Robin walked slowly through the streets of Jump City. Instead of his uniform he was dressed in cargo pants and a muscle shirt. Instead of his mask he wore a pair of sunglasses and considering it was midnight it was a miracle he could see anything. He walked aimlessly not really caring where he was going too. Well as long as where he was going wasn't on to the path of a bus. His feet took him to a forest at the edge of the city. He walked through the forest until he came to a river with a waterfall. He sat down with his back against a tree and his legs stretched out in front of him, watching the waterfall. There was a slight growling from the bushes, but he didn't even flinch. Suddenly a wolf came out of the bushes and started heading towards him. He turned his head towards it for a second then looked back towards the waterfall. The wolf looked ready to pounce. It started running towards him. When it was about a foot away from him he spoke.
"Sorry Lightning, but I'm not in the mood to play right now," he said calmly. The wolf stopped running. It made a sort of whimper. It then walked up to him and lay down on his feet.
Robin gently started to stroke the wolf. Suddenly he pulled his hand back with a slight cry of pain and the wolf leapt up with a yelp.
"Dam" he muttered looking at his hand that was red. He looked up at the wolf that was watching him cautiously. "Sorry buddy. That's been happening a lot lately. Don't know why." The wolf once more lay down on his legs.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" he thought to himself. "This sort of thing has been happening for a while now and I have no clue why." He leaned back against the tree and shut his eyes thinking back over the last few days.
Flashbacks
Robin was carrying a bunch of logs for a campfire and suddenly they all burst into flame.
Robin took a match out of a box and before he could bring it close to the box to light it, it lit.
Robin was washing his hands when suddenly steam started to come off them whenever he put them under the water.
End of Flashback
"Well one thing's for sure, it's connected to fire. But how did this connection come about?" he thought to himself. "What do you think is going on Lightning?" he asked the wolf. Off course the wolf didn't answer. Robin sat in silence a little longer. Then suddenly he sat up straight. "Lightning!! That's it!! That night. That fight we had."
Flashback
A cloaked figure was climbing up a volcano with a sack on its back. The figure reached the top and opened the sack. Inside were diamonds of all shapes and sizes.
"I don't know who you are and I don't particularly care," came a voice behind the figure. The figure turned around and faced the speaker. A teenager in a multicoloured uniform and four other teenagers. "But you picked the wrong town to steal diamonds from."
"Is that so because I swear I picked the right one," the figure said. The figure pulled off the cloak. It was a woman with green eyes and black hair. With a roar she leapt towards them.
"TITANS!! GO!!!" Robin shouted. The team raced towards the woman who was racing towards them. But when they were inches away she disappeared. The team all froze in shock.
"Where'd she go??" Cyborg asked.
"And how did she get there?" Raven added. "She either teleported or she moved sooo fast our eyes couldn't see her."
"Either way we're in trouble," Robin said. The team looked around.
"Hey Titans," shouted a voice from behind them.
The team turned around and each was hit with a GIANT boulders that seemed to appear from just two feet in front of them. Now four members were hit with the boulders. One remained standing. Robin looked around himself and saw the woman standing near the edge of the volcano. She raised her hand and waved at him. Robin raced towards her. He leapt into the air and launched a powerful kick, but just as the kick was about to make contact with her face, she disappeared Robin barely managed to avoid falling into the volcano. Meanwhile Raven had pushed off the boulder that had hit her. She looked around and finally located Robin standing at the edge of the volcano. And she also saw something Robin hadn't seen yet.
"ROBIN, behind you!!!" she shouted. But it was too late.
What Robin hadn't realized was that the woman had reappeared behind him. And just as Raven screamed at him the woman pulled off his utility belt and kicked him right in the centre of his back and pushed him into the volcano. Raven flew towards the volcano. Meanwhile Robin was falling and getting closer and closer to the lava. Then the strangest thing happened, even by superhero standards. A bolt of lightning shot out of the air and hit him at the exact moment the lava touched his back. He felt electricity surge through him. He cried out in pain. He felt himself lifting into the air. Then suddenly the electric flow stopped and he started falling back down towards the lava again. Then suddenly he stopped falling. He had shut his eyes when the lightning bolt hit him and still had them shut. He felt himself being lifted into the air. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was surrounded in black energy.
