Vapor Trails and Titan Tales
Chapter 1: The Ghost, the Alien, and the Fishpeople Part 1
The explosion had been simultaneously shocking and completely predictable.
It was no secret that the Fentons practiced in an…unorthodox field of study. It was even less of a secret that experiments of all natures took place in their home and basement. So when their entire building was blown sky high one fateful night, people didn't have to waste time wondering what could have possibly caused it. It was quite obvious to both investigators and local police that one of the family's freaky experiments finally proved their undoing. Even the strange government men in white suits, who arrived shortly after the explosion, agreed with the conclusion.
The Fentons were not disliked in the small town of Amity Park, but weren't exactly popular either. Citizens agreed the bunch were just plain weird. The town politely mourned in public but did not waste time shedding tears over their graves. Of course, it actually had been tragic to see Jack and Maddie Fenton's children parish in the blaze- snuffed out of existence so early in life. One was their ten year old daughter, Jasmine, who had been very bright and sensible for her age. The other was their younger son, Daniel, who just turned seven a week before the accident. His death was deemed especially tragic- police weren't even able to recover his body from the resulting wreckage. It was determined that he had to have been very close to the explosion's origin- and thus there was simply nothing left to bury.
They were laid to rest together a week later, and a public service was held. To the town's collective surprise, influential businessman and avid Wisconsin Packers enthusiast Vlad Masters attended the burial. He seemed reserved, and didn't speak much before returning home- but only after requesting a personal look at the crime scene. The patrol on duty all became five hundred dollars richer that night as the wealthy man strolled "unnoticed" into the crime scene.
After the deaths were officially ruled accidents, roughly a month later, construction crews went to work clearing away debris and taking down any of the building that was still in tact. The same government officials in white helped with the cleanup, mainly dealing with the disposal of the Fentons' inventions and ectoplasmic materials- for the family had been experts in all things ghost-related.
Time passed quickly after that for the little town. Eventually, a new series of apartments were put in place of the Fenton Labs, and tenants took up residence in the late eccentric family's absence; tenants such as a very old woman who owned half a dozen cats and listened to old, deafening radio dramas, and a middle aged obsessive compulsive man who would wipe down his door knob every day at seven o'clock on the hour every hour- all of which filled the "weirdness" gap left by the family quite nicely.
Sometimes the topic of the Fentons' deaths would be brought up when gossip in Amity Park dried up, but it would be accurate to say that the their deaths all but faded away into obscurity.
It would take seven years for the Fentons' deaths to be yanked into the public eye once again- though only a select few would make the connection between the appearance of a new super powered teen and the late ghost-hunters. One of which was the aforementioned Packers enthusiast, and the other the curious government men in white- that latter of which's intentions for the teen would be anything by good.
Said appearance would occur by complete chance. It started with an alien prisoner falling from the sky, and Daniel Fenton robbing a bank.
Sometimes, it felt like cheating.
When he could literally walk in and out of a bank's vault completely unnoticed, Daniel Fenton almost felt bad about stealing thousands upon thousands of dollars from unsuspecting targets.
Almost, being the key word- he obviously did not feel bad enough to stop.
After a certain point, it wasn't even about the money any more. When he was little, he stole to get by. Now, he stole because…well, he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it. Just a little bit. It wasn't like he was physically hurting anyone, anyway. He resolved to never use his powers to harm people who didn't deserve it- not after the incident in New Mexico three years ago with the buildings and the street lamps…He shook himself at the memory, and focused on the task at hand; namely, stealing from Jump City First.
If Daniel had been a normal teenager, he would have been spending the cool night out with friends, maybe eating at some greasy burger joint somewhere, staying out after curfew only to get scolded by overprotective parents.
Normal teenagers didn't spend their weekends casually planning to commit grand larceny.
But he wasn't a normal teenager. In fact, he wasn't even a normal human. Normal humans didn't phase through walls, turn invisible, fly, or shoot ectoplasmic energy from their finger tips. Normal humans weren't half ghost- or whatever he was. Daniel was never really sure what exactly he was. For as long as he could remember, his hair was an abnormal white, his eyes a sharp, glowing green, and he sported the aforementioned abilities.
Abilities that made many tasks, such as stealing, quite easy.
As he approached Jump City First, his hoodie drawn up to cover his distinguishable albino locks, Daniel took in the city around him. It was night, but the streets were still very lively. Cars sped by, couples were out, but no one gave him a second glance. He smiled at the sight of his target's blackened interior. The bank had closed and hour earlier- he preferred it that way; there was a less chance of ever being caught, and an even slimmer chance of anyone getting hurt.
By all accounts, the job wasn't anything different than what he'd done dozens of times before. Normal. Safe. Average.
He readied himself to phase through the walls, levitating a few inches of the ground, when something happened. Or rather, someone happened.
Out of nowhere, A streak of bright green energy fell from the sky, impacting in the street nearby. The ground quaked, knocking some people right off their feet. Out of its crater rose a girl, alien in nature, with fiery red hair who shouted gibberish at the gathered civilians. It was then that Daniel knew that the day was going to be anything but normal, safe, or average. What he didn't know, of course, was that the girl and her pursuers were going to singlehandedly change his life, for good or ill.
