New Guy Naga
Disclaimer: Anything that is in real life that I mention in my story, I don't own
P.S. Please review, and if you have anything negative to say, at least word it nicely. Also, expect to see a few Young Justice influences
Now on with the show...er, fanfiction. ;P
Chapter 3: Learning to Live Together
The day after Naga was offered a chance to join the Titans, the Tower was filled with nothing but awkwardness. Apparently, after hearing about Angel's maiming at the hands of the atmoskines (weather controler), all the villains, super-powered or not, had gone into hiding, which just made things more awkward because there was nothing to do. Starfire, in an attempt to show their new guest "the good will," convinced her friends to move him out of his holding cell and let him stay on the couch to "promote the friendship." Two days after Naga had moved in they decided to test him on their new and improved gymnasium and obstacle courses. First he was tested with the improved target drones Starfire would usually use. At first he was doing fine until the drones started coming out faster than he could blast them. Knowing that he would soon be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, he decided to play one of his trump cards. Flying into the air, he surrounded himself in a lightning bubble and then forced it in every direction, destroying the drones. Next came Beast Boy's Treadmill, only the treadmill had been outfitted with solid state holograms of various terrains, from flat grasslands to mountain peaks. They started out with the default conveyer belt, this, however, turned out to be too easy as the belt couldn't go as fast as Naga, who, with enough time could exceed speeds of 100 mph. Deciding to test his speed at the old stadium where Cyborg kicked atlas' golden ass into a crater, literally. Robin told Naga to go as fast as he could around the perimeter of the field in 7 minutes. At first Naga started running on his legs, but he soon needed more support for his speed, or else he would have collapsed over himself; so he started runing on all fours. Naga was almost done with only two minutes left in his run when Robin's communicator played its signature ringtone. "We have a massive fire in the warehouse district. Titans, and Naga, Go!"
To say That the ocean-side warehouses were on fire would have been a severe understatement. It looked like Trigon had made it back to Earth and released all of hell onto the buildings. Robin told everyone to find any people trapped inside the storage buildings. After about a half-hour Raven came up to her leader telling him that they had gotten just about everyone they could find. Naga eventually added that anyone that they may have missed had either escaped or was having their bones reduced to ashes. "OK, we got everyone still alive out, but dudes how are we going to stop that fire?" Beast Boy inquired as the fire was too big for any of the Titans to put out, but soon Robin got an idea. "Naga, can you absorb fire and heat?" Robin asked the trainee.
"Yeah but..."
"I need you to take in that fire," Robin said
"I don't think that that's such a good idea," Naga replied
"Don't argue just do it!" Robin screamed, not only to get his point across, but to try and be heard over the hell on earth.
"Would you listen to me!" Naga tried to explain
"Uh, dudes," Beast Boy nervously said as he tried to direct his friends attention to the blaze that was edging towards them.
"If you don't do something, this whole town will be a crater," Raven yelled.
"Fine!" Naga screamed.
You'll wish you had listened to me. Naga thought to himself.
Stupid humans, he heard Inferno say. (If you forget who Inferno is read the previous chapter).
Putting both arms out toward the fire, the pyromancer started to pull the fire into his very body. After about eight minutes the fire was completely gone, and Naga fell to his knees, exhausted from the effort. The five heroes, excluding Raven, started to rejoice in the averted crisis, when they heard a shriek that would have made the fire sound like a pillow going down a flight of stairs. Turning towards its source they saw Naga cradling both of his arms, with fire involuntary coming out his hands. "The temperature throughout his whole body is off the charts," Cyborg informed his comrades after scanning Naga with his cybernetic eye, even though they could already tell from the heat that was coming off of him.
They were eventually forced back when Naga created a circle of fire around himself. Centering all of the heat between his fangs, the crimson-eyed hero, created a fire ball that grew to the size of a bowling ball. Naga soon let loose the fire ball out a mile away from the bay, where even that far out they could see a mushroom cloud forming from the blast. After the explosion subsided Naga collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Putting the snake-fanged hero in an obsidian energy bowl, Raven and the rest of the Titans raced back to the Tower and put him in the infirmary. Soon the room was filled with Raven's healing blue energy, curing the severe burns on Naga's arms. "I've restored his arms as best I could, but he'll need them wrapped up," Raven told Cyborg, who started pulling out a box full of gauze.
Titans Tower
Naga soon woke up to the sound of a heart monitor and its classic 'beep, beep, beep' while also hearing muffled voices in the background.
"I think he's coming around!" Beast Boy informed the other Titans
"Is our new friend ok?" Starfire asked with concern in her voice.
"How is he doing Robin?" Raven asked the spikey haired leader.
"His vital signs seem normal, but that blast took a lot out of him," Robin informed his team.
"What's up?" was all Naga could say as he struggled to prop himself up on his elbows. He soon found that the black trenchcoat with the red lightning patterns he usually wore, was sitting on a nearby chair, and that his arms were covered in medical bandages.
