This story is going to be written with the help and suggestions of the readers. Have something you want to see happen, let me know.
Robin was hunched over his computer, deeply involved in his research, when Cyborg entered his room.
"Hey Robin, you got a message from Batman," he said carefully.
"I'm still not talking to him," Robin said without looking up from his screen.
"You might want to read this anyway," Cyborg set what looked like a print out of an email on Robin's desk. The boy wonder peeled his eyes off his work with a sigh and picked up the papers. He read the first few lines before standing up violently and slamming his palm into the desk.
"Damn it!" he cursed. He picked up the email and continuing to read. The last page was a map of the USA, with five locations marked in red.
"More and more young heroes are dying, and no one is closer to finding the culprit," Robin said, his clenched fists shaking. Cyborg gently placed a hand on his leaders shoulder.
"Maybe it's time to initiate Project Terra," he said calmly.
"We should have already done it," Robin said dejectedly. He turned to Cyborg, a fierce but determined expression on his face. "Ready the tower. I'll take the transport jet and pick up every young uncontacted hero and Meta we know of." Cyborg nodded his consent, and left the room.
Robin turned back to his computer; his fingers flew over the keyboard as he pulled up a file labeled, 'Potential Titans.' He scanned the files contents, noting the locations before pulling his communicator out of his belt.
"Raven, come in," he said into the device.
"Yes Robin?" her gravely voice came through.
"Meet me in the hanger. I'll explain on the way," he paused before adding, "And put on some civilian clothes. This is a covert mission." He put the communicator back on his belt and looked at the files once more.
"I'm not going to let any of you die," he promised himself.
Raven met him down in the hanger wearing her usual blue boots, but over black leggings. An oversized blue hoodie completed the outfit, the hood pulled back. She noted that Robin had changes into black jeans, and a leather jacket over a red t-shirt; his utility belt still on his waist. He was still wearing his mask however.
"Where are we going Robin?" she asked as he stalked to the control console and opened the overhead doors.
"I'm initiating Project Terra," he said simply, typing more commands to unlock the transport jet.
"Did something happen?" she asked, sensing her friends distress.
"More teen heros are dying, and Batman is no closer to finding the murdered than any of us are," Robin explained through grit teeth.
"Then why bring me along?" Raven asked as they entered the jet and strapped in. "Certainly Starfire would be better at greeting new people."
"I would bring Star, except not all of these kids are very stable," Robin explained, his hands flying over the ships controls, bringing it to life. "I love Star, but she can be very overwhelming the first time you meet her. Plus, I want your empathic abilities. If any of these kids are working for the enemy, you'll know," he glanced at Raven as the ship slowly rose up out of the hanger. Raven looked out the front windshield and thought.
"You want me to look at their thoughts?" she said slowly, and somewhat accusatory.
"Just their emotions," Robin corrected before she could get mad. "Just let me know if anything seems off. The last thing I want is to bring an enemy straight into our home." Raven nodded her agreement and they traveled in silence for some time.
Nearly an hour had passed before the pair of Titans set down in a field outside a crowded metropolis. As Robin turned off the ship, he activated the cloaking device, so no one exploring the field would find, and mess with, it.
As they walked toward the city, Robin explained who they were going to meet first.
"Her name is Tabitha Cane, goes by Tabby Cat. She's the youngest of the heroes on our list," Robin pulled up a picture of the hero on a small tablet and handed it to Raven. The picture showed a young girl dressed in a black bodysuit with purple tiger stripes. She wore a motorcycle like helmet with cat ears, and boots that seemed a little too big for her.
"She builds all her own tech, and has been studying gymnastics since she was very young," Robin explained as they entered the edge of the city. The buildings were somewhat rundown here, but there was still enough foot traffic that no one noticed two teens walking in.
"Any family?" Raven asked, handing the tablet back to Robin, who tucked it away in his belt.
"A father," Robin stated. "We are fairly sure he is aware of his daughters viglianti activities. Hopefully he won't he hard to convince that we just want to help her train."
"Is that our cover story?" Raven asked, narrowly avoiding getting plowed over by a large dog.
"Until we know who is murdering heroes, yes," Robin said. "The story is we are recruiting young heroes to train and establish more Titan's Towers across the country."
"Which isn't a lie," Ravin added.
"No, it's not. But it's also not the whole truth." They came to a stop in front of a large brick apartment building. Robin glared at the door that could only be opened with a key, or by one of the residents letting you in.
