{CENTER SCREEN COMES TO LIFE: TEEN TITANS UNIVERSE}

The team of unconquerable teens landed at the scene of the chaos, a gaping smoke obscured crater in the road.

The deep pit is lined by a radius of destruction and debris, like something dug down and cast the rubble aside as it went.

The leather of Robin's gloves squeaked slightly as he tightened his knuckles around the bo-staff as he approached the edge of the crater an looked down. The sewers weren't the end of this mystery. No, the hole tore through concrete and sewer beds, digging into the packed earth beneath and going deep enough to be shrouded in blackness. Aside from the jagged hole torn in the man made portions of the debris, the hole in the earth was perfectly round, not caused by any explosion.

"What could have done this?" Beast Boy demanded, rubbing a hand through the oily green mop of hair on his head.

"I'm not getting any residues." Cyborg interjected, holographic screens revealing the results of his scans and research. "Nothing. No explosive remnants, no plastic fragments, skin particles... Nada."

"So that crosses out your typical explosion or giant worm." Robin deduced, stepping back and casting a glance from side to side.

Raven approached from behind. "People are reporting some sort of light. When they could see again, this hole was here."

"There's gotta be a logical explanation." Cyborg interjected.

"But what could it be?"

"Not sure, Star. But we'll figure it out. Hey, Rob, I'm gonna go get a bird's eye view. Raven?"

"On it." A back inky hole in space tore open, sending chills down the spines of every titan present. They, however, had gotten much accustomed to the dark aura of the bird themed hero.

Both stepped through, leaving three titans at street level. Robin frowned, surveying the scene. His eyes caught a glint of orange, a flash of deadly silver; and his blood ran cold.

"Slade."

His growl didn't quite reach the titan's comm link, but Starfire heard it, green eyes widening in shock as she followed his gaze to a now empty roof top across the street. Every muscle in his lean frame was taut, like a spring, ready to snap.

Her hand lighted on his shoulder. "Friend Robin, are you certain that was Slade?"

"Yeah, we saw him too." Cyborg announced into the team wide communications channel. "Robin, wait for us!"

"There's no time!"

In the time it took Starfire to blink, her leader already had a grappling hook in hand, shooting and letting the motors winch the rope in and draw him up.

"Robin!"

He knew his team was behind him, Starfire right on his heels and beast boy not far behind her. Raven may take a little, but she'd ensure Cyborg's presence.

His feet skidded across a gravel lined rooftop, and the grappling hook fully retracted. Now he'd rely on years of acrobatics and parkour skills to traverse the rooftops. Even now, he didn't have a full view of his quarry. How the heck was he even still around? Robin didn't dwell. Antagonists always found a way back, just as heroes always found a way to stop them.

He spotted another glint of metal slipping into an alley way. Without hesitation the boy wonder followed behind.

Starfire loyally followed her leader into the alley way. One side was a brick wall, dead end. The other way led out to the busy congested streets.

Robin saw the sewer grate slightly askew, jogging over and ripping the manhole cover off with a grunt. A wave of repulsive stink wafted from the dark pit. He barely had time to dodge the stomp that would have warped his spinal cord and sent him headlong into the darkness. He'd sensed it, not seen.

Rolling the right, he watched the air shimmer in the shape of a human. Patches of pixels fell away, revealing Robin's arch enemy.

"Hello, Robin. It's been a while." Slade drawled lowly, his tone radiating danger and tenseness.

"Slade." The boy growled, standing next to Starfire. Her hands were glowing green, eyes pulsing as she prepared to engage the elusive trouble maker. "Why did you blow a hole in the middle of town?"

"It's funny how they always expect people to answer that." The metal clad man sighed wistfully, shaking his head. "But it hardly matters anyway... You're going to have much bigger problems momentarily here."

The boy wonder frowned at the remark, until he heard Starfire's gasp followed by a thump. With a look of apprehension, he glanced over and saw his team mate slumped on the floor, a green bird draped across her back, both with little black darts jutting out of their necks. Something sharp wedged into his neck.

