oh - oh man! I have to send this to Kunou!"

---

Kunou did his best to retain his calm demeanor, struggled mightily to fixate his attention on the television before him. What were they watching again? It had completely slipped his noble mind.

The dark skinned girl sitting next to him had been inching steadily closer to him with every passing minute. Dressed in a yellow, clingy sweater and flattering black slacks, it was hard to distract himself from her loveliness.

The way she feigned to watch the movie, keeping a perfectly straight, was impressive. He could practically see the mischief dancing in her eyes as she relished in his distress. He had sworn not to make the same mistakes with Bumblebee as he had with Akane and the Pigtailed girl, but she was deliberately making it difficult to refrain from abandoning his composure.

He would remain steadfast, though. The Headmaster's lessons on proper conduct toward women, however evil, had served him surprisingly well to date.

A moment later, he swallowed nervously. He began to fear that his companion could read his mind, as she suddenly abandoned her subtle approach in favor of more direct tactics. Yawning mightily, Bumblebee dropped her arm onto the back of the couch, only to 'stand' her hand up upon her index and middle fingers. The vixen then began to walk her hand across the top of the couch, innocent smile on her face as she just happened to be forced to lean towards him as her arm crept around his shoulders-

"Ugh! Would you two get a room already?"

Ukyou, sitting on the far side of the semi circular couch, proceeded to make retching sounds as she watched the pair of them flirt so shamelessly.

"Oh, come on, Baker Brain, cut me some slack. It's not like we're getting' all naked over here-" She completely ignored Kunou flushing red. "-Besides, I didn't get all up in your business when you were mackin' it with that guy a few days ago."

Instantly, a storm cloud of pure petulance settled over Ukyou's face and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Getting a bear hug from Mammoth is sooo not my idea of a romantic moment! How the heck did I get stuck fighting him, anyway? He's supposed to be your guy's problem!"

"But," Kunou mused, a tinge of amusement in his tone, "Did our esteemed colleague, Cyborg, not provide you with your glorious new weapon, so that you might do battle with any foe?"

Ukyou pouted grandly and let out an annoyed 'humph'.

"Yeah, Kounji. The T-patula is pretty sweet. Besides, it's Mammoth. You shouldn't even need a weapon, just throw a bit of feminine whiles his way," Bumblebee suggested helpfully.

Leaning back, incidentally catching Bumblebee's arm between his back and the couch, the samurai tapped his chin. "I would not recommend such a tactic. I would foresee its failure."

Kunou, suddenly feeling an odd warming sensation, made the mistake of looking up-

"Ahgh!" he cried in a manly way, collapsing back right into Bumblebee's lap. The burning gaze of seething rage swirling in Ukyou's eyes was enough to rattle even the seasoned warrior's nerves … though Bumblebee didn't seem to mind this latest turn of events.

"What was that, Tatewaki?"

Recovering his wits quickly, but finding himself unable to sit up due to a deceptively delicate hand holding him down, Kunou held up a hand to ward off the chef's wrath.

"I mean not to impugn upon your loveliness, Miss Kounji. All I meant to infer was that Mammoth seems to yet hold a fondness for Kasumi Tendo in his heart. I doubt you would be able to usurp his feelings for her."

If anything, Ukyou's glare grew only more heated. "Oh really? Are you trying to say that not one, but two of those Tendo girls are so lovely that I don't have a chance against them?"

Kunou faltered at that. There seemed to be no reply that would not insult someone, present or not. Perhaps-

"Yeah, that about sums it up, BB!" Bumblebee blurted out teasingly.

Despite the fact that the yellow and black clad girl was the one to say it, Ukyou's glare only seemed on intensify on the samurai.

"Is that so? And just what, might I ask, does she have that I don't?" Ukyou asked dangerously. "And if you say 'looks', I'll flatten you both. I'm the cute fiancée, damnit!"

Kunou and Bumblebee shared a worried look before turning back.

"She is possessed of a gentle demeanor," Kunou supplied.

"Oh, and she is so graceful. You should have seen her in Villainess 101. She had a sashay that could mesmerize!"

Kunou nodded sagely. "Speaking of classes, she also displayed an uncanny talent for cryptography. She claimed it was due to her love of Sudoku."

Ukyou face twisted up into a disbelieving expression. "Kasumi is a Sudoku fan?"

"Oh, oh," Bumblebee butted in, "She's a really good cook, too!"

"Hey! Watch it, Bubble Butt."

The raven haired girl replied with a smirk, holding her hand behind her head and thrusting out her chest proudly. "Sister, if you looked this good, maybe you wouldn't have so much trouble meeting a nice guy."

Kunou tried to inch back as Ukyou began to fume silently, but the gentle curves which Bumblebee so proudly flaunted blocked his way.

"Who says I'm even looking for a guy? Not all of us girls define ourselves by the guys we're with!"

Judging by the look that suddenly dawned on the chef's face, she didn't realize the irony of her statement until just a second too late.

The samurai and the bee girl burst into gales of laughter, nearly tumbling to the floor in a heap.

"Oh - okay-" Broken, choking laughter made it hard for the dark skinned girl to enunciate, "-Okay, Cute Fiancée!"

Crossing her arms over her chest in another huff, Ukyou muttered, "Oh, shut up … Jackasses. Man, we seriously need to recruit some people. I need someone else to talk to when you guys get like this."

A moment later, she perked right up. "I know! We should put in a bid on Terra! Sure, Ryouga is training her, but she hasn't gone on any missions yet. That'd make her like a free agent, wouldn't it?"

"That's not how it works, Ukyou. We're super hero teams, not sports franchises," Bumblebee explained wearily.

"Hmmm," Kunou pondered. "It is not an idea without merit, though. The Titans possess a surplus of members, while we are running a deficit in comparison to our villainous counterparts."

For some reason, both girls just stared at him. It was beginning to get uncomfortable, and he was considering a tactical withdrawal-

When his blackberry began to buzz. Enthused for any distraction, he quickly pulled out the device and read the screen.

"Ah, it appears that I have received a piece of electronic mail. It would be rude not to respond immediately," he explained hastily.

Instantly, he had a girl perched on each of his shoulders, examining the screen with manic intensity.

"Who's it from?"

"What's in it?"

"Why can't you just say 'email'?"

"Begone, I need space to breathe, insufferable women!"

Obviously too impatient to wait, Ukyou plucked the blackberry right out of his fingers. Scurrying away quickly, she started pressing away at the buttons. "Oh ho! What's this? An email from Nabiki?"

Suddenly, the weight on Kunou's shoulder doubled, and Bumblebee's face was less than an inch from his, a less than pleased look on her face.

"You're getting emails from our sworn enemy?"

The swordsman swallowed loudly. She didn't seem thrilled. It was a good thing she never learned of the WoW campaign upon which he still endeavored occasionally.

"Oh, cut him some slack, BB. It's his Furinkan . net account. It's not like he can make Nabiki forget it or anything. It's not like she can destroy us with a … what is this, a you tube link?"

Rather than force them all to watch on the tiny screen, Ukyou walked over to the main computer and began to enter the link into the browser. For her part, Bumblebee frowned. "You sure that's a good idea? What if she's sending something nasty, like that Two Girls One Cup thing?"

Kunou stared at her oddly. "To what are you referring?"

She matched his gaze for a second, before smiling widely and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love the fact that you have no idea what I'm talking about."

Rolling her eyes in disgust, Ukyou finished with the link and started the video. Kunou was having trouble paying attention though, with Karen ruffling his hair so vigorously. At least he did, until-

"Hey! Isn't that that Jinx girl you two know?"

In a flash, both of them were perched in front of the large monitor.

"Why, I believe it is," Kunou stated, wonder in his voice. "And it appears that she has been exercising avidly during her absence."

Bumblebee nodded, watching the fight unfold. "You're right. My girl there looks like she took a level in badass and hottie at the same time. She's wearing almost as little as Starfire now!"

Ukyou had to stifle a giggle at that. "But … who the heck is she fighting? Looks a bit ugly to be one of us."

The bee themed girl rolled her eyes. "Shallow much? But you're right. That's Killer Croc, a baddie from right across the road in Gotham. Why she's fighting him, I dunno."

Suddenly, Kunou shushed the both of them. "I believe the battle is coming to its crescendo!"

And then, Jinx snapped her fingers.

The trio watched what came next with a series of winces and hisses, until the battle finally ran its course. Once the video ended, Bumblebee stared at the screen, confused. "Huh? I don't get it."

Ukyou had a very different response. "That - that hussy! How dare she! Why, if I get my hands on her …"

Kunou, on the other hand, had another reaction entirely. Despite his noble bearing, the proud samurai collapsed to the ground, drowning in a sea of laughter.

"I - I - I must send this to Mousse!"

---

Mousse, or 'Weapon Master' as he was known hereabouts - ugh, why did he let Shampoo choose their names? He would have preferred Steel Mallard - continued to glance back and forth between the dual monitors. On the right was a static, boring view of a lone, low security corridor. A woman with blonde hair, wearing a black leather jacket and fishnet stockings was walking down said hallway, going … somewhere.

On the left monitor was a screen full of test questions that he might be asked in his upcoming exam.

Par Example:

The nuclear reactor you just saved is about to go critical. Do you:

A) Hack into the computer system and override the safety protocols to flood the reactor with coolant.

