Chapter 2: Unlikely Allies

In a park of Jump City, a teenage girl stretched as she woke up under a tree. The girl was in a purple t-shirt and black jeans. She had red hair and hazel eyes. It was now dark outside as she slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position. The tree she sat under stirred even though there wasn't a breeze.

"I'm sorry but I need to go. I haven't been able to get food for three days."

The girl then thought an image of the tree straightening in her head and the tree then did as she thought and stopped moving. The girl's name was Clovis Springstan. She was seventeen-years-old and was homeless. She survived day to day by using her ability to make inanimate objects come to life to help her break into small stores and take food and any clothing she would need. She had been doing this for a few weeks since the foster home she stayed in burned down and the system lost track of her. She knew what she had been doing for weeks was wrong but it was all she could do to survive because without information she couldn't be taken into a foster home. Stores now a days had upgraded security systems so for the past three days she had been going hungry. She finally located a store with only an alarm and a basic lock so she was going to use a bear statue from the nearby yard statue store to help her. She stood up and adjusted her jeans, took a deep breath, and walked out of the park and across the street. She walked down the sidewalk towards the statue store and then made her way amongst the statues towards the one she picked out. When she found the bear statue, which went up to her thighs, she squatted down in front of it. She looked into its eyes and outstretched her hand. Her hand then emitted a soft green light that surrounded the statue.

The statue started to stir then it sat on its back legs and yawned. It then looked at Clovis and walked towards her then nuzzled her hand. It always surprised her how the statues, trees, and pictures she brought to life seemed to like her as she brought them to life.

"Come on friend, you're going to help me do something I don't want to do." Clovis said.

The bear replied with a quiet growl and followed Clovis through the other statues. As the two walked, Clovis didn't notice a Goth looking teen in an alley was watching her.

"I guess it's time to get the police. Such a shame, she's pretty and seems harmless."

He then backed literally into the wall and disappeared.

A police officer was sitting in his patrol car, drinking a bottle of water. He took a bite out of an orange slice when he almost choked on his orange from being startled by a tapping on his window. The tapping came from a Goth, teenage boy.

As soon as the officer rolled the window down, the teen spoke, "Officer hey officer! I think there is going to be a robbery about to take place around that corner."

The officer looked at the teen and said, "Look first kid what are you doing late out here at night?"

The teen answered, "Had to get some fresh air. Had a bad time at school. It kinda carried over after and I thought now would be the best time to get some air. But I think a robbery or burglary thing might be happening at one of those stores around the corner."

The officer didn't know how this teen could just know about a crime that hasn't been committed yet but he had to look into it anyways.

"I'll check it out kid but in the mean time you get back inside."

The teen smirked slightly and looked at the direction he mentioned before saying, "Righty oh officer sir. Oh yeah and don't worry I don't do drugs or drink."

The teen then walked in the direction he had pointed to and disappeared around the corner.

The police officer ate another orange slice and started up his car saying to himself, "Let's see what's going on then."

The kid did seem familiar but he couldn't remember where from. He pulled quietly to the corner and got out of the car to peer around it. The Goth kid was nowhere in sight and all he saw was the silhouette of some figure and a large animal walking down the sidewalk.

Clovis was walking back towards the store when she thought she heard a car start. For its size the bear statue was being surprisingly quiet. As the two got outside the store, Clovis walked up to the door. She looked in both directions before backing up and looking at the statue. She thought of it charging and breaking through the door and it did just that. The bear tilted its head and then backed up. It then lowered its head and charged the door, knocking it open and shattering the glass. An alarm sounded as Clovis ran quickly inside. As her eyes adjusted she made her way to an aisle where snack foods were and she started to put crackers and granola bars into her pockets when she heard a siren from a police car.

"Oh crap! Now I've screwed up." She quickly ran towards the entrance when all of a sudden her feet freeze to the ground and a binding feeling trapping her arms to her sides. A figure appeared in front of her, rising from the floor. He was a tall, Goth, teenage boy about her age.

"Well, well, well. Didn't think the robber would be an attractive person. Should have thought they were soft if they were taking anything but the cash in the register."