Thank Batman for drug resistance training. He winced as his vision blurred, fingers reaching up to twine around a small cylinder jutting from the nape of his neck. With one sharp tug, the long needle slid free from his skin. With shaking knees, he cast it aside and lashed out at Slade. Either the villain was fast or Robin was slow, but his staff lashing out was hardly a danger to Robin's arch enemy. He slipped to the side, waiting until Robin had hit max speed before he lunged forward and gripped the staff near Robin's hands, slamming his boot into the teen's gut. He could feel a rib snap as the kid let go of the staff and collapsed back into a heap next to his allies.

Slade smiled darkly beneath his mask. Getting his allies to surrender would be easy now. Just too easy.

{CENTER SCREEN SHIFTS VIEW TO THE 2018 TITANS ELSEWHERE}

"What the Hickie happened here?"

"You should probably stop cussing now. It's not really working for you."

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. Hickie. He hadn't been aiming for that word; but this screwed up little universe was fighting tooth and claw to keep him at PG-13 levels. Or maybe it was that chubby red head whom Dick knew was destined to lose a finger... or ten. Either way, expressing himself was becoming more and more difficult these days.

He couldn't entirely disagree with his green headed little friend, so Dick blew out a breath and folded his arms neatly across his chest. "Is that really the big issue here, Garfield?"

"Yes. You're embarrassing me."

"Well here's news for you. I don't really give a doo-dah." Dick's eyes widened as he slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Sir!" Some woman holding an infant in her arms gaped at him in horror. "There are children present!"

Oh, if looks could kill, Garfield Logan would be a obliterated in a flaming ball of righteous fire. Rachel bit back her own chuckles, not wishing to have Dick's rather effective bat glare redirected in her direction. To most, it presented a 'surrender or suffer' scenario. It seemed, however, that the green headed teen was immune to such furious glowers. The woman scuttled off, leaving the two teens and two adults to stare into the gaping hole in the middle of the street.

"It looks like a creature tunneled here. Look at how smooth the walls are." Kory spoke up, unwilling to re-initiate the earlier topic of conversation.

Rachel knelt next to the hole, reaching down with her fingers.

"Careful." Dick chided, putting a hand on her shoulder, probably for his own peace of mind. It was funny. They were supposedly just an 'alliance;' but as each day passed, they became more and more like a family. Maybe it was wishful thinking on her part. The future was a haze of unknowns, every twist and turn promising danger and unsurety. She had no idea what was around the next corner. She knew that it was dangerous to just assume that the narrow thread of danger that wound them together was enough to keep them together once removed.

In short, once Rachel was safe; she knew they'd probably retreat to the shadows from whence they came.

The thought pained her; but the sorrowful wails of her own mind were drowned out by a darkness so overwhelming that it seemed all consuming. Her mind burned, flashes of black, glowing eyes, a deadly laugh, a man in metal and orange. Destroy, erase, consume, devour.

The half demon collapsed back, convulsing slightly as she limply stared open eyes at the gray sky. Images continued to wash out any coherent thoughts, gray out the faces of her terrified allies.

"Rachel?"

"Destroy..." She muttered, black orbs glistening across her fingertips. "erase..." She let out a breath. "I don't understand..."

"Rachel! Come on Rachel!" She felt arms sliding gently under her shoulder blades and knees. Dick sounded a million miles away, yet it was his arms tethering her to reality. Slowly the black faded, two glowing eyes burned into her memory, reappearing like a light burn against the dark of her eyelids.

"Dick..." She whispered, hand raising shakily to scrub her eyes. His twinkling blues peered down at her, laced with worry. "I just... I tried to... Sense... I-"

"Sh." He shook his head, leaning her against a brick wall far from the massive crater in the earth.

Kory stood behind the team's surrogate 'father,' hands clasped behind her back worriedly. "Take your time."

Rachel composed herself, tried to sift through the flashes that stuck out the most. The two glowing eyes, which could have been anything; a man in a metal suit, fused with orange kevlar, a strange combo; and the universe... felt shattered. Some darkness, connected with that hole -as mundane as it may seem-, was ready to end the universe once and for all.

"You sure?'

Had Rachel said that out loud? She looked up to see Gar's eyes staring thoughtfully at some imperfection in the wall, Dick's lips pressed into a thin line, Kory's fingers tightening into fists.

