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.

37. Pre Wedding Jitters Chapter 1

Dark Titans – Arc 5 - Pre Wedding Jitters

Chapter 1

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

---

-T-Minus 10 hours-

Sparks danced merrily over the mass of wires and circuitry; each incandescent speck of superheated metal arcing through the air, some bouncing off insulated coatings or bare metal, before being snuffed out and vanishing from sight forever. Cyborg was pretty sure there was some kind of metaphor in there somewhere but he wasn't nearly poetic enough to try to put it into words. Honestly, he was far too distracted thinking about Starfire to worry about some shining point of light disappearing from his life, never to be seen again.

A hand on his shoulder pulled the technological genius back to reality and away from his work. He leaned back lethargically and turned to see who was disturbing him. Upon seeing who it was, though, being 'disturbed' was instantly banished from his thoughts, as he could never imagine more welcome company at that moment.

Kasumi stared down at him, the tall woman towering over him as he knelt beside the open panel on the side of the T-Ship. There was an odd expression on her face as she matched his upwards gaze, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but she seemed somewhat... dimmer... than usual. The smile was there, and the familiar twinkle in her eye, but both seemed muted. Her graceful hands were now clasped before her.

"I don't think that I've ever seen you look so melancholy while doing something that you love so much," remarked the lovely Tendo woman in a soft voice.

Cyborg found himself lost in her eyes for a moment, only to give his head a vigorous shake. Offering up a weak chuckle in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, he waved his hand absently – remembering to disengage the cutting torch in his finger before he set anything on fire – to divert her concerns. He planned to follow it up with a verbal assurance that he was fine, and that nothing was wrong, but when he opened his mouth...

He couldn't find the words.

His jaw slid closed a moment later, and he ruminated on her obvious statement. His eyes began to wander from his relatively new team mate, and he found himself staring at the orange and black hull of the fully repaired and remodelled T-Ship. His gaze then slid down, to the massive set of solid state booster rockets which the T-Ship was mounted on. Currently perched on a scaffolding easily fifty feet off the ground, he puzzled over the fact that he didn't remember hearing Kasumi use the elevator to get up here...

Still, this entire hanger was a tribute to the magnitude of his genius. Anything they needed, he could make. Any problem they had, be it travelling to the deepest depths of the ocean, or to the blackest depths of space... or just down town to pick up some pizza, he could make those things happen, almost by sheer force of will, bending technology and the laws of physics to suit his needs. And... and that was exactly the problem at the moment.

With a tired sigh, he swung the panel closed and sealed it up. Honestly, there hadn't even been anything wrong in the circuitry, just a last minute check and a few not-strictly-necessary optimizations. If the T-Ship had been built by anyone but himself, he almost would have thought he was actually looking for something to be wrong.

"Well... what can I say?" he finally replied. "Yeah, I love being a technical genius. And I love makin' stuff like this. I mean, just look at my baby here? This ship is probably the most amazing thing I've ever built." He rapped a knuckle off of the armoured hull of the craft, a sharp echo ringing out at the contact. "But now all I see when I look at her... is a Big Yellow Taxi, comin' to take my girl away."

Kasumi's head tilted to the side, her long chestnut ponytail dropping over her shoulder to sway freely. The dark blue t-shirt and baggy pair of matching sweat pants would have looked out of place at any other point in time, but as a whole, the look of confusion and the ultra casual clothing just made the older woman look hopelessly adorable. "Yellow taxi? ...I'm afraid I don't understand that reference..."

Chuckling weakly, he nodded, then gestured for her to take a seat beside him. As she grabbed onto one of the numerous rails and proceeded to slide her long legs over the side of the platform to let her feet dangle in the air, he shifted to a similar position, swinging his legs off the platform as well.

"Guess that's not a big surprise. It's a bit of a golden oldie. The gist of it, though, was that you don't know what ya got, till it's gone."

"Ahhh, yes, I think I understand."

His head dropping, he couldn't build up much enthusiasm to explain the relevant pop culture any further. "It's just... I never saw this coming. Seriously, not in a million years could I have seen Starfire just... just leaving us like this. And even worse, I'm the one that's making it possible..."

Again, he felt Kasumi's hand come to rest on his back, only to gently slide up to lay on his shoulder. He couldn't feel more than what his built in pressure sensors could detect, her touch was little more than a stream of 1's and 0's flooding into his processor. The warmth of her hand was just a thermographic image, and the softness of her skin was lost on him completely; the only reason he was even able to notice that she was giving his shoulder a companionable squeeze was because he could see the tightening in her knuckles and hear the tension in the muscles and tendons in her hand...

Despite all of that, he still relished the contact. The physical aspect might be lost in translation, but her intent, the desire to make him feel better came through loud and clear.

"You can't blame yourself like that, Victor. Whether you made this lovely ship or not, Starfire would still be leaving us. If not your ship, then another would have come, likely from Tamaran itself." The Japanese brunette, wise beyond her years, offered him a warm smile. "However, if another ship did come, I doubt they would take anyone else back to Tamaran with them. So don't think of it as you being responsible for Starfire's departure. Think of it as, thanks to your ingenuity, that you'll be able to spend just that much longer with her, and see her through her special day."

He was still somewhat dubious. "You mean standin' around and watching while she gets married to some total stranger? Do you have any idea how hard that's gonna be for us to do? Especially a certain member of our team..."

Nodding sadly, Kasumi let out a weary sigh. "I know it will be hard for all of you... but can you imagine how hard it will be for Starfire? If I were a betting woman, I would imagine that she'll be more grateful to have you there with her, than she could ever possibly express."

"Hmm... I hadn't thought of it like that..."

A giggle as pure as the note of a bell rang in his ear.

"Of course you didn't. You're a problem solver; you want to find a way to fix this. It's against your nature to simply accept that something might not have a solution for you to find." His entire body stiffened as second later, and his cheek began to burn red, as Kasumi suddenly leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "It is an endearing trait."

It took him several seconds to regain his calm. Any other time, he would have started having a Ryouga style daydream and started smashing through walls, but, all things considered, it felt inappropriate to slip off to cloud nine. Slowly nodding, he conceded her point. "Unfortunately, we both know that reality doesn't work that way. Not every problem has a solution just waiting to be found. Sometimes... you just have to accept things, no matter how bad they are."

Again, his gaze dropped, and he found himself staring down at the floor some fifty feet below. It was an odd sensation, as he'd been much higher before, even jumped off a tall building once – he still owed Nabiki one for that damned race trap of hers – but more so than any of those other times, he felt like he was hanging over a bottomless pit.

To his side, he couldn't see the distraught look on Kasumi's face as she studied him. He was too lost in his own world to see her concern grow, and he was definitely too distracted to see her slight frown slowly turn up into an impish smile. As such, he was totally caught off guard when the Tendo woman suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm glad you think that way," she stated, suddenly and inexplicably. When he turned to regard her, eyebrow quirking in curiosity, she simply shrugged her shoulders and smiled brightly. "That means that there's no need for you get upset over the fact that I... may have happened to go onto your little Cyblog and make some small alterations to the recipes you've posted over the past few months."

"Oh, no, that's fin-" Realization struck like an atomic hammer. "Wait a second! You what?"

He spun on the innocently smiling house maker incredulously. "How did you get into my account to make changes?"

"Oh, you left your account open the last time you were updating your blog. I just happened along at a serendipitous time, I suppose. I've been fretting awfully over the problems with those recipes for weeks now. I just had to fix them."

Cyborg nodded. That made sense- 'Hey, wait another minute!' "Hey! Wait another minute! I was doing that last update in my room! What were you even doing in there in the first place?"

"Cleaning," she replied, as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. "Honestly, you make it sound like I hacked the lock on your door, broke into your room, cut through the decryptions on your security software and then guessed your password, all just to make a few innocuous changes to your blog."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Cyborg chuckled and ran a hand over the back of his smooth head. "Heh... yeah, I guess it does sound a bit silly when ya put it like that. Well, I guess it's my own fault then, for being too careless. Besides, no harm, no foul, right? I mean, it's not like you did anything major."

"Of course not," she confirmed, rolling her wrist dismissively. There was a moment's pause, though, and she touched a finger to her lower lip. "Well... I might have also taken the liberty of replying to a few of the comments that some of your followers left. There were some very rude people that said some very mean things about Terra. I felt compelled to better explain the situation to them and what a wonderful young woman she is."

Cyborg's eyes widened slowly in horror. "You... you fed the trolls?"

"Is that another quaint western pop culture reference?"

"No, it's a very real thing. You said you replied to all the rudest, most jerkass people in the forums?"

"Oh my, yes. I'm certain that they'll see the error of their ways. I was quite polite and reasonable with my responses."

Cyborg dropped his face into his hands. 'Doomed... I'm doomed.' "Oh, Kasumi... you have no idea! No troll has ever, anywhere, in the history of the internet ever been dissuaded from trolling by a reasonable argument! Throwing logic at those kinds of people is like tossing gas onto a fire!"

The Tendo woman tapped her chin, obviously considering his words. "Hmm... well, that certainly explains all of the heated responses I got. There were just far too many to deal with individually, so I had to end up making a new post on the Cyblog, so I could deal with them all at once and explain to them why they were wrong."

"You posted on my blog?" Not believing what he was hearing, Cyborg swung his arm up in front of him and brought up the web browser on the display embedded in his arm. Quickly flipping through his bookmarks, he found his website and brought it up at the speed of information. Right at the top of the page, highlighted by sweeping, elegant font that he would never imagine using, was a new post heading...

Grimly, fearing the worst of the worst, he began to read:

Good day, my greatly appreciated and avid readers. I hope that you're all having a pleasant day, and that any troubles you may be having have been small and/or entertaining, at the least. Oh my, and I almost forgot: a heartfelt 'Booyah' to all of you out there that might be in need of one...

He paused.

"...That... that's not actually too bad." Slowly, a thought filtered through his sub-processors and he turned to regard the vision of domestic bliss at his side. "Say, Kasumi?"

Apparently quite entranced by the T-Ship at the moment, the Tendo replied with an absent "Hm?"

"Can I ask a favour of you while I'm away?"

---

-T-Minus 8 hours—

Squeezing her eyes closed, Raven took a deep breath as she rested her forehead against the door of her room. The cool metal provided a calming sensation across her skin, and with a hesitant twist, she engaged the door's lock, effectively sealing the room from most unauthorized entry. The absolute last thing she wanted at the moment was for Beast Boy, or anyone else at all, to come barrelling into her room. Taking another nervous breath, she pushed herself away from the door and took a few backwards steps towards the heart of her personal sanctuary.

As always, the lighting in her room was subdued, dim, and shadows crept up from behind every object, artifact and furnishing she owned. The dark blue coloration of her room only enhanced the effect, the long shades blending in with the already bleak background giving an impression of space beyond the already spacious area. Spacious, but claustrophobic all at the same time. Like standing in the center of a massive cavern, but barely being able to see your own hand in front of your face.

She knew that others were put off by the ...decor... of her room. Beast Boy called her gloomy, gothic and just plain spooky – usually when she was out of earshot – but she could hardly fault him for his conclusions. He was, after all, a creature that dwelled in the positive, while she was... not. What others perceived as oppressive, she found comfortable. Other people feared the dark, and what it contained.

She knew that what she feared the most did not hide in the shadows. No, her greatest fear dwelled in the blinding light of eternal flames. What engendered a feeling of terror from others, the fear of the unknown so closely linked with darkness... it filled her with a sense of security, of safety. After all, she might not know everything which dwelled in the darkness...

But she knew what did not dwell there, and everything else be damned.

Of course, all of those thoughts of her dwelling quarters , and how uncomfortable it was for anyone and everyone else only served to draw her back to the present, and her current predicament. Reaching up, she slowly lowered her hood, allowing what dim lights were present to reach her face more fully. And then, feeling that her courage was as marshaled as it would ever get, she spun around and regarded the – quite possibly first – person whom she had invited into her room.