Being as easily scared as she could be, Clovis was shaking as she said, "I don't know who you are but you aren't a police officer so let me leave!"

The bear statue stood defensively in front of Clovis and growled when the stranger replied, "I can't just let someone go who has already broken in and robbed multiple places no matter how small the items stolen are."

Clovis then realized that this Goth was the vigilante she heard people talk about.

As she started to talk a squad car pulled up behind the Goth, "You're that person that keeps pulling pranks on people and putting robbers and other bad guys in jail. C'mon I'm not bad, I can't survive any other way."

A police officer stepped out and pointed a gun at the two shouting, "You two don't move!"

The Goth smiled slightly at Clovis explaining, "Sorry girl but no matter what your story is I can't do anything now."

With saying that, black forms came shooting up from the ground and wrapped around him. In only two seconds the forms shrank down to the ground and the Goth was gone. Clovis felt her arms and feet loosen as the statue still stood defensively.

She looked down at it and ordered, "Go back to your store."

The officer tilted his head in confusion with his gun still raised. The statue growled softly before turning and walking away in the direction of the statue store.

The police officer kept his eyes on the statue as he took out handcuffs and walked cautiously around the girl commanding, "Place your hands behind your back."

As the red headed girl did, he holstered his gun and cuffed her. The officer walked her towards his car, opened the back door, sat her down, and closed the door. Another car pulled up and another officer stepped out.

"I'm going to need to talk to a doctor when this is over."

The Goth teen peered from in a tree across in the park at the scene he just left.

"She must be homeless. That must be why she uses her power to break into stores. But if she's just taking food and clothes she can't be abusing her power. So think Quin. Should you hear her story? You can't stand seeing girls in trouble."

The police brought Clovis to one of their stations and put her in a holding cell. An African American man in a brown suit had just come in and had started asking her questions.

"Miss you were caught robbing a store and was stopped from what an officer said was the vigilante described from a previous incident involving a purse snatcher. Is that true?"

Clovis nodded as the man continued, "We have reasons to believe that you have a power to control statues. A bear statue that was seen by an officer walking down a sidewalk was found in a yard ornament store."

Clovis answered quietly, "No. I can make inanimate objects and pictures come to life. Tree's and other plants, statues, and pictures."

The man had pulled out a legal pad and started to write down what she answered. Clovis was just waiting for him to start the standard thing with throwing convictions in your face but that didn't happen.

Instead he asked her, "We have reasons now to believe that you are the one who has been robbing stores and taking just food and clothing. Why not take cash? You can say your name if you think you should."

Clovis froze for a minute before saying, "My name is Clovis Springstan. I'm just a seventeen-year-old girl trying to survive on my own on the streets, in parks, in abandoned buildings, anywhere. I don't like what I've been doing but it's all I can do that I can think of."

The man didn't say anything but, "Why are you living on the streets?"

Clovis hoped he wouldn't ask that because those memories hurt.

"My father died when I was fifteen and that caused my mother to go into a deep depressive state. She couldn't remember me at all except for my dad dying next to her. They put her into a mental care facility and I haven't seen her anymore than one or four times since two years ago."

"Were you in a foster home?" the man asked.

"Yeah but that burnt to the ground and the system lost me."

"Why didn't you look for another one?"

"When you have abilities or powers or whatever you want to call them, you are looked upon as being super hero or some freak. That's what I was called when I strung a guy up with a bunch of wildflowers when I was being attacked my second night alone in the park."

The man finished writing down what she had said while he replied, "I remember that. It was quite funny to see a grown man get beaten up by a little girl. Was that the first time you then committed a robbery?"

Clovis got a confused look on her face when she asked, "How do you know that? I had to get clothes cause the freak ripped a hole in my shirt when he tried to grab my arm while I tried to run."

The man smiled softly as he stood up, "It's my job. I'm a station psychiatrist for the department. It's my job to figure out details and get in someone's heads. My name is Dr. Reyson. There isn't much reason to be nervous when you're talking to me."

