Disclaimer: I don't own.

Author's Note: If you're getting this alert now: I'd like to say hello again, I know it's been 13 years since the last update. I got COVID last December and rewatched Teen Titans in my free (sick) time, which sparked my motivation and enthusiasm to continue and finish this fic.

Every chapter has been re-written: some are more recycled than others, 'cause I tried to stay true to my original ideas as best as possible for easiness; though sometimes trash is just trash, so I threw those pieces away (bye bye OCs). Updates from here on out might still be slow (not 13 years worth though lmao), but I will 100% complete this fic because I have the main plotlines already mapped out and I'm trying to not take it too seriously.

Here's to second chances for old, rough-around-the-edges fics. Cheers.

{✬...chapter eleven...✧}

Zuko considered if he was cursed. The walk with the Boy Wonder, Robin, was full-blown awkward as they matched each other's semi-fast pace across the rainy city. Zuko tried to stay a step behind since he didn't know where they were headed, but Robin would always drop back until they were once again side-by-side. He wondered if the colorful boy didn't want his back exposed.

How many times was he going to mess this up before the Spirits just decided to put him out of his misery. Why was he so bad at being good? No matter what world he was in, it seemed this was a near constant.

He hoped Toph was okay.

"So you know Aang," someone said, and it took Zuko a second to realize it was him. His cheeks warmed when the other boy sharply glanced over his shoulder, his face littered with small, pink slashes, a wincing reminder of the recent fight, "Uh, he might also go by the Avatar? Blue arrow on his head. Sunny smile?"

"I know him," Robin offered succinctly, but his mouth was twitching upwards, so Zuko took it as a win.

"Is he.. alright?" Zuko finally ventured in the momentary quiet. He was jerked to a sudden stop, pulled backwards a step just as one of the so-called 'cars' squealed past them, splashing the two teens in a soggy wave of rainwater. "Oh, thanks."

Robin nodded politely and reached out a hand to wave them forward once again, saying haltingly, "Aang is good. Unharmed. Smile still sunny."

He was teasing him. But Zuko didn't have it in him to feel mocked. He shoulders loosened at the words, gratitude and relief on the tip of his tongue. Robin watched him through that opaque eye mask, unreadable. He cut in before Zuko could find the right words, "And so are Katara and Sokka."

Thank Agni. If he knew Katara and Sokka too, then it followed that he might also be worried about— "Toph is with me, she's okay too," Zuko revealed at once, and it seemed he had guessed right, because Robin stumbled over his next step, turning his head to face him with startling speed. Zuko frowned back at him. "Uh, are you okay?"

"You just," Robin spluttered, his frown deepening. "I mean, that's good to know. They were worried about her."

But not me, Zuko filled in and tried not to let it bother him. He knew his destiny, and it was to stop his father— the Fire Lord. The rest was meaningless.

"Aang wanted to talk with you," the other boy said, not quite gently but close enough, and Zuko wondered if he had read his thoughts. He wouldn't be surprised if the hero had magical powers like the H.I.V.E. teens who could throw pink light or disappear into shadows. Mind-reading didn't seem that too far off. This world was so weird.

They crossed the empty street, sloshing through puddles. The misty glow from the overhead lights illuminated the surrounding empty roads and reflective surfaces.

Talk, not find. Zuko thought about Robin's confusing comments during his fight with Jinx and the odd looks he'd gotten at the shopping mall. "He did? About what?" Zuko faltered in surprise, sprinting to catch up to the hero when he had made a sharp and unpredictable turn to the left.

They were passing into an expansive grassy area, muddy dirt tromped all over the lawn like it had survived a stampede. There was no one else around. Robin gave him a side-eye when he caught up, but didn't answer. There was an overturned chunk of mud and rock in the middle of the field. Thoughtfully, Zuko squinted through the rain.

With a fwish!, Robin faced him head-on, his staff extended out. Zuko's eyebrows knitted, but he didn't reach for his swords. "Show yourself," Robin demanded nonsensically.

Baffled, Zuko raised his hands as if to say, I'm... showing myself? I'm here?

