OMG! I meant to update this earlier in the week to mark Remember the Titans' one year anniversary on October 1st, but… wow, jeez, I kind of put up a new fic instead.

Poison Apple. Brand new Death Note LxLight slashy fic, co-written with Narroch. Nyah ha ha. End of plug. :D

So, I'm late with this. Wow, a whole year. In fact, it's two years since Asylum first went up. To all of you who have been here from the very start, thankyou so much for your loyalty and, more importantly, patience. I know, I know, I am so very slow…

There isn't too much of Remember the Titans left to go – I think we're in the last third now. Yayz!

Thankyou to: Ray1 (no, Seth is no longer still alive, but that doesn't mean he's totally out of the game…); Narroch (my lovely co-writing partner-in-crime! You reviewed! Yay! Yes, Raven is now a stereotypical blonde. Well, she is based on Buffy-bot. And maybe that future reality was fun, but not as much fun as Poison Apple!!!!1111!11! Now go do Maleficent!); YamiTai (another of my wonderful loyal peeps who has stuck around and suffered my slow updates for a whole two years. It's so nice that you're still here. :) Starfire Deluxe – I like that!); Quinn and His Quill (very interesting hypothesises. You're actually very close with one of them, but I'm not telling you which, mwa ha ha. And no, I don't think Mad Mod is that subtle. He wears a jacket with a Union Jack on it, for godsakes…); Someone (it still technically is a Robin/Raven story since they have to deal with all this baby crap together. I mean, it may have returned to the canon Robin-likes-Starfire state of mind, but the new Raven is now in love with Robin, thinks it's his baby, and is not letting go without a fight…); Amara-chan (in a lot of ways, I guess this fic is kind of idiot-proof, in that I explain everything in an often very heavy-handed manner, which is not to insult the intelligence of the audience, it's just because it's so complicated that it needs to be categorically explained in a "Dummy's Guide to…" fashion, you know? Some fics get away with being cryptic, but this wouldn't, so it isn't); Guardian of Azarath (yeah, sucks to be Robin. I should write a musical version of Remember the Titans, and borrow the song It Sucks To Be Me from the wonderful Avenue Q. As for Raven… you'll have to wait and see!); TheFallenAngel67 (oh, I hope they let you out of the mental institution soon! I'm sorry they put you in there – I'll have to start updating faster!Oh well, at least you managed to steal a computer! Don't worry about Raven, all will soon be revealed…); The Fate of an Amaryllis (hurrah for scary Buffy-bot Raven! Yeah, your pen-name is cool! You're good at thinking them up, dude! I like this new one. It has more pizzazz than "Robin + Rocks", you know? And come on, you must have realised by now that nothing is ever simple in Robin's world when I'm writing his sucky life…); Dragonprincess1988 (well, thankyou very much!); Me (I wouldn't be worrying about TerraxRoy anymore, since the future alternate versions are now out of the storyline. Any pairing involving Terra from now on is strictly Beast Boy-related… And yes, Raven is still pregnant, but her cloak is hiding it, and Robin is trying desperately to keep it that way…); and LoopyLouise123 (as I just said to The Fate of an Amaryllis… NO, NOTHING is straightforward in the Teen Titans universe when I get hold of it, mwa ha ha. But would we want it that way? I think not. And don't worry, Raven's behaviour should provide some comic value…).

Ohhh, so much the drama…

Change of Heart

"Okay, Ray, we have work to do now," Robin whispered, taking the currently mind-blitzed empath's hand. "You can use your powers, right?"

Raven nodded earnestly, as though eager to please him.

"Yes! I move things with my mind!" She squeezed her eyes shut in a happy little smile. "And I have magic words. They're Azarathian."

He patted her shoulder with a weak little smile of his own.

"I know you do…" He took her hand and gave it a tug. "Come on, let's go meet the others…"

"Yay, friends!"

"Uh-huh, friends…" Robin trailed off, an icy feeling washing over him as though someone had chucked a bucket of cold water over his head.