"We have to do something."

Understatement of the year. Dick nodded at the only other adult on the 'alliance,' eyes shutting."This isn't our fight... But... If there's one thing I won't do, it's stand by while innocent lives are hurt."

"Uh... Then maybe we outta help them."

Dick whirled to see a man in orange and metal, an embroidered 'S' stitched into the shoulder. People, like the cowards they generally were, had backed far away as he and dragged an unconscious kid in clown colors to a van parked haphazardly on the side of the road. Despite the irritatingly bright colors, Dick knew full well it was Robin... This world's robin being tossed in the back. Two of the 'S' man's associates had a pink haired beauty and a green kid in tow.

A third and final headed up two others. They were conscious, unlike their comrades, but quite clearly not in control of the situation. One was an African American kid with metal plating acting as a Hodge podge across over half his body. The second was a girl cloaked in a blue robe. Their hands were cuffed behind their backs by heavy metal restraints, probably power dampeners if Dick's visual assessments could be trusted.

"Is that us?" Gar asked dryly.

"Looks like it." Dick sighed. "Jason saved me back in our world. Might as well return the favor... even if it's a him from another dimension."

"Oh, so he did save you!" Rachel, braced one hand against the wall she was propped against, pushing herself up.

"I didn't say that."

"Yes you did."

"No, I'm quite sure you're mistaken... You know what? Enough. Let's move. Kory, you and I will take the rooftops. Gar, Rachel..." He frowned. "I want you to follow from the ground. Try not to engage. It'll be your job to free the kids while Kory and I knock out the weirdo from Rachel's vision."

Dick's command left no room for further discussion. Well, even if they'd wanted to, he took off before much could be said. Kory wished them luck before following suit. Rachel and Gar watched in fascination as Dick scaled a fire escape effortlessly. In two seconds, he'd gone from cop to acrobatic vigilante.

{SCREEN CHANGES SCENES TO A WAREHOUSE: 2003 TITANS}

Robin's head was on fire, results of the drug administered to register him unconscious no doubt.

There was an odd strain to his shoulders, the muscles in his back pulled tight, arms pivoted out and above his head, held fast by chains and shackles.

"Robin?"

The Titan's leader turned his head to the right. Starfire was hanging, as he was, by her wrists. Her green eyes were hazy and dull, but clarity wasn't far away.

It seemed as if every titan was present, though Cyborg was chained up on the floor, too heavy to be suspended in the air. For the powered beings, green pulsing lights were embedded in the cuffs, power inhibitors. Robin was mildly curious where Slade had gotten his hands on the kind of tech to keep his friend neutralized, but that was hardly the biggest problem at the moment.

He tried to twisting his wrist to get at the lock pick stowed in his glove.

"I wouldn't bother." The voice sent chills down Robin's spine. "I've learned a thing or two about you."

Slade was leaning casually against one of the many crates adorning the warehouse floor.

Robin growled. "What do you want, Slade?"

The cold laugh only irked the circus kid further. "Why, Robin. You're a detective. If I told you everything, your skills would get dull."

"I'm not in the mood for games."

"Clearly." Two cold white lensed eyes bored into Robin's. "I'm employed for a higher power."

"Last I checked, God didn't employ criminals to kidnap teenagers." Robin snidely shot back.

"I'm glad to see your sense of humor's still intact. No. I'm employed by a man who wishes to wipe the universe from existence... But not this one. All of them. I'm merely holding you for his arrival."

"Why would you help someone like that?" Starfire demanded, eyes flashing green. Her powers weren't responding, and it clearly terrified her.

"Because he's giving folks like me a safe passage out. And quite frankly, I believe he can pull it off."

"We've heard this all before." Cyborg stated dryly. Thinking back to the Trigon team up from a while back. That had been hell on earth... Literally. He shuddered to think of the bobble headed morons that accompanied them on that mission.

At least there were no more interdimensional team ups this time.

"Let me guess... Trigon." Beast Boy guessed, eyebrow quirked.

"You wish." Slade replied. "But no more questions. My employer will discuss it with you personally upon arrival."