"Raven" he thought to himself. Raven slowly lifted him up and out of the volcano. She placed him on the ground and knelt down beside him.
"Robin are you alright?" she asked him gently shaking his shoulder.
"I…I think so," he said sitting up with her help. "What happened?"
"That's what I would like to know," she said as she started to look at his arms and legs and his neck.
"Rae, what are you doing?" he asked.
"Robin you don't have any scars or burns or anything," she said.
"What? But I just fell into a pool of lava and got hit by a lightning bolt. How can I be uninjured??" he asked as he too examined his arms.
"Something weird is going on. First a person who can teleport, then you getting hit by lightning and not having a scratch," she said.
"And look," he said pointing to the bag of diamonds. "She ran off without the ice."
"Well there's not much we can really do except make sure nothing happens to you," Raven said. Robin nodded in agreement. At this point they noticed the others getting up.
"Not a word," Raven instructed him. "At least not until we've figured this out. No need to freak them out as well." Once more he nodded.
End of Flashback"That bolt of lightning must have triggered it somehow," he muttered to himself. "And that woman might have had something to do with it."
"Robin?" said a voice behind him. He turned around to find Raven standing behind him.
"Rae? What are you doing here?" Robin asked. Raven had changed quite a bit after the defeat of her father. She allowed herself to show more emotions. After the whole ordeal she and Robin had become much closer and although neither admitted it even to themselves they had started to develop crushes on each other.
"Saw you sneaking out," she said. "Decided to see where you were going." She glanced at the wolf on his feet that had looked up when she approached.
"Don't worry," Robin said following her gaze. "He's really friendly." Raven cautiously sat down beside him. "This is Raven," Robin told the wolf. "She's my friend so behave yourself." The wolf looked at her for a while then moved so that it lay on both their feet.
"I guess he likes me," Raven said carefully leaning forward and stroking the wolf's head. "Have you given it a name?"
"Yeah, it's called Lightning," he said. Raven nodded. "So Rae. Why are you following me around?" She sighed. She placed her hand on his knee and gently squeezed it.
"I've been worried about you," Raven said. "Maybe the others haven't noticed, but I have. Ever since that fight where you got hit by lightning you've been creating fire. Things you're carrying burst into flame. Things like that." Robin nodded.
"Yeah," Robin said. "I don't understand it. Could you maybe look into your books about that woman and the whole lightning hitting me thing?"
"I already checked all my books and couldn't find a thing on it," Raven said. Robin sighed and laid his head back against the tree trunk. Raven also sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. The two lay in thought for a long time.
"Isn't that a perfect picture," came a voice behind them. Both jumped to their feet along with Lightning who for some reason had not sensed the person approaching. They spun around to see the same cloaked figure they had seen that night. "Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you."
"Well why on Earth would we think that? It's not like you've attacked us or something," Robin said. The figure chuckled.
"I suppose you're right about that, but it was necessary to give you your powers," the figure stated pulling off her hood. She had long black hair and stunning blue eyes. Raven couldn't help but notice that she'd never seen a similar blue colour in eyes. Robin noticed that her eyes looked awfully familiar to his own eye colour.
"You mean you meant to give me these fire powers?!" Robin asked. The cloaked woman nodded. "Why??"
"Because you have been chosen to lead a team of teen superheroes all with the power to control one element," the cloaked woman said. "I have come to ask you to come and learn how to control your powers."
"And where exactly are you dragging him off to?" Rave asked. Neither had let down their guard, but both were interested to hear as much as possible. The woman glanced at Raven.
"I'm actually not supposed to tell anyone, but the ones we have chosen to be on the team," the woman said.
"You can trust her," Robin said calmly. "She's my best friend. I trust her with my life." The cloaked woman nodded and they noticed a slight smile grace her features.
"Very well," the woman said. "The training will take place in an extremely secretive alternate dimension."
"If this dimension is so secretive how do you know about it?" Robin asked.