The pregnancy. Until he figured out what he was going to do and how he was going to do it, he decided that it was probably best to keep it between himself and Raven. He wasn't sure what was going on anymore, and if he couldn't even explain it himself, how was he going to explain it to them? Unfortunately… with Raven behaving in this not-like-Raven manner, he realised that he couldn't rely on her to keep quiet the way she had before.

He whipped around and took her by the shoulders.

"Ah, Raven… uh…" He forced a grin onto his face. "The, uh, baby…"

"Our baby!"

"Yeah, um, our baby…" He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "The, uh, others don't know about it…"

"Our friends?" Raven's large eyes widened in sudden delight. "Is it a secret?"

Robin nodded earnestly.

"Yes, a secret! A big secret! Secrets are…" He wracked his brain. "…Um, secrets are… fun, right?"

Raven nodded eagerly too, a big, uncharacteristic smile on her pale face.

"Oh, a secret… So… we can't tell them?"

"No, ah, not yet…" Robin took his hands off her shoulders and tugged her cloak closed to cover her obvious bump. "In fact, you can't even show them, or even hint at it. No-one must know anything, right? You have to hide it, because it's a secret, okay?"

"A secret between us?"

"Mm-hmm." He put on his sweetest smile. "Just you and me, okay? Secret between birds. Nobody else is allowed to know."

"Okay!"

"Good." He turned away from her and made to go back through the gap between the boxes and the wall back out into the main warehouse. He felt Raven grasp his wrist.

"I like you," she said again blissfully. "You're nice."

He dragged her out and prised her hand off his wrist, then made sure her cloak was covering her body completely.

"Too nice sometimes, I think…" he muttered blackly, pulling up her hood for her too in an attempt to cover her uncharacteristically-happy expression. He didn't want to raise too many questions… "Now, remember, it's a big secret, so not a word, okay?"

She nodded.

"And try to act a little more like…" Robin grasped for the right description. "Well, like… Raven."

She smiled broadly at him.

"That's me! I'm Raven!"

"I begin to wonder…" Robin muttered.

"Dudes and dudettes, I regret to say that the show is already over!" Beast Boy whooped as he, Starfire and Cyborg approached them.

"Aw, yeah!" Cyborg added cheerfully. "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!"

"You gotta slimy problem with monsters, ghoulies or ghosties, who ya gonna call?" Beast Boy yelled jovially in continuation, pointing both hands at Robin like guns in a game of Cowboys and Indians.

Robin raised an eyebrow.

"We done with the Ghostbusters shtick yet?" He asked dryly, noting wearily that their two previous comments had been lines from Ghostbusters.

"We all know you love the giant marshmallow man, Robin," Beast Boy pouted. "Just admit it; it's the first step to overcoming your problem…"

"What's next?" Robin barbed in reply, amused by the banter all the same. "Acceptance?"

Beast Boy patted Robin's shoulder, his face comically saddened.

"We'll still love you, dude…"

"That could make an interesting book," Cyborg noted. "Confessions of Mr Stay-Puft's Secret Lover…"

"As wacky as this conversation is becoming," Robin replied sardonically, "I feel inclined to point out that you're just jealous because Mr Peanut never returned your calls…"

Cyborg feigned outrage.

"You starting with me, marshmallow boy?"

Robin grinned.

"Oh, I wouldn't dare…"

"Wow…" Beast Boy scratched his green hair. "I didn't actually expect a Ghostbusters quote to get these sorts of confessions… I can maybe see Robin drooling over Mr Stay-Puft-"

"Hey!"

"-But c'mon, Cy… Mr Peanut, of Nutter Butters fame? Puleeeze… You can do way better…"

Cyborg hung his head.

"It seemed like something special…"

"Well, since a single movie quote has provoked this self-help conversation," Beast Boy rattled on happily, "I happen to know a ton of Blues Brothers quotes… and all the words to the songs, I might add."

Robin gave a nervous little laugh.

