Back at Titans Tower, the team returned. Starfire was ecstatic about her lucky break- the other Titans, not so much. As the door to the Ops Centre opened she squealed in delight and waltzed in. Nobody accompanied her.

"Come, friends." she called, clasping her hands together. "I shall thank you for my rescue by reciting the Poem of Gratitude- all six thousand verses!"

For a moment, nobody could move a muscle. Then a burnt and bruised

Windflyer raised a badly charred finger.

"Six… thousand?" he rasped.

"Yes, six thousand! You shall get the brunt of them for the courage you showed in dismantling the craft."

Windflyer coughed, spewing ash and remnants of metal everywhere. "Thanks, but… I'm not really interested in listening to such a long poem… and I'm one to talk-"

"I see you haven't changed a bit."

This was new. An unfamiliar person had reached the Tower before them, and now she made herself known. Her voice was like eating red velvet chocolate cake- young, female, smooth, and with a sultry tone that always made you unsure if you were being mocked or not. A teasing smile lay ready to jump off her lips. She looked almost exactly like Starfire- she even wore the same outfit she had been wearing when she met Windflyer. Her figure looked a lot better though- taller, more rounded, and probably older- though Starfire probably would have the same when she had a few more years on her. Her eyes were narrower and had an icy blue sheen- there was, surprisingly, no secondary tone in the humour. In fact, besides those differences, the only thing that told the two apart was their palette; while Starfire's was purple and orange, the woman's took on a metallic and black tone. If the Toa hadn't been well-versed in the culture of Tamaran, he would've sworn that this was Starfire and that the person beside him was her sister.

The mysterious lady jumped off of the couch, which she had been leaning on since they came in. She grinned. "When we were little, I was always rescuing Starfire."

"SISTER!"

Called it.

The two leaped into each other's arms, the elder laughing as Starfire squealed and ran over to hug her. She held up a silky string, upon which a large translucent green gem was held. Starfire gasped upon noticing it, eyes widening as she took in its octagonal shape and numerous facets.

"Brought you a present," Starfire's sister said.

"A Centauri moon diamond?" Starfire looked up at her, eyes narrowed expectantly. "Where did you get-"

"On the Centauri moons, of course." She laughed again and fastened it around her sister's neck. "Oh look, it matches your eyes!"

Starfire beamed and went into a sort of trance. She must have been imagining what she was going to do with the diamond- petting it? Playing with it? Windflyer wasn't sure. That girl didn't have everything together.

"You must meet my friends!" Starfire yelled, snapping out of her daydream and dragging her sister across the Ops Centre before she could object. Now the elder Tamaranean stood before the Titans, and the Toa was able to take in her aura from up close. He had to admit- while he hadn't really had any romantic tinglings since he'd come here; the girl was pretty damn stunning. (And that meant a lot- Lewa'd been very much infatuated with Onua, and the Toa of Earth wasn't much to look at. Literally.)

Starfire smiled. "I wish to introduce my big sister."

Windflyer waved weakly. "Um- hello-hi-"

"Blackfire." Starfire flinched at her straightforwardness- it seemed she found it a bit concerning. "And since Star told me all about the Titans in her transmissions, lemme guess…"

Blackfire pointed to a random team member. "Cyborg."

He held out a hand. "Pleased to meet you, little lady."

She took it and shook harshly, the robotic man being surprised to find that her grip had been hard enough to slightly damage his armour and temporarily squeeze his fingers out of alignment.

Cyborg frowned. "Little lady, big handshake," he muttered. He shrugged. "Well, all right."

Blackfire smiled and turned to- "Raven. Love that gemstone on your Ajna chakra."

The witch was, shockingly enough, impressed. "You… know about chakras?"

"I got way into meditation on Altara Prime," Starfire's sister replied. Next she came to…

"Beast Boy!" Blackfire grinned, giving him a fakeout high five before surprising him with a real one. "What's up?"

