Here it is, finally after about a thousands years I finally finished typing this mammoth of a second act. I hope you enjoy it, because I'm not retyping it. XD Thanks for the awesome reviews and Enjoy! Guardian of Azarath, Linzheart92, Tsukikage1213, Sklyer-A-Teloiv, Teen Freak, Shadow the Dark, TTHPFan, Samanthe2121

Shut up in his room Dick sat off the edge of his bed looking down a worn and faded photo of the one whom he'd lost. She appeared to have never aged a day, and if it were up to him he would have declared her features inside and out, immortal. He stared down at Starfire's broadly smiling face with a steadily hard look. He seemed to have lost his ability to express much over the years.

"I miss you," he said as he once more tossed the picture back under the bed. It was strange, one would naturally think otherwise, but Dick rarely if every allowed himself to remove the picture from its hiding place. As far as he was concerned he didn't deserve to even look at her. He sat with his face in his hands and his elbows propped up on his legs. "Tell me what to do." Dick was sure he wouldn't so literally hear a blatant answer, but it sure would help at times. Though he didn't hear anything like he predicted, a strange feeling was pulling him towards his closet. He slowly approached with his hand outstretched and his mouth ajar; as though forewarned of a monster lurking within. He pulled open one half of the folding doors and with another gulp and moment of hesitation pushed open a false wall to reveal something. Dick switched on the light and stood gazing at the uniform within. "Alright Star, here I come."

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When there's trouble you know who to call
Teen Titans!
From their tower, they can see it all
Teen Titans!

When there's evil on the attack
You can rest knowing they got your back
Cuz when the world needs heroes on patrol
Teen Titans GO!

With their superpowers they unite
Teen Titans!
Never met a villain that they liked
Teen Titans!

They've got the bad guys on the run
They never stop 'till the job gets done
Cuz when the world is losin' all control
Teen Titans GO!

1,2,3,4 GO!

Teen Titans

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The Leader pt.3

Act.2

The five Titans from the past walked in silence back towards the woods. They would have said otherwise but it sure seemed like a terrible waste of time to have come all this way only to find out it was all for naught. Starfire's right hand held her left arm snuggly as she walked beside Robin. Ever so often she would steal a quirk glance at him just to see if there was the slightest hint of emotion. More often than not there was little to none unfortunately, she assumed it was largely due to the fact that his mask shielded his eyes. Robin moved aside a low hanging branch which each Titan took hold of in turn as they passed. He was first to enter the clearing they'd landed in and came to an abrupt halt. Starfire hadn't been paying attention to him and thus bumped into his back then felt Beast Boy hump into her, then Raven into him, and Raven moving before she was squashed by Cyborg.

"What's wrong?" she asked. But she soon saw the answer to that question. They all stood before the empty spot that was once occupied by the T-Ship. Starfire held a hand to her chest.

"Our ship…" Robin tilted his head to one side then gestured to the empty space.

"We did park here didn't we?" Cyborg walked past them and looked. He noticed the dept of the depressions the landing gear had made in the earth.

"Well, it hasn't been gone long."

Beast Boy gazed upwards. "But Cy it's got two supersonic jets, whoever boosted it could be anywhere by now." Cyborg nodded and began something with his arm screen.

"I can probably track it but it will take a few minuets."

"Starfire," said Robin jerking his head upwards. She understood the order and flew skyward to see if she could see it. Robin craned his neck to watch her and tapped his earpiece. "See anything?" Up above the trees Starfire shook her head in dismay.

"No, I do not-UGH!" A shot came out nowhere and struck Starfire in the back.

"STARFIRE!" Raven waved her hands about to produce a blackened net with which to catch her. The Azarathian carefully brought her down within their huddle. She fluttered her eyes open as Robin brushed some loose hair aside. "Are you okay?" She nodded somewhat deliriously.

"I am." Robin turned away from them and looked onward through the woods. "Who attacked me?"

"That's us barf for brains!" The voice which could make even the happiest guy on earth frown caught their attention. The Titans found themselves in the company of the older forms of Gizmo and Mammoth. Mammoth plowed through a thicket of trees while Gizmo flew in stage right on his jetpack.

"Are you serious?" asked Raven quirking an eyebrow. "You two?"

"You got it girly," grunted Mammoth. The Titans all stood back to back in preparation.

"What happened with Brother Blood?" asked Robin. Gizmo sneered at the very mention of the name.

"Are you kidding? That snot muncher didn't stand a chance against Slade. Nobody can!" A rocket launcher appeared from inside his jetpack and thusly released several projectiles. The five heroes scattered just as the missiles impacted the ground. Gizmo's four spider-like legs sprang from his backpack and began jabbing at the closest target. Beast Boy back flipped in a dodge of the legs. Cyborg, with complete disregard of the danger, charged upon Gizmo.

"HIAAAAAA!" He leapt into the air to slam his fist down on his target. A shimmering force field was all he impacted however. The opposite reaction caused Cyborg to bounce back away from the villain. Beast Boy morphed into lion and with Cyborg bringing up the rear they took after the infuriating Gizmo. Raven meanwhile assisted Robin and Starfire in a brawl with Mammoth. Robin jumped about the treetops like a grasshopper until the large behemoth swung a fist at the same tree. The shock forced a strong tremor through the tree making Robin loose his balance. Raven flew away to come to his rescue leaving Starfire in the path of a large trunk which Mammoth now used as a weapon. She turned toward it and with a downward slice of her glowing hands parted the incoming tree down the middle. In the same movement she spun around and blasted him with a mixture of energy from her hands and eyes.