Clovis shakily brushed her hair out of her face and asked, "So then what do I need to worry about? Getting sent to a looney bin for not robbing the place for money and only robbing it for some Nutty Bars and Cracker Jacks?"

The man laughed as he adjusted his collar and said, "No. With what I learned so far the most they'll probably do is charge you with community service and send you to a center where they help teens with trouble. If you want I'm sure you could give me the name of the mental help facility that your mother is at."

Clovis let her head drop, "No thanks. Don't do that."

"I see. Well they're going to keep you here for the night and then I can't say what would happen tomorrow."

As Dr. Reyson left, Clovis walked shaken to the bunk in the cell. It still all came quickly and she felt so shaken because of the vigilante Goth boy. He came on as some guy who doesn't take things seriously but still felt like he wanted to help her even though he didn't.

"Strange just strange." Clovis yawned then fell asleep feeling more tired than she thought.

In an ally in between an all night burger joint and a dance club sat the tall form of the Goth boy Quin Santos. He was tall and had black hair with blue and red highlights. He had a black leather jacket, a white t-shirt, and black jeans completed by black boots. He had his hand outstretched and talking came from a ball of shadow. The voices stopped as the ball disappeared and Quin laid his head against one of the sidewalls.

"Hmm well that is a good enough of a sob story. Unfortunately I know what she feels like. My story is a bit different from hers still."

Quin then clutched his stomach. "Not hungry its just…gah I don't why this happens. Whatever it will pass. Time to go find that one girl um…Clovis."

He then stood up slowly and then walked out of the ally. He then turned where the nearest police station was, which was actually two blocks down. For some reason the pain in his stomach didn't go away as he walked down the sidewalk.

Quin got to the police station Precinct 4 and walked up to the wall. He traced his finger in a circle and the entire wall in the circle became wavy and distorted then finally disappeared. He looked through it and saw it was dark except around ten people working in the light of their desks. He finally located the holding cells but couldn't see anything or anyone in it. Quin then pulled his head back and waved his hand across the hole and it changed back to full wall as darkness covered it.

"I'm going to try something new." Quin said closing his eyes.

When his eyes were shut he put the image of the Clovis girl into his head. He imagined himself next to her. He figured if she was in here then he could teleport next to her like he could teleported through shadows into a close by area he wanted to be in. Quin hoped there would be just a little bit of shadow where ever she was so he could appear. He then felt every part of him lighten and then he opened his eyes.

He was in some holding cell in a hallway like area that only had two other cells and the Clovis girl was sleeping on her stomach with her hair covering her face. As she snored softly Quin thought of what he should do now.

"How should I wake her? No matter what she'll get scared. That would be funny but extremely not appropriate for the surroundings. Ah well, I'll just make this quick."

Quin took a breath and kicked the bunk Clovis was sleeping under. When she didn't wake up and only stirred he kicked again. He kicked once more and she pulled her head up. When she looked around and saw him she scrambled up and tucked herself as far into the bunk as she could.

Clovis shook as she said angrily, "What, what, what are you doing here you creep! Tell me why I shouldn't scream now!"

Quin leaned against a support beam in the cell and said, "I heard your story as you talked to this Dr. Reyson guy. Figured I finally made a wrong decision when putting someone away."

Clovis started to get furious now which was not like her usual calm or nervous demeanors.

"You made a wrong decision? You made a wrong decision?! If you paid any attention to a news cast saying the things that I took when I broke into the stores and if you were smart then maybe you could have figured out I might not be a bad guy!"

Quin quickly thought and turned to slide his hands to the side, causing a cluster of shadow to cover the wall that had the entrance to the cell hoping to sound proof the area.

Clovis continued, "How you listened in on my conversation with Dr. Reyson I don't know but you now know I've been trying to survive on my own! I even told you that as well when you had me frozen by whatever the heck that black stuff is. Do you know what it's like living out on the street? Are you just some nutty superhero, vigilante wannabe who is an outcast in school like Spiderman?"

"Hey for your information I do know what it's like to live on the streets. That's what I've been doing for as long as I have known about my powers. I never knew my parents so at least you know who yours were. If you think you would be a freak with your powers? Try having the ability to control shadows. People see me and think I'm some sort of demon cultist or something. I came to try and get you out of here because I started to feel guilty but if you don't want my help then maybe you should just spend your time in your community service and then in some crap teen house!"