A familiar cackle burst free from behind him, and shock of black hair and mud-soaked green slid next to him, flippantly splattering them both with the messy sludge in the process. "Toph!"

"Sparky!" She returned, just as enthusiastic. Zuko felt himself warm at the relief in her voice, fond and thankful. She turned to face Robin, expression fierce, mud smudged across her cheeks, "Who are you?"

"Robin," he answered.

"Truth," Toph agreed, and Zuko watched Robin wrinkle his nose in perplexed offense. It felt so good to have her back with him.

"Toph, I take it? The earthbending master?"

"Obviously."

Robin didn't seem to know what to do next. His hold on his staff still hadn't relaxed. "Do you know Slade too?"

The earthbender tilted her head. "No. Neither does Zuko. We're actually looking for a kid, goes by the name Aang, seen him around?"

Zuko opened his mouth to answer and catch her up to speed, but her left hand found his arm, squeezing once. He stayed silent and waited for Robin's answer.

"Why do you want to know?"

Toph scoffed and looked in Zuko's general direction, rolling her eyes for the theatrics of it. "Do you hear this shmuck? Why do we want to know," she mimicked unflatteringly, "Because Twinkletoes is our friend. Try again."

"Yes," Robin finally grit out, "I've seen him around." He hesitated and then added, watching them intently, "Why weren't you with your Prince Zuko here at the mall, you could have seen Aang and the others then if you had really wanted to."

"Which mall?" Toph interrogated, crossing her arms. She wasn't faking the frustration in her tone, "There are a lot of malls around here."

Zuko found himself asking Robin, "The one where there had been some sort of attack?"

Robin ignored him, thrown like he hadn't truly believed it, his attention only on Toph, "You really don't know? Truly?"

"Know what?" Toph demanded, short and snippy and concerned. "What happened? Is Aang okay?"

Robin turned back to Zuko. "You stopped Jinx, before. Why?"

Zuko frowned. Robin hadn't exactly been cold after he had saved him from Jinx, but he certainly hadn't been forthcoming when they had made their trek across the city. The hero didn't trust him. And that made sense, he had been somewhat-fighting on Jinx's side before he had stepped in front of the other boy, choosing the hero over the H.I.V.E. teen. But still, this wary caution seemed different, like there was a history. Like it was personal. "What do you think I did at the mall?"

Robin's voice was glacial. "Attacked your friends and my team. Flattened the building."

Zuko felt himself freeze, horror bleeding into his expression. He had what? That... couldn't be true, he had been with Toph the entire time, she would vouch for him. (But who could have attacked Aang, Sokka, and Katara to such an extent that they all thought he had betrayed them? Surely, one of them would have questioned the attack, even if there was some evil twin out there who looked exactly like him. Right?)

"You believe that," Toph whispered, before her expression hardened. She shifted, her bare feet sliding forward into a battle-ready stance. Robin mirrored her, the staff solid in his tight green-gloved grip.

Zuko felt his mind racing, his fingers too stiff to reach for his swords. He had just been fighting the hero— was this his fate, to always be fighting to prove himself: first a worthy son, and now as a friend of the Avatar's? Never trusted or accepted as one of them?

"Wait," he appealed, embarrassingly desperate, "how can I show you that I'm me? That I'm their friend?"

Robin considered him. He didn't answer for a few seconds, "I don't know."

"Well, take us to Twinkletoes then, he can certify our resident firebender is who he says he is," Toph reasoned, like she was already bored with the conversation.

"No."

Toph groaned, "Why not?"

"I don't trust you. Either of you. I'm not going to put my team in danger for—"

Zuko held out a hand, palm up, into the drizzling rain. "The other-me, the one who attacked everyone? Could he do this?" Pulling from his core, Zuko cupped his hands together and held out a ball of fire, rainbow streams twisting and twirling through the warm, orange center. He proffered it to the other boy like a gift.

The changing colors reproduced a rainbow over the boy's shiny clothes. "Uh."

"Aang and I met the original firebenders. They taught me that fire is life. My name is Zuko, son of Fire Lady Ursa, and my destiny is to stop the Fire Nation and end the one-hundred-year war."

"That's nice and all, but—"

"Touch the fire," Zuko urged lightly, holding it up, "It won't burn you. I won't let it."