Slade turned to leave, but froze in place. Robin could hear the grunts and wheezes of someone having the living tar beaten out of them.

Suddenly it went quiet, and Slade reached for a sword laying on one of the crates.

"You know kidnapping is a federal offense, right?" A low voice growled. They saw the shape of someone as tall as Slade lurking in the shadows.

"Well well. A new player. And who might you be?"

"Isn't that the million dollar question?" The guy retorted. "Honestly, at the moment, I'm not really sure who I'm supposed to be. So you might want to specify."

Slade growled, holding his sword out, point aimed at the shrouded figure.

"Name." He clarified coldly.

"The mighty Mr. Butt Kicker."

Slade went wide eyed as the brown haired man emerged, bo-staff clutched in his grip. A black mask had been slapped on, most likely in afterthought, but he wore no suit.

"But you can call me Mr. Mighty."

"I think not." Slade growled, moving to get the upper hand. His sword sliced through the air, halted by the metal bo-staff's sudden presence.

Dick countered, falling into old habits. He was brought back to the days when he and Bruce had sparred with lances. He'd been young back then, so lost, so consumed by hate and anger towards the scum lurking the streets of Gotham. Bruce had been a good teacher, and perhaps that'd been the problem.

He ignored the part where he'd practically begged to be the bat's side kick. Bruce should have had the good sense to say no. Of course it hadn't been so bad. Not at first. They'd deal with low level villains who rarely had what it took to outwit the dynamic duo. But heroes weren't the only ones capable of adopting to trials.

As the villains adapted, got more brutal, used deadlier tactics, Batman and robin stepped up their game. They stopped pulling punches quite as much. They got more dangerous right alongside the villains they tackled.

Dick had learned how to use his hands and feet to break bones, to leave villains scared and too injured to move. Soon, that was the only way to leave a villain.

Yanked from his thoughts by a sword whizzing by his neck, he dodged back and snapping a round house kick at the villain's head.

It connected against the edge of Slade's mask with a satisfying thud. It was the first real blow Dick connected, but he didn't intend on giving the guy time to recover. He followed through with a flurry of blows before Slade could so much as get his feet back under him.

Outside, he could hear Kory and Gar finished up with the black clad henchmen patrolling the perimeter. Not that it would take long.

He let out a breath and looked down. Slade was on hands and knees, mask cracked, tufts of gray hair jutting from the fissures, hand tucked to cradle his shattered ribs, blood dripping from under the mask. Dick had fighting down so well he didn't even have to think about it. That was the scary thing.

He narrowed his eyes, raising his foot and finishing Slade with a kick to the face. Satisfied the kid snatching creep wasn't getting back up, he rubbed the blood off his staff.

Robin and the chained up Titans stared in shock. This newcomer had wiped the floor with Slade. On top of that, he'd made it look easy, made Slade look amateurish.

Oh they'd seen brutal before... But the blood coating the ground, dripping from under the mask of Robin's hated enemy, was a brutality they'd never before seen unprovoked.

Cyborg's jaw was just dropped, Starfire staring on in wonder. Raven narrowed her eyes. The man... He felt... Similar. Like she knew him. Beast Boy just shuddered slightly.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded.

"Uh the Mighty-"

"No sane person calls themselves that."

Dick smiled wanly. "Hey, no one said I was sane."

Robin had to wonder at that, but not for long. A thick shadow was approaching from behind, a behemoth sized man creeping through the darkness.

"Behind you!" Robin warned. Dick spun around already on the defensive. With ease, he darted into the shadows, light popping in sync to the roar of gun shots.

"Well. So much for getting these chains off." Cyborg huffed, watching yet another battle unfold.

"Patience, Cyborg." Robin muttered. "I want to watch this..."

This man had a fighting style identical to Batman's. That was something he quickly realized, but that unnerved him just as much as the fact that this man had slipped into a very acrobatic oriented style which perfectly matched Robin's. It was fascinating and worrisome at the same time.

"Dude, his fighting style has a ninety-eight point three percent match to yours." Cyborg informed him of the obvious.

"I noticed."

"What does that mean?"