"It's good to see you up man; you really gave us a scare," Cyborg said as he patted the young hero on back.
"How long have I been asleep?" Naga questioned.
"At least a day," Robin informed the bandaged teen.
"Dude, what happened to you? What was up with the huge explosion?" Beast Boy questioned
"Ugh. That's what I was trying to tell you guys. Whenever I absorb fire or heat, I have to expel it from my system. It varies with how much I absorb; small amounts I can hold in for a while, but when I absorb amounts like I just did, it'll hurt me instantly."
"I know, I had to heal the burns on your arms after we got back here." Raven informed him
"Thanks," Naga replied.
"Oh please forgive us friend for not being patient and for not listening?" Starfire said all together, while embracing Naga in a hug that would've turned a normal human's bones into fine powder.
"I'll... forgive-you... if-you-let-me-go." Naga tried to say in between gasps for air.
"C'mon Star, he just regained conciousness, don't crush him to death." Cyborg told Starfire while holding back a laugh.
"I apologize, please forgive me, friend Naga, for my outburst," Starfire said as she released him.
"It's okay," Naga reassured the alien princess as he put on his trench coat.
Since the warehouse incident, the Titans had been trying to figure out a schedule where they could all keep an eye on Naga.
Robin would watch him on Monday, Beast Boy on Tuesday, Starfire on Wednesday, Cyborg on Thursday, and Raven on Friday. It was decided that on Saturday and Sunday, whoever woke up last had to keep an eye on him.
Along with just making sure Naga stayed out of trouble, and seceretly evaluating him, the teenage heroes were trying to find out more about him, his powers, and his past, if he had one.
Monday
When Robin came into the living room, he found everyone at their usual seats at the breakfast table, with their usual breakfasts, with Naga sitting at one end of the table, with nothing but a peanutbutter sandwich and some strawberry juice.
Even if you weren't an empath like Raven, you could tell that the aura around the six teenagers was of extreme unease and pressure. Naga remained focused on his sandwich, even though he knew that all eyes were fixated on him. "Uh, Naga I'm just gonna say it; how do you get your hair like that?" Beast Boy, asked referring to Naga's afro. (Again if you're confused read the previous chapter). "It's always like this," Naga replied in a deadpan voice. "Sure," Cyborg sarcastically replied. All Naga did was roll his eyes at the remark.
Eventually everyone had left to do their own things: Starfire had dragged Raven off to "the mall of shopping," Cyborg went to an auto show downtown, with Bumblebee, and Beast Boy was at a new vegan-restaurant that just opened up. The only ones still in the Tower were Naga and Robin. Robin was busy trying to find something about Naga he may have overlooked, while Naga single-mindedly played Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden.
At about 1:53 pm, Raven and Starfire came home. What Robin saw when he got to the living room almost made him fall over himself. Somehow Starfire was able to persuade Raven to get make-overs, don't ask me how, but let's just say that the make-up wasn't an improvement, especially because most of it was pink, which was super noticable, even with her hood up, and while Robin was trying not to end up rolling on the ground laughing, Raven shot him one of those looks that said, "so much as grin, and I'm sending you to my dad."
Raven quickly floated to a bathroom to get the monster make-up off while Starfire sat with Robin, and they chastely kissed, while Naga slept soundly on the couch in his coat. Soon, Raven came in from her cleansing, to see the two love birds tending to their nest.
"If this is going to be a regular thing with you two, please do it somewhere none of us can just walk in on it," Raven mocked. Robin and Starfire quickly jumped away from each other and blushed uncontrollably with embarrasment. "Don't you guys think that it's a bit risky making out when someone is just a few feet away," referring to the still sleeping Naga.
"Friend Raven, there are some aspects of Earthly culture I will never understand, and one of them is the frowning upon of two people who are clearly in love and of them expressing it in an uh, please tell me if I use this term correctly, chaste manner, because I feel that this kind of behavior should be considered acceptable," Starfire told her best female friend.
"First of all Starfire, yes you are using 'chaste' in the correct context, and second people on Earth often see most forms of loving expression in public, even like what you were doing, as being rather, well, low-class," Raven said, trying to find a term that would not upset her sensitive, albeit somewhat naïve, extraterrestrial friend.
"Oh thank you friend, from now on me and Robin will only express our love in small amounts in public," Starfire said as she held Raven in one of her signature Tamaranien bearhugs.
"So Raven, how did Starfire get you to do make-overs," Robin teased as payback for abruptly interrupting them.
"Don't start boy blunder, those people were lucky I didn't send them into a void, which I was close to doing," Raven snapped, while making some herbal tea to calm herself down. Mental Note: destroy all malls later Raven thought to herself, while she grabbed one of her books.
About thirteen minutes later Beast Boy came home looking very pissed off, which for the changeling is not normal. Trudging over to the refrigerator, he grabbed a huge plate of tofu, sat on the floor in front of the TV, and furiously flipped through the channels.
