Part 64: Echoes from the Past

Robin held his head down and said, miserably, "I'm sorry, Titans…I can't." The others were shocked to hear such words coming from Robin. Usually he'd be excited about going on a mission, but now…he didn't sound like the Robin they knew.

Shadow frowned and replied, "I'm sorry too." He sent into Robin's mind, 'Robin, I thought you were our leader. I expected you to be able to face the Joker. You've faced a lot of psychotic villains, Slade included. You barely bat an eye at a dragon or flinched when facing demons. But, when it comes to a glorified rodeo clown, you just give up? I'm disappointed in you.' Robin heard every word in his head but gave no response. Shadow was right, though his words were harsh.

Shadow looked at all the Titans and said, "Listen, we all have 24 hours to find the Joker before he executes his plan. Judging from his message, I suspect that he has a device that will release his deadly 'Joker Gas', and since he's an Orphenoch now, that gas may also turn every person in this city into." He ordered, "Pluto, you'll stay here with Blackfire. We need you to scan for where that transmission came from and also find the location of the device. Blackfire, I want you to guard Robin. The Joker might come for him."

"Got it," Pluto nodded. "But T.I.T.A.N. can handle one Orphenoch," the Dog Knight said confidently. "But, they're your orders, Scaleface." Shadow smirked.

"May I volunteer to stay as well?" Starfire offered. Shadow gave her a look and she in return gave him a pleading look. She wanted to protect the one she loved. She also had a copy of her Pactio card just incase things got a little too extreme.

Sighing, Shadow said, "Fine." He then said, "They'll be two teams. One team will track down the Joker and the other will track down his device. The team to find the Joker will be…" His eyes scanned the group, "Me, Raven, Draco, Jinx, and Mortuary." He added, "And the team to track down that device will be Terra, Beast Boy, Renia and Cyborg. You 4 will shut down the device." He finished and they all nodded in response. "We all have less than 24 hours to stop the Joker so there is no time to waste. Titans, let's go!" the Titans all headed out of the room. Shadow cast Robin and Starfire one last look before heading out with the others.

Libra stood atop a building looking over the city. One of the many JumboTrons in the city had displayed the Joker's message. It had the desired effect of putting everyone in the city into a panic. People were evacuating their homes, trying to save what little possessions they had and their families. He couldn't really blame them. Humans were naturally afraid of death, but when they were told that they would die in less than 24 hours then panic would set in and followed by chaos.

Libra knew he couldn't interfere. He had done so several times and had paid for it, but he felt that he couldn't just let these people suffer.

He sighed and vanished. Sometimes being a neutral party sucked. It meant that he couldn't interfere even if he wanted to.

Starfire was walking Robin towards his room. The Boy Wonder sighed and said, "You're disappointed in me, aren't you?"

Starfire shook her head and replied, "It was surprising and upsetting to see you decline from a mission, especially a mission to stop the one who had wronged you."

"Starfire," Robin began, "If you could understand what he did to me….He tortured me, physically and mentally. He warped me into his little toy, modeled after him."

"Much like Slade did."

Robin fell silent and said, "Yeah, but Slade would never do anything like the Joker." Starfire knew he was right. After hearing about what the Joker had done to her beloved Robin, she had enough righteous fury to go and find the Joker herself and administer divine justice in the name of her beloved. It took all her willpower, but she had to stay and protect Robin. The Joker was not known to give up on anything. He was obsessive, like Slade, and 10 times as psychotic without any qualms whatsoever.

Starfire and he entered his room and sat on the bed. "Robin, why have you not told us of this before?" she asked.

"I…I just couldn't, Star," Robin said, clenching his fists on his knees. "I just, couldn't. It was too painful and well…" He began to tremble and then she wrapped her arms around him to calm him down. "Thanks, Kori."

"Timothy," she said, using his real name. "You have not been totally truthful with us about your past. I do know the need to keep secrets, but I thought you would have at least trusted me enough to tell me." Robin looked away but Starfire took his chin and turned him to face her. "But, I have not been so truthful myself either. There are a lot of things about myself I have yet to share as well."

