A/N: Well, looks like it took longer than a month to write the next chapter. Don't worry, I really didn't take long to write this; it was basically just a couple of days and about 15 minutes of editing. I will try to update once a month, but don't hold me to it. Now, without further ado (and I definitely don't own Teen Titans - their rights go to DC Comics), here is the second chapter of my story.
"Beast Boy!" Robin yelled as he awoke from his slumber. Robin's gaze, foggy from days of sleep, was instantly blinded by the fluorescent light. As his hands involuntarily flew up to block his eyes from the light, they were stopped by warm, strong hands that quickly enveloped Robin in a heartfelt hug.
"Robin!" Starfire, obviously trying to hold back from crushing every bone in Robin's body, smothered Robin with a hug and a smile that said more about her joy than words ever could. Hot tears were streaming down her face. "I thought... I thought I might have lost you..." her voice trailed off.
"Uh, it's okay Starfire," Robin reassured her not-so-confidently. "I'm fine now, right?"
Starfire sniffled and nodded her head. "Uh-huh. Cyborg said you would be okay if we let you rest for a while. Oh, Robin, it is good that you are okay!"
Starfire brightened as the rest of the team came in after being alerted to Robin's awakening. Robin simply blushed as Starfire clung affectionately around his neck.
"Ooo, Starfire and Robin sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes... Silkie in a baby carriage," a jovial Cyborg and Beast Boy sand in tandem, snickering in between lines.
"Give Robin a break," Raven interrupted, "he just got up from a week-long coma."
Robin's eyes shot up in surprise. "I was out for a week?"
Cyborg answered, "Yeah, man. You took a beating from Slade. It's a miracle you came out without a broken bone. Even that previous break from Johnny Rancid stood up."
Robin took a quick look at his legs and arms to reassure himself that he had them all. His fight with Slade had not only drained him of energy; it had left him beaten and battered. His bones may not have been broken, yet he had a staggering amount of cuts and bruises running down his arms.
Taking notice of Robin's eyes scanning his body for scars, Cyborg added, "You may be banged up pretty bad, but I've used nanomachines to keep those cuts from scarring. Man, you've got no idea how lucky you are."
Robin nodded to reassure Cyborg before something hit him like an anvil. 'Lucky?' Robin thought. That he had not broken anything let alone scar anything-nanomachines or not-could not have been a coincidence. With Slade, nothing was luck. Everything had to do with his plan. What could Slade have possibly meant by mentioning Beast Boy? It was probably just to distract him from what was really going on, but... How could he know? Asking Beast Boy would simply result in more questions than answers. It wouldn't help that Slade mentioned Terra, Beast Boy's topic of re-obsession as of late.
"-Robin. Robin! Come back to the land of the living, dude. Hellooooo?" Beast Boy had stuck his face a few inches in front of Robin's and was flailing his arms around.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking about something," Robin waved off Beast Boy's concern. He would have to tender his thoughts later and focus on the matter at hand now: why Slade, when presented with the option, did not disable him from the field. It didn't fit with Slade's usual strategies of maniacal cunning.
"I may have some bad news, Beast Boy," Robin said. "Slade knows that Terra's awake."
Beast Boy's earlier happy demeanor turned to shock and surprise as he began to put two and two together. "Wait, why would Slade know about Terra? How could he know about her? What is he trying to do to her? How could it have taken Slade telling you for you to understand? Why should you even believe Slade? Wouldn't it be-"
"Beast Boy!" Cyborg shouted, putting a calming metal hand on his shoulder. "Give Rob a break. He just woke up from a week long slumber. Let him explain first."
A now calmer Beast Boy turned to Robin expectantly.
"Look, I don't know why Slade knows about Terra," Robin tried to reassure Beast Boy, "but I will find out."
A quizzical look played over Beast Boy's pale green face. "Does this mean you believe me about Terra?"
Robin was about to respond when Cyborg answered instead, "Yes. How Slade knows doesn't matter right now, but believe me, we do."
Beast Boy's shoulders dropped. He felt a great weight falling off of his shoulders now that he knew that his team would back him up. His mind was racing with possibilities of finding Terra and being able to hold her in his arms again. Finding Slade would have to his first priority before he began to search for her, unless... could Slade have Terra? Why else would he have spilled that bit of information to Robin? For some reason, Slade had deemed Robin to be the one to gain info on Terra rather than Beast Boy himself. Something simply did not seem right about it.
Robin began taking out IVs and diodes that had been placed on him to monitor his body. Mask, of course, still on, he began to walk toward his room in the Titan Tower after telling the team to reconvene in ten in the main room.
Since Beast Boy had first seen Terra and the Titans had their chameleon-like attacker-affectionately dubbed "The Thing" by the team-Titan's network of superheroes had left the Tower. Kid Flash usually dropped by once a week to say hi-and grab waffles. They'd have a few others typically drop in during the course of the month, the latest being Jinx.
Speaking of, the relationship status of Jinx and Kid Flash went from odd to plain weird. They had been tagged as "complicated" ever since Kid Flash found a speed dating site. That and Jinx's questionable loyalties and well... it was just complicated.
