Chapter 2. New Beginnings.
Also, only two reviews, but I'm grateful for them.
PoweroftheFrogs: Yes, Spitfire is very similar to Starfire, and now you've pointed it out I may even mention it in the story. Thanks.
SHSW360: Thank you, I've actually popped into one of your stories 'Welcome to my world, the REAL world' You write well. As for the Brit OC hero. Well, I couldn't leave our fair land represented by Moddy, could I? Good luck with the actual publication thingamy.
Disclaim! I don't own the Titans! Testify!
Sunlight, most predators use it to hunt. We use it's energy to power our appliances (directly or indirectly) and were it not around we would freeze to death, but still we hide from it in the morning.
That is exactly what Charly, known as Spitfire to his team-mates, was doing, head under a sheet, avoiding looking at the unwelcome intruder.
'Curtains! Next time don't just fall asleep without pulling them!' His mind scolded
He forced himself out of his new bed and landed with a thud on the floor. Rubbing his backside he moved to the bathroom that was connected to his room.
'They went out of their way for me. I'm flattered. What's missing? Ah, music. I wonder what they gave me.' He flicked a finger at the stereo in his room and a small, hard and cold flame hit the play button. The Prodigy's Spitfire blared out of the speakers as Charly stepped into the shower.
'At least Beast Boy has some taste in music.' He thought to himself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Man, no-one wants your gross tofu!' Cyborg shouted, waving the tofu high above his head.
'Dude, no fair, you're really tall!' Beast Boy was jumping up and down frantically, trying to obtain his breakfast.
The hydraulics of the door hissed as the newest Titan shuffled in, again wearing exactly what he had been wearing since he had met the original Titans.
He eyed the battling boys before moving to the fridge, greeting everyone on his way, grabbing something from the fridge and ingesting it faster than should be allowed.
'What was that?' Cyborg asked, arm still in the air.
'Dunno, tasted like tofu though. S'good stuff.' Charly replied, flashing the metal man a smile.
'Uh… ok.' Cyborg's arm dropped in defeat as Beast Boy's eyes widened in disbelief.
'You like tofu?' He asked.
'Sure, why wouldn't I?' Charly locked eyes with the changeling.
'How did your eyes get to be red?' Beast Boy asked the pyrokinetic, forgetting the tofu.
'Just changed overnight, later I found out about the whole fire thing.' Charly replied, moving to the couch.
'You know, I don't know anything about this team other than you fight psychos and monsters. So, Titans History 101, fill me in.' He said taking a seat at the other end of the couch to Raven, partly because he sensed she liked her space, partly through fear, he could feel an immense power under the surface and was wont to get too close.
'Ok, sure!' Beast Boy ran over, clutching what looked to be a photo album.
'I'll start with this guy, he's called Slade and back then he was obsessed with Robin…'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'…And everything living in the world was turned to stone!' Beast Boy paused for dramatic effect, allowing an awed Charly to jump in.
'I remember that, everyone was stone and I was wondering around thinking 'What the hell?'' He told the now fully assembled team.
'It didn't effect you?' Raven asked, Charly could feel the curiosity pouring off her. For a girl who keeps her emotions hidden, they sure were vivid.
'Nope, don't know why.' Charly gestured to Beast Boy to continue, as he had taken up the role as sole story-teller with other Titans jumping in to add their bit at points.
'Anyway, it looked like Trigon had won when Slade turned up again and this time he was actually offering us a way to get Raven back…'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'…and then four nights ago, during the storm the alarm went off and we met you.' Beast Boy ended with a flourish.
'Wow.' Was all Charly could manage, totally awed by the adventures of his team.
'Do you have any other clothes?' Robin asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
'Only what you found me in, so no.' Charly fiddled with the collar of his T-shirt.
'Then we must show you the mall of shopping!' Starfire leapt up and dragged him out of the room.
'But I'm penniless!' He complained.
'We'll loan you, you can't wear the same thing over and over.' Beast Boy had somehow managed to keep up as well as completely overlooking the irony of his statement.