Robin stared back at him, unflinchingly serious. Always mistrusting, assessing. To both their surprise, the hero reached into the fire. He frowned, moving his hands through the flames. There was no indication of any pain. After a second, the hero stepped back and said, "Alright," and tucked his staff away, vanished it into his clunky belt.

"I'm glad we're finally on the same page, but how did touching some not-hot fire change your mind?" Toph asked gruffly, throwing a punch to Zuko's shoulder. The ex-prince winced and disappeared the fire to rub the smarting pain away. He glared down at the top of her head.

"It wasn't the fire," Robin admitted, glancing between them with a lighter but still overly-watchful gaze. "It was the wish to avoid a fight, even with the upper hand." It would have been two-to-one, with Zuko and Toph still relatively energized, fresh faced and at their peak strength compared to him. He then added to Zuko, "You're also terribly honest."

"Wow," Toph didn't sound like she approved, if the deadpanned tone meant anything. "So all Zuko had to do was give up and be a bad liar. Great job."

Zuko scowled at her and then at Robin. "I didn't give up," he corrected moodily.

"No," Robin agreed sincerely, looking between them, "I don't think you're the type to give up. Either of you. Not without a fight."

Toph punched her open palm. Her smile was fanged. "Damn right."

Zuko looked back at the hero. His spiky black hair was limp from the water, thin rivulets of rain trailing down the side of his face and over the mask. His expression was stubbornly determined. Zuko matched him. "So where's the fight?"

Robin smiled and gestured outward, over the pine trees and towards the beach. It was somewhat near where they had first arrived in this world, the faraway waves a dark grey-blue. Surrounded by the water, a glass tower stood tall over the bay, visible even through the drizzling weather. "Let me introduce you to Titans Tower first."

Jinx was the second to last group to return to the H.I.V.E. Tower, just barely being beat out by a scuffed-up Mammoth, police tape stuck to the bottom of his muddy shoes that he tracked around the living room they had only just cleaned. He was pacing back and forth with the occasional grunts, their lumbering giant.

"Sit down," she ordered sharply, cutting a hand through the air for emphasis, pink sparkling in the air without her intention. When his shoelaces suddenly became a tripping hazard, Jinx let out a stream of unrefined curses. Three Billy's caught the teenager's muscled arm before he went face-down, and one Billy sitting on the couch snorted a half-hearted laugh. Next to him, Gizmo was snarling to himself, rage-tinkering with one of his toys and not paying the rest of them any mind.

"What's the status," Jinx ordered, scanning the crowd with cold pink eyes. With a sting, she realized that not only did Zuko abandon them, so did Toph and— her breath caught, her heart starting to race, "Where are See-More and Kyd?"

"Not back yet," Gizmo muttered snippily into his device.

Jinx stalked over and snatched the gadget from his hands in a motionless blur. She swung her arm back threw it at the wall. It exploded, small shards spraying outward in a jarring crash, thin pieces sparkling like glitter in the orange-toned light.

The room went quiet and no one moved.

"And pray tell, why not?" she hissed, her hands fisting, "Did they stop for tea and crackers on their way back?"

"Hey," Billy said, merging into one boy, his eyes wide, "That's not fair."

"Fair?" Jinx laughed, fear and fury gnawing into her stomach like a carnivorous parasite. She felt empty and raw. "Fair? Slade needs that sword! We cannot fail him, not again!"

Gizmo stood, and though he was half her size, she still looked away, choosing to stare at her combat boots instead. She had wanted this to be their win. She heard from somewhere in front of her, annoyingly gentle for such a snobby kid, "What's Slade gonna do to us, huh? We've survived him before, and we can do it again."

"Where is Toph?" she said instead, spinning to face Billy. She needed— she needed to organize herself. Take stock. Think about their next steps. Break some more things. "Why isn't she here?"

"She's not with Zuko?" he returned, confused. "She heard an explosion and said she needed to find him."

So then, the two were probably already with the Teen Titans by now. Great.

"Also, little missy can apparently control the earth, like that Terra chick some time ago."