"Nothing but the ceiling, baby."

She laughed. "Good one!"

Beast Boy grinned in return, gave her a high five back and turned to Raven. "See?" he whispered discretely. "She thinks I'm funny!"

Raven sighed. "Statistically, I suppose someone has to."

Beast Boy deflated a bit while Blackfire came to Windflyer. "I don't even need to guess here," she cooed. "You guys are, like… famous!"

He raised a mask ridge. "You… know of me?"

"Are you kidding me? Of COURSE I do, you butt! You're Lewa freakin' Nuva!"

The Toa sighed a bit and looked away. "Well… it's not really 'Lewa freakin' Nuva' now…"

"Who cares? I think you're amazinganyways!You beat up a shadow demon! Saved the world! Fought out of mind control like three times! Plus you're adorable!"

"I am?"

"Ugh, psh. I think everyone in the Lewa Fan Club can agree on that."

Windflyer was admittedly shocked at Blackfire's admiration of him, but that revelation was even MORE of a bombshell. He had a fan club? People LIKED him? His jaw hung open more than the Great Beings built it to. "H… how…"

She smiled at his shock and held up a fist. "News travels fast in the Solis Galaxy. Great job beating Marendar, by the way."

Although Lewa returned the fist, he did not put much vigour into it; no, he was so surprised by this that the fact that Blackfire may have broken his bones did not register. The Tamaranean chuckled.

"And you must be Robin," she said, finally turning to him. Starfire's sister blipped behind the Boy Wonder before he even had a chance to react. His cape began billowing as she played with it. "Oh, I am loving this cape. It's positively luscious!"

Robin smiled. "Thanks! It's a high-density polymerized titanium, ten times stronger than steel."

"Fascinating."

He looked at her appreciatively over his shoulder. As she noticed this, Starfire gasped. This should not have been happening. Robin was HERS!

Blackfire continued to mess with Robin's cape and leaned in closer. "And this mask makes you look ever so mysterious," she breathed, brushing her fingers across his skin and causing him to blush. "I think I might as well-"

"So, beloved sister, what brings you to Earth?"

Starfire had come in and inserted herself between them, ending the admittedly very sexual exchange. The elder Tamaranean sighed and exiled herself to the couch. "I was in the quadrant," she said, leaping over the back and taking a seat. "Thought I'd see if Earthlings like to party. 'Sides, I needed a rest. Nearly got sucked into a black hole on the way here…"

"Black hole?"

"No way!"

"What."

"Cool!"

Windflyer noticed the boys' departure to the couch and frowned. "How did you-"

Blackfire smirked. "Okay," she said, holding up her hands to illustrate. "So I'm cruising through the Draconis Nebula, and-"

"Sister! That nebula is full of black holes! You KNOW travel there is forbidden.

Nobody knew how to respond, not even Blackfire. Not even RAVEN, for that matter. Everyone looked at Starfire funnily.

"Most fun things in life are," deadpanned Blackfire, head propped on the board of the couch. "Now be a sweetie and bring me one of those 'sodas' I've heard so much about." She turned back to the boys. "Aaanyway, I'm zooming over an event horizon, approaching light speed, when all of a sudden…"

Starfire did not care to listen more. She walked towards the kitchen, leaning down to the area underneath the counter and pulling open the door of a small fridge.

"Starfire-"

"Sister, are you alright?"

"Oh, I am quite alright," Starfire growled disgruntledly, looking into the fridge and grabbing a can of soda from the top shelf. "I merely see she has not changed either."

Back in deep space, the alien probes streaked through the stars. They eventually approached a large floatin' vessel, which they eventually entered via docking tube- they had returned to the station. As they slid into position, a light on top of the tube began glowing; three cases out of four were bright green. One was flashin' red. In a shadowy nook, Deputy Superintendent Qarvasse Mortenze looked over his crewmen expectantly.

"Well? How'd ya do?"

