Author: So, I was thinking of the whole.. y'know, Slade being obsessed with having an apprentice to mold. He's had Robin and Terra at one point.. it's time for him to move on.. but now he has two new beings to choose from.. which will he pick to take as his own.. or perhaps both? Enjoy. It's just a few chapters of a neat story I've been wanting to write. n_n
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans / DC Comics. The only thing I do own are Sari and Ruba as they are original and of my own design.
The course of life is not written in stone. There's no blood oath, no destiny, no grand plan. Life is the choices made in the moment, which affect one's future. The stuff we do, the things we say.. how we are and act.. that all determines who you will become.. and who you are at the time you make those decisions.
Life's greatest joy is delusion; a fixation on something that doesn't exist.. things we don't have and want, the choices we desire, the life we want to have. Human's flaw is not greed. It's not lust. It's not pride.. it's not gluttony, wrath nor sin itself. It's the false realities we create. We choose to live lies.. and, in doing so, we have created demons and monsters, the kind that makes a child's phantom boogieman under the bed look like an angel.
This is the truth of the human condition. Slade saw corruption and instead of trying to fix it (and get no where like every hero does) he decided to profit from it; wealth, knowledge, power, all at his fingertips. Why should he waste his life trying to fix the unchangeable? Mankind was too busy starving to want food. They were so bone dry that water could never sate their thirst.. and yet people tried. Like the Teen Titans. Like Robin. He wouldn't fault heroes for it, but it was throwing talent out the window.
The boy, with such extraordinary capabilities, withered himself away on those who didn't- wouldn't -help themselves. Please, how were those powered teenagers going to protect the city when the city was killing itself?
Such a futile endeavor. Slade had tried to show Robin. Had tried to teach him.. and yet the boy resisted, searching for some misplaced hope in his team and city that he wouldn't listen to reason, even if it was being spoon fed to him.
A waste. Terra had been a bit more.. like minded once she saw things his way, but even she too chose to 'go out with a bang', as they say. The last time he saw her she was stone, a statue beneath the city from the volcanic incident. Slade had been temporarily removed from the game, but he had returned with Trigon behind him.. but that had been such a failure. Trigon was defeated and Slade slipped into the background once more.
He kept in the shadows, watching, waiting, planning.
And then he found an interest in a pair that stumbled into Jump City. These two were definitely not normal. That much was crystal clear from the moment he laid eyes on them. They were special.. and that was something Slade wanted. One could say he was still hung over the whole apprenticeship, but when it had failed with Robin and Terra he had momentarily tossed the desire aside.. until he first saw what those two could do.
They were powerful, the both of them. He was unsure just what they possessed; it was some form of elemental manipulation at first glance, but that wasn't water or ice the male shot nor fire the female performed. It was like.. energy, similar to that alien girl's bolts, Starfire. While his seemed calm and contained.. hers were different; unstable and difficult to control. He was like Robin and she was like Terra. Actually that was a very eerie comparison. She was stubborn like Terra and he was fast, very quick on his feet like Robin. He was also a bit work driven like the Titan leader while she focused on the moment and her powers stability like Terra.
Though hazardous she refused to be kept away, locked in some form of isolation. She pushed that being out with them, helping the Titans helped her figure out ways to adapt, a process that would take a long time considering they were poor company for her, just as they were for Terra.
The male, on the other hand, was very anti-social while she, though a bit shy and distant, was more talkative. She valued the presence of others and accounted them for her growing control, which was minuscule.
She held barely a smidgen more control than when she first appeared in the city.
He recalled that day like it was happening all over again, the rain coating the ground like pellets of broken glass, soaking everything it touched and yet bringing no harm. The citizens of Jump City had retreated to their homes early as the rain storm blew in from the west. Lights lit the streets and rogue cars roared beneath the blanket of rain, wipers flailing to keep windows visible.
[Flashback]
It was a very dull day, the life almost sucked away by the weather. Yet even on this day trouble brewed.
Slade had been watching from a rooftop, crouched just beneath the view of the moving Titans below, who were engaged in a fight. Bolts flew from Raven and Starfire, but Blackfire countered them. Sonic blasts snapped into life as Cyborg charged Red X, with Robin hot on his heels and Beast Boy threw things at Killer Moth.
They seemed to be handling the fight impressively, or so it looked. Robin was tiring, the alien princess had burn marks dotting her bare skin, Trigon's little girl was brushing at smoke that was trailing up from a small flame that had been licking at her cape and the changeling was fleeing from dozens of moth creatures as a green tiger.
A female battle cry echoed through the chilly air as a form flickered out of the forming mist of a side street; they were battling in the park and was on the side closest to the city. It was him. The male. He was upon Red X before the antihero could yell. A hand, precise in accuracy, struck out with blue glowing fingertips and slashed down in an arc to sever the belt from the body and he spun, a kick sending the masked villain staggering back several feet.
He then slid forward, hands reaching up to grasp the sides of the man's head (the perfect timing considering Red X was still very much confused about what had just happened and his lapse in attention and reaction had allowed this) and he brought it down sharply into his greeting knee to render him unconscious, his mask cracked, but not enough to reveal his true identity.
All watched in awe as a second form ran out with red glowing hands, brown hair whipping wildly behind her. She fired several shots at Blackfire, who had turned to attack her. That was the first time her powers seemed controlled.. but when she ducked beneath the returned bolts, getting closer, the battle changed. The energy flared out in a whip-like arc, slicing through the air at the black and purple clothed female, striking her chest and causing her to fall to the ground with way more force than necessary. She tried to grasp herself, this female did, to contain it, but it was useless. Energy lashed out and cut a tree in half. It fell and Robin had to roll away to avoid being hit by it.
