...

...

...Excuse me, dear reader.

Yes, I am talking to you, and however many of you there are out there.

For some time now, I have been telling you the story of Devan Morgan Tennyson, and now that we've reached this portion, I must inform you that we'll be observing a different individual for this chapter, but before we do, allow me a minute or two to ponder...

What do you think Time is? Do you consider time as a linear, predetermined path, where all our choices have already been made for you? Maybe, you believe that time is something one could be separate from, and that you could travel throughout it and change it to your desire. Or perhaps, time is merely an illusion, and it doesn't mean anything towards the Grand Scheme.

All of these possibilities are correct, however, that means it can only be explained via experience than me telling you how it works. So, instead, we shall witness the actions of a novice Time Traveler, and how his ability taught a certain Titan about the existence of probability...

(...)

An alarm begins to ring, and soon after, an orange ball of energy springs from her bed in excitement.

Starfire: The day has finally arrived!

She looks off to one side and finds source of the ringing, an alarm clock shaped like the Amazing Mumbo that sits on her dresser. She reaches over to shut it off, and heads to a small wooden drawer, which she opens to reveal a pile of toys and party favors. She sweeps up the lot and giggles, taking a moment to open her door, peeking cautiously back and forth before resuming. More bubbly little laughs escape her as she zips out and starts to ease toward the corner, whisking from one wall to the other as she goes. Her armload jingles slightly, one item falls away when she ducks around the bend and out of sight, but she reaches back to pick it up.

Now she makes her way past the stairs, reaching an automatic door; it slides open to admit her, and she lowers her goodies to expose her beaming face.

Starfire: HAPPY BLORTHOG!! ...Huh?

Instead of revelry, Star found the Ops Room to be in a bit of trouble. Raven sits off to one side and reads, Dev stands before a boom box in the kitchen, and Beast Boy and Cyborg are playing GameStation; thundering heavy metal tracks drown out all other sound at this point. If we observe the two gamers, they were currently fighting over the controller itself.

Cyborg: Come on, Beast Boy, gimme that thing!

Beast Boy: Dude! I'm in the middle of a game, Cyborg!

Cyborg: Yeah, my game, 'cause it's my turn!

She approaches.

Starfire: Friends! We must frolic and leap in glorious celebration, for today is Blorthog, the Tamaranean festival of friendship!

She grins broadly for several seconds, but she soon realizes that no one is paying the least attention. Disgruntled, she looks around the place and drops the items she has carried in, except for a few strands of jingling bells that hang from her wrists. Cyborg leans into her view, still struggling with Beast Boy, and she turns cheerfully to him.

Starfire: Joyous greeting, friend! I, Starfire, give you this tinnabula as a symbol of--

She's cut off by a tendril dragging Cy backwards, wrapping around his neck; she gasps.

Cyborg: You're gonna pay for that, you little grass stain!

His eye implant hangs amusingly in the air a moment after he is pulled back, then zips after him. A few seconds later, there is a new struggle for the controller, and Beast Boy hops into view as a frog, with the GameStation device in his mouth. Reverting to human form, he laughs and starts playing again. Starfire holds a string of bells out to him.

Starfire: Many blessings, friend. May your ears be filled with sugar candies and--

Cyborg: BEAST BOY!!

Beast Boy: (Yelling over his shoulder.) Look! I'll give you back the controller as soon as Raven gives back my nail clippers!

There is a loud, furious growl from the side, and Cyborg reaches for his collar to yank him away. We cut to Raven, still buried in her book, with the aforementioned pair of clippers floating nearby under her influence.

Raven: Not gonna happen. How else am I supposed to keep your toenails off the coffee table?

Seeing an opportunity, Starfire holds the bells out to her.

Starfire: Happiness and delight, friend! On this wondrous day, I wish you sunshine and bunny--

Raven's eyebrow twitches as a metaphorical skull pops up by her head; Starfire takes the hint and backs off with a nervous little laugh.

Raven: ...Devan, could the music be a little louder? I can still hear myself think.