"What's up?" Raven asked without looking up from her book, knowing that the explanation would come even if she hadn't asked.
"Some dude at the arcade beat my ass at every game," the green teen grumbled.
"Do not feel bad friend, I am sure you fought valiantly," Starfire said, trying to cheer up her little brother. After a while Beast Boy had cooled down and Naga eventually woke up.
When Naga got up, everyone immediately recoiled from him.
"What?" Naga asked not knowing what was the matter.
"Naga, how can we put this politely," Robin said trying to think of a nice way to say it.
"You stink, literally," Raven bluntly stated. The other three, while covering, their noses nodded in agreement.
"Whatever," Naga said as he went to get a shower and wash his clothes.
An hour later Cyborg came home with Bumblebee in tow. When she got comfortable on the couch, they told her about everything that had happened since Naga's attack.
"So where is he anyway," she asked wanting to meet the potential Titan. As if on cue, Naga had come in, still a little damp from his shower, with now clean clothes.
"Who's this?" he asked curious about the girl with wings on her back.
"Naga this is Bumblebee, the leader of Titans East," Robin told him.
"Good to meet you Naga," Bumblebee said as she extended her hand for him to shake. However, Naga's curly hair was starting to tickle his saddistic brain. As he shaked Bee's hand he sent electrical shocks all over her until smoke was coming out of her ears. Naga immediately started letting out all the laughter he could as Bumblebee slowly, and somewhat haphazardly, got to her feet.
"What was that all about?" the human/bee hybrid dumbfoundedly asked.
"That was the living joy buzzer," Naga said while still trying to control his laughter. Beast Boy, someone who always had to appreciate a good joke, said "you do have to admit it was pretty funny." Soon everyone else was glaring at Naga. Feeling compelled to make some sort of compensation Naga said, "I tell ya' what. I'll let you chase after me and I'll even give you a five second head start. Right here." Naga told her.
"One," he started counting.
Soon Bumblebee was flying at Naga with her hands on the B shaped stingers on her belt.
"Two," Naga continued; but as soon as Bee got to him, he jumped completely out of her field of vision, and while in the air said "Three." As soon as Bee got her composure and Naga touched the floor he said "four-five," and flew out the door, on a personal tornado.
"So what do you think Bee," Cyborg asked nervously.
"If you can get me to him, so I can give him a piece of my mind, I might give a good review," she said.
The reason Cyborg brought Bumblebee to the Tower was for more than just romance. As a branch group Titan leader she was required to observe potential heroes that would join a team.
"Seriously Bee," Cyborg said.
"He is powerful, and from what you've told me, he can do more than just hold his own in a fight, but also if what he did to Angel is anything like you said, he may be something of a liability," she stated.
Eventually Bumblebee flew back to Steel City, and Naga came out from hiding in the basement.
Tuesday
Everyone in the T-shaped fortress had left to do their own things, and to avoid the tension that seemed to follow Naga wherever he went. Everyone except for a specific green changeling. It was Beast Boy's day to keep an eye on Naga. The day seemed to be uneventful at first; Naga didn't seem like the type to get into a conversation, and any questions that were directed toward him were all answered with just "no."
Eventually Beast Boy suggested playing some video games.
Secretly Naga was a dedicated veteran gamer and would do anything it took to win a game, but he wasn't going to reveal it so easily, so he solemnly went with the suggestion.
To Beast Boy's surprise, Naga proved to be a master at Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, especially when using Deadpool, Dante, and Dormammu, which he reffered to "3 D-struction" (try and find out why ;) ).
Unfortunately, however, the games soon became boring, so Naga grabbed the newspaper, and started looking through for something interesting. Soon he came on something that immediately got his attention.
In bold, capital words the title said "REPTILE EXPO. Lovers of anything scaly and strange welcome to the show of a lifetime at the Jump City Convention Center ."
When Naga showed it to Beast Boy, the changeling nearly jumped out of his green skin.
"Dude we should totally go," Beast Boy yelled.
Naga also had a secret love of anything reptile.
Jump City Convention Center
The Reptile Expo at the Jump City Convention Center was even more fun than the paper had led to believe.
Beast Boy was changing from lizard to snake to turtle, and even crocodile and komodo dragon, while Naga spent most of his time handling various assortments of snakes. Since Naga's animal affinity was with snakes, he could easily handle the serpents without having to worry about his own safety. Beast Boy soon learned that although Naga couldn't speak to snakes, like how he could understand the speech of the animals he becomes, Naga could understand the feelings and emotions of the serpents.
"Snakes and I have a lot in common: we are both misunderstood, and feared because we are different." Naga said
"Is that why you stayed with us? Because we were different like you," Beast Boy asked; thinking that he was finally getting some answers out of the enigma.
Before Naga could answer, however, they heard a huge explosion from outside and were put into hero mode.