Hmmm, tempting, if he actually knew how to do that, or what half of those words even meant.

B) Leap into the reactor and absorb the excess radiation, thus preventing the meltdown.

Seriously? That sounded more insane than Ranma's 'Let's trick Happosai with magical incense' plan.

C) Envelope the reactor in a force field, containing the blast and minimizing damage to the surrounding city.

… Um … pass.

D) Tear the reactor of its moorings and throw it into space.

Oh, come on! Who wrote this test? A quick scroll to the top of the mock test answered that question: Co-authored by Batman, Captain Atom, Green Lantern and Superman.

Well, doesn't that just figure?

Leaning back into his chair, he reached under his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Maybe the big dogs were getting a little set in their ways? Was it really too hard to put a 'Find a convenient scientist to help', option? Or a 'Go to ' to find out how to shut it down?

He let out a frustrated groan.

"Something wrong, Mousse?"

Lifting his glasses up to rest on his head, Mousse turned to regard the attractive blonde, white and blue blur sitting two stations down from him. He offered the young woman a tired smile.

"What could possibly be wrong? Between the stimulation of watching Black Canary wander aimlessly up and down the hall, and these test questions stolen from 'Demigods for Dummies', I'm so happy I could spontaneously combust."

The blond leaned forward, resting her chin on an upraised palm as she studied him. "You are an odd one, Mousse. Most guys I know find her outfit to be pretty darn stimulating indeed."

"Mousse only have eyes for Shampoo," came a musical voice from across the room. The pair turned to see - after replacing his glasses - Shampoo strolling into the room. It was somewhat amusing to see the lavender haired warrior decked out in full, ceremonial battle regalia and juggling three cups of coffee at the same time.

Shampoo smirked wickedly as she approached them. "Unfortunately, eyes not very good, but Shampoo not been able to find way to give back yet."

His blonde associate burst into a giggle fit, even as Mousse rolled his eyes.

"Oh, by all means. Make fun of my selfless devotion."

Both girls struggled to stifle their laughter, which, honestly, was more consideration than he was used to. "And another thing," he continued irately. "We shouldn't be using each other's real names. Super hero names-only is the regulation, isn't that right, Nujiézú … Supergirl?"

The Amazon just shrugged, not caring very much as she handed both him and Supergirl their coffees. The Argoan, on the other hand, managed an earth shattering pout.

"Oh, come on. The original seven use real names all the time. Using our call signs feels so impersonal. No one actually cares about that rule!"

Mousse locked gazes with her. "I care. I am so very much not comfortable using your real name after that demonstration to all us newbies about what you would do if any of us got too familiar."

Shampoo nodded helpfully. "Shampoo still surprised Plastic Man volunteer for demonstration. Even with indestructible rubber body, still look too-too painful. Shampoo never seen anything bend like that before."

The blonde chuckled weakly. "Uh, yeah, volunteered … But, anyway, I already told you guys that didn't apply to you. You two are pretty cool, not to mention you're actually in my age bracket for a change."

"Besides, I know that you won't try anything funny with Shampoo around." Supergirl tilted her head to the side coquettishly and winked. "And even if that wasn't the case, I could think of worse things than flirting with you."

The Weapon Master - of the Hidden variety - blanched instantly, visions of the Man of Steel busting through the wall to deal with him for hitting on his cousin, springing to mind. Shampoo just groaned loudly. "Ugh, not you too? Seriously, Mousse, you start bathing in Love Potion 9 after we rescue you?"

Immediately, Supergirl began laughing, holding up her hands to ward off their reactions.

"Just kidding, just kidding!" She then proceeded to beam a bright, surprisingly innocent smile. "I'm just a sweet little country girl. I would never try to steal away your man, Shampoo!"

The Amazon gave an annoyed huff. "Shampoo more country girl than you even imagine. And on second thought, no let Shampoo stand in way. You want Mousse? I gift wrap him for you."

The only avenue of retreat available to Mousse was to bury his face in his hands. "There is no Mousse, there is only Weapon Master. There is no Mousse, there is only Weapon Master."

It was a mistake on his part, taking his eyes off of the pair of young women. One girl teasing was bad enough, but when two or more joined forces, they inevitably became more annoying than the sum of their parts.

As such, he missed the look that passed between the alien and the Amazon. Seconds later, he felt himself get spun around, then felt a set of sharp weights settle down on his shoulders.

"Hmm, looks like he's stuck on question Seven. Heh, the answer is so obviously D."

Looking up, Mousse found that he was facing the monitors again. Behind him, Shampoo and Supergirl had adopted mirrored posses, leaning forward to lean on him, their elbows digging painfully into his shoulders as they rested their chins on upraised palms. Equally bored expressions adorned their equally aesthetic faces as they scanned the questions.

Ignoring the pain best he could, Mousse gave a grunt. "D? Not all of us are super human, you know?"

The Argoan stared down at him incredulously. "Not super human? Shampoo beat Batman's obstacle course record on her first try! I could bench press this entire space station if I wanted, and even I can't beat his record!"

Shampoo just nodded matter of factly. "'Obstacles are for killing' has never served Shampoo so well before. Speaking of which, what you get for Five, Mousse?"

Chuckling, Mousse scrolled up a bit. "Oh, the 'You just saved a man from falling to his death, but then he tries to sue you for damages' question?"

Shampoo nodded, humming happily to herself.

Supergirl scratched her head for a moment. "I think I put 'Fly to another galaxy until the statue of limitation expires'."

"Damn aliens, get all the luck," Mousse muttered. "I was gonna go with option A) Tell him in a gravelly voice that 'Next time, I'll let you fall'. but then I ended up going with 'Hide behind your secret identity, pretend it never happened, and never let strangers hand you strange envelopes'."

His Amazonian colleague nodded sagely. "Hmm, both good … both good. Shampoo decided to go for E, though."

The alien girl's brow crinkled up cutely. "What? But I thought they only went up to D. What one was E?"

Smiling broadly, Shampoo proudly stated: "Bash in head and feed to herd!"

Supergirl gasped in shock. "Shampoo! You can't do that!"

Mousse nodded, in full agreement. "Tell me about it … Shampoo doesn't even have any herds."

"That's not what I - Ohhh, you two!"

Unable to contain their laughter, Mousse and Shampoo nearly collapsed.

Scowling adorably, the Argoan floated back to her station and plopped down into her seat. "Hmph! What are you guys looking at that stupid test for, anyway? You two haven't even been here a month yet, and you're already bucking for a promotion?"

Shampoo donned a vicious grin, jutting out her chest proudly. "Shampoo just want to reach position she deserve. Proud Amazon warrior should be among elite ranks!"

Shaking her head, Supergirl mused to herself, "And to think that you and Wonder Woman don't get along better."

Mousse simply shrugged. "I just want to make sure I never get stuck on 'Crowd Control' with Booster Gold again -" He shuddered uncontrollably for a moment. "And, frankly, this security monitoring job tanks. How the heck did a heavy hitter like you get stuck in the Chinese Hell of Boring Scrub Work with us newbs?"

The alien super power actually put on an impressive sulk at his question.

"I shouldn't be here. But Cl - uh - Superman is punishing me. He left me in charge of Metropolis a few weeks ago, and - just my luck - a full scale war erupts dead in the heart of downtown. I didn't even manage to catch anyone involved, either! Superman figured that maybe some security duty would help me learn to pay more attention."

Only years of grueling martial training and peerless self control allowed Shampoo and Mousse to stop themselves from shifting about uncomfortably and whistling innocently, respectively.

"Really? You don't say… " Mousse mumbled. "That's too bad. Probably the work of some shameless super villain out to make a name for themselves. No way you could have foreseen something like that."

It took all of her will power for Shampoo to not stomp on the weapon masters foot to shut him up.

"Yeah … yeeaaah … I suppose you're right." Supergirl slumped forward to rest on her console. "And at least it isn't too bad, since I have you two to hang out with. Don't say anything, but I can't stand working with the Star Spangled Kid. She's such a blonde."

The alien girl met their incredulous stares indignantly. "Hey, I am one, so I'm entitled to make blonde jokes." A sheepish expression then worked its way on to her face. "Besides, you guys wouldn't bust your security buddy, would you?"

Mousse and Shampoo shared a telling look … before finally shrugging in unison.

"Nawww."

"Shampoo suppose not."

Supergirl clapped her hands together happily. "Aww, you guys are just the greatest. Suddenly, the Argoan's screen flashed on and the girl spun to read it. "What's this? Looks like I finally got a customer … Ha! Will you look here? You got an email, Mousse!"

Curious, he leaned forward. "I do? How would you know that?"

She shrugged. "I'm monitoring communications over here. This is a space station, after all, so we gotta be extra careful what comes in and goes out. We don't want any viruses or stolen data floating around. … This email looks clean, though. Want me to leave it for you to get in your room?"

The weapon master looked up at Shampoo, then back to Supergirl. "Meh. The people that know my new email can be counted on one hand. I can't imagine any of them sending me anything too personal. You might as well open it up. Who's it from, anyway?"

Moving the curser over the email in question, she clicked to open it up. "Looks like its from … Bluethunder1 TitanTowerEast . Org. A friend of yours?"

