"Azarath..." She spoke softly to herself, calming the inner struggle that had to be tamed lest she let her true self break through. "Metrion..." Something was coming, she could feel it in the chill that caused her hair to stand on end. "Zinthos..." What was truly troubling was that she couldn't figure out what she was sensing, but regardless of what it was, she knew it wasn't anything good.
Raven opened her eyes and looked at the world outside of the tower. It was night, and her room was hardly illuminated by the few flickering candles she had strew about, glued to various counters and tables by petrified waterfalls of wax. Again, she closed her eyes, and spouted her mantra. "Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos..." She searched her mind for a name, an image, that could be related with whatever it was that she was feeling. It was heavy, suffocating, and unknown. At least she was able to acknowledge the aura, but she couldn't trace it, or immobilize it. She felt like she was sitting in a boat without a paddle, only the boat was in the middle of the ocean. She wasn't going to get anywhere. Not tonight, anyway.
As she let out a breath and reopened her eyes, she let her lips close to end her words. She walked towards her window and looked out at the water. All was calm, not even a ripple as far as she could see. The winds were regular, and Jump City looked peacefully at rest, so there was nothing to immediately worry about. She thought about checking to see if Robin was awake, but she held her place. He was probably awake, but even so she didn't want to disturb him. They would wake up in a few hours, the world wasn't going to end before then. She knew that what she felt wouldn't be anything like a global threat, so she let her arms out and brought forth a gust of wind to extinguish the few burning candles. And, with the hair still standing on the back of her neck, she climbed into bed like a child.
It was getting late, Robin could feel it in his sore muscles. He'd been awake for nearly an entire day, and already his legs were beginning to beg for rest. He considered going to sleep, there hadn't been much activity for the past few weeks, so naturally he and the rest of the Titans were becoming a bit more sedate. Then, he could hear the words of his mentor in his mind, "Idle hands, Robin..." His teacher's voice was always so deep and foreboding, even in his thoughts. He knew better than to let his guard down, regardless of the current level of activity. He had to stay on track, and so did the rest of the Titans. So, he knew that tomorrow they needed to train. Do a couple of run-throughs on the obstacle course, and sweep the city a few times just to let the public know they are still there, ever-protecting.
With a yawn, Robin looked away from the control panel in his room and stared at his bed. Soft, inviting, terrifying. He never liked going to sleep. Something about it seemed wasteful to him. The inactivity, or rather, it was the vulnerability of it, closing your eyes and getting lost in dreams. Any number of things could take place behind closed eyes, and so he turned his attention back to his computer to try and push off the Sandman. He would lose soon, he knew it, but he wasn't going to admit defeat so easily. He'd fallen asleep at his desk multiple times, and if that's where he had to sleep yet again, then he was willing to make the sacrifice. It was a habit he'd formed as a child back when he was in the circus, and it was a habit that his mentor had no qualms with perpetuating. Sleep was for the rest of the world. Robin lived at night, even if he sometimes wondered what a bed could really feel like.
Eventually, sleep overtook the Titans. With the tower shrouded in shadows, the young heros slept, some dreaming while others just closed their eyes to recharge. And, unbeknownst to the snoozing teens, a shade began to creep towards the island. It wasn't a shadow, nor any definable mass or shape. It just simply... was. A feeling of dread, at times, and then of bliss at others. It was one with the air, and only visible as the warm breath escaping an open mouth on a particularly frigid night, and then gone into the atmosphere. It was truly something beyond general comprehension.
It hovered towards the giant T that stood dark on top of the tiny island. Locks and passcodes were of no consequence as it simply flowed in through the vents, wasting no time upon reaching the building. Once inside it continued on. As if alive, it moved undetected through the halls, knowing where it wanted to go. Then, as it came to a door, it slid underneath, and found what it had been looking for. A lost bird, scared of the dark, and in need of something more.
The next morning came as any other would, peacefully and with nothing to mention. The alarm system began to blare, set last night by Robin to initiate an early start to their day of training. The system went undisturbed for a minute before winding down. Cyborg groggily opened his eye and looked down at his arm communicator. In bold, red letters he could see the message that accompanied the alarm. "Training Day! Get up and meet me in the common room." No name to go behind it, but Cyborg knew Robin, and he was definitely the only one that would set an alarm for anything, unless Beast Boy was waiting for one of his shows to come on.
"Seriously, Robin? Damn..." Cyborg canceled out of the message and then rubbed the sleep out of his eye before peeling himself off of his angled, sleeping table. If there was ever a time he wanted to go back to 'sleep', it was now. He was not looking forward to having a long day with Robin in training. The guy always seemed to cause something to short out, forcing Cyborg to stay up late fixing it. "Whatever..." Cyborg calmed himself as he stretched out his metal arms and legs before checking his battery gauge, and then leaving towards the kitchen. "I'm gonna eat first, he better believe that!" Cyborg declared internally. His stomach was growling ferociously, as it normally would, especially since having to wake up so early.