"What do you mean, Kori?" Robin asked.

"Timothy, I told you before that Tamaraneans can transfer knowledge like language through lip contact," she reminded and he nodded, learning about that fact when they had been to Japan. "Well, did you know that Tamaraneans may also transfer knowledge to other beings through the same process?"

"They can?" Robin asked, surprised. Starfire closed her eyes.

"What I am about to show you and allow you to learn may shock you, but my past has not been, as you earthlings say, a bed of roses." Without warning, she darted forwards and kissed him.

Of course, to Robin, this wasn't just a normal kiss. When their lips had made contact, Robin saw images in his mind.

He was seeing her memories…all of them, up until she met him and the Titans and onwards.

When they broke apart, Robin was gasping to breathe.

"Starfire, why?" he asked, regarding her memories. He knew she had loved him but he never thought it had been since the day they met. Also, he saw a painful part in her childhood.

"Before I was captured by the Gordanians and was about to be taken to the Citadel," she began her explanation, "I was originally taken as a slave along with several of my people. I had only been a child and was forced by the Gordanians to work. When I grew to maturity, they attempted to…" she couldn't say it, but he'd seen it in her mind. They had molested her and then had tried to rape her. "I was finally able to escape and release my people along with the other slaves before returning to Tamaran. There I found that my parents had died and my sister and brother were nowhere to be found. I led another attack against the Gordanians but was captured once more to be given as a prize to the Citadel. The rest, you know, is history."

Robin had come to realize that all of them had traumatizing lives. He had seen her memories and not all of them were pleasant. Her words had also confirmed that those memories were true and just as a painful. Starfire spoke, "Timothy, what have you learnt from my memories?"

Sensing his distress, Brimstone padded into the room and rested its head on Robin's lap. The Boy Wonder then began rubbing the demon dog's head.

What had he learnt from her?

Shadow was flying through the air with Raven by his side, in his Zodiac Armor, as he scanned the area they were in for any signs of the Joker.

"I heard what you said to Robin in his mind," Raven said, a bit disapprovingly, "You were a bit harsh."

"But I was right," he retorted. Raven sighed. He was right. She did agree with some of the things he'd said, but he could have worded it all out a bit better due to the circumstances.

"Yeah, but you could've at least been a little more sympathetic. This Joker did do a number on him," Raven reminded her fiancé.

Shadow sighed and said, "We all have to face our worse fears. When we do we can finally move on. I've done it and so did Draco and the rest of us. Now, it's Robin's turn. If he can face Slade and Trigon, he can face the Joker."

"Even so, the Joker did torture him. That kind of trauma lasts forever," she said.

He looked forwards, "I'm going to fly up ahead and do a psychic scan. Maybe I can find the Joker first."

"We're a team, Shadow," she said, cautiously, "Don't go off on your own."

He gave her a smile, "I won't, luv." He then flew up ahead.

On the streets, Draco and Jinx were having trouble going through the crowds. People were panicking and for good reason. The Joker was a known psychopath and his infamy was notorious. With his message being transmitted to all televisions, it was complete pandemonium. Police were trying to do crowd control but they could do little to alleviate the panic and chaos.

"How are we supposed to find the Joker in this mess?" Jinx asked, hands on her hips. She watched as people scrambled for their belongings as they were making their way out of town. "It's just chaos over here." On her shoulder, the Scarab Inzecter chattered in agreement.

"Just like how the Joker might like it," Mortuary said. "He takes pleasure out of causing pain. He sees it like a joke."

"I've always thought clowns were funny. Looks like there are some exceptions, huh?" Draco remarked as he looked into his DRA-Phone. "Pluto still hasn't given us anything new." Mortuary looked at his tracker too.

"Tracker's still blank when I tried to find the Joker, if he is even an Orphenoch," Mortuary said, casting Draco a look. The tracker was only detecting Draco, the only Orphenoch in the immediate area.