Outside they saw the familiar form of Adonis' red suit made of car parts, robbing a jewelry store.
While still not making themselves noticed, Beast Boy's communicator rang and the faces of the other four Titans appeared on the screen.
"Beast Boy what's going on," Robin asked.
"It's just that dumbass Adonis; don't worry guys, me and Naga can handle this loser," he reassured his teammates.
Closing the the communicator, Beast Boy and Naga jumped in front of the scarlet mech as he made his way out of the store.
"Well if it isn't the green bean, who's your loser friend," Adonis said.
"I'm the one who put Angel in physical therapy, idiot," Naga shot back.
"Please you can't take on the might of Adonis," the lanky teen said from inside his battle suit.
"Naga I think you can handle this on your own," Beast Boy said.
Soon Adonis was throwing chunks of debris at Naga, who either avoided them, stopped them with air, or just blasted them with lightning and/or fire. Naga could easily see the look of fear growing on the arrogant villains face, and then went onto the offensive.
Flying behind Adonis, Naga tore chunks of his armor off, revealing the armor's circuitry. With a single burst of lightning, Naga shorted out the suit's systems, turning Adonis into nothing but a panicking, swearing, living statue.
Titans Tower
When each Titan heard about the resurface of Adonis, they all went back to the Tower, waiting for the grass stain and the trainee.
When the monitor alerted the four to the missing two's presence, they were suprised to see the two unharmed.
In fact, not only were they not hurt, but Beast Boy was laughing his throat out, while Naga had his hands folded behind his head, with a smug grin on his face.
"Beast Boy did you see the look on Adonis' face when the police had to take him out of his suit to take him to jail?" Naga asked the changeling.
"Yes, and I got a picture of it with my communicator. This is definitely going on the Internet," Beast Boy said as he looked at the picture of a humiliated Adonis.
"I take it that things went well?" Robin asked
"Was there ever any doubt," Naga replied, which caused him to start laughing himself.
"I believe that friends Beast Boy and Naga are trying to say yes," Starfire said.
"Ok, but don't get complacent kid, that was one of the easy villains, there are a ones a lot stronger than Adonis out there, so always be on your toes," the blue robed empath toned in.
"I'll remember that," Naga said, noticing the small vein that started forming on the side of Raven's head.
Thanks a lot Beast Boy, you've made another you Raven thought.
"Cy do you think you can get any footage of the fight on screen? You guys gotta see how this really went down," Beast Boy told his teammates.
"I'll try," Cyborg answered.
Soon Cyborg was able to get a video taken by a security camera in the area.
The monitor then blarred with the video of Naga shutting down Adonis' suit, and of Adonis himself throwing out every swear that was ever thought of. At one point, Robin had to cover Starfire's ears so she wouldn't be tempted to use any of these words in public, or at all.
After the brief video ended, Cyborg and Beast Boy were both on their backs laughing uncontrollably.
"Ya' gotta admit, that is pretty funny," The cybernetic giant said as he got off the floor.
"I wish to congratulate our friend with a traditional Tamaranian folksong," Starfire announced.
Naga, who had never heard Starfire sing, was surprised to see all of the other Titans dogpile on the extraterrestrial.
"Do I wanna know what this is about?" Naga nervously asked.
"Lets just say that if we let Starfire sing, you'll need ear replacement surgery," Raven told him.
"Thanks for the heads up," Naga replied
As soon as Naga was asleep and the other five went into the halls, Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven wanted to know anything that Beast Boy might have found out.
"All I found out was that he likes reptiles and that he's good at video games. Wait I remember something else; he's sort of an empath, like Raven, but only with snake's, and that he feels comfortable with us because we're different like him," Beast Boy told his team.
"Well it's not much but it's something." Robin said.
"Oh and no one let him know that were collecting this information, if he finds out, he could lose faith in us and become a dangerous enemy," Batman's former apprentice added.
Wednesday
At around 6:30 am, Naga woke up to the sound of the TV on some show called "World of Fungus," and the perky redheaded alien girl known as Starfire, sitting on the other end of the circular sofa.
Starfire greeted Naga with a warm smile and said, "friend I hope you slept well. You have just woken up to enjoy my favorite program of the television, World of Fungus, today we are watching about the foot of athletes."
It took Naga a few minutes to get the sleep from his mind and to register that Starfire meant say athlete's foot.
"Starfire it's not even seven o'clock," Naga complained, still partly asleep.
"Yes, I wanted to get up as soon as possible for the fun day of activities I have planned for my new friend," Starfire said, oblivious that he was complaining about her getting him up so early.
"Don't you have someone else to hang out with, what about, what's her name, Raven," Naga said as he tried to get back to sleep before he became too awake.
"Friend Raven has her own plans," Starfire told him. Technically it wasn't lying; Raven did have her own plans, but it was only because today was Starfire's day in Naga's trial week to watch him.
