This small bit was a writing exercise many years ago. It is very rough and combines origin elements of the original New Teen Titans comics from the 1980's with some from the cartoon series. It was written before my writing 'Justice League Halloween' and should be considered a prelude to that. A follow up was plotted out long ago but never finished. I am in the process of cleaning up my flash drive and this fell out.

Common Threads

Loss

Young Richard Grayson looked out over the coffins of his parents. Even at his young age, he knew that things were never going to be the same. The coolness of the morning was slowly moving into the warmth of the afternoon but all Richard felt was a chill. He was now an orphan. He had fought against the fact for days and prayed at night that this would all be a dream. The ceremony today had just confirmed it beyond all doubt. Tears streamed down his face as the stranger who watched him the past few days came up with the older man, the stranger's butler. "Its time to go, Richard" the man said. Nodding slowly, Richard turned and went with the two men. Things would never be the same again.

Raven looked up past the hood of her robes at the ancient face of Azar. The old woman was passing a judgment down on the child. Another nightmare last night for Raven had demolished the building she was staying in with her mother. Azar was not pleased by this in the slightest. Gathered around were all the elders of Azarath in their white robes, faces impassive as they waited for Azar to speak. Raven alone stood in robes of darkest blue. No matter how often she donned white ones like the others, the color changed to blue within an hour. Her violet eyes showed a hint of fear as the strong voice of Azar began. "The child has no control over these abilities of hers. She is responsible for the destruction but she is not at fault. I myself shall become her teacher now. Raven, bid your mother farewell. You shall see neither her nor any others until such time as you have control over the powers your birthright has bestowed upon you." There was a muttering amongst the elders and Raven heard a few words "Demon child ... Spawn of Evil ... She will be the death of us all ... destroy it now" Azar nearly yelled, "Silence. I had pronounced 5 years ago at her birth this child would be welcome here. I have no intention of recanting my words. I have spoken" Azar motioned to Raven to enter her house. As the child looked to her mother once more before turning away, she could not help but wonder it she would ever see her mother again.

Koriand'r cried as the shackles were secured on her wrists. Her father and mother were fighting back tears and her younger brother was openly crying. Only the slight sneer on Komand'r face betrayed her satisfaction at watching the enslavement of the crown princess. Tamaran had lost to the Citadel and Koriand'r was the price of losing. The Citadel knew they would never pacify the planet and the tribute Tamaran would be paying on top of surrendering the princess would keep them busy. The Psions working for the Citadel would enjoy their new plaything. Koriand'r was dragged into the shuttle and made to face outward as the airlock door closed. The Gordanian slavers knew their trade well and the airlock door was the first torture for the young female. It closed too slowly and being forced to see it close was only the beginning. Koriand'r tried to dip her head and look away but the slaver pulled her head up by the hair to have her see her freedom leave inch by inch.

Victor Stone slowly awoke. The young athlete wondered why he could not move. Why did only one eye open? Where was he? Hazy memories of visiting his mother at work filtered into his mind. The events rushed in after the first thought. His visit to his mother's lab. The explosion and fire. The dimensional portal opening in the closed lab. The biomass pouring thru it and surrounding everyone. The acid eating at everyone including his mother. His attempts to pull her free and his arms and legs dissolving under the touch of the biomass. The pain as it engulfed him. Victor screamed as he realized he could no longer feel anything except for the single tear sliding down his cheek.

Garfield Logan stood next to Chief Tawaba while the tribesman picked thru the boat wreckage at the base of the waterfall. The green boy was shaking as more and more pieces of wreckage were carried from the water. Finally, one man waved to the Chief. All other work stopped as the tribe all moved to the spot in silence. Tawaba squeezed the boy's shoulder as the tears flowed down his cheeks. Then, the man went to one knee beside the boy and hugged him close as the child cried out his pain.

Pain

Richard swayed side to side as he avoided the blows of his teacher. The Batman gave him no break in his training. Hour after hour he kept the boy moving. Even all the training Richard had done for the family trapeze act paled compared to this. Every muscle ached as Batman had him repeat his moves over and over; until they became as easy as breathing to Richard. Once a move was mastered, a new move was given to the boy. Each lesson flowed to the next building on what the boy knew. It hurt when he was hit but Richard accepted that. He had made his choice. He wanted to make the people who killed his parents pay with his own hands. Batman told him in the beginning that it would hurt but Richard began the training anyhow.

Azar watched Raven struggle under the assault of Trigon's influence. The demon's blood connected Raven to Trigon and nothing could prevent that. Without a drastic solution, Raven would lose her battle and become the thrall of her father. The light of dawn finally broke in Azarath and the influence of Trigon faded under the light. Azar looked over the spell that would either save them all or destroy more dimensions than she could fathom. If Trigon could extend his reach to a dimension beyond his own, nothing would be able to stop him. Using her own powers, Azar entered Raven's mindscape to do what she could. It would pull most of her emotions out of Raven to leave them isolated within the girl's mind. Still, the girl gave a nod of permission and Azar commenced. With a word, Raven's soul shattered under the magic leaving a hollow shell. The girl screamed in agony as raw fire tore her spirit apart. Azar did what she could but it was a soul's pain and something she could not heal. Trigon's influence was confined in one piece of Raven's soul while the others floated in a circle around the center. Each piece slowly morphed into a clone of Raven but still connected to the original. It was the beginning of Nevermore.

