Chapter 20

Dark Seperations

A black and orange mask with a single eye etched into it glared from where he sat on his mechanical throne. Darkness prevailed over the major part of the room, except where a few dim red lights barely illuminated the catwalks. Gears ground together, and enormous pistons slammed their way up and down in the background. Even with the amount of machinery that ground together in the background, there was very little noise that made it to where the master of the criminal underworld sat. Dark, gloom, despair, and anger hung so heavily in the air, that one felt they could actually reach out and touch it.

"You have what I requested, I presume?"

Brother Blood stood trembling before the one-eyed mask.

"Yes sir, w-we have what you have requested of us."

Slade's head dropped slightly, menacingly.

"We?"

"I, sir," the nervous headmaster corrected himself. "I have what you requested."

A nod from the dual colored mask, "Very good. I was beginning to wonder about your loyalty for a moment."

Brother Blood nervously wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead.

"Well," Slade said in his steady voice, "Let's see what you have."

Blood opened three identical, yellow cases, each with the HIVE emblem printed on the front. In the first, was a large, brilliant red ruby, that seemed to shine of its own accord, the second was a spherical energy generator, the third was a sheet of metal, and a small collection of notes.

There was a wicked glint in Slade's one eye. "Excellent."

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Raven stood atop the roof of the Titan's Tower. Her gaze was cast down on a single figure that knelt out in the grass behind the tower. The sun glared angrily down from above her, her shadow sitting almost directly beneath. It was almost lunch time, and yet Ryk was still deep in his meditation. Something had happened yesterday between him and Beast Boy, she could feel it coming from the changeling, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it.

And now there was this. Ryk's excessive meditation this morning was completely out of character for him. It hadn't worried her, but still, she wondered what his reasons were.

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Starfire limped back into the main room.

"Robin," she called out to the boy wonder, "We need to have the talking."

There was concern in the girl's voice, and by his look alone, Robin turned the others attention from them.

"What is it Star?"

"Robin…I must return home."

Robin's jaw hit the floor. "Star…why?"

The alien girl motioned towards her injured shoulder. "I have informed Galfore of what has happened, and he insists that I return home until my injuries have healed."

Robin looked hurt. "Does he not trust us here?"

"No, he trusts you," she suddenly refused to look at him, "but he trusts himself more."

Robin stood for a moment, a look of stupor on his face. Then, with determination in his voice, he looked back towards where Starfire stood.

"I'm going with you."

"Robin, you can not! What about the city?"

"Star, I…I…"

"You must remain on Terra Firma, Robin." She insisted.

"You are not going alone!"

"But Robin…!"

A metal hand fell on the boy wonder's shoulder.

"Star…Robin's going with you," Cyborg stated, leaving no room for argument. "Me, BB, Rae and Ryk will handle things here."

Robin turned to face the titanium titan, suddenly concerned about 'his' city. "You guys sure you'll be ok without me?"

Cyborg nodded. "We'll be fine bro. You go and take care of your girl, and we'll keep the city locked up tight, got it?"

Robin's face turned seven shades of red, but he didn't say anything back. He knew that Cyborg had a point, and he didn't feel right about letting Starfire going on her own. "Right," he agreed, "But we'll be keeping in constant touch, got it?"

Cyborg flashed the boy wonder a thumbs up, then proceeded to push Robin towards where Starfire stood. "Get outta here while the gettin's good. Go…go!"

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A near silent footfall caught the attention of my physical form. Miles away, in a dark cavern, my image spoke comfortingly to a golden haired young girl.

"Terra, I have to go now,"

The ghost of a girl leaning on my shoulder quietly nodded.

"I'll come back, you have my word."

Silence was the only thing left to hear, and so I pulled my link, and brought myself back to my body. Slowly gathering my strength, I stood, stretching my aching joints.

"Hello Raven," I said without even turning around.

My words stopped her cold as she watched me slowly regain my feet. "You've been in meditation all day, Ryk. Is there something we should know about?"

I began my trek back to the tower, but stopped with my hand on her shoulder.

Visions hit the empath with my touch.

-FLASH-

A Ferris Wheel, brightly lit up at a carnival

-FLASH-

Long golden hair.

-FLASH-

...Slade...

-FLASH-

I stared into her eyes knowingly, and started to walk off again.

The half demon bit her lip, trying to figure out the sudden flash of visions that she had just seen.

"How do you know about Terra?" she called after me.

"Beast Boy took me down to her statue last night." I said without breaking stride.

"You talked to her didn't you."

My gait halted abruptly. "Yes Raven. I talked to her. I have been all day."

There was a long pause and a lengthy sigh before I continued.

"She is not so different from me, you know. We both…seek redemption."

It was at that time that a rumble came from the tower, and as we both looked on, the T-Ship rose from its resting place, and took off for the stars.

"Now I wonder who that was," I mumbled to myself.

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"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

Beast Boy paced frantically back in forth behind the couch in the main living space of the tower.

"How can Robin and Star just up and leave! What are we going to do without him here to lead us!"

