A/N: Titans is a story I've been meaning to reboot for several years now, but I've only just gotten around to doing it. Several changes have been made along with the updated writing, for those familiar with the original! The main changes are minor plot alterations, and Mas y Menos's civilian names have been changed to Matias and Mateo. If anyone would like to read the original version of this chapter, a link is on my profile.
(I appreciate the help my friends have given while rewriting this story. Quint for being my co-writer, and Abra and Midday for helping with Mas y Menos.)
Karen groaned, blinking awake and slowly sitting up, glancing around the room as she regained her bearings. It felt like she'd been sleeping for days, and she almost panicked, not recognizing the small room she was in. It wasn't long before her memories came back to her, though, and she was able to breathe easy.
Not long ago, she'd manifested powers, and was offered a place at a special school in order to train. The idea wasn't exactly appealing- the boarding school was on an island out in the middle of nowhere, and she would have to leave behind her home, her friends, and her family... But as she'd been told many, many times, she wouldn't be able to get a grip on her abilities back home, and as the scout had said, her gifts had a "greater purpose".
Titans Academy was going to help her find that purpose... her and whatever other freaks they'd picked up. Karen sighed, falling backwards hard onto the bed and wincing as her wings were caught underneath her. Of course, her family had helped make and install them for her, so she would be able to avoid getting caught underfoot when she changed size. For a moment she almost forgot about them; they were so well built it felt like she'd had them for years.
Karen sighed and rubbed at her eyes before getting up, carefully kicking her luggage aside as she made her way to the door. There was only so much time before their ship reached the island, and she wanted to enjoy the journey as much as she could.
The hall was short, and there were only a few other rooms she could see. From what she understood, only a few students were ferried at a time... eventually they would be assigned teams of three, but that was much later in the curriculum. Karen studied the hallways idly as she started making her way to the upper deck, and paid for her lack of attention by running straight into another student loitering in the halls. She was nearly knocked backwards and would have fallen if she didn't automatically shrink down and start flying- the other boy wasn't nearly as lucky, and was left looking around in confusion from his place on the floor.
"Oh man, I'm so sorry!" Karen exclaimed, returning to her normal size looking rather flustered. "I didn't see you there at all- let me help you up," she said, leaning forward and offering her hand to the redhead. He took a second to quickly adjust his sunglasses before taking her hand, and the two of them were soon back on their feet. "You okay, man?"
"How did you not see me?" The boy said instead, looking incredulous. "I was standing right there."
Well, that wasn't exactly the reply she was hoping for. Karen narrowed her eyes, and the redhead quickly backtracked, brushing his shirt off in the hopes of looking unconcerned. "I'm fine, thanks. You don't have to give me that look, stingy."
"I didn't give you permission to get smart with me, now did I?" Karen countered, crossing her arms. Some first impression she was making so far. Karen made an effort to smile, her tone becoming a bit lighter. "I'm glad you're okay, though. And my name's Karen, shades."
"Roy- but I go by Speedy," the redhead returned. He seemed a bit too willing to continue their argument, but didn't protest her friendlier tone.
"You go fast?" Karen asked curiously, tilting her head.
"...No," Roy said flatly. He stepped to the side as though to pass her, but stopped, glancing back. "Hey, you're headed to the deck?" At Karen's nod, he shook his head, frowning. "Don't bother. The only other guy here is up there already and he's being a huge prick about it."
"Only other guy?" Karen repeated, a bit startled. "There's only two guys in our group?" It was surprising, but it was hardly the worst news that the boys on the ship were outnumbered.
Roy shook his head again, leaving Karen confused until he spoke again. "No, see- there's only three students. And before you asked, yeah, I checked. No one else here other than maybe rats and a chaperone."
"Three students?" Karen nearly choked. The class was small, but only three kids? That was ridiculous! The rats was clearly just Roy trying to scare her, at least. "Where's our chaperone?"
"Locked up in their own room," Roy said flatly, raising his hands helplessly. "I heard them through the door, but they said-" Roy coughed, before raising his voice mockingly, "-Unless there's an emergency that you can't handle on your own, you children aren't to disturb me!"
"Wow," Karen said, hoping she didn't look too dumbstruck by Roy's descriptions. T.A., so far, was not making a good impression. Karen closed her eyes, sighing as she tried to orient herself.
Sent away from her family and friends to live with a hoard of freaks. Only two guys and a completely uncommitted chaperone on her ferry for at least a day. No better alternatives than a school that can't seem to muster any better class or staff.
She really needed some fresh air right about now.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Karen sighed, opening her eyes and looking up at the ceiling before turning and continuing on her way, linking arms with Roy as she did. She grinned to herself at his protests, glancing back at the redhead. "If there's only three people on this ship, and we're gonna be sailing for a while, we have to be able to talk to each other. I can't deal with two guys that won't even try to interact."