"Ah, considering the profanities used in that movie, BB, I think maybe we should leave it…"

"Friends," Starfire cut in finally – having not, for once, been able to a word in edgeways before this. "You speak of strange things that I do not understand. Robin…" She turned her narrowed gaze on the Boy Wonder in question. "…Who is this "Mr Stay-Puft" of which you speak?"

"No-one you should worry about," Robin replied dismissively, "considering he's a 100ft tall marshmallow man from a cult 80s movie…"

This seemed to confuse Starfire even more, but Robin turned his attention from her to Raven, who was being extremely – thankfully – quiet.

However, as soon as he caught her eye, her broad smile returned.

"I like marshmallows," she said happily. "They're nice. I especially like the pink ones. Pink is a nice colour."

Robin averted his eyes, his stomach twisting unpleasantly, as Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire stared at her, gobsmacked.

"Dude…" Beast Boy managed to croak out.

"…Did Raven just say… she liked something?" Cyborg finished weakly.

Slowly but surely, both of their gazes slid in Robin's direction.

Typical.

Just because he had once been Batman's sidekick, it didn't mean everything was his doing…

"She hit her head back there," he fabricated smoothly; he grimaced inwardly at how easily he was able to lie to them. "Took a bit of a wallop from Overload. Nothing to worry about…"

"Nothing to worry about?" Cyborg repeated incredulously.

"Dude, she's acting…" Beast Boy floundered helplessly.

"Really not like Raven?" Robin offered wearily; his knees were agony and he was overall just getting sick of the conversation already.

"Right!" Beast Boy gestured wildly with his arms. "Raven doesn't like anything, especially not marshmallows, and especially not pink ones! She doesn't even like Elvis!"

Cyborg gave a disgusted little groan.

"She doesn't like the King himself?"

"Cy, considering how deep we just got ourselves in reference to junk food mascots, I really wouldn't even go there about Elvis," Robin put in dryly.

"Right…" Cyborg frowned and looked across at Raven; Starfire was hovering near her, a confused look on her pretty face.

"Friends, I do not believe that Raven is quite… herself," the alien girl decided.

No kidding, Robin thought snippily.

He was suddenly pushed aside by Beast Boy, who pounded over to Raven and got right in her face; she blinked at him, then smiled pleasantly.

"Hm, you're green," she stated blissfully. "Green is a nice colour too."

"Who are you and what have you done with Raven?" Beast Boy demanded, shaking her.

"B!" Shocked, Cyborg tugged the green changeling off. "Don't shake Raven like that; you'll hurt her!"

Raven gave a little giggle.

"He's kinda funny," she said, her smile firmly in place.

Cyborg's jaw dropped.

"It really isn't her!" He gasped.

"Then where is our friend?" Starfire demanded, her eyes flaring jade. "I desire to know!"

"Wait, wait!" Robin stepped in front of Raven frantically. "It is her, I promise! Like I said, she hit her head. It's probably a little concussion that's making her act this way."

Raven put her arms around his waist from behind him and leaned her head against his back; Starfire appeared extremely irked and Cyborg and Beast Boy were rendered speechless once again.

"I like Robin," Raven said happily. "He's nice." She peeked around him at the other three Titans. "And he's way smarter than any of you. Oh, and we have a big secret, but Robin says I can't tell any of you what it is…"

Robin seethed inwardly; he really and truly could have screamed. True, she hadn't told anyone… but she might as well have.

He did, however, keep his poker face on and calmly disentangled her arms from around his waist as they all stared at him now too.

He shot the three of them a calm little grin.

"There's no secret," he muttered; he nodded at Raven and tapped his temple.

Raven didn't catch the gesture – "She's crazy" – but she did catch the words.

She cut in front of Robin, her expression one of confusion.

"It isn't a secret?" She asked, clasping her hands together. "But you said-"

Robin suddenly slapped a hand over her mouth – but it wasn't just to shut her up before she landed the pair of them in it right up to the neck. He used his free hand to motion of the rest of them to be quiet too as he strained to listen to a voice beyond the warehouse.

A voice that was all too familiar.

"It is Terra." Starfire said it before him.

Robin nodded.

