The signature red jet pulled away from the Tower as it steadily accelerated, its powerful turbojet engines roaring their sovereignty over the sky. Rachel sat at the controls in the main cockpit. She had never been officially trained in flying the T-Ship, but since she had all of Raven's memories it turned out that piloting the powerful jet was second nature to her. The red jet was virtually identical to its orange predecessor, except that each of the five compartments could seat two passengers, for a total of ten passengers.

Initially she was heading south bound, until local air traffic control authorized her to change direction, so that she could head east to her final destination, San Antonio, Texas, the Alamo City. As she banked to her left she could see the Tower's silhouette in the distance. She gazed longingly at the T shaped tower and sighed.

"Don't look back … that's the past." She murmured to herself as turned her attention forward and throttled the engines to full power as she gently pulled back on the yoke. Like a red firebird, it screamed as it climbed into the stratosphere. Within a few minutes she reached her cruising altitude and leveled off. Jump City bay was no longer visible behind her and she programmed the autopilot to follow the route in her flight plan. The green autopilot indicator lit up and she released the controls. In about 3 hours she would be in San Antonio.

Rachel made herself comfortable in her seat and looked over her reading materials for the flight. In addition to an old book written in Sumerian that Raven gave her as a parting gift, and a Spanish primer and dictionary there were several manila folders. The first one she grabbed had several technical diagrams for the still under construction Titans Tower South. Like the original and unlike the tower in Steele City it was a freestanding T shaped structure. According to the diagrams it was to be almost twice as tall as the original tower in Jump City, standing a nearly 700 feet in height and would be one of the tallest buildings in the county. This was because the plan for the team was to have ten members, that way they could handle two missions simultaneously.

Like the first two towers, the new tower needed to be separate and removed from the city for security reasons. Being land locked, San Antonio lacked a bay to provide such seclusion. While it would have been nice to have the Tower built across the street from the Alamo or along the tony and tourist oriented Riverwalk, neither location was practical.

The Tower was being built on a 1000 acre campus halfway between the metropolitan San Antonio area and neighboring New Braunfels. It was located near a major highway which would make the delivery of supplies efficient yet remote enough to guarantee that there would be no innocent neighbors who would be close enough to suffer collateral damage should the Tower ever be attacked.

The campus would eventually consist of various buildings beyond the Tower and due it its centralized location would serve as a meeting place and training center for future Titans.

Rachel closed the folder and returned it to the box where several other folders were waiting. They were dossiers on candidates for the new team. Three of the folders were rubber banded together and Rachel grabbed those ones first. There was a large sticky note on them, written in Robin's handwriting.

Pantha recommends these.

Rachel removed the rubber band and opened the first folder. A 5x7 photograph slid out of the folder and into her free hand. It was the picture of a female wearing a costume eerily reminiscent of the Red X costume Robin designed years before. It was black, with a tattered cape and a skull like mask, though her mask more closely resembled a real skull.

"Creepy … I like her already." Rachel murmured

She looked at the single sheet resume in the folder.

Name: Mireya Ochoa

Code name: La Calavera

Rachel opened a Spanish/English dictionary, and began to thumb through it.

"Calavera … here it is … the skull … nice."

She continued reading.

Super powers: None

Skills: Super martial artist, computer hacker, detective

Languages: Spanish

Rachel frowned.

"Oh well, if we're gonna work in Mexico, I should try and become fluent. Plus it will help in San Antonio"

Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico

Age: 16

Experience: 2 years

Associations: Works with El Trompetista (current boyfriend) and El Relampago (cousin) and Pantha (mentor)

"So they're already one big happy family. That helps, I guess, unless they form a clique within the team."

She opened the second folder. The picture was of a very handsome young man dressed as a Mariachi and holding a trumpet.

"Sorry, amigo, you're gonna get a new costume." She snickered as she read the dossier.

Name: Javier Amezcua

Code name: El Trompetista

Super powers: Can create a potent sonic blast with any brass wind instrument.