'Helios' sighed and scuffed the floor with his boot. "Our target was not located, sir. The drones… have failed."

Deputy Superintendent Qarvasse Mortenze frowned. "Cadet… really, Cadet? Have they?"

He looked down to a control panel held up beside him, upon which information on the probes was shown. Each drone was represented by an outline; as before, three were green while one stayed red. The Deputy Superintendent then reached down and pressed the odd one out with a clawed finger, watchin' as the screen gave way to a feed from its camera- at the moment, it seemed to show Earth.

"What about this one, huh?" he asked. "It's not back yet. I haven't heard a peep from Vega since he went down there."

"Is that… bad?" Jenny whimpered.

Qarvasse Mortenze smiled reassuringly. "Nah, not really. Ain't too hard to bring him back. See, the main issue I have with this is… she's there."

"How can you tell, sir?"

"I saw a bit of that… eh… that blackwash he got when the Titans beat 'im. He's down in some river, right? Still alive?"

'Libra' raised an eyebrow and walked up to the monitor. "I believe so, yeah. Why?"

"See… he can still communicate with us. And now he's on Earth." Qarvasse Mortenze was very excited. "If he's always right… and that was Komand'r he ended up findin'…"

"We'll find the girl there."

"Correctamundo! We'll find her there!" Qarvasse Mortenze was now smilin' wickedly, gaining that look in his eyes that assured one that he did not want to spend a night alone in a haunted house with him. "HELIOS! Back to the cop car! You're goin' down to Earth with me! LIBRA! Stay here and man the controls! Don't want any communications hiccups! JENNY… " He raised a finger, "eh… dunno…"

Jenny smiled. "I can cheer you guys on!"

The Deputy Superintendent perked. "Yeah yeah yeah, do that! Cheer us on! We're gonna need the support." Qarvasse Mortenze began walkin' to his vehicle. "Westward ho, men. An intergalactic criminal is causin' havoc on some stupid planet and WE'RE gonna be the ones to bring 'er down!"

"YEAH!"

"We rule!"

"ShaddUP, Jenny."

"Yes, sir."

The man is not malicious at all. He is in fact very nervous, small and weak. Yet Brother Blood is angry all the same. His face contorts into something resembling a cross between anger and plain condescension.

"What do you want?" he hisses.

The man tightens, face paling. "Um- I'm only h-here for the tapes, as r-requested by-"

"Requested by WHO?"

"Well- you see- I can't r-really…" A sigh. "He goes by Slade, actually."

Brother Blood lets go of the grip he had had on the man's tie and frowns. "And this Slade is…"

"Er- Slade Wilson, the famous assassin… sir…"

"I don't know a Slade Wilson."

The man is now sweating profusely. Brother Blood seems to be honestly considering killing him- but he would never do that, right?

"You know!" Portly fellow grins a toothy grin. "The man who was always at this school? For his son?"

"And WHO is his 'son'?"

"Uh- um- uh…"

Brother Blood growls, picks the man up again. "I have no time for petty guessing games. There is WORK to be done! Tell me NOW!"

"Gak!" His captor is now quickly running out of breath. You consider doing something, but do not know if your master would complain. Wait… your master…

"I- well… h- his daughter's name is- Hrrk!"

Okay. That's enough. Master or not, opponents must never be allowed to kill each other in the arena.

The man's face has turned blue by this point. In spite of his anger, Brother Blood is smiling. The man has self-control.

"No more playing around," he whispers.

"Wait! I- only came- hrrk- only came here for the-"

"STOP!"

WHUMP.

The man has been released safely on the ground; his skin is still very pale, but he is alive and breathing. Brother Blood stands beside him, hands still open and mouth now gaping. He once again seems to have his anger/condescension face on.

"What. Did. You. Do?" The principal enunciates each word very clearly, almost spitting in his shock.

You have placed your hands out, preventing the two combatants from engaging each other again. Brother Blood tries to circumvent this, but is unsuccessful.