Koriand'r thrashed as the Psions tests continued. Her people absorbed sunlight to power their flight and the Psions were seeing how far they could push that ability. Days passed as light 100 times as powerful as any that reached Tamaran were focused on the girl. Her body was overloading with no way to release the energy. Everything was turning into a haze as the pain grew with each passing hour. Koriand'r finally gave off a scream that made even the Psions flinch but they continued their work. Pushed beyond her limits, Koriand'r just wanted to push the power out of her body. Something shifted inside of her and the overload still hurt but the pain was pushing outward now. In an explosion of light, the chamber exploded as the energy left the princess. Dead and dying Psions lay around the unconscious girl so none noticed the smile on her lips.

Victor just sat as the techs ran checks on the mechanical limbs attached to him. Over the months, they had managed to get the interface between his brain and the cybernetic systems correct and he could move on his own. That did not eliminate the burning he felt each time he moved. No, the interface was not perfect yet. The techs just did not understand. It was not a physical pain he was feeling. The machines could tell him the temperature of the room but they could not let him get goose bumps. The sensors told him it was time for food, but he could not feel the hunger. He could lift tons of weight but had no sense of strain like he had had in the weight room. The people here at the lab could only focus on that he was better, stronger, or faster. But none of machinery could replace what he really wanted. He wanted to feel the fatigue after a hard workout and go with a friend to fill the hunger in his stomach. To laugh again without a care in the world.

Garfield groaned as his guardian, Gartly, hit him again. He wished he was back in Africa, not where he was. Tawaba had treated him like a son. These people saw him as a monster. They made him steal for them. They fed him scraps like he was an animal. If only he could get big. He could become any animal smaller than himself now. He spent all his free time looking at the animal cards the people watching him had gotten after seeing the ad on TV. He saw the news that the Doom Patrol had stopped another crime by the Brotherhood. He wished he could be brave like them. But all he had was here. If only he could get big. Then he wouldn't be stuck in a cage.

Freedom

Robin chafed under the orders of Batman. He wanted to be more than the back half of Batman and Robin. For years he grew more and more unsatisfied. Even when he did things on his own he was never seen as the equal or partner of his mentor. Sidekick. He hated that word now. Batman knew and understood. Batman knew the boy was not a man yet but he had taken on a man's responsibility. It was time to let the Robin fly free and see what he could become. Bruce Wayne handed Richard Grayson a plane ticket to Jump City. He shook hands and smiled as he watched his little bird leave the nest.

Azar knew the time would be soon. She taught Raven the secret spell that would allow her to traverse dimensions from Azarath to Earth. In spite of the young teen's placid face, Azar knew the girl was concerned. Trigon's scrying spells had found Azarath as it floated in its own pocket dimension. The net of energy was drawing it closer to where Trigon's forces could travel there and destroy it. One last gift to the girl was all Azar could do now. The rings Azar wore were one. The other was the broach and chain belt that Azar gave her young student. Contained within the jewels were the energies to restore her soul if Trigon could be defeated. Trigon controlled the part of Raven that the girl called Rage. But as long as Azar's spell was in effect that was only a small piece of Nevermore; a piece that could be contained. The bells sounded as there was no more time for waiting. Raven recited the words and felt herself slip free of the only home she knew in her life, toward Earth and the city her mother had come from many years ago. Jump City.

Koriand'r kept her power a secret. The Gordanians were transporting her to a new master. The Psions had no further use for the girl with the massive losses in the lab. So she was sold to a resort planet to be used as a pleasure toy. The girl knew she would be used badly and later become breeding stock with her daughters condemned to the same fate. To further humiliate the girl, the slavers had dressed her in a traditional armor of Tamaranian warrior princess. The armor included the royal tiara as an additional insult. Koriand'r decided that during this trip she would need to escape or be forever a captive. Her chance came as a guard fell asleep. She fought with abandon like the Okaaran Warlords had taught her years before. She had nothing left to lose. The manacles on her arms became a good mace when not secured close to her body. After months of abuse, even the slow death in the emptiness of space was more welcome as her fate. She was pleased when the ship's autopilot said she could reach a nearby habitable system. The blue planet grew large in her vision.

Victor stood looking at the empty football field. His cyborg parts were hidden underneath the gray hoodie. His future was taken from him and he was bitter about it. He could not be the athlete he once was. His skill before the accident was incredible. He had been a freshman on the school varsity team. Now he could walk from end to end carrying both teams and not worry about being stopped. The body his father had built for him was that good. Big deal. It had taken months of legal wrangling by his father to get Victor released from the STAR Labs care. It cost his old man all the patents and inventions from both his parent's lifetimes of work but the blueprints and specifications of Victor's body were his and his alone. All the copies had been deleted from STAR databases. As long as Victor could access a power source, he would be fine. He even had an agreement for maintenance and spare parts fabrication if he wanted it. But at least he was out of that place for good. As he saw the shooting star travel across Jump City, he felt the breeze hit his face, the only skin he had left. It felt wonderful.

Beast Boy looked once more at the departing members of the Doom Patrol. Rita had looked back and waved once but Mento had snapped at her for it. He had thought he had proven himself by holding a big transformation long enough to be useful. Even that was not enough for Mento. The leader instead berated the boy for allowing the enemy to escape. Mento made it seem as if saving the lives of his family was less important. Garfield had been down that road once before and knew he could not make that sacrifice a second time. Family came first to the green boy and so they had left him here in Jump City. Free, but all alone. He would need to change that.