"Can't you boost the signal or something?" Jinx asked impatiently.

"Well, I could, but then I'd fry my tracker," Mortuary huffed, holding the Harker Tech Orphenoch Tracker at her. "These things aren't easy to make or come cheap."

"Well, if you were looking for Draco, I bet you could!" Jinx glared. "Was it his DNA you used to make it? I mean, you did need a DNA sample, right?" Mortuary looked away. "Hah, I knew it! You were making it specifically to track Draco, weren't you?"

"Minna, yamette kudasai (Everyone, please stop)!" Draco cried out. "We're on a mission here! This no time to be arguing!" Jinx and Mortuary crossed their arms and looked away from each other. Sighing, Draco checked his DRA-Phone again. "Pluto should've found the source of the signal by now. What's taking him so long?"

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Pluto cursed as his fingers flew over the keyboard at impressive speeds. He was in the Smart Brain Special Ops room in the Tower and sitting in front of the console. He was using the equipment to scan for the source of the transmission and had gotten nothing but a blank. "How is this even possible!? I'm a freaking genius! Signals don't just vanish like that! There has to be some residual waves or something to get a lock on!" Pluto had been ordered to stay in the Tower to find the Joker and his Joker Gas device. So far he had gotten nothing, nada, zilch! He gripped his fists and they crackled with electricity. The stress and frustration was getting to him.

Blackfire walked in and said, "Puppy, you need to calm down." She hated seeing him so stressed. She had confidence in his skills and intelligence but right now it would seem like he could blow at any second.

"There's no way a clown can beat me!" Pluto growled as he scanned the entire city. "No way and no how!"

Blackfire pondered and suggested, "Maybe he has a jammer or a cloaking device?" Pluto blinked and looked up at her, eyes wide.

"WHY didn't I ever think of that!?" he yelled out before jumping out of his seat and engulfing her in a hug. "You're the best, babe!" He kissed her cheek. Blackfire smiled as she hugged him back. He then activated the communications link and spoke into his microphone, "Guys, Blackfire and I just figured out that the Joker must've used some sort of jammer to jam our scanners. That's why we can't get a lock on him. He may be even using a cloaking device to mask his location. Maybe if I can find some sort of electromagnetic energy signature being concentrated somewhere, I might be able to find him."

"That's good. Keep us posted," Shadow replied, his face appearing on the screen and Pluto's visor. "How's Robin?"

Blackfire replied, "He's with Starfire. She's guarding him right now."

"We can't let the Joker in the Tower. If we don't find him, he may be on his way there. Keep a vigilant eye. Shadowcobra out." He sighed off.

Pluto sighed as he sat down on his chair. "Man, this Joker guy must be one bad hombre."

"You can say that again. This guy is just more warped than Slade and Copycat," Blackfire agreed.

"I bet you that he and Asakura would get along just fine or try to kill each other," Pluto joked to try and lighten the mood. He then sighed, "I guess I can understand how Robin feels. What the Joker did to him made him feel powerless."

"And he hates feeling powerless, huh?" Blackfire said.

"That's right," Pluto nodded. "I mean, he's the only one here who doesn't have any kind of super powers or enhancements. I can relate."

"You can?" Blackfire asked curiously.

Pluto explained, "Before I got my Zodiac Powers, all I had was my genius IQ. I wasn't much of a fighter but I was able to hold off bullies. Kids usually stirred clear of me because I was so smart and looked a bit weird to them."

"I can relate," Blackfire said. She was the only black-haired Tamaranean with purple eyes so she received plenty of stares and not because she was royalty.

"And I couldn't do anything to change their mind. That's why I started to become a flirt and a Casanova," Pluto added and then continued, "It worked. I had an identity. Girls would clamor over me and I was the envy of all the boys."