You frown. "I couldn't allow you to kill him."

Brother Blood is silent for a second, then gives you a shaky smile. "Kiina- I didn't intend to do that. HIVE is very much above murder, and only does it when necessary." He leans in to your face. "Between you and me," he jokes, "he would've died pretty easily anyway."

"But that's no reason to-"

"Ah ah ah!" He is tut-tutting now. It seems disrespectful and patronizing, but what can you do? "Master's views first. I understand your concern, but we have to be extremely careful of each visitor we process here. In fact," Brother Blood muses, hand on chin, "I'm not sure how he got past security."

A weak voice rings out. "Tea and cakes, sir. Not to mention the guards are always up for a fair bit of cricket."

Brother Blood frowns. "Oh, good. You're awake."

"Can't stay asleep a mite too long!" Portly man grins.

"Eh. Very well. Why are you here, again?"

"I already told you, sir… I'm here for the tapes-"

"Under Wilson. Yes, I know. Who is his son?"

"Oh!" The visitor narrows his eyes. "Bloody hell, Blood, I thought you would've recognized me by now…"

"I don't," Blood says. "Kiina?"

You-

"She says she doesn't know of you either." Brother Blood turns to his desk, brandishing your papers. "Now if you don't mind, we'll be back to training, and you can be back to-"

"Or Grant?"

An eyebrow shoots up. "Who?"

"Grant… Wilson?"

In a flash, Brother Blood is back to the man. "Grant Wilson? The Grant Wilson? I regret to believe I'm right, but it very much seems like…"

"Yep!" the man says, red returned to his cheeks and personality returned to his brain. "That's him. I'm his butler… or I was, anyway… now I'm-"

Blood glowers at him. "Deathstroke's," he spits. "Of course." He growls inwardly. "The Ravager's father?"

"The very one?"

"Yes siree!"

"Damn it!"

Brother Blood doesn't seem very happy. It is pretty obvious even from your perspective, but still. You wonder if there is something you can do.

"Is there a problem, Brother… Blood?" you ask, touching his shoulder.

"No," he returns. "Not particularly. We just have a very… mellow relationship with the Wilson family."

"And it's not one I intend to continue pursuing," the man says. He stands- not an easy task to do when someone who is surprisingly fit has nearly crushed your windpipe. "I'll just be fine with getting the tapes, then I'll be off. That okay with you, sir?"

"Gladly." He freezes, not interested in watching the man look through his shelves. Then he turns to him regardless. "Oh- whomever you are- might want to be careful of-"

WHAM!

Blood winces. "The books."

"Whomever You Are"'s head pops out of the pile it has created. "I'm okay!"

"Yes. Very okay." Blood sighs, facepalms, and points to the door. "Just- just go-"

An old-fashioned salute. "William Wintergreen, sir, at your service!"

"Yes, thank you… Go and find the Headmistress, William. She will have a much better handle on this situation than I. I am just a lonely principal, after all."

Wintergreen smiles. "Wh- Whatever you say! I'll be off in a jiffy, don't get your knickers in a twist." He wiggles his form out of the books, jumps off, and is out the door much slower than he had intended.

Brother Blood finally turns to you for the first time since Wintergreen had entered. He beams warily, gaze hardened. You do the same.

"Good riddance."

"I agree. Good riddance." You frown. "But… Master… what was the issue? Why didn't you just kill him like you'd wanted to?"

"Because…" Master sighs, "he is… and I say this honestly… a twit. A total, absolute twit. His idiocy is part of the reason Deathstroke pulled Ravager out of the Academy in the first place."

"Ah." You can understand. Those kinds of guys come a dime a plenty in Tajun.

"Gresh?"

Your eyes widen in shock? "Gresh? How did you know?"

"I- I- erm…" Master does not seem to know how to respond.

"WHERE IS HE?"

Master chuckles sheepishly. "He is… he is… not here at the moment! But he will be! I have just sent him out on a mission."

