Chapter 1- Things Change, For Better or Worse?
Disclaimer: Teen Titans and associated is a copyright of DC Comics.
The Titans were exhausted, and quickly running out of ideas. Raven, Starfire, Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg were being run into the ground, their pursuit of their latest adversary and any attempts to capture him with no end in sight. An enemy which could change into any material it contacted, taking its properties and structure.
Robin leaned against the wall, panting slightly. Already, daylight had passed and night was coming on, along with its associated risks and challenges. Their pursuit had led them from the original construction site all the way to the foundries at the edge of Jump City. They sorely needed Beast Boy to track their elusive prey as it was, him being the only one capable of following a scent in the first place. Yet, the constant movement and changes in scent were starting to confuse even him.
From what he could deduce, they were nanomachines. Highly cautious around areas of high electromagnetic interference such as power lines or substations, he had suspected they were a technological collective, especially after being able to collect a small sample in a test tube, which had promptly dissolved within minutes. Of course, not before he had managed to examine them beneath a microscope and witnessed the complex array of molecular transistors spread across the individual cells.
He had hurriedly fabricated a birdarang that gave off an electromagnetic pulse, with a significant amount of input from Cyborg. Initial simulations were hopeful, but one could never be fully sure.
From the shadows, the figure watched as they rallied yet again, despite their fatigue, despite their recent trials and combat against the Brotherhood. Interest lit up behind his eyes as he assessed them, observing their body language and movements. Trained well, they were sufficiently skilled in their tasks, though they could be better. Given his observations and the reports he had read about them, he was not truly surprised at their abilities, despite their youth.
Soon, he would introduce himself to them. Behind a reflective visor, a ghost of a grin passed over the face of the Black Tiger, as he followed from the shadows, leaping from silo to silo, the numerous bars and struts proving sufficient holds for him as he acrobatically swung and leapt from surface to surface, rolling, somersaulting and break falling with an ease gained through years of practice.
If any of the Titans had noticed him, they would only have seen a dark figure against the backdrop of night, moving like water through the air, poetry in motion.
Dropping to his knees, he tensed his muscles, hamstrings ready, before coiling the muscle and surrounding tissue together, tense and ready for release. Leaping from the deck of a silo, he landed on the ground, twenty metres below, letting his greaves absorb the impact, rolling with it before rising and swiftly following the creeping mass of nanomachines that were audible through his lenses, their faint temperature difference giving them away against the background.
The machines had one purpose by this point of time, and it was simple. Destroy their predator. It threatened their survival. Given their core programming, which was to reproduce and maintain the self, the collective, they sought energy and material to reproduce. Specifically, they needed carbon, iron and silicon, which was why they were in a foundry. The silicon found in the urban areas, while plentiful, was not in a raw form. Limited by this, they required the material unprocessed.
The evasion required had expended substantial amounts of energy in doing so, and it seemed logical that, by luring them to an isolated location, it could process the predator group down to basic elements for processing and add their material to the collective. Then, it could use the materials acquired as well as those available at the current location to fulfil the core programming. Reproduce and spread.
Though its coding was limited, as well as its circuitry, vulnerable to electromagnetic interference, it had evolved a semi-sentient animal cunning, and with this and a small amount of luck, had managed to move the Titans into a vulnerable position. Open to ambush, and with no way to escape. It would wait until they entered an enclosed corridor, before flooding it with itself and ripping them apart at the cellular level. It calculated that within a matter of 32 seconds, its task would be done, and it could continue its programming to the required parameters.
Cyborg and Beast Boy slowly stalked forward, alert to any sudden sound or movement. At least, Cyborg was. Beast Boy was strangely distracted, his focus wandering and unsure, acting subdued and reserved, which was highly abnormal for him. Already, several instances had passed where a lame joke would have sufficed to relieve tension, only to pass in silence.
Cyborg had not commented on it yet, but had a good idea of its cause. The girl who could be Terra. Leaving it unsaid, they walked on, Starfire and Raven in the rear, while Robin scouted ahead.