Ryouga sat on the edge of her large, ornate bed. The lavender colored satin sheets pooled around him, pulled in as his mass displaced the wonderfully soft mattress. She had not had time to make her bed that morning, much to her embarrassment. Her blanket was still tossed haphazardly across the bed, a testament to how eager she had been to throttle Beast Boy that morning for waking her at such an ungodly hour.

If he noticed the slovenly display, the very lost looking boy gave no sign. His legs were spread out and his feet planted firmly on the floor before him. He had his elbows resting firmly on his knees and used the strong foundation to cradle his head in the palms of his calloused hands. The poor guy had not even changed from his morning spar with Robin, and was wearing a bright white gi uniform. Though it was the last thing she should have noticed, she could not help it as her eyes lingered on the way the loose top hung low as he hunched forward, revealing much more of his chest than she was used to seeing.

As quickly as she had turned to look at him, she spun away clutching her hands to her chest and feeling a blush burn her cheeks. This was, in its purest essence, exactly what she had been hoping for, striving for over the past several days. Even before Terra's triumph over Adonis just last night, Raven had been hoping to steal herself a moment with the emotional martial artist. He had done so much for them, and asked for nothing in return but their friendship; she had wanted, so very much, to be able to put into words just how grateful she- that they all were for what he had done for her- for them.

So it was almost perfectly fitting that she should get exactly what she wanted, only to have it happen in such a way that what should have been the sweet taste of victory now turned to bitter ash in her mouth. Even her innocent embarrassment over the situation only filled her with a shame that writhed in her belly. The fact that she even let such thoughts occur to her, considering the situation, felt like a betrayal to both Starfire and Ryouga.

He had come here, to her room, doubtlessly looking for comfort over the impending departure of their dear friend, and she could barely even control herself long enough to think about how he must be feeling. Ryouga and Starfire had become like a pair of siblings in the short time they had known each other, joking, playing and squabbling as much as any other brothers and sisters she had seen throughout their city. Starfire had brought no small measure of light into the Lost Boy's life, had never stopped pestering him, no matter how much he would try to push her away. The Tamaranian had been relentless, had never let his grim personae and dark nature frighten her into shunning him. Quite the opposite, as she had even gone out of her way to try to pull him, often against his will, ever further out of his shell...

And now Starfire was leaving...

Not entirely sure why, Raven found her arms wrapping around her torso, hugging herself tightly. Leaning forward, her head dipping down, she felt her head reeling. She still couldn't believe it. Starfire, who had been almost as much of a pest to her as Beast Boy from time to time, would be leaving for home – her true home, apparently – and would never be returning. Just what would ...he do without the bubbly alien around to draw her – draw him out of his personal darkness?

The sudden feeling of a warm, calloused hand on her shoulder sent a shock through Raven's body and her entire frame shot up straight –

Stars filled her vision and pain blossomed in the back of her skull. She nearly fell forward, when the hand on her shoulder tightened its grip, ever so slightly, and restored her balance in an instant. With the helping hand, she was able to turn around and fire a scathing glare...

Directly at a sheepish looking Ryouga. While he held her shoulder gently with one hand, his other hand was currently clutching his nose and doing a poor job of hiding a wide grin on his lips. Realization as to what had happened flooded into her aching head instantly, and her knee jerk reaction was to offer up an apology. Thankfully, the sentimental urge was quickly quashed, as she found the sharp strike to her cranium had been surprisingly effective in getting her mind back on the proper set of rails.

"I'll have you know, I'm only a fan of slapstick humor when Beast Boy is involved... or possibly Cyborg," she explained in a blasé tone of voice.

Giving his nose one last pinch before lowering his hand, revealing not so much as a red mark from where she had all but head-butted him, he chuckled weakly as he went about scratching the back of his head in that fondly familiar gesture of his. Then, almost as an afterthought, he finally let go of her shoulder as well, pulling his hand back to his side just a bit swifter than necessity necessitated.

"Sorry about that, Raven. I didn't mean to startle you like that."

She rolled her eyes. "And what makes you think that I was startled?"

He began to stare at her incredulously, but she quickly fired a glare his way that just dared him to say what he was no doubt thinking about saying at that moment. Incredulity waxed, waned and finally melted into helpless amusement. Shaking his head, he gave a small shrug, an open admission of his defeat.

"Sorry again," he finally replied, not quite able to completely suppress the humour in his voice. A second later, though, any mirth died away completely, and his stare became intense as he locked gazes with her. Carefully he reached out and dropped a hand on her shoulder once more. "I really am sorry, Raven. Here, I came all the way to your room just to help cheer you up, and all I do is end up wallowing in my own misery. Some friend I am."

Raven found herself staring at Ryouga, her turn for incredulity.

"...Pardon?"

The martial artist shook his head in a helpless sort of gesture. "I know, I know, I was being really selfish there, just taking advantage of your hospitality-"

Raven felt her face screw up into an expression that no doubt mirrored the state of confusion overtaking her thoughts. If he noticed it, Ryouga gave no sign, just continuing on with his admission.

"I mean, yeah, Starfire and me have gotten pretty close, and I like treating her like a sister, but... but then it occurred to me. I've only known Star for a few months. You have known her for years! She may be like family to me, but to you, she is." Ryouga dropped his gaze, apparently unable to continue looking her in the eyes. The pressure on her shoulder increased incrementally, but not uncomfortably so, and Ryouga lifted his free hand, curling it into a fist of frustration. "If I'm feeling as terrible as I am at the thought of Starfire leaving, then you – all of you guys – must be feeling a hundred times worst. And, honestly, I can't even imagine what that must be like for you."

Raven found herself simply staring at the wandering martial artist, her jaw hanging agape. She barely even had time to register what her body attempted to do before her mind marshalled up the pure force of will to prevent herself from leaping forward and crushing him in a desperate embrace. Instead, she directed the built up physical inertia into coughing violently into her fist to cover the near gaffe. She regretted the feint immediately, as Ryouga hastily patted her on the back to help her out, nearly dislodging a few ribs, but thankfully not causing any permanent injury.

"Raven! Are you alright?"

Wincing, she attempted to glare balefully at the over exuberant fighter, but found herself unusually lacking in negative emotion at the moment. Instead, she nodded gingerly and placed a hand on his chest. Unfortunately the gesture was simply to help her maintain her balance, as opposed to any affection at this point.

"I'm... I'm alright, Ryouga. Just a cough." She massaged her throat to emphasise her point before continuing. "Still... I don't think you need to stretch your imagination too far. Your emotions are already a hundred times more uncontrolled than mine at the best of times. Let's just say that we'll miss her equally, alright?"

"I guess that's fair-" A beat passed, and suddenly a startled look crossed his face. "And hey! I am not a hundred times worse than you!"

She stared at him flatly. "You're completely right. ...I was being generous to spare your feelings. Honestly, I'm surprised you aren't hatching a hair brained scheme to get Starfire to stay, even as we speak."

"Hey! The hair brained schemes are Ranma's department!" He held his indignant stance... for all of a second. Deflating visibly, Ryouga began to twiddle his fingers around one another in an adorably embarrassed manner. "Besides... I already tried to, but Starfire told me that this was something that she had to do. It's just not fair! How am I supposed to do anything if she tells me, flat out, not to?"

Raven nodded slowly in agreement. "As carefree as she may act most of the time, Starfire holds her responsibilities dearly. If she feels that what she must do is for the best of Tamaran, then who are we to try to dissuade her?"

"Her incredibly selfish friends that couldn't care less about a planet a trillion miles away?"

A grin twisted Raven's lips. "Well, that goes without saying. But as little as we may or may not care about Tamaran, we still care about Starfire and her wishes, correct?"

"...yes," he finally admitted grudgingly. Crossing his arms over his chest, he let out a huff. "Doesn't mean I have to like it, though."

She nodded again. "I don't like it any more than you do, but we still have to accept it. I recommend that we make the best of the time we have left with her, and enjoy it as much as possible. I'm sure that's what she would want as well."

Ryouga held his stern looking posture for several seconds before finally sighing wearily and lowering his arms to his sides. Finally, a ghost of a grin flitted across his lips. "I guess you're right. Man, am I glad that I came to talk to you about this. I don't even want to know what I would have done on my own."

"I'm glad that I could help cheer you up," she replied, unable to suppress an impish grin.

"Yeah, I – Wait just a minute! I came here to cheer you up!"

She nodded patronizingly. "Of course you did."

"Hey!"

---

-T-Minus 6 hours—

A shower of sand was blasted up into the air as Beast Boy slid frantically to the side. It was followed by him flipping up into the air, shifting into a pigeon mid-flight, and shooting straight up. A second later, a heavy boulder crashed into the earth, utterly erasing his foot prints from the ground and kicking up a great plume of beach front property as the projectile buried itself halfway into the loose soil.

Bird shifted into gorilla and the changeling came hurtling back down, landing on the boulder heavily enough to shatter the improvised weapon to gravel. In a blur of green he shot forward, shedding mass in defiance of all physical laws and dropping forward onto all fours. The claws of the emerald cheetah found just enough purchase on the shifting sands of the beach to sprint at full speed, devouring the distance between him and his prey at a blistering pace.

His implacable opponent raised her thin arms up over her head, incidentally causing her long golden hair to flare out dramatically behind her. Her pale blue eyes met his and he noted the grin on her lips just before it vanished from view; a massive wall of earth and stone shooting up from the ground right before the slender girl and launching a distracting spray of sand and soil out in every direction with the violence of its appearance.

Several responses flitted through his head in an instant, but as was usually the case for him, raw instinct took over and his body was already finished reacting long before his conscious mind even had time to say so much as 'Buh?'

He could only imagine the look of shock on Terra's face when the titanic emerald triceratops crashed through the stone barrier like a living locomotive...

Literally, he could only imagine it, as there was no one on this side of the wall!

The terrible lizard began to turn, lumbering limbs shaking the earth with each step, but dexterity was not the strong suit of this shape. Where on earth had she gone-

"Looking for someone?"

Beast Boy had just enough presence of mind to track the voice, and look straight down... to where Terra's head was sticking out of the ground! Had he been in his elfin form, he would have squealed in horror at the sight of the wildly smiling cranium as it looked up at him. As it was, he recoiled from the shocking sight-

Or would have, if a pair of monolithic stone arms didn't shoot out of the ground and lift his multi ton bulk right up and into the air. Below him, Terra easily slid out of the ground, revealing that head was still attached to appealing body, and she lifted her hands up again, mimicking the actions of the towering stone appendages that held him aloft.

A second later, the look of victory on the cute blonde's face shifted to wide eyed surprise and she let out loud grunt as his ten ton mass suddenly began to skyrocket exponentially up to a truly massive one hundred tons. Had he the physiology to do so, he would have laughed out loud as Terra's eyes bugged and her cheeks puffed out comically as his form swelled and lengthened into the sauropod that the Nature Channel had just recently educated him as being named Argentinosaurus.

Unliftable object met irresistible force, and the stone arms holding him up began to bow under the sudden shift in load, and long fractures began to appear along their surfaces, corresponding with shotgun loud 'cracks' which snapped the air. Beast Boy watched on triumphantly, preparing a cool one liner to end the fight with-

When suddenly, two more huge earthen arms shot out of the ground, followed by two more a heart beat later. As quickly as the look of exertion on her face appeared, it was replaced again by her look of triumph as the stone appendages, each one as thick as Cyborg was tall, slammed into his belly and began to wrap around his body. Not only did he stop falling, but he actually began to rise into the air all over again.

