I lay in a field overlooking a mine near Jump City, recently said to have come across a strange substance, or so the townspeople say. I could see the sky through the holes in my mask, a symbol of my family's disownment of me.
"Demon child!" my aunt once called me. And with my mother dead, my father an exhiled demon under Trigon's command, and my brother a sworn demon hunter, harboring the same talent with a blade as I have, I was practically all alone out here.
Seems like the perfect world to be in, eh, Able? I thought to myself. A loud explosion caught my attention, however. A giant blocky rock monster came busting through the mine entrance, and rushing after it, five teenagers. One running with weird objects in his hands, wearing a traffic colored jumpsuit, one who wore a purple outfit and had green skin, one whom seemed to be cybernetic. Two were flying, one in a purple miniskirt ensemmble, and the other in a midnight blue cloak.
The rock monster whisked by me with thundering steps, heading for a nearby industrial district. The teens rushed by me as well, all except for one. The one in the blue cloak. She stopped when she saw me through the corner of her eye. The other teens ran past.
She merely stared at me for a few moments, before the others shouted her name.
"Raven, let's go! Cinderblock is going to get away with those stolen minerals."
Raven...I'll have to remember that. These were my thoughts as she looked back at me one last time, and flew off again. But I was intrigued. Stolen minerals? So, this rock monster was a criminal of sorts then? If she pursued him, was she part of the police, part of the Justice League? Perhaps not. I have met a few of the Justice League before.
I gazed out with my mind to find where they were headed, and leapt to where they were fighting. I stayed back a distance or so, however, more eager to learn than to act. I could be, uncontrollable when I decided to fight sometimes.
I watched as the Cinderblock monster fought a losing battle. With haste, he took the container he had been safeguarding from under his arm, and emptied the contents onto himself, the gem-like rocks fusing with his skin as soon as they touched it. The behemoth grew in size and strength, and fought with renewed vigor, tossing aside a green T-Rex like it it was a mouse getting thrown by an elephant. The cybernetic one took a beating next, and the other three looked ready to take a punch.
They dodged it, with speed, however the behemoth quickly forced his massive arm towards the one who saw me before. She looked ready to defend herself, however, with the speed and force of the haymaker, i doubt she could take it.
This is when I had to act.
I leapt infront of the fist, and put my hand out infront of me, kneeling as I did so, as to make sure i did not fall over. From my arm, white runes glowed, and a shield of white and blue light absorbed the behemoth's blow.
Needless to say, while doing this I could not keep myself from the other teens. I was visable to all at that moment. The girl in the blue cloak, behind a barrier of black, was equally surprised, if not more.
The behemoth kept lashing out at my rune shield, and grew himself into quite a predicament. The crystals on his body were beginning to shrink, and so, his power and strength was fading. But still, the shield held true.
The others were watching me, seeing what I could do. I don't know why, but I was eager to show them. With the behemoth known as Cinderblock growing tired, I stood. My shield grew smaller, until it fit on my left arm. With an outstretched arm, light emitted as the shield split into smaller pieces, different runes on my arm glowing this time. The battered bits of the rune shield flew at the stone monster. He stumbled, and I ran up to kick him in the head with my half-demon strength. He was anticipating this, and so I leapt behind his head, and felt my bare foot connect with the stone behemoth's body.
Needless to say, he fell to the ground.
With the five strange heroes back on thier feet, and watching my abilities closely, it did not surprise me to see them staring at me as I turned around. I must admit, with the outit I wore, I must've seemed like a civillian. Usually, a black hoodie and jeans doesn't scream, "Crimefighter."
"Greetings, strangers." I said. I waited for an answer, but knew I might not get one. Rarely anyone did, and those who could were usually demons themselves. Something I learned speaking to my father before his exhile.
"Who are you? Start talking, now." The boy in the traffic colored jumpsuit demanded, a scowl on his face.
I bowed. I knew they would atleast see this. "My name is Able Adrian Caspean. But you may just call me Whisper. My seldom few friends call me that."