"We can't hang around," he acknowledged. He looked up at the ceiling and saw that same square opening up into the roof-space of the warehouse that he had managed to leap up into when hiding from Terra.

Terra was their link to Slade. Slade still needed to be stopped. It wouldn't do to bail out now, not when Terra could lead them right to Slade.

"Everyone, up there," he said, pointing upwards. "Now."

"Robin, we can take her," Cyborg said reproachfully. "We don't need to hide. And anyway, I'm leader now, remember? I'm the one who gives the orders."

"For the time being, Cyborg, I humbly request my position back," Robin replied distractedly.

"Sure, but… why right now?"

Robin smiled.

"Just call it déjà vu…" His smile faded. "I know we can take Terra, Cy; but… do you really want to?"

He looked around at them all; they all looked equally saddened and dejected, except Raven, who was gazing intently at the ceiling.

Beast Boy looked crushed.

There was a sudden crash from beyond the warehouse, snapping them all out of their melancholic reverie.

"We have to go!" Robin pointed upwards again and Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy nodded; Beast Boy transformed into a tiny green hummingbird and flitted upwards, while Starfire hoisted Cyborg up under his arms and flew up after Beast Boy.

Robin and Raven stood there a while longer; he was waiting for her to levitate and take him with her – she was simply gazing at him intently, again with that adoring expression on her face.

"Yo, Robin, Raven! You might wanna hurry it up!" Cyborg hissed down at them.

Robin sighed wearily and looked at Raven, who blinked beguilingly at him.

"Wait here," he told her, already taking off across the warehouse to retrieve the Clock of Eternity; he didn't want to risk someone else taking her up and them discovering that she was neither as slim nor light as she should be. His shredded knees smarted and stung, but he ignored them as he snatched up the clock from its hiding place and tucked it safely under his arm before darting back over to Raven, pulling out his grappling hook as he went and firing it upwards towards the square opening.

"I can't get my arm around you," he said pointedly as he reached her. "You'll have to hold on around my neck."

She smiled and threw her arms around him just as the line pulled taut and hoisted them both upwards into space. He grimaced at her weight and put one hand under her thighs to hoist her up a little to relieve the strain on his neck, the clock wedging against her.

He pushed her up into the roof-space first, irked at her "sudden loss" of her powers; he put the clock up after her, then finally hoisted himself up, arching his back and legs up to land on his feet and straighten up gracefully. Tugging his grappling hook free, he replaced it in his belt and then crouched down, biting his lip against the pain of his torn-up knees, to join the other Titans at the mouth of the square hole.

"It's dark," Raven said matter-of-factly, finding Robin in the darkness and clutching at him.

"Be quiet," Robin hissed at her as she tugged at his cape.

"Dude, are you sure that's Raven?" Beast Boy whispered.

"Be quiet!" Robin moaned wearily.

"Yo, Robin, what's with the clock, anyway?" Cyborg inquired in hushed tones.

"Long story; now be quiet!" Robin replied pleadingly.

"Robin-" Starfire started timidly.

"Shut up!" Robin stopped himself from yelling, but his tone was one of obvious anger; unfortunately poor Starfire had gotten the worst bite-back and gave a miserable little sniffle that Robin almost slapped her for—

He didn't get around to it as the very foundations of the building suddenly shook and there was an explosion, accompanied by the harsh grating and scraping of stone on metal on stone on earth; Terra – geomancer, a fifteen-year-younger one – had arrived.

As before, she was talking to Slade via a tiny communicator fitted into her ear – one that Robin in particular recognized all too well.

However, that was where the similarities to the "other" present ended; she was now standing on her floating pedestal-like rock, looking around, stammering into her communication device.

"S-Slade… I… something's gone wr-wrong…" Her stricken gaze moved from one villainous lackey to the next; the frozen shards and single circuit-board remains of Overload, the knocked-out Cinderblock, and Otto Von Furth a.k.a Plasmus, sound asleep amidst the slimy remains of his alter-ego.

"Where are the Teen Titans?" Slade hissed through the ear-piece, his voice as clear as day in the silent warehouse.