"B!" Cyborg interrupted, "Calm down, we'll manage without the two of them for a couple days."

"Two days! They're going halfway across the known universe!"

"And they're taking MY T-Ship. They'll get there soon enough."

"Dude, last time we went there, they tried to SHOOT US DOWN!"

"Whoa…who's getting shot down?" I asked as the elevator door closed behind Raven and me.

"Robin and Starfire just left for no apparent reason to go back to Starfire's home planet of Tamaran and they didn't say how long they would be gone or when they would be back and now we don't have a leader plus the HIVE has been acting kinda weird lately along with that new girl Nightmare that gave us all more than a run for our money not to mention we haven't heard a whole lot from Killer Moth or Mad Mod or Control Freak and not hearing anything from them in this amount of time is usually a bad thing I mean what if something happened while they were gone how are we going to handle things without those two here to help us and what if something happens to them while they are gone and we are no where close to help…"

Beast Boy was promptly cut off by a metal hand slapping firmly over his mouth.

"What the green chatterbox was trying to say is that Robin took Star back to Tamaran so that her own physicians could tend to her wounds. They're much better suited to that than we are."

A smirk crossed my face as I thought over the changelings ramblings. "I see Robin's point in taking her home. We'll be ok here on our own for a while."

Raven stood over the stove, patiently awaiting the water to heat for her latest cup of tea. She made no comment as to the changeling's ramble, or towards the fact that Robin and Starfire had both taken off really without much of a goodbye or anything.

"Do you think there is any hope for her?" She said, barely above a whisper.

Her slight noise caught both the green elf and the titanium titan's attention in an instant, they stared at her in confusion, and failed to notice my shoulders heave as I turned my back on the group.

"I don't know, Rae. I've never seen anything like it before."

Now I had the stunned two's attention. Beast Boy finally caught the topic, and it put him instantly at the point of tears, the salty liquid welling in his eyes. Cyborg caught sight of this, and understood, dropping his arm around the elf's narrow shoulders.

"But is there hope for her?" Raven asked once more.

"Raven," I spoke, forcing a slight smile to my face, "As long as there is life, there is hope."

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The rest of the day had rolled slowly by, each of the Titans lost in their own thoughts. At one point, Beast Boy had stood silently outside my door, and though I could feel him, and even the questions that weighed on his heart, I didn't dare to open the door until he requested it.

I rose, and walked to the door as I felt his hand approach it, but hesitated as he did, until finally I turned back towards my window as he turned to leave. I pulled open the window, and sat on the sill, watching the sun as it fell past the western horizon.

"Ryk?"

I turned my head up, and watched as Raven floated down to the same height as my window. Sliding my feet off the side of the sill, I waited silently as she sat herself on the windowsill next to me.

"Ryk, about Terra…"

I shook my head, quieting her.

"She's a fellow Titan, Rae. Even if I never knew her, she is still a Titan, and I'll do what I can to help her."

"It's not your responsibility though."

"Very few things are ever force upon someone as a responsibility, but are chosen. This is one that I choose to accept along with the rest of you."

The dark girl leaned forward, and without a word, wrapped her arms around me, and buried her face in the crook of my neck. I sat motionless for a moment, then slowly, wrapped my own arms around her shoulders. In that silence, we sat and watched as the sun set.

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The morning was absolutely beautiful, and all the remaining Titans were outside. My hands moved in a blur as I went about my morning exercises. Instead of trying to hold the positions that I had with my blades, I know fought with my hands open, assaulting the air with a variety of chops and thrusts. Beast Boy was across the lawn from me, doing his best to copy and repeat my movements, Cyborg was waxing his car, and Raven floated a few feet above the grass, deep in meditation.

I smiled as I watched the changeling attempt to keep up with my paces, paused, and turned towards him.

"B.B., c'mere."

With an all too eager bound, he made his way across the distance that separated us, and stood face to face with me. I struck a pose, he copied. Slowly, and deliberately, I moved into a thrust, watched with approval as he copied again, and so we went. I demonstrated, he copied, until the two of us were moving seamlessly from one pose to the next, with only a slight pause at each one. Neither of us said a word, but we spoke volumes to each other in our actions. After an amount of time, I noticed that Raven was taking an interest in our work.

"That's enough for today," I said with a smile.

A sweating Beast Boy nodded, ran through a series of jabs and thrusts with surprising speed once more on his own, and flopped down on the ground, out of breath.

I smiled. He was a good student, and an incredible learner at the martial arts styles. I turned my attention towards where Raven floated, and made my way to her.

"You up for some lessons in self defense, while I'm teaching?" I asked her.

She nodded. "I'm the least physical of the team, and if anything were to happen where I couldn't use my powers again……I still want to be able to do something."

I nodded, and motioned back out towards the center of the grassy area, and began instructing once again, this time, changing my stances to a different style, and moving accordingly.