He made it to the common room first, the doors sliding open with a futuristic hiss, and he was surprised not to see Robin. He simply shrugged his shoulders and went about his food preparations. "Someone set the alarm a little too early, I guess." He let the corner of his mouth curve into a coy grin. Normally, Robin would be there standing with his back against the couch and his arms crossed, waiting for the other members of his team to come in. "We aren't at summer camp, we're at work, so you've got to be ready for action, 24/7!" Cyborg remembered Robin scolding them one day when Beast Boy and Starfire were late for one of his alarms.
Cyborg got some grease from the frig and threw it in a pan, enjoying the sounds of it as it heated up. Cyborg wanted bacon, and a lot of it. He heard the door hiss open behind him, turning his head to greet Robin. As Raven walked in, however, Cyborg began to get a little curious.
"Mornin', Rae..." Cyborg looked back at the pan and watched the grease heat up from the shape of the container to a hot puddle of oil. "Bacon?"
"No thanks. Tea." She replied as she sat at the counter and used her powers to levitate the tea bags and kettle.
Of course, Cyborg knew she would reject his offer, just as much as she knew he was going to offer it. They might have all had different things going on, what with being super-powered teens with varying pasts, but what was good about their situation was that they remained cordial with each other. Every morning Cyborg would ask, and every morning she would reject, but then they would smile at each other and continue. Another typical breakfast, save for one thing.
"Where's Robin?" Raven asked the metal Titan behind the counter. "It's not like him to be late..."
"No clue. Guess he bit off..." Cyborg started as he placed several strips of bacon into the snapping, crackling grease. "...more than he could chew with waking up so early."
"Maybe..." Raven placed the kettle down on an eye of the stove next to Cyborg's bacon, which he then turned on to help her out. She didn't respond, but just nodded at his back with a silent approval. Then, she remembered last night, the feeling she got that she wasn't able to define. She had learned to pay attention to inconsistencies that happened around each other, and Robin being late was one big inconsistency. "Cyborg... Last night, I thought I felt something..." Raven started.
"Huh?" Cyborg questioned as he turned his head to look at the blue-cloaked teen. "Felt something?"
"Did you notice anything... off?" Raven let her eyes look up from under her hood towards the large, metal Titan.
Cyborg didn't say anything at first, but just looked back down at his forearm and scanned the island. A few beeps echoed throughout the sudden silence that took over the common room. "Scanners say everything's normal..." Cyborg let his arm fall to his side as he turned away from his bacon momentarily. "But you've always been able to notice things that my censors miss..." He didn't say anything else as he tried to... feel... whatever it was that Raven might have noticed. Ever since his accident, it had become almost impossible for him to feel anything, though, so most of what he felt was dead air, not to mention the hunger that still demanded to be met.
"I don't know..." Raven looked to the side, pushing away her suspicions for a minute while she tried to come up with something more concrete than a mere 'feeling'. "I could have been tired, I guess."
Cyborg shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth to add something, but before the words were voiced the familiar hiss of the door caught both of their attention. Like a suspenseful movie, whoever set off the door's sensors stood back for a minute before walking in, causing Cyborg to fixate. No one came in before the door closed, and Cyborg let his eyes turn towards Raven's, who looked back at him with an equal level of suspicion. Then, if they held their breath, they could hear it, the barely audible buzzing of tiny wings.
"Beast Boy..." Raven's voice was severe in her realization, sounding like tires straining against gravel with every syllable.
"B?" Cyborg questioned the air, looking around for anything green.
"Dudes..." Beast Boy's voice came from the couch. "Why... so... early?" His complaints came out with a twinge of adolescence.
Cyborg saw one of Beast Boy's elbows on the other side of the couch, the young Titan laying down and covering his eyes with his arm. "None of us like it, B." Cyborg replied, grinning and shaking his head.
"Dude!" Beast Boy shot up, exhaustion quickly giving way to frustration. "Where's Robin? He's gonna chew me and Star a new one for being late, and now he's late!?" He looked over at the other Titans, a sleepy tear still stuck in one of his eyes.
"Yeah, we've been talkin' 'bout that, too." Cyborg said as he flipped his bacon.
"Well, if he's asleep, I'm going to soooo rub it in!" Beast Boy let his head fall back to the couch after his declaration.
Raven closed her eyes for a moment and scanned the building for life. Besides them, she could sense Starfire moving towards the common room, but there was nothing on Robin. A red flag. Something was going on. "Guys, Robin isn't even..."
"Friends! What a glorious morning!" Starfire flew in as soon as the door slid open.
Cyborg ignored Starfire as she cheerily joined him in the kitchenette. "Rae?" He nodded at Raven, wanting her to continue what she was saying.
"He's not here, at all." Raven finished, getting up from her seat to stand on her feet.
"He's not?" Starfire asked first, her joy subsiding at the realization that Robin wasn't there waiting.
"He's... in Gotham City." Raven said.
"What? Wonder what's goin' on..." Cyborg took his bacon off of the stove, along with the whistling kettle.
"Gotham City? Dude, what the heck!" Beast Boy sat back up in disbelief. "I don't wanna go all the way out there!"
"Raven. Do you think this might have something to do with what you were sayin'?" Cyborg asked the solemn female.