Terra hesitated, looking around again, her expression now unreadable; it was impossible to say whether she was glad the Titans had escaped death, or if she was just as irked as Slade.

There was a few moments' silence…

"Gone," she whispered finally, more to herself than to Slade.

"Track the signal," Robin whispered to Cyborg up in the roof-space; Cyborg nodded and fired up the panel on his right forearm, tiny lights flashing and charts soaring up and down.

"I've got a lock on the signal," he replied softly. "Tracing…"

The word "UNDERGROUND" flashed up across the panel in bright red block capitals, and then was swiftly replaced by a map, on which a tiny red point flashed. Robin and Cyborg both squinted at it for a moment; then Robin was pushed aside by Beast Boy, who glared at the point as though he wanted his gaze to melt it.

"Well, just in case they are hiding," Slade's smooth voice went on through the ear-piece, "simply bring the entire warehouse down, like a good girl…"

Terra blinked.

"But… what about Cinderblock, and-"

"They will live, believe me. We'll pick them up after. As for you… once you're done here, I want you to go to Titans Tower. They may have gone back there. Either way, I want you to bring that down too. It's time to start putting them on the ropes…"

"Yes, Slade…"

Terra nodded in affirmation, turned off the earpiece and made her way across the warehouse on her small floating rock, going outside to unleash the devastation that she was so capable of – the devastation that had driven her into Slade's hands in the first place.

Robin remembered this bit too.

"Time for us to get out of here, team," he muttered.

Again, as though taking its cue from his words, the shuddering of the foundations started up again, and Robin stood up, picking up the clock. He considered getting Raven to take the five of them outside within her Soul Self, but quickly quelled this notion – to be perfectly honest, he didn't trust her in the state she was in. Her powers required utmost control over her emotions, and at this moment in time, Raven was anything but controlled.

"Star, take out the wall," he said sharply, turning in the dark to the alien girl. Starfire nodded and let rip with two beams from her eyes, blasting the entire far wall away. This didn't help the predicament of the collapsing warehouse, as the tremor only caused the ceiling supports to crack, hailing down dust and debris on the Teen Titans.

Beast Boy pelted towards the new opening with a squeal, changing into a green petrel and soaring out, closely followed by Starfire carrying Cyborg again and Robin running, dragging Raven, who was stumbling along after him blissfully.

Their fleeing was cut short when the hole suddenly collapsed on itself, bringing half of the ceiling with it. Robin skidded to a halt, Raven running into the back of him; he gazed in horror at the mountain of stone that had just swallowed up their only escape.

This, too, did not last long – the weight of all that stone was too much for the wooden floor of the roof-space and it cracked and gave way. The bit of floor that Robin happened to be standing on was suddenly tilted upwards as it splintered and was dragged down with the stone, and he with it; his hand was torn from Raven's, as the bit of floor that she was standing on was, for the moment, faring just fine.

"ROBIN!" Raven screamed, reaching down after him. He struggled to catch her hand but was too far away, and then plummeted with the floor and the ceiling when it gave way with an almighty cracking sound.

A reflexive yell marked his descent towards the concrete floor of the warehouse; knowing that he would be crushed upon impact by the stone that was falling down after him. He flailed in midair, not able to twist his arm around to get his grappling hook because of that cursed clock – as though he wished his body to suddenly acquire the ability of flight.

For a brief second he wished for those wings back.

He shut his eyes and waited to hit the ground – maybe there was a chance of him managing to roll aside before the stone hit the ground after him, avoiding being crushed by it.

The impact never came.

He opened his eyes again, finding that everything was still black. He blinked a few times, wondering if he'd suddenly gone blind, noticing the weird floating feeling he was getting too.

And then the blackness drew back and he was dumped out onto grass. He sat up and looked around; finding Raven leaning over him, beaming. Behind her, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg were looking on, their expressions all equally puzzled.

Realising that Raven had saved him by taking him into her Soul Self and teleporting them both outside, he didn't know whether to be pleased with her or not. He was certainly grateful for it, because there was no denying that she had saved him, but this meant that she hadn't "lost" her powers at all.