"Zuko can make fire," Jinx offered with a loose breath, like a peace offering. She surveyed them again, taking in their wet, bedraggled appearances. No one looked too pained, some scrapes here and there, but they'd live. Why were See-More and Kyd not back yet? ...Were they okay?

"Fire?" Gizmo yelped, and even Mammoth stopped pacing to stare between Billy and their leader.

Jinx nodded, taking a step forward— only for a black blur to swoop in front of her, mere inches away, appearing from thin air. "—Ahh!" Her surprise shifted into relief and then glee, "Kyd! You got the sword, thank god. Slade is going to be so happy he might even forget about..." Her smile slipped off her face.

It was just Kyd, and his red eyes were wide and panicked as he threw the sword onto the floor to speedily gesture, too fast for her to understand. She barely caught the meaning, working with just the broken pieces she could catch, words like lost, captive, had to choose, sorry—sorry—sorry—

"Slow down," Jinx demanded, stopping herself from grabbing him and shaking him to stop moving because she can't understand. With a forced breath, she soothed, "You left See-More behind. Tell me why. Slowly."

She hadn't noticed, but Mammoth, Gizmo, and Billy were now by her side, concern etched into their expressions and posture. Kyd nodded, his mouth pinched tightly, red eyes bright.

He signed his report again, and this time they all understood him. The Titans had returned too soon, so he had had to make a decision: the sword or their teammate. He had chosen to leave See-More to their mercy. For the sword, for Slade.

For them, Jinx knew.

It still didn't make sense that her first thought at Kyd's confirmation was the wild desire to trade the sword back for See-More. It defeated the whole purpose, and Slade would never let that slide. Stupid, stupid. Her skin prickled.

"What do we do?" someone asked.

Jinx wanted to shout, her unlucky power bottled tightly under her skin, a powder-keg ready to burst. She didn't. Instead, she slowly walked forward, being sure Kyd could see her every mild-mannered, clearly-telegraphed move. She stopped in front of him, close but not intruding. "Not your fault," she signed, speaking softly at the same time, "Orders were to get the sword. You finished the mission."

Kyd gasped wetly, I'm sorry.

"We're going to get him back," Jinx promised, her voice firm and loud now. She felt her hands rest by her side, and watched Kyd do the same, a wobble in his step when he backed up, looking for the sword he had carelessly discarded upon his return.

The Titans weren't going to do anything to See-More. They'd been captured a couple of times in the past, and it had never stuck. This time wouldn't be any different. They wouldn't let it be. Her mind wandered to Zuko and Toph, but she stopped that train of thought before it could go any further. They had made their choice.

There was a beeping coming from her belt. She froze, and her team swapped an unreadable look.

"I can take it," Mammoth offered kindly. Pityingly.

Jinx snarled, her dagger-sharp anger sliding back into place. Kyd held the sword out to her, a gift made of cutting edges and cosmic starlight. She answered the call and accepted the shorn weapon at the same time. "H.I.V.E. Five," she greeted coldly. "Jinx speaking."

Slade's copper-black mask tilted a half-inch to the side, but his voice was bored and even when he commanded, "Your mission. Report."

Jinx held the half-sword into view, and used her obscured image to shoot a deadly look around at her team. They dispersed, leaving the living room or walking somewhere along the edges of her vision. Kyd scrubbed a hand down his face, but followed her nonverbal order, silently sweeping after Billy and into the kitchen.

Alone, Jinx lowered the weapon and said to the supervillain, for a lack of anything better to say, "We got the sword. Completed the job, and beat the Teen Titans to do it."

"And what of the new initiates?"

She bit her lip to stop her breath from catching, relishing the sting. The pain grounded her. "They... left."

"Hmm," Slade answered, expressionless in his metal mask. The seconds of silence were excruciating as she waited for his answer, his punishment. "It is no matter," he finally decided magnanimously, lazily waving a black-gloved hand through the air. Jinx didn't allow herself to relax. "They will join me soon enough."

"Of course, sir," Jinx agreed immediately, not doubting him.

Slade appraised her, eyes dark. She barely managed to wait him out. "Bring me the sword," he demanded, and then the link closed and her comm was back to the default black screen, one unopened message hiding the encrypted location for the drop-off.

