Chapter 2: Personal

1 Year Later

The 17-year-old Robin plastered his forehead on the passenger window as the Batmobile rocketed down the road. His eyebrows angled downward as always, causing his mask to fold in the middle.

He was not happy.

"I could've easily driven myself," he protested, still looking out the window. The driver, Nightwing, let a smile creep up his face.

"After the stunt you pulled?" he chuckled. "You're lucky to be within 10 feet of a steering wheel." Nightwing pushed the nitro lever forward, causing the Batmobile to accelerate to twice the original speed.

Robin didn't regret flying the Batwing straight into Weather Wizard even when Batman ordered him to disengage. He solved the problem faster than the entire Justice League could, and that to him was a victory.

He sighed and sat back straight. "So my punishment is being sent down to the Justice League reject squad?"

Nightwing shook his head. "This is not a reject squad Damian…and this isn't punishment. Hopefully you'll learn to be part of a team."

Robin huffed. "Teammates are a liability. I work better alone." Silence took over the cabin, and he was relieved to not hear another comment from Nightwing. The Batmobile broke over a hill however and his eyes suddenly widened. The ocean stretched out into the horizon but was covered by a large "T" shaped building on an island in the distance.

"Finished a month ago," Nightwing relayed before Robin asked. "Beautiful isn't it?" He would never admit it, but he was impressed.

It didn't take them much longer to pull up to the entrance, the building towering above. Robin looked to see five more people waiting for him, which he quickly recognized as the rest of the Titans.

"Please don't behead anyone," Nightwing joked, and got a stink look from Robin before exiting the vehicle. Robin was slow out, grasping his luggage bag and observing each of the other members. He knew their names and what they looked like, but had never met any of them personally.

The black and silver dressed woman on the far left was Donna Troy, who had originally gone by Darkstar but opted for the more "hero-like" Troia. She was very similar to Wonder Woman in more ways than one.

Next to her was the one everyone knew, the black and purple Terrance Price. He was probably the least popular among the Justice League aside from his father and Terrance's sister…as expected.

In the middle was a new one, the cloaked female known as Raven. Robin wasn't sure what exactly her abilities were, but he figured he would find out soon enough.

To her right was the red-dressed and muscular Roy Harper, known as Arsenal. His bow and arrow were his tried and true along with his crude sense of humor. His backwards cap said enough.

Finally stood the exotic orange-skinned Starfire, who shook hands with Nightwing as he approached her. "Nightwing," she greeted.

Robin's eyes were keen enough to spot slight blushing on his cheeks but nothing more. Nightwing nodded. "Starfire," he greeted back. "This is Damian, the new Robin."

"Welcome Damian," Starfire smiled. Robin's eyes flashed from her positive attitude to the others, who looked less pleased to see him.

He huffed in annoyance. "I'll be in my room."

"Would you like to-," Starfire offered.

"I think I can manage." Robin was then gone as suddenly as he arrived, the doors shutting behind him as he entered.

The group was shocked to silence until Arsenal broke it. "Your friend's kind of an asshole Dick."

Nightwing's arms crossed quickly. "Don't act like you're any better Roy." Arsenal shrugged in acceptance, pulling out an arrow and toying with it as he entered the building on his own.

Raven's eyes flicked back and forth awkwardly. "I'll…be inside," she said as she followed suit. That left only Nightwing, Starfire, Antimatter and Troia.

"This'd better be worth it," Troia grumbled with arms crossed. "If he gets punched it's his fault."

"No one's punching anyone," Antimatter made clear. "Robin's the final piece to this team that we needed."

"Speak for yourself," she shot back.

"Donna…," he tried to stress his point, turning to her, but she was already leaving. He grumbled. This was going to be harder than he thought.

The blue hue occupied the Titans base control with the multiple screens active at the same time. The keyboard clicked as fingers danced atop it, information being inputted into the computer. Terrance finished the final log for the day with the period key, letting out a long sigh and rubbing his eyes. He felt the nagging need for sleep, but resisted it a bit longer. There was one last thing he needed to attend to.

He checked the building-wide cameras to make sure everyone was occupied, and to his luck, everyone was in the holographic training room. Wasting no time, he inputted "0522" into the keyboard. On cue, the computer spoke. "Retinal Scan Required," the female AI spoke. Terrance looked straight into the face camera, allowing it to scan his eyes. "Access granted."

The computer flew through files until it stopped at what he was looking for, the hidden file only he could access reading: FALLEN TITAN CONTINGENCY. He opened it, passing by codenames Darkest Night, Ultraviolet, Godkiller, and Excalibur before opening Demon Born. It was mostly empty, filled only with a few recruitment notes and videos of Robin preforming in combat.

Terrance opened a new page writing: Damian Wayne may be a pain in the ass, but his intelligence is integral to this plan. His quick thinking and superior combat skills should prove to be useful. Possible counters: Cyborg.

