“Who sent you here?! Control Freak?” Robin asked their sudden visitor.
Sunset raised her hands defensively, “Wait a minute! I’m not going to hurt you! I don’t even know what’s happening myself. Who’s Control Freak?”
Beast Boy pointed an accusing finger at Sunset, “Oh yeah? That’s what someone who’s working for Control Freak would say! I see right through your act!”
“Seriously. Who is that?”
Starfire looked at her green-skinned friend, “Perhaps we should let the stranger do the explanation.”
Robin was the first to lower his guard, the other Titans doing the same silently as well. The leader of the team said, “If you’re not working for Control Freak, then why did you jump out of our television?”
Beast Boy popped in over Robin’s shoulder, “I’m telling you, dude. She’s secretly a cartoon character brought to life to destroy us in secret.”
Ignoring him, Sunset replied, “I’m not sure how I got here either. Something must’ve went wrong with the portal. Before this gets anymore weird, I’ll just head back.” she turned around and pressed her hands on the TV, expecting the usual ripple effect to happen. Nothing did. “Huh...?” she questioned what was happening. She tried again to no avail. “No...” she let out, “No...” Sunset repeated as her hands remained pressed on the television she jumped from, “I can’t be stuck here. I have to get back!” she declared, hopelessly looking at her reflection, “I have to!”
Kneeling in defeat, Sunset exhaled as she lowered her hands from the screen. As of now, she had no way of getting back to the Mirror World or Equestria. No words that could escape her mouth could express the amount of worry, fear, and slight anger over her current situation. The Titans all glanced at one another over this and silently agreed to hear the sudden stranger’s plea, because she didn’t appear to be hostile.
Robin put a hand on her shoulder and quietly asked, “What happened?”
“...I’m not from this world. Me being here was an accident. But... it looks like I’m stuck here.” Sunset answered.
Cyborg asked, “Another world? So the TV became a portal?”
Raven answered for Sunset, “It appears so. How it happened is the question.”
“On my world, the only way between worlds was through a statue and a mirror. The magic may have leaked here temporarily to give me an entrance, but even I’m not sure.” Sunset explained. “But now I’m stranded here and probably can’t even reach out to my friends. They’ll have no idea where I’m at and I have no way to get back now.”
Starfire walked to their visitor, “What is your name?”
Standing up, the visitor from another world answered, “Sunset Shimmer.”
Giving Sunset a reassuring smile, Starfire said, “Do not be worried, Sunset Shimmer. My friends have shown me kindness when I came to this planet, and I will do the same for you. My name is Starfire and these are my friends, Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven.”
“Thank you, Starfire.” Sunset replied, “But I don’t know how you all can help me.”
Cyborg said, “This ain’t the first bout of weirdness we dealt with. Handling stuff like this is practically our job.”
Raven added, “It really isn’t...”
Beast Boy proudly declared, “Yeah. We’re kinda the best team for dealing with magic mumbo jumbo!”
Sunset asked, “So after trying to attack me, now you trust me?”
Robin said, “Sorry about that. We have had... bad experiences with televisions. “ he summed up, “We’re the Teen Titans. We’ll help you so long as you don’t break our trust.”
“I know a thing or two about earning trust...” Sunset admitted.
The newcomer dropped her bag and opened it, pulling out a book. “Now let’s see...” she said, grabbing a pen as well. She began writing in the book about how she was stranded in another world separate from the two she’s known, hoping that Princess Twilight or her friends would get it. Sunset finally stopped writing and looked over the words, anticipating the usual reaction from the book. However, the words remained untouched, ”It’s as bad as I thought.”
Raven crossed her arms, “...You wrote in a book.”
“Uh, yeah. I don’t know what you were expecting.” Beast Boy added, “Is it homework?”
Shaking her head, Sunset answered, “No, it’s a magic book from where I’m from. I was able to communicate between two worlds with it, but it appears my theory on its magic leaking in this dimension being temporary was right. I guess I really stranded.” she held the geode around her neck, silently hoping that it was still active.
“Well, don’t worry, we’ll help you find a way back to whichever world you came from. In the meantime, you should probably get yourself adjusted to Jump City.” Robin warned.
“But... But where will I stay?” Sunset wondered, “I don’t even know where to begin here.”
‘It’s bad enough I did that to myself once. Now I have to go through the process of living in a new world again out of the blue? Great...’ Sunset thought in annoyance.
Starfire faced her friends, “Would it be alright if she stayed here?”
Beast Boy shrugged, “Sure.”
“Huh? I can’t ask that of you, I just met you guys.” Sunset reminded them, not wanting to be a burden on the team.
Robin said, “We have a spare room you can use. Plus, we want to ask you a few more questions.”
“Y-Yeah, I can do that.” the newcomer responded.
Sitting back down, Cyborg said, “Great. I can—“
The alarm went off, signaling that a stranger was standing outside the tower. Robin growled, spotting a man in a half black and half white suit covering his entire body from outside the window. Something about it reminded him of an old foe he encountered a few times before he went solo and met the Titans, but it definitely wasn’t him he noted. It was someone new. He just stood there, waiting.
“There’s someone waiting for us.” Robin said.
Cyborg added, “And he doesn’t seem to be here to give us a gift.”
Robin nodded in agreement, “Titans, GO!”
Sunset reached a hand out as the team went to confront the stranger outside, “So should I leave with you to confront him? I’m sure I can help somehow.”
“No. Stay in the tower. You’ll only get yourself hurt. We’d prefer if you got back home in one piece.” Robin ordered.
“But—“
Starfire cut her off, “Sunset. Please stay here. Not even we know who we are dealing with. Can you at least let us keep you safe until then?”
“...Fine. I’ll sit this out.” Sunset said as she sat on the sofa.
With that done, the Teen Titans finally arrived to meet the stranger. Beast Boy changed into a rhino, Starfire was ready to throw her Starbolts, Raven readied her magic, Cyborg aimed his Sonic Cannon, and Robin held out his staff in front of him. Sunset peeked out the window, wondering what these five were capable of. The Boy Wonder asked the stranger, “Who are you?”
The being clad in black and white chuckled as he revealed himself at last, “I am Equinox. My goal is to bring balance to all worlds in order to prevent chaos from spreading.”
“Then why are you here?” Raven said in a disgusted tone.
Equinox answered, “Because this world is now imbalanced, and it’s all because of the girl awaiting your return in the tower. I am here to ensure this world is back to proper balance.” he clenched a fist after saying this.