AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place a couple of years after the events of the Teen Titans TV series. The entire gang has remained a team and Terra is back as a member as well, with both her memories and powers back. This story will primarily revolve around Raven and my OC character. Enjoy
ACT 1: OMENS
CHAPTER 1: DEFENDER
"You know, at this rate, you're never going to get a date to the dance next month. You really should go up and talk to a few people" Spoke a black-haired boy.
The words came out more friendly than one might think, each phrase carefully chosen as the boy with the jet-black, windswept hair spoke with a wide smile. Beside him trotted a girl with deep-blue colored locks, left straight and covering her face in a very shy fashion. The boy displayed a fashion that labeled him as "popular" while the blue-haired girl could easily be labeled "goth" by the appearance of her very dark clothing. And yet, they easily waltzed down the hallway of their high school as good friends, despite the strong difference of cliché.
"Easy for you to say. You already have Starfire, and Garth is still chasing after Terra. Even Cy- has a few who would willingly go with him. Not many people are willing to talk to someone like...me..." The girl said in a brooding tone. It wasn't so much pessimism as simply trying to avoid thinking on the subject all together.
"Well...Rachael...you just have to find someone similar to you..." The boy stopped when he realized that what he had just said wouldn't help in the slightest. Only the sudden yell of a teacher was able to save him from further damaging his friend's confidence...or rather, her willingness to even try to go to the dance.
"Dick Grayson! Get over here this instant!" Yelled the balding teacher as he leaned out the door of the computer lab. Dick sighed and shrugged his shoulders, waving as he left to see what the teacher wanted. Rachael, seeming rather careless and brooding, continued to drift down the hall. She couldn't help but wonder how the teacher would treat Dick if he knew that he was, in fact, Robin of the Teen Titans from Jump City. Actually...how would anyone here react if they knew the Teen Titans were attending a public high school in secret, almost 50 miles away from their home. They would probably all just turn into fan girls and make life generally annoying. Thank the spirits that no one here is smart enough to recognize us. Raven thought to herself. In her inner musing, she didn't notice the rather tall individual standing in her path. She ran directly into him, and by the sudden grunt and clenching of teeth as he whipped around, it was evident that he was not at all happy about it.
"Watch where you're goin', freak!" The boy grunted. "Eww, you got goth all over me...How do you plan on payin' me back?!" He mocked, wiping at his shirt and walking forward as he attempted to seem as tall and looming as possible to scare "Rachael" into a corner. Of course, being Raven of the teen titans, she wasn't scared at all. In fact, she was a little confused. How could she possibly rub a stereotype onto someone who was already so covered in stereotype that it was sickening? But, she was aware that smart remarks would do nothing against someone with such...blunt...intelligence, and well...powers weren't really an option either. She couldn't do much else except attempt to keep a decent distance away from the large ogre. As her back came in contact with the wall, however, that seemed futile as well.
The gleam of a metallic wristband and a long pale arm appeared from no where, coming in to separate the high-testosterone jock from his target. Raven looked up, surprised that anyone might try to come to her aid. At first she didn't recognize the boy. Upon getting a closer look at him, though, she berated herself for not realizing who it was in the first place. The dark, shaggy hair on his head starkly contrasted his vividly pale skin, and his tall, lean body looked as if it was almost lifeless on the inside. Most memorable of all, though, were his eyes. Deep, piercing eyes of a bright silver color, and right now they were filled with strong anger. Raven could easily feel the strong, negative emotions rolling off of him as he stared at the jock with cold, unwavering conviction. It was Jackson, a classmate of hers. He was always very reserved, always very mysterious, and one of the smartest people in the class.
"Step away from Rachael, before I decide to give you an injury that will ruin your dreams of having a basketball career. Or, if you'd prefer, I could just give you a head injury that might give you a real excuse for that stupidity of yours." He said in an emotionless tone.
As much as the want-to-be bully wanted to challenge Jackson's statement, the shiver that it sent down his spine was enough to show that it was time to quit, at least for today. He had last the verbal show-down and both knew it. Raven breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the dumbfounded jock turn and leave. Jackson had unknowingly saved her from having to give more meaning to the name "freak".
"...Thank you..." Raven breathed out, a bit hesitant to thank the guy who, up until now, she had been too nervous to ever speak more than a sentence to. And now here he was...standing up for her.
"Of course, it was no problem. Be sure to let me know if he gives you any more problems..." Jackson spoke plainly, nodding his head briefly before turning and walking away with a slight smile.