As he is the only remaining option, Starfire makes as if to offer him the bells. As the free-for-all continues from the vicinity of the couch, Morgan glares off toward it and one vein after another stands out below his hairline, but his face lights up upon seeing the bells.

Devan: Oh, perfect!

He wraps the bells around his neck; two are shoved into his ears, and the sound waves coming from the boom box causes them to jingle loudly, granting Tennyson a bit more sound to drown out Cy and BB.

Devan: Much better now...

Speaking of which, the bionic Titan had the smaller in a headlock, holding the game controller triumphantly.

Cyborg: Whose turn is it now, tough guy? Whose turn is it now??

"Stop this, please!"

The Tamaranaon was finally able to break the chaos, shouting loud enough for all to hear.

Starfire: Friends must never behave this way, and especially not on Blorthog! Do you wish to invite the Rekmas?!

Beast Boy: ...Gesundheit?

Starfire: (Turning away.) On my world, "Rekmas" means "The Drifting."

Devan: What do you mean by "drifting"?

Starfire: The point at which close friends begin to drift apart, and their friendship begins to die...

Cyborg: Aw, come on, Starfire...

Beast Boy: We are so not Rek-whatever-ing.

Raven: We're just getting on each other's nerves a little. Big deal.

Devan: Yeah, people just have little disagreements on stuff, but it's not gonna change us! If you ask me, the friendship we all got is gonna last forever!

Starfire: Forever?

(!!!)

Maverick: Alert! Criminal activity detected!

A beeping starts up and cuts off her pondering. The source is Devan's Omegamatrix, which he pulls out from his sleeve. As its ringtone goes off, the black sections on the dial's outer casing flashes red.

Devan: Hold on a sec! We got trouble, looks like the museum...

(...)

--Jump City Historical Museum--

A museum: a stockpile of history that shows off art, literature, and fossils from a forgotten age, but this particular section was dedicated to the evolution of the clock itself, the physical representative of all time. And despite the museum being closed at this moment, a special visitor has decided to come in a bit early, as a dark portal opens up in the very fabric of reality. Out steps a goateed man in black armor, with gold reinforcements at wrists and ankles; he also wears a gold breastplate and helmet that leaves his face exposed. This, as we may already know, is Warp, the novice I warned of before.

And we see the item he has set his eyes on: a golden clock with an assortment of orbs on top of it. As he goes to acquire it, a male voice stops him.

Guard: Hey, stop!

The sound of a weapon being cocked is heard with this. The intruder turns toward it; the speaker is one of two armed guards who have moved in and are ready to fire.

Warp: Stop yourselves!

He waves a hand carelessly at them; an instant later both men are frozen in ice. After making short work of them, he turns back to the case.

Warp: I didn't journey back in time one hundred years to squabble, I came to gain a fortune! (His eyes narrow.) The Clock of Eternity. Valuable in the past, priceless in the future...

He goes again for the clock, but this time a more dangerous projectile is hurled is way, in the form of a fireball. Turning back in frustration, he finds a small group of superheroes atop a balcony, one of them being a man of fire and stone.

Inferno: And you'll be history before you get away with it, gramps!

Warp: The Teen Titans...this is a treat. (A small laser pops out of each shoulder.) I read all about you in the historical archives. And now, you're all history!

Inferno: It's Hero Time!

They are over the railing in a heartbeat to avoid the blasts. Warp pivots off to one side and fires again with a shout, aiming at Devan; the latter has two blazing fists at the ready, blocks each laser with an equally strong gout of flame. The last shot, however, overwhelms his and knocks him back, causing him to retreat.

A starbolt blasts zips past his head, and Starfire flies in to take his place, followed by Beast Boy as a lion. Her beams carve a long double groove in the floor, closing in on Warp, but he effortlessly deflects when they reach him. One ricochet comes back at her and knocks her out of the air.

Warp looks incuriously off to one side as Beast Boy's growl is heard. The big green jungle cat is charging, but up comes one gold glove, out pops a blaster from the back of it, and off goes a crackling blast. The resulting projectile then immobilized Beast Boy in mid-leap. Raven hovers in the air as she prepares her attack; she is levitating two grandfather clocks.