"YooOOOWW!" Beast Boy flew backward from a laser bolt. Cyborg jumped up and caught him out of the air. With an understood thanks they sprang apart as Gizmo passed between two trees. His legs broke them apart as he went.

"That was for Jinx!" Their glares darkened.

"Don't you even talk about her!" Shouted Cyborg. "You weren't even at the eulogy!" He growled like a hardened warrior and unleashed the power of both his sonic cannons. They impacted Gizmo's shield making him only slide back somewhat. He grinned back at the Titans and held up a small disk.

"Eat this you stink'n LOSERS!" He heaved the disk like a frisbee and when it flew just over them it projected a field over Cyborg and Beast Boy. It slowly then began to shrink with them still inside. The blue dome touched a bit of Beast Boy's arm and singed off his sleeve.

"YOW! Dude what is this?"

"Doooom," snickered back Gizmo. From out of the mist a lone projectile shot toward Gizmo. "What the?!" The strange object somehow pierced Gizmo's shield and rendered his equipment useless. The destructive field around Cyborg and Beast Boy soon fell. Gizmo stumbled to his feet mumbling inanely. Just as he was able to look about he felt himself being yanked up into the air. He scowled down at the ground as he dangled in Cyborg's grip. "It stinks being this short." Beast Boy kicked over the ruined technology just as Robin, Starfire, and Raven joined them with the limp Mammoth.

"You guys okay?" asked Robin.

"Just peachy," replied Cyborg. Beast Boy bent down and picked up the throwing weapon. As he brought it into their view Starfire snatched it out of his hands.

"I have seen this technology before."

"Where," inquired Raven. She looked it over. It was a dark blue kunai with spring-loaded wings on each side. The crunching sound of leaves caught their attention. They turned their heads toward the sound and saw their savior emerging from the mist. Starfire uttered his name with a barely audible whisper.

"Nightwing…" He stopped a short distance from them.

"Everyone alright?"

"Peachy," repeated Cyborg. They quickly fixed a gauge over Gizmo's never-closing mouth and made sure both villains were tied and secured. Nightwing looked around at them a bit awkwardly then cleared his throat.

"Could I talk to Starfire?" They glanced at each other as though wondering why he didn't just continue. "Alone," he clarified. He met Robin's eyes and it was clear his young counterpart was not at all comfortable with the idea. He noticed they all shared similar looks. "I promise it won't be long." Starfire looked at Robin as though it all required his final approval. He however trained his eyes to Cyborg and shrugged. With a serious nod Cyborg crossed his arms and walked up to Nightwing.

"Alright son, but I want her back here by eleven."

Nightwing and Starfire adjourned to another thicket for the privacy he requested. The gauche silences that sometimes fell between Robin and Starfire hardly compared to what was going on now. She stood looking at him innocently with her hands laced together before her. He finally made himself quite staring at her, not that the obvious age gap was not enough to do the job.

"It sure has been awhile Star." She titled her head at him.

"Has it?" He nodded.

"Yeah." He found a rather large log and sat down. Starfire stared at him in wonder. The last time she saw him, that is, Nightwing, it was not him but the Robin she knew now. Her head began to spin with the complexities of time travel thus she abandoned the concept for the moment. She sat down beside him and observed how his mask disguised his emotions just as much as Robin's.

"You still blame yourself," said Starfire intuitively. He snickered somewhat.

"I think that's been obvious for quite awhile now." The poor alien's face fell at these words. For she was certain Robin never spoke to her like that. He glanced over and saw a look of hurt in her eyes. "Aww jeeze I'm sorry Star." She looked away. "For frying out loud I can't believe I'm doing it again."

"Doing what?" she asked still averting his gaze.

"Being me I guess, Raven once called me a rude and inconsiderate blockhead. So I guess we'll go with that." Starfire nodded and remained silent. This dragged Nightwing's spirits further, for she had not disagreed with him. "Years ago I'd never talk to you like that. I'd probably saw off my own hands before even frowning at you. I know I've changed, I just can't get over how easily I have."

"You have experienced some things no one should ever have to. It is not surprising that it has encouraged many undesirable changes." She turned to him and gently took his arm. "But the Starfire you knew was anything like me; now only has she long forgiven you but she would not want you to berate yourself in such a way."

"But when I think back to the times when it was just you were just the only one left still hanging around with me; how I would sometimes loose my temper……one time I actually hit you." She dropped her gaze sadly. His mouth slacked open. "I couldn't believe what I'd just done. I ran out after in the pouring rain and somehow managed to get you back in the house. After that, I said you should leave and that you'd be better off with the others. But you still wouldn't go," he said in a hoarse whisper. "I will never understand it; to this day it baffles me."

"I tend have hope where it is needed."

"Except in my case Star, you were wasting your time." Starfire hated to allow herself to arrive at such an awful conclusion, but it was possible that perhaps Nightwing did blame himself beyond the capacity to ever get over it. "I'm gonna help you guys, I don't know how just yet but I'm going to do it." She smiled and got to her feet.