"Well." Raven replied to Beast Boy's painfully obvious question. "It could mean that he's been studying Robin as much as Slade has... But I feel like that isn't the case. He... I can't explain it but-"

Raven stopped when a darkness touched her mind. It was a lingering intrusion on her personal space and yet it seemed like the kindred darkness belonged. Her eyes locked with a young teen, roughly her age, creeping through the shadows.

"Robin."

"I see her."

The girl darted out of the shroud of darkness, tugging back her dark hood to reveal black hair with blue streaks dyed in. She sheepishly glanced up at them, briefly locking eyes with Raven before her eyes landed on Robin.

"Jason, how do I get these cuffs off?" She demands.

"Slade likely has the key on his belt." Robin replied before pausing. Jason?

As Rachel darted over to the fallen villain, Cyborg narrowed his eyes at Robin. "Jason?"

The boy wonder wrinkled his nose. "Not my name."

"Robin..." Raven, from the looks of it, had completely disregarded the conversation regarding Robin's true identity. She knew who he was, via a certain mental link developed a long time ago. With a puff of air, the demon teen furrowed her brow and tried to expound upon the odd sensation blooming in her gut. "She... Feels similar. Both her and that man who took Slade down. It feels like..." She finally shook her head with a stumped expression. "I can't really explain it."

"Feels like we're connected." Everyone jumped. The girl had returned, round cylinder in hand. It fit the holes in their cuffs perfectly, and she started with Robin, standing on a barrel to reach his cuffs.

"Yes." Raven replied slowly. Perfect explanation.

"There's a reason for that, but-" Rachel grunted as a knife whizzed by and grazed her cheek.

She had been leaning over nothing to reach the shackle farthest from her, one hand wound around the chain while the other . When the cold steel sliced her cheek open, Rachel squeaked, losing her grip from the chain and falling forward, forced into grabbing Robin around the shoulders to keep from falling face first. The boy wonder let out a yelp as her weight combined with his hung from the one arm still shackled to the ceiling.

Rachel grunted, getting the barrel back under her feet and undoing the last shackle. Robin dropped and rolled, simultaneously grabbing one of his well stashed birdarangs and stopping the next dagger from striking Rachel. The clang of metal filled the air as his shuriken collided with the dagger, diverting the deadly weapon away from Rachel's back. Robin charged forward to deal with knife man. The guy was good; Robin wouldn't lie about that. Heck, the guy probably would have put up a decent enough fight if 'Mr Mighty's' bo-staff hadn't come flying through the darkness to clock him upside the head.

Robin watched the guy fall as Dick emerged from the shadows.

"Thanks."

Formality. Robin would call it nothing else. He could have handled the guy.

"No problem. Found this lying around. Is it yours?" He held out the staff, still coated in a thin layer of someone's blood. Robin accepted the weapon and wrinkled his nose at the tacky crimson.

"Yeah... Now who are you? How do you know my fighting style?"

"It's a long story." Dick replied casually, craning his neck around to watch Rachel finish freeing the Titans. She had gotten the process down to a 'T' kicking the barrel along as she needed it. By now, everyone but Cyborg was free; but Rachel had him liberated fairly quickly. As the teen titans backed their leader, Rachel returned to Dick's side. The retired boy wonder heard the click of nails on concrete, heard the tell tale sounds of bones cracking, Kory's heels mingled in. Out of the shadows behind Dick, a green haired boy and a pink haired woman stepped from the obscure shadows.

Garfield was pulling his coat on, having taken the liberty to transform back into a human whilst still in the inky crevices of the warehouse.

Dick did a double take to ensure all the villains were out cold before nodding. " Hope you kids can make your way home... Guys, Let's get out of here." He turned to leave, expecting his allies to follow; however, the doppelgangers weren't ready to let them go. "Wait!" Robin called, but Dick ignored him, bursting into the evening light and stepping over bloodied and unconscious henchmen. A black vortex opened right in front of them, and Robin alongside his Titans emerged. Dick quirked an eyebrow as Raven emerged, eyes glowing black. He wondered if his Rachel could pull that off.