She wondered not for the first time if she had gotten herself into something too big to handle. But it was too late for regrets, so instead she snagged the sword and set about making plans that, in the end, would always put herself out on top. Someone had to look out for number one.

"Now what?"

The three had tromped through the park only to end up in an empty patch of beach, the water angrily crashing into the shore in front of them. There was no boat or ship in sight to take them over the waves. Yet, Robin didn't look too concerned by this, his arms crossed and a stoic look on his face as he looked out towards his home.

"Can you... fly?" Zuko asked, and the grimace on his face showed that he wasn't sure which answer he would prefer.

Toph cocked her head, feeling the granular, wet sand beneath her toes. Everything felt blurry and off-center but there was something there. Something...

Without preamble, Toph's interested smile turned pleased. "Secret tunnel!" she discovered before the hero could answer, her feet gliding over the loose sand, and without hesitation (cheerfully ignoring Robin's surprised yelp), she revealed the opening. Sand shifted, falling into the now-empty space like a gritty waterfall. The make-shift entrance revealed a wide, steel-enforced tunnel three-meters wide and who-knew-how long.

"We're going under the ocean?" Zuko looked queasy. He was unhappily reminded of Lake Laogai and its echoing walls; the memory felt like a lifetime ago.

Robin stopped himself at the lip of the entrance, looking back at Zuko, "It's completely safe. The sides are made of concrete and steel. Cyborg and I use it all the time and nothing has ever happened."

"Great," Zuko muttered, peering into the depths. Toph was next to him, the smile on her face wickedly delighted.

"Up and at 'em," she encouraged, slapping the firebender's back hard enough that he had to flail and snag Robin's arm to stop himself from falling into the channel unprepared. She jumped feet-first into the tunnel, her landing smooth and painless. She turned back up, waiting for the rest of them.

"Sorry," he muttered and quickly let go of the hero. He wondered how the reunion with the others would look; if the precursor with Robin was any indication, he should not have high (if any) hopes.

Robin nodded easily, giving him a smile. "You'll be fine. It's only a fifteen minute walk before we reach the island."

They were putting a lot of trust into the structural strength of this tunnel. What if it collapsed from the water pressure when they were down there? His firebending would be useless. He heard rather than saw Robin jump after Toph, getting to his feet with grace born from years of experience.

"Let's go, Sparky. What's the hold up?" Toph demanded, peering up somewhere in his general direction. She jerked a hand, and Zuko felt the sand under his boots shift, a warning tug.

He sighed. He'd just have to trust that the two knew what they were doing. "I'm coming," he acquiesced, and with a single nimble leap, he joined the teenagers on the underground pathway, landing on his feet. Toph closed the entrance with a swipe of her hands, and Robin made an appreciative noise.

Without the overcast lighting, the three (minus Toph) were left to rely on the sporadic blue-haloed lights spiraling over the rounded ceiling. They started the walk in relative silence, exponentially more relaxed and companionable than they had been before. Zuko lit a ball of fire, casting a warmer glow over the cold-steel walls and chasing away some of the shadows.

"Can you fly?" Toph eventually asked about five minutes in.

Robin grumbled at the familiar question, both annoyed and amused, "No."

"I can't either," Toph allowed, not sounding too mad about it, dirt in her hair and on her face, "It sounds pretty lame, actually. I'm sure you don't even need it. You're pretty quick on your feet."

Zuko hummed his affirmative.

Robin quietly laughed under his breath at their disinclined expressions. It seemed that with this group, Aang was the odd one out.

He was the next to break the silence when he said to the firebender, "That was a cool— or should I say a hot — trick with your flames."

"Thanks," Zuko accepted, pleased, speaking over Toph's snort, "two ancient dragons showed me how to do it by breathing fire at me and Aang. We survived, obviously."

Robin and Toph both looked thrown. Zuko smiled slyly.

"Your world has dragons?"

"They breathed fire at you?"

"To be fair," Zuko introjected, "this world has freaky magic where people can appear out of nothing, so I'm not sure if dragons are really that weird in the grand scheme of things."