"That is wonderful to hear, we should now rejoin the others and-"

"Starfire?..." She stopped in mid speech.

"Yes?" With extreme difficulty Nightwing stood up and faced her.

"……Can I hold your hand?" A surge of emotion suddenly struck the Tamaranian princess. Her right hand flew to her chest to steady herself. Beyond Nightwing's roughened exterior was someone desperately in need of closure. As though he would fall to the ground and dissolve within mere moments. Transfixed, she nodded and brought her hand from her chest and stretched it out to him. Nightwing raised his own up to hers but paused. She regarded him strangely as his hand began to shake. He gazed at her open palm with a mixture of fear and unworthiness. Starfire smiled and stepped closer.

"Please." Her soft voice calmed him so that he wanted nothing more than what he asked for and gently held her hand. Behind his mask his eyes closed as though heavy weights pulled them down. He felt weak at the knees and fell back down upon the log. He quickly let go of her hand and instead held both sides of his head.

"I'm sorry Star! I'm-I'm so sorry!" She knew he meant not her but the one who no longer existed in this time. With much haste he stood up and in place of crying let out many hoarse and hissed sobs. "Not again! It's not going to happen again."

"Robin!" Said Starfire taking his shoulders. Nightwing gawked at her.

"W-What did you call me?" She looked directly into his eyes.

"I do not believe it will." The same pools of green that won over him years ago did so again and he slowly nodded.

They walked back to the clearing to find Robin and Cyborg questioning their prisoners. Robin took what appeared to be a pen off of Gizmo, and which turned out to be some kind of remote control.

"What's that?" asked Nightwing

"Some kind of remote, I think." Replied Robin as he looked over the strange device. "But that's not really what's on my mind." He walked up beside a tree and leant against it. "What'cha doing here?" Nightwing moved about uneasily. "I thought this was an insane wild goose chase, don't get me wrong, it absolutely warms my heart to see you," said Robin with a straight face. "I just want to know why?" Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy all looked from Robin to Nightwing.

"I still think this whole has a good chance of going south, but then again so did every other "right thing" we did." He earned a small grin from Raven. "I did an emotional as well mental inventory and I realized I've got a ton of issues I need to work through. I was just wondering if I could do it given you guys a hand." Starfire cast a beckoning look at Robin. "Come on guys give me one more chance, I won't let you down." Robin bobbed his head about.

"I know." Nightwing bent his mouth into a grin. "Well you've been here longer, what should we do next?"

"As you all probably know by now the Tower has been turned into quite a fortress of doom," said Nightwing. He heard Cyborg grumble something about Slade screwing around with his tower. "After what you guys did gaining access into the tower by ourselves will be next to impossible."

"Wasn't really our fault," protested Beast Boy.

"That doesn't matter now, even if we did get in and managed to by some miracle overpower Slade he's become melded together with the chakra shards. There's no way to remove them."

"How then are we to stop him?" asked Starfire.

"We can't." His reply caused them to look at him strangely. "Not here…..not now." Robin slowly smiled as he understood the words of his future self.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Apparently he was.

"The only way to stop Slade entirely and for sure is to go back to the time when he actually finds and takes the chakra stone. If you put an end to it there, then this entire future will cease to exist."

"Along with you," said Cyborg.

"Believe me by now I'd rather be just that. Now the only problem is finding out when, where, and how Slade found the chakra."

"Well that's easy," said Beast Boy. All eyes turned to him. "Slade may be the worst bad dude we ever came across but he's still a bad guy isn't he?" At first glance it seemed like Beast Boy was merely stating the obvious. Then by the way he was grinning it became clear. "That's right, and what do bad guys like to do more than anything?"

"Gloat," answered Raven.

"Egg-xactly," said Beast Boy. "Somewhere, he's got to have it all written down or documented doesn't he?"

"He's right," said Robin. "Knowing Slade as the man he is he would have recorded the date and circumstances, he'd be too proud of the whole thing not to."

"So we need to get into the tower and look up the date, time, and place," said Nightwing. "All we need now is a way of actually getting into the most secure place on the face of the earth." At this Robin merely held up the slim remote from Gizmo.

"Shouldn't be too hard, and if I'm guessing right." He tapped one of the buttons and just as he'd hoped Gizmo's cloaking device revealed the T-Ship not far from them. "Sweeeet." Cyborg jumped up inside his pod and went about performing system checks. Soon after he heaved a great sigh of relief.

"I haven't picked up any tampering, looks like we're good to go."

"Great," said Robin with a nod.

Cyborg slung his arm over the side over his open cockpit. "There's just one thing." He paused so he was sure he had their attention. "I seem to remember telling yall our hyperdrive only has enough power for one more time jump." Robin looked away pensively. "Whatever time we go to from here, we're gonna be stuck there." Robin took all of this into account and after looking Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Nightwing in the eye returned his gaze up to Cyborg.

"Let's do it." As they began climbing into their ship Raven took notice on how seating would be a problem.

"This might be a little cramped."

"I will give up my seat," offered Starfire. She flew up out of her pod and hovered beside Robin's. "I will merely fly alongside you."

"If you're sure you can keep up," said Robin. Starfire's face produced a playful smile.

