Chapter 20

"So you seriously don't remember me?" asked Tara.

"Nope," replied Beast Boy, "I'm pretty good with faces, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't forget yours."

"Seriously?" she snorted, "You don't remember stalking me for a week? Or throwing mud at my face? Nothing?"

"Why would I throw mud at your face?"

"Don't bother," snorted Saya, still grasping her massive weapon, "when your otherselves died, they took your memories of the person that started the pain."

"Y'know, I still don't get how that happened," pointed out Cyborg, "I thought you said otherselves could only be killed by Blacks and Whites?"

"Unless the host gets over his pain," she pointed out, "time heals all wounds, as they say. Most Battlefields eventually crumble and their masters die or are turned back into Hooded Children. Apparently, murder by the host counts too."

"But, how did we hurt each other?" asked Tara.

"It's a long story," admitted the robotic Titan, "but the gist of it is that you two were an item."

"…You know, I'm really glad I wasn't drinking anything right then and there," said the blonde.

"Ditto," mirrored Beast Boy, "I mean, really? I think I'd remember dating anyone! Never mind her."

"What is that supposed to mean?" growled Tara.

"Good-looking girls are easier to remember."

Tara was surprised by her own blush, and Cyborg low-fived the green teen behind his back.

"Smooth," admitted Saya, "but sex appeal isn't enough. Emotional connections like love are necessary to generate enough pain for an otherself to be born or reborn. I bet they're not even behaving like they used to, are they?"

"But love is a wonderful and wondrous thing!" cried Starfire, "Why would it cause the pain?"

"Every relationship causes pain in some way," pointed out the teacher, "a lover that's keeping secrets, a friend that suddenly hangs out a little less after he meets someone new, even a parent's white lie will cause pain. Otherselves, however, fight is only against the one that causes direct conflict."

"Huh, I was wondering why there weren't a bunch of otherselves for each relationship." Mused Cyborg.

"Nah, just against the one that the host thinks most about," said Yuu, "I used to find it weird too, but it takes a very strong, very negative emotion to form an otherself in the first place."

"And the sources of said emotions are the focus of each fight," continued Saya, "occasionally, someone else manages to jut in, like Mato did with Yomi and Kagari."

"But Black Rock Shooter has been around for years," Yuu pointed out, "though then again, that's just like her."

"That whole altruist thing?" asked Mrs. Kuroi, who was busying herself by brushing Stella's hair, "Isn't that nice Mato? You're officially a cinnamon roll!"

"Mom, I'm begging you, leave Tumblr out of this!" groaned the eldest daughter.

"You seem pretty taken with the White," noted Saya, "You're not gonna adopt her are you?"

"Well, I'd need to speak with Haji first," she admitted, "but I certainly want to. It's not right to leave her alone."

"Even with the whole super sadistic bully thing?" asked Yuu with a raised eyebrow.

"There is a right way and a wrong way to raise any child," insisted Haha as she put the albino's hair in pigtails, "there are plenty of certified sadists out there that lead perfectly normal lives. I don't see why Stella can't be one of them."

"Um, if I may," interrupted Yomi, "there is one thing that worries me."

"What's that?" asked Cyborg.

"Why is she staring at me?"

They turned to Stella and found that, just as she'd said, she was staring intently at the greenette.

"Um, she shares her sister's interests?" said Haha with a grin, which grew further when Mato turned bright red, "Well Stella? Are you fond of Yomi?"

Stella, for her part, merely blinked in confusion before looking down at her hands, grasping as if she expected something to be there.

"Is something wrong?" asked Haha, "you can talk to me."

"She hardly ever talks," pointed out Mato.

Stella frowned and looked down, clasping her hands on her lap. Haha smacked her older daughter upside the head.

"Don't be rude," she scolded, "she's just-."

"I'm missing something," cut in Stella, still grasping at the air, "but I don't know the word."

"Maybe Starfire should teach her," said Kagari with a mischievous smirk, "Whatcha say Star? Wanna teach Stella to talk?"

