Teen Titans: The Future
Chapter 1: Nightmares
I shot straight up in my bed, my face sweating. It took a minute for me to realize that I was not only sweating, but I was crying. For a minute, I didn't know why. But then it hit me. I had a nightmare about my parents death. I was born as Richard "Dick" Grayson. But that all changed when my parents were murdered in front of my own eyes. Ever since, I tried to forget about it, to just bury it down beneath my feelings, my love for my friends. But after I didn't let the forgotten years of pain surface, it took another way out, through my nightmares of past experiences.
I have trained with Bruce Wayne and he had been the closest thing I've had to a father. But not close enough. I left his mansion and became my own hero, Robin. My name's Robin, not Richard, not Dick. Just Robin. I threw the sheets off of me and got out of bed. I walked out into the hall and down to the Common Room. I sat down on the couch, and just sat there in the darkness. The screams and sounds of bullets from the nightmare echoed in my head. That night, was just so painful. And I didn't like to have to be experiencing it all over again.
I started to cry silently once again. Hours passed as I sat there, crying. It was dawn before Beast Boy, our green-skinned changling friend, with a tofu appetite, walked in. "Oh, I didn't know you were up, Robin." he said. "You up for tofu eggs and bacon?" I didn't answer. I gulped back a few tears. "Dude, I'm talking to you! Robin?" Beast Boy said. He looked at me and said, "Dude, your eyes are puffy. Have you been crying?" I got up and proceeded to walk out of the Common Room. "Leave me alone." I said gently. "Just leave me be." Beast Boy cleared his throat. "Uh, ok then." he said, as I walked out of the Common Room. I walked down the hallway, as the morning sun's light flooded in. I walked the stairs to the roof, opened the door and walked outside. I sat down on the edge of the pool we had on our roof. I looked out at the water and said, "Why? Why, am I remembering my parents death?" I got up again and walked back to the door. I walked back down the stairs and into my room. I fell down onto my bed and fell asleep.
The dreams were the same. It was the same pain and the same sadness. I was nine years old again, just a circus kid. I saw my parents die yet again. They fell to their deaths seven years ago. And there was nothing I could do about it. I watched it over and over again. I just wish it would end so I could wake up. Of course, the nightmares never do end. The nightmare was just begining. I was part of a circus family, The Flying Graysons. My mother and father had been training me since I was five. And when I was nine, a couple of notorious gang members sabotaged the trapeze wires, sealing their fate. They never stood a chance.
Besides me and Beast Boy, there are three more Titans. Cyborg, a burly African-American, who's very strong. He got in a accident years ago, rendering seventy-five percent of his body machine. Raven Roth, a half-human, half-demon sorceress, with a ego to match. And last, but certainly not least, Starfire. Starfire is a enchanting teen alien, from the distant planet, Tamaran. She is an alien, but not the kind of alien you'd expect.
She has caucasian skin, like mine. She has red hair, that is silky and flows down to her shoulders. Her eyes are green and very sensitive. So in other words, you can break her heart easily. Don't try that. I've seen her cry many times. When we met, she spoke Tamarian and supposedly, she learned English by kissing me. She used to wear armor back then, but after the five of us formed a team, she took off her arm-covering armor, her helmet, and her waist armor. Now she wears a armored sleeveless top, a skirt and boots that go up to her shins. I suppose it is worth mentioning that I have a huge crush on her and would jump at the chance to ask her out on a date. However, I am Robin, the Titans leader. So, unfortunately, I cannot allow my feelings for her to compromise my position of leader.
I got and looked at my clock. 10 o'clock. I got up from my bed and walked to the door. It opened at my prescense and I walked out. I walked down the hallway and back into the Common Room. All four of the other Titans doing something alone. Cyborg and Beast Boy, on the couch, playing a racing game. "You want to pass me, you want to pass me! But you can't-" Cyborg said, as he started staring at the screen and gasped. "You passed me!" I shook my head and walked over to the freezer. I opened it and pulled out the waffles.
I grabbed two and plugged them into the toaster. I stood by the counter and waited. "Good Morning!" a cheery voice said. I turned to my left and saw a smiling Starfire, with a huge bowl in her hands. I was tempted to smile back, due to being exposed to her beauty. But also due to my depressing dreams, I didn't even bother. She took a huge spoonful of whatever the gray substance was and shoved the spoon in my mouth. The taste was revolting, so revolting that I retched, ran to the sink, I threw my chest forward and puked. I threw my head backward and the remnants of whatever that stuff was remained on my lips.