A wide smile grew on his face at that. "An email from Kunou? This can only be something amusing. What does it say?"

"Huh, it doesn't say anything. It's just a link. Here, let me click on it."

As she went about that, Shampoo looked down at Mousse, propping her elbow back on his shoulder. "You get message from Stick Boy? Say, you and him still play WoW online?"

He shook his head sadly. "Not since we got up here."

She pouted sadly. "Super hero work sure is pain in butt. Shampoo not even get X Box back yet. Haven't had chance to play Halo in forever."

The sympathetic weapon master was about to reply, when-

"Huh? Weird. Looks like he sent you a video of Killer Croc fighting some girl. No idea who she is, though."

Well, that was odd. Why would Kunou send him a video of some random fight? Curious, he looked over to the monitor-

"Jinx! What is she doing? For that matter, what is she wearing?" Mousse squawked, scandalized. Jinx had always been one of the most modest dressing of all the met human females he knew. Happosai hadn't warped her mind, had he? … Well, warped it more than previously, anyway.

Supergirl looked down at her own outfit, a touch self conscious. "What? Her outfit isn't that risqué. I know a lot of girls that wear less … Not very fashionable, though. Her outfit looks like she went berserk on it with a pair of scissors."

Behind them, Shampoo shrugged. "Outfit no matter. Jinx win this fight easy. Just matter of time."

Mousse spun on his love incredulously. "You're rooting for Jinx?"

She rolled her eyes. "No need to. Jinx actually give Shampoo challenge in fight - however minor. No way Bad Luck Girl lose to Scaly Lizard Man. Would look bad on Shampoo if she did."

The sentiment brought a smirk to Mousse's face. First and foremost, Shampoo was a proud warrior. Jinx had put up a good fight, despite being out gunned in every conceivable way. Maybe the cat eyed girl had managed to plant a tiny seed of respect in Shampoo's mind?

The lavender haired Amazon nodded to herself. "Also good to see that Jinx realize that 'modesty' just male created concept intended to restrain female sexuality. Not woman's fault that man not have enough brains to control hormones."

The Argoan burst into laughter. "You go, Sister! Stick it to the man!"

It was Mousse's turn to roll his eyes. "Yes, yes. Go girl power. Now, can you both please keep it down? Looks like the fight is wrapping up."

The weapon master based this assumption on the exhausted, reckless charge that the large, scaly one had initiated. This was usually the time that the defender pulled out some cool or dramatic move that would utterly destroy their opponent, punishing them severely for their lack of control.

And then, just as expected, Jinx snapped her fingers.

Mousse, Shampoo and Supergirl all watched what unfolded next with a mixture of wincing, laughing and flinching.

And then the video came to an end.

The trio stared at the screen for a long moment …

And then Mousse exploded into laughter. Clutching his sides, he fell back into his chair to prevent himself from dropping to the floor.

The alien girl stared at him, obviously baffled. "I don't get it." She turned to Shampoo. "What's so funny?"

If anything, the Amazon's reaction was even more bizarre. Her face was twisted up in a rictus of indignant fury.

"Sh-Shampoo no believe! Shampoo Kil-" Only for her rage filled expression to crumble as a giggle snuck out unexpectedly. "Heh heh heh … Actually … that is pretty funny."

Mousse leapt up, eyes flashing. "I know, right? Oh man, you know who we need to send this to?"

The lavender haired girl nodded, smiling cattily. "Oh, yes. Airen absolutely need to see this!"

Even as Mousse cackled madly, preparing to forward the video, Supergirl looked about, positively perplexed.

"Alright, you two really need to tell me what's so funny. " She paused for a second as something else occurred to her.

"And who the heck is Aaron? … Is he cute?"

---

Akane hummed along happily to the tune which emanated from the speakers of her new laptop. She honestly couldn't believe she hadn't heard of Rammstein before. Their music was so catchy!

She'd had the shiny new computer for less than a week, but it was easily her favorite purchase of the last six months … Well, there was that really cute pair of pumps she'd gotten … She mentally weighed the two purchases for a moment.

… Hmm, yeah, still the computer.

Of course, pirating music probably wasn't the best use she could be making of it, especially since more than three quarters of the household were technically police now. That just made it more exciting, though. Smiling devilishly, she peered over the large screen to make sure no one was lurking around the dining room with her. It was still all clear, so she went back to her wicked work.

Who would have thought that something she'd gotten purely for the school work and research would have been so fun? Once she'd discovered Bittorrent and flash games, though, all pretense of that had gone straight out the window.

Oops! Kurumi was coming through! With a deft click, Akane brought up a college website, pretending to be interested.

She need not have bothered, though, as her younger sister - officially, now that the paperwork had gone through - ran by in a blur, only slowing enough to shout an excited - "Thunder's on the phone, gotta go!" before vanishing.

"Awww," Akane cooed. That was just so adorable. She was certainly glad that the tall, quiet boy did his best to call whenever the chance arose. She was also glad that most everyone was nice enough to respect her privacy and leave her computer alone when she wasn't around-

Suddenly, a little window popped up in the utility bar at the bottom of the screen and started flashing. Instantly, Akane's eyes narrowed as she clicked on it …

Everyone but one arrogant jerk, that was! Ranma had been using her computer again, and he'd left his Messenger program running again! She'd told him not to do that after the time she'd got suckered into talking to his mother for four hours straight. She loved auntie Saotome, but the woman had been over practically everyday since the big parade to celebrate beating Brushogun.

There was such a thing as too much quality time.

She took a deep breath, preparing to unleash righteous female wrath … when another message popped up - then another … and another. Soon, over half a dozen alerts were littering her monitor.

What was going on? Was it Ranma's birthday and she forgot? … No, Ranma was always the type to give a full months notice when it came to anything that somehow involved celebrating him. Curious, she scanned the first few.

Weapon_Master Watchtower . com

Nujiézú Watchtower . com

Hey! These were from Mousse and Shampoo! And then there was Bluethunder1 TitanTowerEast . Net and Combat_Chef TitanTowerEast . net. One guess on who those two were from. It was odd, though. Sure, Ukyou and Shampoo sending stuff was a no brainer, but Kunou and Mousse?

And there were still more. TitanTower . com, TitanTower . net, Raven52973 TitanTower . com, Tendo_N Furinkan . org.

What the hell? Ranma was getting email from Nabiki? More importantly: Nabiki was still using her high school email?

Taking a second, Akane instantly sent an invitation to Nabiki for her Facebook.

"Ohh, that Ranma. What is he up to?" She fumed darkly to herself. Her cursor hovered over the 'open' button tauntingly.

She really shouldn't … It would be a terrible invasion of his privacy.

Of course, on the other hand, he had used her computer without permission, which was kind of the same thing. Not to mention that the jerk had gone ahead and lost the game of Freecell she'd been struggling with! Now her 100% was shot all to heck!

Caving in to her evil impulse quicker than a car in a car crusher, she clicked the button, opening the browser directly to her fiancé's email account.

The first one read:

From: Weapon_Master Watchtower . com

To: Saotome_R SNDF . jp . gov

Topic: HA!

Weapon Master wrote:

HAHA! HAHAHA! HA! HAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA!

Check out this link, Saotome!

P.S. Tell Akane I said Hi, and thanks for the great reference.

P.S.S. You are the enemy of all women! Just FYI.

Akane 'awww'd' at the first P.S., then burst into a full blown giggle fit as the second. It certainly was sweet of him to remember her, but why was he sending this link thing to Ranma? Was it just a coincidence that everyone else around the world - and beyond - were emailing Ranma?

Rather than click on the link, she moved on to the next email.

From: Nujiézú

To Saotome_R SNDF . jp . gov

Topic: Sorry to hear news, Airen.

Nujiézú wrote:

XX OOO X OOO XXXXX!

Shampoo feel too-too bad for you after hearing news through video. If you need shoulder to cry on, just give Shampoo call!

P.S. Akane destroy any good kitchens lately? Ha! Shampoo beam down sometime to make you good meal.

P.S.S. Disregard last. Supergirl just inform Shampoo that, due to legal issues, no can use term 'beam down'. So Shampoo 'teleport' down some time to cook meal.

Akane's finger hovered tensely over the mousse button, ready to click the email away to oblivion … but that would be just a bit too petty. Reading his emails was one thing, but deleting them, even Shampoo's, wasn't very nice at all.

Still, she was curious as all heck now. Two emails in as many minutes, both sending a link to a video? She quickly read through the rest of the topics, hoping to find a common theme.

'Heaven's Justice at last! How sweet it is!'

'Don't worry, Ranchan. I'll be there for you!'

'This can't be right, can it, Ranma?'

'Best news I've heard all year! … Jerk.'

Akane frowned. It sounded like they were all referring to something similar. Quickly, she flitted through all of them, more intent on finding then reading.

And, just as she thought, every single email had a link, and she would bet an hour locked in a closet with Happosai - she shuddered at the mere thought - that they all linked to the same thing, whatever it was.

Well, she had to know what this mystery was now. Standing up, she picked up her laptop and walked off in search of the pigtailed boy. Her search was predictably short, as her first destination - the dojo - was her last as well. Ranma and Natsume were in the center of the large room, still trying to create more efficient variations on their respective wind based attacks. Natsume was interested in developing a one person technique, in case she and Kurumi were ever sent on separate missions. Ranma was looking for something that didn't require so much telling set up to pull off.