It had been a long time since Beast Boy had been afraid of heights, though. With startling speed a hundred tons shrank to ten grams, and a green hummingbird zipped out from the forest of animated stone. Even as he made his escape, stars danced across the changeling's vision. Even for him, that had been a truly staggering transformation. His heart now beating twenty times a second in his tiny chest, felt like it would burst out of his torso.

It took several agonizing seconds for him to acclimate to his new form and for the black spots to finally go away, but thankfully, it looked like his hesitation hadn't cost him. Far below, on the ground, Terra spun around, left and right, obviously trying to spot him. All around her, the six stone arms - each one easily five stories tall at the moment – formed an imposing ring around her, each one flailing about independently each other in search of his elusive self.

'She's gotten so powerful...' he mused to himself as he watched with a bit of awe. Each of those arms probably weighed nearly as much as the dinosaur form he'd just been using, and only now were her eyes even beginning to glow, a sure sign that she was actually exerting herself. Unfortunately, in her excitement, she was paying more attention to him than to her surroundings. 'If she's not careful, she could knock over the tower with those things!'

Course of action firmly in mind, Beast Boy dove steeply down, shifting from tiny hummingbird to sizeable condor without missing a beat of the wing. He just needed to build up some momentum and then he should be able to get close enough to end the fight with a single strike.

Extreme Touch Tag always lived up to its name.

Too slow! Spinning around, Terra spotted him before he could close the distance! In the blink of an eye, the massive stone extensions of her will burst into action – suddenly dropping down around her with lightning speed and fluidly forming into an earthen dome that would make most fortresses look insignificant.

He shifted into a Tyrannosaurus at the last moment, and slammed into the wall of the dome with earth shattering force... Or, at least that had been the intention. Despite the echoing boom and plume of earth and dust that was blasted into the air, the heavy, Cyborg thick walls barely even trembled at the tremendous impact, and he barely had the presence of mind to shift into a Sloth and latch onto the roughly hewn, curved surface before he slid off and fell to the ground below.

'Now how the heck do I get through this?'

He quickly considered and rejected the idea of trying to burrow through earth that Terra was currently controlling as being stupidly suicidal, even by his standards. If not that, though, then wha-

Too quickly for him to react, the wall directly beneath him suddenly changed. Solid stone transformed into shifting sands in the blink of an eye. Rather than pour down to the ground, the sand remained where it was, and Beast Boy began to sink into it. Shifting back to his elfin form, he tried to pull his arms out of the sand, but the stuff actually stuck to his limbs, flowing up over his gloves like it was alive, and pulling him back into the sand pit. It all happened so quickly, that he didn't even have time to change shape before he was pulled completely under the surface and he was forced to squeeze his eyes shut and snap his mouth closed.

After a few seconds, he felt his lungs begin to burn, and panic started to rise in his chest... and then just as quickly as it had happened, it was over. Bright light cast away the darkness, even through his closed eyelids, and he felt the gentle caress of the ocean breeze on his skin as opposed to the harsh graininess of sand. He took a deep breath, giving silent thanks that he was still alive-

"Tag! You're out!"

When he felt a hand drop onto his shoulder and playfully push him forward. Opening his eyes, Beast Boy turned around to see Terra standing before him. The cute girl was leaning forward, her hands resting on her knees as she looked down at him, and a teasing smile was on her lips. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to match her encouraging expression, and looked up at her sullenly. Instantly, the light hearted look on the girl's face descended into a powerful pout.

"Oh, come on, don't be such a sore loser, B.B. I'm sorry I had to use a dirty trick like that, but it was the only way I could think to catch you! You're just so-" Terra grasped at the air, clasping her hands together several times like she was trying to catch an errant fly. "You're just so move-y!"

Sighing loudly, he waved off her concern with a weary gesture. "Naw, it ain't that, Terra. It's just that... well, I thought that getting some training in would help take my mind off ...stuff... but all its doing is reminding me how much I dislike getting hurt."

Instantly, Terra was kneeling at his side, lifting his arm and checking him over intently for any injury. Even as she started twisting his head around, probably looking for a goose egg on his skull or a nasty bruise of some sort, she anxiously blurted out, "Ohmygosh! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! I knew I should have been more careful! I'm still not that great at control-"

Grabbing her wrists firmly, stopping her before she could inflict more injuries than she would find, Beast Boy quickly pulled her down to sit beside him. "No! No, you didn't hurt me, Terra. You were doin' great there, I promise!"

Not bothering to pull her arms back from his grip, Terra stared at him uncertainly, her long golden tresses slipping down to cover one of her eyes. "Are you sure, Beast Boy?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Of course I am!" He paused for a moment, letting the mood sober a bit. "Besides, that wasn't what I was talking about. It's just that getting totally wailed on by a cute girl is just reminding me of Starfire, and that she's gonna be gone soon..."

Terra's face scrunched up adorably. "I'm... not sure if I should be flattered, or if I should be questioning your sanity, here."

He couldn't help but smile and laugh at that. "Given the options, always choose flattered." Taking a slightly more serious posture, he leaned a little closer to the blonde girl, catching her gaze. "I mean, I've practically been killing myself over the past week just to finally tear you away from Ryouga's greedy clutches... But it takes pretty much the worst event in the history of the world to make you finally start paying attention to me."

She stared at him oddly for a moment. "Greedy clutches? Beast Boy, what on earth are you talking about?" The rail thin dropped her fists on her narrow hips and turned her nose up with a sniff. "Honestly! You're making is sound like Ryouga is my boyfriend, or something. I haven't been ignoring you!"

"You so have!"

"So not!"

"You spent, like, every minute of the last week with Ryouga!"

"Um, training to control my powers, here?"

Beast Boy stopped short. "Oh... um, yeah, I know that." Hmm, where had he been going with this? The start had seemed so promising, but now he could see the smoke from his imminent crash and burn. Where had it all gone wrong?

"Wait just a minute there..." Terra's sudden statement drew him out of his blooming panic, and he froze, statue-like, as the blonde suddenly leaned forward even further, eyeing him with an intense level of scrutiny. "Are you acting... jealous?"

"What? No!" he barked defensively. A moment later, he started fidgeting nervously where he sat in the sand. "Well... maybe just a little... But can you blame me? I mean, admit it! You totally think Ryouga is cute, don't you?"

Instantly, Terra's gaze dropped to the ground and her cheeks began to burn bright red. Twiddling her own fingers now, she shifted back and forth as well. "Well... he is pretty hunky. And resurrecting a girl is a pretty attractive trait in a guy-" Suddenly, her eyes lifted, a fire of indignation lighting in her stare. "And hold on just a second! How is that fair? I dare you to tell me that you don't think Raven is totally hot! Go on!"

Backpedalling quickly, Beast Boy frantically waved his hands in front of him. "What? No way! I totally don't think Raven is hot!"

Terra just stared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, seriously! I totally don't..." Her eyes narrowed and he could feel twin drills piercing his very soul. He only managed to withstand the psychic assault for another second before throwing his hands up. "Okay, fine! Raven is totally hot! But you can't blame me for that! The girl is practically lives in a freakin' skin tight swim suit!"

"Ha! I knew it!" Terra cheered victoriously. She then poked him hard in the chest. "There you go, Mr. Hypocrite. If you can leer at Raven all day for wearing combat swimwear, then you can't blame me for... appreciating Ryouga... and those cute little fangs of his."

At that, Beast Boy dropped back onto his butt, crossly crossing his arms over his chest. Letting out a loud huff, he looked off to the side, taking in the glittering sight of the ocean as it washed up on the beach of their small, private island. "Hmph! It's not like Ryo's the only guy that's got cute little fangs."

"I know." Instantly, Beast Boy's entire body froze, as he actually felt the warm breath that spoke the words washing over his ear. Slowly turning, his vision was quickly filled with twin oceans of pale blue, Terra's face less than an inch from his own. The girl was on her hands and knees beside him, her chin almost resting on his shoulder, and there was a smile on her face that was threatening to steam his eyeballs up from the inside out.

Moving faster than he'd ever moved before, Beast Boy – not even sure how he actually managed the feat himself – slid backwards several inches. Afraid that he would spontaneously combust from nervous embarrassment, he frantically waved his hands back and forth, as if he was trying to ward off a vampire.

Only to stop a moment later, a flat expression on his face as he watched Terra roll around, clutching her ribs and spraying out a stream of giggles like she was a comedy lawn sprinkler. It took the oh-so-funny Titan a few moments to regain her composure before she could sit up again. A single wave of her hand caused all of the sand to drop off of her back and out of her long hair, and she did her best to suppress her smile as she looked back at him.

"I'm sorry, Beast Boy, but you are so fun to tease."

Annoyed now, he crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his nose in the air, mimicking her pose from a minute or two ago. "Yeah? Well maybe now isn't the best time to be teasing people, y'know? I mean... aren't you broken up that Starfire is leaving too?"

He regretted the words the second they left his mouth, as Terra suddenly looked away, her eyes narrowing. "Of course I am! But you're not being fair! I love Starfire to death... but I haven't known her nearly as long as you. You can't expect me to feel the same way you do." She pouted mightily. "She said it's what she wants, and if it is, then I'll support her."

Feeling like a total heel now, for so very many reasons, he nodded sheepishly. "Yeah... I know you're right... about everything. It's just so hard, though. Star has been a part of the team forever. I don't know what we're gonna do without her, and not even getting pounded into the dirt, literally in this case, is takin' my mind off of it."

Giving a low 'Awww', Terra wrapped him in a hug. "It'll be okay. You know, there's another reason that I'm not freaking out now, you know?"

"There is?" he asked, genuinely curious.

She nodded excitedly. "Of course! Think about it, Beast Boy. This is Starfire we're talking about. Do you honestly think that Robin and Ryouga are gonna let this happen? There's zero chance that those knuckle heads are going to let her get married to some complete stranger and move to a different star system. If those two aren't already hatching some crazy scheme to get Star outta this, then I'll eat a whole plate of Starfire's homemade Glorrk!"

"...But you love Glorrk..."

"I know. I'd totally eat the Glorrk either way." She rubbed her tummy, eyes losing focus. "Mmmm... sushi and ice cream..."

The green teen shook his head. Some people just could not be understood. Still, she did have a point. There was no way that Robin was going to let Star get away. Beast Boy would eat one of his birdarangs if Star stayed on Tamaran.

"Hmm... yeah, you're totally right, Terra." Sitting up straighter than he had bee, finally feeling more confident that everything would be already, he nodded to his companion. "Thanks for that. I'm actually feeling a lot better now."

"Good. You know what that means then?" she asked, sly smile on her lips.

"No. What does that mea-"

"ROUND TWO! FIGHT!" Was quickly followed up by Terra tackling him to the ground.

"Hey! It's on now!"

"Bring it, Green Bean!"

"Consider it brung!"

"Hey! Someone's claws are on my grebnaks!"

"Uh... my bad..."

---

-T-Minus 4 hours—

The knock on his door did not surprise him. Even as consumed in his work as he was, it was a knock which he had been expecting. No, expecting did not even begin to explain it; perhaps 'dreading' would be a more apt descriptor. True, it could have been anyone outside his door, however, the cadence of the knock, the almost hesitant pause between them, and another dozen hints besides narrowed down the list from half a dozen to one in mere seconds.

Sighing wearily, Robin closed his laptop and spun around in his seat. As usual, his room was cast into perpetual shadows, the only meagre light present generated by the single bulb of the lamp hanging directly over his desk. If anything the contrast between the sliver of light and the gloom of the rest of his room just intensified the blackness of his dwellings, especially to those not accustomed to such. He was more than accustomed to it, though. Even more so than Raven herself, he liked to believe.

The shadows weren't his refuge, nor his sanctuary. The darkness was his place of business, it was where he went about his just works. The only person he had met more at home in the night than himself... had been the man whom had taught him how to live within it. Perhaps he should have taken more of those lessons to heart? It certainly felt like ignoring one particular speech he had been given, a seeming lifetime ago, was biting him in the ass particularly hard this morning.