"Is that a challenge Robin?" He shrugged and sat down in his seat.

"Only if you think it is," he pretended not to notice her as he flicked on some switches. When she still didn't leave his side he slowly turned to her with a smile. "I'll give you a head start." She shook her head.

"Oh no Robin, I think I will be the generous one." Robin heard Beast Boy snickering behind him. Nightwing climbed in Starfire's empty pod and Robin closed them all with the push of a button. Even as they rose via vertical take off Robin and Starfire never stopped staring at each other competitively. He watched her fix her earpiece and tapped his.

"Can you hear me?"

"Indeed." He heard her voice respond. "And you may tell Cyborg that he may utilize the vessel's full potential." Cyborg smirked as he heard her already. Robin gripped the control stick in front of him.

"Alright then, on your mark….get set…." Starfire prepared herself and thought back to the day she relearned to fly. She remembered the feeling of utter freedom that swept through her. "GO!" Both Starfire and T-Ship took off like speeding arrows. As Robin steered the craft the rest of them watched Starfire with awe, never had she shown off her apparent ability to fly at supersonic speeds. Possibly because whenever she held one of them she couldn't possibly fly that fast with a passenger. The countryside below them flew by like a blur; it would only take them a mere fifteen minuets to arrive back in Jump City. As Starfire flew her smile grew and she flew inward leaving the T-Ship in her wake. Robin slowed but not enough to alert the alien flying ahead of them. He squinted his eyes to make her out among the horizon and laughed with adoration.

JUMP CITY………………..

Robin landed the T-Ship in almost the exact same spot as when they first arrived in this time period. Starfire sat cross-legged not far from them humming to herself. Robin jumped down from his pod and walked up to her.

"You may say it now please."

"Okay okay, you win. You can go faster than any of us put together."

Cyborg stepped forward, "Actually our combined weight kinda slowed us dow...uhh" He trailed off as Robin slowly looked back at him. "Good Job Star!" He said with a thumbs up. She stood up with a helping hand from Robin. "Alright yall let's get this job done and hopefully go home." Wanting nothing more they swiftly set out to the coastline. Starfire flew onward and just as she was about cross the line between sand and ocean she stopped as though bumping into a wall.

"Ow!" She floated back to the ground. The others ran up to her and Starfire placed her hands against what had stopped her. It was a shield; though not electrified, as was the usual case, it was as firm as solid steel. With that option out the window Raven sank encased herself in her powers and sank beneath the sand. After a few seconds she came back up looking disappointed. Robin sighed and looked out at the tower.

"Okay Slade, you won't let us in then we'll just bust down the door." The sound of working machinery caught their ears and the Titans quickly got out of sight. They hid behind a large dumpster and looked upon a spot where years ago the T-Car secretly exited out of a tunnel beneath the ocean. Of course that was all before Cyborg installed the T-Car's hover conversion and it was highly probable Slade had it locked and secured. Robin watched a detachment of drones exit out of the tunnel then saw it close up again. He waited a moment to ensure they didn't accidentally run into the last one struggling to keep up. He pointed their swiped security pass and moments after he pressed the small button the tunnel opened up. The tower was about half a mile away from the shore so it turned out to be brisk walk. When they finally entered the subterranean garage the Titans quickly ducked into hiding. Line after line of foot soldiers and hover drones moved through the large area without end.

"Well there's no way we can get move on unnoticed," whispered Cyborg.

"Maybe that's what we want," said Nightwing."
"Yeah I don't think so," replied Robin curtly.

"It's probably in the main room isn't it?" Robin nodded in a haphazard manner. "So it'll be hard to get in there without causing some kind of ruckus. And worst comes to worst…" He produced a device which looked oddly enough like a…"

"A bomb!" Exclaimed Robin in a hushed tone. "What yield?"

"It's got a piece of plutonium the size of a pencil eraser."

"And you this why?" asked Raven.

"I figured that if I ever actually came face to face with Slade this would be my last resort. It was also after Star died, so I really didn't care that the blast radius would cover five miles."

"Let's keep that as a last last resort huh," said Robin. He turned back to the crowd ahead of them. "But I we should go with Nightwing's first idea."

"You want us to make some noise?" asked Beast Boy eagerly. Robin stared around at the hundreds of enemy automatons.

"A lot of noise." Beast Boy and Cyborg quietly snickered and gave each other a hive five. At Robin's signal Beast Boy quickly took the form of a rampaging elephant with Cyborg standing on his back. All normal operations were brought to a screeching halt and were quickly followed by the sounds of crunching metal. All scattered fire became directed at them but honestly it did little as the resulting chaos prevented all enemy accuracy. Robin, Nightwing, Starfire, and Raven moved out into the open and began making their way upstairs. As they left Raven noticed two hover drones sneaking up on Cyborg and Changeling. With a wave of her hand she formed a solid wall with enough speed that the drones simply crashed into it head on.

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As the remaining four moved on they found the resistance to be surprisingly slim. The bulk must've been sent to deal with Cyborg and Beast Boy. Nightwing noted the meager drones that he quickly took down.

"I forgot how loud Cyborg and Beast Boy could get."