She didn't reply, but simply hovered over towards the large window that had a view over the cove. "I'd say so, at this point..." She motioned for the others to join her, but before they caught the hint the warning sirens exploded throughout the tower, red lights flashing, and computer screens turning on with danger. "We've got trouble. Big, trouble." Raven spoke ominously as she saw what was coming.
The others quickly made their way towards the window to look at what Raven was seeing. "Oh, fffff..." Beast Boy started to say as he noticed a couple familiar faces looking up at them from the shore. "It's Adonis..." Beast Boy could feel sweat forming on his brow.
"And The Red-X..." Starfire shuttered at the sight of him. There was something about him that made her skin crawl. He was so close to Robin, in her mind, but he was anything but.
"And look there, Gizmo. That little freak." Cyborg balled his hands into fists.
"And Jonny Rancid." Raven's voice sounded dull. She was as excited to see them as she was to win a year-supply of tofu. Which, she had once.
"Dudes... this is going to suck..." Beast Boy let himself back away from the window in disbelief. "Where the HECK is Robin!" Of course, he knew the answer, but he didn't want to believe it.
"We got this... Four on Four." Cyborg tried to console the younger teen, knowing that even though the numbers were even, they still had the advantage.
"Knock! Knock!" Adonis yelled up at the tower.
"Yeah! Throw us your golden hair, Rapunz-org!" Gizmo taunted the metal titan, causing him to grow red in the face.
"Oh, I'll throw you somethin', you little..." Cyborg started to say under his breath, but was cut off by Johnny as he, on his bike, rose to their level.
"I'm comin' in!" The grey biker warned as he pointed his blaster at the window and pulled the trigger.
Quickly, the Titans moved out of the way of the flying shards of glass and braced themselves for the impending fight. Raven tried to see the logic in such tactics. Sure, Robin not being there was a weakness, but why these villians. Johnny Rancid? Gizmo, Red-X, Adonis? All together? She thought not. No, what she feared was that there was another group forming, like the brotherhood, but why these four?
Quickly the others made their way inside. Gizmo, on jet pack, flew inside like a gnat, buzzing around and cackling. "Get ready, Tinman! I've got a... bone to pick with you!" Gizmo didn't even bother acknowledging the other Titans. His eyes were stuck on Cyborg, and he was confident in how things were going to turn out.
Red-X, like Robin, used a grappling hook to pull himself up through the busted window. Once inside, he ignored the hook and brushed himself off of any debris he might have picked up at the window. "Hello, beautiful. It's been too long." His voice, so similar and yet so different from Robin's. His mannerisms, his style, his aura. If she wasn't aware that he was someone else, she would just assume it was him playing an earthly prank on her. "You look radiant this morning..." Red-X said to the alien as he bowed in her presence.
Then, in order to make his own entrance, Adonis crouched and hurled himself through an unbroken window, loudly crashing into the common area and landing on a knee. "Pipsqueak... I gotta score to settle with you..." Adonis got to his feet and began to saunter towards the smallest Titan, who was doing his best to blend in. He followed Beast Boy as he started to back away. Then, as he got closer to him, he bent over and, with a huge grin on his lips, he said, "Boo..." With that, Beast Boy morphed into a cheetah and ran for the exit, and laughing in his wake, Adonis followed close behind.
"Beast Boy!" Cyborg yelled as he began to run after his friend, but before he could reach the door he was intercepted.
"I told you, Rust Bucket, you're mine!" Gizmo taunted as he pulled out a remote control and pushed the single, red button that was on it.
"Get outta my way, you... huh?" Cyborg looked down in shock as his feet refused to move. He was stuck in place, and he knew instantly it was that remote Gizmo had.
"Now, forward march! Haha!" Gizmo pushed the button one more time, causing Cyborg's metal body to loosen up and walk like a robot out of the door, slow, stiff, and robotic.
Starfire, eyes glowing green, and fists ready, watched as Red-X approached her. He was slow and stylish in his movements, but she wasn't going to let it fool her. He was a villain, and for all she knew he was the one responsible for Robin being in Gotham. So, when he got in front of her and reached behind him to grab something from under his cape, she pulled back a fist and let it crash underneath his chin, propelling him up through the ceiling and beyond. "You will tell me why you made Robin leave!" She announced, the rage in her voice palpable.
Once Starfire flew through the hole in pursuit of Red-X, Raven looked lazily over at Johnny, whose eyes just looked up at the broken ceiling in disbelief. His mouth hung open as he looked over at Raven, and it was clear he was let down.
"Where's Bird Boy?" Johnny asked the gothic teen. It was clear he was let down.
"Nevermind. What do you want, Rancid?" Raven asked as she remained calm. "Why are all of you here?"
"Fuck if I know! I don't give two shits about those douchebags! I just came to see The Boy Blunder... Dammit!" Johnny hopped off his hovering bike and then put a hand over his crotch to pat at it as he brought a finger up to his chin in thought.
Raven watched his body language. To say the least, it was inappropriate, and it only left her confused as to his intentions.
"Aw, fuck it, man. Birds of a feather, and all that shit!" Johnny said as he suddenly aimed his gun towards Raven and fired.