So why was she acting as if she had?

Time to do a little experiment with her…

"Raven, you think you could heal me up?" He asked her sweetly, gesturing at his shredded knees.

She nodded earnestly, practically throwing herself down beside him on the grass.

"Yes, I can heal people!" She said enthusiastically. She raised her hands to his knees, a familiar black glow surrounding her fingers. She muttered her chant and her magic poured from her fingertips into his wounds, healing them up and drawing out the pain. She threw him another pretty smile from beneath her hood when she was done, removing her hands.

"All better!"

"Thanks, Ray."

She didn't notice the skepticism in his tone, nor did she catch his narrowed gaze.

She obviously hadn't lost her powers, or even the ability to use them, so why was she acting so… vulnerable?

He looked up at Starfire for a brief second; she looked extremely put out by Raven's behaviour now rather than concerned, her sizzling gaze on Raven's back.

Again Robin revised the mental note to make sure that Raven was covered up at all times. It wasn't his child she carried, but she seemed to think it was, and if he couldn't convince her, how was he going to convince the others?

Better if they didn't know. Secret between birds. Right.

No problem.

He stood, deliberately ignoring Raven when she waved her hand at him to get him to help her up too; Cyborg obliged distractedly, his gaze on the Boy Wonder.

"Beast Boy, Starfire," Robin ordered, turning to the shape-shifter and the alien girl, "I want you to go to the Tower as fast as you can. Head Terra off, stop her from destroying it." His gaze hardened. "By any means necessary."

Starfire frowned but nodded; Beast Boy looked away. Robin wanted to say something, but…

…there was nothing to say.

Terra wasn't on their side; she was on Slade's, and she had to be stopped.

The older version of Terra had told him to stop her younger self from making the same mistakes. Robin intended to do that, and if it meant killing the Terra of their time, then so be it.

Hadn't the fifteen-year-older Terra even said that?

"…Destroy my younger self if you have to; do what you must, but don't let it come to this. Don't let history repeat itself…"

"Star, take this." Robin threw the Clock of Eternity to Starfire, who caught it in puzzlement. "It needs to go back to the museum. Just put it on my desk once you get back."

Starfire nodded, still frowning. She of course recognised it, having been the one to bring it back from its "disappearance" from history. But still…

Why did Robin suddenly have it?

Robin turned to Cyborg, nodding to Starfire and Beast Boy to get going; they took to the air, Beast Boy in the form of a green albatross, even as Robin began to address his second-in-command – Raven hovered behind Robin, seemingly enthralled by just the sound of his voice.

"Cy, you and Raven are with me," he went on quickly. "We're going after Slade. We need to-"

He was cut off by the familiar little jingle of his communicator; pulling it from his belt, he flipped it open and studied it for a few moments.

Then groaned.

"What is it?" Cyborg asked worriedly.

Robin turned the pager around to show him; on the tiny circular screen was a live surveillance feed of the Amazing Mumbo robbing Jump City's largest jewelry store.

Cyborg gave a moan too.

"Damn that little blue-faced freak… he sure knows how to pick a great time to pull a heist, huh?"

Robin bit his lip, his mind working a mile a minute.

"Robbie?"

"Hm?"

"What do we do?"

Robin flipped his communicator closed and looked up.

"We can't ignore it. It's still our duty to protect the city." He ran a hand through his raven hair. "Cy, I want you to go Downtown and sort out Mumbo."

Cyborg frowned.

"Are you sure? Why don't you send Raven to-?"

"Raven is going with you."

Cyborg blinked.

"But… you can't… Robin, you can't face Slade all alone!" The half-robot burst out. "Now don't be stupid, man! After what he did to you last time? Are you out of your mind?"

"He won't do that again, Cy," Robin replied coolly, pulling out his staff from his utility belt. "Now come on, we have work to-"

"Robin…" Cyborg grabbed Robin's shoulder as the Boy Wonder walked past him. "Jesus, man, he raped you!"

