It was a few days later when Robin walked into the room, a print-out in his hand. "Things have been pretty quiet lately, and we've had a request."
The other four Titans looked up, expectantly. "Red Star has asked for some help."
"Red Star? The Russian hero?"
"He's apparently having trouble with an occult movement in upper Siberia. With his background in the military and nuclear physics, he's equipped to deal with magic-wielding bad guys alone."
Changeling sat quietly while Robin went over the information provided by Red Star.
Raven spoke up. "Let me see those pictures please."
She spent several minutes examining the images.
"The symbolism is from the Circle of the Midnight Death. They were an apocalyptic cult in the late eleventh century. They used a series of ancient rites designed to bring about the end of the world. The last time they showed up, the Knights Templar put them down. Supposedly, all of their people were burned and their books destroyed."
"Well, it looks like somebody missed a chapter or two."
"Somebody's got to do something. I don't think the Templars are up to it this time. I'll take this one. I don't need to pack much. Tell Red Star I can be there in about six hours."
"I don't want you heading into upper Siberia alone. You'll need backup," Robin said.
"I don't need any . . ." Raven started.
"I'm in," said Changeling firmly.
"Okay then," Robin said. "Cyborg can prep two pods of the T-ship. Be ready to up-ship in two hours."
"I don't need any help," Raven hissed as they headed out the door to the habitat level to pack.
"I know," Changeling replied. "But I've never been to Siberia in high winter. I want to see how the animals adapt."
"They don't adapt," she said, "They hibernate!"
But the mission went well, and Changeling's presence proved vital. The data gathered by Red Star was incomplete, as time was short, but Changeling was able to intuit the most likely place to find the cult. They were opening a portal to one of the Outer Planes in an attempt to invite a huge, savage creature into our world, and the heroes go there just short of "too late." Red Star and Raven had put paid to the cultists while Changeling turned into a huge brahma bull and literally "bulled" the creature back through the hell-gate. Raven had had to move quickly to hold the gate open while Changeling turned into a humming bird and flitted back through the shrinking gateway.
It was on the voyage home that problems ensued. They had shaken hands with Red Star and upped-ship in the mid-morning after their climactic battle with the Circle and ran into a heavy storm at high altitude. The T-ship Shards were well designed, but while they were trying to climb above the storm, an epic bolt of lightning struck the mated vessels. No siren blared. No lights flashed. No meters strained. This was far worse. The whole ship was dead. And dropping like a rock and spinning like a top. Each shard of the T-ship had a separate cockpit so that it could split into up to five different Shards when needed but this mean that Raven and Changeling weren't in the same cockpit. Raven sat in her cockpit, belted in tightly. As the ship tumbled, she shouted into the intercom.
"Beast Boy, can you hear me?"
The system was dead. They were going to have to bail out. Fortunately, they could both fly. This might be more problematic if she'd had Robin or Cyborg along. She grabbed a tiny survival kit from its place under the seat and prepared to blast the canopy off with her powers. As she began to summon the dark energy the canopy was suddenly ripped away. Through the wind and the snow she saw a giant green gorilla, standing above her, holding the canopy over its head and gripping the hull of the T-ship with muscular feet. It flung the canopy far out into the night.