Raven: Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!

The fixtures are hurled at him, only to go flying off to the side when he waves his arms. In retaliation he fires a beam from his helmet that drives her to the ground. He is in the clear for only a moment, though; Cyborg's sonic cannon blast flashes in, connecting dead on and throwing up a cloud of dust.

Cyborg: Boo-y- Huh?

As the dust clears, we see that Warp has put up a force field to absorb the energy and is quite unharmed. Taking it down, he throws something at the cyborg as it lands on his chest and sticks there. It is circular, resembling a kitchen timer, and the pointer turns a notch to send up sparks from every part of the bionic teen's body...so, NOT a kitchen timer after all.

Cyborg: Augh!! D-Draining my power cell!

Warp: (He holds up a disc.) You cannot hope to defeat Warp, I am from the future!

He scales it across the gallery toward the charging Devan, who throws a handful of his own fireballs. Warp's projectile, however, smashes cleanly through them, then doubles back and homes in again. And with only moments to spare, Inferno and Starfire dive aside as it sails the full length of the room and explodes at the other end.

Warp: And these relics are one hundred years out of date!

He turns away, this time obtaining the Clock of Eternity. Warp reaches out, his hand passing through the glass, and removes it. With the artifact in tow, he takes a few steps across the gallery, stops, and presses the blue lens on his breastplate. It glows blinding white and emits a beam that forms into a portal identical to the one that brought him here.

Warp: Ta-ta, Titans. I have enjoyed our time together, but I've got a very bright future ahead of me!

He turns to make his exit, but before he can clear out, a furious roar is heard from behind. Surprised, he turns to look back with one foot out the "door".

Warp: What?!

Before he can react, Starfire plows directly into him; her momentum carries both of them through the portal, which winks out behind them-an instant before anyone could do anything. They all stood in the now quiet room, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Inferno: Starfire, no...!!

And now, my dear reader, is the part of our tale that changes the views of certain people...

(...)

--???--

"Let go!"

Starfire: You have endangered my friends and ruined Blorthog!

She spots the blue disc on his armor, obviously the time device he uses, and so she goes to confiscate it before making any other moves.

Warp: Stop! If you damage the suit before we reach my future-- No!

She rips it away; there is a great flash of white, which clears to leave her floating alone. She gasps and covers her eyes as Warp drops like a heavy weight in the void, screaming all the while. When he has receded from view entirely, a second white flash emanates from the immeasurable depths and washes out the Starfire's sight. This clears to leave a black field and Starfire falling toward the ground at high speed. Finally, she lands very hard, yet thankfully into a soft pile of snow and ice, and then stands up after a moment. It is nighttime in this field, and a bitter winter wind whistles over the landscap.

Starfire: Huh? (She shivers.) Wh-What has happened? Why is it cold? And where are my...

She turns her eyes upward, looking straight at the base of the Tower, whose windows are all dark and drifted deep with snow at the sills. The entire building has seemingly fallen into advanced disrepair, but...how?

Starfire: ...friends?

Let us now go inside, near the ceiling of the top floor. A hole has been smashed here, allowing the snowflakes to enter. The Tamaranaon cautiously walked through up a cold fight of stairs, the device she tore from Warp's armor is clipped to her belt.

Starfire: Friends? Hello? Friends? Hello!

Finding a set of closed doors in her path, she strains to push them open. Cut to the other side; one door is forced away, then the other, revealing her silhouette in the meager light from outside. She gasps in shock and advances slowly, realizing she has entered the remains of the operations center, but in dust and disarray, somehow even colder than outside. Walking through the kitchen, she looks left and right, not believing a bit of what she sees, and then she gasps as he finds a red light peering at her in the darkness, and the only person she knew with that should definitely be there, right?

Starfire: Cyborg!

The red dot does not move, so she holds up one glowing hand to shed some light.