"I guess a tuba is too big to carry around."

Skills: Martial artist, detective

Languages: Spanish, some English

Hometown: Saltillo, Mexico

Age: 16

Experience: 2 years

Associations: Works with La Calavaera (current girlfriend) and El Relampago and Pantha

Rachel closed the folder and opened the last one.

"And you must be El Relampago"

Rachel pulled out her dictionary and began to search again.

"El Relampago … The Thunderbolt."

A more ordinary looking boy with a mask, wearing an Electric blue unitard with a red lightning bolt on his chest smiled at her from his glam shot.

Name: Jose Manuel Huerta

Code name: El Relampago

Super powers: Can conjure thunder and lightning.

Skills: None

Languages: Spanish

Hometown: Tampico, Mexico

Age: 16

Experience 2 years

"Looks like he needs some training. Nice powers though."

Raven put away the three recommended dossiers and focused on the remaining ones. These were all inexperienced newbies from north of the border. During the past year, after the formation of Young Justice several honorary Titans defected to the new group. Robin tolerated their turncoat ways for a while, but the breaking point was when Kid Flash joined the Rhode Island based team. He also dumped Jinx in the process and hooked up with a cute blond archer named Artemis. Jinx was still fuming over that betrayal months later.

Rachel remembered that day as if she had been there, though she wasn't, as she hadn't even been cloned yet. Robin went straight to the orbiting Watchtower and read the riot act to the Justice League's senior members. At the end of the meeting, the Young Justice team agreed to cease poaching members from the Titans. Though they had never done the same, Robin agreed that the Titans would also refrain from poaching members from Young Justice.

This of course meant that outside of Pantha's friends, all of the potential recruits had no experience whatsoever. Rachel quickly glanced at the dossiers. All had powers, though it was almost certain that they probably still had trouble controlling them. As she reached the last folder she pulled out the picture.

It was of a handsome young teenager wearing a blue costume with a golden lightning bolt on his chest and a white cape.

"Why does he look familiar?"

Name: Freddy Freeman

Code name: Captain Marvel Junior

Super powers: Wisdom of Solomon, Strength of Hercules, Stamina of Atlas, Power of Zeus, Courage of Achilles and the Speed of Mercury.

Experience: none

Rachel pumped her arm in triumph

"Score!" She shouted gleefully. "Take that, Young Justice!"

Still grinning, she put the dossiers away and grabbed her Spanish textbook, which she began to read.

"Buenos dias, me llamo Rachel. ¿Y usted, como se llama?"

-( scene break )-

Three hours later …

Upon reaching San Antonio airspace, the red T-Ship reverted to manual control and Rachel took the yoke. The local control tower gave her a flight path to the campus, which took her over the downtown area. The river below, surrounded by hotels and other buildings snaked through the downtown area. Within minutes she could see the campus. The Tower almost looked finished, though she knew that was only the exterior and weeks of work remained on the interior, including the installation of all of the electronics systems.

As she approached she saw the temporary modular structures that would serve as the headquarters of Titans South until the Tower was completed. It was quitting time and the numerous construction workers hired to build the massive Tower were getting into their pickup trucks and heading home.

She circled the Tower once and saw the landing field. The blue T-Ship from Titans east was present as Bumblebee volunteered her team to assist Rachel in bringing the new Tower online. She gracefully guided the red T-Ship to a spot next to its blue twin. The turbo jets whined as she shut them down and she was greeted by Pantha, who emerged from one of the trailers. Rachel popped her canopy open and was greeted by the hot, sweltering air.

Rachel levitated out of her cockpit and glided down to where Pantha awaited. The two women shook hands.

"Is it always this hot?"

"Hot? This is cool weather!" Pantha snickered. After seeing the shocked look on Rachel's face she continued. "I'm just kidding; we're having a heat wave."

Pantha stopped talking and stared at Rachel.

"Go ahead, say it, I look just like Raven."