"I would love to!" she exclaimed, "But Robin asked me to request permission before teaching anyone else new languages after I taught Cyborg and Raven Tamarenean."

"That was supposed to be a secret," said Raven as she and Robin entered with a rather noticeable blush on her face.

"Hey, at least she taught me the old fashioned way," pointed out Cyborg, "though she did offer the short cut."

"So a hottie like Starfire offered to kiss you and you said no?" asked Saya, "you're a lot more noble than me, I'll tell you that."

"Well, Robin's more than capable of kicking my ass, so I figured I shouldn't push it."

"That was years ago," noted Robin with a raised eyebrow, "we weren't even going out yet."

Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven turned to the couple with deadpan stares.

"Really?" asked Raven with an upturned eyebrow.

"Remember when I said "It's about time" back in Tokyo? That's what I menat," pointed out Cyborg, "we had a betting pool on how long it'd take. Speaking of which, you cost me fifty bucks. I thought she was yours after the thing with Kitty."

"Who won?" Yuu asked curiously.

"Bumblebee," he groaned, "she even got extra by guessing that it'd be after a life or death battle in a foreign country!"

"Well, either way, we need to get going," said the blushing leader, eager to change the subject away from his love life, "we received a summons for a hearing."

"What about?" asked Beast Boy.

"The Otherselves," he replied, "but there is a problem."

"What is it?" asked Saya.

"The letter came with a rather specific list about who can come," cut in Raven, "it does not include the parents."

"WHAT!?" was the collective shout.

"We are NOT staying behind!" snapped Mrs. Kuroi.

"Absolutely out of the question," agreed Mr. Izuriha vehemently.

"I understand your concerns," said Robin, "but this was most likely an error. There's no way that they'd know you're here."

"Actually, it has a "Not Welcome" list," said Raven, "it has their names."

"Thank you Raven," ground out Robin, "either way, I don't know what kind of power they have, so I'd rather not risk leaving any of them orphaned."

"All the more reason for us to come," snapped Mrs. Izuriha, "with all due respect Mr. Robin, we just found out that our daughters were tortured by a woman that was supposed to keep them safe. What makes you think we would trust you?"

"You don't have a choice," cut in Raven, "Robin doesn't know about mages and what governs them, but I do. Chances are, the transport they'll send is spelled to carry only those included in the letter."

"We'll protect them with our lives," said Starfire, "you have our word."

The parents looked around at the juvenile heroes, before Hideki Izuriha sighed and held out his hand.

"Bring them back safe and in one piece," he told Robin.

"I will."

"Aaanyways," cut in Saya in an attempt to break the tension, "what is the meeting about?"

"Officially, it's about the threat that you pose to the Statute of Secrecy," said Raven, "that's just a smokescreen though. The Statute of Secrecy has been practically worthless since Voldemort, and only Europe insists in maintaining it at this point."

"Then what's the real reason?" asked Mrs. Izuriha.

"To assess them as a threat," she replied, "they want to keep this relatively secret but you can't move that many people in high places without catching the media's attention. So they're claiming that their new "species" may present a threat to the Statute, while they really want to make sure that they're not dealing with another Lady Ying Fa."

"What makes you so sure about that?" asked Cyborg.

"They called in a lot of people that normally wouldn't be involved," cut in Robin, "Director Parr from the ISA and Agent Possible from Global Justice will all be there."

"And Maria Hill from SHIELD," cut in Raven before noticing Robin's look, "they just updated the list."

She turned the letter around and noticed that a new name had just been added.

"That's… useful." Quipped Cyborg.

"True," she admitted, "back to the list, there are a few names here that worry me."

"Such as?" asked Mrs. Kuroi.

"The Sorensons often deal with all matter of light, dark, and fallen creatures," she explained, "Kendra is well-known for her work with light creatures and is engaged to the Fairy Prince."

"A fairy?" asked Kagari skeptically.