"Because I was chosen out of millions of people to be one of the select few to know of the secretive secrets that secretly take place in super secret areas of the secretive secret base," the woman said. "And I was chosen to be part of the most secretive secret operation that took place in the secretive areas of the super secretive base. And I was made head of the secret operation. And I was placed in charge of choosing the people who would be on our secret team of secret superheroes. And I was put in charge of giving them their secret powers and telling them about our secret team…Secretly." There was a lllooonng pause. Raven leaned over to Robin.
"If you do join this team I highly suggest staying as far away from her as possible," she whispered in his ear.
"So will you come with me for your training?" the cloaked woman asked.
"I don't know…I mean there's a lot I'd be leaving behind," his eyes were on Raven.
"Your friend can come visit you if you want. She can't move in with you, but she can drop by once in a while," the woman said. Robin glanced at Lightning. "And you can bring him with you."
"Can I just talk to Raven about it?" Robin asked.
"Certainly," the cloaked woman said, before walking a little away from them and stood with her back to them so that they wouldn't feel worried about her attacking while they were talking.
"What do you think?" Robin asked eyeing the woman.
"I think we can trust her," Raven said.
"How can you be sure?" Robin asked.
"I sense that she can be trusted. And besides why else would she come back?" Raven said.
"And it does put that whole disappearing without the diamonds into perspective," Robin added. "But I don't know whether I can just up and leave the team…I mean it would be like abandoning you guys."
"Yeah, but it sounds like a great opportunity," Raven said. "I mean you heard how many times she said secret. I didn't think it was possible to use the same word so many times in the same sentence."
"Yeah, it does sound pretty cool, but…I don't know. What about the team?"
"I'm sure we can manage for a while," Raven said. "Besides the crime rate has dropped to barely anything. And if something turns up which we need your advice with, we'll pop by and get it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Robin said. "So I guess I'm going then…"
"Yeah, you are," Raven said firmly. Robin nodded. He smiled slightly. "Excuse me, Miss. Cloaked Woman."
"Yes?" the woman said turning around and approaching them.
"I've decided to go," Robin said. The cloaked woman smiled slightly.
"Okay then, but I have one favour to ask you," the cloaked woman said.
"Shoot"
"You tell no one else about this," the woman said. "As it is she's not supposed to know, but I was on a bit of a tight schedule." She looked around her a bit before leaning forward and whispering to them. "God damn the bloody Council."
"Who exactly is this bloody Council who we're asking God to damn?" Robin asked.
"Shhh…come now young one. Don't talk about the Council of our Secret Base like that," the woman practically shouted. Raven and Robin looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. "Anyway. Let's go then."
"What about my stuff?" Robin asked.
"Already there," she stated.
"How??"
"Well we snuck into the Tower and took all your essentials and things that you might want for sentimental values," the cloaked woman stated. "Don't worry. If there's something you really need we can pop back and get it."
"Isn't that called breaking and entering?" Raven asked sarcastically.
"Listen I'd love to stay here and continue this conversation which I'm certain could easily turn into quite an interesting one, but we really are on a clock," the woman said. "Come on Richard, let's go."
"Richard??"
"How'd you know that's my real name?"
"I do my research Richard, now come on. We really have to go," the woman said.
"Right, but how can Rae enter this secret dimension?" Robin asked
"Here," she said handing Raven a necklace charm. "Just hold it up and say S.D. and it'll take you to the dimension."
"S.D.?" Raven asked taking the charm.
"Secret Dimension," was her reply.
"How original," Robin muttered.
"Right," the cloaked woman turned around and raised her hand before bringing it down through the air. As her hand moved through the air a portal opened up as if she had slashed the air open and made it appear. "Let's go." Robin turned back to Raven.
"Well I guess this is bye for a while," Robin said.
"I'll wait a while for you to sort of settle in before I visit," Raven said. Robin nodded. "Try to avoid setting the place on fire." They both chuckled.
"I'll try," Robin said. There was a pause before he quickly leaned forward and kissed her cheek before turning on her heel, whistling to Lightning and leaping into the portal. The woman rolled her eyes. She waved goodbye to Raven before walking into the portal. As soon as she had disappeared the portal closed. Raven stood staring at where the portal had been with her hand on her cheek.
"Well this sure isn't something you see everyday," she muttered before returning to the Tower slowly, wondering what to tell the rest of the team about Robin's disappearance.