Starfire smiled as she walked over to me. "What is that?" I asked. "Pudding of sadness." Starfire said. "It's what I eat when bad things happen. I sensed something bad when I got up this morning, so I decided to make my famous pudding." She put her finger on my lips and whiped the pudding off. And then, she licked it off. "Eww!" I said. "Don't you know what bacteria is?" I asked, as the waffles popped up. "Please, this bacteria is a form of pudding?" she asked. "Never mind." I said, squirting syrup on my waffles. I walked to the table and sat down. I took, a huge piece of waffle and shoved it in my mouth, trying to make the putrid taste go away.
"Something is obviously wrong. What?" she asked. I swallowed and cleared my throat. "Starfire, you wouldn't understand." I said. I put another slice of waffle in my mouth. "But maybe if you-" Starfire started, but she didn't get very far. "Look!" I shouted, slamming my fork down. Starfire looked scared, but I wasn't buying it. "I didn't get any sleep last night! I was up till dawn out here crying my eyes out! And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not in a good mood!" I screamed, picking my plate up and throwing it at the wall, smearing my breakfest all over the wall.
"But why-" Starfire started again, but I had had it. I was about to do something I never do. I ripped my mask off and screamed, "Take one good look Starfire! You're looking at the eyes of a person who witnessed the death of his parents!" I picked up the chair and threw it over my shoulder. I was huffing and puffing. "Leave me alone." I growled. I started to shuffle up to the roof. I was about halfway to the roof, when I realized my mistake. Robin, what are you doing? You know that Starfire is a sensitive person. Why'd you go and yell like that? I realized what I had to do. I turned around and started walking to the Security Room. The Titans deserve to know what has been bugging me. And Starfire certainly derserves an apology from me. I eventually made it to the Security Room and pressed the button that would open the sliding door. I walked into the Security Room and walked over to the main console in the room. I looked at the big red button in the center of the console and pushed it with my index finger, sounding the alarm throughout the tower. There were light sirens on the ceiling of every room in the tower, that flashed red every two seconds.
I then made about two steps to the right and hit the intercom, the alarm shutting off momentarly, so I could speak into the intercom. "Attention, Titans. An emergency has risen. Meet in the Common Room, I shall join you shortly." I announced over the intercom. I moved away from the intercom and turned off the alarm. I then walked out of the Security Room and back towards the Common Room. I finally made it to the door and could clearly hear my fellow Titans bickering inside. "Dude, I'm telling you," I heard Beast Boy say. "I saw him out here this morning. And it looked like he was crying." The next one to speak was Cyborg. "Are you sure he had been crying, BB?" he asked. "Robin isn't the one to cry. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen him cry." Raven cleared her throat. "I'm sure Robin has his reasons. The main emotions we see him use are happiness and anger. Sometimes excitement." she said. "Besides, he might not do sad. Just, like I don't do fear." Beast Boy just started laughing. "You don't do fear? Raven, I'm sure you don't do happy, sad or any other emotions. You're just really pissy, like all the time!" he said. He didn't get a response. "Why did Robin do the yelling? I think I require one of the apologies." Starfire replied.
"I agree." Cyborg replied. "Guys, we need to think about this. What if Robin does have his reasons? I mean, didn't he mention something about losing his parents?" Raven replied, in a shallow tone. I sighed. "You are all correct." I replied, as I walked into the Common Room. "Robin!" Cyborg said, looking at me. "What's the emergency? Who is attacking the city?" I approached the giant windows of the Common Room that overlooked the bay of water outside. "No one is attacking the city. And you'll figure out the emergency soon enough." I said. "Please guys, just sit down and I'll explain everything." They did as I said and sat down on the big couch. Well, Raven just hovered over the couch. "I haven't been entirely straight to you guys and you guys are my family now, so the least I can do is let you know what is going on in my life." I said, before looking at them. "Or, my history before becoming Robin." Cyborg looked at me. "You mean, you're going to tell us about your past?" he asked. I nodded. "That's exactly what I mean." I said. "And to understand this, we need to go back. Back before Robin. Back to who I used to be." I turned around and took off my mask. "Robin?" Starfire asked. "It's not my birth name." I said, turning around slowly. "Hi. My name is Richard Grayson. It's nice to meet you guys." They all stared at me, with a look of surprise on their faces.
A/N: And this is the first chapter of the story. It's a short one, I know. But I think this would be a cool cliffhanger. In the next chapter, Robin will tell the Titans about his past and what made him become a hero. That's pretty much all I have. So... Thanks for reading!