Starfire: Oh, Friend Cyborg, thank goodness you are--

The illumination reaches the dark niche and exposes something that has Cyborg's approximate body shape, but is built entirely of mechanical parts. The source of the red spot is an electronic brain sitting in one side of the head. Starfire cries out in fear and throws a starbolt that blows the collection of circuitry away, only to be confronted by several spider-like robots that jump up from behind the shoulders. Each looks like the part she just destroyed. Now she tosses one shot after another to knock them out, but is interrupted by the arrival of a new figure at the entrance. Now, this man definitely looked and sounded like Vic, but...something was wrong. His circuits were dull and powerless, parts of his body was missing or replaced with scrap, and several large cables could be seen dragging across the floor, but it was his voice that struck Starfire the most, as it was dry and tired, as if he hadn't had to use it in quite a while.

Cyborg: Yo, who's blasting up my...my... Starfire??

He hesitantly approaches the Tamaranaon, almost afraid to acknowledge her existence.

Cyborg: Star, it really is you...Y-You haven't aged a single day!

Starfire: Cyborg, what has happened? Why are...you...?

Cyborg: Old? (He smiles gently, then crosses the operations center.) Well, that's what happens to folks when you go away for twenty years.

Starfire: Twenty years?!

Cyborg: You disappeared, Star. (He slides some junk aside.) That battle with Warp, that was a long time ago. You fell through a wormhole, and...

He looks out the cracked window. Across the frozen bay, the skyline of Jump City huddles under its blanket of snow and the cruel dark sky. By comparison, this ruin of a civilization was no better than Gotham City, perhaps even worse.

Cyborg: Welcome to the future.

Starfire: The future? But...

She removes the lens from her belt and holds it up.

Starfire: ...I damaged his technology.

He takes the thing and looks at it for a moment.

Cyborg: Warp was planning to jump ahead one hundred years, right? Looks like you stopped him at twenty.

Starfire: Still, I am confused. Please, why are you in disrepair?

He looks down at himself, then turns away.

Cyborg: Let's just say...things haven't gone so well since you left.

He approaches the windows; she follows.

Starfire: But what of the other Titans? Where are our friends?

Cyborg: Heh, there are no Titans anymore, we split up some time after you disappeared. Your friends...they aren't so friendly now.

The Tamaranaon was utterly dumbfounded, and slowly her shock turned to frustration.

Starfire: N-No... You are wrong. This...everything is wrong! How could such terrible things...

She looks at the lens in her hand.

Starfire: Warp! His interference in the past must have changed our future.

Cyborg: Star, I don't think--

Starfire: He caused all this badness to happen! He made this technology, and he is the one who can make things right! (She flies over and lands by him.) We must find Warp, you will help me??

Cyborg: I wish I could...

He gestures to his cables, which are connected to measly gas-powered generator.

Cyborg: My last power cell ran outta juice years back, and supplies are starting to run low. Needless to say, I can't help you, because I can't help myself anymore. But, maybe the others can help ya out...

Starfire: They are still in the city?

Cyborg: Eh, I think I still know where BB and Raven are.

Starfire: And, Devan too, right?

That caused Cyborg to look to the side, unsure of how to answer for a moment.

Cyborg: I do know he's still around, but I haven't seen him since the split. So if you're looking for him, I'm afraid you're on your own...

--The Circus--

As a circus calliope plays outside, a green seal pops up into view and barks; it can only be Beast Boy. He jumps onto a nearby crate and balances a ball on his nose. It bounces up, and as it falls, he becomes a frog and balances it again. Two young boys are on the outside, watching the exhibition. One holds an ice cream cone, and neither is too impressed by the whole spectacle.

The future Beast Boy has now assumed panda form to keep that ball poised just so. He attempts a trick, changing into a pig, but a snowball flung in knocks him over and sends the ball flying.

Brat: Hah! Dumb piggy!

The kid's ice cream cone is thrown in and the two kids leave. The green porker sits dejectedly as the cone melts on his head; it slides off, and he looks down and sighs.

Starfire lands on the other side of the bars to peer in. Beast Boy returns to human form, bald on top, having gained a great deal of weight, and not wearing his belt. Defeat permeates every syllable of his voice.