"I said, stop." Robin growled, now toe to toe with Dick. The detective might had found it intimidating if the boy wonder had been just a little taller.

"No thanks." Dick tried to pass, but a familiar metal staff slammed into his chest, hard. It could have been a rougher blow, informing Dick that this was a warning. It was a warning not perceived well by his allies. Kory pulled Dick back and glared Robin down, her eyes radiating a vibrant emerald green as flames licked across her finger tips. Her hair began heating at the roots, turning from hot pink to radiant as light tore through the silky strands.

"I don't want to hurt you, Jason. You seemed like a good enough kid in our world.. A bit rough around the edges... but with potential."

"That's the second time you've called me Jason." Robin pointed out, using his staff to lightly push Kory's hand aside. "That's not my name- and what do you mean your world? I want answers...now."

"you're name's not Jason?" Dick demanded gruffly, rubbing the forming bruise on his chest. Robin looked a few seconds away from fuming, his impatience on display for everyone to see. Dick didn't care if he wanted answers. The ball was in the alliance's ball park, and he planned on using it to his advantage.

"No."

"Then..." Shot in the dark. Oh, Dick hoped this stuck up little bratt with a good swing wasn't actually him; but it was worth checking. "Dick Grayson?"

He saw Robin's eyes widen.

Bingo.

"How did you know that!?" The kid demanded, now on alert. His fingers tightened painfully around the bo's grip. Had he not had gloves, they would have seen his knuckles clenched so tight with a pallor akin to the dead.

"Dude." Beast Boy muttered. "You're name's actually Di-"

"Not now, Beast Boy." Robin growled, cutting off what was on no uncertain terms a jab at his name. "I asked how you know my name!" He stared Dick down, watching as the guy reached into his pocket. There was something flat and square pressed against the fabric, clearly not a weapon; but Robin kept his staff aimed carefully. Kory seemed to intrigued to follow through on her threat, eyes too studying her leader as he pulled a folded black wallet out... and yet it wasn't a wallet. It was a badge.

"Because I'm you from another universe." He opened the badge and held it out for Robin to inspect.

"This is some sort of joke." Cyborg stated... but they all knew it to be true. Raven was especially certain. "I mean, wouldn't that make you the adopted son of Bru-"

"Yes." Both Dick and Robin simultaneously replied, each with their own dangerous and hateful growl. That was one thing they had in common, an utter contempt of the bat themed vigilante roaming Gotham's streets.

"Touchy subject?" Cyborg pressed.

"Yes!" They both snapped. Cyborg and Beast Boy gaped for a moment at the two Robins before Dick recomposed himself and gestured vaguely.

"This is Garfield Logan," Dick pointed to the green haired kid. "Kory Anders-" He jut a finger at the pink haired woman with glowing green eyes. "Rachel Roth." The girl who had freed them smiled slightly. "And I'm Dick Grayson... The first Robin."

"First?" the cartoon version of him demanded.

"I was replaced... by a teenager -the same age as I was when I started- with black hair... which is why I assumed you were him. I didn't think to consider the possibility that I'm a still a teen in this world."

"Hey, dude, your doppelganger's a brunette." Beast Boy chortled, much to Robin's irritation. "And he's been replaced as Robin." That got the teenage Grayson's eye twitching.

"And yours doesn't have green skin." Star Fire innocently pointed out, grabbing Gar's arm and smiling at him. The boy warily smiled back, pale cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"Okay guys. Probably not the time." Cyborg scolded, watching his monitors as Robin's blood pressure began to rise. Dick nodded in agreement. The metal man cleared his throat."Look, a big threat is coming. We need all the help we can get. Would your team be interested in helping us out?"

Dick pursed his lips. "We're not a team."

"Oh?" Robin was now genuinely curious. They looked tight as thieves, and of course they were doppelgangers of the teen titans. That had to stand for something.

"We're an... alliance, working to evade a mutual enemy."

"We're a team." Kory amended, ignoring Dick's eyes roll.

"Alliance."

"Team."

'Alliance."

"Dick." Rachel butt in. "Seriously?"