"Sorry!" The female had said, stepping back from the re-grouping Titans. "My powers aren't always under my control. Please stay back!"
Robin had held such a look of confusion and it was that he didn't know what to say.
Raven beat him to it. "Thanks for your uhh.. help. Who are you two?"
She didn't answer immediately as she glanced around to find the male she had arrived with. He was off a bit from them, fighting a flying Killer Moth. A few blasts later and the villain was among the unconscious. He rubbed his wrists as he walked over to stand beside the female, his icy blue orbs a very vibrant shade that contrasted greatly with his short and spiked snowy hair. Even with the rain his hair defied gravity like some sort of testament.
"You guys looked like you could of used some help. It's no problem." Came the cool reply of the male, who's voice was mellow, somber and a bit deep, suggesting that he was older than the Titans, plus taller, a few inches over his female ally beside him.
Slade was relatively close and so he could see very well and the almost uncanny resemblance of this male to himself made him wonder about the boy's family.. which lead to the thought of why he was here, with this strange girl who was younger, different and intriguing all at once. There was no family resemblance between the male so Slade had known they were likely just friends or partners, maybe even love interests of the other.
The girl twiddled her thumbs and made sure her powers weren't visible before staring at Robin and deciding to speak again, "I'm.. Ruba and this is Sari. We're.. uhh.. traveling heroes. Sorry if we're invading in your-" She made a series of gestures toward the city with a hand. "-area of protection or whatever you call it."
"It's our home. Jump City." Cyborg corrected, hands rubbing at the opposite's shoulder as he watched the pair.
"My bad." She apologized, gazing down at the ground.
The rain had begun to let up now, leaving behind a thin film of fog that covered the ground like a coat, an extra layer almost.
"No, no! It's ok, friend!" Starfire was on her in a second, her hands cupped in hers, hovering so the girl was forced to look up at her. The girl furrowed her brows, both shock and confusion drawn onto her face. She yanked her hands away but after a second of realization she felt her eyes widen at the alien. "We mean you no ill wish." Starfire insisted.
The girl stared at her in awe. "Y-you.. can touch me without g-getting hurt.." She said in wonder.
The alien tilted her head. "Others cannot?"
She shook her head. "Only ones similar to me or with any form of energy blast based powers. What are yours?"
The alien drew her in for a hug, chuckling as the girl gasped her discomfort and agony over the strength she was in before she was set down. She clearly wasn't used to physical contact let alone hugs. "Starbolts." The Tamaranean beamed a smile as if the knowledge of this made her happy.
"Ohhh! Mine's-" She felt her mouth close when she noticed the silent glare the male was giving her. She didn't continue.
"You said only certain people can touch you and that your powers aren't always under your control. I noticed this when you were fighting Blackfire." Robin's voice deduced as he put away his Bo-staff into one of his belt pouches.
"Blackfire? The girl I took down?"
Starfire nodded twice. "My older evil sister."
"Ahh. I see. Well. Out of our powers-" She glanced to the male pointedly to indicate him. "-his are tame and mine are.. unstable." She studied Robin's masked eyes and his thin, blank lips. "His, alike the similar element most assume it is mistakenly, is very calm, serene, trained. Mine, on the other hand, also seems to resemble the hot element that it is not and as such is very wild, difficult to manage and often leaves myself and others.. for lack of a better word.. burned, though not literally."
Raven narrowed her eyes, focused on the female. "Great." She said to Robin, sarcasm dripping in her voice. "Another Terra."
The male growled and stepped forth. "Don't compare her to that rock." So he was aware of who Terra was. "Unlike Terra she has more experience and is, by far, stronger and smarter than that girl." He folded his arms against his chest.
"So you know her?" Beast Boy perked up.
"Knew. The word you're looking for is knew. Before she came here we crossed paths several times. The last we got into a fight. I ended up being trapped in a bloody cave for four days until she decided I'd suffered enough. By that point I'd already collapsed so I awoke to moonlight shining on my face. She was gone. I was alone. This is around the time I got separated from her." He said, nudging his head toward the female's direction.
Water dripped all around them from trees, the closer buildings and street lamps. Slade hadn't mind getting soaked. Water wouldn't bother his armor. He'd clean it later.
"We um.. need a place to stay for the night.." The female asked almost hesitantly, unsure of herself suddenly.
[End]
So the Titans had allowed them to stay with them, providing spare rooms for them both.
The Haunt was as dreary now as the rain had been that day in the park. It was dark, cold, quiet and boring. Slade was seated at his chair, fingers tapping aimlessly against his armrests and his single eye was narrowed as he considered things. Both the girl and boy had potential, that much was clear, but they were older than the Titans. She was at least in the middle of her teenage years and he was older, a late teen.
What had they called themselves.. Ruba and Sari. Yes. Those seemed likely alias' or some form of 'codename', like how he was Deathstroke.
He had noticed the hesitation of the female when she had been about to say what her power was, but the male had stopped her with a look. Clearly she wasn't supposed to tell people, but he knew enough.
'Only ones similar to me or with any form of energy blast based powers.' She had said. So it was some form of energy. Hers was red, his blue.
He rose slowly from his seat, walking toward the tall main screen in the center of his wall. The feed turned on and on it was images of the Teen Titans fighting and it included new ones of those two new heroes. His eye fell on the pair, but stayed the longest on the female.
"Mmm.. A prize worth having. I think I'll pay them a visit soon." He mused to himself.