Robin thought about the purple-scaled dragon, Malchior, that Raven had let loose from one her ancient spellbooks when she had been feeling particularly prickly and out-of-reach. Maybe Zuko was right about that.

"My turn," Toph ordered next, "Say something nice about me now."

Zuko scoffed, but he was grinning when he tried, "Your way with earth is like no other?"

"Boring."

"Your confidence is very inspiring," Robin complimented obligingly.

"Eh, I'll take it." Toph's smile was both wide and soft. She bumped into the hero's shoulder, making him stumble half a step, and said to the both of them, "Thanks, tin-heads."

In almost no time, the three climbed out of the tunnel and onto the rocky surface of the island. While they had been underwater, it seemed the weather had returned to its stormy forecast, lightening flashing in the distance and thunder rumbling over their heads. As he shielded his eyes from the drizzle that was quickly turning into a downpour, Zuko pondered if this world had their own Great Spirits to watch over them, because he was getting really tired of being in this storm.

Toph and Zuko followed Robin's hurried steps at a slower pace, following him over an upward-sloped dirt road. The Tower loomed tall over their heads, and Zuko had to crane his neck back to see all of it. He wondered what the inside of it looked like: if the glassy windows made the space feel more airy and bright; if it was different than the cramped but also empty feeling of the H.I.V.E. Tower; if the people inside would be inviting and welcoming.

"Hey," Toph said, sidling up next to him as they waited for Robin to successfully swipe some identification card through a red-lighted sensor, "They'll be happy to see you."

Zuko nodded.

Somehow, she seemed to sense his disagreement. "And if they're being dumb, I'll be here with you to put 'em back on straight," she cracked her knuckles and smirked, her foggy eyes resolved.

He nodded again, and this time, Toph returned it. "Thanks," he told her quietly, meaning it more than she could ever know. She was once again standing against her friends, the heroes, for him. He wasn't going to burn her for it. Not this time. Not ever again.

Robin's frustrated growl pulled the two from their thoughts. "It's not working," he hissed, running an angry hand through his soppy hair and looking like he wanted to kick something down. Probably the door. "The Tower locked me out!"

The screen in front of him read: Error. 409 Conflict. Access denied.

Toph matched his frown. "How could that even happen?"

"I don't know," he snarled to the locked door, his fist over the panel, "Even the facial recognition software isn't working, and my override code is disabled. It's just giving me this error code that I've never seen before. I'm going to having words with Cyborg once I see that blue-butt, motor-oil smelling—"

"Hey," Toph interrupted plainly, "we get it. You're mad. I'm tired and Zuko's soaked. Let's speed this process along: how else can we get in?"

Zuko passed a glance around the entrance. The side of the building was too smooth and too tall to climb. Maybe Toph could build her own tunnel inside?

"If I had my comms I'd let them know I'm back, but Jinx broke it."

"Are there any underground tunnels that lead into the Tower?" Zuko asked Robin, looking somewhere in the distance where the dirt looked artificially smoothed over. Robin blinked at the astute observation. And the perfect answer. He had a master earthbender with him now, how had he forgetten that?

"We can make our own tunnel. There," he pointed, "It's a straight shot to the hanger, maybe a meter down?"

Toph rubbed her hands together. She assured them, "No problem."

It only took seconds for them to slam into the outer side of the hanger ceiling. In their pocket of air, surrounded on all sides by dirt and rocks, Zuko's darker thoughts turned to what it would be like to be buried alive. He felt his heartbeat in his ears, fast and fluttering. In the tight space, Robin was stepping on one of his shoes, mumbling an apology as he tried to shift into a better position, and Toph was radiating heat, her elbow unapologetically digging into his side. Knowing Toph, she might even be doing it on purpose.

"Let me just," Toph murmured, her bare feet exploring the rough, bumpy surface. With a forceful slam of her heel, the steel roof warped downward with a rumbling groan. "Okay, how about..."

The second try did it. Once there was a cracked opening, Toph's raised her hands in front of her and pulled, like she was yanking two high-powered magnets apart. All three plummeted into the garage, landing on the smooth tiles with varying states of gracefulness.

"Ow," Zuko told the cold floor.