Beast Boy: No way! It's you, b-but how?

Starfire: I require your help.

Beast Boy: What kinda help?

Starfire: The future is not as it should be. We must find Warp. (She warms up a starbolt.) I will free you from this--

Beast Boy: (Panicked) Whoa, hold it! This cage isn't to keep me in! It's to keep those maniacs out!

Starfire: What? But, you're-

Beast Boy: Look. After the Titans broke up, I tried the whole solo-hero thing. Got my butt kicked, a lot... So now, well...

He turns briefly into a squawking chicken to make the point.

Beast Boy: Hehehe.. Besides, I'm in the showbiz now.

Her eyes tell just how false this excuse rings with her. And if we gaze over to our right, we can see a banner on lighted poles that read: "The Amazing One Man Zoo-Freakish Wonder," showing a creature with the heads and body parts of many different animals. This is what passes for Beast Boy's life now...

--The Asylum--

The room inside is pure white, with no features of any kind visible. In the far corner, wearing a white cloak with the hood up.

Starfire: Raven? Raven, it is Starfire, your friend.

She moves into the room. The white-cloaked figure does not turn from the corner; the voice is Raven's, but sounding as if the past twenty years have broken her mind and body entirely.

Raven: No such thing.

Starfire: Please, Raven, I--

Raven: Just another figment. Don't even look...

Starfire: You must listen! I am here because--

Raven: I'm never coming back! Go away!

She half-walks, half-floats to another corner of the room.

Raven: It has to go away. Just like before, just like all the others...

Starfire: Your mind... (She approaches.) Without friends, you must have--

As she is about to touch her former teammate's back, a shield pops up to block her and she gasps. Dropping her head, resignedly, she exits and closes the door behind her. Raven keeps her face to the wall and that black barrier up...

--Jump City Ruins--

Starfire plods through the snow that thickly covers the street, thinking about her current situation. In this new world, her friends split apart, and each one so far was in a state far worse than what they started with. It made her worried about what she would discover from Devan, but a laser blast from knocks her backward before she can ponder further. Warp stands with his shoulder mounted weapons deployed atop a building. Circuitry is visible through the hole where she pulled that lens away, and his voice reveals that he too has aged.

Warp: What's the matter, dear? Have I come at a bad time?

Starfire: You have also become old...

Warp: That's what happens when someone steals my Vortex Regulator. (He holds out his hand.) Speaking of which, the regulator, if you please. I really must get back to my future.

She stands and pulls it off her belt.

Starfire: If you ever wish to see your future... (She warms up a starbolt.) ...you will repair the damage you have done to my past!

Warp: Damage? Silly girl. There's nothing wrong with your past. One cannot damage history, because history cannot be changed.

Warp: I went back in time to steal this, because history says it disappeared. And history says it disappeared, because I went back to steal it. Past, present, future. It's all written in stone, my dear.

Oh, what an amusing and naive innocence....oh? Who is this approaching?

The minute hand advances, showing the time at 12:00. Starfire winds down the blast she was about to throw; he takes the lens, or regulator, from her hand.

Warp: And nothing you do can ever change it...

He raises one arm and extends a blaster from his wrist, ready to fire, but something hurtles into view and knocks him into an alley. Standing up, it is a black silhouette with a broad build, and it throws Warp even farther down the way to bounce off a dead-end wall. And within an instant, the unknown man transformed into a large, imposing alien...so this is our future of, Devan?

Starfire: D-Devan??

The man didn't answer, however, and instead his fingers detached and fired from his hands like a gun; the lost digits regrowing just as fast as they were launched. Warp throws up a force field to avoid this, and the massive figure launches himself at the Time Traveler. Both arms swing down into the barrier; only to bounce of and allowing his opponent to sink into the snow, leaving the two alone in the ruins. The Tamaranaon stares up at this towering figure, who finally spoke with powerful, yet gruff voice.

???: So you actually came back, figured you would end up somewhere...

Starfire: Devan? Is that really you?