Clovis kept herself from shouting back. She had a knack to tell if people were lying and this guy actually seemed sincere at what he was saying and if she wanted to know, he most likely had a worst past than she did. "Sorry man. I just, I'm not used to having this much attention going around and I am not used to being on the wrong side of a jail cell. What's your name?"

Clovis was now going back to her nervous wreck self. The tension between the two slowly ceased.

"It's Quin. Quin Santos."

Before he or Clovis could say anything a Quin's stomach all of a sudden felt like someone stabbed him with a knife. As he gasped in pain the shadows along the wall disappeared and multiple gunshots were heard. Clovis and Quin fell on their stomachs as more shots and loud thumps were heard.

"Hey what's going on?" Clovis shouted.

"Quiet!" Quin whispered harshly as the pain subsided in his stomach.

Helicopters were heard outside when all of a sudden the door to the room exploded in a stream of fire. The two ducked their heads down and when they lifted them back up they saw a strange creature engulfed in flames, melting everything in the area. Clovis was frozen in fear and didn't notice the shadows forming around her and Quin. All of a sudden she felt nauseous and was suddenly outside in the grass. Quin, who was staring at Precinct 4, which was on fire on the first floor, quickly pulled her up.

Clovis exclaimed, "That station is on fire! We have to help the people who are in there!"

Quin held her back saying, "Not while that, that freaky fire freak fest is in there!"

Clovis shoved him off saying, "I don't care! Not while those people are in there."

Clovis then took off with Quin shouting, "Then don't go in there alone!"

Quin followed Clovis back towards the building through a big hole in the wall. Fire sirens were now sounding in the air and helicopters were shining lights on the Precinct. The two entered the station and found the first floor was completely wrecked. Everything on the floor was destroyed and thrown all over the floor. A woman in a dress skirt was knocked unconscious next to a man in a police officer's outfit that was also unconscious.

Quin shouted over the blaze, "Go look for others! There were ten people in total on the first floor! Look for eight others."

Clovis nodded and made her way around the first floor trying to ignore the heat as best she could. Quin had summoned two shadows that wrapped around the two unconscious police workers. The two shadows were dragging the workers out of the building through the way Clovis and Quin came. Quin had already found another person and had summoned a shadow to drag him out to. Clovis stopped when she heard a very quiet moan and found a woman in regular clothes.

"Quin! I found someone!"

Clovis got on her knees and pushed aside a piece of a fiery desk off the woman. The woman was barely conscious as Clovis lifted her up and started to drag her back to the entrance. A shadow appeared out of nowhere and pulled the woman out of Clovis's arms.

Quin shouted, "That's four! Keep looking!" but it was barely audible to Clovis.

Her arms weren't covered by anything so now they were burning with an intense heat.

In Titan's tower everyone was asleep except for Brendan, Bret, and Raven. Raven was levitating and reading a book and Brendan and Bret were in their rooms doing what Raven had told them to do: meditate.

"How long did Raven tell us to do this? I think I'm getting tired." Bret wondered aloud, opening his eyes and yawning.

"I don't know. Raven only told us to concentrate and meditate. She's a strange cat but like Cyborg told us we should listen to her. What have you been focusing on? For me I just thought of a meditating with a Jedi and then I decided to be serious and just let my mind go blank."

Bret laughed and shoved his friend, "You're such a Star Wars nut I swear if you say another quote I'll burn your hair off. But me I first thought of a burger joint, then I thought of a rock concert, and finally I thought of a peaceful island in Hawaii…that somehow started to burn down from a volcano. I suck at meditating."

"You call me the weirdo. I don't think we both understand the concept of meditating. Someone better pay her if she has to help us."

"You have a notch on your powers Brendan much better than I do. I get just these random spurts of energy and can't sit still. Think our reason for losing control might just be adrenaline and stress?"

Brendan thought, "Well I say that is ninety-seven percent of the reason."

