Culmination
Chap. 1: Impact
"Cannon-ball!"
The silhouette of a small, green teenager descended towards the crystal clear waters of Jump City Bay. The young masked man standing beneath the silhouette had very little time to react.
"BeastBoy, no! Stop! What're you-?" But it was too late.
PLOOSH!
Robin lowered his raised arms, as a tiny, barely visible wave rippled over his chest. The 'cannon-ball' was less explosive than he had anticipated. The boy wonder smirked at the now drenched shape-shifter, his soaked hair covering his eyes.
"Ha! You call that a cannon-ball? Trout make a bigger splash than that!" He chided his companion.
BeastBoy gritted his teeth as he whipped his hair out of his face. "Oh, be quiet."
A thunderous yell came from the shore. "WEAK! That was so WEAK!"
BB turned to glare at his half metallic teammate on the bank of Titans Island. "Oh yeah, Cyborg? I'd like to see you do better!"
The bionic bruiser tilted his head, reflecting the glaring sun off of his alloyed forehead, and smiled. "Alright. I will."
With that, Cyborg charged the waves, the vibrations from his footsteps shaking the bedrock beneath the water, and Robin and BeastBoys feet. Both teens struggled to run away from the blast radius.
Robin turned back just in time to see Cyborg propel himself nearly twenty feet into the air with his powerful hydraulically-enhanced legs.
"Look out below!" Cyborg shouted in glee, just before his 400 plus pounds struck the water.
Some distance away, floating upon an inflatable lounge raft, a certain orange haired princess was attempting to sun herself in the constant, unrelenting rays of the afternoon sun. Although the heat was intense, the sun was a primary source of her power, and she was enjoying herself immensely. She had been dieing to try on her new purple polka-dot bikini anyway. The afternoon was going perfectly so far.
That is, until a sizable six foot wave, and one screaming Robin, interrupted her sun-bathing.
"Starfire! Look out!" Robin said, in midair.
Starfire managed to get out one surprised 'EEP!' her eyes the size of Frisbee's, before her team leader dropped upon her, along with a few hundred gallons of water.
Starfire resurfaced, spitting seawater from her mouth, with a very puzzled expression on her face. She swam quickly over to the free floating form of Robin some feet away.
"Robin! Why did you cause the sea to throw you? Have you angered it in some way? What happened?" Starfire asked the very still Robin.
"I didn't, I haven't, and it was (Cough)…Cyborg."
BeastBoy was already giving said Cyborg a piece of his mind. "Are you nuts! You nearly sent me into orbit! That was so uncalled for!"
"Hey! You sent the challenge, little man! I just answered it." Cyborg said, smiling victoriously.
"I am confused." Starfire said, wringing the saltwater out of her hair. "The point of this activity is to see who can drown their companions first?"
"Uh…actually Starfire, the idea is to see who can make the biggest splash." Robin corrected, shaking the miscellaneous ocean debris from his hair.
"And I just SCHOOLED your butt in cannon-balls!" Cyborg cheered, mocking BeastBoy.
"OH! So, whoever creates the largest swell of ocean liquid by falling into the bay, is the winner?" Starfire asked excitedly, clasping her hands.
"Pretty Much." Robin said, smiling.
"Very well. Please, wait here!" Starfire said. With that, the Tamaranian princess levitated her drenched body out of the bay, into the air, and away into the afternoon sky.
"Hey, where'd Star go?" Cyborg asked.
Robin and BeastBoy looked into the cloudless horizon, but could not see any sign of Starfire, nor could they discern what she was up to.
A few puzzling seconds later, BB's ears perked up, as a low whistling sound could be heard, falling from above. Robin and Cyborg caught it a moment later, and looked towards the sounds direction.
The next thing the boys knew, the solar powerhouse known as Starfire came into view, making a nose dive for the glassy surface of the bay.
"WHEEEEEEE!" came her excited laughter, her face full of ecstatic glee.
"Uh-oh..." Said the three Titans. They didn't have time to say anything else, before Starfire struck the water.
A little over a hundred yards away, and about forty feet in the air, hovered the cloaked figure of Raven. As was her nature, she kept out of the direct sunlight, floating in the large shadow created by the massive Titans Tower. Her hood was up, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. But she could still see her friends some distance away. Although she did glance at them every so often, her mind and body were centered, and her mantra kept her concentration steady.
Be that as it may, distractions were still abundant. Such as the sizable wave that was now headed in her general direction, along with the lime green surfer caught in its crest.