Another knock shook him from his reverie. He glared at his gloved hand for a moment, annoyed that he'd let himself get distracted so easily. Clearing his throat, feeling an odd catch there, he finally responded.

"Come in, Starfire."

The door slid open with a silent swish, bathing the room with painful light. Robin was forced to wince and look away as the light washed over him, but recovered quickly. The sight of flowing crimson hair, fathomless green eyes and silken titian skin was, if anything, even more painful to see than the blinding light, but in this case, he was unable to look away. If looking at the sun could blind a man, then there were worse stars to have as your last sight.

"...Robin? May I... May I enter your room?"

He nodded, but not too quickly, and waved her in with a weary roll of his wrist. "Sure. Do you need something?"

Taking a few tentative steps into his room, far enough to be fully within his domain, but not so far for the door to automatically close behind her once more, the Tamaranian stared at him with an expression which he could not decipher. "I do not. I was just inclined to inquire whether or not you were feeling 'the ill'."

His head tilted to the side as he regarded her queerly. Luckily he was used to 'Starfire-speak' and figured out her meaning easily enough. Giving a quick shake of the head, he responded with a note of confusion in his voice. "...No. What makes you think that?"

"Well, it is just that you have sealed yourself within your room since early this morning." The Tamaranian's gaze wandered around the room – Robin found himself wondering just how much her perceptive eyes could pick up on in the gloom. Her hands fidgeted before the purple material of her skirt, her long fingers running along one another before reversing direction when they reached the tips. "With the preparations for the take off complete, Cyborg and Kasumi had begun to prepare a 'Party of the Away Going'?"

She frowned at that, a look of consternation creasing her features adorably. "I had thought the earth term was 'Going Away Party', so their choice of words is quite odd." At that, Starfire suddenly looked up, a gasp on her lips. "You do not believe they were making 'the fun' of me, do you?"

Unable to resist, Robin grinned. Giving a quick shake of his head, he replied, "No, I'm sure it's just some kind of... cultural thing."

Starfire stared at him intently for a moment, her head quirking to the side as she studied him, but finally, she released a satisfied 'hmph'. "If you say it is so, then it must be. Still... if you are not feeling beneath the weather, then... perhaps you would consider joining us?"

Tapping the arm of his chair with a finger, his gaze dropped to study the leather surface intently. "I don't know, Star. There's still a lot for me to do here. It's going to take us nearly a week just to get to Tamaran. I have to do everything I can to make sure that the city will be properly taken care of while I – while we're gone."

Damnit, why was she making this so hard on him? Why was she acting like – like nothing was even happening? Like she wasn't just about to walk out of his life forever... Why had he ever let himself get involved like this in the first place?

Wait another moment. Robin's eyes narrowed as he considered something else. Starfire had hardly even spoken to him for over a week. Not even that, she had actually been going out of her way to avoid talking to him. Why the sudden change in her opinion of him?

...Even to the Boy Wonder, his pretext for anger felt hollow, meagre justification to avoid what was truly bothering him. Nonetheless, he refused to back down now. It just... it just wasn't fair, to him, to their friends... or even to her.

"But Robin, I implore you to join us. The merry making and emotional stories will be most engaging. I am even preparing a bountiful portion of the Pudding of Sadness to assist in soothing the pain of my departure-"

"Starfire, that's enough," he interrupted more sharply than was required. Even as he said it, he felt something twist in his chest, but he forced himself to continue. He needed to be strong, he needed to do his job. That was his one priority, his only priority. Getting out of his chair, he strode towards the Tamaranian. His approach was so sudden, that she took a few startled steps backwards and out of his room.

"I'm sorry, but there is a lot that I still need to do, and I don't have a lot of time to get it done."

Lifting her hands to her chest, Starfire stared at him, shock in her eyes. The look quickly melted away, though, revealing a hard gaze. Sniffing loudly, Starfire nodded. "I see. I will cease distracting you, then. I have preparations of my own yet to finish, and would not want to come between you and your other... priorities."

The alien girl took another rapid step back, her gaze never faltering. "I wish you luck with your important work, and your beloved student."

"Huh?" was all that Robin managed to get out before Starfire was gone, leaving the corridor before his room barren and empty. What had that been about? It had almost sounded like she was mad at him for some reason. How did that even make any sense? He'd been trying to talk to her all week.

"Beloved student? What was she talking about?"

Shaking his head, he went back into his room and opened up his laptop.

Unfortunately, he still had one more call to make. One that he was not looking forward to at all.

The things he did for this city...

---

-T-Minus 2 hours—

Ryouga stared up at the door, not feeling too sure about his current course of action. To make this point, he turned to his companion and stated, "I'm not feeling too sure about this, Beast Boy."

The emerald changeling stared back at him, honestly shocked at his indecisiveness if the look on his face was any indication. Gesticulating wildly, Beast Boy rounded on the smaller martial artist. "What are you talking about, Ryo? This is probably our last, best hope of getting Star to stay!"

"Well, that's just it," Ryouga replied uncomfortably. Shrugging his shoulders, he looked up to meet the green teen's eyes. "Starfire specifically asked me not to try any more hair brained schemes to make her stay... Also, Cyborg is still way ticked that I tried to 'accidentally' push the T-Ship over."

Beast Boy shook his head incredulously. "Dude, I still can't believe you thought you'd be able to do that. That thing must way, like, a gagillion tons with those huge booster things hooked to it."

"What? Like I'm some kind of rocket scientist? How was I supposed to know that Liquid Oxygen wasn't as light as air?"

The fact that even Beast Boy was rolling his eyes informed Ryouga that he might have been a bit more off base there than he'd thought. The changeling quickly followed up by dropping a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, Dude, you're totally not breaking your 'no hair brained schemes' promise here!"

"I'm not?"

"Heck no, cuz this plan is totally awesome!"

Ryouga frowned at that, trying to find the holes in the changeling's logic. No glaring flaws were evident, though, so he held his peace. "Well, I'm already not wild about the first part of the plan, and hair brained or not, it is a scheme to get her to stay. Are you sure she won't get mad?"

"Of course, Ryo," Beast Boy assured him with a confident, fangy grin. "Besides, this isn't just about getting her to stay. You saw how upset she was when she came back to the party."

The martial artist fidgeted. "I dunno... are you sure she was really all that upset?"

Beast Boy lanced him with the flattest of stares – nearly Raven levels, actually, which was pretty impressive. "Dude... she stormed in, ate the entire bowl of the 'Pudding of Sadness' and then vanished into her room ever since."

Ryouga let out a pathetic sigh at that. "And yet this is the best that we could come up with after two hours..."

"Hey, shut up! Operation 'Dwight Lightning' is totally off the hook!"

At that, Ryouga shook his fists irately in the air. "And then there's that! Why are we calling the plan that? It has nothing to do with anything!"

"Um, cuz it's an awesome name for an awesome plan?" Beast Boy replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, we're totally gonna hit Star in both of her weakest points at the same time. There's no way that Operation 'Dwi-"

"Don't say it!"

"- ght... Fine, spoilsport." Beast Boy stuck out his tongue and raspberried him for all he was worth. He then held out his hand expectantly.

"Now just shut up and give me one of your headbands already."

The Tamaranian stared at the object in her hands with some difficulty, as pools of liquid gathering at the corners of her eyes threatened to blur her vision. The crimson material was beautifully ornate, and felt quite pleasant to the touch. It was odd that she should get so emotional at the sight of it, having only seen it for a few short days, many months ago. After her heart rending ... discussion... with Robin, though, the scant few memories she had of the implement in question took her back to a far happier time.

The sound of her door opening nearly shocked her completely out of her skin. Moving as swiftly as she ever had, panic fuelling her movements, she swung the item in question behind her back. The bulk of her ill gotten gain threw her off balance, though, resulting in her standing in a very awkward position when she faced the door, feet far apart, but knees tightly pressed together, and both arms held suspiciously behind her back.

She had not wanted anyone to disturb her at this time! She prepared to impart a section of her brain on whoever had decided to trespass upon her room...

Starfire's eyes widened to the size of emerald colored saucers at the sight that greeted her: An eight year old Ryouga - wearing his normal clothing, which were currently ridiculously too big for him – and holding in his arms a tiny green piglet with a yellow and black spotted bandanna wrapped around its neck.

Holding the tiny green piglet out towards her, the porcine creature's unusually large eyes shimmering with emotion, the juvenile Hibiki thrust out his lower lip in a power pout. His own eyes shimmering with every bit of the same emotion that the piglets were, Chibi-Ryouga spoke in a high pitched voice.

"Pwease, StarFire... you aren't gonna weave us... are you?"

The piglet let out a low, plaintive bweee, blinking its eyes several times.

Starfire could only stare. Her heartstrings pulled so taunt that she feared her primary blood pumping organ might burst right from her chest in a spray of green ichor.

'So... adorable...'

Nerveless fingers were unable to maintain a grip, and the floor shook as the item hidden behind her back slipped from her hands and crashed calamitously to the ground.

While the piglet continued to stare at her expectantly, the young Ryouga's gaze slid down to the ground at Starfire's feet, easily spotting the bright red item that lay in plain sight behind her now.

"Hey... that's my umbrella!"

Fear overrode her nearly lethal overdose of the cute, and Starfire dove down, snatching up the ornamental paper umbrella and clutching it possessively to her chest. Taking a few frantic steps back, she turned to her side, trying to hide it once more. "No! It is – is not what it looks like!"

Absently, Chibi-Ryouga dropped B-Chan to the floor – the changeling immediately changing back and firing a few unpleasant words back at the martial artist – and the miniature martial artist let out a squeaky laugh.

"Were you in my room, Starfire?" he asked, no longer mispronouncing his words in a tactically adorable manner.

Starfire looked to Ryouga, then to the umbrella, then to Ryouga once more. Finally, she released a sad sigh and held out the umbrella with one hand, unable to even look at it as she waited for him to take it back.

"I apologize, my friend. I did trespass into your personal chamber. I had only hoped to find a... a reminder to take with me of our time together. It was then that I noticed you had several umbrellas such as this stored in your room. I... I did not think you would miss one..."

She felt the umbrella taken from her hand, and forlornly opened an eye to see him – with no small amount of effort – flip the umbrella around in his hands, examining it critically. For some reason, he was smiling quite broadly. "Say, why did you take this one?"

The odd question threw the Tamaranian off balance for a moment. Was he not angered at her theft? "Well... of the three I saw, this was the one which most drew my eye." Reaching out tentatively, she pointed to the elaborate painting of a dragon and a tiger chasing one another's tails as they circled merrily around the canopy of the umbrella. Of course, with it closed, the full painting could not be seen, but the memory of it was still quite fresh in her mind.

"The second one did not appear to be in a state of completion yet," she continued, "And the last one possessed a handle carved from the tusk of a pachyderm, which I did not like at all."

"Wait a sec!" Beast Boy interrupted sharply. "You were making stuff out of ivory!"

In an instant, Beast Boy collapsed to his knees, clutching Ryouga's baggy shirt and tears in his eyes. "Say it ain't so, dude! Say it ain't so!"

Looking very awkward at the moment, Ryouga dropped a hand on the distraught shape shifter's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Beast Boy. Really, I am. I... didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. That umbrella is a... it's something of a special order." Still patting the changeling's shoulder, he turned back to Starfire, smiling again. Then, against all reason, he reached out and pressed the umbrella back into her hands. She could only stare at him, wide eyed at the abject generosity. "Heh, don't look so surprised. After all, I did make that one for you, anyway."

"You... what?"

He shrugged. "Well, I had to make a new umbrella for... a friend of mine, so while I was at it, I figured I'd make a new one for myself as well, since the Headmaster destroyed mine. Then, I figured 'What the hey, I'll make one for Star, too'. You seemed to like mine quite a bit way back in China."