"Yeah, well-" Roy began, but his protest quickly trailed off. His expression became a bit resigned, and he started walking along with the other girl. "Who died and made you queen bee?" Roy grumbled, and Karen rolled her eyes. Like she hadn't heard that one before...
As soon as they stepped through the door outside, Karen took a deep breath, sighing as a smile decorated her face. It looked as though it was leaning into the afternoon, and the sea breeze was rejuvenating. The other boy Roy had mentioned was easy to spot, standing at the bow of the ship where the spray of water was heaviest, his back to the two of them.
Also unlike them, rather than normal clothes, he looked like he was wearing... some kind of unitard, for reasons unknown to the other teens.
"Great, Unitard Guy is still here," Roy muttered under his breath, although Karen quickly elbowed him into silence.
"Hey there," Karen greeted warmly, moving closer with Roy and hoping to catch the other boy's attention. "It's nice out, isn't it?"
The black-haired boy's head lifted, and he turned to look back at the other two. Karen had to commend herself for not reacting when he did- his eyes were completely black, and while past that he was a rather handsome man, it was still... well, scary. His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, his expression somehow disarming, before turning back ahead quickly, long hair whipping back behind him.
"You see what I mean now?" Roy whispered, sounding unimpressed by either the boy or Karen's efforts.
"Oh, you be quiet," Karen huffed. As if she would give up that easily. "I'm Karen," she said again, looking back at the pale boy, "and this is Roy."
"Speedy," Roy corrected flatly. She wasn't sure why- he wasn't even fast. Thinking about it, she didn't have any idea what he did.
The third teen was quiet for a moment, shifting slightly, before he spoke. "My name is Aqualad. It's... nice to meet you," Aqualad said, looking back at them and speaking carefully.
"Your parents named you... Aqualad?" Karen said automatically, ignoring Roy's shocked 'he speaks!' behind her. Aqualad shook his head, looking abashed.
"No, I... they named me Garth, but..." Aqualad said, fumbling slightly. "It's been awhile since I've used it."
"I know the feeling," Roy said, looking a bit surprised himself at the softness in his voice. The two already sounded like kindred spirits, Karen reflected. Hopefully that would be more bearable than having them avoid each other. Smiling, Karen moved to stand next to Garth, Roy following after a moment to his other side. "So... you talking suddenly?" Roy said, making Karen groan internally.
Garth ducked, looking embarrassed. "Not really my intent," he admitted. "Where I'm from, most people... talk using telepathy. I know that's not really how things work on the surface..."
"Telepathy?" Karen said, surprised. "No, but that's..."
"You're psychic?" Roy cut in. "No wonder you got snatched up. You aren't reading our minds, right?"
"It doesn't work like that!" Garth scolded, frowning. "I wouldn't be able to talk to either of you that way at all."
Karen leaned against the railing, looking a bit amused as she realized what he'd implied. "Let me guess... you tried?"
"And it didn't work," Garth said, nodding. He seemed to take it with good humor, though- his stress from earlier, if it was still there, wasn't noticeable to her.
"You could have said something earlier," Roy shook his head. His attention drifted towards the rest of the building, and after a moment he raised a hand. "You guys hear that?"
Karen frowned, resisting the temptation to ask as she listened, straightening up and turning towards the rest of the boat. After a few moments, she heard it- a skittering movement from under the floor. Her wings flared as she instinctively stepped back, grimacing. "What is that?"
"I told you there were rats on here," Roy said, clearly amused. "Wanna try and find them?"
"No!" Karen exclaimed.
"Yes," Garth said at the same time. "I don't think I've ever seen a rat before, so..." Garth explained at Karen's incredulous look.
Roy's grin was positively wicked as he flung his arms around their shoulders, pulling the two of them further into the ship. "Come on, queen bee, weren't you the one who wanted us to all get along?" Roy said, a bit mockingly. Karen's head fell back as she groaned, allowing the boys to lead her against her better judgement.
This really was going to be a school of freaks!
Below the deck, Matias looked above them, waiting for the footsteps to fade. "Creo que ya se fueron," he said in a whisper, pulling up a smile for his twin. Mateo didn't seem nearly as encouraged as Matias would have liked.
"¿Está a salvo aquí? ¿Y si nos encuentran?" Mateo said softly, frowning as he looked at the ground. They'd been hidden on the ship for a while now, and the idea of being discovered as stowaways wasn't a pleasant one. "¿Qué pasará con nosotros?"
Matias shook his head, putting a hand on Mateo's shoulder as well as he could in their cramped space. "No te preocupes," Matias said, looking away as his smile dropped, "Aquí debemos quedar." He knew this was where they needed to be.
Mateo seemed unsure, rubbing his face as though he would cry again, but nodded. "Okay."