"You have no idea," said Raven. They reached the door just outside the main room. Raven phased her head through the wall and looked around within the main room. When she found the room to be completely devoid of any one she moved backward. "It's clear." With her approval Robin stuck an explosive on the door and they stood back. He pressed the corresponding remote and the door blew out of the framing. Wasting little time they filed and each found a computer terminal. As it was expected every terminal was encrypted.

"Should've seen this coming," mumbled Robin. From out of now where Starfire's fist plunged into a panel beside him and as fate would have it the controls mistook Starfire's attack for a blackout and allowed Robin access. He looked at her and she smiled humbly. "Thanks Star." Nightwing and Raven gathered behind him. As for the search all it took was a mere entry for the proudest moment of Slade's life. Robin's eyes widened as it displayed before him. "Got it! The Mojave Desert, 1973. Looks like he didn't bother to include latitude and longitude."

"Robin and Robin." They all turned in place and found Slade now sitting in his chair. He stood up and crossed his arms. "I'll say this; two Robins don't make a right."

"We're not sticking around Slade! We got we came for," said Robin.

"Are you sure?"

"What?"

"How can you be certain that what you saw is even the real thing?" Robin barred his teeth. This was typical Slade trying to screw around with his mind, but it was possible that he hadn't seen the real date. "The truth is Robin that you're no closer to stopping me than he was years ago," replied Slade with a lewd look at Nightwing. "How is she by the way?" Parts of Nightwing's face twitched uncontrollably. Robin extended his staff and both Starfire and Raven rose into the air.

"Fine, you wanna fight then that's just what you're going to get." But Nightwing's arm blocked his way.

"No." Robin looked up at him. "You guys get out of here, I'll handle him." Raven bent down closer to him.

"You won't get far."

"It doesn't matter, just go." Very hesitant as well as reluctantly Robin, Starfire, and Raven left Nightwing and Slade alone. Nightwing turned back to Slade with an emotionless hard face.

"So, you're going to "handle" me are you? The years of self-deprecation have really done wonders on you." Silence fell over them, one in which Nightwing considered his options. Every kind of weapon he had Slade could easily stop or defend against. The only he could see to proceed also seemed to be the most appropriate to him. Starting in a slow jog Nightwing began moving toward Slade. Gradually he gathered speed and Slade formed a ready shield. As he started running fast and faster a howl of all out furious rage erupted from Nightwing.

"AaaaAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Slade geared himself up as Nightwing jumped up. Nightwing collided right through the shield and hit Slade's with such force that the masked villain back flipped a few times. Nightwing's adrenaline carried his rage on still thus he picked up Slade by the shoulder and lay a serious of hard punches across his face. On the last one however Slade's fist caught Nightwing's and the hero found himself within a black aura.

"HA!" With a heave Slade's power threw Nightwing out the main window sending him soaring through the air. The same aura caught him however and quickly pulled him back in. Nightwing sped through the gaping hole and crashed into the wall with a force that shook the tower. He rose to his knees but as soon as he did Slade formed an energy field around him and Nightwing felt his sides slowly being pressed inward.

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Robin, Starfire, and Raven quickly darted down the halls. They rounded a corner and just as they did Robin jumped forward and each of his feet kicked down two drones standing in their path. He whipped open his comm. link.

"Cyborg! We need to get going now!"

"I'm on it," came his reply. Down in the basement a gorilla Beast Boy piled the remaining drones into a large stack. A joystick rose out of Cyborg's arm and with it he remotely steered the T-Ship to the roof. "Let's go," he said looking back at Beast Boy. Beast Boy brought up the rear and crunched down on the head of a drone as he went.

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Up on the roof Robin, Starfire, and Raven were already climbing inside. It wasn't long before Cyborg and Beast Boy appeared. The three already in the ship smiled at the sight of them. Those smiles quickly faded however when numerous hover drones appeared behind them. They were still a great distance away when Cyborg waved an arm at their leader. "START GOING! START IT UP!" Robin didn't need to be told twice. As fast as he could Robin brought the space-craft into the air and along side the roof. Cyborg and Beast Boy sprinted along side the edge all the way until they were close enough to jump onto the waiting ship. They scrambled into their pods and Robin took off post haste.

Back within the main room the color began to fade from Nightwing's face. Slade laughed coolly and walked closer. He jerked his hand forcing a painful gasp from the former boy wonder.

"Pathetic, if I was forced to choose one word to describe you Robin it would be thus." Nightwing's voice seemed to be lost under the strain. His arms were locked at their sides and were unable to move. "But don't worry, you'll be with your pretty friend soon enough." A stifled snicker escaped Nightwing.

"Neither of us…is going where she went!" Then just as his last breath gave out his hand opened limply and his last resort rolled out onto the floor. Slade's visible eye widened at the sight and sound of a building charge.

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Far behind the T-Ship and their pursuers a bright flash easily consumed the tower followed by a fast shockwave. Robin spotted it on his rear scope and tensed. "Hold on!" A strong gust of wind jostled them about. They were well out of the destructive range as were a few drones left pursuing them. Robin took evasive action over the ocean.

"Are we ready to go?" Asked Cyborg over the comm. link. Robin's mind went back to what Slade said. There was a fifty/fifty chance to what he had, either it was the genuine article or a well placed ruse. He finally decided that anytime was better than what they had now. He added back the years and tapped his earpiece amidst the ship shaking about.