"He's actually a unicorn," admitted the sorceress, "I don't know why they call him a fairy. Anyways, I'm more worried about Seth and the Te Xuan Ze. Seth often deals with dark creatures and both have been known to take down demons of considerable strength."

"Why's he a problem?" asked Mrs. Takanashi.

"Classified," snapped Robin.

"Quite a few of these deal with xenodimensional species," noticed Raven, "The Guardians and Phantom for starters."

"Phantom? Danny Phantom, the supervillain?" asked Yomi.

"I thought he was a hero?" Yuu asked.

"He is a hero," affirmed Cyborg, "we just made a mistake."

"Most of these are supernatural task forces," concluded Raven, "Lady Ying Fa is their heavy hitter though. I honestly don't know the limits of her power."

"So how are we gonna get there anyways?" asked Beast Boy.

"We're going to be picked up by someone," replied Raven, "they should be here in a few minutes."

Someone flushed the main bathroom, before Ying came out drying her hands on her handkerchief.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yeah, we're just waiting for our ride," said Beast Boy, who'd finally woken up.

"Ok then, let's go," she said, pulling out a rope from where she'd stashed it on the couch, "everyone hold on."

They blinked.

"Friend Ying, what are you doing?" asked Starfire.

She stared blankly at Starfire for a moment before smacking herself on the forehead. "Oh, right!" she scolded herself, "I forgot."

"What did you forget?" asked Raven.

"I'm really sorry about this," she said with a bow, "but they said that if they were dangerous, I would have the best chance at containing them."

"What?" asked Robin.

"Who am I?"

"Huh?" was Beast Boy's intelligent response.

"Who. Am. I?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Raven.

"You're-." Robin cut himself off, taking in the girl before him.

She was the same age as the otherselves and was slightly shorter than Yomi, she had light brown hair adorned with beaded hair ties and emerald green eyes. She wore caramel colored boots that reached just under her knees, cream colored shorts, and a light pink blouse. She was smiling guiltily, fiddling with the book clipped to her belt. That's when it hit him.

He didn't know this person.

He lunged.

"Through."

He went right through her.

He cursed under his breath and launched an explosive.

"Could you-?"

She was cut off by a starbolt that went through her chest.

"I'm not trying to-."

A sonic blast flew through her head and into the wall.

"Stop-."

A green rhinoceros ran towards her.

She sighed.

"Guide me, Fight. Guard me, Shield. Lend me your speed, Dash. Lend me your strength, Power."

Four streams of thick, syrupy smoke emanated from the book clipped to her belt and swirled around her.

Beast Boy reached her, and the smoke dissipated.

She picked up the 2,300 kilogram animal and tossed him at Starfire, who dodged but was unable to keep Beast Boy from losing consciousness.

She then parried a kick from Robin with her right forearm and kicked him back. He lunged again, only to for her to block and deflect every strike with the ease of a seasoned martial artist. He landed a highly ineffective knuckle-breaking punch on her face and she kicked him away once more, planting her foot into his chest and knocking the wind out of him.

In response, he tossed her an ice disk. The smaller girl held up her hand.

"Loop."

The disk disappeared and hit Robin in the back, freezing him to the spot.

Another sonic blast hit her side, ruffling her clothes but leaving no mark.

"Move."

Cyborg's cannon arm grew small pink wings and vanished, reappearing on top of the fridge.

Enraged, the mechanical man lunged, destroying his remaining arm against her palm.

She grasped what was left of his left hand and kicked him away, ripping out the limb.

She then discarded the useless machinery to catch King Saw.

"Firey."

The massive steel blade rapidly turned red as fire danced from her palm, forcing Black Gold Saw to release it before her claws could melt.

The smaller girl simply held the weapon above her as molten steel rained upon her skin and clothes, yet harming neither.

Starfire tried to tackle her into the ground, but she was behind her before the tamarenian could even notice she'd moved and was quickly silenced by a prompt elbow to the nape.

"STOP!"

Everyone turned to Raven.