Three hours later Charly had a wardrobe full of clothes, most dark, with the occasional bright green, orange or fluorescent yellow shirt, to add variety.
Whilst he was out Robin had demanded that they make him wear a uniform, he couldn't fight in something different every time, it wouldn't be practical.
The design was a relatively tight top (thankfully not lycra), black with a flame motif, dark trousers in the same material (it was like lycra but not as garish) a simple belt and large boots, similar to Robin's own.
To this Charly added a thin leather jacket which he said was like extra protection, but it was simply so he could throw it off dramatically during a fight.
Modelling in front of the mirror in his room he was suitable impressed.
'Nice, stylish and the jacket doesn't make it look bulky at all, in fact it's so thin it gets caught by the wind, very dynamic.' He turned to view the back. 'I like!'
At that moment a red light started flashing, a siren was blaring and the middle of Charly's belt was flashing red.
'Spitfire! Trouble, come on!' He heard Robin yell outside his door. He threw it open and followed Robin's retreating form to the garage and the T-car.
He dived in after Beast Boy and slammed the door, Cyborg immediately took off at high speed towards the biggest gym in the city.
As they pulled up a weight smashed through a window and landed on a car outside.
'Adonis.' Robin's voice said over the comm.
'Let me guess, with a name like Adonis he's very strong?' Spitfire asked unenthusiastically
'Yep, but it's all in his suit, he's actually a skinny little guy.' Cyborg explained.
Piling into the gym, the Titans formed on Robin, who had his Bo-staff ready, as usual.
'This is a great workout!' Adonis shouted, laughing and lifting three huge weights with one of his machine covered arms.
'Ah, I see now he must have read his name on the side of a weight set. Not all that bright.' Spitfire flexed his fingers, making an unpleasant cracking sound.
'Hey it's theTitans, who's this wimp?' He asked pointing at Spitfire.
'The name's Spitfire. Apparently. Ready to feel the burn?' He asked the towering mech-suited man.
'Ha, you think you're stronger than Adonis?' He cracked his knuckles, almost as loud as Spitfire had his.
'Don't need to be.' The newest Titan smiled and was instantly engulfed in red flames, still visible, his longish hair was on end, held up by the effect of the fire and his red irises glowing intensely.
'What is this?' Adonis backed off a little, startled by the sudden spectacle. He picked up a weight and made to slam it into the fiery teen's face.
The weight struck the fire surrounding the boy and melted immediately, a loud hissing sound and a pool of molten metal the only signs it was ever there.
Adonis stumbled back, but Spitfire was up in his face instantly.
Smiling, he plunged his flaming hand into the chest of the suit and pulled downwards, ripping the suit in two to expose the tiny man inside.
Spitfire stepped back, his hair dropping back down as his flames died. He sighed and blew a strand from his eyes which were still glowing, though not as intensely.
'Dude!' Beast Boy cried, 'We didn't even have to move and you took him down in like three seconds!'
'That was great, it's been a while since I went full-blaze, it's like hearing your favourite song on the radio after a year or so.' Spitfire moved to leave as the police moved in to take Adonis into custody.
'Anyone want pizza? I'm buying!' He shouted, opening the door of the T-car.
'I thought you said you had no money.' Beast Boy eyed him suspiciously.
'All right, I lied… Beast Boy's buying.' The door slammed and Beast Boy was left defeated and out of pocket.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'This city… Has the best… Pizza ever!' Charly (Spitfire on missions, Charly in the Tower) flopped onto the couch, the sky had grown dark and a blood red moon had risen.
'Ooh, Blood-moon! Good night for Necromancy.' He observed. 'I read lots of fantasy stuff.' He added, by way of an explanation when he caught the Titans staring at him.
'Hey, you know, we told you our history, how about some of yours?' Beast Boy vaulted the couch, landing next to his new friend.
'Ok then. I was born in the north of England, had a pretty standard upbringing, discovered I had powers and then decided to travel, now I'm here, hopefully for good.' He said, though his smile had disappeared.
