Disclaimer: I do not own the Wizard of Oz, nor do I own the Teen Titans.

Author's Note: I do apologize for the lengthy wait for my update; you know how the holidays can be. I hope you all will enjoy the chapter just the same though, and I will continue to do my best to update more speedily.

Teen Titans

The Wizard of Oz

Chapter 7

The Journey to the Great Oz

When it was at last daylight, Raven found she wasn't the first to have rouse. As usual the earlier bird was their team leader Robin and despite his new ragamuffin exterior the straw boy was no less a leader.

"Good Morning Raven" greeted Robin.

Raven nodded. "Good Morning to you as well"

At that moment Cyborg came clunking through the forest. "Hey guys" he said with a broad smile as he piled on some wood he must have gathered throughout the night to keep the fire going long enough to cook some breakfast, that he must've also hunted down in the forest. "I caught us a rabbit, just give me some time to cook ol' cotton tail up here"

The scarecrow shushed the tin man quickly. "Don't let Beast Boy hear you say that" he warned Cyborg and the tin man nodded as he skinned and cleaned the animal before he began cooking.

It wasn't long before all the team that did eat was full. Even Beast Boy who didn't find the tin man's meal acceptable had gathered some nuts to eat off the forests floor. After all of the Titans had eaten their fill they were at last on their way.

The travelers hadn't been trekking for more than an hour when they came across a great ditch that crossed the road and divided the forest as far as their eyes could see on either side. It was a very wide ditch, and when they crept up to the edge and looked into it they could see that it was also very deep, and there were many big jagged rocks at the bottom. And the sides were so very steep that none of them of could hope to climb down, which may have been a problem for Dorothy and her comrades but Raven was confident this wouldn't slow her party down. For of course the mage, and alien could simply fly a crossed and as for Beast Boy, Robin and Cyborg well, it wouldn't be too much a challenge for the two girls to fly them over as well, it might require a few short trips but still hardly a challenge for the group.

After almost effortlessly making it across one obstacle the team rested at a small brook and rejuvenated themselves with some cool water from it.

"Friend Raven, How did the Dorothy you told us of and her friends make it a crossed that awfully wide ditch when they could not fly as we do?" Starfire posed.

"Well, Star the lion piled them all on his back one by one and he jumped across going back to retrieve his friend's one at a time." Raven informed her team mate.

Starfire looked appropriately impressed. She had seen Robin perform many dangerous feats but even he the princess was sure would have had a difficult time performing such an action.

"Well, team I think we really should get going, the forest appears thicker on this side and I really don't want to get lost here in the dark"

The Titans all nodded and began to make their way once more along the road of yellow brick. They walked, and walked, and walked some more. Hours, upon hours passed and the wood grew darker and thicker and the weary travelers began to wonder silently if ever they would come to the end of these dreadful, dark, and gloomy woods and reach the bright sunshine once more. Just when the group didn't think things could get any worse, they were even more discomforted when they began to hear some bizarre noises in the depths of the forest. Raven though seemed the most ill at ease. She tried her best to remain calm but she knew from the story that this was the part of the country the Kahlidahs lived in and the mage involuntarily shuttered at the thought.

"What is the matter, friend Raven?" asked Starfire as she noticed her friend's discomfort. "Is the temperature that uncomfortable for you?"

The mage shook her head. "Its got nothing do with the temperature Star. We are entering the Kahlidahs territory."

"What are the Kahlidahs?" asked the ever curious alien turned munchkin.

"They are monstrous beasts with bodies the size of a grizzly bear and their heads are more like that of a bangle tiger." Replied Raven, "And with claws so long and sharp they could tear the lion—Er, Beast Boy I mean, right in half."

Beast Boy who hadn't been paying too much attention managed to tune in at just the opportune moment. He openly shook at the thought of such a powerful creature. If only he had his powers. Speaking of his powers, the adolescent lion silently pondered the absence of his abilities. Why was it he, Cyborg and Robin seemed to be practically immobilized while Raven and Star's abilities were still accessible? However, Beast Boy ran out of time to contemplate this farther as suddenly he and his group of friends ran into another gap in the road. Although, this one was much more broad and deep and the bizarre noises that had been ever increasing as the team pressed on had become too much for the team to disregard for any longer. They needed to get a crossed the gulf and fast.

Raven started to make a giant black orb to save the group time, unlike the last time where they'd simply made a few brief trips back and fourth, but something was wrong. She closed her eyes, concentrated and a flicker of black happened at their feet but it discolored and vanished leaving them right where they stood. What was going on? The sorceress thought panicked, while she closed her eyes once more and tried again. Nothing.

"Raven come on, get us out of here!" Shouted Robin and Beast Boy at once both of the boys feeling the panic as well.

"I-I can't" Raven declared frightened and surprised that her fear wasn't causing even more of an uproar.

"What do you mean you can't?" Robin barked.

"I mean I can't my powers don't seem to be working" retorted the freighted and now frustrated Raven. "It's up to Starfire." She notified the alien with a look as she said it and Starfire looked more than a little alarmed at the sudden thought of all this pressure. As the team could now see glints from the whites in the eyes of the Kahlidahs peering out at them hungrily they needed to get away NOW!

Starfire gulped and took in a few deep breaths as she told her friends. "Join hands and hang on!" and the gang of teens didn't have to be told twice. They all did as she said and joined hands as she lifted them in a straight line up into the air, but the team didn't make it far before they came crashing down, down into the ditch……