The situation had successfully turned into a mess but now it gave Beastboy just what he needed; an opening. If it was the last thing he did he was going to teach Raven how to love again and he was going to try to save R.A while he was at. The only question now was how. His mind drifted to possible ideas as he watched the children consoling R.A. He found it strange that no matter how mean they were to her they still cared so deeply for her and their maturity actually surprized him. It was a refreshing change to the behaviour of actual children that were their age.

The room went silent for a moment as everyone stared on at the three. It got Beastboy wondering…why wasn't his son trying to be a part of the consoling…? They were all friends and they all seemed so close. He found himself shuddering as he hoped against all else that his son didn't have some kind of emotional problems. At this point that would have only worsened everything.

Their eyes met for a second and he gestured for him to go comfort her as well. Shock and confusion vied for a foothold in the front of his mind when B.J frantically shook his head then averted his eyes. What was that all about…?

It was another few minutes before anyone spoke.

"Titans I think we—" But Robin was cut off by the sudden sound of the warning system. Immediately all eyes went to the big screen where a video of Slade breaking through the wall of the Science Facility just outside town flashed unto the screens. "Titans Go!" he shouted before bolting from the room. The others wasted no time in running after him. One by one they rushed out to answer the call of duty.

"Soooo…" B.J said , looking around the now empty room. "What are we supposed to do…?"

The other three looked at him, obviously wondering the same thing. All they knew was that there was a loud sound, flashing lights, then an image on a screen.

"We could go after them." R.J suggested.

"But then wouldn't we be in the way?" R.A muttered with more than a little uncertainty. The last thing she wanted to be was a burden to her mother while she was out in the field. That kind of rejection would ultimately cause her to vanish and that was what she was trying so desperately to avoid. She could already see the disapproving look on her mother's face the moment she would arrive and she didn't want to. For as long as she would remain there she made a promise to herself that she wouldn't allow her mother to get angry at her again. If it meant falling into the shadows and only speaking when spoken to then she was prepared to do just that; she was prepared to do anything to get her mother's love.

"Yeah we probably would…"B.J thought aloud. "Maybe we should just stay here where it's safe—"

"Can I tell you that we really are not interested in your input at this moment?" Brigthfire asked, cutting him off mid-sentence. He didn't have anything to say when R.A flickered, he didn't have anything to say when she and her brother were scolding his worthless mother and he didn't have anything to say when the bitch asked them which army would kill her ass so she didn't see why he would need to say anything now. He was nothing but a selfish prick more focused on self-preservation than sympathy for a long time friend. They were all such good friends until they got dragged here and now they were falling apart.

"Well sorry for just trying to think of our safety!" He blurted defensively. He hated when she acted all self-righteous. He knew exactly why she said what she had said and it only annoyed him. They didn't have to be actively fighting for their existence. They didn't know what it was like to know that even the smallest move could change the entire course of the future. All she did was judge based on what she saw. If he had to play hard to earn his keep then he intended to do just that because he wasn't going to go through the second vanishment just for some girl.

Brightfire turned red in the face. "If you cared then you wouldn't make it so easy for R.A to disappear. I get that you want to survive—we're all trying to survive but you are just so selfish—"

"Oh I'm selfish? What about you and your jar headed brother!"

"What?" The twins shouted incredulously.

"All you two ever do is walk around bragging—oh our parents are so great, you know what our parents did last night—our future is set in stone so we don't give a crap about anyone else—oh look at us we're going to skip merrily down the hall with our freakin' mother and show the whole damn world just how God damn perfect we are!"

"That's enough!" Brightfire shrieked, blasting him with as many bolts as she could manage before her hands went numb. "You don't know anything—"

"Guys please don't start…" R.A pleaded. Something told her that when the Titans got home they would be mad if they found the place destroyed and what's even worse her mother would blame her. It would all be her fault then her mother would never like her and she would disappear—they had to stop!

B.J struggled to get up but once on his feet he grabbed the closest piece of furniture and hurled it at them. Two seconds before taking their face off it was however intercepted by a nearly invisible force field. The chair blew up sending the three crashing into the wall nearby. Only two of the three got up but they didn't notice this until the dust from the now collapsed wall cleared.