???: Devan, Omni-Boy, Omni-Man, I go by a lot of names nowadays. But, I added a little something different to the table...

He placed a hand on his badge, and the figure that stood before Star was a sight to behold, as he did not resemble the once bright and cheery boy he was before.

Devan: The city knows me as Devan, Devan Ten Thousand...

(...)

--10,000 HQ--

After their reunion, Devan had taken his lost friend to a place of refuge for the time being. It was an abandoned warehouse on the far edges of Jump City, with a small cluster of strange, high tech computers in the center.

Devan: Welcome to my little slice of the world, sorry about the mess. As you can imagine, I've been kinda busy.

All around the computer laid empty food trays and cups with goofy smiles on them, and even more scattered around the floor. Along with this, Starfire also spotted a workbench with several sets of tools and machines in stages of completion.

Starfire: Devan, I must ask you, what happened during my absence?

He leaned back into his chair and spun around to face Star.

Devan: Back 20 years ago? Oh, it was bad, and I mean BAD! There was yellin', screamin', shovin', nobody could agree on anything. Then, we decided to go our separate ways. The others gave up on the Hero business, but...I just couldn't. I felt like I owed the people, at least.

Starfire: So you have been defending the city on your own?

Devan: Oh, believe me, it hasn't been easy. The first few months were Hell, the first year made Hell look like Heaven, but I've been holding my own, check it...

He removes his glove, showing that his Omnitrix has taken on a brand new appearance, now resembling an Earth watch.

Devan: I was just messing with it at first, but after a bunch of codes and hacking, I unlocked a new mode, some kind of "Master Control", or something.

The Omegamatrix activated without any physical input, going through a number of aliens that Starfire hadn't seen before.

Devan: It took off my limiter, and gave me a whole army of new guys, but even then, it took so long for me to understand it, how it all works...heh, wish this thing came with a instruction book!

Maverick: Master, in a technicality, I can be described as an instruction booklet.

The watch's voice was also different, now much deeper and modulated.

Devan: But even though I found all this on my own, I still never solved one problem: Where you went...but hey! Now that you're here, we can fix the past and change this hellhole of a future!

While Starfire was happy to learn of the safety of her friends, her spirits soon fell as she looks to the floor.

Starfire: I am grateful, but I fear it is impossible to help. Warp had said the past cannot be repaired, and the future cannot be altered...

Devan: Well, he hasn't met my new pal Clock-Shock then!

Starfire: Huh?

(Flash!)

Clock-Shock: That simpleton has no clue how the flow of time works, but I do!

Amusingly, the large figure dons a professor's hat and pointer stick, along with bringing out a large diagram of branching timelines.

Clock-Shock: You see, time is actually a massive web of all our actions and variables. For example, if you pick an apple from a tree, that action alone would branch off into an endless number of outcomes that relates to that specific choice. In this situation, you have entered, not into the dead set future, but an ALTERNATE future, meaning, that you technically still exist in YOUR future! Meaning, that if we can aquire the Vortex Regulator from this novice warper, we can send you back to your specific timeline, as if you returned almost immediately! Simple, right?

Starfire: ...A-Ah, yes, I understand the long time talk! But, how are we to defeat Warp?

Clock-Shock: I have thought about this situation as well, and that brings me to this...I held onto to it right after you left.

He goes to the console, reaches under to retrieve a toolbox, and opens it to reveal a dusty old communicator; Star's communicator. Not realizing it until now, Star looked down at her belt and discovered that she had dropped it when she flew into the Time Traveler.

He picks it up and presses a button; instantly, its faceplate starts to flash red. Starfire is then suddenly delighted to find that the black stones in her neck piece and wrist guards are coming to life in the same manner: an emergency signal built into them, a final glimmer of hope...

(...)

We return to Beast Boy's cage. As a prairie dog, he is up on his hind legs and bouncing his ball on his snout; behind him was his old belt, which hangs on a peg in the corner. Its buckle starts to flash, drawing his attention and making him forget the bouncing. The red ball causes him to assume human form; his jaw drops slightly open in surprise, then closes as he hangs his head sadly.