Gresh? On a MISSION? ALONE? That honestly seems pretty absurd. You're not sure whether to believe Master Brother Blood or not. Because while the guy is very skilled, he wouldn't have the tenacity to-

"No worries, no worries! He's fine. I trained him well. And now I will train you-"

You reach over and PULL his robe down to you harshly. "TAKE me to him!"

"So that we may-"

This guy can't make any more excuses. You KNOW he's kidnapped Gresh. Has to have. Probably keeping you here as ransom, to make you his loyal-

his loyal…

his loyal…

what are you

what are you…

I only want to help…

Doing?

Why were you holding on to Master like that? Not only is it very rude, but also it's dangerous. You let go and give off an apologetic smile. He seems to take it okay

Master pats you on the head. The contact feels nice. "Don't tire yourself out," he says. "We still need to train."

"For what? " you ask.

"A lot, my Kraken. A whole, whole lot."

It was now-

"Wait, why am I named Kraken?"

"You were a creature of the sea. Found in it. Used it to beat the Gordanians. The name suits you."

You smile. "Oh, okay."

Yes- Kraken does suit you. Because it represents what you will do to the guys who have kidnapped Gresh- the Teen Titans. You do not know why you know who they are, but they're supposed to be deadly. Very deadly. Won't be to you once you're done with 'em.

(God damn it. Lobo, was that you?)

NO

(Sure. Let's just go with that.)

Yes… let's.

Day dawned on Titans Tower. Sunlight glinted over the glass and the waves. In a hallway, Starfire walked with purpose.

"Sister?"

No response.

"Sister?" she called again, this time a bit louder. "Sister, I seek your companionship!"

Starfire looked around a bit and found a game of Speed Racing taking place on the monitor. Two vehicles were rocketing down a twisting, winding track, one white and one green. Both fought to take the lead for a while before the green one sped in front and began blocking the white's attempts to overtake it. On the couch, Cyborg and Beast Boy's expressions said it all.

"You want to pass me," Cyborg panted, frantically pushing buttons on his controller, "but you can't pass me. You can't pa-" He gaped; Beast Boy gave a triumphant smirk. "Yo! You passed me!"

Beast Boy laughed dramatically and began consolidating his lead. "Tighten the turn… jets… and… NITRO!"

He jumped onto the couch, dancing in joy. Cyborg slumped over as he sat down again. Starfire steeled herself and walked up to the two.

"Tell me, have either of you seen Blackfire?"

"Blazin' B?" Beast Boy responded. "She was here just a second ago… oh."

Cyborg had taken the lead. Beast Boy felt himself tighten up as the robotic man relished in his revenge. Back in Speed Racing, Cyborg's vehicle advanced by the guardrail, giving off sparks, before smashing Beast Boy's aside and moving ahead.

"Aw YEAH! Back in the lead!" Cyborg laughed heartily.

Starfire smiled. "What fun! May I join your game?"

Cyborg frowned. "Can't let ya right now," he said. "Winner plays Blackfire."

"Yeah," Beast Boy gushed, even though he was losing. "She rules at this game!"

"Oh!" She beamed. "That is… that is…" Then she deflated and sighed. "I see. That is great. You may continue to have fun."

Starfire left the boys to their own business and began walking down the halls again. After a while, she came to a set of doors with differently coloured LED screens- these were the Titans' rooms. The Tamaranean walked up to one with a dark blue tinge and knocked on the door. It slid open a tinge before a pair of amethyst eyes appeared.

"Is… is my sister in there?"

"No," Raven intoned, beginning to close the entrance to her darkened sanctuary.

"Oh…" Starfire suddenly perked. "Wait! Might you wish to hang out with me? We could visit your favourite depressing café."

The witch exhaled and muttered something under her breath. "Already been," she said more loudly. "It was open mike night and Blackfire wanted to share." Raven smiled a bit. "Your sister's poetry is surprisingly dark."