The feeling of tears beginning to sting her eyes anew prompted Starfire to sniff loudly. Immediately, she dropped the cherished umbrella onto her bare mattress – prompting the bed frame to snap in half and collapse to the floor – and crushed Ryouga in a hug, incidentally catching Beast Boy in said hug due to his proximity to ground zero.

"Gah!"

"Merciful Buddha, my ribs!"

Hastily, the brawny Tamaranian released her spindly companions, letting out a gasp as she did. "I apologize. I neglected to recall the magnitude of my own musculature. You are both alright, are you not?"

Wheezing, Beast Boy collapsed to the floor, clutching a hand to his chest. "...K-Kunou flashbacks... Busted ribs... Burning agony..."

Sucking in breath himself, Chibi-Ryouga just shook his head and nudged the changeling with a toe. "It's... alright, Star. We're both fine, I just forgot that I'm not nearly as tough in this form..."

Giggling in embarrassment, Starfire quickly floated over and swept up her umbrella once more, clutching it to her chest. "I can not express my gratitude over your wonderful gift, Ryouga... but there is one thing which confuses me. For what reason was Beast Boy wearing the guise of a small piglet?"

Sitting up, yellow bandanna hanging loosely around his neck, the changeling offered up a curious look of his own. "Hey, yeah, and how come when I changed back, this thing ended up around my neck instead of on my head?"

The young Hibiki shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno about that, BB, it's just always worked that way for me." He then turned back to Starfire. "And... well, Beast Boy asked me what the cutest animal I knew of. Of course, the first thing I thought of was... well... P-Chan. I mean, you'd be just amazed at how many girls just loved that little guy."

"I call him 'B-Chan!', and I'm at least twice as cute as Ryo was as P-Chan!" To prove his point, Beast Boy helpfully shifted back into the piglet and let out a tiny 'Bwee!'

Instantly, Starfire's eyes doubled in size and she felt her chest tighten up once more-

The Tamaranian gave her head a hard shake. The power of the piglet's cuteness was formidable indeed. Starfire had not trained herself to be able to resist that magnitude of adorableness yet. It also reminded her of something else. Even as Beast Boy shifted back, bandanna dropping onto his shoulders again – and the changeling started fiddling with it, trying to shift it past his face and up to his forehead – Starfire turned to regard the cursed martial artist.

"So, this is what the infamous 'P-Chan' looked like?"

Ryouga nodded. "Pretty much, except for being black instead of green."

She nodded sagely. It was fascinating to finally see this aspect which had been such an integral part of Ryouga's life until just recently. It also warmed her heart to see that Ryouga and Beast Boy had grown so close that he would willingly concoct such a hair brained scheme together...

Slowly, Starfire's sunny smile melted into a frown. Turning a suspicious stare to her companions, she dropped her umbrella onto her shoulder with one hand, and planted her other fist firmly onto her hip.

"Which brings us to the second topic of our discussion," she intoned seriously. "Did I not request, quite specifically from the both of you, that you would not enact any further plots to sway my decision to leave?"

Both of the young males began to shift awkwardly, Beast Boy digging his toe into the carpet while Ryouga ruffled the hair on the back of his head.

"But Star-"

"We didn't-"

She held up a hand to cease any further attempts at explanation. "As I have already stated, I do not desire to leave any more than you desire me to, but the choice is not ours to make. What I do, I do for the best of Tamaran. I had hoped you would understand..."

Starfire gazed at her old friend and her new, her already mild glare softening to nothing. The guilty expressions they wore threatened to break her heart. "...However, that was likely unfair of me. I should not have expected you realize the importance of this to me. Nor should I have expected you to disregard your own emotions; I know this can not be easy for either of you as well."

"No – no, it's okay, Starfire," Ryouga blurted out.

"Yeah, it's totally our fault!" Beast Boy agreed hastily.

Grinning now, she nodded amicably. "I do not disagree. Despite your intent, you did break your promise to me. Recompense must be made for your transgressions."

Both of the boys swallowed nervously at that.

"W-what do you mean?"

"What could you possibly want?"

Her grin growing into a full blown smile, Starfire held out her arms expectantly.

"I demand more of the 'B-Chan'! And that both you escort me back to the Party of Away Goings. We must enjoy our time together as much as possible."

Laughing loudly, Beast Boy took a step forward, shifting into his B-Chan form again and leaping up into Starfire's open arms. The Tamaranian quickly juggled about her umbrella and animal companion, slinging the former over her shoulder once more, and hugging the latter to her chest.

To her side, Ryouga muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'Lucky pig', but Starfire did not catch it fully. Before she could ask, the child-like martial artist beamed a smile.

"Alright then, let's get you back to the party and have the best going away party ever."

"Ha! I knew that 'going away party' was the proper terminology!"

She would have to ask Robin why he had misled her so... among other things.

Still, it was good to be surrounded by friends. She held on to that thought with frantic desperation as she allowed Ryouga to lead them out of her room and back to the party.

To her amazement, it only took him a half of an hour to find it.

---

-T-Minus 1 hour—

Reaching out her arms, Terra waved her hands up and down pleadingly, trying her best to level a devastating 'puppy dog pout' in the direction of her latest obstacle. Unfortunately for the tiny Titan, her unscrupulous foe was not only immune to her assault, but was scarcely even paying enough attention to notice her pout at all. Grumbling to herself, the blonde stamped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Kasuuumi! It's my turn to hold B-Chan!"

The elder Tendo – really, the eldest person in the tower – finally looked up from the little piece of green ham snuggled tightly to her chest and stared blankly at Terra for a moment. The moment passed quickly, however, and the geokinetic was forced to fallback, clutching her hand to her chest, when Kasumi suddenly returned her pout, but with ten-fold the power.

"Oh my, I'm sorry," replied the ponytailed brunette. She glanced down at the transformed Beast Boy, then back up to Terra. "It's just that it's been so long since I've seen P-Chan. I guess I'm just feeling a bit nostalgic is all. Can't I please hold him a bit longer?"

The last bit, said with an especially poignant tone and strategically pouting lips was too much for Terra; the sheer magnitude of the attack sent her reeling back from Kasumi. For her trouble, she nearly stumbled right back into Cyborg. The massive Titan currently had his arms crossed over his chest and was doing his best to fry up some B-Chan with his gaze alone.

"Heh, I know, right?" she quipped, elbowing him in the... well, the hip was about as high as she could reach. "Kasumi is totally Bogartting the pig."

Cyborg stared down at her, incredulous for a moment. "The pig? Like I wanna cuddle up with Beast Boy! At least he's in the right shape at the moment, considerin' how he's takin' advantage of all you gals like that."

Terra rolled her eyes mightily. "Oh, come on, Cy. It's all in fun, besides, Starfire started it. I just wanna snuggle something cute!" Pouting, she stamped her foot again. "And no one is letting me!"

The titanium teen chuckled at her frustration, before pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "Well, there's always the Kid-Ryo option for you. Judging by the girl's reactions, eight years old is still in the 'cute range'."

Looking around her team mate's bulky frame, she spotted the Lost Boy... what she could see of him, anyway. The de-aged martial artist was currently wrapped in the billowing expanse of Raven's dark cloak, his head poking out from just below her bosoms as he looked outwards with a look akin to that of a caged animal. The violet haired Titan currently had her arms wrapped around his neck, her hands resting on his chest – though it was hard to see that with the cloak wrapped around the two of them – and Raven was looking up into space, an embarrassed tinge of red on her cheeks and a hint of a smile on her lips.

Rolling her eyes, Terra waved to the spaced out sorceress. "Hey, Raven! Can I snuggle Baby-Ryouga ye-"

A snarl which sounded more likely to originate from a Rottweiler than from Raven's delicate throat, combined with a pair of flashing red eyes, sent Terra diving for the couch in terror. Even as she tried to climb into Starfire's back pocket looking for sanctuary, Raven immediately ceased barring her gnashing teeth and once again started looking off into blissful space.

"Tut tut," Starfire admonished Terra, wriggling around in amusement as the blonde girl wildly violated her personal space in search of safety, "It took me well over twenty earth minutes just to undermine Raven's resistance to the youthecized Ryouga's adorableness."

Grabbing Terra and gently pushing her down onto the cushion next to her, Starfire lanced her with a playfully serious glare. "You should not so casually attempt to undo my most Herculean labour."

The tiny blonde crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. "Hmph! What's up with her, anyway? She'd usually rather chew her own arm off than actually hug a guy."

Nodding in a sagely manner, Starfire leaned over to whisper. "This is true... it is also a part of my most nefarious scheme."

Leaning in as well, Terra eyed the Tamaranian and whispered back. "Um... why are we whispering?"

"... Because that is what people do when discussing schemes of utter nefariousness."

Terra's head tilted to the side. "Well, can't argue with that kinda logic," she relented quietly.

Nodding rapidly, and smiling impishly, Starfire replied quickly. "It is quite acceptable for women of our age to hug adorable young children. Thus, by imprinting this knowledge into Raven's brain, we acclimate her to human contact of the 'affectionate' variety."

"...Wait, so what you think you just explained is that you're training Raven to be able to hug Ryouga... by making her hug Ryouga?" Terra's brow crinkled up as she tried to sort through that. "What's the diff? Why not just 'acclimate' her to Ryouga when he's normal?"

"Because, while in this form, Raven may find him 'the cute'," Starfire explained carefully, lifting a single finger between them to point out the point she was making, "In his normal form, Raven finds Ryouga to be ...attractive. Surely you understand the difference, no?"

Looking up from their secretive huddle – a huddle which, oddly enough, no one but Cyborg was paying any attention to – Terra glanced over at the cloaked duo of Raven and Ryouga. Looking at Ryouga in particular, she did note that he was certainly cute... but certainly not attractive.

She wasn't some kind of freaky weirdo, here!

"That... actually makes a weird kind of sense," she whispered, ducking back into the huddle. "Rae would die of embarrassment if she hugged him normally. But... is it just me, or is Ryouga noticeably not totally loving the fact that he's nearly wearing Raven's boobs as a hat? Why the heck isn't he dying of embarrassment there?"

The alien girl giggled knowingly at that. "Tell me, how many young children do you know that enjoy being fawned over by 'the old ladies'?"

Only lightning fast reflexes allowed Terra to slap her hands over her mouth before she could explode into laughter at the idea of Raven being called an 'old lady'. This action garnered them a few stares, but everyone quickly went back to their own business quickly enough. A second later, though, something occurred to Terra.

"Wait... are you saying that when Ryouga is a kid... that he actually is a kid?"

Starfire shrugged. "He does not seem to lose any of his knowledge, if that is to what you are referring. But I have noticed marked changes in his behaviour during the few occasions where I have seen him transformed. It is not remarkably important... but so amusing!"

"Hey! What are you two talking about over there!" Ryouga's squeaky voice sounded out, immediately eliciting helpless giggles from the pair of females.

"N-nothing!" Terra replied hastily.

"Certainly nothing concerning your adorable self!" Starfire added, having trouble stifling her laughter.

"You better not be laughing at me! Don't make me beat you two up!"

Terra couldn't take it anymore, the slight girl nearly doubled over in laughter at the sight of Ryouga's tiny, bright red face as the rest of him was cloaked by Raven's dark robes. "W-way to prove Star's point, perfectly, Ryouga."

"Actually," Starfire managed between giggles, "His current reactions cast dispersion upon my entire hypothesis."

"Huh?" Terra inquired eloquently. Her head tilted to the side as she looked at the Tamaranian, draping her shoulder in long blonde hair.

"Well," Starfire replied, brushing her own lengthy locks over her shoulder with the back of her hand. "When one contemplates upon it, Ryouga is not exactly the most mature male at the very best of times."