Brendan looked out the large windows and noticed an orange glow and pillar of gray and black rising from it.

"Hey Bret look I think that's a fire over there."

"I swear I didn't start that one. Still should we tell the others?"

Brendan shook his head replying, "Robin said that the T-Communicators will go off along with a loud siren and red flashing lights."

Bret stood up and walked towards his bunk saying, "Whatever you say wise guru but I think I'm going to hit the sack."

Brendan stood up and followed him. Both were tired and they didn't need to even talk to tell that they felt like they've been meditating long enough. Bret climbed onto the top bunk and Brendan the bottom. Both were asleep within a few minutes wondering about the fire not knowing that soon they would be awakened with the rest of the Titan's.

Thirty minutes had passed and Clovis and Quin had managed to rescue seven of the ten people they knew about. Fire and EMS had arrived twenty minutes before. Clovis and Quin were finally pulled back by two firemen and sat down where medics were checking them. Quin didn't have much but singe marks all along his clothes with light burns on his face but Clovis had more severe burns on her arms and face because she couldn't shield herself like Quin could with his jacket. The firemen had found and managed to pull the rest of the people out of the first floor. All of the officers and other workers had severe burns, dehydration, and multiple inner and outer damages to their bodies. According to officers who were on the scene and who worked there, no one would be on the top floors. As Clovis was being treated she was looking out at the fire and the firemen putting it out she noticed something leaving the area. When she looked closer it was the giant flame creature from earlier. It all of a sudden turned and faced directly at her and Quin before starting to run towards them. When she started to scream and point, multiple officers turned and saw the creature. The police pulled out their guns and opened up only to be bypassed and knocked out of the way. She all of a sudden felt nauseous again and the world became black for a few seconds when suddenly she was sitting in the middle of a street. Quin pulled her up and Clovis shouted in pain because of her arms.

"Give me some warning or I'm going to puke on you next time!"

Quin replied, "You lasted longer than I did but that thing is still coming! I can't teleport us very far even if shadows are all over the place. Let's go!"

Clovis saw where he was looking and what Quin said was correct. That thing started to double time towards the two and it just ran past the medics, officers, and firemen, knocking any away that got in its way. Quin grabbed Clovis by her forearm and started pulling her behind him. Clovis bit her lip and shook his hand off as she ran behind Quin. The two came up at the edge of the park and kept running but the creature kept closing the distance second by second. Clovis turned her head and saw the thing was throwing fireballs at them. One blew a hole in the road a few feet behind her and another blew up a car a few feet in front of Quin, which caused them both to be knocked to the ground. The temperature increased quickly but the ground didn't shake hardly at all. As the heat rose Clovis looked and had to shield her eyes from the temperature around them. The creature towered over her and a groggy Quin when all of a sudden a black shrouded piece of sidewalk flew from the right and a pillar of earth erupted from the ground on the left. The two attacks passed right through the creature and collided in the middle of it. The creature just stood there and looked up and down the street. Clovis took the opportunity to lift up Quin and pull him way to safety. The living fireball turned towards the two again but then a green beam shot into the ground and exploded. Clovis took the time to look at their attacker and took its image into her mind.

It stood over seven feet tall and flames sparked out from everywhere on its body. It looked more like a golem from a book she read years ago but made completely out of a scarlet colored fire. Big, muscular, and strong but the rocks through the monster showed that it was made purely out of flame. When she looked at where the monster was walking now, it was towards seven teenagers.

Bret and Brendan had just fallen asleep when an alarm sounded and bright red lights started to flash on and off.

"What's going on here?" Bret muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"It's that Titan's alarm thing. C'mon, let's see what's going on." Brendan said getting out of his bunk.

Bret stirred and finally rolled off the top, forgetting where he was, and falling to the floor face first. Brendan pulled his friend up and the two walked out of their room and almost got knocked over by Beast Boy.

"Hey dudes something's going on. Follow me!"

Bret and Brendan followed. When the three got to the main area, Robin was at the big monitor typing something on a keyboard, which pulled up a giant map. Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire were looking at the map that was pulled up as the three joined them.

"What's going on?" Beast Boy asked.