"Fine, what do you have planned?" Naga asked, now too awake to get back to sleep.
"First I want to introduce you to one of my very best friends in the world, follow me," Starfire said as she literally dragged him down the hallway.
As soon as they came to her room, she had him close his eyes and wait outside. When she came out she said "you may open your eyes now."
When Naga opened his eyes, he immediately jumped up and was hanging upside down on the ceiling like a cat.
Cradled in Starfire's arms was some sort worm/caterpillar thing, that was as large as an Italian hoagie.
"What is that?" Naga asked in fear.
"This is Silkie, he is my bumgorf, and I am his k'norfka, or as you would say, his nanny," Starfire answered while tickling the little maggot.
Her explanation did not seem to get Naga to come down.
Perhaps he needs more information on Silkie, Starfire thought
"Silkie was once a mutant moth created by our enemy Killer Moth, but now he is our pet," she explained.
It seemed to work as Naga slowly came down, while eyeing the creature with some sort of contempt.
"What is the matter, you look at Silkie like a Zarnic looks at a Glorg," Starfire said.
"Nothing, it's just that I wasn't expecting to see something like Silkie in my lifetime," Naga said covering up his secret fear of insects and arachnids.
"Then let us begin our day at the mall of shopping," Starfire said, while Naga subtly made a gesture of blowing his brains out.
The day at the mall was not exactly as Starfire had anticipated. She started in the clothes department, hoping that he was more willing than Raven to try new things. He wasn't. Next she had hoped that some ice cream, or, as she put it "frozen lactation of earthly bovine," would make him smile; but as soon as he got the ice cream, he burned it into non-existance. To make matters worse, as they left the ice cream store, he slipped on some kid's spilt ice cream, and fell flat on his back, which caused almost everyone in the shop to break out in laughter, which made him extremely embarrassed. While she had tried to make the day as fun as possible, Naga just remained as dismal as Raven, if not more. The true reason behind his silence was because he felt that everyone in the mall was watching him, which was true.
They fear the power that you hold, they only know to shun those who are stronger than them, Inferno told him.
Then why do they accept the Titans, Marina challenged.
They only accept them because they save these humans worthless hides on a daily bases, Inferno spat back.
What do you say Frostbite? Marina asked the werewolf.
Please don't drag me into this, Frostbite quietly said.
At the sound of the arguing, Naga quickly grabbed the side of his head and said through thought, Don't start fighting you guys, you could blow our whole cover.
When Starfire saw Naga grab his head she asked, "Naga what is wrong with your head?"
Trying to think up a decent truth/lie, Naga told the alien, "it's just a headache, that's all."
Feeling that Naga needed the "pick me up," Starfire dragged him over to the mall's Starbucks. Naga decided to get a cappuccino, to be polite; in truth, coffee was not exactly something he was willing to try. When he took a sip, he found that it was bitter cold.
"Is there something wrong with your beverage," Starfire said as she pulled away from her mustard bottle.
"This is cold," Naga said as he used fire from his fingers to heat up his drink.
"Naga, I've been curious; how do you create fire? There has to be a reason," Starfire asked, hopeful to get some answers out of him.
Don't tell her, it wouldn't be a secret otherwise, hahaha, Airheart chuckled.
Stay out of this Airheart, this is our problem, Inferno shouted.
"I'll tell you, if you tell me how your powers function," Naga bargained.
"I believe what you are doing is what Raven referred to as the quid pro quo, very well. My powers are fueled by solar energy that I take in and store in my body, that is how my people can fly and produce starbolts, but my people must feel emotions to really use our abilities. Unbridled joy for flight; boundless confidence to access our strength; and righteous fury to create starbolts. And now for your explanation."
"The way I produce fire is complicated. You see, I'm able to manipulate the areas around me , but only the areas around me, namely my hands, feet, and even inside of me. I can't make fire in an area too far away. I can do this on any spot on me, like make fire from my knee, but it's much easier with my limbs."
"And how did this ability become a part of you?" Starfire questioned.
Now look what you've done! Inferno scolded.
"Starfire that's something I'd like to keep to myself for now," Naga told her.
Feeling that she had gotten enough information about Naga, she decided to drop the subject and to just enjoy the mall and its wonders.
Unfortunately the mall continued to do little to brighten Naga's spirit, so Starfire decided to take him to the carnival pier.
As they flew over the site of her mistaken arrest, she noticed a small gleam of mischief in Naga's blood red eyes.
"Naga, I have seen the look you have on your face in the faces of those who plan trouble, what are you thinking of doing?" Starfire firmly questioned.
"Nothing that will harm anyone, I'm just practicing my water manipulation." With these words Naga stopped flying and let himself drop to the water like a meteor.
Raise the Hydra? Airheart eagerly asked.
Raise the Hydra, Naga confirmed.
Starfire soon saw what Naga planned on doing.