"What? Oh, that's it, I'm so gonna-"

Whatever imaginative punishment Ryouga was about to describe was cut off as the elevator door slid open. It was not so much this simple act which so distracted everyone, though, as it was the person that stepped through. And even then, it was not the mere sight of Robin, determined strides carrying him directly to the heart of the room without a single wasted motion, which silenced the irate infantile.

No, it was the stone cold look on the bird boy's face which gave pause to each and every person present. Immediately, B-Chan leapt out of Kasumi's arms and changed back to his elfin form, a wary look on his face. Starfire half stood from her spot on the couch, while Terra actually leaned back further into the piece of furniture.

Without wasting another moment, Robin spun around the instant he reached the center of the group. "It's almost time to go. Is everyone prepared?"

All around the room, faces fell as their reality was well and truly checked by the masked Titan. Nodding, Cyborg leaned back on the kitchenette's island.

"Yeah, the T-Ship is prepped for launch. I can have us in the atmosphere in ten minutes once we're in our seats."

Robin gave a sharp nod, obviously satisfied with that answer. Around the rest of the room, hesitant nods and quiet confirmations were given by Beast Boy, Raven and, of course, Starfire. Oddly enough, to Terra's reckoning, though, Ryouga and Kasumi remained silent. Shrugging her narrow shoulders, the blonde rose to her feet and held up her hand.

"I'm all ready to go, too, Robin. I'm gonna need a convenient beast of burden to get all my luggage down to the ship." She shot a teasing glance in a certain changeling's direction... but was further confused by the odd look on the boy's face.

All around the room, people looked around awkwardly – everyone except one person. Robin walked over to her and dropped a hand on her shoulder, an equally odd expression on his face as well.

"Terra, I... think there has been some kind of misunderstanding. You, Ryouga and Kasumi... you're all remaining here."

Terra felt a sharp 'crack' run through her heart. "What?"

She turned to stare at Kasumi, who only looked down, suddenly finding her knuckles utterly fascinating. She then fired a look Ryouga's direction, looking for an explanation for this base betrayal. "Ryouga?"

"Terra, I –" The youthecized martial artist stopped, grumbling darkly at the high pitch of his own voice. He then turned to Cyborg. "Hey, Cy, can you help me out here? I'm trying to be serious."

The cybernetic Titan seemed to get the gist of the cursed kid's request instantly, and held up his hand. Said hand quickly went through its familiar transformation, though the end result was different than what Terra had ever remembered seeing. Instead of the wide, glowing barrel of a sonic cannon, his main weapon appeared to be sporting what looked like... a water nozzle?

Before Terra could question the unusual sight, a waft of steam started rising up from the end of the 'weapon'. This sight, and the unholy smile that formed on Ryouga's face at the sight of it only through the geokinetic girl further off kilter. She had no idea what was going on.

Unlike her, though, Raven seemed to have an idea of what was going on as, just as Cyborg raised his arm and pointed it directly at Ryouga – still clutched tightly in the dark Titan's arms at the moment – a shocked expression of realization dawned on Raven's face.

"One super-sized Ryo, coming up," Cyborg stated proudly.

"Cyborg wai-"

And then Cyborg fired his most powerful weapon... and a narrow stream of lightly steaming water shot out of the end of the sonic cannon... The water splashed Ryouga right in the face, and in an odd moment – honestly, the transformation just wasn't that fazing anymore after getting to know Beast Boy so well – Ryouga was back to his normal age and height.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, it was all that Terra could do to clap her hands over her mouth to prevent a gale of laughter from exploding out.

It took Ryouga a second to realize the nature of his tactical error before his face went bright red. But, considering that Raven's arms, which had been loosely hanging around his neck were now sprawled across his chest, and that the violet haired Titan's ... ahem ... generous bosom was now crushing into his back in a most personal way, well... Terra could hardly blame him. The only things which were a brighter crimson in the room at the moment were Starfire's hair, Robin's shirt... and Raven's face.

Out of respect for their painfully shy friend's – how could she put it? – compromising situation, all of the Titan's present were graceful enough to give the flustered pair a moment to disentangle themselves.

"Way to g-"

Before Beast Boy could make a liar of Terra, Kasumi leaned forward, her hand shooting out with surprising speed, and clapped it down firmly over the changeling's mouth. She then pulled the shapeshifter back against her and then beamed a smile which seemed to say 'Perfectly normal, nothing to see here!'

A good ten seconds later, and with Raven and Ryouga now standing about a dozen feet apart, Terra finally turned her attention back to the Lost Boy as he looked ready to continue his explanation.

"Terra, I... I-" a puzzled expression settled on his face, "I... have no idea what I was about to say..."

Unfortunately, the Lost Boy had already used up all of his obligated mercy for the day, and this time, the room broke out into laughter. Even as Raven's face burned like the sun and she pulled her cloak tightly closed around her, everyone else present couldn't contain their mirth. Even Kasumi held up a hand to cover her mouth as she giggled, her cheeks tinted a faint red. And it was the eldest Tendo that, in Terra's mind, summed up the entire scenario perfectly.

"Oh my."

"Alright everyone, that's enough." Robin, proving once again to have by far the most self control of those present, broke up the incessant teasing and turned to face Terra once more. "I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression, Terra, but the T-Ship can only fit five people."

"Yeah," Cyborg chimed in. "I mean, if we had had more time I could have co-opted Kunou's T-Ship, but at the moment, theirs is still only rated for air and sea, it's not prepped for space travel yet."

Rising up from the couch, Starfire drifted to Terra's back and wrapped her in a tight – but not bone crushing – hug. "I apologize as well, Terra. I did not realize that you had misunderstood our intentions in this matter."

"But... but I..." she trailed off lamely, not sure what else to say.

"I know," Starfire assured her, "You wished to be present for my - for my ...wedding..."

The Tamaranian's enthusiasm died out quickly at the mention of the 'w' word, but giving a quick shake of her head, the alien warrior quickly soldiered on. "And I most desperately wanted you to be there as well, my dearest friend. I wanted all of you to be there, you, Ryouga and Kasumi as well, but... but I could not even imagine leaving this world without Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy and... and Robin with me. You can understand that, can you not?"

'Argh!' This was why Terra hated math. Numbers sucked, especially when it came to subtraction and division. Of course she couldn't expect to compete with the original Titans, with Starfire's oldest and closest friends.

Still, that didn't make it hurt any less.

"Y'know," Beast Boy started conversationally, non-chalantly making his way over to Terra's other side. "If you really want Ryo to give you away, or whatever it is you guys do, Star, then, oh, I dunno, maybe he could go and I could... well... y'know... stay? Here... with Terra... for a week or two... alone..."

"Beast Boy!" Starfire objected, scandalized. Though, whether she was scandalized by the implications of his statement – Terra felt her own cheeks beginning to burn now – or because he was attempting to bail on going to Tamaran, Terra had no idea. Immediately, the changeling held up his hands, backpedalling like a reverse Tour de France champion.

"Nonono! I was just kidding, Star, just kidding, I promise!"

Slugging him in the shoulder for good measure, Terra nodded firmly. She then spun on the alien girl, gripping her shoulders and staring at her mournfully. "I get it, Starfire, I really do," she stated, "But – but that means that today might be last day that I ever see you! I – I thought that I would at least have another week or more to get used to the idea..."

She spun on the rest of her team mates, a glare forming for one person in particular.

"And you, Ryouga? Are you fine with this? I thought Starfire was supposed to be like your sister! Are you ready to just let her walk away without saying anything? You're giving up, like that, just because of some dumb tradition thing?"

Immediately, the martial artist's gaze dropped to the floor. "Terra..."

Annoyingly coming to his rescue, Raven stepped up beside the Lost Boy. "Terra, please don't try to make this Ryouga's fault. This arranged marriage might not make sense to you, but Ryouga comes from a country where it is a common practice. He might not like it, but he still has respect for the institution."

Ryouga's eyes shot wide open at her declaration, only for him to start fidgeting madly, trying to do his very best to shift behind the cloaked girl and out of sight. For his part, incredulous look on his face, Cyborg lifted a finger. "Umm... Rae? I think you might be forgetting something..."

He looked about to continue, only to be interrupted by Beast Boy, shaking his head in an abjectly sad manner. "Dude... dude, just drop it."

Even Kasumi was rolling her eyes like it was going out of style. And had Starfire just slapped a palm to her forehead? Shaking her head, not sure what everyone's deal was, Terra just turned her attention back to her erstwhile 'master'.

"Ummm... yeah..." he replied weakly. "I totally respect arranged marriages..."

Before she could question his odd tone, though, he quickly shook his head, standing straight again. "Seriously though, Terra. A day, a week? I doubt I would ever get used to the idea of Star leaving, no matter how long we had. I do know, though, that however hard this might be for you and me... it's gotta be way harder on everyone else."

The Lost Boy shot a telling look in Robin's direction, but the masked vigilante just looked away.

"If anyone needs the extra time, if anyone should be at her side through all of this... it should be them." Ryouga gestured to the four original Titans in turn, only to point his finger sharply at the cybernetic Titan. "Though that doesn't change the fact that this is all Cy's fault for being too lazy to fix up Kunou's ship beforehand, instead of leaving it for months!"

"What! You backstabbing Hibiki! I oughta break you down into bio-diesel!"

"Please, everyone, calm down." Kasumi's words, as only Kasumi's words could, actually had the desired effect. Instantly, ire's cooled and amusement reverted to seriousness. All but gliding across the room, Kasumi moved to Terra's side, dropping her hand on her slim shoulder.

What was it, pet a geokinetic day?

"I know this is all terribly sad, Terra. I'm going to miss Starfire every bit as much as you-" The Tendo and the Tamaranian shared a brief, emotionally charged glance. "-But try to see the silver lining. You may be staying, but in doing so, you and Ryouga are taking full charge of the city's safety while everyone else is away. Doesn't that show just how much Robin has come to trust the two of you?"

Instantly, Terra brightened at that idea. "Hey, yeah! That means that it's up to us to take care of Jump City! I'm totally done my probation!"

"Ahem!"

The semi-vocal interruption drew both ladies' attention to the person responsible. Scratching his chin and looking unusually abashed for him, the Boy Wonder seemed to be having some trouble maintaining eye contact with them. "...Actually... That's not ...entirely... true. You see, I've called in an old friend of ours to come and – and assist the two of you while the rest of us are away."

Even as Ryouga let out an overtly obvious sigh of relief at the idea of them bringing in a pinch hitter, Terra felt her face going red. After everything that Kasumi had said, Robin didn't actually trust her? Why, of all of the-

Wise beyond her years, Kasumi released Terra's shoulders and took two long steps backwards. She then shot Robin a pointed look.

"Ah... you're on your own."

At which point, Terra stalked forward, poking a finger right into Robin's big, stupid looking 'R'. "And just who did you get to babysit us while you were off partying it up on some gorgeous alien planet, huh?"

Refusing to retreat in the face of her righteous wrath (approved by Tamaranians everywhere) the Boy Wonder, for some reason, glanced over her shoulder and to the far end of the room. Annoyed that he couldn't even be bothered to pay attention to her, she looked around to see what he was looking at.

Hmm... that was odd. The number above the elevator was currently counting up, indicating that the elevator was in motion. She didn't remember anyone going down, and hadn't really noticed it leave their floor either. So who was on it?

"Actually, that would be him now," Robin replied calmly, "Fifteen minutes late, no less, but at least he's here."

"Who is he?"

Rather than reply, Robin simply waited as the elevator car rapidly approached its destination. Everyone else, equally in the dark, quickly shuffled forward, crowding around the elevator and its mystery occupant. Their curiosity was not left to simmer long, though, as mere seconds later, there was a loud ding, and the doors slid open of their own volition.

"Hello Titans Tower! Long time, no see, my friends!"