"Robin told us that a creature made of fire was seen heading to a nearby police station." Starfire answered.

"Hey wait a second, Brendan and I saw an orange glow across the city. I think that might BE the police station!" Bret almost shouted.

Robin said, "Guys look at this" and pulled up a live video. The surroundings in the video looked like that of a police station and the creature was setting the place on fire. Police officers were firing their pistols at the creature that retaliated by throwing fiery objects at them and physically knocking them away. Raven seemed to tense up as she squinted at the video. The whole station was now on fire as the creature turned around and shot a fireball through a door down a hallway.

"I've seen enough. Titans let's move!"

Robin then turned and ran past them followed by Starfire, then Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. Beast Boy motioned for Bret and Brendan to follow them and the two complied. Brendan and Bret were with Cyborg again in his car as Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy flew in the sky behind Robin on his motorcycle.

Robin's voiced said on Cyborg's car communicator, "Guys my map is showing three forms, one large form and two smaller forms a block away. Stop here and let's intercept whatever is coming."

After Cyborg and Robin pulled over, the seven ran and flew towards the end of the block. Everyone rounded the corner and ducked as they heard a car blow up. When the seven looked forward they saw a seven-foot tall creature made out of fire towering over two rising figures, one a girl in a purple t-shirt and black jeans and a same aged Goth boy. Bret raised his fists up quickly and moved them in a diagonal direction to his right as Raven held her hands out. They encased in their similar dark shroud and then a chunk of concrete flew up from the ground. A pillar of rock shot up from Bret and the concrete block from Raven shot towards the creature but passed right through it and collided in the direct center of it. The creature didn't even flinch. The girl pulled up the boy and the two made their way across the street as the creature looked back at them and started towards them again. Starfire threw a star bolt at the creature, blowing up the ground in front of it. The monster stared directly at the Titans and then started walking towards them. Cyborg's arm changed into cannon of sorts, Beast Boy changed into a grizzly bear, Starfire's eyes glowed green and green orbs surrounded her hand, Raven's hands were surrounded in black, Robin whipped out his staff, and Bret and Brendan took fighting stances.

The creature started walking towards the Titans.

Starfire grunted and threw star bolts while Cyborg shouted, "Booya!" then fired his sonic cannon.

Cyborg's blast went through the creature and blew a hole in the ground and Starfire's star bolt halted the creature with a rapid succession of small explosions at its feet. Beast Boy roared as the grizzly and charged the creature only to be knocked backwards with one swift blow. As Beast Boy reverted back to normal he sat up and groaned. All of a sudden he stood up and started running around in circles batting at his hair, which had caught on fire from the hit. Robin reached for his belt and pulled out three disks before he threw them. They exploded in an icy storm and the monster stood frozen in a block of ice. It quickly melted through the ice because the heat of his form was so intense.

"Man this thing is made of just fire! Our attacks are going through it." Cyborg exclaimed, pointing his cannon again.

"Well let's start using fire's weakness now: water." Brendan shouted.

He then made a black chain appear and then threw it around a fire hydrant. He thought of it constricting around the hydrant and throwing it to the side. The chains did just that and water spouted into the air giving Bret a free opening to control the water. Bret ran forward and swung his fists in a haymaker towards the fire creature. The stream shot towards the target with a large amount of force halting the creature and causing a huge rise of steam. The creature seemed to shrink slightly but kept on pressing forward. It then all of a sudden threw its hands forward causing a stream of fire to erupt towards Bret.

Bret shouted, "Holy crap!" and erected a dome of asphalt around him.

The fire stream blew through the dome of rock, which caused shrapnel to fly in a small radius.

"Bret!" Brendan shouted.

The sound of someone throwing up was heard a few feet behind Brendan and when he turned around there was Bret holding himself up against a car. The Titans and even the creature seemed confused at what just happened but Bret was most confused. Shadows seemed to creep along the ground and wrap around the creature. It started to struggle against the shadows as the Titans stared at it.

"Don't just stand there, do something. I can't hold it for long!" a dazed voice ordered.

The Titans looked at where it came from: the Goth boy.