"Raven! Look Out! Commin' through!" BeastBoy yelled, flailing his arms.
Ravens eyes went wide for a second, before she pushed herself higher into the air. The wave, and BeastBoy, passed beneath her. She watched her teammate be enveloped in the wall of water, before it met the wall of the tower with a loud WUMPF!
The wave continued over the rocky island surrounding the tower, eventually breaking as it met the water once more on the other side of the tower. The Titans home took the brunt of the man-made tsunami.
BeastBoy withstood a good deal of it as well. He was plastered against the steel of the tower, like a bug on a windshield. "Oi…anybody get the number of that bus?"
Raven gently fell towards her teammate, and grabbed him by the back of his head. She peeled him off of the baking steel, and set him on the rocky shore of the island. Apart from a flattened nose, he appeared to be okay.
"Aren't you supposed to say 'Surfs-up'?" Raven asked, her sarcasm punctuated by a raised eyebrow.
"He did," Cyborg said from behind them, as he reattached his hand component "But it came out as more of a 'WAHHHHH!'"
Raven glanced at Cy. He was limping around on one leg, trying to relocate several of his parts. His left arm was missing a shoulder plate, and his hip was missing a connector joint. His ride on Starfires wave must have been rough too.
Speaking of whom, the red-haired alien beauty was standing in a small fissure created by her cannon-ball. Robin was lying flat against the shore, but tilted his head up enough to look at the smiling young woman.
"I believe I win." Starfire said, her smile as wide as the horizon.
Despite the pain he was in, Robin couldn't help but smile. Starfire glowed when she was happy, and her smile always left him speechless. She found great happiness in the smallest activities, and her slight naivety just made her more adorable.
Robin sat up and stretched his sore limbs. He caught a glimpse of Starfire zipping across the water towards him, her face now crossed with concern. "Robin! You are…undamaged?"
"Yea, Star, I'm fine. But you're supposed to yell 'Cannon-ball' when you dive in." Robin said with a smile.
"Ah! I see. My apologies. Shall I attempt the ball of cannon once more?"
"NO!" came the resounding reply from all three male teens. If it were possible, BeastBoy became pale at mention of another wild ride on the Starfire Special.
Raven allowed herself a small smile when she saw the terror-stricken look on BeastBoys face. Her hood kept her countenance hidden, and she let her gaze linger for a moment. For all his faults, and for his even more frequent blunders, BeastBoy remained a good friend and an important member of the team.
'He's important in other ways too…' Her subconscious chided.
'What is THAT supposed to mean?' She asked the cryptic voice in her head. But she heard no response.
This had been happening for a while now. Often, as Raven meditated, she would find herself distracted, in one way or another, by the shape shifting elf. The most recent incident revolved around silky, tofu pancakes, a malfunction with the egg beater, and Ravens leotard. Just the memory made her shiver with disgust. She would never look at the stove the same way ever again.
Just after it happened, and after BeastBoys attempted apology, her mind began to feed her faint, somewhat awkward messages of admiration. Admiration, in one way or another, for BeastBoy.
At least, that's what she THOUGHT they were. She would have to meditate later to determine what her mind was trying to tell her.
She spoke to BB as he straightened himself out. "Are you OK?"
"That is probably the fastest and most painful way to loose weight ever created." BeastBoy said, flashing his famous smile. "But yea, still breathing."
"At least you had a chance to cool off." Raven said, indicating how hot the day was.
"No kidding. It must be a hundred and five out here." BeastBoy said, brushing the sweat from his green brow. "Aren't you baking in that thing?"
Raven shook her solemn head. "Things like extreme heat and adverse weather can be focused upon, controlled, and ignored. I am comfortable."
"If you say so. But why not swim with us? Hmm? The water is cool, the breeze is warm, and the sun could fry me into a crispy asparagus sick. Why not put on a suit and jump in?" BB asked, his smile anxious and cheerful.
"I am NOT going swimming." Raven said sternly.
"You don't have to change. Your leotard would be plenty to keep you covered." BB encouraged.
"I am NOT swimming today BeastBoy." Raven said, her irritation rising with her as she levitated into the air.
BB put his fists on his hips, his own frustration with Raven increasing as well. "Well, if not today, then when?"
Wanting to end this, Raven said the first thing that came to mind. "When the sun falls from the sky."
BeastBoys ears drooped to the sides of head, and he turned away from Raven. He had only walked two feet, when he came upon Cyborg, with a perplexed look upon his face.
"You might want to rethink that statement, Raven." Cy said, his eyes wide with intrigue and concern.