He could barely use the Hiryua Shoten Ha on anyone these days. Everyone had just seen it too much to fall for it anymore.

But none of that really mattered to Akane at the moment.

"Ranma! It looks like you've got some interesting email. Mind telling us about what's going on?" she asked with a touch of a smirk.

Ranma and Natsume broke apart at the calling of his name, and the former turned to regard her, glancing down at her laptop.

"Hey! You weren't reading' my emails, were ya?" He turned to his sparring partner. "That's illegal or something, ain't it?"

The new Tendo sister shook her head sadly, sinuous ponytail swinging back and forth behind her. "No Ranma, no it is not …" She then added under her breath, "How I wish he would take his studies more seriously."

Akane, for her part, just pulled down an eyelid and 'Biii'd' him loudly. "Yeah, well maybe it should be illegal to take other people's stuff without asking? Oh, wait, I'm pretty sure that's called stealing!"

Her fiancé waved off her ire lazily. "Oh, c'mon, Akane. It wasn't stealing, just … secret borrowing … Fine, fine. So who's the email from, then?"

A wry grin split her face at his question.

"Everyone! Apparently something happened that you need to know about."

"Everyone?" Ranma repeated, curious. "Let me see that."

Taking the computer from her, he scrolled around until he found the first email address.

"Weapon Master at Watchtower dot com? Who the heck is that?"

Akane rolled her eyes. "It's from Mousse, dummy. And the second one is from Shampoo."

The pigtailed boy looked at her, then back down to the screen. "… Wait a second. ' Watchtower . com'? And silly new names? This isn't the Watchtower I'm thinking of, is it? The Justice League one?"

"Um, of course, Ranma," Akane replied, exasperated. Then suddenly something occurred to her. "Oh, wait a moment. Did I forget to give you that message?"

"Forgot to give me what message?"

Cheeks tinged pick as Akane giggled in embarrassment. "Um … that Shampoo and Mousse are super heroes now and joined the Justice League a few weeks ago?"

"They joined the what?" Ranma barked loudly. "And Nujiézú and Weapon Master? I mean, sure, Shampoo's isn't bad. Personal meaning, highly applicable and a touch mysterious. But Weapon Master?" Ranma flailed his arms in the air, necessitating Natsume to make a diving catch for the computer. "That is way too on the nose, Akane. It's like us calling Ryouga 'The Lost Boy'."

Akane frowned at the jerk, 20% for insulting her friend, 80% for tossing her computer. "You do call him the Lost Boy, Ranma."

"Um, I know, Akane. I was deliberately pointing out a similar situation," he replied snidely.

"Argh!"

Before she had a chance to melt down, Ranma cut her off with a quick - "When did you find out about this, anyway?"

Switching from wrathful to thoughtful in .5 seconds, Akane 'hmm'd' as she considered his question.

"Well, it was a few weeks ago, like I said. It went something like this:"

---

Akane Tendo, the mature, lovely young woman that she was, was walking down the downstairs hallway, moving so gracefully it looked like she was gliding-

---

"I see we're taking some artistic license here."

"Shut up, I'm narrating!"

---

Being as sweet and compassionate as she was, she was on her way to the kitchen to make some food for her rude, ungrateful fiancé. She wasn't doing it because she liked him or anything, though, just as an act of mercy-

---

"Planning on putting me out of my misery?"

"So help me, if you don't stop it, I'll turn this story around right now!"

"… I'll be good."

---

Anyway, just as she was walking past it, the phone suddenly began to ring. Actually considerate of her family - unlike some people - she quickly and politely answered.

"Hello, you've reached the Tendo residence."

"Ah, hello," came a very deep voice in reply. "I was wondering if there was a 'Saotome Ranma' present?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Ranma is still at work. May I take a message?"

"Ye- Actually, may I ask to whom I speak? You may be able to help us as well." Whoever the speaker was, Akane had to admit that he had a very trustworthy voice.

"I'm Tendo Akane. … Um, I didn't get your nam …"

"Ah, how rude of me. My name is J'onn J'onzz. Hmm, Akane, would that make you the young woman that had been captured and held captive by the villain known as Brushogun?"

"Hey!" Akane barked. "I wasn't captured! It was a … umm - a tactical infiltration! I let him think he captured me so that I could find out his weakness for Ranma. I'm a martial artist too, you know?"

---

"…"

"Ranma!"

"What? I didn't say anything!"

"You were thinking it!"

"It is true, Saotome, you completely were."

---

"Indeed? Well, that was both courageous and clever of you," praised the deep voice. "Well, then, if that is the case, and you are a confidant of Mr. Saotome, then may I ask you a few questions? It will only take a few minutes, I promise."

What was this? Some kind of weird survey? "Um, alright, I guess. What do you want to know?"

"Miss Tendo, could you confirm if you know a duo known as Weapon Master and Nujiézú?"

Akane stared at the phone quizzically. "Ah … well, I know a weapon master. And I know a girl from Nujiézú. Does that count?"

"… Possibly. Could you describe them to the best of your knowledge?"

The (second) youngest Tendo's eyes narrowed.

"What, exactly, is this all about, Mr. Jones?"

"Oh. Again I apologize. I am consistently getting ahead of myself. I am a representative of the Justice League. I am currently performing background checks on our newest group of applicants. Both Nujiézú and Weapon Master had Mr. Saotome down as a reference."

---

"You got a phone call from the Justice League?"

"Yes … yes I did."

---

"Oh, they did, did they?" she replied tartly. "Let me guess. Nujiézú is a Chinese girl with lavender hair, talks like a bad stereotype and has a body you'd kill for?"

"Um, I would never resort to homicide for-"

"And the guy is tall, probably wearing robes, glasses like the Hubble telescope and …" she let out an envious sigh "And hair that you'd kill for."

The caller hesitated for a moment. "… Colloquialisms aside, yes, those descriptions do fit our latest applicants-"

"Oh, well that's just Mousse and Shampoo! Sheesh, was there some reason they couldn't just come by, like usual, and ask Ranma if they could use him as a reference?"

"Ah … Miss Tendo, we generally don't request to know applicant's secret identities unless they choose to disclose them …"

"… Oh … Well … I guess I won't tell you which is which, then?"

"That is likely for the best. As for why they could not come themselves; all applicants are sequestered in the Watchtower until the interview process is completed for security reasons." John's voice took on a more whimsical note. "In fact, that is where I am now. I am making this call from the Earth's orbit."

"Wow," Akane breathed, impressed, "You must have an amazing phone plan. Who's your long distance carrier?"

"… AT&T, but that's not important." The man chuckled to himself. "I can see that you're not so easily impre-"

---

"Wait, so that's why we switched to AT&T?"

"Yeah, we didn't qualify for their interplanetary plan, but they still have very reasonable rates."

---

"-ssed."

"Things tend to stop fazing you when you live here long enough. So, was there anything else you needed?"

"Indeed. I just need to ask you a few questions about Sham - I mean, Nujiézú and Weapon Master. Your responses may very well decide whether we accept them or not," Mr. Jones explained carefully. "Now, what can you tell me about Nujiézú? As a person?"

An evil smile spread over Akane's face. He wanted her to tell him about Shampoo? Oh, she would tell him all about Shampoo-

It was in that moment, that the entire puzzle suddenly clicked together in her mind.

"Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. If I give a good review for Sh - ah - Nujiézú, then she'll probably end up living on a space station, floating a thousand miles above the earth, being constantly sent around the globe on highly dangerous missions, keeping her far too busy to have a social life or visit friends?"

"Ah … well, that is all quite likely, actually. However, if you are concerned about your friend's welfare-"

"No, no, no!" Akane interrupted hastily. "I … uh, have complete faith in Nujiézú's warrior prowess. In fact, you couldn't ask for a better member!"

Squeezing the receiver between her cheek and shoulder, she began to tick off points with her fingers.

"She's clever." Conniving. "Strong willed." Overbearing. "Determined." Obsessive. "Outgoing." Shameless. "And she's a proud Amazon warrior!"

---

"How … how can you be doing something so evil, but make it look like you're doing something so nice?"

"I am the younger sister of both Nabiki and Kasumi, after all."

"Too bad you couldn't take after Kasumi when it comes to cooking."

"Oh, just for that, you're eating the leftover Finark Spores tonight!"

"What? That stuff that crawled to the back of the fridge and climbed up into the corner? No way!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Starfire said Finark Spores are at their tastiest during gestation … She might have also mentioned something about absolutely never, under any circumstances, letting the chrysalis hatch, lest we doom all like on the planet, but it was a while ago, and I wasn't really paying attention."

"Surprise, surpri-"

"Akane, please. If you could continue your story?"

"Right, right."

---

"… Amazon, you say?"

"What?" An indignant female voice suddenly burst out in the background on Mr. Jone's end of the line. "Give me that phone, right now Jon!"

The sound of a brief, if one sided, struggle was quickly followed by the new speaker.

"Greetings, Sister."

"Kasumi? Is that you?"

"What? No. I am Wonder Woman, of the Justice League."

"Sure she wasn't Captain Obvious?"

"*Snicker* Quiet you."

"Oh, I see. You didn't sound like Kasumi. She has a very gentle voice," Akane replied.