"R.A…?" R.J called, nudging her briefly with his foot.

There was no response.

Brightfire and R.J exchanged apprehensive looks before their eyes fell on B.J.

"You're in big trouble…" They muttered.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Robin he cut through the forest!" Beastboy shouted before turning into an eagle and darting over the trees of the forest.

"Good eye Beastboy, Terra see if you can feel him out, Starfire I need a lift, Raven enclose this section, he can't have gotten that far!"

The Titans sprang into action. Starfire grabbed a hold of Robin flew off in the direction of the forest. They had to find him before he got away again because he had stolen another component; Zenthol, and the scientists seemed to have suffered a minor heart attack when they realized it was missing. That was all the reaction the Titans needed. This thing was obviously dangerous and Slade wouldn't have taken it unless he could have used it to ultimately complete whatever goal he had in mind. So they found themselves in the same position as last time, chasing the villain who had a substance they knew very little about. It went without saying, therefore, that they had to be careful. There was no need for a repeat of what happened and quite frankly Robin had seen enough children to last him a lifetime. The two he had at home were trouble when you boiled down to the centre and he had a feeling that if he had anymore they wouldn't have been any better.

"Robin I have visual on him!" Terra shouted into her talkie. He was so close, all she had to do was corner him in then force him back in the direction of the other Titans. This was going to be her moment to shine and get Beastboy to be proud of her again then she would go home and brag to her son about the great performance she would put on.

"That's good, what's your position?"

"Um…due east…abit further off than the creek!"

"Alright, locate Raven and get her to help you keep him contained we'll be right there."

"What? Robin I got this—"

"Do it Terra, we can't afford to let him get away again!"

She sighed and stuck the talkie in her back pocket. What did Robin know? Slade was just within reach and she didn't need Raven to help her. Speaking of the bitch she had just flown over head. She must have also seen Slade and was closing in the force field.

"Hey!" She called to her, "I got him!"

Raven looked down at her for no more than a second before focusing again. She was simple told to block the area so he couldn't escape and she planned to do that while at the same time staying out of her way. As far as she was concerned she wouldn't even need to land—or not.

Slade had become trapped. He turned to Terra, ready to fight his way out if necessary and this wasn't good. Who knew what that new chemical did? They were all warned to stay clear of direct contact while alone with him. Though she didn't want to—and she really didn't want to, she had to.

With the force field securely in place she took to the ground. The other Titans would be there soon enough. As her feet touched the ground Robin and Starfire rushed into the little clearing. Beastboy landed seconds later.

"It looks like the gang is all here." Slade remarked, not even in the least bit daunted by the sudden appearance of the entire team. If anything he looked abit relax…arrogant really… "Well almost the all of you…" His eyes focused for no more than a second on each girl. Somehow he seemed amused. "I'm quite curious at the moment and I'm hoping you three will be able to satisfy my theories…you see I was hoping to see some additions…perhaps some smaller Titans running around causing a bit of mischief." He chuckled cynically, "or should I assume they weren't very stable in the first place?" He tilted his head to the side, mocking them with his curiosity.

Robin rushed over to him and grabbed him but his shirt. "You! What did you do to them the last time we saw you?"

"Ah Robin, now what lesson would you learn if I simply told you the answer. I think you'll agree it removes the mystery behind the game and leaves a boring…façade."

"What do you mean?" Robin tightened his grip, "And what do you want with that Zenthol mixture?"

"I'd love to answer you but I think my train of thought has shifted."

They all followed his stare and saw Brightfire and B.J standing at just a distance. Starfire ran over to them immediately and took Brightfire's face into her hands.

"What has brought you both here, and where is your brother?"

"Farewell Titans." Robin turned again and found that Slade was no longer within his grasp but on the other side of the clearing. "I trust you'll all be more gainfully entertained the next time we cross paths." He saluted them then vanished into the trees.

For a moment Robin didn't move as the anger slowly built up. He couldn't believe that he had him in his grasp then lost him because of children that were supposed to have been in the tower. This was just his luck, they wouldn't see Slade again until his next move and by then it might be too late. Why did they have to get in the way? With a little composure slowly coming back he turned to the two slowly.

"Whatever you both came here for it had better be good!"