Blackfire smirked. Pluto, she knew, was still a flirt but he was now only using his lines on her. She liked hearing them, no matter how cheesy they were. They made her feel special. "But…I didn't feel like myself." He then continued, "Again I felt powerless since I had become a different person. Then came the accident and…" he gritted his teeth, "And there was nothing I could do to stop it. My mind goes blank whenever I saw my mother in that coma. I can't even think straight or find a way to help her."

"I guess you and Robin have that in common. Sometimes you both just feel powerless," Blackfire observed. She knew Pluto had issues. He had talked to her about them. Pluto wiped a tear away and decided to scan for any EM wave signatures. It would take a while to recalibrate the scanner but Pluto here was a genius. Shadow and Draco acknowledged it, despite the Snake Knight's reluctance to admit it.

"Okay, time to find this clown and bust him," Pluto said as his fingers began flying all over the keyboard rapidly. "I'm calling Cyborg too to give him the heads up."

"Cloaking and jamming tech, huh?" Cyborg inquired through the radio. "Yeah, I figured as much. Don't worry, Plutes. I'm scanning for any EM wave signatures now. Cyborg out." Cyborg, Beast Boy and Renia were in the T-Car while Terra flew above them on one a boulder via geokinesis.

Beast Boy was riding shotgun and asked, "This is gonna take all night, isn't it?"

"Well, we were given 24 hours to find this clown," Renia answered. "So I guess, yeah."

"Aw…man…" Beast Boy groaned. "There goes my beauty sleep."

"Like it would work anyway," Renia joked. "Worry about your beauty sleep later, BB. We got a job to do."

"She's right, grass-stain," Cyborg added. "Keep your eyes and ears opened. We gotta find that device or else people are going to die laughing, literally."

"Yeah, I got that," Beast Boy gave him a thumb's up. "I didn't forget."

Renia leaned back in her seat and said, "Y'know, it's funny."

"What is? The fact that Robin won't come along with us?" Beast Boy shuddered. "That Joker did a number on him. Heck, I know I'd be scared."

"Well, there's that, and also why you're all following Shadow," Renia stated, "I mean, Cyborg's second in command. Isn't he supposed to be in charge when Robin can't?"

"Well…" Cyborg began, "You know Shadow has a lot of leadership experience. He is Commander of the Deathtron Secret Police if you remember, one of them at least."

"You got a point, but why follow a guy who has a lot of secrets?" Renia asked. "I mean, how can you trust him?"

"I guess, even with all those secrets, we know we can trust him," Cyborg shrugged. "Plus he's our friend. And, well…he's scary!"

"Scary?" Renia quirked an eyebrow. Shadow didn't seem too scary to her. Then again, maybe it was because she was a Homunculus so that left little reason for her to fear anything.

"If you were there, you'd understand too," Beast Boy told her. "And I thought I knew what scary was when we met Raven." Shadow did make quite an impression on them. Last Halloween, he'd been in charge of the decorations, making the Tower into a REAL haunted house.

"Well, even if Shadow wasn't leading, we still have a job to do. That device might be guarded too and if Joker's an Orphenoch, he has some working for him too," Cyborg said. They had been told of what an Orphenoch was capable of. Siring was an ability they all shared even if it did have a high rate of failure. Despite that, there was still a small chance for an Orphenoch to sire someone with the gene.

Renia contemplated. On her lap, the Locust Inzecter looked up at her. She knew that little device wanted to fight. She patted its head with a finger and said, "When we get there, we van bust some heads. I promise." The little Inzecter seemed to have understood and bounced excitedly.

Terra floated down and flew alongside the T-Car. "Got anything?" she asked. The Cutter Inzecter was clutching to her shoulder, clicking its mandibles. "Because Cutter here can't wait until we get to fight."

"Well, Pluto thinks the device is cloaked, so that's why we can't get a reading," Cyborg told her. "He did say we should find any EM wave readings instead just incase. If we find that, we find the device."

"Good," Terra nodded. "Because I don't want to see the city go into mass hysteria."

"Too late," Beast Boy said. "People are already evacuating the city." He pointed ahead, "And it looks like we're in the middle of it." There was a traffic jam in front of them with people desperate to get out of the city. Police were trying to calm the situation down and direct them out safely. It didn't seem to work.