Turning a corner, they reached him, standing in an enclosed corridor, leading off further into the foundry complex. All of them were drained from the constant pursuit. They had not even had a chance to properly recover from the recent troubles from with the Brotherhood. Even the normally stoic Raven and Robin were starting to show the strain of the recent adventures.
Raven felt incredibly uneasy as she entered this part of the complex. Several times already, she had seen a figure in her peripheral vision, who always disappeared by the time she looked. Since they had entered the complex, she had felt as if eyes were boring into her back. She was not the only one, for Starfire had commented upon it as well. However, as she stepped into the corridor where the rest were, it reached a peak. By then, it was too late.
The walls came crashing in on them, as the corridor was suddenly sealed off on both ends and a clear liquid began to flow from the vents, thick and viscous yet running like water. Before she knew it, she and Starfire were up to their necks in it, unable to move, while the boys were similarly immobilised, Beast Boy unable to transform due to the confined space, while Cyborg began to short-circiut, arcs of electricity dancing across his body. It rose to cover their heads rapidly, entering through their nose and mouth, and then, a horrible burning began, as their bodies began to be slowly ripped apart at a cellular level. Through the liquid nanomachines, the screams of pain were muffled, ignored by an entity that knew neither mercy nor regret.
Violently cursing in a foul mixture of Persian, Cantonese and Hokkien, the Black Tiger ripped Rukt from its sheath. Immediately, the temperature dropped, the air rapidly beginning to freeze, as a general gloom began to fill the direct area around him. Voices of the living and dead could be heard whispering in the farthest edges of ones hearing, before he plunged it into the metal, letting it carve its way through the thick sheets of steel that had dropped to trap the Titans within.
Stepping back as liquid nanomachines poured from the hole, he sheathed the blade. The instant it entered the scabbard, thin tendrils of blood escaped from the hilt, before sublimating into air, and the voices stopped.
Throwing an EMP grenade into the gloop, he leapt back as the nanomachines formed a humanoid figure that dissolved back into the medium as the grenade went off, set at a frequency the nanomachines were directly vulnerable to.
The formerly still liquid began to gush from the hole, bringing with it the Titans themselves, no worse for the wear, having been in there for a short time. Pulling them from the mess, he checked their pulses. Conscious and alive. Cyborg was somewhat battered, but being composed mostly of titanium alloy had protected him, and he was in the best shape of the five.
Leaning against the railing as they groggily rose, they warily eyed him. He could wait.
Just as the nanomachines began their work, and pain began to fill him, Robin suddenly felt the temperature drop, and he could hear his parents talking to him, of a suddenly vast multitude whispering constantly, and his will to live totally gone, as if he could no longer live, no longer be happy again. Just as suddenly, it lifted, and he woke up sputtering and spewing, breathing in deeply the night air, while around him, the rest of the Titans staggered, leaning against the wall or railing for support. However, the minute he saw the stranger, he was on his guard.
Dressed in black and leaning against the railing, with armour on his arms and legs, a reflective visor covering his face, he looked like a military special operations personnel. However, his body indicated no threat, totally relaxed as it was, while he leaned against the railing. The minute Robin could stand, he came over to him.
"My name's the Black Tiger. Welcome back to Jump City. I…..substituted you people for the past few weeks. Anyway, welcome back to the city." Reaching out a hand in greeting, Robin grudgingly took it, feeling hard bone and muscle beneath the grip of the glove."
The Black Tiger looked at them one by one, before bowing low to Raven herself. "Lady Raven, I am at your service. Now, seeing that we are done here, may I be permitted to introduce myself properly?"
Without waiting for further answer, he took off his helmet, revealing a face with grey eyes and brown, tanned skin, with a face reflecting Persian, Chinese, Indian, Maori and unknown heritages within. A youth no older than Raven. "My name is Aziz Yap Gang Hu, or just Aziz. And I would like to join your team." Direct and succint.
In a place between worlds, a figure watched the events as they unfolded. The Ulthaj, their task would be fulfilled, and they were all to play a part in it. Bemused, Rayaan Intan Daas, adopted son of the god Rugal, foster brother and travelling companion of the Black Tiger, simply watched.
OOC; Intended as part of an ongoing series, I'm looking for dedicated beta readers and a researcher-editor. Experience would be a plus.