At the moment, there was nobody making residence in the Tower outside of the Titans themselves. They had an annual meeting with the Titans East in a month or so about supervillain activities, but beyond that, there was nothing going on at the Titan's Tower.
Over the last few weeks, though, Beast Boy had seemed to have forgotten about Terra. There was no discussion. Just... nothing. It was like he had finally accepted that she was gone and the girl he saw was just a look-a-like. Even a shred of possibility that she was back, though, and he was on the run again looking for her. At least this time the rest of the team was with him.
"The Thing" had also been taken care of, but just barely. Radioactive material hit the beast quickly after Beast Boy had arrived. The Titans, with the help of Beast Boy, were able to track it down and take it out. They moved "The Thing" into a nuclear facility before it was exposed to Uranium.
After donning his characteristically spotlight-colored spandex, Robin walked out to the Titan's main room. Surprisingly enough, everyone was there. It usually took Beast Boy at least an extra fifteen minutes to do whatever it was he had to do in his room. Instead, Beast Boy was continuously fidgeting and tapping his feet in anxiety while the rest of the Titans were all situated on the couch around their round table.
Robin authoritatively walked up to the mainframe of the Titans computer. It pulled up a large screen obscuring the open view of the ocean and city.
His injuries, while slightly visible, seemed to be having no affect in his demeanor. "We're going to wait on Slade to make his move before we do anything. Instead of being unprepared this time, we're going to formulate a plan to deal with his army of robots. I had an acquaintance of mine from my, uh, previous employer make me this."
Robin pulled a metallic-looking ball from his utility belt. A sky blue sheen played off of a neon blue light emitting along multiple points of the sphere. They were along precise intervals typical of a gadget of Robin's, though its futuristic look was different than his standard birdarangs. Its odd color and design had the team fixed upon it with both confusion and wonder.
"And staring at the ball definitely helps," Raven deadpanned. "What does it do?"
Robin explained with what looked like a gleam in his eyes (you can never tell with that mask on), "It's an EMP. Electromagnetic Pulse emitter immediately shuts off any electronic devices for a few seconds. This should give us the leverage we need to take Slade down. There's only one problem. Cyborg, you're cybernetic and this device shuts down anything that runs with electricity. How will it affect you?"
Cyborg stroked his chin in thought while mumbling, "I'll have to bring that... yes, and... well, only for two... and maybe some of... a Cylonian... uh, no, but... maybe one of those... no, no, no, a toaster won't work..." After he had run the necessary calculations through his head, he replied, "I'll need to make some adjustments, but I'll be fine. You remember that fight against Billy Numerous? That's the absolute worst that can happen. And I'll need an EMP grenade to study."
Robin produced another EMP grenade from his belt and passed it over to Cyborg. He turned to address the rest of the team.
"The next time we fight Slade we need to be ready. Double-timing on training. Extra team exercising. Whatever it takes, we will stop Slade!" Robin proclaimed, slamming his fist down on the table.
At nearly the same moment Robin pounded his fist, the Tower's sirens began to wail.
"Dude, did you just set off the alarm?" Beast Boy asked.
"No, I don't think so," Robin replied, a perplexed look on his face. After walking over to the table and picking up the remote, he brought up the Tower's main screen and punched in a few keys.
"We've got trouble... in the Tower?" Cyborg responded skeptically.
Robin immediately took control of the situation, "Cyborg, hit the garage. Beast Boy, check the Tower grounds and the basement on your way. Raven, our rooms. Starfire, the roof. I'll get the sick bay and evidence room. Titans, go!"
Several minutes passed before the Titans re-gathered in the main operations room. Nobody had found anything, despite a thorough look through of each specific area. What they failed to notice, however, were the set of red eyes peering through the left wall.
"So, what do we do now?" Beast Boy questioned.
A confused Robin walked up to the table and answered, "I'm not really sure."
He walked up to the mainframe and punched in a few keys to pull up the schematics of the Tower. After a few seconds, he replied, "I don't have anything coming up on the diagnostic. Cyborg?"
"I'll check the software to make sure nothing's wrong," Cyborg replied while walking over to the panel on the right lower wall that housed the Titan's computer system.
The red eyes continued to stare at the Teen Titans, continually focusing and unfocusing the lenses embedded in its eyes. A voice came through its head telepathically, Good work. Mission has been accomplished. Return to base immediately. Its red eyes focused on last time on the Titans before melding back into the wall.
Robin's eyes caught something glimmer up on the spot where it had been. He thought he picked up a slight red dot appear on the wall for just a nanosecond before blinking again. He shook his head and chalked it up to the drugs he had been on only an hour prior.
"Robin, is there something that is out of the ordinary?" Starfire questioned, tapping him on the shoulder. Robin blocked her poking after a few times.
"I'm fine, Star," Robin dismissively replied. "I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was nothing."
A/N: So, what do you think? I have an overarching plot that I'm using, but each chapter may begin to stand alone. You know, like the actual show. I'm still not quite sure how I want to write this, so you'll have to be patient for me.
Did you like it? Think it's the next Hamlet? Write a review and tell me how bad my writing is!