Out of the bay rose five serpentine heads, formed out of sea water. With her alien eyes Starfire could see Naga inside the gargantua, controlling the heads using arm gestures. People were running in all different directions from the montrous heads, even though the construct was not being used to hurt anyone, mainly to frighten them. At one point, he even made one head race alongside a rollercoaster.
Oh this is just to good, humans are so pathetic, hahahahahahahahahaha! Airheart said with uncontrollable laughter.
For once I agree with you Airheart, concured Inferno.
You two are such children, Marina scolded.
Starfire frowned in disappointment that Naga would do something so childish, even if he did not mean harm. However, she saw that there were children who were not afraid and even some that ran up to the creature, despite their parents forbidding them not to; Naga also picked up on this and knew that these were the kinds of kids that were too stupid to understand the concept of fear. Knowing that he could not shake the children away he decided to put on a show. Clearing a hole through each head's throat, Naga sent jets of fire going into the air, creating a dazzling fire display that caught the attention of anyone and everyone in the area.
Deciding that enough was enough, Naga dropped the water construct and swam away from the pier and out to the sea.
When Starfire flew up to the water's surface, Naga came out of the water from the waist up.
"Why did you terrorize those people?" Starfire firmly asked, crossing her arms, trying to believe that this was the same Naga who had barely said a word at the mall.
"Let's just say, I have a rather twisted sense of humor, hmmhmmhmm," he said as he unsettlingly chuckled to himself.
"I am afraid that I do not approve of your kind of 'fun',"
She has good head on her shoulders, Marina nagged.
Naga simply rolled his eyes at both Starfire and Marina.
"Naga, I have noticed that you have a distaste of being around humans, you always look at them as if they were another species," Starfire told him.
"Starfire, you know how powerful I am. The humans fear that which is stronger, and they only accept you and the others because you save their lives on a daily basis," Naga said, echoing Inferno's words.
"Please friend, you must give people a chance to come to accept you," Starfire stated.
"Do you think that things wouldn't be different if you and the others hadn't stopped the Gordanian invasion! Do you think that people would accept a half-robot, or a green shapeshifter, I already know that the thought of Raven being accepted by people is out of the question!" Naga stated, now standing on top of the water's surface, his fangs formed in a snarl.
At this point, Starfire was starting to actually take in these words, and even considered the possibility of Naga being right. From what she had heard about Martian Manhunter, from Robin, is that his presence was met with opposition at first, and that the Titans East was met with criticism when they were filling in for her and the others when they were fighting the Brotherhood of Evil.
Afterwards, Naga turned around and ran back to the Tower, with Starfire following, thinking over his words.
"It may be hard accept, but sometimes the truth must come out," Naga said without turning around.
When they both got back to the island, Naga opted to stay outside to "just be alone."
Starfire floated into the living room to find the others on the couch with a frozen image of the hydra Naga had created.
"First thing's first, did you get any information about Naga?" Robin asked.
Starfire had told them about everything that had happened from the moment that Naga had awaken, up to the moment that he made the multiheaded water serpent.
"Well we learned something about his powers, did you learn anything else?" Raven asked.
Starfire then told them his views of humans, and how he believed that they (the Titans) were just in the right place at the right time.
When she got to the part of what he said about Raven, she noticed a small vein appear in the empath's forehead.
After hearing about Naga's statement, each hero was contemplating the seemingly strong possibility that he might be right.
Before they met each other, they were just viewed as freaks of nature and abominations; some people even called them "the forsaken." Until that fateful day when Starfire showed up, followed by the Goradanians.
Since then they were reffered to as "the Jewels of Jump."
But what if none of that had happened.
Cyborg would still be living in shame; Beast Boy would always be laughed at because he was green; Robin would grow as emotionless as his mentor; Starfire would still be a hostage; and Raven would end up fulfilling the prophecy, allowing Trigon to destroy the world, not to mention killing herself.
"Let us not dwell on these feelings, they are of what could have happened, but hasn't. Let us go to our rooms and forget the events of today," Starfire said after getting the courage to speak up.
They all nodded in agreement, and went to their rooms.
Thursday
To make a long story short, Naga and Cyborg had spent the entire morning in a gamestation robot video game war, with Beast Boy as commentator. The goal for the day was to play a total of 100 games, and whoever won at least 51 or more games would be crowned super video game champion of the wrold.
"Okay people, with each gaming gladiator tied at 50 wins each we now go into SUDDEN DEATH; the warrior that wins this match shall be, SUPER VIDEO GAME CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!" Beast Boy announced to Robin and Starfire. (Raven had retreated to her room before the contest had even started).
Okay, I can't lose, this is my game, Cyborg thought, trying to psych himself up.
"Okay, contestants are you ready? Cyborg?"
"Booyah," was all Cyborg said.
"Naga?"
Naga didn't speak, but instead grinned, revealing his serpentine fangs.
"Okay. Three...Two...One...FIGHT!"