"Allow me," Raven stepped up to the door. Softly, she chanted, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." The lock became encased in her magic, before it softly clicked. Robin pushed the door open and let Raven slip inside first.
"According to our intel, she lives in apartment 3C," Robin headed up the stairs with Raven on his heels.
Robin knocked when the found the right door. The was a crash inside, followed by some cursing, before the door opened slightly, a chain lock preventing it from opening all the way. A young girl with purple dyed hair looked at them through the crack.
"Who are you and what do you want?" she asked gruffly.
"I'm Robin, and this is Raven. We're members of the,"
"Teen Titans?" Tabitha finished for him. Robin nodded.
"We were hoping we could talk to you," Raven said softly.
"How do I know you are telling the truth?" Tabitha asked suspicious. Raven looked over the girls shoulder, and spotted the coffee table in the apartment.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she said. The table, encased in her magic, levitate off the ground. Tabitha whirled around to look at the sight. After a moment, Raven set the table back down.
"Okay, I believe you," Tabitha raised her hands and surrender and opened the door. The apartment was clean, but untidy. Boxes of machine parts sat stacked against the walls. Cat toys littered the floor, and blueprints covered every available table top.
"Where's your father?" Robin asked as he picked up a blueprint for what looked like a force field generator.
"He's at work. Should be home in a few minutes," Tabitha explained. She pulled a circuit board out of one of the pockets of her cargo pants and started fiddling with the wires. Robin looked to Raven, silently asking if she sensed anything wrong. Raven gave the slightest shake of her head.
"So Tabitha," Robin began.
"Call me Tabby," she interrupted.
"Okay. Tabby. How would you like to be a Titan?" Robin asked, a grin creeping onto his face.
"Me? A Titan?" Tabby dropped the circuit board. Robin nodded.
"We want to establish more Titan Towers across the country, so we're going around and seeing who wants to join," he explained. "So what do you think?"
"Of course I want to!" Tabby exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Training with the Titan's has been a dream of mine! And don't worry about my dad," Tabby said looking at Raven. "He'd be thrilled that you guys are gonna train me. He's always worried I'm going to get myself killed. When do we leave?" She said all in one breath.
"Right now, if you're ready," Robin said. Tabby continued to bounce on the balls of her feet. The lock on the door clicked and a tall man, clearly Tabby's father walked inside. He looked at Raven and Robin, then to Tabby with a questioning look on his face. Tabby bounded over to him.
"Daddy! This is Robin and Raven, of the Teen Titans! They want to train me! Can I go with them, please!" Tabby put on one the best puppy dog faces Robin had ever seen, and he should know, he used to be really good at them. Mr. Cane looked a bit overwhelmed, so Robin stepped up and offered his hand. He explained the situation in more words, and the man seemed to relax.
"Okay. I don't see why you can't go Tabitha," he said. Tabby quietly fist pumped and hurried out of the room calling back over her shoulder, "I'm going to pack really quick!" The awkward silence that followed was deafening.
"Do you two want anything? Juice, tea, water?" Mr. Cane asked.
"No thanks, I'm good," Robin said as he sat down on the couch. He pulled a small object out of his belt and started fiddling with it. Raven sensed the man's desire to do something so she said, "Tea would be nice." Mr. Cane's shoulders relaxed and he went into the kitchen. Raven could hear water running followed by the sound of a stove turning on. Raven sat down on the couch next to Robin and glanced at the item he was fiddling with. She realized with a slight shock that it was a batarang, it's edges chipped dull. Raven caught her friends eye and gave him a questioning look. He tucked the batarang away and shook his head, indicating he didn't want to talk about it right now.
Mr. Case came back into the room with two mugs. He set one down in front of Raven and sat down in a chair opposite them with his. He tried to start a conversation with them, but after several failed attempts, he stood up.
"I'm going to go check on Tabitha," he said, leaving his untouched tea behind.
"Maybe we should have brought Starfire," Raven said. Robin chuckled softly at that.
"I don't think everyone is going to be this easy," he said.
"Probably not," Raven said, picking up her tea and blowing on it.
A few minutes letter, Tabby emerged. She had two suitcases and a large backpack.
"Sorry, it took a while to pack my gear," she apologized. Robin nodded his understanding. The three teens stood and said goodbye to Mr. Cane. Robin gave him the phone number and email of Titans Tower, in case he was ever unable to reach Tabby.