In the white room, Raven has not turned her face from the wall, though she has put down the shield she used to block Starfire. Red pulses from her broach, and something about it causes her to grasp it lovingly, they hadn't left after all...

Inside the old tower, Cyborg sits in the operations center and ponders the wreck his life has become. Suddenly, his eye implant flickers red, responding to the call. He gets to his feet and starts out the door, but the cables in his back pull taut and stop him. He gasps softly and looks back over his shoulder; back at the old generator. Looks like he'll need to use those last emergency reverses...

--Ruined Museum--

"Tick-tock, tick-tock..."

Warp stood in the historical museum; the two guards from so long ago still frozen in place. He is welding the Vortex Regulator to his armor, ready to be done with this failure of a timeline and return to gain his wealth.

Warp: Just about ready...only a few seconds until I am out of- Gah!

The tool is dropped as Warp just barely avoids a fireball, and feeling a sense of deja Vu, he looks up at the same balcony, however this fire starter is much different from the one he faced previously.

Devan: Too bad you just ran out of time then! Speaking of time, this beat down's waaay behind schedule!

With a frustrated growl, Warp brings up his shoulder lasers and fires off a few rounds that send the two heroes diving away. Morgan scales a handful of fire at him, Starfire unloads a blast, and he uses a force field to stop their onslaught. The two come down to ground level as he drops the barrier and the smoke clears. Now he gives them both barrels; they rush in closer, and Starfire fires off a shot that he deflects just as he did twenty years earlier. This time, though, she gets out of the way of the ricochet.

Devan, meanwhile, is charging ahead through Warp's laser blasts. Once he is close enough, he leaps over and tossed what appeared to be yellow seeds that immediately burrowed through the floor; thorny green vines shattered the tile, and crushed one of the two lasers. The future Titan lands behind him, and Warp turns around only to get a starbolt in the back that bowls him over. He fires his remaining laser at Starfire, who leaps away, and then turns his attention back to Devan. The latter is jumping in again, fireballs at the ready, and he hurls one that just misses Warp. One laser blast after another is batted away without issues this time; next, the plantlike figure goes in for close quarters combat, forcing Warp to back up as he blocks each strike.

One final roundhouse finds its mark and sends Warp to the ground; Devan and Starfire step up to him as she winds down her starbolts. The villain, however, just grins and adjusts the aim of his working laser. A shot goes straight up to the roof and blows a hole through it, dumping in a pile of snow and rubble that buries Starfire.

Devan: Star!! No, not again!!

In an instant, Devan transformed into another new alien, this one being a massive, aquatic humanoid.

Upon transformation, Morgan had to cross his arms in order to block another powerful blast, which sends him flying back.

Warp: Fools....what the-?

The man attempted to resume his repair, but the blue beam of a sonic cannon blew him across the room. Starfire, having been dug out of the rubble, and the Octo-Omni look confusedly back toward the source, the bionic man himself, on the scene and free of the wiring that had held him in place. His circuitry now glows blue with life as he lowers the cannon.

Cyborg: Boo-yah...!

Starfire: Cyborg! (She flies over to him.) You are repaired! (Devan joins her.)

Devan: Good to see you up and about, old friend. I was afraid you wouldn't show up, heh..

Cyborg: Wouldn't have missed it. Now, who said y'all could start without me?

Warp: So sorry...

They cut their eyes to him, holding up a timer device like the one he used to drain Cyborg's power cell back in the day.

Warp: Perhaps I should finish you first!

(Rrragh!)

Beast Boy, as a lion, charges in and rakes his claws along the gold armor to send sparks up from it. Warp raises his arm and brings the blaster up from his wrist, but before he can use it, Raven's powers exert themselves over the hand, then the whole body, and he is flung back to the far wall. The four heroes look that way, completely at a loss, and see her "soul-self" materialize from the floor. It rises high into the air, and the black bird outline swirls to become the telekinetic- former- Titan.

Raven: Nobody hurts my friends, NOBODY!

Beast Boy: Looks like the gang is all here!

Warp: Too bad, for I am taking my leave!