Raven then said, "That's what I felt, I felt a strong ability. The guy can control shadows."

The red haired girl shouted nervously, "C'mon! That thing is breaking loose. Please do something!"

Starfire shouted and asked, "Bret, I have an idea. Can you make a hole and fill it with water? We can then fill it with water and extinguish the burning beast."

Robin threw four more of those ice disk freezing the creature when Bret answered slowly, "I, I don't know. I don't want to lose it."

Raven then said, "I understand what you're doing. I'll take care of the hole."

Raven then faced in the direction and chanted, "Azerath, Metreon, Zinthos!"

A black light started to split and make a circle in the street about eight-feet in wide and deep. Brendan shook Bret making him come out of his slight shock. Bret then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then swung his arms like a buzz saw to the right then whipped them back down towards the hole that Raven made. The water from the fire hydrant spun and then started pumping forcefully into the hole. The creature started to thrash more violently when an orange beam shot from out of nowhere and wrapped around the thrashing creature.

A New Zealand accent was heard saying, "I saw fire and heard explosions so I figured you all were here."

Argent hovered in the air holding the creature with her beams when it all of a sudden faced her and spit a small fireball.

Brendan shouted, "Look out!" and conjured chains, throwing them around Argent's legs and pulling down.

The fireball flew passed Argent's head as she was just barely pulled down in time by Brendan but he had pulled a little too hard.

Argent's beam dissipated as she fell. Brendan quickly ran under her and caught her, while falling to the ground himself and cushioning her fall, as the creature started to shoot another stream of fire. Bret started to swing his hands into little, quick chops towards the creature so he had figured that since the creature was made of pure fire he was going to forcefully separate it. As Bret swung faster and faster the creature started to dissipate slowly until he then thought water and pushed both his hands up. The fire from the creature free floated and slowly started coming together as the water engulfed it in the air before free falling back into the hole.

"Okay breathe Bret, breath." Bret thought as he bent over taking deep breaths.

Robin and Cyborg walked towards the hole of water, scanning and poking in it.

"Yo Robin there doesn't seem to be any sign of that thing now." Cyborg pointed out.

Robin nodded in agreement saying, "Looks like Bret extinguished that creature. We should go check on those two and thank that guy for his help."

Starfire flew over to the two strangers as the girl helped up the other.

"Hello strangers, are you two okay and may I ask what are your names?"

The two looked at the strange and hyperactive girl who was hovering in the middle of the air waiting for an answer. Multiple other teens flew and walked up besides Starfire.

"If you want then let me introduce my friends." Starfire pointed to Robin, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Argent, Brendan, and Bret. "This is Robin, our friend who looks like a robot is Cyborg, my hooded friend is called Raven, our green skinned friend is Beast Boy, and our friend in the dark make-up is Argent. We are the Teen Titans and these two are our newer friends and members. That is Brendan and this is Bret."

Bret elbowed Brendan lightly and whispered, "Starfire must not have much problems making friends."

Brendan whispered back in agreement, "Probably not. Hey what do the Titans do about the collateral damage like the blown up cars and the destroyed city property?"

Bret shrugged and responded, "That my friend is the mystery I guess."

Sirens were heard as police cars pulled up.

"I better go tell them we got that monster."

As Robin walked off he said, "Good job guys and thanks for the extra help Argent. Brendan, Bret you two did great for your first monster, alien, or freak of nature. Who knows what that thing is."

"So friends, what are your names?" Starfire asked eagerly while bouncing in the air."

The red haired girl finally spoke up saying nervously, "M-m-my name is Clovis Springstan."

The Goth boy whom Clovis was holding up said, "And my name is Quin Santos."

Robin returned with an African American man, who was in a brown suit, following him. Clovis recognized the man as Dr. Reyson.

"Oh crap I hope I'm not in trouble." Clovis squeaked frightened, "I just know it!"

All the Titans but Raven looked at each other in confusion. Raven was looking at Quin because she felt his power but it was in control unlike Brendan and Bret's.