They looked dissapointed from behind my mask. "Why isn't he talking?" The green boy spoke now, followed by the floating orange girl in the purple miniskirt get up.
"Does he not know how to communicate? This seems rather odd for someone born on this planet." Her statement made me ponder. Was she an alien, then?
The cybernetic one spoke now. "We don't have time for games little man. Who or what are you?"
"Can't you guys hear him? He has been talking." It was the girl in blue. She could hear me. Does that mean that she was...
"Dear friend Raven, we hear nothing coming from the boy infront of us. Are you sure he is not using, the telepathy?"
"No, he's speaking clear as day. How am I the only one who can hear what he's saying?" She looked baffled, as did the other teen heroes.
I took a step closer, keeping my distance from the other teens. "I might be able to asnwer that. They cannot hear me due to what I am, due to what we are."
She settled down from her hovering state onto the ground, her cloak closing, making her look like a wisp with eyes and a mouth. Her eyes seemed to concentrate. "Explain."
"Raven," the green boy said like a whimpering dog. "What's going on?"
I continued my explination. "I've spent many years of my life walking inbetween dimensions. Being born to a demon father gave me that ability."
"So, is that what you meant by, 'we?" she asked.
"Aye, it is. An unfortunate side effect of my heritage." I placed my hand on the back of my head, and if I didn't have my mask on, they could've seen me beaming. I put my hand down as I continued. "However, if you can understand me, just tell them what they asked. My earthly name is Able Caspean, but they can call me Whisper."
She turned towards her friends. "Able Caspean, or Whisper if you prefer." The others looked confused. The boy in the traffic colored jumpsuit then proceeded to interrogate me.
"Alright, Whisper. Why help us?"
"I only intended to watch at first, that is true." I said. "However, as the battle progressed, and Cinderblock as you called him, gained power, I couldn't stand by and do nothing. Had I not intervened you might have taken a thrashing and the thief might have got away unpunished." I awaited Raven's repitition, however she didn't say exactly as I did.
"He wanted to help..." she said. A very vague summary. I was kind of dissapointed. But, for atleast the last half, her summary was accurate. It seemed to appease the other four.
"Is that shield all you can do, then?" he asked.
I rolled up my sleeve to reveal my left arm. stretching from my thumb to my shoulder, spiraled a great horned snake. Each segment had different runes, and when they reacted to each other, their power was outstanding. While it's true that the rune shield is probably my favorite combination, it was not my only one.
"Each rune means something different. With different combinations, I can do different things." I listened as Raven repeated word for word. I was partially glad she did, and partially curious as she never took her eyes of my arm, as if she was reading the runes she could see. I could see in her eyes that she was indeed reading them, and white word runes passed over her irises.
"Woah..." The green boy seemed impressed.
The leader of the group, as it seemed to me, spoke. "I'm Robin, leader of the Teen Titans." He motioned towards his fellow members as he introduced them. "This is Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven." Again I bowed, as the word game would get tiring after a while. "What are you doing in Jump City anyway?"
"I'm just passing through." Raven repeated my words, still reading my runes until i pulled my sleeve down.
Robin spoke again. "Well, if you don't have any place to stay, you could always spend a few nights in the Tower." He extended his hand, offering me something. It was a small, round yellow device with a screen and flashing lights. It had a T on it. "We'll be in touch." And with that, he turned and walked away, the others following him, one by one, talking about me.
"Who is that guy, and why can only Rae hear him?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg. The last thing I heard before they got out of earshot was Cyborg's follow up.
"I don't know, BB, but those were some impressive tattooes."
Raven was the last to turn and glide away, scanning my mask for a face. She was curious about me, I could tell. I met her eyes before she fully turned around, and found concern and curiousity there. I waited until they were out of sight before I leapt back to where this all started. The field overlooking the mine. I laid down, put my hand behind my head, and took a nap.
Seems like the perfect world to be in, eh, Able?