"Sixty-three years!" Cyborg looked extremely anxious about sending them that far back but of course they were without a second option.

"We better do it fast!" shouted Raven. Cyborg readied the time device once again and signaled Starfire. They repeated the procedure that brought them there and with a flash they found themselves within the blurred world of the time stream. Several seconds passed and the Titans began to feel queasy. When they finally came out of time stream they found they were flying over the ocean still. Starfire looked out her window with curiosity.

"Has our position not changed?" The sky was not nearly as dark, which was just one of many things that told them the time period was different. Cyborg performed a quick diagnostic and raised his eyebrows.

"We went back the right amount of time, we circumnavigated the globe approximately six thousand times, and now our hyperdrive is dead." Robin sighed and turned around in his seat.

"Are you sure?"

"That's it Rob, power to the hyperdrive is gone." Starfire and Raven exchanged despondent looks.

"Well at least we're here; we have a desert to get to." As they flew onward Robin cast a look behind him. The scenery was completely different but he still galnced backward. It was strange how just a second ago his future self gave his life and now they were in a time when he hadn't even existed yet. Weird.

MOJAVE DESERT………………..

The Titans passed over the vast and barren expanse of barren desert known as Mojave. Beast Boy scanned the surface several times, always only detecting the most minor of animal life. Then, almost without warning, he spotted something.

"Hey guys I've got something, its human life sign about eight miles to the west." Robin steered the ship in the new direction. Without even stopping to form some sort of plan the Titans landed their ship and ahead of them was none other than Slade. "How's he know where to go?"

"That's kind of stuff we worry about wayyy later," said Cyborg looking straight ahead. They saw Slade look over a piece of parchment then walked up to a circle of medium sized rocks. They watched in wonder as he did or spoke something, he was too far away to tell, and to their astonishment he disappeared in a flash of light. Robin blinked several times.

"What just happened? How did-where did he go?!"

"I think I know," said Raven. They followed her over to the circle and she began chanting her mantra. They waited as she continued on with the repetition of the words and suddenly they were blinded by a flash of light and the next they knew the Titans were standing in a large cathedral-like hall. Raven looked around with a gaping mouth. "This is an ancient Azarathian reflection hall." Her voice echoed throughout the spacious room. "Thousands of years ago they would've come for meditation or guidance…." Her voice trailed away as something clicked. "Oh my gosh Star!"

"What is friend?"

"We're here."

"Where is here?" asked the alien looking around. Raven gaped at her.

"Don't you recognize it? It's the hall we saw when we went looking through your mind for answers. This is the final resting place of chakra before the Azarathians abandoned Earth." Slow and steady clapping emerged from the depths. Each Titan looked in a random direction to find its origin. Robin then spotted Slade walking out of the darkness.

"Excellent, I couldn't have put it better myself." The Titans all glared at him defiantly. "I must say I am very surprised to see you. Although I must admit that at the same time it hardly comes as a shock that you would follow me anywhere anytime."

"Slade there's still time," pleaded Raven. "This is knowledge and understanding beyond your comprehension. You don't know what you're delving into!"

"On the contrary Raven, I know exactly what I'm doing. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride." Bemused, they watched as Slade touched the wall behind him only it turned out to be a control interface of some sort. The whole of the wall lit up and spread forth from where he touched it. The Titans steadied themselves as they felt small tremors rise up from out of nowhere. Robin became aware of a sensation moving through his stomach; the kind felt when one moves through a fast elevator. The next jolt was enough to knock them of their feet.

"We're moving!" cried Robin. The domed temple swiftly moved upward through the solid earth without difficulty. Back up on the surface clouds gathered casting a dark shadow over the earth. A man driving along the rode suddenly veered off course when the street started to uproot itself. Once he was able to get out he did and his mouth fell at the sight before him. The temple rose higher and higher into the clouds. As the upper spires breached the clouds light poured into the hall they were in. It swam up from behind Slade as he stood tall before a window. Finally the whole of the Azarathian temple rose fully above the clouds and three smaller pylons connected to thick cables extended out from the main building. Once it was finally hovering, the temple slowly rotated in place. The Titans staggered to their feet in a daze. "S-Slade?"

"What you just witnessed Robin is history in the making, now its time to collect." He stepped out from in front of the window and allowed the portion of sun light to rain down upon a point in the very center of the hall. Starfire saw a sudden flash of herself standing before the very same spot and just as she remembered it the chakra was revealed to Slade and the Titans. Robin shot a madly panicked looked between Slade and chakra and jumped to his feet.

"NO!" Slade turned to Robin just as he tackled Slade right through the window. The two ended up on a thin stretch of stone circling all around the temple. Both Slade and Robin retrieved their staffs. "This is it Slade! It's going to end here!"

"Only for you!" Angry that his moment had been interrupted Slade lunged at Robin. Robin ducked away and countered with a swiped at the villain's back. Slade swung his staff behind him producing a loud glance from the weapons. Back inside the others watched nervously.

"What do we do? There's not much room out there," said Beast Boy. Cyborg decided it was time to take charge.