"And I don't? - Bah, never mind. I was simply referring to the fact that, united by the tyranny of men, all women are joined by unique bonds of friendship and trust, making us all as sisters."

Akane just stared at the phone. "You … ah, you guys didn't actually do any research on Ranma and his friends before you agreed to use him as a reference, did you?"

"What do you mean by - No, that's not important right now. I have an important question. This Nujiézú. She claims to be a - a Chinese Amazon. Is there any basis to this claim?"

Akane shrugged. "I dunno. As far as I know, most people call them Amazons, though the Japanese name would actually be Joketsuzoku. I think it means 'Tribe of Women Heroes', or 'Village of Strong Warrior Women', or something … A bit on the nose for my taste, really, but it sure sounds like they're Amazons. "

She could almost hear the sound of Wonder Woman's teeth grinding on the other end of the line. "She cannot be an Amazon, especially not a Chinese Amazon. There are only Greek Amazons."

Akane gasped. "They have Amazons in Greece now, too?"

"No! They have only Amazons in Greece!"

"Oh, well that can't be right," Akane replied, tapping her chin. "I know Greece isn't doing terribly well, but I know they definitely have a lot of men, and a male dominated government. I should know, Ryouga told me all about it after he got lost there. Brought a brochure and everything."

"That's not what I meant," Wonder Woman barked. "I mean that Amazons only exist in Greece. That Greek Amazons are the only true Amazons."

"Oh," Akane 'oh'd'. "You might need to talk to a copy right lawyer, then. I don't really have any experience settling that kind of dispute. I'm sure my sister could refer you to one, though."

"… No … no, that will not be necessary. Thank you for your time, Sis - Tendo Akane. The Justice League appreciates our assistance …" A moment later, the line went dead as the bleak Amazon hung up.

"Huh," Akane muttered. "I didn't even get the chance to tell them how devoted Mousse was to protecting people … named Shampoo!"

---

"Laaaaaame! That's the Best Mousse related pun you could come up with?"

"Oh, like you could think of a better one," Akane fired back.

Ranma just smirked. "Um, yeah. It's so obvious a blind man could see it."

"… Damnit." How did he get so good at insulting people?

Swelling up with pride, the pigtailed fighter looked to be about three seconds away from taking things just one step too far - when he suddenly deflated.

"Wait a second! Why the heck didn't you tell me about this call?"

"Well," Akane admitted, "I tried, but-"

---

"Ranma, I have a messag-"

"Can't talk, Commander Daizo said I have to watch Astroboy, or he'll pistol whip me."

---

"That wasn't my fault!"

Akane tapped her chin. "And then there was-"

---

"Ranma! I need to tell you-"

"Can't talk, Akane. Watching Bleach!"

---

"Damn!" Ranma slapped a fist into his palm. "Curse my weakness for anything even tangentially related to martial arts!"

"Tengen-wha-?"

"Ah, look, the various links all appear to be to the save video."

Immediately, Akane and Ranma ceased their bickering to look down. Laying on her stomach now, kicking her feet in the air and staring at the laptop set up before her, Natsume pointed to the screen. Following suit, the pair dropped down to sit beside her, garnering a set of glares for nearly sitting on her in an attempt to get a good view of the monitor.

The long haired Tendo had already started the video, when began promisingly with a pink explosion. A few moments later, the key players of this little drama made themselves known.

Akane gasped yet again. "Hey, that's-"

"Jinx!" Ranma finished excitedly.

The original recipe Tendo fired a hot glare his way. "Why are you so excited to see that hussy?"

"Hey, always good to see Ryouga's main squeeze. Heck, I haven't seen her since … uh, since before the Academy exploded … yeah."

"She so is not Ryouga's main squeeze! It's so obvious he likes Raven!"

"Oh god, not this argument again!"

"Um, excuse me for a moment." Natsume's cool inquiry broke the pair out of yet another argument. Pointing to the screen, the newly minted Tendo studied the fight with a clinical eye. "This Jinx. Is she another long lost sister of ours?"

"Akane nearly choked on her own tongue. "She'd better damn well not be! Wait! That doesn't even make sense. Why would you ask that?"

Her sister shrugged. "Well, it is just that the fighting style she is using in nearly identical to Kurumi and mine's style. The basics, at least, are so similar as to be uncanny., possibly as if she were taught by-"

"Happosai?" Ranma barked in shock. "Holy crap! You're right! She's using Anything Goes! Not just that, she's using the original style, Happosai's style, not my dad's or Mr. Tendo's!" The pigtailed fighter shook his head. "But why the heck would he be teaching her?"

A little baffled herself, Akane's head tilted to the side as she watched the screen. "That's … an excellent question. I mean, it's not exactly like she's got anything for him to grope."

"Shh!" Natsume shushed them sharply. "The fight is drawing to its conclusion."

Ranma all but plastered his face to the screen as he watched the scaly brute bear down on Jinx at full speed.

And then -

---

Jinx snapped her fingers.

All up and down the street, flashes of pink flared to life brightly for a few, fleeting seconds. Next, an ominous collection of groaning and creaking filled the air as Murphy prepared to bludgeon causality upside the head with his Law.

It started with a single crack, like a shotgun firing, as the base of the nearby lamp post suddenly snapped under its own weight. The tall metal post fell unerringly in Croc's direction, slamming to the ground less than a foot to his side with a clattering crash. The beast ignored the near miss - at least until the long arm that supported the lamp caught him across the ankles, dropping him face first into the pavement.

Before he even had the chance to stand, a loud 'snap' cracked the air. Croc had just enough time to look up before the car, previously resting on the back of a poorly parked flatbed truck, suddenly rolled off - the chain holding it mysteriously broken - and crashed to the ground in a shower of sparks before careening directly at him.

Flipping over frantically, Killer Croc began scrabbling away from the speeding vehicle. He would have made it, too, if the large, sheet metal sign displaying the nearby warehouse's parent company, didn't creak, totter, and then fall off the face of the building. Improbably, it caught the wind just perfectly, swooping out to the center of the street before flopping down right on Croc's back-

And then the car rolled up onto the convenient ramp … almost made it over, then rolled back down the way it came.

A deep rumbling growl reverberated the ground beneath Jinx's feet for a second before Killer Crock surged to his feet, actually tearing through the metal signage like so much tissue paper. Arms raised high, bellowing his rage to the heavens, Croc opened his eyes …

Just in time to see the tall cargo crane just finish its lazy swing to position the large flat of miscellaneous crates directly over his head.

Several sparks of pink arced along the cables ominously, before they snapped loudly, dropping the semi precious cargo. The skid crashed down on Croc in a veritable avalanche, burying him completely beneath a cascade of wood and … what looked to be computer components.

By the time all was said and done, Croc was buried almost completely, except for his head. The poor criminal was barely even conscious -

When a television camera dropped out of nowhere and landed square on his head.

Above, distant shouts of "You're fired, Tony!" were nearly drowned out by the helicopters themselves.

Seeing her opening, Jinx finally charged forward. Dancing up the shattered debris that covered Croc, and mindful of all the cameras overhead, she delivered an elegantly beautiful soccer kick to the monster's scaly chin, sending him to Slumberland for well and for certain.

Breathing raggedly, Jinx planted her hands on her knees, a wide smile growing on her lips. She had done it! She'd beaten Croc one on one! She'd-

Hey, was that camera still running?

Inspiration struck the young witch like lighting. She then leaned forward into the camera before she proudly stated -

---

"That's what you get, Punks! My name is Jinx, the One True Heir of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts! And don't you forget it!"

Jinx's leering face was joined on the screen a moment later by the extremely close, and extremely unflattering sight of Happosai's face, squeezing into the frame from the side. The wizened master crossed his arms over his chest and flashed a pair of peace signs.

"Where are my ladies at?"

Only to be punted out of sight a second later.

The pink eyed sorceress turned back to look over her shoulder and winked teasingly one final time. A second later, the screen went to static, then to black as the video reached its end.

Eyes wide, Akane and Natsume shared a bewildered glance. Then, slowly, they both of them turned to look over at Ranma, already cringing at the inevitable explosion.

The pigtailed boy's face was already passing straight through 'angry red' to 'furious purple'. His entire body was quivering as he stared at the black screen. Akane could actually feel Natsume's body tense as she prepared to leap to safety.

"Um … you like Jinx, remember? 'It's always good to see Ryouga's main squeeze', and all that?" Akane offered tentatively, nervously lifting her hands in front of her face to shield herself.

Staring obsessively forward, Ranma's face slowly returned to its normal color, though the way his pupils had shrunk to pinpricks was somewhat worrying. Still, he wasn't freaking out yet; had her point sunk in-

"Akane." Ranma's voice startled her with an uncharacteristic monotone. "Do we still have any of Ryouga's packs here?"

'Huh?' What was that all about? "Um … yeah. I'm pretty sure there are one or two stashed around somewhere … Why?"

Suddenly, Ranma leapt to his feet, holding up a fist and looking off to the horizon in a manly manner - or, in this case, staring at the corner of the ceiling like a maniac -

"Get me Ryouga's Challenge writing kit!"

