[Chapter 2 – At the Start]
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"Welcome to Titans Tower." With these words, Ri's life would be changed in a way that she could never have foreseen. Standing there that day, in the doorway of the giant T-shaped building, she never would have imagined how important this place…these people… would become to her. She rubbed her arm uncertainly, looking over the small group of young humans standing before her. Remaining close to her aunt, she chewed on her bottom lip – a nervous habit.
Kory squeezed Ri's shoulder encouragingly from her side, offering a warm smile. The tall, vivacious young woman had impossibly long scarlet hair, as well as emerald eyes with no whites in them, much like Ri's, which were bright-pink. She stood three heads taller than her niece, at an average height for Tamaranean women – Ri was much smaller, even scrawny in comparison. But this was something she'd grown used to living on the Ark Angel.
"This is Korian'ri, my niece, fourth daughter of Tamaran." said Kory proudly. "Korian'ri, this is my team, the Teen Titans," Starting at the beginning of the line, she began to introduce them. "Raven, Damian, Jaime, Garfield, Tim, and Donna."
What were these people wearing? Bright colors, pattern ranges, and even tights… It was like a carnival. And most of them wore masks as well.
Raven was cloaked in a dark cape, and when she pulled down her hood, Ri saw that she was actually very pretty – porcelain complexion, ebony hair, lavender eyes, and a crimson jewel glimmering in her forehead. She embodied mystery, which was very intriguing.
Damian couldn't have been older than ten: He stood just a couple of inches shorter than Ri, wore his dark hair a bit spiky, and a green mask hid his eyes from view. Ri recognized his uniform from the comic books Jason had brought her in the hospital – his alias was Robin and his mentor was the Batman, a member of the Justice League.
Jaime was covered completely in some kind of blue and black alien armor. It was a bit menacing, but Ri relaxed whenever he gave a friendly smile.
Garfield was the only other one Ri was certain wasn't human. His skin and hair were green, and she recognized his clothing to be made of organic material, perfect for shape-shifting. Martians wore clothing like this. Perhaps he was from Mars?
Tim was a head taller than Ri, with messy jet-black hair and a muscular build. He, too, wore a domino mask over his ocean-blue eyes. His uniform was made of tight but stretchy deep-scarlet and black material, an altered version of Robin's outfit. He also smiled disarmingly at the banished princess.
Donna was the only other girl. Her long, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and stars spangled her entire red and silver uniform.
"So if you're related to Kory, you must be pretty strong. Mind if we see you in action?" Tim spoke up, still smiling at Ri. "We have a training facility in house."
Unsure, Ri looked to Kory for guidance. Her aunt nodded, leading her into another room. It was open and spacious, the walls adorned in steel plating, a control panel at one end, and blue mats covering the floor. Kory stepped up to the keyboard of the control console and typed in some codes, which brought the room to life. Holographic enemies appeared, wielding a wide range of weapons and holding their positions.
"I'm not very strong," Ri admitted, "but I am fast."
"It is alright, Korian'ri, just show them what you can do." Kory spoke in a kind tone that Ri still was not used to. Of course she could fight well – she had been raised in the Galactic Military. What she was anxious about had nothing to do with her performance, really. Being around so many new people had put her on edge. She had never done well with change.
As soon as Ri stepped into the center of the training room, the targets set into motion, all surrounding her at once. Lifting off of the ground, she hovered easily above them and took aim, firing bright neon-pink starbolts from her hand and eyes. Three of the ten computer generated enemies fell to this tactic. Once she landed again, she ducked to avoid a giant axe blade, sticking her leg straight out and crumpling the one who'd attacked her by shattering his knee caps. Now that she'd had a good look at the lizard like creatures, she recognized them as inhabitants of Okaara, a hostile planet in the same star system as Tamaran. Kory had chosen familiar opponents for her, since Tamaran had long been at war with Okaara; Komand'r wanted access to their advanced technology and their merciless army.