Once they were back at the jet, and Tabby's things were secured, Raven turned to Robin and asked, "So who's next?"
"Are we picking up other people?" Tabby asked from behind them. Robin turned so he could look at her.
"Potentially 7 others," he explained.
"Sweet," Tabby leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
Robin eased the jet into the air, and started them toward their next destination. As they flew, he explained to Raven about the next kid.
"We are going to try to locate a hero called Taz," he started. "He uses umbrakinesis,"
"What's that?" Tabby inturepet. Robin glanced over his shoulder to see her leaning forward in her seat.
"It means darkness or shadow manipulation," Raven explained.
"Freaky," Tabby leaned back in her seat.
"Anyway," Robin continued. "I don't know where in the city he lives, so Raven, I need you to locate him."
"Once we get closer, I'll scan the area for his mind."
"You can do that?" Tabby interpreted again. Raven looked back at Tabby and nodded. "But how do you know what his mind looks like if you've never met him?" Tabby added.
"I'm very familiar with the thoughts and emotions of vigilanties," Raven looked pointedly at Robin, but Tabby didn't notice.
The sun had begun to set when they reached their decision. This city was much more sprawling than Tabby's had been; finding a discreet place to land proved challenging. Eventually, they found a football field behind a school that was locked up for the night. Once the jet was off, and cloaked, Robin turned to Tabby.
"Stay here. We'll be back soon," Robin ordered. Tabby rolled her eyes and pulled a laptop out of her bag.
The two Titans plunged into the city, Robin guiding Raven around as they walked, searching for the hero Taz. For a while, they didn't find anything, when suddenly, Raven gasped, her eyes flew open and she fell against Robin, who held her up.
"What's wrong?" he asked, worried.
"I found him," Raven said, regaining her balance. "You didn't tell me he power over his aura," Raven started walking quickly, Robin had to jog to catch up with her.
"What?" he asked when he was next to her again.
"His mind is well defended," Raven explained. "I wasn't ready for that kind of mental barrier." Robin followed his friend deeper into the city, and nearly crashed into her when she stopped suddenly.
"There," she pointed to the roof of a tall mall. Robin couldn't see their qwary from here, but he didn't doubt Raven. He started to calculate how he was going to get up there, when Raven grabbed him under his arms and floated up.
They set down silently on the roof. On the other side looking down, was a muscular boy dressed in black padded body armor. He seemed to be focusing on something happen below. Robin approached him, hands held up in surrender, and coughed to announce his presence.
Taz whirled around, and faster than Robin could track, closed the distance between them. A shadowy black sword, that had just appeared in his hands, was pointed at Robin's throat.
"Who are you?" Taz demanded. Robin could see Taz's eyes glowing gold behind his mask.
'Calm down. We are the Teen Titans,' Raven projected her thoughts into Taz's head. He looked at her, head cocked sideways, but didn't lower his sword.
"And empath huh?" he said, it was more of a statement than a question. "Raven I'm guessing." Raven nodded.
"And you must be Robin," Taz lowered the sword and it dissolved back into shadows. "Nice to meet you," he held out his hand and Robin shook it. "Sorry for the welcome, but you can't be too careful in this place." Taz walked back over the edge of the roof. Robin followed and crouched down next to him. From here he could see a large bank across the street.
"I got a tip that this place was going to get hit tonight, but so far there hasn't been any activity," Taz sat down, his legs dangling over the side of the building.
"So why have you two tracked me down? I didn't do anything to get on your bad side did I?" he asked with a grin. Robin noticed his fingers twitching, he was itching for a good fight.
"Nothing like that," Raven hovered cross legged on Taz's other side.
"We're here to ask if you want to train to be a Titan," Robin explained. Taz glanced at Robin out of the corner of his eye, never truly looking away from the bank.
"A Titan huh? Don't you have enough of those."
"We'll be establishing new Towers across the country," Raven explained.
"What do you say?" Robin asked. Taz hummed to himself but didn't answer right away. Across the street, Robin noticed activity. A large white van pulled up the bank, and three large men got out, holding weapons unlike Robin had seen before. Next to him, Taz sucked in a breath.
"Those blasters pack a punch," Taz said, he sounded as though he spoke from experience.
"We should stop them," Raven said.