---

Ryouga snapped awake with a start. Sitting up, he looked around as a wave of dizziness and confusion settled over him. He was in his room, obviously, and in his bed. He was fully dressed, though, and had no memory of getting here …

Another knock rang out on his door, and Ryouga realized that must have been what woke him up in the first place. Shaking his head a bit, he rolled out of bed and went over to answer the door.

Kasumi's sweet smile was there to greet him when the door slid open. The tall brunette was dressed in a baggy t-shirt and equally baggy sweat pants, which somehow only managed to make her appear more adorable, rather than slovenly.

Apparently she first wore the getup as part of a joke to mess with Beast Boy. And it had worked, nearly blowing everyone's minds when they walked in on her, lounging on the couch and eating chocolates, surrounded by mountains of crumpled chip bags and pizza boxes. But, then she had realized just how comfortable it was, and now it wasn't uncommon to see her wearing it after ten or eleven at night.

"Ah, good, you're awake," Kasumi greeted him pleasantly. "I wasn't sure you would be yet."

Ryouga shook his head again, trying to end the faint ringing. "Uh, thanks, Kasumi. Say, what time is it, anyway? And how did I get to my room?"

Her head tilted curiously to the side as she regarded him. "Oh my, you don't remember? Well, you were quite happy at Jinx's victory - didn't she look simply lovely? I'll have to ask her how she got her bottom so toned, I think I could use a few pointers-" Turning slightly, as if to prove her point, the Tendo woman then proceeded to completely ignore the bright red color Ryouga's face flushed to as she continued. "Anyway, it was all fine, at least until you suddenly realized that Jinx was actually traveling with Grandfather Happosai. After that you … how did Cyborg put it? 'Freaked out like a spider monkey on crack.'? Robin and Beast Boy had to knock you out before you destroyed the entire tower, and then we put you in here."

Ryouga's pupils shrank to pinpricks. "J-Jinx is training with Happosai?"

He was about three seconds away from exploding - again - when a sudden smack to the face snapped him out of it. His eyes crossed to regard the rolled up news paper still plastered across his nose.

"No! Bad spider monkey. No crack for you!" Kasumi followed her stern command with a serene smile as she pried the news paper off his face.

"Um, Kasumi. Do you know what crack is?"

She pressed a finger to her cheek as she thought about it. "Not really. Some kind of sugary candy?"

Ryouga shrugged. "Hmm, I don't really know either. That makes sense though. Whatever it is, though, it must be pretty good stuff. I'll ask Beast Boy if he can get us any later."

"Oh yes," Kasumi agreed. "I'm sure if anyone would know about crack, it would be him."

They stood there for another long moment, before Ryouga finally realized how rude he was being. "Oh, I'm sorry, Kasumi. Did you want to come in? You didn't come all the way up here just to check up on me, did you?"

Smiling prettily, Kasumi shook her head. "No, no, it's quite alright. I'm glad that you're alright, but I'm also here to give you a message."

"A message?"

She nodded. "I just took a telephone call from a 'Mr. C.'. He was delightfully charming, I must say, I ended up speaking with him for an indecent amount of time."

"Mr. C.?" Ryouga mused to himself … Oh, wait, that must've been him!

"Anyway," Kasumi continued. "He wanted me to tell you that he expects his 'You know what,' by 'You know when', for his information about 'You know who', being 'You know where'. He told me that you already know the 'You know why' and that 'You know how' to get it to him as well."

Ryouga chuckled to himself in amusement. "Sounds like I'm all knowing, doesn't it?"

Kasumi's giggle was light and airy. "Well, just as long as you don't become a know it all. I don't think Raven would appreciate the competition."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Ryouga replied with a smirk. "So, was there anything else to the message?"

Reaching into one of the deep pockets sewn into her sweat pants, Kasumi pulled out a small disc. "Well, once he made me promise that I would deliver the message straight to you, he signaled a courier to discretely deliver this to the tower for you."

She looked at him with a knowing, slightly stern glance. "Ryouga, were you dealing with a criminal? This certainly seems like the same kind of shady business we learned back at the academy."

Shamefaced, he nodded. "Yeah … yeah, I guess I was."

"Well, it was for a good cause, so no harm done!"

"Alright, I - wait, what?" Ryouga could do little more than stare mutely as Kasumi patted him on the shoulder before pressing the disc into his hand.

"B-but aren't you even going to ask what's on it? I mean, I could be doing something evil, or something. Aren't you going to tell Robin?" Ryouga grew more worried by the second as he asked his questions. Really, it all came down to one thing. "How do you know you can trust me now?"

Kasumi rolled her eyes fondly, before reaching out to wrap a hand around the back of his neck, ruffling his hair as he so often did himself. "Oh, Ryouga. I don't know much -"

Suddenly, she pulled him forward, brushing her lips against his brow as lightly as a summer's breeze. She then matched his gaze, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "But I know I love you."

Still stunned, he did nothing as she ducked back through the door, still smiling widely.

"And that may be, all I need to know."

And then the door slid closed, and Ryouga was alone once more. Touching a finger to his forehead, a warm smile began to form on his lips as well. Leave it to Kasumi to know just what to say to make him feel better -

Wait a minute! Had she just …

He shook his head again. 'Nah, couldn't have been.'

Lifting his hand, the Lost Boy looked at the small disk resting in his palm. Perhaps a receipt or something? Oh well, it wasn't like he had anything else to do at the moment. That in mind, he wandered over and slipped the disk into his computer, then waited for the auto play to kick in.

A second later, Jinx's face appeared on the screen.

Ryouga's jaw nearly unhinged from shock. In a flash, he was planted in his chair and turning up the volume control.

"-ey there, Ryouga. This is Jinx …" The pink eyed girl gave a weak laugh and ran a hand through her hair nervously. "Though, you probably figured that part out already, right?"

Despite himself, the martial artist found himself nodding as he smiled. What was she up to here?"

"You're probably wondering what I'm up to here-"

Ryouga rolled his eyes. He obviously underestimated how well she'd come to know him.

"Unfortunately, I don't have all night to talk, but I'll try to explain as much as I can."

The camera suddenly swung away from her, revealing a nicely decorated and vaguely familiar room. A second later, it swung back to settle on Jinx.

"Look familiar? I thought as much. Looks like twisted minds think alike. I'm recording this message in the Penguin's office as the Iceberg lounge. Seriously, the Penguin! How cool is that?"

A different voice, muted and coming from off screen made itself known, chortling quietly. "Oh, you are too kind, my dear."

Jinx flashed a wide, toothy grin to the man behind the camera before looking back Ryouga's way. "Apparently you came here looking for someone, just like I did." She winked teasingly. "You naughty boy. Does Robin know you're consorting with villains?"

The Lost Boy smirked, replying to the recorded image. "No - no he doesn't. Heh."

"Now, that has a lot to do with why I'm talking to you right now, but I think there's something else you need to know first." She suddenly pointed at him accusingly. "And I want you to listen to me first. I don't want you freaking out like a spider monkey on crack here."

Ryouga's eyes nearly crossed. Was that a common phrase that he'd just never heard of before?

"Now, don't lose it on me here, but I've been training with Happosai pretty much since we parted ways at the Academy. … You okay there? … Okay, I'll assume you calm down at some point and start watching this again. Anyway, you don't actually need to worry. Asides from the horribly, soul numbing torture that is his training, he's been really good to me."

The pink haired girl lifted an arm, flexing it cutely and patting her bicep proudly. "He's been helping me get a lot better, so you'd better tell Raven to watch her oversized butt!"

Ryouga vowed, then and there, that if he did give Raven a heads up, that he would not use those exact words.

The mirthful look on Jinx's face melted away into a more worried expression.

"T-that all kinda comes full circle to why I'm here. You see, I'm getting ready to do something really dangerous, part of a test for Happi. And I'm not exactly 100% that I'll make it out okay."

The martial artist frowned. He was starting to see where this was going. He was just glad he'd seen the fight first, or he'd probably be going nuts by now.

"So, think of this as kind of a video will. I … don't actually have anything to bequeath or anything, but in case I don't make it, there was a thing or two I wanted to get off my chest."

Ryouga sniggered.

"You so laughed right there, didn't you!" Jinx barked abruptly. She pointed directly at him again. "If I do get outta this in one piece, that is so gonna cost you."

Taking a moment to compose herself, Jinx then continued, "First, I wanted to apologize … to you … obviously." The girl began to twirl her thumbs around on another. "You know how hard this is for me. I never regret anything I do, or whoever I happen to hurt … I don't even feel bad about helping capture you, since it led to us being so happy, even if only for a while."

The martial artist nodded to himself. As much pain as there had been, he couldn't deny that those short months he had spent with Jinx had been the happiest he could remember.

Jinx continued, her face falling in shame. "I - I wanted to apologize for how we parted ways at the academy. When you got your memories back, and I saw that look in your eyes … I … I just ran. My only real regret is that I may never know what you would have said, what you were feeling -"

Suddenly, she paused and half rose from her seat, thus causing her head to exit the frame and, incidentally, leaving him staring blatantly at her chest.

"Y'know, this stuff is kinda private. Do you really need to be here to operate the camera?"

The familiar, muted voice of Mr. Cobblepot replied, "Young lady, this is a gentlemen's club, not a dating service. You're lucky I have one of these confounding contraptions at all. I only bought it for my vacations to the Atriums of Europe. Please, just consider me a fly on the wall."