The chain on a pair of nun chucks wrapped suddenly around Ri's neck from behind, causing her to gasp harshly as her head was yanked backwards. Holding onto the chain, she did a back flip over the Okaaran's shoulders, bringing him over and throwing him into another reptilian alien. Both of them vanished in a cloud of green pixels.
After blasting holes into three more, there was only one left.
She rushed him at full speed, hardly more than a streak of pink light as she moved, throwing hard right jabs until she'd managed to disarm the Okaaran. A powerful roundhouse kick sent him flying into the wall, where he shuddered for a moment before bursting into the same green pixels as the other simulations.
Standing straight, Ri pulled down her left sleeve self-consciously to hide the bandages and her missing hand. "I… I am normally much faster," she assured. "It's just that this –" she held up the sleeve, "will take some getting used to."
"Faster?" Garfield blurted out, his eyes wide. "Dude, we could hardly see you!"
Kory crossed her arms and smiled proudly when Ri glanced at her. "You did very well, Korian'ri."
"I'll say," Tim piped up, walking toward Ri. He held out his hand to her. Remembering what Jason had taught her about this gesture, she accepted his hand and shook it once. "Welcome to the Teen Titans."
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Tightening a few screws into place, Ri set her newest invention down and admired her craftsmanship. A hand made completely of gleaming titanium, with wires and a few pointed spires sticking out of the bottom where it would connect with her flesh at the wrist. The technology the Titans had access to was impressive, and easy to figure out after working for so many years with enhanced alien software: She'd hardly even unpacked before setting out to make the blue prints she drew up in the hospital a reality. If all went well, she'd be back to full functionality.
"Hey, Kory said you'd be in here." Tim strode in, the door sliding closed behind him. "Are you hungry? We ordered pizza."
"What is pizza?" Ri inquired, turning on her stool to face him as he approached the work bench.
Chuckling in surprise, Tim leaned against the table. "Oh, man, you haven't lived until you've had pizza. There are so many awesome things you don't know about Earth yet. What are you working on?"
Turning back to the bench, Ri lifted the hand to show him, allowing him to hold and examine it. "Needles to connect the nerves; smart idea." he nodded in approval, turning the metal limb over in his gloved hands. "And lightweight as well. That's important. Have you tried it out yet?"
He handed it back to her as she tucked some loose strands of dark hair behind her pierced ears. "No," she shook her head. "I was about to, though. Moment of truth time." Taking a deep breath, she set the hand down and unwrapped the bandages on her arm. She'd never get used to seeing a stump instead of a limb. Hopefully she wouldn't have to now. Picking the hand back up, she positioned it properly and shoved the needles into her skin until the cool metal met her wrist joint.
Even Tim flinched. Ri gritted her teeth against the shock of pain that rushed up her arm. When it faded, she dared to try flexing her new fingers. It worked just as if she'd never lost it in the first place – she told her brain to move and it moved. Eyes widening, Ri jumped off of her stool and grinned brightly. "It works!" Unable to contain her joy, she began levitating a few inches off of the ground.
"That's great!" Tim exclaimed.
Activating a small switch on the side of her metal attachment, Ri managed to get her feet back on the floor. The metal shimmered for a moment before matching her skin tone perfectly, making it look like a hand of flesh. "And the camouflage feature is functional. Check it out." Holding it up to Tim, Ri continued smiling. Hesitant for a moment, Tim slowly lifted his own hand and pressed it flat against hers.
His eyes widened a bit beneath his mask in surprise. "It… it feels so real. It's incredible – you have to show me how you did this." he spoke excitedly.
"I'd be happy to." Ri nodded, letting her hand fall back to her side. "If anyone on the team gets hurt and needs an amputation, this could prove invaluable. Want to take a look at my design?" She moved back to the work bench and unrolled a scroll of paper with several sketches on it. Tim came to her side and looked intently at the blueprints.
"Wow, Ri, you're amazing with technology."
"I'm actually a mechanic, too," Ri shrugged modestly. "The youngest in my field."
Smiling warmly, Tim glanced over at her. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"