'What? That's it, come on, there's something you're not saying, why did you decide to travel?' Beast Boy pressed, Charly seemed to be getting uncomfortable.
'I'd rather not say.' He said, turning away.
'Dude, come on, I'm not going to stop until you tell me. Come on!'
'I said NO!' Something exploded in a ball of flame, it was the game station, the charred remains of which now lay scattered about the room.
'Woah, déjà vu.' Beast Boy said, staring around, then back at Charly, whose eyes were glowing intensely again.
'I'm sorry. My powers are controlled by my emotions, if I get really angry they go into overdrive. I should leave.' He got up and walked out.
The Titans watched him leave, then Robin turned to Raven.
'You should go talk to him.' He told her.
'Why me?' She asked, indignantly.
'Because that's what used to happen with you when you got angry.' He indicated the piece of burnt plastic on the floor in front of him. 'His powers are almost the same as yours, you can help him deal with them.' This discussion was over, that was clear.
Raven sighed and stood.
Sitting on his bed, Charly had thrown his Aphex Twin CD (he bought it at the mall, with BB's money) on and was listening to 'Come to Daddy' with his eyes closed, so Raven thought he didn't know she had entered.
'Hello Raven.' He said, turning the music off and opening his eyes.
'Uh, hi… I was here to… see how you were doing.' She lied, badly.
'I didn't even need my powers to know that was a lie.' Charly said, but he was smiling.
'Fine, Robin wants me to help you control your powers, but from what I saw today, it doesn't seem like you need it.' She reasoned.
'They only go out of control if I get really emotional, so it's rare.' He glanced at her after deciding his shoes weren't all that interesting. 'What did you think today, by the way? I mean was it a bit excessive, or was it awesome?' He turned to face her properly.
'It was… Effective.' She said in a non-committal way.
'But did you think it was impressive?' He asked her.
'No.' She said.
He cocked an eyebrow, she noticed how effective that can be at making you feel stupid, normally it was her that did it.
'Even if they don't know it isn't true, Raven. Remember?' He asked her with a snicker.
She looked at him for a while, taking in his appearance properly for the first time.
He had brown almost blackhair that was maybe an inch and a half away from shoulder length, it seemed not to like the fact the he tried to control it and was rebelling by being as unruly as possible. His eyes, that vivid red colour holding a laughter to match or surpass Beast Boy, but there was something else there too, beneath the surface. Sadness?
As though reading her mind he spoke up.
'Everyone has their stories, not all have happy endings.' He said, philosophically.
'Wanna tell us yours?' She asked him.
'No offence, but I've only known you guy for four or five days.' He said without breaking eye contact.
The uniform suited him well, the Titans yellow 'T' logo took up very little room and wasn't garish, in fact it went with the flame motif quite well. Robin had some style, though his own outfit didn't show it.
After a scrutinising look she finally broke her gaze away.
'You have beautiful eyes, you know that?' Charly complimented.
'Uh… Thanks. I'm gonna go.' Raven pulled up her hood and left the room.
Charly sighed again and hit the play button, the theme from 'The Matrix Reloaded' started and he pulled out his pad, the only other thing he carried with him besides his lighter and a pen, flipping over a page, he wrote the heading: 'First Impressions are Never Great' and scribbled down random words. This was how he stopped himself blowing everything up, it was his meditation and at this poin the needed it. Badly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
'How is he?' Cyborg asked Raven as she entered the room.
'Fine.' She said simply, 'Yes, very.' Someone in her mind said. 'Woah, where did that come from? I can't be feeling this, he said it himself, I only met him four days ago.'
She picked up her book and proceeded to read: 'The blood-moon, this was a fine night for necromancy,…'
'I need to meditate' she hurriedly said, and rushed to her room.
There you go.
Before anyone says anything, yes, the description of Spitfire's 'Full-Blaze' state is stolen from Dragon Ball.
PoweroftheFrogs, I lied about putting your idea in, maybe next chappie.
Don't worry, the pairing (RaexOC) will become very clear in later chapters, it's not a real pairing, just confused feelings.
Review me, thanks.
Reamis.