Robin seized up a little; then loosened up again as he turned to face his friend.

"You think I don't know that?" He asked angrily, his voice cracking a little. "I was there, remember? And it freakin' hurt!"

"That's why I don't want you to face him alone!" Cyborg argued.

"He won't do it again."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Cyborg challenged him.

"It was…" Robin looked at the floor; as far as the Titans knew, the "prophecy" still stood.

He was still the Avenger, and they were still the mortal gods.

He decided that it was best to just keep it simple.

Tch. "Simple".

"It was for the prophecy, Cy. He did it because he had to."

"He had to homosexually rape you?" Cyborg repeated skeptically.

Robin flinched slightly.

"No. I… I couldn't… couldn't be a… virgin." He gave an off-handed little shrug. "So I guess he took it into his own hands…"

"Did he need to?"

Robin scowled.

"That is a.) None of your business, and b.) Irrelevant," he replied icily.

Cyborg smirked to himself.

"Anyway," Robin went on, taking a deep breath, "it… doesn't matter now. None of it matters anymore."

"Say what?" Cyborg frowned deeply. "Look, man, I don't know what you're on, but… he hurt you. I'm not letting that happen again."

"Me neither." Robin gripped his staff extremely tightly. "And I'm not letting him hurt anyone else, in all senses of the word. I have to stop him, and I'm going to."

"I'd rather it wasn't this way."

"It can't be any other way, Cy, and you know it. This is something I have to do…"

"Why?" Cyborg burst out. "Look, Robin, when it comes to Slade, you're not quite… yourself. It's all too personal, and especially now, after… How about you shut down Mumbo, and Ray and I will-"

Cyborg knew it was a goner before he even finished the sentence; Robin was incensed by the suggestion.

"Cyborg, you don't understand!" Robin gripped at his fringe. "It's all so… complicated…"

"What's complicated?"

"Just…everything." Robin heaved a sigh. "The prophecy, and… trust me, I'm the only one who can handle Slade… And it's… it's time I faced him. Time I faced my fears… I have to do this, Cyborg, and I have to do it alone. You go kick Mumbo's tail. We can regroup afterwards…"

Cyborg sighed defeatedly.

"Then take Raven with you," he said pleadingly. "I can handle Mumbo alone…"

Robin shook his head.

"No. Raven stays with you. You two make a good team."

Truthfully, he didn't want Raven anywhere near Slade – he knew the masked man knew of her pregnancy and feared greatly that he would manage to twist that into some kind of weapon. Better if Raven was kept well away from him.

Besides, she was annoying him.

"Robin-"

"Cyborg, we have to end this, and this is the way it has to be."

He clenched his free fist.

"And we're going to win."

Cyborg raised his eyebrows.

"You've certainly changed your tune," he acknowledged. "Only last week we were getting the daily morbid "He's-always-one-step-ahead" pep talk…"

Robin allowed himself a brief grin.

"We're an awesome team, Cy, and I believe in us. I know we can make a difference. I know we can save the world…

"Know what I don't know?"

"What?"

"Where you get half of this stuff…"

Robin shrugged.

"Usually I just blame Batman…"

Cyborg grinned.

"Sounds like a plan."

Robin smirked.

"And speaking of plans… Titans, GO!"

Next: A three-way battle royale (has anyone seen that movie? So awesome…!), involving Terra vs. Starfire and Beast Boy, The Amazing Mumbo vs. Cyborg and "Buffy-bot" Raven, and, the favourite classic, Slade vs. Robin.

I'll update as soon as I can if you promise not to miss it! Bring popcorn! It'll be like Kill Bill, but without the yellow jumpsuit…

Oh, and if you have never seen Buffy-bot, even if you're not a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you should type "Buffy-bot" into the YouTube search engine, just so you can see her behaviour. The new Raven is modelled on her, and she's so hilarious…

Whoo, one whole year of Remember the Titans!

…Wait. That's probably a bad thing…

O.o

- RR xXx

P.S: If you like Death Note, check out Poison Apple! It's brand new and on my profile!