"Star you help Rob, BB Raven you guys get his stone thing, I'll get the T-Ship." Nods were exchanged and they broke their huddle. Outside Robin back flipped but had to grab hold of a statue to keep from loosing his balance. Slade showed no mercy and leapt forward with a downward hack. Robin swept aside then swung around and kicked Slade in the back. Slade recovered with a savage growl and grabbed hold of Robin's cape. With a yelp Robin flew backward and slid against the coarse stonework. He kicked out his feet and up righted himself. They stared at one another with their weapons poised.

"You must know there is no turning back Robin."

"I never turn back," said darkly. He swung his staff around but Slade ducked thus it only hit the hard stone wall. Slade speared his staff forward though Robin managed to avoid getting skewered by jumping and on top of it. Quick as lighting he shortened his staff and knocked Slade in the head. Then, without warning, a low swipe from the masked villain sent Robin falling from under his feet. He tumbled over the edge and fell until his bird-grapple caught the edge. Slade smugly walked up to the spot where Robin hung off the edge by a thin wire.

"Well Robin, how did you ever get into such a terrible position?" Robin strained to keep a tight hold on the handle. "Past, present, or future you will never win. Goodbye Robin." Without a second thought Slade kicked the grapple out of place and Robin began to fall back to the earth. His screams echoed far and wide. Coming around the temple Starfire spotted him and uttered a loud gasp before speeding forward with all strength she could muster. As the two converged on a single point Robin's screams died down and Starfire caught him out of the air. She flew back up over the temple; Slade's eyes followed her as she went. She gently let Robin down on the domed roof where upon he began panting heavily.

"Star…when we..get-back…..we're gonna do whatever you want." She smiled warmly then caught sight Slade over Robin's shoulder. He raised a blaster and took careful aim.

"ROBIN!" She pulled him down just as Slade fired and blocked the shot with a charged hand. Wincing slightly Starfire unleashed the power within her eyes and Slade was sent spiraling off the temple. Robin stood up and saw Starfire cradling her hand. He looked it over and saw it was burned.

"Are you okay?" She nodded with a few painful tears leaking out of her eyes. "Thanks." She giggled and let her head drop.

"Oh, do not mention it." The bright sun light poured down over the both of them. Lost they were within their own close proximity. They steadily edged closer and closer to one another. At the last moment however Robin turned his head to look at the clouds around them. They gently reflected the sunlight with a golden hue. He looked around at what he considered the closest to Heaven as he could get.

"Hmm, not a bad view is i-" The last word was lost halfway as Starfire turned his face back to her and she brushed her lips against his. Although his view was drawn to her he felt no difference in what he was looking at one moment ago and what he was looking at now. Their foreheads pressed against each other and Starfire sputtered an elated giggle.

"Yo Rob." Cyborg's voice spoke out through Robin's communicator. Unable to tear his eyes away from her Robin blindly reached around and found his comm. Link.

"What's up Cyborg?"

"You and Star alright?" Robin and Starfire smiled at each other giving the implication some breathing room. With a light chuckle Robin replied before closing his communicator.

"I'd say we're just fine."

Soon after Raven managed to figure out how to descend the temple back underground, the Titans found themselves once again in space. As they flew onward Beast Boy scratched his head.

"I don't get it though Cy, you said we were burned out; that we couldn't get home."

"I know, but that was before I remembered the big yellow ball in front of us." The remaining Titans looked ahead and saw he meant the sun. At their maximum speed it would still take them an hour or so to get there.

"The sun?" asked Raven. "How's that going to help us?"

"Right now the hyperdrive motivator is geared to draw its power from the T-Ship's power cells; right now those are completely drained. What I'm doing now is writing a program that will tell the motivator to ignore the power cells and instead draw the energy it needs from the sun as we get closer. The closer we are the more energy we have the longer we can stay in hyperspace." Robin raised an impressed eyebrow.

"That's…that's pretty clever Cyborg." He glowed with mock humility. "So how exactly does this work?" The teen machine was actually a bit scared he might ask that. When he remained silent Robin became suspicious. "Cyborg, how does this work?" asked Robin with a more authoritative tone.

"Its nothing you know…its just…one little," he mumbled quietly. He happened to glance and after seeing quite a scary look from Raven finally caved. "We kinda have to fly right through the sun." Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy all jumped slightly.

"WHAT?"

"Are you insane!" Starfire looked ahead through the tinted window at the growing sun.

"But friend Cyborg, the sun is an enormous sphere of super heated radioactive plasma."

"Yeah! Didn't you know that," added Beast Boy.

"It's the only way I can see to get home, because right now we don't even exist. The Justice League isn't even around yet." Robin retreated into the confines of his own mind. Flying through the sun was without the doubt the craziest idea he'd ever heard. On the other hand Cyborg was absolutely right, if they turned around gave up now they would never be able to get home. In the end it was a matter between going onward or stepping back.

"We'd be safe?" asked Robin. Cyborg nodded before answering.

"As long as the time stream remains stable, the only that should still affect us is the energy we want to take in." Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy then looked at Robin for the final word. It was now or never and Robin was hopeful his decision would not prove to be his last.

"Alright we go." Cyborg clapped his hands together with excitement. They were forced to darken their windows as they drew closer and soon enough had to don protective goggles. A rotating diagram of the sun appeared on Cyborg's screen with numerous calculations appearing beside it.