As he departed, soon Raven realized she wanted to keep talking with him, if only to learn more about why he seemed so mysterious, but couldn't think of anything to say to him to get him to chat. Instead, she just watched him walk down the hallway as a rare shade of pink rose into her cheeks, visible against the dark make-up that covered her skin. Behind her, she could hear Robin's tell-tale footsteps as he came up beside her, both confused and, for some reason, very cheery. Perhaps he was happy that whatever it was the teacher had wanted, it had ended quickly.
"Hey, Rachael, what was that all about?" He asked hurriedly, a bit worried that something might have happened
"It was nothing. I simply got to watch a classmate freak out the local bully." She spoke without much care as the two began to walk toward the lunchroom. Robin's questioning stare, though, would not let the subject disappear. Raven glanced back and sighed, admitting defeat. "...He...defended me..." She said finally as she felt the pink coming back into her cheeks, and a strange, flighty feeling filling her chest. Robin, with his keen eyes, easily noticed and in his surprise couldn't help but bend over laughing. He instantly stopped though when he looked up to find Raven's burning gaze directly over him.
"Dick, if you say anything, I will give you some very unpleasant nightmares tonight..." She seethed.
"Alright, alright, Rachael. Its really not that bad, though. You should properly thank him. I know, get him to come out and have some pizza with us! I kind of want to meet the guy who stood up for you." Robin suggested keenly. Raven would be much more likely to agree if she had them around to help blunt the awkwardness. He was more interested, though, in the fact that he may have just discovered a way to get Raven to go to the dance rather than the face that she had just been confronted by a high-school bully.
"No! No no no no no...I-I couldn't. There's no way I could ask him to do something like that, he...he probably doesn't even like pizza." She said hurriedly, though she knew otherwise. She had seen Jackson in the lunchroom enough to know that he did, in fact, love pizza quite a bit.
"If you don't, I'll just tell Garth all about how you got so embarrassed just now. I'm sure he'd love to have some fun with that news. But, really Rachael...Its rare to see you like this. You should try asking him to come hang with us. What harm is there in trying?"
Plenty of harm she thought to herself, but it was no use arguing with Robin. She sighed, giving in as she shot him a death-glare. "I will make you regret this". Robin simply laughed as they approached the lunchroom, where the rest of their group already had a table waiting.
`"Hahahahaha, wait, wait, you saved Rachael? No way! And she didn't beat the crap out of you or anything like that? I guess the 'Jock's' on him! ...Get it? Hahaha" Beastboy blurted out, laughing in his seat as parts of his pizza flew everywhere. Both Beastboy and Cyborg were using technology that helped them appear normal, though to say they acted normal was a bit of a stretch. Everyone else at the table was, at least, somewhat normal. Robin and Starfire, both easily attuned to current fashion, were dressed to impress and stood out against the normal pizza customer. Terra was too busy devouring her own pizza to notice the awkward stares she was getting from other customers. Meanwhile, Raven was slowly nibbling on her own slice, constantly glancing at Jackson out of the corner of her eye.
"I just didn't think Rachael deserved to be picked on like that. So, I...stepped in. Besides, she recommended me a good book, once. It was a good chance for me to return the favor..." Jackson replied plainly, as if trying to dodge the question. Despite how nervous he looked, he was finally starting to relax a little around the group of friends, thanks in part to the joking going on. Jackson glanced down at his metal wristband and smiled lightly with a relieved expression when he saw that no significant activity was emanating from it.
"You...liked that book? I wasn't sure if you were actually going to read it..." Raven spoke out before going quiet, her attention now away from her pizza.
"Yea, it had some very interesting historical 'myths', though I may have a book for you that can top that one. There are some fascinating stories in Norse mythology that you might enjoy" Jackson offered.
Robin, Starfire, Beastboy, and Cyborg all glanced at each other, thinking the same exact thing. For them to see their friend Raven, who was always so quiet, dark, and reclusive, getting so easily embarrassed by a boy...there was no chance that they would let this go normally. A few well-thought-up plans to stir things up would allow them to relish seeing Raven in this rare state. Sadly enough, though, they didn't need a plan of their own for things to get stirred up.
A sudden explosion rang out in the nearby street, followed by ghoulish, bone-chilling howl. Robin instinctively looked up and gazed upon what resembled a werewolf: tall, covered in matted gray fur, muscular, and with a snout and bone structure to further indicate the guess. He didn't even have to spend an ounce of brain power to know what to say next. "Titans, Go!". But...no one had a chance to make a move as a fireball was launched at their table and exploded directly in front of them, sending metal, glass, and splattered cheese everywhere. Each of the group was launched in a different direction, though most of them had enough training and instinct to defend themselves from the blunt of the damage. All of them except one.