"Eh, don't be a baby," Toph rebuked, but she had flopped bonelessly onto her back, staring unseeingly at the fractured roof they had all just tumbled through.

It was so nice to finally be out of the rain.

Robin looked them over, already back on his feet. Fortunately, he didn't see any broken bones, just disheveled, unhappy glares.

A sweeping glance around showed that the T-Car and R-Cycle were parked where they always were, and he could slightly make out the faint blue and red paintjobs through the dim ceiling lights overhead. On one of the pile of boxes near him, Cyborg must have forgotten to put away his tools, because a wrench and screwdriver kit were messily scattered around. All in all, it looked exactly the same as it always did.

He wondered why he had been locked out, and what that might mean for them right now.

"My team and your friends are probably at the top, we should go there next," he decided, and waited to see what they would say.

Neither seemed to mind, getting to their feet with minimal grumblings, following after him. They left wet, dirty shoeprints behind them. The trio easily made their way out of the hanger and into the lobby, following Robin as he paced towards the elevator. The doors opened seconds after Robin jabbed the button, and the three lumbered inside the metal box.

"You have a very nice Tower," Zuko politely told him while they were brought up, up, up. In a way, it was kind of like flying without bending. "Thank you for inviting us."

Robin chuckled at the formality of it, the boy's scarred side facing him. It wasn't like he had had a choice. "Sure, Prince Zuko."

"Just Zuko," he told him, his eyes following the way the numbers ticked upwards, faster and sooner than he had been prepared for.

"Yeah, thanks," Toph muttered, and Robin blinked back at her, surprised.

"Uh, you're both welcome?" He supposed they would both probably be staying at the Tower with the other three until they figured out how to get the group back to their own world. Might as well help them feel at home. He was a little to surprised to find that he actually meant it when he added, "Anytime."

When the three finally arrived at the selected floor, they made it about three steps in before Toph's eyes widened and she snagged the edge of Robin's cape and Zuko's arm, pulling them into a stumbling stop. She cocked her head, her eyebrows scrunched. She didn't let go of Robin, grounding herself with the wet, sleek texture of the fabric. "I... hear you? You're talking to Sokka."

Zuko felt his eyes widen, the skin around his scar stretching. His evil twin. Robin shifted, reaching for a weapon. "And the others? Are they okay?"

Toph shook her head, "No, wait, you don't understand, I'm not talking about Zuko. It's you, Robin. You're," she strained her senses, "you're talking with Sokka and, uh, See-More? Why is he— Okay, anyway, I don't think there was a fight or anything, no one seems too stressed, except maybe Sokka, his heart is beating a little faster than usual."

"You can feel heartbeats?" Robin exclaimed, freeing his cape from her grip and completely missing the point here.

"Do you have an evil twin?" Zuko asked in a harsh whisper, getting them back to the issue at hand.

"No," Robin returned in the same tone, glaring at the wide, grey doors that would lead into the Ops Room. "...I think we're dealing with an unknown shapeshifter."

Well that's completely terrifying.

"I can't wait to leave this world," Toph grouched. Zuko couldn't agree more.

Robin snorted. "We'll help you get home," he promised. He held two birdarangs between his fingers. "Let's show them what we're made of."

The door opened to the sound of thunder. Lightening struck through the windows outside, too close for comfort. In the moment between lightness and darkness, they saw Sokka standing in front of the false-Robin, See-More behind him, his hands just breaking free from the bonds. Too many sets of eyes turned towards the newcomers with varying degrees of shock and confusion.

The white glow from Raven and Aang's spiritual auras disappeared entirely, snuffed out like a wet candle.

Robin threw one of the birdarangs. He— missed. Glass shattered and the world disappeared into blackness at an incredibly ill-timed power outage.

"Oh come on!" someone yelled.

{✬...✧}

Author's Note: ...These three really ran away with this chapter and wouldn't give it back to me, huh. Fine, they can have it. Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! Happy holidays, y'all. (Posted 12/21/23)

On a random note, I just realized that the Robin, Zuko, and Toph trio make up an additive color combination: Zuko (red) + Toph (green) = Robin (red+green), which also fits with Christmas colors too. I guess this chapter is festive, in its own way.