"Wait," Taz said, holding up a hand. "They haven't broken any laws yet." Right after he said it, one of the men aimed his weapon at the door to the bank. Even from the roof across the street, the trio heard the cracking noise as the door was ripped from its frame and pulled out by some kind of levitation ray.
"And now they have," Taz said. He stood up and stretched. "Help me take these goons out and I'll take you up on your offer," Taz grinned. He leapt off the side of the building and landed on black platforms that appeared under his feet. Raven looked to Robin who nodded. She picked him up and they hurried after Taz.
They caught up to him at the entrance to the bank, all three men were already inside. Taz stepped inside and saw that they were already in the vault.
"Hey!" he called out. The men's heads jerked up, they raised their weapons and fired. Raven threw up a barrier at the same time Taz did. The weapons didn't even scratch either.
"That's not very nice," Taz called, his voice cool and dangerous. Taz looked back over his shoulder at the Titans. "I call the middle one," he said. The men charged and he leapt into combat, swords appearing in his hands, only this time, they were golden instead of black. Robin pulled a compact bow staff from his belt and slammed it into the man who charged him. Raven ripped the weapon out of her attackers hands and crushed in with her magic.
A blast went off dangerously close to Robin's head, but he struck out with his staff and knocked the weapon from his attackers hand. A roundhouse kick to the head brought the man down.
Taz deflected a blast with his swords, before sliding between the man's legs, and smashing the hilt of a sword into the back of the man's head. The robber crumpled at Taz's feet.
Raven's goon was also unconscious, but neither boy had actually seen what she had done.
"Man, that was over too fast," Taz complained He put his hands behind his head and his swords seemed to be absorbed into his body. "So where'd you guys park?" he asked. "I need to run back to my hideout and grab a few things. I'll meet you there." Robin described the school where they had left their ship.
"I know that place, over on Elm isn't it? I'll see you there in a bit," Taz backed into a corner and literally melted into the shadows.
"A little cocky isn't he," Robin sated. Raven nodded.
"We'd better get going before the cops show up," Raven say, gesturing to their civilian attire.
By the time the Titan's made it back to the jet, Taz was already there, sitting on a low wall playing on a handheld gaming device, a duffle bag at his feet.
Robin rolled his eyes and de-cloaked the jet. Taz looked mildly impressed as he entered.
"You guys took forever!" Tabby complained. "I'm starving. Can we get pizza at the next stop." She eyed Taz as he sat down across the isle from her.
"You Taz?" she asked.
"In the flesh," he said, going back to his game. Tabby huffed and ignored him.
"This is going to be a long night," Raven commented as Robin launched the jet into the night sky.
Uploading Project Terra…
Two files found…
Creator: TimeLadyDemigod
Name: Tabitha Cane
Hero Name: Tabby Cat
Age: 13
Classification: Human-Technology expert
Group: Gamma
Abilities: Innate ability to understand machines, she has manufactured all of her suit's technology. Very acrobatic and studying martial arts, but not yet a master.
About: This rising star super dresses in a personal made black body suit with purple stripes. The suit also includes a motorcycle like helmet with cat ears that is equipped with night vision, gloves with retractable razor sharp claws, and boots that give her extreme balance and the ability to always land her feet. Purple dyed hair, often kept in a pony tail, and bright green eyes. She is more fond of animals than people, but is still a very peppy kid. Her father agreed to let her train with the Titan's to improve her combat abilities and fine tune her suit. Very fun to watch work if somewhat temperamental.
Creator: ProjectTazProductions
Name: Jacob Alexander Grimm
Hero Name: Taz
Age: 18
Classification: Metahuman-Ethereal Class
Group: Alpha
Abilities: Umbrakinesis (Darkness/Shadow Manipulation) and power over own Ki/Aura. Advanced senses, speed, durability, and agility.
About: This dark and edgy teen is actually warm and open once you get to know him. Very protective of his friends, even if that means pushing them away. Long thick black hair kept in dreadlocks, hazel eyes that burn gold when angry. Brown skin, many scars on arms and one on his brow. 5'7", 200 pounds, built like a boxer. Wears black padded clothes when fighting along with his trademark goofy skull symbol. Is able to use either his gold aura or the shadows as weapons and armor. Vulnerable to attacks on his aura. Has a tendency to think he is stronger than he is.
I'll try to put out chapters on the regular. I can't wait to get to the other heroes, they are all a blast!