Cyborg opened up with a barrage of punches and kicks, even landing a piledriver into the combo, sending Naga's character's health to below 60%.
"What do ya' say now?" Cyborg mocked, feeling that he was going to win.
"This," Naga answered, smashing the buttons on his controller with inhuman speed, unleashing every combo move possible. Immediately putting Cyborg's health in the red zone.
In a last ditch effort, Cyborg planned to use his beam attack to try and destroy Naga, but he's too slow and Naga grabs Cyborg's character, and knees him were the sun don't shine.
Cyborg's blue robot is left on the ground in tears while Naga's is doing a victory pose, much like their respective controller.
"And Naga is the SUPER VIDEO GAME CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!" Beast Boy announced, while Starfire was congratulating Naga and comforting Cyborg at the same time.
Friday
To say that Raven wasn't excited about having to watch Naga was a complete understatement. As soon as she and him were both awake, everyone else had cleared out, even if breakfast wasn't finished, not wanting to be caught up in a fight that might possibly ensue.
Most of the time Naga just kept sitting in front of a bucket of water, trying to make small water constructs with only his mind, while without moving his arms or legs. Unfortunately the mental strain was much stronger than he had anticipated, and whatever he made only lasted at least a minute, if he was lucky.
After about ten minutes of continuous headaches, he failed to make a water cube stand. This caused him enough aggrivation, that he threw the bucket across the room.
"Are you going to get that or what," Raven said from behind her book.
Naga reluctantly pulled up the water that mocked his inability, and walked over to the sink to throw it out. Grabbing the remote, Naga started flipping through channels, trying to find something that could take his mind off of practice. After about ten minutes of channel hopping he came to a station called GBS, with something called the "G. Gordon Godfrey Show," with some ranting guy.
Normally Naga wouldn't be interested in a show like this, but before he could switch, a picture of him robbing the bank came up.
"So, the Teen Titans have a new member, that's great, and this picture just screams that he can be trusted. Well if you ask me this kid isn't fit to do a nighttime patrol, let alone hold our lives in hand his hand..." The show was abruptly ended when Naga wedged the remote into the TV, with flames coming off of it.
"You know that you'll have to explain that to the others," Raven sarcastically said.
"C'mon, what do ya' think I was going to do?" Naga said.
"Change the channel," Raven replied.
"Raven, how do you stay calm when these pathetic excuses for sentient lifeforms, criticize you?" Naga questioned.
I think I like this kid, Rage said.
He's kind of a downer, Happy chimed in.
Even he knows that we're strange, Timid said, reffering to what Naga had told Starfire the other day.
"I meditate to control my anger," she answered.
"Can you teach me?" Naga asked, hoping that this could help him develop his own powers.
"Fine," Raven answered, feeling that this could be a way to get answers.
They soon found out that Naga's meditation skills left a lot to be desired. He could never sit still and always got impatient at the lack of activity.
He's hopeless, commented Rude.
From what we've observed, it seems he requires something to be in constant motion to stay focused, interesting, Knowledge said.
"This is pointless, I'll never get this crap!" Naga stated after his fifth failed attempt to attain inner peace.
"Just to be honest, I think Beast Boy could get this sooner than you could, no offense," Raven said.
"None taken," replied the crimson eyed teen.
"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. You don't seem to be the kind of person to sit still and do nothing, maybe a fight would be more beneficial."
"If I don't have to stay in one spot, I'll try anything."
Fortunately for them Robin and Starfire had returned from their date, and agreed to play referee and participant respectively, with only three rules: no killing, no maiming, and whoever gets knocked out is out.
Sparring turned out to be much more beneficial and Naga soon started forming snakes from stone and used them as extra arms to try and grab the Tameranean and the demoness, but they just blasted them apart.
Naga then decided to test out a little theory he had about his powers.
Creating scimitars out of ice, he charged toward Raven, in an attempt to break down her obsidian energy shields.
This however, was just a trick to test his theory.
Ducking behind Raven, and pulling back her hood, he placed the electrified tips of his fingers into the spot where the bottom of the head meets the base of the spine, and pulled back forming an electric cord.
Raven soon found herself unable to move, or even stay in the air on her own power.
Naga's theory was rather simple. After seeing how Kankuro used chakra cords on Crow and Black Ant from Naruto, Naga theorized he could do the same with electricity. And he was right.
However, he couldn't force Raven to form her black energy, as that required her own power to do, so he simply used her as a living shield against Starfire.
"TIME OUT!" Robin shouted, which caused Naga to release Raven.
"What's the matter," Naga smugly asked, while casually floating down to Titan leader.
"What was that?" Robin asked in annoyance.
"What? I simply took control of Raven's central nervous system, effectively turning her into my puppet," he stated matter-of-factly, but with a devious grin on his face.
"From now on Naga you should only use that if it's absolutely necessary, and only on criminals," Robin ordered.
Naga just rolled his eyes, and floated into the Tower.