He stopped writing, closing the file. His eyes trailed downwards, reading Tartarus and Goosefat as the last two codenames on the list. Guilt ripped through him as he realized what the purpose of all this was…and simply the scale of the lie the Titans were built upon.

His heart almost stopped as his phone rang in his pocket. Quickly shutting the files away, he pulled his phone out to notice a call.

Diana, it read.

Terrance hesitated. He had not spoken to his sister in months. After he left the Justice League the few conversations they had ended in annoyance or frustration, but they kept trying. He wasn't about to burn any bridges, so he answered, sending it to the computer. The facetime camera struggled to bring in the connection, but eventually revealed her face.

"Hi Diana," he sighed, leaning back in his chair in exhaustion.

"Hello," she replied, waving with a small grin, prompting him to wave back. "How are things?"

"All right," he replied, still not feeling entirely comfortable talking to her. "Anything exciting recently?"

She looked away, shrugging her shoulders. "The Legion of Doom struck again last night."

"I heard about that," he nodded, then trying the next question. "Are you unharmed?" He noticed her face show a bit of shock.

"A few scratches from Cheetah, nothing that didn't heal," she assured him. "Robin flew the Batwing into Weather Wizard…who was acting strange to say the least."

"How so?" he asked, becoming more comfortable. He noticed it making him happy, talking to his sister. He loved working with the Titans, but he still missed that element that was working with her specifically.

"It was as if he was possessed. He began to uses magic attacks and spew out strange quotes. I had to use my Lasso of Truth to free him from…whatever had taken him," she explained. As she was talking, Terrance brought up news reports on the incident on side screens. No one really seemed to know that happened besides the giant explosion that Robin had triggered with the Batwing. "Bruce spawned a crazy child."

"That's why he's here," Terrance turned his attention back to the facetime. They both couldn't find anything to say for a moment, the awkwardness creeping back up on them. They had never spoken to each other about the Titans themselves since all it seemed to do was bring up resentment. Today seemed to be the day that ended.

"I think what you're doing is good Terrance," she admitted. "I have been too proud to tell you that."

The truth behind the Titans ate at him, causing him to slightly grimace with guilt. "Thanks Diana, it means a lot to hear you say that," he thanked. "I'm sorry if it looked like I abandoned you."

"I never thought you did," she smiled, and he smiled back. His eyes then flicked upwards as one of the cameras took up the top screen.

"Oh boy," he sighed. "Looks like Damian might have bit off more than he could chew…I'd better go."

She chuckled. "Alright Terrance, good luck."

A few minutes ago…

"He's hasn't stopped in an hour and a half," Arsenal grumbled, watching as Robin continued to take on countless amounts of holographic warriors. He had wished to put in some time himself, but the amount of time Robin spent brought every other member in the room, expecting to have their own time.

Troia stood by the control panel with her arms crossed. "Other people live here Damian!" she protested.

Robin continued cutting down more holograms. "I'm not!" he started, cutting down another. "Finished!" The warriors had been defeated, prompting more to spawn in. He was about to engage until they all fizzed out of existance. He stopped and looked towards the control panel, Troia's hand stamped on the stop button. Arsenal, Nightwing and Starfire turned towards her, shocked and relieved that she had done so.

"I don't think I was clear enough was I?" she growled. Robin's eyes narrowed as he suddenly pulled out a batarang and threw it at her, her bracelets of submission coming up in plenty of time to block it.

Nightwing rubbed his eyes. "Ohhhh noooooo," he sighed. "Terrance is going to kick his ass." Even Raven, who was camped out in the corner minding her own business, had her eyes wide.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Troia shouted, fuming out every pore in her skin.

Robin smirked. "I heard you had a quick reaction time, I wanted to see how quick," he finished, sure of himself.

She tried to control herself, but she marched towards him with balled-up fists. "You're picking a fight with the wrong woman kid!"

Starfire erupted from Nightwing's side in between the two. "Alright...perhaps were getting off on the…wrong foot?"

Robin's eyes wavered over to her. "Father said you were a princess…exile no doubt," he spat.

"Damian!" Nightwing shouted in disgust, but Starfire held her hand back to him in assurance.

"It was a coup Damian…and like it or not, I'm one of the founding members of this group," she retorted.

Robin still wasn't impressed. "As I see it you're an alien with nowhere else to go," Nightwing's pure will and knowledge of Robin's past was the only that stopped him from breaking his nose.

Raven was suddenly walking towards them. "Everyone needs a home Damian…you included."

"Thanks for chiming in witch girl," Robin continued with the insults.

"What is your goal here?" Arsenal said from behind with shrugged shoulders. "To get everyone to hate you?"

Robin scoffed and attempted to walk away, but a strong hand gripped his shoulder. "You need to show some respect!" Troia growled. Robin snapped, attempting to free himself by laying two hands on her.

"Oh no," Raven quivered with wide eyes.

Troia was on the verge of breaking his arm with a slight movement of her free arm, but someone's hand grabbed it faster than she could spot. She turned, seeing Antimatter gripping her forearm, his other hand on his sword hilt.