"You do … but you are also different. I like your costume. Raven would never wear something like that. Of course, neither would I, of course I do not have the figure for such a costume. But tell me, how do you put it on, I mean over your behind?"

Rachel's unitard was so tight on her butt that it even highlighted the crack between her cheeks. Pantha was right; Raven wouldn't be caught dead in that leather costume, even though she had the figure for it.

"It's not as hard as it looks … can we go inside? It's hot in this suit; I'll have to change into my cloth one later."

"Yes, yes, the air conditioning is running inside." Pantha replied. "The others are waiting for us there."

Pantha led Rachel to the nearest trailer, which was connected to the others in a modular fashion. As the door opened a soothing blast of cool air caressed her body and she sighed in relief as she entered.

The five members of Titans East were standing around a small table, bantering while they ate some tacos. At first they didn't notice the two women who entered, as they continued to laugh and joke around. At first Rachel felt annoyed at not being noticed, feeling that had Raven walked in they would have noticed her immediately.

Her feeling of neglect was short lived as Speedy was the first to notice her, doing a double take before pointing in her direction.

"She's here." He announced.

The others ceased chatting and stared at the clone. Rachel sighed. Did they really have to stare?

Bumblebee broke away from the group and approached Rachel, extending her hand to welcome her.

"Nice to meet you, Raptor." The winged Titan greeted her.

"Likewise." She replied, the decided to lighten up the situation. "I know I look just like her, so go ahead and take a good look, and get it out of your system." She chuckled.

Mas Y Menos, who were no longer pre-teens, and were now much taller and more muscular as teens, zoomed up to the sorceress.

"Eres muy bonita." Mas flirted with Rachel.

"No te impongas, yo la vi primero." Menos replied.

"No es cierto, fui yo." Mas denied his claim.

Bumblebee placed a calming hand on their shoulders. "That'll be enough guys, neither of you saw her first."

"That's right, because I saw her first!" Speedy crowed.

"Roy! You already have a girlfriend. If Jade finds out that you're flirting with Rachel, you're dead meat on a stick."

It was Rachel's turn to do a double take. "You're dating Cheshire?"

Bumblebee grinned. "It's OK, girl, Jade's been walking on the straight and narrow for a while … under my watchful eye … So how's the gang? They must have been sad to see you go."

Rachel shrugged. "I think they were relieved that I left … Raven and I … we butt heads a lot."

"Well, that's their loss … I have to say, sister, I love your outfit. Raven's costume is so boring."

Raptor snickered. "I know, she looks like she's gonna go for a swim in that dumb leotard."

The two women laughed boisterously.

"Hey, I like swimming." A make voice from behind Rachel interrupted.

Raptor turned around and found herself face to face with Aqualad. Her heart immediately fluttered; the Atlantean was every bit the suave handsome devil her inherited memories remembered. She also remembered how Raven became love struck and went all bashful on him. She sure wouldn't make that mistake.

"Is that all Atlanteans ever think of? Swimming? Is that how you greet a lady in Atlantis?" She replied in a sultry voice.

A smile appeared on Aqualad's face. "Oh, we think about other things." He replied nonchalantly.

"Good, would you like to talk about it? In my room?" Rachel replied as she turned around and began to walk away, shaking her tightly leather clad booty like a pro.

Aqualad stared mesmerized at Raptor's butt. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He finally snapped back to reality when Bumblebee elbowed him.

"Stop staring at her butt."

"I can't help it … it's beautiful."

"Do you ever stare at mine like that?" She asked in an angry tone.

"What? No! Never!"

"And why not?" She asked in an offended tone.

"Because you're the boss … now if you'll excuse me."

Aqualad took off running after Raptor and caught up with her. She smiled at him and hooked her arm into his.

"Actually, I don't know where my room even is … will you show me, Aqualad?"

He grinned happily at the sorceress. "Just call me Garth."

The two disappeared down a hallway. Bumblebee whistled her amazement.