"OK, I guess this Joker really has one nasty sense of humor," Renia said.

"You got that right," all three older Titans said in unison.

After hours of searching, Pluto's work had finally paid off as he was finally able to pinpoint the two signals. "Yeah, I got them!" On the map, one signal emanated from the amusement park. The other signal was situated at an old abandoned toy factory. They appeared to be ideal places for the Joker to set up shop.

"That's great!" Blackfire said excitedly. She had full confidence in her boyfriend's abilities, despite his numerous failures, and it appeared that her encouragement had paid off coming from the smile on his face.

"OK, now to call the others!" he tapped into the communications link.

"Hello, Pluto, sister," Starfire greeted. She entered the Special Ops room to see Pluto hard at work at the console diligently. She could see the display of the entire city's map and two red dots flashing. "So, you have found the locations of the Joker and his device?"

"Sure did!" Pluto grinned as he looked at the red haired princess. "The Joker is going down! No way can he hide from the greatest genius in the world!" Pluto may not have been very modest, but right now he had every right to brag.

"Glorious!" Starfire cheered. "I shall go tell Tim immediately!" She then flew back to Robin's room to tell him the good news. It was nice to see her smiling. Maybe she could get Robin to relax more.

'Was that Kori?' Shadowcobra's voice came through the com-link. 'She sounded happy.'

"Oh, she just got some good news, but I think Pluto can tell you that," Blackfire spoke.

"Shadow, I got the coordinates and sending them to you guys now," Pluto reported through Shadowcobra's SNK-Phone. The coordinates appeared on the viewing screen of his phone. Shadowcobra was surprised, but then again Pluto had grown to become more competent than when he originally met him.

"So, Pluto knows where the broadcast came from?" Raven inquired. Shadow smirked at her.

"Yes, he does." Shadow added, "The others are going to meet us there."

"Brace yourselves!" Cyborg called out as he hit the accelerator. Renia was pressed up against her seat as the T-Car went fast, REALLY FAST! Luckily, they were in an area where traffic was pretty much nonexistent. The people living in this area must've cleared out of town fast.

"Cyborg, is this really necessary!?" Renia yelled out, clutching the upholstery for dear life. Her Inzecter hopped into her jacket. "You're going WAY too fast!"

"Hey, we're running out of time, so yeah!" Cyborg yelled back. "Beast Boy, don't you dare get slobber on my new paintjob!"

Beast Boy morphed back from a dog and pulled his head back in. "Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted…" he sighed.

"Hey, guys!" Terra shouted. "Wait up!" She was chasing after them on her boulder. "I can't go that fast!" Well, unless she was in her Cutter Speed Mode armor but she didn't have that luxury at the moment. The Cutter Inzecter was clutching to her jacket by its pinchers so that it wouldn't fly off.

Copycat leapt from rooftop to rooftop, looking for anything that might lead to the Joker. She had brought her CAT-Phone along to keep in touch with Slade and the others.

When Slade had sent her out, Copycat could see that the city was in an uproar due to a message from a clown. Well, said clown was infamous and his message created the appropriate effect of causing panic, chaos and pandemonium. She knew Slade didn't like it one bit. This was his city. The Joker should just return to Gotham and stay out of Jump.

So far she had nothing, until…

"Shadow, I got the coordinates and sending them to you guys now," Pluto's voice came through. Apparently, she had hacked into the Titans' communications link and was listening in on them, spying on them, listening to their every word and watching their every move. The screen on her phone displayed the map as well as the coordinates.

She purred under her helmet as her eyes glowed red, "Excellent…" In an instant, her form vanished as she teleported. If anyone was going to get the Joker it would be her and she would stop his device. It would be fun to cause Joker's little 'joke' to backfire.

All this was for her beloved 'Slade-sama' who had become her father and mentor. Not to mention, Rosey and Cathy, two of the most important girls in her life.