Starfire sighed again, allowed Raven to close her door, and headed back down the hall. To her surprise, Windflyer was sitting on a beanbag chair outside the gym. As he had been prone to do since his arrival, he was reading.

"Greetings, Windflyer," she said with a wave. "What brings you here?"

"Reading," the Toa returned nonchalantly, not even looking up from his book.

Starfire walked up to the chair and began looking over his shoulders. "Interesting. May I read also?"

"Pull up a chair," Lewa said. He hugged the one he was sitting on. "I like this one way too much."

"Very well." She sat down beside him. "Which book are you the consuming today, friend?"

Windflyer raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you liked reading, sister."

"At times I will peruse a few to 'digest' the important information." Starfire frowned. "Though… I have found it very surprising that it seemingly does the nothing. Whenever I try bits of paper always end up in my throat."

"It's… that expression's not literal."

"Really? I was not aware."

Windflyer waved her off. "N- never mind," he choked. "This one is… uh…"

He knew very well what the title of the book was. But he didn't know if he would want to show it to Starfire. It was WAY too mature for her tastes- then again, though, she did go through tons of incredibly gruesome torture and come out all the better for it…

It didn't matter. She reached over and picked his read up anyway. Looking over the cover, she scrunched her nose. "The Catcher In The… 'Rye'? I do not understand. Does this mean to imply he is literally in the rye?"

"I don't… think so? Apparently it means he's protecting kids. I haven't read enough of it to be sure-"

Starfire began flipping through the pages and-

"Done!"

The Toa gaped. "Already?"

"You would be surprised to know that we do not do much reading on my planet," she said with a triumphant smile.

Windflyer scoffed and took the copy back. "Yeah. Like I'm gonna believe Superman does it."

Starfire raised a brow. "But he… does? Kryptonians have much of the same abilities Tamaraneans do."

"Like ignoring your closest friends," Windflyer mumbled. "Whatever. It's not terribly important. Did you like the book?"

"A tad," Starfire said. "Mostly I was left wondering why this Holden Caufield wastes his time pursuing unworthy affairs when his time would be better spent with those he cares about."

"But he does care. For some of the prostitutes, anyway- Ugh!" He raised a hand. "I gotta say," Windflyer mused, hand on mask, "from what I've read, I really, really hate this thing. I'd wanted to read something with more heart, but Kumi…"

He paled. "Um."

Starfire narrowed her eyes and hardened her gaze. "Continue."

"Well… y'see… I've really wanted somebody to read with, and no one's ever interested. So when Kumi-"

"WHO is 'Kumi'?"

"It's- it's-"

The answer seemed to hang in his throat, strangled by the cables that lined it. "You don't happen to have… issues with her, do you?"

"'Issues'? No, I do not," Starfire growled. "Why do you ask?"

"Because- you weren't very happy when she told you to get drinks, and I could've sworn there was some friction at breakfast…"

"She did not HAVE breakfast! She merely stole mine!" She lunged towards Windflyer. "Am I correct in assuming we are both talking about the same person?"

"Well…"

Windflyer sighed. "Yes. Kumi seems to be okay with you, though…"

"Know that I am not okay with Blackfire being here and that I request to Robin that she be banished from this tower IMMEDIATELY!"

"Okay, I'll see what I can- urk." He wheezed and thrashed around a bit. "Mind letting me go first? I was gonna go talk to Blackfire anyway, about changing our book, but she's been busy helping out-"

"Is THAT why you were situated here? To stalk my sister and swoon over her? I CANNOT BELIEVE-"

"Sister! Tone down the anger," Windflyer said, getting up off the beanbag. "I- know you're upset, but we don't want the Tower to explode…"

Whoooosh!

He smiled. "Oh, perfect timing! Give me a minute to go in and see what she-"

"That's perfect, Robin."

"Oh."

