CH 1: Breakfast with Heroes

The purple of twilight bled away to the blue of early morning as the Sun peeked over the azure waters of the Jump City Bay. A fine morning mist fell over the the grounds, bathing the ground in the sweet morning dew. On a small island in the bay, an oddly shaped building was silhouetted by the rising sun. The gargantuan "T" stood with a constant vigil on the sky-line, a symbol for protection for the citizens to look to. In this bastion of justice, six young heroes were currently catching up on some well deserved rest.

Save one...

A young man was currently sitting cross-legged in the main room, facing the large window/main screen/television. His white hair hung freely past his shoulders, contrasting sharply against his black clothing. He wore a black long-sleeved t-shirt, and black combat fatigues. Over this he wore a black flak vest with multiple pockets and some light armor plating on his shoulders and thighs, as well as forearm and shin guards. Across his lap lay a wakizashi. A black mask covered the lower half of his pale face, and his eyes were currently closed.

As he sat there, the light increased from the sun rising above the horizon, and the darkness receded. But as the shadows fled past the young man, they began to shudder, to swirl. Then as the light came to chase the stragglers away, the shadows began to dance.

At first the light resisted, trying to fulfill the rising fireballs wish to destroy the darkness. But as the light clashed, the shadows merely twirled, and pirouhetted away, beackoning the light to chase after it, as if to a lover. The light complied. Swirls, and sashes of shadow twirled around ribbons and flashes of light, both clashing, yet neither leaving, twirling and leaping in a perfect dance, in harmony, a union of opposites.

Suddenly the dance stopped, and the young man opened his eyelids to reveal his strikingly red orbs, who's vision was currently filled with a young woman's amber-skinned face with two green-within-green eyes. The girl let out a small "eep!" as the young man yelped, and fell backwards, slamming the back of his head on the hard, hard metal floor. He then curled into a fetal position, holding his skull.

"Hrrrrggh!" the young man let out through clenched teeth.

"Oh, friend Ghost, I apologize for startling you!" The amber skinned girl gushed, as she floated over to the stricken teen.

Ghost let out a pained chuckle and replied, "It's okay Starfire, I should have been paying more attention." He then rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, post meditation weariness taking hold of him. Starfire' purple-clad form continued to hover around him, checking for blood, or, Xhal forbid, brain matter leaking from his frail Terran cranium.

After a little while, Ghost rolled into an upright position, and lifted a hand to Starfire. Satisfied that there was no damage to his cranial integrity, the girl grabbed his arm, and with very little discernable effort, hoisted him to his feet. Caught a little off guard by her awesome strength, he could only chuckle and rub his aching head as he made his way to the kitchen area.

"That was a glorious display earlier with the dancing lights," Starfire tentatively put forward, clearly fishing for a conversation starter. "What was it?"

"It was a meditation form I learned as a child," Ghost replied from the oven as he melted some butter in a pan, and threw some bacon in another.

"You meditated in your childhood?"

"Mmhmm," the bacon started to crackle, and Ghost moved them around a bit, before going into the refrigerator, and grabbing a carton of "EGG-FU, tofu eggs." He opened the container and sniffed it's contents. Recoiling a bit, he poured a portion of the container into the pan, along with some water, all the while muttering under his breath about "Crazy green elven vegans," and "How can he eat this?"

He then placed some waffles in the toaster, some being many, and started boiling water and fetching the jasmine tea bags, "So, we have five minutes before the rest of the Titans gather for food, is there anything in particular you want me to prepare?"

Starfire blinked in confusion for a moment, "For me?"

Ghost eye-smiled, "Yep."

Starfire paused for a moment, her small red eyebrows furrowing as if she was in deep in thought, "N'glebatta korialstz...De'Xhal! What is it called?" Starfire cursed, temporarily reverting back to her native language. Finally she looked up at Ghost and inquired, "Pray friend, do we have any...'Nectar?'" At Ghost's raised eyebrow, she continued, "Please friend, do we have any of that deliciously tangy yellow fluid?"

There was a slight pause, as Ghost just stared at the alien girl. He then turned back to the fridge and the sounds of jars and jugs getting shifted around continued for a long while, muttering, "'Nectar?' Since when have we had 'Nectar?' What's a tangy yellow..." The rummaging stopped for a second, "Oh you gotta be kidding me." He emerged from the frozen depths holding a yellow squeeze bottle, and with a completely blank, expressionless face, handed her the mustard.

Starfire squealed, placed a straw into the squeezy bottle, and started slurping. Ghost watched her for all of five seconds before making sure that his, and everyone-else's breakfasts weren't burning, shaking his head and chuckling to himself the entire time.

At this time the elevator doors opened and three other forms emerged from within. The most striking of the trio was a large African American, who's body was more titanium plating and blue circuitry than it was flesh, his red prosthetic eye stared forward in unceasing vigil, while his human eye was closed, and a look of pure rapture on his face, "D-Do I smell... Waffles?"

The short green elf to his left had a similarly orgasmic look, and stammered, "A-and, T-t-tofu Eggs?!"

Ghost nodded and served up two plates, one with a few waffles, and a heaping of fake eggs, while the other was a towering stack of waffles and some bacon to the side, and slid them to two spots on the table. Cyborg and Beast Boy practically leapt out of their skins to reach the table with the delicious food, and soon the air was filled with the sounds of poor manners and loud chewing.

A short young man with spiky black hair, and a red and green outfit exited the elevator, his black cape flowing behind him. Shaking his head at his friends antics, the young legend walked up to the mustard slurping Tamaranean with an amused expression hidden behind his eye mask. "Mustard?" he asked.

"Mmm, yes Robin, it is deliciously tangy, and goes well with your tTerran 'syrup-of-the-maple'," the fire haired alien responded.

"That's 'maple syrup,' Star," Robin replied with a strained smile, as Ghost started looking green at the very thought of Starfire's odd tastes. Accepting the waffles and bacon from Ghost, Robin sat down next to his best friend and showed her the proper techniques for applying butter and syrup to waffles, to which Starfire re payed him with explanations on faster-than-light-speed travel. Robin responded with a smile, and a nod.

Just then, a portal of inky darkness formed on the floor, and up through it rose a young woman clad in a blue, ankle-length cloak, with the hood covering her face, amethyst eyes squinted in the fatigue of waking. She merely looked at Ghost, and without a word, he handed her a steaming cup of tea. Accepting it with a small "Thanks," she inhaled some of the scent, and raised it to her lips, taking small sips. Lowering her cup, she noticed a plate with a stack of waffles, and a few slices of bacon sitting in front of her that hadn't been there before. She looked up at the pale ninja.

Ghost winked.

With a small smile and a shrug of her shoulders, she started eating. Chuckling softly to himself, Ghost turned back to the oven, and then froze. Miraculously noticing his friends hesitation, Cyborg looked up from his massacred waffles, an inquired, "Yo, Ghost-man, what's up?"

"... I ran out of food."