Prologue

High on a mountain ridge, a long, lean figure watched a pyre alight with golden flames. The figure bowed its head sadly as the flames grew ever hotter. Suddenly, a scream of anguish and loss tore from its mouth as lightning crashed into the center of the pyre, causing an immense explosion that threw the figure to the ground; lightning without the following thunder.

Far away, in a town with a crime rate that was off the charts, a green boy and an orange-skinned girl shot out of bed. They ran to the roof of their strange home. They looked at each other. On the distance a lightning storm appeared and struck the ground without a sound. The house began to flash and an alarm blared. A very sleepy boy in gaudy colored clothes burst out of his room.

"Titans! Go!"

The lean figure picked himself up off the ground. He put his hand to his head and winced, drawing it away. He looked at it and saw blood.

"How did this happen?" he asked in a slightly nasally, slightly squeaky voice. He looked down and saw that he wore orange and yellow armor with a lightning bolt shape on his belt. Looking around him, he saw debris scattered around. He heard his stomach growl and went to look for food.

Not long after he left, five mismatched teens arrived.

"Dude," said the green boy we saw earlier, "what happened here?"

"An explosion," said a half- robot half- African American boy, "Wood was being burned, and then lightning struck."

Then the leader saw something that made his face blanch.

"I think I'm going to be sick," he said as he saw the charred remains of a human being.

"Robin," said the orange skinned girl to the leader, "I do not understand how bones would make you ill. Do they contain some form of disease?"

"Starfire," replied the leader, "humans feel ill when they see things they think are disturbing, like corpses or bones."

"Oh," she said, "I understand now."

"Hey, guys?" called the green boy, "I found some blood. It's still fresh."

"Let's go," said Robin, "Beast boy, you lead."

"Got it," replied the green boy, turning into a wolf to track the coppery scent of blood. He sniffed the tiny pool of blood and began to follow the trail to the supposed murderer.