"If that girl is Raven's clone, then I'm Monsieur Mallah. She has Garth eating out of the palm of her hand. Every time Raven talks to him, she gets all shy and tongue tied."

"She is so freakin' hot!" Speedy added.

Mas Y Menos both nodded their agreement.

-( scene break )-

Back in Jump City, a few hours later.

Chasing down Mad Mod turned out to be an exhausting experience, and to add insult to injury, he escaped. The Fab Five trudged into the common room, while Cyborg plopped a stack of pizzas on the table.

"Dinner is served." He announced in an irritated voice.

Robin grabbed a few slices, slapping them onto a paper plate and sat down on the couch. He then remembered that he was going to call San Antonio, just to see if Rachel needed anything. He keyed in the code for the new San Antonio base station and after a few seconds the screen came to life, filled with Rachel's smiling face.

"Whoa! What happened to you guys?"

"Mad mod happened." Cyborg replied. "So how are you doing, little lady?"

"I'm doing great. Your timing is perfect; I was just about to leave on a date."

"A date? Already? You go girl!" Beast Boy cheered.

Starfire clapped her hands. "That is wonderful, friend! Please to introduce us to your date. Is he from the San Antonio?"

Rachel giggled. "Actually … you already know him."

Aqualad appeared on the screen. "Hey guys! Nice to see you."

He turned to Raptor. "Ready to go, Rach?"

"I sure am … sorry guys, gotta run … we'll talk tomorrow." Rachel announced just before the call was disconnected.

The common room was so silent that a pin drop could have been heard. Finally, Raven broke the silence.

"No. Freaking. Way … that isn't possible. How did she pull that off? She bagged Aqualad?"

"It is the unfair … Aqualad was never interested in us … how is it that she has done the scoring of the male Titan with the highest temperature?"

"Now wait a minute!" Robin yelped. "Star, you're my fiancée, how can you say that?"

Starfire looked at him crossly. "Robin, you are my beloved, but Aqualad is far more handsome than you are. Do not take offense, it is simply the truth."

Beast Boy crossed his arms. "Now do you see why I never liked him, Rob?"

Raven looked at her beau. "Oh Gar, don't be jealous."

Beast Boy turned away from her and examined the contents of the pizza boxes. He then walked away without taking any.

"Gar, where are you going?" She called out.

"I'm not hungry, I'm going to bed." He replied.

"Wait!" She called out.

"I've got some paperwork to catch up on. I'll see everyone in the morning." Robin said before marching out right behind Beast Boy. As soon as the doors closed Cyborg burst out laughing. Raven and Starfire gave him a collective glare.

"What's so funny, tin man?" Raven growled at him.

Cyborg continued laughing.

"You are, both of you are … I mean, c'mon … it's the guy's job to be stupid and insensitive … but boy, you got us beat, hands down."

Raven frowned. "He had nothing to be upset about."

"Oh really? So if BB told you that you weren't as pretty as Terra, it wouldn't bug you, you'd be cool with that?"

Raven became wide eyed and then slapped her forehead. "Oh Azar, did I really do that?"

"You sure did, little lady."

Raven now looked mortified. "We should go apologize to them right now."

Cyborg shook his head. "Let them cool off first. You can tell them tomorrow how wonderful they are and how much you love them and that you're stupid and sorry … you know … the things we guys have to say all the time."

"And what if the apologies are not accepted?" Starfire asked nervously. "What if Robin doubts my love for him and calls off our engagement? What will I do?"

"What if Gar doesn't forgive me?" Raven added in a worried tone. "What can I do to show him how sorry I am?"

Cyborg gestured authoritatively with his hands while grinning.

"Well, I can't say this from experience, but from what I've heard, there's nothing that a roll in the hay can't fix."

"What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? Who do you think I am? Rachel?" Raven screeched.

Cyborg snickered. "Hey, you asked."

Using her dark energy, Raven pelted him with the remaining pizza.

-( scene break )-

And thus, part 2 begins.