"… Fine, whatever. Just fair warning, though, it's only gonna get mushier from here."

"Fear not. I have some Milk of Magnesia to soothe my stomach later. Now, back to business, you distractible ditz."

The entire time this conversation was going on, Ryouga found himself blushing, trying not to stare - Jinx was leaning forward and it was causing her blouse to hang down just enough to remind him that she wasn't quite as … untalented as everyone assumed - but also reminding himself that there wasn't exactly anyone here to judge him for staring, either … He slowly reached up to pinch his nose-

When Jinx leand back into her seat, only to wink at him with a naughty smile on her face."

"See anything ya like? Heh, you're such a boy."

Giggling, Jinx leaned back and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm, now where was I? … Damn, lost my train of thought. Doesn't matter, though. There was just one more thing I wanted to say before I go." The young woman took a deep breath, obviously steeling herself for what she was about to say. "Ryouga, in case I don't get another chance, I just want to say one last time … I like you."

She pinned him with an intense stare through the screen. "I mean like you, like you, you know what I mean? I know you probably don't feel the same way, but, at the same time, I don't think you hate me either, or else why would you be looking for me? Anyway, if I make it through this test, I was kind of hoping we might be able to talk again after this is done. I - I guess that's all, really -"

The sound of Mr. Cobblepot loudly clearing his throat caused Jinx to start suddenly.

"Oh, oh, right! Also, Mr. P says that you definitely need to pay up on your end of the bargain when you get this. And, for all the extra trouble he went through for me, he wants it with a nice ivory handle and cap."

Ivory? Where the heck was he supposed to get ivo-

"Of course, you probably have no idea where to get ivory, so I'll ask Biki when I see her." Jinx paused to steeple her fingers before her ominously. "Though, I might suggest some green ivory. I'm sure you could get some of that easily enough."

Even as Ryouga blanched, Jinx burst into laughter.

"Oh, I wish, I know. Anyway, I-" She suddenly looked past the camera again. "Oh, right. Mr. P also wants you to know that if you don't pay up, he'll kidnap me and torture me or some junk."

She leaned out of the frame quickly, only to whisper loudly. "Hey, you wouldn't actually do that, would you?"

"Of course not, my dear, but he needn't know that."

"Gotcha!"

And then Jinx was facing him once again, smiling broadly. "Okay, time for me to go. You shouldn't get this until my fight is done, so hopefully this message isn't posthumous. Anyway, I just wanted you to know I've been doing okay. Hope I can see you again someday … Bye!"

The cat-eyed witch waved a tad sadly for a few seconds before the screen finally went black, leaving Ryouga alone with his thoughts.

Jinx actually wanted to see him again? He kind of thought it was just him wanting to see her again. And now he had so many questions. Training with Happosai? Fighting criminals?

It was quite confusing, as the latter seemed to say she wanted to do good … and yet she had teamed up with one of the most evil people he knew! … So very confusing.

Still, she wanted to see him. She'd apologized for running away … And what she'd done to Ranma was just priceless! Sighing fondly to himself, he started the video again.

"Gotta love that girl."

---

"Man, I hate that girl!"

Raven chuckled at Ranma's ire. It wasn't like she didn't agree with him, but to see him getting so … what was the term? 'Bent out of shape' over something so pointless.

"Even if her claim is true - which, granted, does carry some validity since she is working with Happosai - I'm still not sure why it matters." She set the communicator down so she could shift into a more comfortable position in her bed. Now lying on her side, she absently flipped the strap of her nightgown back over her shoulder as she picked the communicator up again.

"I mean," she continued quickly, "You're the heir of the Saotome branch, aren't you? What does it matter if she becomes Happosai's inheritor? It wasn't like you ever actually trained under him anyway."

"That's not the point!" Ranma barked. "She might as well have pasted a giant 'Kick Me' sign on my back for the whole world to see. Do you know the crap I've been putting up with all day?"

The small view of Ranma's room spun around, revealing what Raven was pretty sure was Akane's laptop sitting on his bed. It looked to be open on his email account and his inbox looked to be quite full indeed.

"I'm pretty sure Nabiki did something, but that damn video has gone viral! Every martial artist and nut case that I've ever fought, met on the road, or that has ever even heard my name in passing, with access to a computer, has been sending me emails to rub it in my face!"

"And do the opinions of any of those people actually matter to you? Aside from some slight embarrassment, has it really harmed you in anyway?"

"My pride, Rae! She hurt my pride! That's pretty much all I legally own at the moment." Ranma's outburst was ruined by the fact that he couldn't manage to keep a straight face himself. "Fine, fine. As you would say 'Humiliation is pointless'."

"I do not sound like that," she replied sharply. His impersonations were always terrible. "So, are you ready to give up this foolish notion of yours?"

Ranma just stared at her. "Are you nuts? Of course I'm not! Humiliation aside, Happosai's school is the root of all Anything Goes. The prestige it receives is greater than any of its subsidiary branches." He smirked wickedly. "And think of it this way, Rae-Rae. If Jinx is the true heir, then the legacy of the school has never been more vulnerable. Honestly, I'd be doing her a favor by beating her and … taking that title, and that nasty burden, off her shoulders."

"Right," drolled Raven. "What better way to protect her from being attacked by other unhinged, overly prideful martial artists, then to do it first?"

"Exactly! So, make sure the next time you see her, you give her my challenge … Oh, and pass on my message, too."

"Ranma," she replied evenly. "I consider you to be one of my closest friends, and would do most anything to help you. On the other hand, Jinx is a spiteful, vindictive, irresponsible criminal, and there is no love lost between us. However, there is no way that I, in good conscious, could possibly recite to Jinx what you said earlier. I think even Kasumi would slap me for that."

"Oh, come on, Raven. It wasn't that bad."

"I'm fairly certain that half of those acts are frowned upon in Turkish prisons." Raven eyed him seriously. "I'll do my best to make sure she gets your challenge, but that is as far as I'll go."

Ranma snapped his fingers. "Dang. Would'a been hilarious to see the catfight that would'a caused."

"Yes." Raven rolled her eyes. "Because Jinx and I need another reason to fight. I don't think I need to fight your battles for you as well. You know, if you're that worried about your 'legacy', there are other ways to ensure it."

The pigtailed boy scratched his chin in consideration. "You mean skip Jinx and just take down Happi? I mean, eventually, sure, but now …?"

"I mean," Raven snapped, rubbing her temples. "That you might consider teaching someone. Happosai seems quite pleased with his new disciple, and Ryouga's student has done him quite proud today."

"Who? The skinny blonde girl with totally outta whack powers that you ditched on Ryouga, despite the fact that Ryouga and self control go together about as good as peanut butter and chocolate?"

"Um … Ranma … Peanut butter and Chocolate actually go together very well." She would know; the day that Beast Boy had introduced Starfire and herself to Peanut Butter Cups was … best forgotten.

"What? Blech! Go on and pull the other one." Ranma shook his head in disbelief. "Anyway, are you tryin' to tell me that Bacon Bits actually managed to stop her from running amok, not caused her to?"

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Raven replied, "Ryouga has been doing amazing things in our company. He resurrected the veritable dead, for Azar's sake. It wouldn't kill you to admit that he is a capable friend."

Ranma just looked at her, cocking an eyebrow.

"… Okay, in your case it might, but still-"

"But nothing! Once I take Jinx down, I'm coming back for Ryouga! Gotta score to settle with that guy," Ranma proclaimed proudly.

The dark Titan could only shake her head. "You never cease to amaze, Ranma."

"I know," he replied smugly.

"Wha - that wasn't a compliment … Oh, never mind."

Her companion chuckled loudly. "Alright, enough of that. You know the deal. I know you were tryin to be all sneaky about it, but you still brought up Ryouga!"

Raven frowned darkly, before finally sighing in defeat.

"I'll go get my thesaurus … Can't believe you still make me help you with your homework."

---

Stretching out her arms and giving a satisfying yawn, Terra strolled down the hallway. Wearing her bathrobe and carrying a towel, her toothbrush and a few other things, she was fully intending to enjoy the heck out of a nice morning bath.

She was still sore from her bout with Adonis, so a nice warm soak seemed like just the ticket. It would give her a chance to figure out what to do with her day off, too. Just because she passed her first test didn't mean she was done training, though she kind of hoped that the insane schedule they had kept would slacken considerably.

Robin had also said that her house arrest had been lifted as well! Clutching her hands to her chest, it was all she could do to not squeal out in joy.

She didn't want to wake anyone, after all.

That meant that she could go into the city again, and on patrols, too … Actually, she wasn't all that excited about the latter, but the former was ultra sweet!

She could take Ryouga to the diner for some of the world's best apple pie. Or she could see if Beast Boy wanted to go to the arcade. Or maybe go see a movie with Kasumi!

'Oh!' She could try to talk Cy into a road trip! Hmm, maybe hit the mall with Star first, to pick up some more seasonable clothes. Terra giggled to herself as another thought occurred to her. She could totally go to a poetry slam with Raven! The mental image of the pair of them wearing all black and with cute little berets, snapping their fingers while looking completely indifferent, was priceless.

Hmm, she tried to think of something she could do with Robin … But what did he do in his free time? Well, aside from buying copious amounts of hair gel. Hey, maybe she could ask Starfire!