'My friends?' Terra mused. She was quite certain she had never seen this guy before in her life. Oddly, though, despite her certainty that she had never met him, the newcomer looked oddly familiar. The bright red uniform and bright yellow boots was new, but a number of small details just stuck out as being way too familiar. The matching yellow utility belt could have been a fluke, the stylized 'S' worn over his breast was pushing it a bit, but the small black domino mask which just covered his eyes?

Terra looked from Robin, to the stranger, then back and forth again for good measure. If it weren't for the new guy having bright red hair and a quiver strapped to his back, she could have sworn he was Robin's clone.

"Speedy, dude, how ya been?" Beast Boy exuberantly greeted the archer, and was joined as Cyborg stepped forward and grabbed this 'Speedy's' hand.

"Yo, my man! It's been way too long!"

Speedy nodded, grinning broadly. "Yeah. I haven't heard from you guys since the last time you needed me to babysit this place for you. God, how long ago was that now? Feels like forever."

Almost unconsciously, all of the original Titans in the room turned to look at Ryouga, who, for his part, just stared at the red headed archer cluelessly, obviously not making any connections. Speedy didn't miss the telling looks, though, and did a quick double take as he looked around the room more carefully.

"Hey now, what's going on here? I'm seeing some fresh faces. Looks like some stuff has gone down since last we parted ways. Anyone feel like bringing me up to speed?"

Beast Boy, always the most enthusiastic, nearly leapt forward in preparation to spin the colourful tale of what had happened over the past months-

"Unfortunately, Speedy," Robin interrupted sharply, "We don't have time to catch you up on everything. We'll make introductions on the way to the T-Ship, and then you can get filled in at your leisure once we're underway."

Speedy's eyes widened at the brusque declaration. "Whoa, didn't realize you were in that much of a rush. Well, alright then, let's get this show on the road then."

Stepping back into the elevator, he gestured for everyone to get in as well. Frowning, Terra shuffled in, followed by Kasumi, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg. She wasn't sure why Robin was acting like such a ... well, like such a jerk.

And apparently she wouldn't get to ask, when – just before the elevator doors could slide shut – Ryouga, still standing just outside the elevator, suddenly stuck his arm out to bar access to the car. "Whoops, looks a bit full. We'll wait for the next one."

And then, before Terra even had time to protest her teacher and her leader being left behind, the door closed and the elevator was underway. All she could do was look around and share equally confused looks with all of the other occupants of the elevator. It hadn't been that crowded, after all. Maybe Ryouga was still embarrassed over his 'close encounter' with Raven?

Boys were so hard to understand.

"Alright, then! So who's going to introduce me to these two new super cuties?"

Terra fired a lidded glance in the direction of the unfamiliar archer.

Alright... some boys were hard to understand.

---

Robin looked up, curious as to why Ryouga had blocked his entry into the elevator. The slightly taller martial artist lowered his arm, then turned around to face the masked hero-

The Boy Wonder's world was suddenly sent into a tailspin as, catching him completely off guard, Ryouga grabbed the front of Robin's uniform and spun him around to pin him against the elevator doors. Feet dangling over a foot above the ground, Robin had to force himself to stop, his hand already digging into his utility belt before he even realized he was about to counter attack. Considering the advantage of surprise that Ryouga had, and the fact that he hadn't followed up with a finishing blow, Robin realized that this wasn't an attack.

Forcing himself to relax, not the easiest of tasks when someone was crushing you against a wall, Robin looked down at his assailant with a flat expression. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

The bandanna wearing martial artist snorted loudly, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Damn right. I want you to know that you had better damn well bring Starfire back with you!"

Despite the unusual situation, Robin felt the corner of his lip quirk up into a smirk. Crossing his arms over his chest, but beneath Ryouga's fist twisted tightly into the material of his tunic, the smaller martial artist couldn't help but ask, "Oh, is that so? But I thought that you respected the institution of arranged marriage."

"Oh, shut up," Ryouga half snarled, his cheeks tingeing red with embarrassment. "Starfire's parents, or whoever is setting this farce up, can go to hell for all I care. The only thing that I care about, is that Star is happy."

"And if she is?" Robin asked leadingly. "What if she falls in love at first sight?"

Despite the fact that he was just testing out Ryouga's rather nebulous intentions, Robin couldn't help but notice how his chest tightened at his own question. This new pain had absolutely nothing to do with being crushed against the elevator door, either, but he hid his discomfort with no small effort.

Ryouga's face twisted, uncertainty and indecision wracking him. "If she... I mean, it's poss-" A fierce shake of the head. "Look, that isn't going to happen! This is her home now. There's no way she could possibly be happy getting married to some complete stranger!"

Smirk growing slowing into a smile, Robin nodded. "I agree with you completely... But, I have to ask, if you feel this strongly about it... why didn't you say anything earlier? Why only say it to me?"

Slowly, Robin slid down the wall until his feet touched the ground. Sighing wearily, Ryouga's gaze dropped to his feet and he released his grip on Robin's shirt. "I wanted to," Ryouga admitted, "But, well, she treats me like her brother, you know? That means that it's my job to be there for her, and support her decisions and that kind of stuff."

The martial artist looked up, catching Robin's gaze. "It isn't my place to object. But we both know that it is yours."

"W-what?" Robin asked, stuttering in shocked embarrassment. "Why... why would you say it's my-"

He was cut off when Ryouga lifted a warning finger right before his face. Of course, Robin was not at all worried, as he trusted Ryouga with his life and knew the newest member of the Titans would sooner die himself than hurt him.

...But he certainly did seem a bit upset this day.

"Cut the crap, Robin. Even I know how you and Starfire feel about each other! Heck, even Kunou figured it out, and he's still a little blurry on the whole 'pigtailed girl/Ranma' concept." Ryouga's finger curled back into his fist and he shook it under Robin's nose for emphasis. "I don't know what the heck has been up with you two for the fast couple weeks, but like hell am I going to believe that you're actually okay with this!"

The masked hero shifted uncomfortably, not at all liking being put on the spot like this. Of course he felt... a certain way... about Starfire. And of course this entire situation was twisting him up inside, but...

But what? Like Ryouga, he had no idea what on earth had been going on over the past few weeks. Starfire had been colder to him lately than Raven to Beast Boy... on a good day. It had been frustrating, and confusing, and painful...

That didn't change the fact that the idea of never seeing Starfire again made him feel like his chest was going to implode at any second. Hell, for her, he would fight Happosai himself, full out and while wearing a bandoleer of lingerie, and not even flinch. So why was he even considering letting her go again? Even for a second?

Smiling seriously, Robin nodded to his contemporary in the warrior's arts. "Alright, Ryouga. I don't think either of us is really the type to talk this kind of stuff over... but you're right. I swear, if Starfire is not one hundred percent happy with this marriage, then I am absolutely bringing her back... no matter what."

"Good, that's exactly what I wanted to hear," Ryouga replied, grinning that fanged grin of his. The grin only held for a second, before descending into a vindictive smile. "Because, if you don't bring her back, I swear that you'll regret it for the rest of your life... both seconds of it."

Chuckling easily, Robin brushed out the wrinkles in his shirt from where Ryouga had grabbed it. Thankfully the material was not so flimsy as to be ruined by a mere multi-ton grip. "You shouldn't make empty threats, Ryouga."

Ryouga's head tilted to the side, confusion and indignant anger warring for dominance at the cavalier reply. Robin paid it no heed, though, smiling grimly to himself. Turning around, he hit the elevator button, calling the car back up to the Main room.

"If I don't bring her back... I'll already be dead."

---

- T-Minus 30 Minutes -

The hug seemed to last forever... though at the same time it felt infinitely too brief indeed. Eventually, victims of timing and circumstance, they were forced to part, sliding a step away from each other, though they continued to clasp hands. Melancholy emotions choked at her throat, the bittersweet unexpected loss of her dear friend striking her harder than she would have thought. That didn't stop her from wearing a warm smile, offering up all of the care and support that she could generate.

After all, if Starfire could manage a weak smile, then how could Kasumi do any less?

Giving the Tamaranian's hands a tight squeeze, Kasumi almost pulled the tall girl in for another hug, but managed to refrain. She was the oldest, and the most mature person in the tower, so it was her responsibility to provide an example of calm acceptance and dignity. As much as she would have liked to, letting herself be overwhelmed by emotions wouldn't help anyone, least of all Terra. So young and impressionable.

With only a small sniff, the eldest Tendo dabbed her sleeve to the corner of her eye and nodded to Starfire. "I'm certainly going to miss you, Starfire. There was still so much that I had wanted to do together, and now we may never get the chance."

The lovely alien girl nodded sadly, her eyes shimmering in the bright lighting of the hangar. "It fills me with great sadness to know that we will be unlikely to venture to the opera as we had planned, or to the Jump City Gardens... or to witness the dancers of the 'Chips and Dales'-"

"Tut tut tut," Kasumi cut in quickly, pressing a finger to Starfire's lips. Leaning in, she offered up a wink and a grin. "That last one was just between us girls, right?"

"Oh, yes, I had forgotten," Starfire admitted sheepishly. "Though, I still do not understand. I know that 'chips' are thin wavers of fried potato, and 'dale' is an archaic term used to describe certain topographies... but how do the two interact in any form of dance?"

Smiling mysteriously, Kasumi replied evenly, "Well, obviously that would be why we would have to go and see, right?"

Obviously the Tamaranian could not argue with that logic, and simply nodded her agreement. The pair shared another quick giggle between them, before turning to regard the rest of their friends. At the moment, Ryouga had both Cyborg and Beast Boy in headlocks, and Terra was clinging to the metallic Titan's back, apparently trying to assist Ryouga in wrestling him to the ground.

Robin and Speedy were near the loading gantry, exchanging a few last minute instructions no doubt. Even to Kasumi's keen eye, the Boy Wonder's expression was all but unreadable. It was impressive that he was able to school his expression so well, considering there was enough tension in his slim frame snap most piano wire.

And then... off on her own, Raven watched the proceedings silently. Though her attention was mostly focused on the farewell wrestling match, the dark Titan's gaze flitted across all of them in turn. For some reason, the sight made Kasumi just a tiny bit sadder than she already was. Perhaps she would have to do something nice for the girl when she got back? It would be such a terribly long time, though...

"I am afraid that it is nearly time for us to depart, dear friend Kasumi," Starfire lamented, finally letting go of Kasumi's hands. "There is... something I wanted to speak with you on before I left, though..."

Kasumi's head tilted to the side curiously as she regarded her friend. "Whatever do you mean?"

Starfire fidgeted uncomfortable for a moment, her boots scuffing across the hard metal floors. "It is – I mean... What I wish to say is..." The flame haired girl suddenly swallowed an entire lungful of air before blurting out, "!"

"..." Kasumi blinked... twice. "I... don't think I caught that. What did you say again?"

Taking another, more calming breath, this time Starfire managed to pace herself before replying. The Tamaranian wrung her hands before her, sliding one set of knuckles over the other again and again, but succeeded in speaking clearly. "I have noticed that you have gotten ...close... to Robin over the past weeks," she noted in an oddly neutral tone.

"Well... yes, I suppose I have," Kasumi answered, nodding slowly. She had grown much closer with everyone in the tower, hence why this meeting was so much more painful than she would have thought it to be. Who would have thought that after only a month or two, it felt more like she was losing another sister, than saying goodbye to a near stranger.

"That is ...good..." Starfire stated with a strained smile. "My only request is that you continue to make him happy in my absence."

Well, that seemed like a rather simple request. She knew that Starfire cared very deeply for Robin, so it only made sense that she would want someone to look out for him, and help him through this difficult time. "Of course I will, Starfire," she replied earnestly. Taking the Tamaranian's hand, she squeezed it reassuringly. "I promise that I'll make Robin happy for you."