He's attached the regulator to his chest, and activated the wormhole like he did back then, the whole thing that started this mess. Seeing this, a bright red laser shot from Devan's eyes, darting around Warp as he tossed a projectile to deflect it. The beam strikes the device, and Warp's body is suddenly engulfed in blue energy, and something begins to happen.

Warp: (Panicked) Uh!?! No! Noooo! NOOOOOOO!!

As he ages in reverse, his body shrinks and his outfit starts to flap emptily. In addition, the pitch of his voice goes higher and higher. Finally, the sparks stop spitting and the armored suit lies deflated on the floor; no head is visible in the helmet. With the other Titans watching, totally mystified, Beast Boy reaches down and pulls the breastplate away. Underneath, it is Warp, now a screaming baby.

Beast Boy: Okay. I am NOT changing any diapers!

Something is heard close by; the wormhole begins to waver and close.

Cyborg: (To Starfire) We gotta get you home. Come on!

He pulls the regulator free and fits it to the muzzle of his cannon.

A sustained blast hits the wormhole, which is nearly closed, and forces it back to its original size.

Cyborg: I redirected the portal, should take you back right after you left, now go!

She steps before it with hesitation, ultimately turning back with a pleading look in her eyes.

Starfire: My friends, what will become of you all? Once I am gone, you will just end up alone again...

Devan: ...Hey, we split because we didn't know what happened to you.

Raven: It was like you never existed...

Reverting to his human form, the elder Devan places the clock artifact in the Tamaranaon's hands.

Devan: But now that you're gonna be safe, I think we can handle it from here...

Starfire: Devan...?

Devan: Go on, Star. Your friends are waiting for you.

With a pat on the back, Devan walked over to the other three, who are all looking back with expressions of content. Star raises her head up high, eyes full of tears, but with a tender smile she faces them the entire time as she steps into the portal, and everything went black, then white, then...now.

(...)

Warp: Ta-ta, Titans. I have enjoyed our time together, but I've got a very bright future ahead of me!

He starts through, but the Tameraneon makes her leap straight at him.

Warp: What?!

She plows into him; both go through the wormhole; Devan goes after them, but misses as it closes up.

Inferno: Starfire, no!!

Beast Boy: Um, where did she--?

A flash fills the gallery, followed by a second wormhole that opens behind him and Cyborg. Starfire is dumped out to land in a huddled kneeling position, cradling the Clock, and the three boys lean in; the third reverting to his costume.

Beast Boy: Dude!!

Cyborg: Whoa...!

Omni-Boy: Star, oh, thank God! I thought you were killed, what happened?!

Starfire: History said it disappeared... (She straightens up, showing the Clock intact.) But history was wrong!

They can only stare thunderstruck at this instant reversal of fortune and recorded evens...

--Titans Tower--

Starfire: ...And then Devan handed me the clock and I stepped through the wormhole. And then I ended up back here!

Beast Boy: B-But bald?! You're tellin' me I'm gonna be bald!? Nooooo.....

Cyborg: Guess you were right about all that Rekmas stuff.

Devan: Yeah, I just hope our future doesn't end up like that.

Starfire: Our friendship has already changed Warp's past. I believe it can also change our future.

As she says this, the bells from earlier  float up in Raven's influence.

Raven: So...is it too late to do this, festival-of-friendship thing?

Starfire: (Ecstatically) Oh, it's never too late!

Raven levitates strings down around Beast Boy's and Cyborg's necks; she is already wearing one of her own.

Cyborg: (In Raven's ear; her bells jingle.) HAPPY BLORTHOG!!

Beast Boy: Wait, I thought it was "Blort-hog."

Raven: Okay, now I feel like a wind chime...

Devan: So...you said I got a beard in the future...did it look cool??

And this, my faithful reader, is the end of our chapter. Now this may seem a little anticlimactic, but I can assure you that this is merely the beginning of our adventures through time and space. Later in this tale, we may see other worlds, other Devans, perhaps other beings altogether. But, until then, I shall leave you until the next chapter.

-X