"That's Lady Ying Fa," she said, "we don't stand a chance."

The mages bowed.

"That's not actually my name," she admitted as she straightened up, "the whole Lady Ying Fa nonsense is more of a publicity stunt."

"What?" asked Cyborg as he nursed what was left of his arms.

"China's not too happy about Kyoto being the capital of the Manchurian Wizarding Empire," she explained, "Yelan-sama proposed changing my name in public events to make it look like I was trying to turn Chinese or something."

She then turned back to the mess she'd made and pulled a key pendant with a winged star in a loop on the tip out of her shirt.

"Key that conceals the power of the stars," she chanted as an intricate circle appeared beneath her, "reveal your true form before me. Under the covenant, I, Sakura, command you. Release!"

The key was surrounded in a bubble of magical power before it began growing, yet at the same time slimmed down its shaft's width to a more manageable form. The famed sorceress snatched the wand out and twirled it like a baton before settling both it and her magic back down onto her hands.

"Undo the mayhem I have caused. Return!"

Ice melted instantaneously as Robin's knuckles healed, Beast Boy and Starfire regained consciousness, King Saw reformed itself, Cyborg found himself fully functional, and even the damage left over from Beast Machine patched itself up.

"Dude. How did you do that?" asked Beast Boy.

"Return lets me see past events or turn back time," she explained, "pretty handy when you need to unburn dinner."

"You're more powerful than the rumors led me to believe," said Raven, "it is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Ying Fa."

"Like I said, that's not my name," she said with a bow, "I am Sakura Kinomoto. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"When you said we didn't stand a chance, you meant it," said Robin as he examined his perfectly healed hand, "how did she do that?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "I didn't know it was possible to wield the cards without the staff or without chanting. She was already the most powerful mage in the world two years ago, and she's been getting stronger."

"Could we beat her if we needed to?"

"This morning I would've said no," she admitted, "but I assumed she'd already been trained. From what I can see, she uses more magic than she needs to with each spell. We might be able to wear her down. Eventually."

"Eventually?"

"Her reserves are massive," she pointed out, "enough to rival your average god and far above Trigon's. She has to make an effort to keep her mere presence from shorting out the city's power grid. We could take her, but not without help, not without a plan, and not without a lot of time."

"Robin! We need to go!" called out Sakura, holding out the rope, "grab on."

"What is this?" asked Beast Boy.

"Oh no," groaned Raven, "please tell me we're not using a portkey."

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I hate these things too, but there's not much of a choice."

"I don't suppose you can teleport?" she asked hopefully.

"I can Move things," she said pensively, "but a teleporting card… I'll try that later if I can't soup up Move."

"Let's just get this over with," grumbled Raven before she took a deep breath and held it.

Everyone else raised an eyebrow before doing the same.

"Five, four, three-."

Sakura's countdown was interrupted as they were suddenly grasped behind the navel and sucked down a crazy straw.

Author's Notes: Yeah, a bit late with this one. A comment by Knight25 made me realize that some of my crossovers might not be entirely compatible, and i've been untangling a few strings. I would also like to make a Shout Out to Shadow Angel Beta for being the only one to notice that Lady Ying Fa was somehow there.

I'd also like to thank Knight25 on his insight and for an idea he gave me regarding Yuu.

A small confession: This story makes me cringe. I first started the story as an experiment, an attempt to make a story with little planning since I usually analyze stories for months, even years before I start writing them. The style itself, however, is vastly different from what I'm used to, making it difficult for me to read. It's not a style I particularly like, but I want to make it feel like an episode. The style I usually use is what I did in TF:Prejudice and in Sins of the Father. The style I'm using in Otherself confuses me to the point I had to draw a freaking map to follow the second fight scene!

Anywho, I don't feel like rewriting the whole thing at this point, so I'll just keep on trucking.

This story is also getting a lot longer than I originally intended. I had originally projected 40 chapters at the longest with Chapter 20 starring Death Master, yet it seems like this'll drag on for at least 80.