The man shook his head. "We've been on our own for weeks. I'm not sure a team up is the best idea. We barely know each other. I'm not sure-"

Robin quirked his eyebrow. "You heard what Slade said. All of our universes are danger... again. We're better off working together to stop this threat. Then we can get you home."

"You have a way to get us home?" Kory asked, actually letting the hope taint her expression. Robin nodded.

"Yeah... This isn't exactly the first time we've been world hopping." He informed the 'alliance.' The name actually bugged him, but who was he to criticize what they called themselves. He had the impression this complicated group of people had a twisted story, if Dick's brutal mannerisms had been anything to go by. He didn't fully trust them to be roaming his city... So he offered them a truce that pulled them over the barrel. "We have a device called the whirlygog. It'll get you back safe and sound."

"Now that just sounds fake." Dick remarked rather dryly, disbelief sprawled across his face.

"We got it from a rather unpleasant universe filled with bobble headed goofballs. Now are you interested or not?" Cyborg held his hand out, a holographic projection of a pink orb appeared above his palm to serve as proof.

The detective dragged a hand down his face with a slight nod. "Okay... alright...We help you; you help us. Sound like a fair deal?"

"Under one condition."

Dick fought the urge to let out a sigh. "And that would be?"

"You stay with my team. It'd be better if we didn't have to hunt you down when trouble strikes."

"We'd be happy to!" Rachel jumped in, knowing that Dick would protest. This was something he would no doubt have his negative say about. "Right... Dick?" She shot him a look not to be trifled with.

Her protector visibly ground his teeth and shot the teens a forced smile. "Sure..."

"Yes! Let's go!' Beast Boy shouted, jumping around and throwing his hands in the air. Gar shot Dick a look, quietly asking if he was anything like this green ball of energy. Dick just quirked his shoulders in a silent shrug.

As the nine heroes trudged out of the alley way, a flying green bird in the lead, the teams finally decided to mingle. Dick was bringing up the rear, eyes scraping across the dark shadows; but never-the-less, he was listening.

"So this has happened to you all before?" Rachel was asking Raven. They looked very similar minus a glowing jewel in Raven's head and the more mature look on her face.

"Yes... except the versions of us that came through were..."

"Bobble-heads." Cyborg finished.

Robin hissed at the thought, shaking his head. "Amateurish idiotic bobble-heads. Too focused on winning a contest to really save the world."

"Sound pleasant." Garfield remarked dryly.

"I dunno, I kind of liked them."

"Of course you did, Beast Boy. Raven, can you get us home?"

The hooded teen nodded at her leader, closing her eyes. Rachel had been intrigued by the earlier portal. If this was her doppelganger -and the darkness so similar amongst them confirmed that- then perhaps Raven could teach her a thing or two about controlling the darkness within. It was clear the teen of this cartoon world had embraced whatever Darkness lurked in her soul, or at the very least controlled it.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." The girl breathed, and Rachel stepped back as Raven's hands glowed dark. Darkness, oh how Rachel felt it's presence, now amplified. The cold powers made her shiver. Dick strode forward and stopped Rachel from entering the portal, fixing the other team with a look.

"After you." His complete distrust of them was now displayed for all to see; but if the Teen titans were overly surprised about it, they didn't show it. Raven just stepped through, followed by Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Robin. Star Fire flew through last, leaving the four alliance members standing on the empty street. Dick swallowed. He'd seen Rachel's powers in action, the destructive nature they possessed. Did he have the guts to step through? He wasn't sure... but it was his team's turn. With a sigh, he made his way to the front, watching Beast Boy reach out to touch the vortex. The kid's hand was snatched, Dick pulling him back and plunging through first.

A moment later, he part way re-emerged. "It's good. let's go." He vanished once more to the other side.

With that, they followed through, surprised at the strange chill associated with passing through the darkness. When they emerged, the 'alliance' members were standing at the base of a T shaped tower.

"Welcome to Titans Tower."

Dick finally got a good look, eyes wide in shock. What kind of loony world was this? "A 'T'... Your tower is shaped like a fudging T."

TBC

Dun Dun Dun! chapter two is up. hope you all enjoyed! I have plenty more planned, the Robins having a heart to heart, Kory finally figuring some things out, and chaos at the tower!