"Okay, here we go. Looks like its just big enough to fly right through and be in hyperspace long enough. We're good to go." The T-Ship came to a halt just a few hundred miles from the giant burning ball. Robin took a deep breath followed by one more look at the red head to his left. Cyborg saw the meters already beginning to spike. He gripped his controls.

"Do it."

"Engaging hyperdrive….now." At Cyborg's signal Starfire activated the time device within the T-Ship and they were pulled into the vortex within the sun. The sight around them was a wonder to behold, the swirling and blurred vortex mingled with the bright yellow emitted by the sun. Both colors seemed to swirl and mold together as one. The moment Cyborg took his eyes off the fabulous sight he looked at his screen and nearly screamed into his headset. "Back it off now!" Starfire frantically searched for the necessary controls and upon finding them did so without a second thought. From a rippling aperture they exited the vortex and flew away from the sun towards Earth. Robin glanced around open mouthed at the passing stars and raggedly pulled off his goggles.

"Talk about a rush."

"Did we make it?" asked Raven. "Are we back?" Robin pulled up a clock. A wide smile then spread across his face.

"Elapsed time confirms we got back just seconds after we took off, it's like we never even left."

"Then we are victorious!" exclaimed Starfire.

"Yeah dudes we're back and all but I think we still have a bit of a problem," said Beast Boy. They finally turned their attention forward again and saw what he meant. Since they exited hyperspace they still hadn't slowed down.

"We got super accelerated coming out of the vortex," reported Cyborg.

"Can we separate?' asked Robin.

"At this speed? We'll end up floating back home. Listen I don't mean to be a stick in the mud, you know after all we've just been through, but we really need to slow down."

"Or…?" posed Raven.

"Orrrr we'll hit the atmosphere just a tad to hard." Robin put in the strongest reveres thrust they had and still they only slowed by a small margin. The few planets along the way passed by like cars on the highway. Raven concentrated on possibly using her powers to slow them some. They all sat as far back as they could in their pods as the big blue ball known as Earth came closer and closer. "You're gonna have to cut it sharply."

"I think I know Cyborg!" replied Robin through gritted teeth. As they began to breach the atmosphere the ship shook and moved about torrentially. A strong gust cut the right wing causing them to enter a barrel roll. Starfire held her arms to her sides and screamed shrilly. They passed through the clouds and their very own city came into view. Robin's arms shook with the difficulty of keeping the T-Ship stable and upright. He almost looked away as they just narrowly passed under the long bridge. "Brace for impact!" Seconds after Robin's warning the T-Ship hit the ocean's surface and skipped across it like a stone. By the time they finally came to a slow steady drift their hearts were still pounding. Robin hadn't leg go of the controls, Starfire still had her eyes shut tight, Raven felt as though she might vomit, Cyborg darted his eyes about to look for damage, and Beast Boy limply unbuckled himself and sagged in his seat.

"Hey guys, who's up for just lying here for a while? You know, just take a nap. Show of hands who's in?-ow." His hand bumped the glass on its way up. One after another they put up their hands.

"I'm in."

"Sounds good."

"Ditto."

"It is most welcomed."

SUNSET, OFF THE COAST……………….

A lure plopped into the ocean and soon another fell close beside it. The casters sat off the edge of a boat built of Cyborg's tech. Starfire slowly reeled in her lure while leaning against Robin.

"Oh Robin, this is wonderful."

"I told ya we'd get out here someday."

"One could say time was very much on our side," said Starfire. Both he and she laughed at the idea.

"Yup, we do get around don't we?" He stared out at the water and Starfire noticed the speed of which he was reeling was reduced to that of passive thought.

"Is something troubling you Robin?"

"I was just thinking of me, I mean, the other 'me' from the future. I know he didn't make it just before we left. And now because a different future is ahead that means he didn't die, I think it means he's ceased to exist."

"But you are wrong, he is here…with me." She clung to him tighter. "You and he were the same person Robin, only different things happened to you. Your future will indeed be different, but only because you will be the one who shapes it." He looked down at her with a smile kissed the top of her head.

"It's looking brighter already." She began to move up to meet him when suddenly Beast Boy jumped up between them.

"Okay I'm still looking for my stuff; you did say "starboard aft" right?"

"A-F-T….aft," said Robin.

"And that's actually a word?" Robin rolled his eyes.

"In the back of the boat on the right side Beast Boy!" The changeling grew defensive.

"Well why didn't you just say that to begin with Robin?!" Robin looked away while Starfire giggled with amusement. "You're too busy playing around with your girlfriend you can't help me distinguish between these stupid nautical terms!"

"Alright alright, I'll help you find it. But what about Cyborg and Raven?"

"Then went back to the tower for something."

"Okay, just give me a second." Beast Boy sighed irritably then looked down at the pair.

"Oh yeah congratulations, I thought my social security was going to expire before you guys got together." He climbed back down to the lower deck and began looking around. Robin wound an arm around Starfire's shoulder and sighed.

"We couldn't do this just with us why?" She sent him a mildly scolding look.

"Robin you do not really meant that, of course our friends must join us." He leant his head back against the railing.

"I know, they can get their own boat." Starfire chuckled against his stomach and they spent the rest of evening catching no fish whatsoever.

The End

Trust me, that is the end of this three parter. I really wish I hadn't broken it apart but what's done is done I suppose. I will write next episode with much haste. Laters!