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-CLANG-BANG-POW-WHAP-

I swore under my breath, and held my bruising forehead as I slid out from underneath the frame of a motorcycle. After my jaunt on Robin's bike, I decided that it really wasn't that bad of a form of transportation, and now Cyborg and myself were busy in the garage, piecing together a masterpiece of my own. At the moment, it was nothing more than a long frame, and parts scattered all across the floor, but with time, it was to become my next pride and joy.

I groaned, wiped a grease caked hand across my forehead, leaving a long smudge, and crawled back under the bike as Cyborg welded more parts into place.

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Raven wandered through the mall by herself, casually dressed. She wore a pair of black jeans, and a dark green t-shirt with a black fishnet top over it. Even dressed as such, she still drew far more stares than she wished she would.

"I wish there was a better way to do this," she muttered, and wandered into another store.

The shopkeeper looked up lazily, but perked at her sight. "Miss Raven, welcome to my store! How can we help you today?"

The dark girl sighed, aggravated. "I'm looking for something for a friend of mine. He lost something that meant a lot to him, and I'm looking to replace it."

"Oh. OOOH! Well, let me tell you, you have come to the right place then!"

Raven ignored the man's comment, and carefully examined the contents of a large glass case.

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Sweat hit the ground with fervor as Beast Boy pushed himself towards his limit. He had pulled the top half off of his uniform, and the gym lights gleamed off his body as he spun, thrust, jabbed, blocked, kicked, dodged and chopped at an invisible enemy. He worked his way through his fifth workout today, practicing the moves that Ryk had shown him, perfecting the patterns, and playing with them to see how he could blend them together into his own unique fighting style.

"I have to be stronger," he whispered to himself. "If...no, when we free Terra, I can't let ANYTHING happen to her. Not like Starfire…Not like before…I have to be stronger."

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Night had fallen, and Cyborg and I had finally put the bike to rest for the evening. We walked into the main room, sweat covered, and caked in grease, but smiling and laughing the whole way.

Raven stood on the far end of the room, her back to us. Her search had lasted all day long, only to turn up fruitless, and she knew that she would be questioned for her absence today. She didn't want to give away the reason that she had been gone, but she didn't want to lie about it to her teammates. She thought and thought, going over every possible scenario in her mind…

…and Cyborg and myself walked right out of the room, still laughing and joking, making our way up to our respective rooms, and a much needed shower.

A sigh of relief escaped the girl, and she slumped down on the couch. Maybe she would get away with being gone all day after all.

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The T-Ship moved silently, yet swiftly through space.

Snkt "Robin, what is the approximation for the time of our journey?" Snkt

Robin sighed from where he sat, and studied the controls in front of him. "About another day and a half, Star."

His gaze traveled across the glass bubble that was his cockpit, over to where Starfire sat in her own. She sat silently, watching the stars as they flashed past, and ran her good hand gently over her bandaged shoulder. She seemed to shiver slightly, and hugged herself.

Snkt "Why does space seem to bring about such a feeling of…loneliness?" Snkt

Robin thought about his reply, but the cover to the access tunnel that ran between the cockpits caught his eye. His fingers danced over the controls briefly as he set in the coordinates and instructions for the auto pilot, before lifting the plate and sliding from his seat.

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Starfire sat in her pod, looking quietly out the window. Why had Robin insisted on coming along? She knew that she could have made better time in her own ship, but that only held one person.

A knock at the floor of her pod surprised her for a moment, but she looked down to see a familiar eyemask looking back at her.

"Robin?"

"Hiya Star, mind if I come in?"

"N-no! I do not mind at all!"

The Boy Wonder pushed himself up, floating in the lack of gravity. It took him a moment before he found a place to settle, finally leaning himself carefully between the controls on the main console.

"How are you holding out?" he asked, the sincerity in his voice running deep.

"I am doing…the ok," she said, forcing a smile.

Robin saw right through it. "Star," he said, reaching forward and one of his gloved hands over her good one. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

The Tamaranian bit her lip, and looked away, but her hand turned over under his, and folded around it.

"I am a Tamaranian Princess," she said, a green tear welling in her eye. "What will my people think of me when I return in such a state? Will I be disowned for being weak? Will someone try to take the crown from where I have rightly placed it?"

"Star," Robin broke in, "You aren't weak. You are a light to the team, a bright signal of hope, even when there seems to be none left. You are a not only a princess, but you are a warrior, something your people should be proud of. You have fought off more than most people could dream of, you were injured in battle, sure, but you survived! You survived it Star, and that makes you that much stronger in the end."

Robin floated over from his perch. Starfire caught the idea, and unfastened her harness, sliding as far over as she could on the slightly oversized bench. The boy wonder squeezed in beside her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"You'll be ok, Star. I promise that."

Slowly, tentatively, Starfire let her head drop onto Robin's shoulder.

"Why did you come with me?" she whispered, almost hoping he wouldn't hear.

He did. "I told you that I would always be there for you. How can I keep my promise if I send you halfway across the galaxy by yourself?"

Starfire buried her face into his shoulder, her good arm snaking around his back, and holding him tightly.

"Robin?"

"Yes Star?"

"………Thank you."

End chapter 20