"Ewwww. I don't want to be covered in pepperoni! Why couldn't I be covered in cheese? Then I could be...cheeseboy!" Beastboy blurted as he swiped pieces of pepperoni and sauce off of his clothes, his skin now back to it's original green color.
"Man, why can't we have any normal villains? Like...just some bank-robber with bombs or a guy with super strength. But nooo, we have to go up against a werewolf who chucks fireballs! Its gonna take me forever to clean this sauce off my tech..." Cyborg complained as he stood up, shaking his head and taking several heavy footsteps forward, his technological cloak gone as well.
"Because normal villains are smart enough to know not to face us. Lets get this guy dealt with before he decides to open a hole in any more pizza joints..." Robin retorted, cracking his knuckles and pulling out his staff. "Now, first, Raven I want you to...oh..."
Raven was too busy kneeling over the limb body of Jackson to care about what else was going on. His lack of motion told Robin that he had been knocked out cold, though he was certain he wasn't dead, or else Raven would be having a very different reaction at the moment. Raven was bent over him, making sure he was perfectly ok, pausing when she noticed a strange wound. "Why did this have to happen now? I was actually having...fun...but...what...what is this?" She ran her finger over a deep gash that had been cut into Jackson's arm by one of the pieces of glass. What was strange was that there was not a single drop of blood escaping from the wound, as if his veins were completely dry. He didn't even have a pulse...yet all his other body functions were occurring normally. What was more, his wound was healing as if it was stitching itself together, albeit at a very slow pace, rather than scabbing like a normal wound...and his wristband was pulsing with black energy. Her eyes were wide and couldn't look away, despite the on-going battle. "...Jackson...what are you?" Raven whispered to herself, stuck between curiosity as to this new piece of information and worry over if Jackson would be alright. She had her mind made up, though. As more fireballs flew around her, she twisted around and threw up a dome of energy around herself and Jackson...determined to protect him as he had done for her.
"You just stay there and defend him, Raven. The rest of us can handle this. The rest of you know what to do. Titans, Go!" Robin blurted a second time, almost worried a second explosion might interrupt him again. But there wasn't one...at least, not one aimed directly at them. Robin leapt into the air, his staff held high over his head as he arched toward the fiery werewolf. The beast's gaze was locked onto robin, a fireball waiting to be launched right into his attacker's face...leaving him completely open to the gut-crushing rhino charge that was sent right into his flank. With this attack by Beastboy, the werewolf was left dazed enough for Robin to make contact with his initial attack, the metal staff making connection with the opponents head. Cyborg let loose a burst from his sonic canon, hurtling the beast into the air as Starfire followed up with an over the head blow that rocketed him back into the ground. All that was left was for Terra to encase the dazed and battered attacker in a cage of stone. Given the devastating series of attack he had just received, it was more than likely unnecessary.
"What was with that creatuee? Its rare to see a random mutated beast like that just wandering around and destroying buildings, especially in this area of town. I wonder if there is someone else behind this..." Robin thought to himself as he walked back over to where Raven and Jackson were. He eyed Jackson's still limp body and Raven, continually trying to come up some way to help him. His eyes followed her line of site down to the strange bloodless wounds, filling him with same questions she had. Raven, both depressed and angry, raised Jackson off the ground on a platform of energy as she began the slow trek back to Titan Tower.
"Oh, is he going to be ok? Should would take him to the hospital? I do hope our new friend has suffered no injuries..." Starfire asked out of concern, hovering over Raven and looking at the limp body.
Robin tugged her back to the ground, his shaking head telling her to stay a distance away from Raven. "No, we are going to take him to the tower, just for the moment. We have better medical equipment there anyways, and we owe our new friend that much. Cyborg, I'll need you to prep the room when we get back...and...figure out some way to keep him from learning who we really are when he wakes up..." Robin said, thinking out loud as he glanced at Raven.
Cyborg nodded with slight frustration, obviously wondering how he could keep their secret away from Jackson, though he was still willing to try to find a way. Everyone had seen how Raven had defended Jackson, the person she had supposedly not even wanted to talk to. They were determined to find a way to keep these two friends, if only in the hopes that she might finally have found someone to understand her. As much as they hated to admit it, after the events so long ago with Trigon, it felt as if Raven had kept a slight distance away from anything social.