"Titan's our friend over here is named Clovis. She is apparently that burglar I told you all about. That police station that we saw on fire was holding her after an officer captured her. That officer apparently had said that he had the help of our other friend in the process. I guess that he somehow came across Clovis outside the station and when the station was on fire, they preceded to pull those officers and workers out of the building until firemen and medical personal got there. That explains the bandages on Clovis's arms and face. Dr. Reyson then said that he arrived as the flame creature was chasing after someone whom medics said were our two friends."

The man, Dr. Reyson, asked, "Clovis, the officers and firemen are grateful for you and this young man's help. Now who is he?"

"I'm Quin Santos. I'm that proclaimed vigilante and prankster everyone has been talking about." Quin answered almost cockily.

When Dr. Reyson had explained what Clovis had told him about why she was robbing the stores and her being homeless, Robin had the Titans vote on whether or not to let her stay the rest of the night at the tower until the next day when Dr. Reyson got everything down for her to stay at a teen home and fulfill her community service. Quin was convinced by Clovis and Starfire to stay the night as well since he told his story of also being on the streets. Raven was looking around the area where the creature had been, using her powers to try and track what it was and where it came from while everything was being worked out but she had no luck.

She walked over to Robin after pulling off her hood and said, "Robin I can't tell you anything more than what we saw. It was just some creature made completely out of fire and seemed to not be alien. I can't tell you where it came from or how it was made, except possibly by a ritual. I'll have to look more into that."

"Okay Raven. Let's all get back to the tower and we can try to get more info tomorrow. Clovis you and Quin will ride back with Cyborg, Bret, and Brendan. Argent if you want you're welcome to stay to."

Argent shook her head, "Thanks but no thanks Robin. I'm glad I could help."

She then turned to Brendan and said gratefully, "Thanks again for keeping me from getting my head blown off by a fireball."

Brendan replied, "No problem" as she jumped into the air and flew off.

"Okay Titans let's get back home, make our guest's welcome, and get some rest."

The Titans all nodded in agreement and made their way to vehicles or flew into the air and headed back to Titan's Tower. Clovis and Quin followed behind the two fifteen-year old teens and the big half man, half robot teenager.

Clovis was sitting in the back of the half robot teen Cyborg's car, in between Quin and the curly headed teen Bret, who Quin had saved from a fireball from the creature. The other teen Brendan was sitting shotgun next to Cyborg.

"So uh…I'm not one for conversation starting so well I'm Bret and that's my best friend Brendan and that's Cyborg. He's pretty cool in the time we've known him."

Clovis just nodded nervously as Quin followed up saying, "She's a nervous one. You wouldn't think it when she was yelling at me for helping a police officer catch her."

Clovis elbowed him in the ribcage but ended up letting a small "Ouch" escape her mouth. As she rubbed the bandages on her left arm Cyborg looked in his rearview mirror.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing. Just some burns I got." Clovis answered quietly.

"C'mon give yourself some credit. You should get a medal or something cause you were helping pull people out of that fire. I should to but I only followed you in because you weren't going to wait around for fireman people."

Cyborg looked back towards the road as they seemed to be going straight towards the beach when part of the street opened up and they followed Robin down through the hole.

"When we get back, I'm sure our friend Raven can help you out. She knows her way around healing."

If Cyborg meant the girl who was in the hooded cape and was using some sort of magic to try and find where the monster came from, then Clovis felt her stomach do flips because she gave her the creeps, even though Raven was younger than her.

Bret leaned forward and looked at Quin asking, "By the way did you save me from a black and crispy death? I remember closing my eyes as I raised a barrier when next thing I know I'm leaning against a car hurling."

Quin laughed, "Yeah that was me. I did the same thing to when I first teleported through shadows. That's what I do: control shadows. Why do you think I did all my vigilante stuff at night? That's when there are more shadows around."

Bret leaned back saying, "Okay then thanks for that."

He then kicked Brendan's seat. "This guy can't do anything without me."

"You'll be hanging feet first from the ceiling in the morning."

Bret, Brendan, and Quin laughed and Cyborg chuckled as the car all of a sudden came out of the tunnel they had been in and arrived in a gray garage with all sorts of technology in it.