"Let her go Robin," he ordered. He attempted to protest seemingly with another insult, but Antimatter's seriousness came out like a lion. "I SAID LET HER GO!"

No one could deny his order, and Robin stomped up to his room after he took his hands off her. When the door shut, he looked around the rest of the group. "Do any of you have any brain cells besides Kory? I made this bloody clear…no one…punches…anyone."

Nobody protested, only Troia who shook her arm free from his grip. "You and I are having a talk…now," she said with a pointed finger. Antimatter was still in the commanding mood, but he knew this wasn't an argument he was going to win.

"Can we have a moment, please?" he asked, and the Titans began to clear the room, leaving Antimatter to have his ears blown out.

Nightwing and Starfire exited together, and she found herself being pulled aside by him, concern on his face. "Kory…I'm so sorry about what he said to you."

"Dick," she eased, pulling his hand from her shoulder with a smile. "It's all right. He's not the first one to say things like that to me."

Nightwing cocked his head. "What do you mean?" His heart ached as her smile faded, her eyes distraught towards the floor.

"There are some in the galaxy who see Tamaraneans as inferior to their race…'troqs' are what they called us," she sighed. "Which means nothing, worthless."

Nightwing's hands took hers. "No one is ever going to treat you like that again Kory…no one," he promised. Her elegant, green eyes looked up to him and a smile worked its way on to her face. "How about we go out, get something to eat?" he offered.

She nodded. "I'd like that," just as she accepted however, the training room door flew open, shouting becoming obvious.

"All you care about is yourself Terrance!" Troia yelled back before marching up to her room. Starfire grimaced, holding up one finger.

"In a moment," she told Nightwing before running after Troia. Antimatter walked out the training room door and leaned his shoulder on the frame, sighing to himself. Nightwing found his way next to him.

"What did you say?" he asked, his arms crossed.

Antimatter rolled his eyes. "I don't know what her problem is. I told her if she can't control her own anger than that's her fault, not Damian's."

Nightwing shut his eyes and rubbed his face with his gloved hand. "My god…why the hell would you say that Terrance?"

"What do you want me to do?! Send Damian home just because she doesn't like him enough?"

"You don't give a girl ultimatums Terrance!" Nightwing urged. "You compromise with her…you talk to each other. You two have been fighting multiple times over the past year because you guys never just talk!"

Antimatter sighed as his head drooped down. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't say that to me," he chuckled. "Say that to her when she cools off…ok?" Terrance nodded after a second of thought. "You'll be all right bud, just hang in there. Fighting isn't as bad as keeping secrets," he finished before he walked off.

Antimatter grimaced with guilt…knowing damn well he was keeping secrets from all of them.

Batman stared unwavering at the same camera footage played on repeat, checking each time for new developments he hadn't seen before. Everyone in the Hall of Justice had headed home by now, but he couldn't. He had to figure this out.

Weather Wizard's sudden possession a few days ago just didn't add up. It was so random, yet so coincidental with so many powerful beings in the vicinity.

"Knew you'd be in here working all night," Cyborg sounded from behind. Batman turned to see him holding a pizza box. "Thought you might be hungry."

Batman's eyes squinted before turning back to the computer screen. "No thanks."

"Suit yourself," Cyborg smiled, digging into the box on his own. He chewed on a slice while making his way to see what he was working on. He was sifting through footage, but it seemed the meaningful data was a pixilated mess.

"Where does all that food go if you don't have a stomach?" Batman asked.

Cyborg swallowed his bite and paused, shaking his head. "You don't want to know. What have you been up to?"

"I've been combing through footage from every camera on the grid," he answered.

"And?"

"There's something odd," Batman explained, bringing up the pixilated footage. "Dark spots…too hard to make out."

Cyborg set the box of pizza down and pulled up his mechanical fist, revealing a long, stick plug out of his knuckle. He plugged it into the computer's port. "Activate quadrant pixel enhancement," he commanded, and almost instantaneously the footage was made clear as day. He stepped back, admiring his work while Batman crossed his arms.

"Show off," he scoffed. Now able to analyze the footage, they both noticed a shot of the alley where Weather Wizard had run in to after he was originally apprehended. Cyborg narrowed his eyes after observing the lighting of the shot.

"What is that, a shadow?" he asked.

"No, the sun direction is wrong," Batman denied before explaining. "And look here, it's disconnected from the surface. It's mimicking a shadow…it has intelligence. It's wandering, like it's looking for something…or someone."

Cyborg leaned in. "There's where Weather Wizard ran into it."

"More like stepped in it," Batman corrected.

"You don't think it was after him?"

Batman sighed, realizing the implications this event held. "No…I don't."

That last scene is straight out of the movie, and I've decided to simply explain the Weather Wizard event through dialogue instead of copying it in the beginning. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you're willing to stick around for the rest of the story! If you enjoyed, please follow/fav and leave a review! Thanks for reading!