Brimstone was studying Robin curiously with his glowing yellow eyes as the Boy Wonder continued to hold himself. Kori's life story had somehow struck a cord in him. Despite all the hardships in her life, Starfire appeared so innocent and full of life. He finally realized that it had just been a mask. Then again, he had seen her before when she had been just a savage warrior, roaring, growling and snarling as she nearly destroyed the city in an effort to remove her handcuffs. He had moved to Jump to get away from Bruce. Bruce wanted him to stop as soon as he finished his therapy sessions. However, Tim was just as stubborn and after an argument between them, Tim packed up and left. They hadn't kept in touch much except through Alfred who relayed message between the two.

Silkie had crawled into his room, obviously looking for its mistress and followed the scent into Robin's room. Brimstone motioned for the mutant worm to come closer. Both pets had gained an understanding and become friends, despite them nearly trying to eat each other at some point during their first meeting. Brimstone had been just a small puppy back then but now he was the size of a full grown Doberman. The others who had gone to Azarath knew how big a Kaiser could be when they saw the Alpha that Draco had defeated

The door slid open as Starfire flew into his room and hugged him. Surprised by this, he hugged her too. He then looked at her in bewilderment. "Starfire?" he asked, "What's going on!"

"Oh, Pluto has found where the Joker and his device are!" she cheered. "Now they are going to confront and stop him."

Robin frowned. No way was it going to be this easy. It was the Joker they were dealing with and if he knew the Joker like he remembered than the Joker had hidden the real 'punch line' to his 'joke' and was waiting to launch it.

He just hoped his friends would realize that before it was too late.

"You sure this is the place?" Draco asked, uncertainly, as he stared up at the building.

"Pluto said the signal led to here," Shadowcobra told him. He couldn't understand why Draco was being so apprehensive. Then again, the sign was quite intimidating. It looked like a clown, after all.

All 5 of them (Shadowcobra, Raven, Draco, Jinx and Mortuary) were standing in front of an old abandoned toy factory. It had been left for years and looked like something out of the Wicked Scary series. Paint was chipped off and graffiti 'decorated'. The eerie and dark atmosphere made it look like the perfect place for Joker to set up shop with the taste he had, the clown face staring at them with an unnatural large lopsided grin.

The factory had been closed down for years. Apparently, there was a scandal. Parents had complained about dangerous toys that had been a health hazard to children. There was media coverage on the issue as well. With all the complaining parents and bad publicity, sales dropped and eventually the factory had to be closed down for the sake of the children. Many people lost their jobs as a result of this but they had recovered by finding new ones.

Shadow was not a clown fan. He'd had several bad birthday parties in the past when his mother had hired a clown. The makeup, big red nose, colorful costumes and big feet just seemed so…unnatural to him. It had imprinted upon him as a phobia that lasted throughout most of his childhood. Now, he was no longer afraid of clowns but instead loathed them with a passion. That day when they had gone to the Black Clown, he was half tempted to beat up the clown passing out balloons as well as destroy the clown on the sign. He knew his brother Devlin would've done just that. The boy was also violently afraid of clowns.

One day, he would buy this property and refurbish it into something a little more pleasant. Maybe provide new jobs for people. As a business man, he could not ignore possible future business ventures

"I don't know, but it seems too easy," Jinx said. "The Joker can't just leave himself unguarded." It had to be a trap.

"I agree," Raven nodded, "We better keep our eyes peeled." She scanned the area for anything. The Joker might just jump out and surprise them before they knew it.

"Right, let's split up then," Shadowcobra said, earning a look from Jinx and Draco. "What?"

"Split up? You sure about that?" Jinx asked. "I don't think that's a good idea in this place."

"We'll cover more ground that way," Shadowcobra told her, "Or are you scared?"

"No, but…" Jinx gulped.

"We still have our communicators, but if it makes you feel better, we'll split up into two groups. I'll go with Raven," Shadowcobra said.