She could probably get Ryouga to help her by distracting him with training. And then maybe Cyborg and Beast Boy with their video games could help cheer him up as well. There were so many things they could do to help Robin cope with his loss... though Kasumi had to wonder if he would ever really get over Starfire.

Starfire returned her nod, her smile strained from the grief. The mighty alien squeezed her hand lightly in return – actually, Kasumi winced as Starfire's grip grew just a touch too tight for comfort – but then Starfire released her hand and spun around, sniffing loudly. Kasumi herself sighed as well, it was so hard to watch her friend in such a sad state.

Unfortunately, despite her wishes, there was nothing she could do to ease her own pain, or that of Starfire. And when Robin finally called out that it was time to leave, there she could only give a small wave of her hand as the Tamaranian drifted morosely away from her and towards the great, orange ship that would take them all away.

All that was left was the goodbyes.

"So... do you guys know how long you're going to be gone yet?" Ryouga asked lamely.

Raven, with her hood pulled back, allowing the bright lights of the hangar to illuminate her face and set her eyes to shining, shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Cyborg seems to think that we'll be able to make the trip in roughly a week, but even if that's so, we have no clue how long the wedding arrangements might take."

Ryouga sighed at that. At least two weeks away from R- from his friends? His own personal feelings aside, he was actually afraid for their fair city, more than anything. With only him, Terra, and the mystery bowman to watch it, how could they possibly keep it safe?

...Okay, yeah, that was a complete load. Keeping the city safe was about as far from his thoughts as Tamaran itself. He was furiously wracking his brain to find the perfect, cool, suave goodbye that would totally blow Raven away. At least half a month apart, after he just finally finished with his merciless training of Terra, and actually had time to hang out? It was like the world was just finding a new, more insidious way to punish him, since he'd hardly gotten lost at all lately.

"Ummm, Ryouga? Are you alright? You... kind of stopped talking there," Raven asked tentatively. The dark Titan studied him with wide, violet eyes, her head tilted slightly to the side, just enough so that a few strands of her short, silken hair pooled on her shoulder-

Giving his head a good shake, Ryouga let off a string of curses in his head. 'I'm totally blowing it!'

Quickly waving off her concern, he shook his head in the negative. "Nono, I'm fine. It's just that, well, you guys are going to be gone for so long. I'm really going to miss y-"

Instantly, Raven's eyes widened, ever so fractionally, and he could almost swear that she was rising up on her toes slightly, rapt with attention. Wait! What was he saying? He didn't want to sound like some clingy loser!

He'd had way more than enough experience with that from his pursuit of Akane.

"-oouu all!" he frantically finished. So impressed with his last minute save, and wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, he did not at all see the crestfallen look which flitted across Raven's face at roughly the speed of light, nor the way her entire body settled back and seemed to actually deflate, balloon style.

"Yes, I'll miss... all three of you guys, too," she responded in kind, listlessly looking at the floor.

Growling under his breath, Ryouga could feel his frustration boiling over. It was now or never, this would be his last chance to tell Raven how he-

"Alright, everyone, it's time to go!" Robin's voice echoed across the vast hanger, bouncing off of distant wall and ceiling. Immediately, everyone turned their attention in the brightly dressed teen's direction, and just as quickly, people began to move towards the T-Ship.

For a long moment, Raven held her ground, and the pair of them shuffled uncomfortably. Ryouga lifted a hand... only to drop it a second later. Raven opened her mouth, as if to say something... only to sigh instead and press her lips closed once more. Vainly, Ryouga tried to find the words-

And then Raven ducked her head, murmuring a swift apology, and made her way to the loading gantry, with the rest of the people that would be going to Tamaran. And as he watched her go, the martial artist could only groan softly, utterly defeated.

It seemed that all that was left was the goodbyes.

---

Speedy watched, mildly interested, as the lengthy procession of goodbyes took place. He had offered up a few quick words to the Titans as well, but it was obvious that these three strange new team members had more to say. It took nearly fifteen minutes, in all, to finally get the Titans into their ship and prepped for launch.

"Ten...," Cyborg's voice echoed out through the hangar's speaker system.

Standing safely behind the safety barrier, Speedy put on his safety goggles.

"Nine..."

The young blonde girl, moisture shimmering in the corners of her eyes, held her hand to the transparent wall before them.

"Eight..."

On the other side of the slim blonde, the dark haired new guy growled dangerously to himself, clenching his fist in front of his chest.

"Seven..."

The tall brunette woman gingerly slid on her own safety goggles, a melancholy expression marring her otherwise pretty face.

"Six... five... four... three... two... one-"

The thunderous roar of the solid fuel rockets drowned out every other sound on the entire island. Even with nigh indestructible barrier between them, Speedy felt his entire body quake, like standing right beside a speaker at a Disaster Area concert. Reaching up, he quickly slapped the pair of sound reducing head phones over his ears, watching as everyone else did likewise.

The ship seemed to lift off in slow motion, as if it might not even make it off the ground. Even as torrents of flame and smoke exploded out from the bottom of the rocket boosters, billowing down the exhaust tunnel like a runaway freight train, the ship itself rose only an inch at a time. Gradually, though, its speed increased; the T-ship soared a foot, then a dozen, then a hundred and in less than half a minute, it was beyond the now open hangar roof and quickly shrinking away to nothing against the dark, starlit night sky, only the thick column of black smoke remaining as evidence of their passage.

...For a long moment, the four of them just stood there, staring at the now empty sky. It was, it appeared, a very solemn moment. Slowly, his companions removed their goggles and headphones, never taking their eyes off of the heavens. Finally, though, the spell broke, and everyone dropped their protective gear back where they had gotten it and left the no longer needed protection of the bunker.

"So... that's it, then, is it?" Speedy asked quietly. "The Titans are off on their trip through the stars."

The blonde girl, Terra if he'd heard correct – and why was that name familiar again? – nodded. She then turned to her companion, Ryouga, he was pretty sure. "Yup, and you know what that means?"

Ryouga shook his head. "Um... not really."

"It means," Terra stated obviously, before suddenly ducking down. Standing up a second later, she was holding a large pair of backpacks, both filled to bursting. "That we're going camping!"

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Wait, what?"

Terra nodded happily, before shoving one of the backpacks into Ryouga's arms. "That's right! I didn't pack all my stuff up for nothing. If I don't get to go to Tamaran, then I'm totally taking advantage of the fact that we got a week or two off from training and patrols and stuff."

"Ah... excuse me," Speedy butted in. "But Robin put me in charge of protecting the city while he's away. I'm pretty sure taking a vacation wasn't what he had in mind for you guys in the meantime."

Ryouga nodded. "He's kinda right there, Terra."

"Pfft! Whatever!" Terra barked indignantly. "Robin obviously doesn't think we can take care of the city, since he's bringing in Arrow Boy here-"

The young girl gestured to Speedy for emphasis.

"To take care of the city for him. Well, if he trusts Speedy so much, then he doesn't need us to help." Nodding firmly to herself, Terra hefted her backpack over her shoulder. She then grinned. "Besides, you know you want to go."

The bandanna wearing guy hemmed and hawed for a moment. "Well... it has been quite awhile since I've hit the road, as it were..."

"Ha! I knew it! Hey, Kasumi, you wanna come too?"

"Oh, I don't know-"

"Okay, seriously," Speedy interrupted, growing more frustrated by the moment. "Let me reiterate. Robin put me in charge, which means I decide what we're doing until Robin gets back."

Terra and Ryouga both turned to stare at him for a few seconds – only to immediately turn back to each other.

"Well, we obviously can't go tonight. I mean, I need to actually pack my stuff if we want to go on a proper camping trip," Ryouga explained patiently.

"Oh, come on, Ryouga! I'm too excited to wait, now. Just the thought of the wide open skies over my head... It'll be great.' Terra turned back to Kasumi. "Are you sure you don't wanna come? I can make you some of my famous 'Whatever I can scrounge up Stew'!"

"Mmm, I love that stuff," exclaimed the dark haired guy, chuckling in amusement.

"Oh my, I'm afraid I'm not much for camping, Terra," explained Kasumi, tapping her chin. "However... now that you mention it, your idea just reminded me of something that Cyborg asked about. I have to go look into it, though, to refresh my memory."

"Oh... alright then," the slight Titan replied in a sullen tone. Her mood quickly brightened, though, and she turned back to her male team mate. "Well, it'll still be fun, just the two of us."

Speedy just shook his head. It seemed pretty obvious how things were gonna go here. Well, that was fine with him. He hadn't needed any backup the last time he took care of the city, and butting heads with a pair of newbs would just make things harder than easier. And, at least he still had one person left to help out. Speaking of which, he turned to Kasumi.

"Alright then, Kasumi, I think I got the gist of those two jokers on the way down the elevator. Terra's an elemental type, and Mr. Muscles over there is another one of us martial arts types. I don't remember anyone mentioning what your gimmick was. What kind of skills or powers do you got when it comes to fighting crime?"

Pretty much in unison, his three companions all ceased their idle chatting and turned to face him. An uncomfortable silence ensued, until finally the tall brunette held up a finger to clarify. "I believe there has been some misunderstanding. I don't actually assist in the fighting of crime here. I don't possess any special powers or talents in that regard."

Speedy blinked... twice. "...Um, what? You don't fight crime? Then... what exactly do you do here?"

"Oh, well, I try to help out in any way that I can. I assist with the cooking... and the cleaning, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up," Speedy interrupted. Holding up one hand to silence her, he used his other to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "You're, like, the Titan's maid, or something?"

His attention on Kasumi, the archer didn't notice as Ryouga's and Terra's eyes went wide as saucers. For her part, Kasumi began to wring her hands in front of her. "Well, I wouldn't put it quite like that. I do do other things, like... like..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you do lots of stuff," Speedy stated, suddenly feeling quite tired. "Unfortunately, none of that helps me out in the streets. That's gonna put a few kinks in my big plan here."

Straightening her back, the Tendo woman lifted her chin. "I'm sure it won't be as bad as all of that. As I said, I'll be happy to assist you in any way that I can."

Speedy just stared at the woman, then shook his head. "Well, if you're that eager to help, I could really use a sandwich right now. How about you get on that?"

"D-did this guy just tell Kasumi to go make him a sandwich?" Ryouga echoed in disbelief.

Terra just continued to stare, wide eyed. "Oh snap..."

Though, for maybe a fraction of a second, Kasumi's body seemed to stiffen, it passed so quickly that it was hard to tell if it had happened at all. She quickly lifted a hand and waved off the duo's incredulous reactions. "No, no, it's quite alright, you two. After all... Ranma asked me to make him food all the time. This is... nothing unusual. I'll take care of it straight away."

"Oh, great, now I've got a mental link between this guy and Ranma," Ryouga growled in a low voice. He turned back to Terra. "Alright, we're definitely going camping tomorrow, be up by dawn."

Terra's cheer was quite exuberant. "Alright! But, are you sure you don't wanna come, Kasumi? Really sure?"

The Tendo woman shook her head, holding up her hand in the negative. "No, no. I think that I might just be able to find ...something... to do while you two are away. Just don't leave before I have the chance to talk to you tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Sure thing, Kasumi!" The slight blonde then grabbed the martial artist's arm and started dragging him forcefully out of the hangar, excitedly going on about the preparations they needed to make. Kasumi studied Speedy for several seconds, an unreadable expression on her face, but she soon adopted a bright, cheery smile and followed after the pair a moment later.

Left alone, Speedy dropped his hands onto his hips and let a broad smile fall onto his lips. Yeah, it seemed like he'd been saddled with the scraps from the Titan's table, but that was fine. Having the two troublemakers out of his hair would actually be better, now that he thought of it.

After all, he had some preparations of his own to make.

The smile on his face nearly doubled in size, almost hurting his cheeks.

Oh yeah, big, big plans indeed.