The Titans formed a strange procession as they followed the lead of the newly christened, "Sergeant Rat and the Cockroach Contingent." It became rather obvious where they were heading, but none of the teens attempted to move forward any faster than they were being led. For all that they were vermin, the Contingent was giving off an air of solemnity as they moved, purposeful and dignified.

Eventually they reached Raven's room, and the roaches flowed forward and slipped beneath the door. The rat stood with his back to the door, eying the four bipeds with a sort of measuring gaze. Settling on Robin, the rat moved forward and began climbing up his person.

"You know," Beast Boy said, beryl eyes fixed on the rat climbing their leader, "this doesn't really do much to negate Raven's creepiness factor."

"There's definitely something strange going on," Robin replied as the rat settled on his shoulder. It squeaked and shifted its weight forward slightly. Taking the hint, the masked hero moved forward and overrode the lock on the door, allowing it to slide open with a faint, mechanic fwoosh.

Inside, the team of cockroaches had swarmed onto Raven's bed, and started to transport a brown package to the floor. The rat started to chirp and chirrup excitedly, and Robin reached down and grabbed the package, careful to avoid shifting the rat's perch.

As he began to examine the wrapped box, the roaches suddenly flew into the air and arrowed towards the door. The sound of Starfire and Cyborg yelping in surprise had Robin turning, and Beast Boy's comment seemed pretty on target when he said, "Geez, even when Raven's not here she keeps people out of her room."

The insects were forming a barrier to the room, preventing anyone else from coming in. Robin smirked a bit, spirits lifted somewhat at this relatively light-hearted moment in the otherwise taxing day. Exiting the room seemed to send the bugs streaming down the hall single-file. A sense of... satisfaction seemed to emanate from the roaches, and Robin got the distinct impression that they were seeing themselves out.

The rat, however, had settled itself comfortably on his shoulder and showed no signs of leaving.

With a mental shrug, Robin used a birdarang to slice the twine and then tore the paper off of the box. He walked towards the Ops Room with a hurried step, the rest of the team following quietly. They had already spent more time than they could spare with the city falling apart around them.

A letter was taped to the box, in an envelope with Raven's name on it. As they watched, the letters bent and shifted, forming a new name. Robin blinked, and then passed the envelope over to a surprised Cyborg, saying "It's for you."

With a deep breath, the semi-mechanical Titan opened the envelope and read aloud.

"Cyborg, if you're reading this then Raven has already taken her first steps towards her destiny. I have given her as many advantages as Fate allows, and if my plan works, she will be fine. You always knew I was not your enemy. Hopefully, circumstances allow you to read this privately. However, since these things rarely work out the way they're intended... Hi Titans!" Cyborg chuckled for a moment until an opaque glare from Robin had him starting again and choking down his mirth.

"If things haven't already spiraled out of control, prepare yourselves. Horror beyond your experience is swiftly approaching. Our theories involving Nephilim were not entirely accurate, and I've done all in my power to correct for this miscalculation. Within this package are talismans that I've enchanted to give you all an edge in the battle to come. Please carry them with you, and use them to defeat the evil that is swiftly approaching." Cyborg sighed and finished, "In Friendship, Jon."

A moment of silence, which was broken by Beast Boy saying, "Sweet! Magic presents!"

Cyborg exchanged a look with his leader. Robin started to say something, but Cyborg cut in. "This is important, Robbie. Think before you make a decision."

Rubbing his mask in irritation, Robin replied, "I don't trust him."

Surprisingly, it was Starfire who spoke next. "It is an observed behavioral trait that you do not trust many," she said bluntly. Three jaws dropped. "Raven trusts Friend Jon. The Woman of Wonder trusts him. Cyborg trusts him, and I trust him." She turned her back to the chastened leader and continued. "There are many reasons that have been given to us to trust him. He is friends with Raven. He has never attacked us. He has offered assistance and aid in our current battle. He has done so in spite of the suspicions and behavior he has been subjected to here. With his powers and mastery of magic he could have escaped his cell at any time. He put up with being unjustly incarcerated until you came to see some sort of reason. He saved Raven's life."

She turned back to the rest of the team, her eyes burning a hot emerald even as tears slipped across her cheeks. "I will accept the assistance of my friends, even if other friends do not agree. If I need to, I will accept Friend Jon's talismans against your orders."

Beast Boy slipped to the floor, knees unable to support him through his shock. Cyborg's eyes widened. Robin sucked in air as though he had just been gut-punched. Despite his surprise, Robin tried one more time to make his point.

"We don't know anything about him!"

Beast Boy remained sitting on the floor, an unusually mature expression of introspection and shame casting his elfin features into a glimpse of the man he'd become. Tiredly, he said, "Robin, just stop it."

"But-"

"No." It was said with such firm negation that Robin stopped in spite of himself, briefly flashing to his training under Batman and several instances where that word and tone had stopped him cold. "No," Beast Boy continued, "we don't know anything about Jon. We don't know anything about you, either. We only know what we do from Starfire and Raven recently. You only know as much as you do about me because of the Brotherhood of Evil incident. Cyborg doesn't talk about himself before he was Cyborg. Hell," Beast Boy chuckled darkly, "We don't even know either one of your names. So don't say that we don't know anything about him as though that's a reason. We've put our lives in each others hands without knowing anything about each other, and learned to trust. We should have done the same with Jon. He had at least proven himself as a decent human being by the time we met him."

Robin (and truthfully the rest of the Titans) gaped. "Beast Boy, you didn't trust him either. What changed?"

The changeling snorted, an unusually animal sound. He tugged his gloves off and studied his clawed hands, flexing and then retracting the sharp points. The other Titans stared, having never suspected that his gloves were anything more than a part of his uniform. "Maybe I'm just growing up," Beast Boy muttered. "Hard not to with what's going on out there."

Reminded of the chaos spreading through the city, Robin suddenly snapped back to himself. "Fine," he said in a conciliatory tone. "We'll use these talismans. Cyborg, what's in the box?"

Shaken from his reverie, Cyborg opened the box and pulled out five crystals on five leather cords. The leather had been dyed; green, purple, blue, black, and red. Pulling another sheet of paper from the box, Cyborg passed out the necklaces as instructed on the letter. Green and purple went to Beast Boy and Starfire, respectively. The blue cord he placed around his own neck, and handed the red one to Robin. "The black one is for Raven," he stated somewhat unnecessarily. He cleared his throat and began to read again.

"You each have a talisman which I created specifically for you. Starfire, your amulet allows you to channel your starbolts into a shield. Just focus on using your starbolts to protect yourself or another, and the talisman will take care of the rest. Beast Boy, your amulet allows you to speak telepathically with anyone that is wearing another amulet. Hopefully this will help with coordinating your moves on the battlefield. Cyborg, the crystal that your amulet is made of has the same harmonic frequency as your sonic cannons. It's designed to absorb waste energy from your attack, which will recharge your power cells through transduction. Robin, your talisman will increase your speed and agility. I know that you won't trust it-" the others laughed at this, "-but I strongly suggest you use it. The edge it gives you could be the difference between life and death in the upcoming battle. If it helps you to know, the talisman does not escalate your abilities beyond what it actually possible for you to attain. If nothing else, it may help you past the skill plateau you're stuck on. Raven..." Cyborg stopped for a moment. "Raven," he continued, "I'll tell you what your amulet does when I next see you. If you're not there, give it to Robin." Cyborg suited action to words. "Robin, think of Raven, and it will guide you to her. Please, help her."

A silence.

"That's it," Cyborg said unnecessarily.

Gravely, the Titans all nodded. Robin took a breath and slipped both amulets over his head. "Titans, GO!"