With a sigh of exasperation Robin went into his room, turned on the computer monitor, and was greeted by the faces of the seven founding members of the Justice League: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern: John Stewart, Flash, and Hawkgirl.
"Hello Robin, it's been a while," Batman said in his own monotne.
"Yeah, did you get the information I sent you?"
"Yes and we've been watching Naga's 'interactions' with your group."
"What d'you think?"
"He's certaintly, unique," Wonder Woman said.
"Have you gotten any background information? Any clues to his past?" The Kryptonian asked.
"Unfortunately no, he seems to keep that under lock and key."
"I have been searching through intergalactic species records, like you requested, and there's no listings of him or anyone like him anywhere, so it's safe to assume that he's always been on Earth," Martian Manhunter said.
"Not to be the devil's advocate, but don't his powers unnerve anyone?" Hawkgirl said.
"Don't listen to Shayera, snakes just freak her out," Flash jokingly said.
"Seriously, you saw the video of what he did to that Angel girl, and what we just saw in his match against the empath."
Soon, however, the Tower's alarm began to flash, filling the T-shaped building with red light.
"Sorry got go," Robin said turning off the computer.
Downtown Jump City
Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Naga meet up with Beast Boy and Cyborg, to find a myriad of some of their greatest enemies, including: Johnny Rancid in his demonic form, Killer Moth, Kitten and Fang, Plasmus, and Cinderblock.
"Cyborg and Starfire, you take on Cinderblock and Plasmus, me and Beast Boy will stop Rancid and Killer Moth, and Raven and Naga, you two will bring down Kitten and Fang! Teen Titans Go!" Robin yelled, not giving Naga a chance to explain his arachnophobia.
Starfire threw Cyborg from the air, sending him crashing into the stone monster, while she launched a barrage of starbolts at the reject Blob. Beast Boy managed to shapeshift into one of the killer moths, essentially fighting fire with fire, with Robin racing through the air on his own motor cycle, chasing after the demon powered Rancid. Naga and Raven were having difficulties of their own; Raven was trying to focus on the multiple moths that Killer Moth had bioengineered, and Naga was mainly distracted by the spider headed villain that was able to sense the hero's fear, and decided to stay in close range so as to throw the snake empath into unnease. Fang even stuck Naga to the wall with his "super loogies," as Beast Boy reffered to them, and forced Naga to look into his many eyes, paralyzing him without actually paralyzing him.
"What's the matter, afraid of the spider!" Fang stated, as he stabbed the building Naga was connected to, with his legs.
Using his hatred of arachnids to fuel his actions, Naga unleashed his primal side and burned the goop away, and sent a multitude of fireballs at Fang.
Screaching at the top of his lungs, Naga flew at Fang and used his ice scimitars to cut of his rear spider legs, while smiling maliciously.
"Let's see what you fear," Naga said in a deep voice that was unlike his own.
"No one hurts Fang! You'll pay for that!" Kitten screamed as she flew down on her personal moth.
"That'll do perfectly!"
When Kitten was about to attack with her electro-whip when, as if possessed, her moth stopped in mid-air and, as if grabbed by an invisible hand, and was forced into the ground, with her on it.
"Kitten!" Fang screamed in horror at the thought of her ceasing to exist. He may have been a villain, but he really did care for his girlfriend. Which is why he was relieved to see her appear with just a few bruises. But when he tried to crawl on his last two spider legs, he was suddenly stopped, along with Kitten, by an unseen force, which caused everyone, heroes and villains alike, to turn towards them. They were then turned towards Naga, whose pupils had gotten so small that it seemed his eyes were made of rubies. He made a simple arm gesture that caused the couple's limbs to contort into positions that a human's limbs are not suppost to be in, causing them unbearable agony.
After Naga had gotten as much entertainment as he could out of the "really bad couple," he set his sights on Johnny Rancid, who tried to fly his bike as far away as possible.
Unfortunately for Rancid, Naga was faster and immediately caught and set the demon bike on fire.
Rancid wasn't sure of what he should do: jump off of his bike and perhaps fall to his death, or face the chance of death at the hands of the apparently insane child.
Before he could make a decision, Naga grabbed him by the neck in a death grip, lifted him off his bike, and brought him crashing into the ground, head first, putting him on the verge of death.
Kneeling over the downed villain, Naga whispered, "you are only alive because I let you live."
At this point even Cinderblock and Plasmus were staring in terror, and Killer Moth was trying to escape with his daughter and her boyfriend.
"You won't be getting away that easy!" Naga screamed.
"Naga stop!" Robin commanded.
As the five heroes came up to Naga, they noticed something odd.
Something was growing on him, literally.
It was pitch black and it was growing across his body.
It was even growing across his clothes, turning them the same shade as his skin was becomming.
Now, the fun was really going to start.
Author's Note: Hey
Just so you know, I made this chapter extra long to hold you over.
Please review. Thank you.