"Hey, Star," she greeted cheerily as she passed by the girl's open door. "Do you know what Robin does for fun?"

The Tamaranian ceased in mid float, and actually had to rotate to see her past the massive stack of identical outfits piled up in her arms. There was an unusual look on her face that Terra couldn't fathom as she responded.

"I am afraid that I have not been privy to the goings on of Robin's personal life lately."

Huh, that was weird. Terra hadn't exactly been in the loop lately, but she was pretty sure that Starfire was Robin's personal life. Whatever it was, Star didn't seem too keen on the topic. So, not wanting to annoy her friend, she attempted to change said topic.

"Heh, um … that's a lot of clothes you got there … Is it laundry day already?"

Starfire looked at her strangely, only to shake her head.

"No."

And then she floated off without another word.

A little puzzled, Terra wandered down the hallway and knocked on Beast Boy's door. There was some loud crashing and what sounded like a body hitting the floor, but, eventually, the door slid open.

"Do you know what time it - oh, hey Terra!"

Blushing fiercely, Terra quickly looked away and blocked her sight with her hand. She hadn't been expecting the shape shifter to answer the door in just his boxers!

"Umm," she started weakly. "Uh, do you know what's up with Starfire? Is she donating all her clothing to some charity for impossibly tall and thin super models?"

Beast Boy stared at her like she was nuts for a minute, only to look down the hall in shock a moment later, as Starfire floated back into her room, only to float out with another mountain of clothing, and disappear down the hallway one more.

The shape shifter and the earth mover shared an uncertain glance, before Beast Boy spoke. "Umm … I think we might need a family meeting here."

Within moments, they were all assembled. Raven, wearing her leotard, but with a monstrous case of bed head and a killer scowl. Cyborg wearing his night cap and with a teddy bear under his arm. Robin and Ryouga both wearing matching gis and looking like they'd been up for an hour already, and Kasumi, wearing her normal clothing and looking quite awake and refreshed.

The resentment was palpable.

And, again, Starfire floated past them, gliding into her room, and returning quickly with another bushel of personal effects.

Unable to hold in his curiosity, Cyborg lifted a hand. "Uh, Starfire?"

Not even slowing in her work, the Tamaranian replied with an absent "Hmm?"

"Going somewhere?" Beast Boy asked, every bit as curious as his buddy.

Passing them by, on her way back down the hallway, she replied evenly. "I am leaving for Tamaran."

Watching the odd procession, Raven felt compelled to ask, "And you're taking all your stuff because...?" At that, Starfire finally stopped, turning to grace the gathered Titans with a tender, wistful smile.

"I am not ever coming back."

The reactions to that were somewhat predictable.

"WHAT?" was shouted in stereo, nearly buffeting the alien girl back into her nearly empty room.

A second later, Robin was in front of her, blocking her path. "Starfire, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I am…" she gave a short pause, then offered him a big smile. "...getting married."

"WHAT?" Another round of shocked shrieks rocked the hallway as the Titans' eyes nearly popped out of their heads. Slowly, Robin slid to the ground, completely catatonic.

Looking around uncertainly, Kasumi finally took a step forward.

"… So … is it anyone we know?"

---

The figure moved carefully down the darkened corridor. He knew these hallways well, was intimately familiar with the many secrets which these walls held. He was also quite aware of the guard rotations and the hidden passages that would allow him to traverse the lower depths of the palace unseen.

Reaching the desired junction, he calmly searched the wall, before depressing a concealed switch, opening the doorway which he was looking for. Once he was through, he closed it behind him, before finally retrieving the lantern from his belt. The small, glowing device illuminated the ancient, roughly worked corridor with an unearthly blue light.

It took nearly a quarter of an hour, but the passage finally delivered him to his ultimate location:

The dungeon.

He had no idea how his contact infiltrated this deeply into the palace, but without fail, the surface dweller had reached their meeting place before him, always waiting, bathed in shadow.

The meeting place in question was the final cell, of the deepest level. It was the most feared chamber in the entire kingdom, reserved only for the most hated, the most damned criminals to ever desecrate their sacred laws. It somehow seemed to amuse his mysterious benefactor to make this more terrifying of chambers, and utilize it as his personal brokerage.

Breathing heavily now, he reached into his pocket, quintuple checking that the item was still there. It was, and was still warm to the touch. Somehow, its presence did not put him at ease, but at least he knew that his bargaining chip was still intact.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he was standing before the heavy door. It took all of his strength to open the unusually thick, steel door, but it slid open without a whisper of a sound; this chamber was always highly maintained, always awaiting someone worthy of its reputation.

Sliding in through the opening, he pushed his back up against the door and closed it fully before taking a deep breath after the exertion.

"Good evening, friend."

A chill ran up his spine at the sound of the voice. No matter how often he heard it, he could never get used to it. It held an almost inhuman mixture of calm and menace that froze his soul. Even this friendly greeting made him feel as if a blade were being unsheathed in his direction.

"I have your payment," he stated plainly, trying to maintain an amount of calm in his own voice. Even as he spoke, he peered around the room, trying to find the speaker. Even with his lantern disc, the light failed to penetrate the furthest corners of the room … and it was those corners that his associate enjoyed lingering in.

There, in the far corner this time. He could see a vague silhouette of the man, not overly tall, nor massively muscled or broad … and yet terrifying all the same. He could see a single eye glistening in the light, the other half of the man's face too deeply bathed in shadows for the light to reach even across his face.

"That is most fortunate. May I see it?"

"Not until I know that you have upheld your part of the bargain," he demanded in a hushed tone.

"You wound me, my friend." The shadowed figure reached behind his back, before producing an ancient scroll, lifting it up into the light for him to plainly see. "I have taken care of all of the arrangements."

Scurrying forward, he crossed the room and tore the scroll from his benefactor's hands. Opening it carefully, he scanned the first few lines.

"It - it is authentic! How - No, I do not even want to know how you got this."

"That's right. You don't. Now … my payment?"

With the utmost care, he rolled the scroll up once more, before tucking it into the case hanging from his belt. He then reached into his pocket, pulling out the item in question. He held it up to the light, letting the shadowed man see it clearly.

"So much trouble you've gone to. And for what? Some golden trinket?" He tossed the small bauble through the air, and the figure caught it with such ease that it somehow even made the inconsequential feat seem inhuman.

The man clutched the ring in his hand for a moment, before slowly nodding to himself. Holding it up into the light again, one could almost feel the waves of satisfaction rolling off of the stranger.

"All that glitters is not gold, my friend. Despite what you think, I am the one that came of this deal ahead, not you."

"Bah! This scroll alone has more value than you can imagine. How can that bauble compare? It isn't even of Atlantean make, just a surface dweller bauble found decades ago." He scoffed at the very thought. "It will not even be missed. It only made its way into the treasure chamber because the queen thought it looked precious. "

"More precious than you know," the figure replied cryptically. "And, now that our business is concluded, I will be on my way."

"Wait!" he called out plaintively. "You have delivered the scroll, that much is certain. But what of the other part of our bargain? Have you prepared what I require?"

His one eye verily twinkling with delight, the shadow figure took a single step back into the shadows, vanishing completely despite the fact that his lantern was only a scant few feet away. From the shadows, the figure's disembodied voice replied.

"As I said. I have handled all of the arrangements."

---

Ronal sighed forlornly as he stood watch at his post. As the ocean currents flowed past him, he allowed the soothing warmth of the waters to carry his discontent away with them. After all, in theory, his was a position of great honor. One of the border guards of Atlantis itself, the very first line of defense against and all invaders. It would be his trident that would be the first to meet any threat that reared its ugly head against his homeland.

In practice, though, he was stuck out in the middle of nowhere, well over a hundred miles away from the majestic domed city, on the watch for enemies that didn't exist. No surface dweller would dare provoke the ire of Atlantis, and there was no power beneath the waves greater than that of their kings.

It left him in a very solitary, very boring state of affairs that he would not have wished upon his worst enemy.

Sighing again, he sat down on the stone he'd chosen for a perch on this day. It was a short distance from his watch post, but he detested sitting inside all day long, staring at the sonar screen. He could see just as well as it could anyway.

Leaning down, he reached down to grab the case he used to hold the lunches he prepared for himself when he took it upon himself to commence visual inspections such as these. Rooting around through the container, he tried to find something a bit on the sweet side to take his mind off of his sorry existence at the moment …

Wait a moment … was it getting darker?

Looking up, confused, Ronal noted that it was, indeed, getting darker, but not due to the setting of the sun. It looked almost … almost as if a great cloud were racing over him, blotting out the light …

Squinting his eyes, Ronal shot to his feet, making a sudden realization. 'That is no cloud!'

Turning quickly, he began to swim back to the outpost as fast as his muscles would carry him -

He only made it halfway before he noticed the half dozen or so figures already gathered around the outpost. As one, they turned to regard him with hate filled eyes. A moment later, they were swimming in his direction, as were more of them, circling in from every direction like a pack of feral sharks …

Looking about in all directions, Ronal clutched his trident tightly in his hands, knuckles going white as he saw his doom descending on him. There was only one thing he could think to say as he brandished his weapon, preparing to give the fight of his life.

"Well, isn't this just perfect."