Nearby, three young toughs approached her. "Well, well boys. Look at the treat that dropped onto our turf."
She scowled. Sensing the large, metal, wheeled object nearby, she seized it with her power. "Treat this!" Flexing her arm and her mind, she sent it careening into the toughs, smashing them into a stone wall, knocking them out.
Stepping out of the space between the buildings, she listened. The world was filled with strange noises. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew she wasn't home.
Hearing an explosion, she turned toward it. *Well, I don't have any better clues,* she thought, as she headed towards the destruction.
The Titans had just returned from Tokyo. They were looking forward to an easy time relaxing, checking out their favorite hang outs. They weren't exactly pleased with how much the city had changed, and how many of their favorite hangouts were different or not there at all.
Robin and Starfire weren't too concerned. They'd just recently become an official couple. They weren't worried about anything. Cyborg was looking around to familiarize himself with the new configuration of the city. If things had changed too much, he'd need to redo most of the city plans he had in the tower mainframe. Raven was observing the city in her usual detatched way. She was sure she could find her way around without too much trouble.
Beast Boy wasn't really paying attention. While Tokyo had gone well mostly, it had ended rather badly for him. Just before they had left, he had gotten up his courage to ask Raven if they could maybe - just maybe - persue a relationship as something more than friends, maybe date. And she'd turned him down flat. He still remembered the words that had crushed him, that she had used to try and soften the blow. "You're like a brother to me." Ouch.
She had tried to comfort him. She'd apologized for hurting him, and told him she'd help him find someone who would be right for him. Her concern - her SISTERLY concern - had both eased the pain and made it worse. He put on his usual happy face, but there were more shadows behind it. It seemed like he'd never fall for someone who could really love him back the way he wanted. As he walked on, lost in thought, the world exploded around him.
"Hello again, Titans. Did you miss me?" That silky smooth voice could only belong to one villain.
"SLADE!" they all shouted as they prepared to fight.
"Why don't you just crawl back under whatever rock you've been hiding under, before we have to shove you right back in?" Robin pulled out his bird-a-rangs, ready to fight.
"What's the matter, Robin? A little sugar from your alien princess and suddenly you forget everything we meant to each other? I'm hurt."
"Shut up Slade, you-" Here Starfire said several words in her native language, none of which sounded pleasant. "You will hold your tongue or I will remove it!"
"Yeah, Slade! We've had enough of your nonsense, and we're taking you down!" Cyborg powered up his sonic cannon.
"I still have to pay you back for what you did to help my father," Raven said angrily, her eyes glowing.
Beast Boy chose not to speak, shifting into a gorilla and beating his chest.
"I'd reconsider your agression, Titans." He snapped his fingers. An army of Slade bots, numbering at least 200, appeared on the scene, armed with new weaponry. "You are at somewhat of a disadvantage."
The Titans flinched back, somewhat nervous about the odds.
"Now Titans..." He raised his hands. "...this ends now." He snapped his fingers.
Before the bots could move, spikes of earth erupted beneath each and every one, impaling eacn straight through the middle. Each earth spike then erupted spines that tore the bot impaled upon it to shreds. The spines then retracted, and the spikes shifted, bending to point straight at Slade, looking not unlike auto-cannons ready to fire. One remained straight up, with a flat top. Standing on it was a girl.
She looked to be about 16 or so, with black hair tied behind her head. She wore a strangely tailored yellow and green outfit that fit her well, no shoes, and she had strangely shaded blue-gray eyes. She was staring down at the scene with a big grin on her face.
"I figured the guy with the creepy voice and army of freaky metal things was the bad guy. Did I guess right?"
Slade snarled and threw down a smoke bomb, his plan foiled. Before the smoke has cleared, there was the sound of rock slamming into rock, and the girl cursing. When the smoke cleared, several of the spikes had extended to embed themselves in a nearby building, pinning a good portion of Slade's costume to it.
"He got away..." She sighed angrily. Making some intricate, strong movements with her hands and arms, the earth projections retracted into the ground, the building repaired itself, and the pavement smoothed itself out. "At least there's not too much damage, anyway..." She walked towards the Titans, and grinned at them. "So did I make a mistake, or do I get a thank you?"
The Titans stared at the girl. Finally, Beast Boy got himself under control enough to ask, "Who are you?"
"Oh, my name's Toph. Who are you all?"