Mortuary muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Big surprise…"

"And you three are together. Keep your communicators on," Shadowcobra finished. With that, he and Raven entered the factory.

"Perimeter search?" Mortuary suggested.

"Good idea," Draco nodded in agreement.

"Hey, you!" someone shouted at them. "You kids shouldn't be here!" The trio of Titans turned to see who had addressed them. At the same time, Mortuary's Orphenoch Tracker began to alert him.

Beast Boy, Terra, Cyborg and Renia drove into the amusement park. It was closed for the night and from the looks of it no one was around.

Then they found a pile of dust lying with the security guard's uniform. They were in the right place.

"He's been here," Renia said as she cupped some of the ash and let it flow through her fingers. She dusted her hands off. She had analyzed the ash and it was organic. This was proof enough for Ryuki's theory.

"Looks like the Joker really is an Orphenoch, huh?" Beast Boy shuddered. They had rarely fought Orphenochs, but they knew those monsters were tough. He briefly remembered when they tangled with and fought the Ifrit Orphenoch/Draco. They weren't exactly your run-of-the-mill monsters. These monsters used to be humans. Orphenochs briefly reminded Beast Boy of werewolves and vampires from some old horror movies he'd seen before.

"We better find where that device is, and fast," Cyborg said. Nearly 7 hours had passes since they received the challenge. "Then we can shut it and the Joker down." They were going to do it, for Robin. He had been through enough because of the Joker. They were his friends so it was like their sacred duty.

"Music to my ears," Renia grinned, rubbing her hands together. She herself had fought Orphenochs in her Locust Inzecter armor and she was confident that this would be a piece of cake like all those other times. Just one strong punch in the chest and they would crumble down to ashes.

"Just don't get cocky," Terra advised her 'little sister'. "We don't know what we're dealing with." Terra was being cautious. She had heard stories about the Joker who was also known as the 'Clown Prince of Crime' and 'Harlequin of Hate', and all of them were scary. The Joker was insane, but not on the same level as Slade. At least Slade could foresee the consequences of his actions. The Joker, on the other hand, didn't seem to even care. They had not faced the Joker like Robin had and without him they only had a vague description of what they might face.

"Come on," Renia retorted, "What can happen?"

Famous last words, Crystal Alchemist.

Tazuka walked though the empty streets with his hands in his pockets. It was silent and desolate, much like the Hueco Mundo. He could occasionally sense some sort of spiritual energy, but it was weak. Thankfully, he had no need to eat souls. The Gigai he was wearing actually absorbed the spiritual energy around him, like how a plant would during photosynthesis.

He had seen the broadcast on TV but didn't flee in a panic like all the other citizens in the city. He could still see the police though, trying to do crowd control with limited effect. Humans could be so hysterical. Did they not have faith in their heroes? Guess not. Tazuka, on the other hand, had faith in his otouto and his friends. If anyone could stop the Joker, they could.

He knew that when the device went off, he would be one of the people immune to the effects. He couldn't die laughing since he was already dead to begin with.

He had predicted that one of the Titans would be facing a great challenge. He couldn't see who, but he knew that this experience would make that Titans grow, proven if they survived first.

Meanwhile, a figure was headed for the Tower. Its eyes were locked onto the structure as it began to hum a sadistic tune. The figure then said in a childishly sinister voice, "Little JJ…daddy's back." He then began to hum a tune, which could cause a cold chill to run up a young child's spine.

To Be Continued…

Alright, our players are in their places and all the pieces are in check. What will happen next? Stay tune for the next exciting chapter, my readers! You'll love it.

OK, I know Starfire's race can transfer knowledge/language through kissing (lip contact) so I theorize it might be a psychic ability through touch or slightly empathic. I mean, you can't just learn a foreign language through kissing just like that without some kind of transfer process. So, I thought that maybe Tamaraneans can let others see their memories through kissing as well, maybe not languages and skills but maybe some memories, images and etcetera.

So, any ideas of what may happen next? Be glad to hear them. Read and Review and make the review nice, long and good.