Robin, Gotham City's Boy Wonder, ex-sidekick to the infamous Caped Crusader, hadn't expected a job so…big so early out on his own- a fact he contemplated as he dodged another fatal swing aimed at his head.
Indeed, fighting a hyper destructive, super strong crash-landed alien wasn't something he thought he'd be doing in Jump City. She was yelling something at him, no doubt in her native tongue, but he couldn't make out a cent of it. He was more preoccupied with keeping his head on his shoulders as she tossed around cars like hacky sacks. The bands around her forearms said she was a captive, or a prisoner. Maybe an escaped convict? He wasn't rolling anything out.
The alien brushed off all his attacks as if she was made of iron, something he was also not rolling out. With a crack of her neck, she smirked and charged toward him, arms raised and let out a battle cry-
Only to be sidelined by a green ram. She was knocked out of the air and into a nearby bus, crumpling the steel frame like tissue paper but was nevertheless momentarily dazed.
Said green animal morphed into a green boy, younger than Robin in a ridiculous mask and posed in a strict salute.
"Ex-Doom Patrol member Beast Boy, sir! How can I help?" He blinked, realizing just who he was talking to. "Wowzers! You're Robin, aren't you, sir?"
Robin frowned at the formality. "Well, you can start by not calling me 'sir.'"
Beast Boy's eyes practically sparkled. "Well let me just say that it's a real honor to be-"
"Beast Boy, was it?"
The green teen beamed. "Yes, sir?"
Robin pointed to their left. The alien was now up on her feet, and had the crumpled bus holstered above her head. The pair took a step back as she growled and threw the bus toward them with such force they barely managed to leap out its way. It flew through the air with no intention of stopping until someone else stood before it, caught it, and tossed it aside with a grunt. Said person was cloaked in sweat gear, reveling only patches of his dark skin.
"Yo! Who's wreaking up my neighborhood?" He shouted with a scowl, looking over Robin and Beast Boy.
"She started it!" Best Boy said defensively, pointing out the angry alien who only growled.
"Who's tha-?" The newcomer asked, only to cut off as the girl raised her hands again, this time slamming them to the ground with a quake.
Robin watched the outer casing of her bindings fall to the ground, smoking. Realization flashed in his mind. She hadn't been mindlessly destructive- she'd been trying to get the cuffs off! But why would she-?
His unasked question was answered as the alien aimed her uncovered fists at the trio, which shined a bright green. Projectile energy. They had to move, and quickly.
"Move!"
Robin shouted, just as she readied to shoot at them- when something happened. The girl jerked strangely, throwing herself off balance.
"Are those…hands?" Beast Boy asked, and it took a moment for Robin to notice what he was talking about.
It was a pair of hands. A pair of hands, looking strangely ethereal, had appeared from within the street and grabbed hold of the girl's legs, before sinking back into the ground, pulling the girl along- leaving her knee deep in the concrete before stopping. The alien yelled and jerked, struggling to free her legs. Cracks began to form around her as she attempted to yank herself free.
"You know, destroying everything in sight isn't exactly a good first impression." A voice cackled from seemingly no where.
Then another person just appeared from thin air, floating a few feet above ground near the trio, looking quite relaxed, all things considered. Robin could make out strands of white poking out from under his dark hood, and a pair of hauntingly bright green eyes that swept over the scene. Obviously a teenager as well, he sported a pair of worn jeans and ratty sneakers, a dark hoodie and a strange smirk, as if crazy aliens were just apart of his normal routine.
"We Earthlings tend to like it when our stuff isn't completely obliterated." He turned over to look at the trio. "What's up? Come here often?"
Beast Boy opened his mouth but the alien had already gotten herself free, kicking up chunks or street with a feral snarl.
"She does not look happy, does she?" The floating newcomer asked airily. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the crater."
"That might have something to do with you sinking her, dude." Beast Boy panned, and then grinned. "How'd you do that?"
"Gorta de morto ruka-nul!" The alien cut them off, aiming her hands at them again, and let of a rapid fire of green energy bolts.
The group scattered, taking refuge behind an overturned truck- all but the snarky albino, who stayed where he was, and the bolts seemed to go through him, like he was air. Robin's eyes narrowed, but he didn't have time to question the guy- not when there was the city-wreaking alien girl to deal with.
(A/N) Alright: feedback. I'm really serious here, guys. I've never done a story quite like this, I don't have a beta, and I know some of you might have been readers of my story Hyde Syndrome. I plan on this story being a lot more mature than that one, so I want to know what you think of it so far.
So, yeah. Please review!
Oh, and I will not be rehashing canon so shamelessly after these first chapters are out of the way. I just need to lay some ground work, and then we'll have Vlad, The Guy in White, and some baddies from the Ghost Zone to deal with. Hopefully, I'll be able to update this fic a lot more than my old one as well.