"Why?" BeastBoy and Raven asked simultaneously, turning to Cyborg. But their teammate was looking beyond his companions, his gaze fixed on something above and behind them.
Both titans looked in the direction that Cy was, and saw what his eyes were fixed upon. Robin and Starfire, several yards away, turned their attention away from each other, and towards the sky.
Approximately three miles up, and traveling at maybe three thousand miles an hour or more, was a ball of yellow-white light. Its size was indeterminable, but as it passed over the island, its blazing light cast dark shadows from the tower, the city, and all five titans.
With a deafening roar, the ball passed across and beyond the bay, towards the western horizon, its light fading as it streaked away. A huge vapor trail was left in its wake, as if a 747 had just passed overhead.
"Not…ONE…word." Raven said before BeastBoy could chime in his obvious enthusiasm.
"Glorious!" Starfire beamed, hovering just above the ground in her damp bikini. "It shines like the nocturnal Tatricks of Photonia Prime!"
"It is amazing to look at, yes, but what is it?" Robin asked, always the skeptic. "And where did it come from?"
"Better question:" Raven answered. "Where is it going?"
"We're goin' to find out pretty soon." BeastBoy said. "It's about to land."
"How can you tell?" Cyborg asked, reconnecting his triceps control plate.
"Big ears, big hearing. I can faintly make out that roaring sound. It's about to touch down." BB said, flexing his large lobes. He cupped his now loved hands around the back of his head, and twitched the tip of his elf-like ears as if they were small, green radio antennae.
As if on cue, the bright orb vanished into the sea, and a staggering flash of light followed. A rather powerful, but faint explosion could be heard, along with ominous tremors that could be felt beneath the titans feet. Small, loose rocks skittered across the granite surface of the island, and the air fell still and dry.
"Why do I get the feeling that there is more to this than just a fancy light show?" Cyborg asked, his human skin growing Goosebumps.
BeastBoy immediately morphed into an Eagle, and flew into the air, beside Raven. He hovered for just a few seconds, his raptor eyes looking upon the shimmering sea. The sun was beginning to set, and his terrified human face was made all the more horrific by his frightened eyes and red light upon is skin.
"All I see is water." BeastBoy said shakily. "It's huge, and all water."
"It's the Ocean, BeastBoy. It's MADE of water." Raven said, exasperated.
"BB ain't foolin'." Cyborg said, adjusting the telescopic lens on his left eye.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
It was Cyborgs turn to look pale. "It's a wall. A wall of water."
"A wave of tidal?" Starfire asked, a human vocabulary word coming to her out of the blue.
"Way bigger than anything I've ever seen or read about." Cyborg answered, the various sounds of electrical equipment clicking away in his body bringing a sterile feeling to the calm, hot air.
"E.T.A.?" Robin asked, pulling his outfit on over his trunks.
"Calculating." Cyborg said. A small laser shot out from his left eye, towards the still distant wave. Robin watched as the beam focused its intensity, and disappeared into the western horizon.
"Why is this large wave the cause of so much tension?" Starfire asked. She laid a hand upon Robin's shoulder, her eyes gazing at the setting sun, and at the ocean, looking for the cause of all the tension in her friends.
A small beep could be heard from Cyborgs skull component. "Because it's headed towards the city, and it's over two-hundred feet tall."
Everyone became really quite after that. Raven didn't know what to say, BeastBoy felt faint, and Robin was rubbing his temples, deep in thought.
All Starfire could say, as her smile disappeared, was "Oh."
"Looks like Star may have some competition in that whole 'cannon-ball' championship thingy." BeastBoy muttered, cringing at Ravens automatic dirty look.
"How long?" Robin asked again, assuming command once more, looking at his bionic friend.
"It's four hundred miles out, and it looks like it's traveling just as fast." Cyborg said, folding his arms at the sea. "And it'll get a lot bigger and slow down as the bay shallows-up."
"That gives us very little time." Raven said calmly.
"Two hours, tops." Cyborg admitted.
Robin was slightly unprepared for this type of scenario. Usually ideas would just go off in his head like a grenade, but now…
'Wait a minute…That's it!' Robin thought. He turned to Starfire.
"Starfire, you come with me. I have an idea. Raven, BeastBoy, Cyborg, I need you three to slow this thing down as best you can. Buy us whatever time possible, but be careful. It's a fifty minute flight out there as is, and Starfire and I will join you ASAP. Any questions?"
Four shaking heads.
"Good. Titans, Go!"