The shadows of Blackfire and Robin appeared on the wall, through the door to the gym that had now been opened. Their shadows were close enough to be touching, and after a while literally were. This was enough to make Blackfire's sister gasp, eyes bugging out."

"Hold me just like that," Blackfire continued, "and…"

She threw Robin across the room, the bystanders watching as the Boy Wonder spun around and crashed into a rack of dumbells. Starfire was not happy, to say the least.

"That is enough," she whispered, eyes now glowing.

"Learned that move from a Ven-Zo master on Tyrus Three," Blackfire said as a badly injured Robin got up and righted himself. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing the door open.

"Fly?" he said incredulously. "How long have you been… standing there?"

"Long enough to know Kumi can give you a serious beat-pounding," Windflyer deadpanned.

"Hello, Robin…" Starfire said, entering, "…and… my sister. Are we interrupting?"

Robin smiled. "Not at all. Blackfire- or Kumi, as Windflyer so elegantly puts it-"

"Thank you."

"Was just showing me some alien martial arts. How come you guys never taught me these cool moves?"

Windflyer pondered this a bit. "Well… Hydraxon's moveset is pretty similar to yours…"

Starfire could not answer.

"For Starfire, at least, it's probably because she doesn't know them. I always was the better fighter. Which reminds me-" Blackfire gestured to Windflyer- "you should come and expand your moveset with us, Lee. Over here!" she yelled, leading the two away. "I'll show you wimps the technique I once used to stop a raging orthax!"

Blackfire's sister stared at Windflyer for a moment. He winced before slowly turning to her and shrugging. She looked back, gazing at the two bug-eyed, then nodded sadly and hung her head.

Wintergreen was pumped. He'd just been told that he could go and see the Headmistress after all. The thought made him so happy. Of course, Brother Blood hadn't been too chuffed… and come to think of it, that water girl wasn't chummy either. Not much skin off his nose.

Slade hadn't been clear on what he'd been supposed to get. The HIVE Academy offered many materials to help its students and their parents on their journey to success. One of such included tapes, recorded at the beginning of each summer to showcase that year's top graduates. Grant had always been at the head of his class, so the family had seen many more than they should. The guy already knew how the kids were handled. Why did he need to see more?

(To be fair, though, Rose and Joey had never aced their courses either, and Rose was a troublemaker. Joey was just… Joey. Why did this matter? No particular reason. He just wanted to point out that Slade had had a point in pulling his kids out of HAEYP, even if it had been contrived.)

If this was Slade Wintergreen was sure he was working with…

Oh yeah. He definitely wanted fresh blood. The robots and the warehouse obviously weren't enough. Action needed to be taken.

Wintergreen came up to a giant golden door, a lone battalion in a constant sea of yellow honeycomb. The placement was a bit awkward, but this was it. The Headmistress's office. Where he and Slade had been countless times to talk about the students, their grades, and behavior. Now the butler was here for an entirely different purpose.

He hesitated for a moment then readied himself. The HIVE Headmistress was prim and proper. He would have to act, even if it pained him, the same way. The fate of the contract depended on it.

Wintergreen reached up as high as he possibly could, sighed when he realized he couldn't get to it, then pulled out a long pole and attached it to the cast-iron bee used as a doorknocker. Then he put it up and let it go.

Writing is hard.

1. Blackfire seems like the kind of person who'd be in the know about a lot of things. The whole Spherus Magna thing seems like something that'd pop up often. Nice little connection for you there.

2. This take on the Centauri is probably concerning to a lot of you it is to me but trust me I know where I'm going with it.

3. Blood's hypnosis isn't strong enough to keep people in his control yet. It'll get that way after some time.

4. Each book Lewa reads is supposed to correspond to the plot of an episode in some way. This one... doesn't... because Blackfire told him not to read a related book (as you'd expect.) If I were to pick something relevant, it would probably be Jane Eyre, Little Women or one of the Bionicle books themselves.

5. More connection between the episodes and the comics. That's always fun.

Read and review!