Break Out
The New Teen Titans were slowly falling into a rhythm. They had learned to partially cooperate. They trained together, did their respective chores (with many complaints), put the arguing to a minimum and successfully caught two villains. And yes some of them had chosen names.
Russell had created a suit for himself. It made him look sort of like a cyborg but thankfully the suit was removable. The outfit contained tons of different functions and capabilities. Russell had named himself (after much debate) CyberLink.
Ror'i's outfit didn't exactly float Bruce's boat. He found it much too revealing. She wore a tight black halter top that showed much too much cleavage. It also happened to be a belly top. Her skirt was short and the bottom was cut jaggedly. She had black leather wrist cuffs and to top it all off, she had knee high black high heel boots. Inspired by the tattoo on her stomach, she was now named Fire Wing.
Mar'i's outfit resembled that of Starfire, the original titan. Instead of purple hers was a light blue and she didn't have the arm guards. She had derived her name from that of Starfire (Her idol) and Nightwing. The end result had been Night Star. The others found it rather funny how Ror'i and Mar'i's names seemed to both be taken from Starfire and Nightwing.
Bruce's outfit was blue and black and resembled that of Robin. His name had not been of his choosing. Lucky had made a joke and called him wonder boy and somehow the entire team had started calling him that. Some reporters heard the team call him that and he had officially become Wonder Boy.
Carolanne had designed her outfit completely from scratch. It had taken her forever but she was extremely pleased with the result. The costume was a jumpsuit, almost like a t-shirt connected to a pair of shorts, tights and sneakers. The jumpsuit was purple with a green strip running down each side. Her tights were green and purple strips and her sneakers were purple. There was also a green C on her shirt because she had named herself Changeling.
Mark simply wore a black hood and cape giving him the look of the Grim Reaper. Carolanne and Lucky had named him Dark Hawk. The reasoning behind this was the fact that he usually changed into a hawk to travel places and he was a fan of dark things.
Brenden didn't have a specified costume or name because he thought it was lame. Mar'i had begged him but he had said no because if he dressed like a dork he would never be able to pick up any hot chicks.
Evan had styled his costume in the manner of Kid Flash. He reversed the colours and changed the symbol on the front. Still some people asked if he was Kid Flash, seeming to forget that Kid Flash would now be a full grown man. His name was Bolt.
Lucky was the person that took the longest to settle. Originally she had named herself Charm. After the successful capture of the two villains she had dropped the name and changed her outfit. She had changed her outfit again not long after the other change. She currently went by her real name, saying her name was so stupid it sounded like a codename. Her current costume consisted of pink suede boots, a pink halter belly top with sleeves on the side of her arms. Carolanne thought they were cute while Bruce found her sleeves completely impractical since they served no purpose except to be decorative. Her skirt was hard to explain. It was pink and one side was slightly longer because the fabric was slightly bunched up and tumbled down her leg. She also had a black belt and a pink flower fastened to her left wrist.
The group had also discovered more of the abilities of their team mates. Russell used his extreme knowledge of technology and his superior ability of building electronic devices to construct his outfit which gave him an arsenal of weapons.
Bruce used his martial arts skills and a handful of gadgets from Russell to attack while his skin acted as the perfect defence.
The team discovered that Mark could not only heal people and create black discs but transform into any animal that could fly and he could lift and move any human or object. He could use his black discs to transport people which came in handy. The others still had a suspicion that Mark had other abilities as well but he wouldn't discuss his abilities with them.
Brenden and Evan had never shown any abilities. Carolanne kept saying their abilities would be revealed but some of them doubted that. They often made jokes that Evan's ability was his extreme misfortune. Everything he did seemed to backfire.
Lucky, Mar'i, Carolanne and Ror'i hadn't shown any new abilities.
They had names, costumes and a reputation. They were officially dubbed The New Teen Titans. Their parents had called in a frenzy but Bruce had talked them into letting them be titans. Things were finally moving in the right direction.
It was warm night at the end of June and a warm breeze ruffled the leaves on the nearby trees. The cloudless sky showed a bright crescent moon and brilliant stars. The occupants of Jump city couldn't see the stars because of the bright city lights but the three teenagers on the outskirts of town were certainly admiring them.
Carolanne or Changeling was lying down in the long grass, twirling a flower in her fingers as she surveyed the stars. It was a truly beautiful night.
Evan a.k.a. Bolt was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest. He was uneasy but because he was supposed to be a hero he tried to keep it hidden.
Mar'i "Night Star" Grayson was sitting on a low wall with her feet swinging. He eyes were closed as she drank in the scent of wild flowers.
The three of them were stationed at the Jump City Penitentiary for Highly Dangerous Criminals which pretty much meant the prison for super villains. On slow nights like tonight a few of the titans would hang around to make sure there weren't any break outs.
Tonight seemed like any other quiet night. They could see the bright lights of the close by city and behind them stood the huge impenetrable fortress. There were only two prisoners which meant that it was very easy for the guards to keep an eye on them but just in case the titans sat outside.
Carolanne could feel herself drifting off. She wanted nothing more than to be curled up in her warm bed at the tower. Her eyes fluttered close and she drifted into slumber.
Carolanne awoke to a blaring siren and flashing lights.
"What's going on?" She shouted at her comrades.
"Break Out!" Evan hollered back. Carolanne felt her stomach tighten. Oh no. This wasn't supposed to happen. She could see the guards being flung aside as The Axeman charged through them all. Mar'i was already flying towards him her eyes glowing blue. Starbolts flew from her hands in an attempt to keep him at bay.
Carolanne made to run forward but realised that Evan wasn't following her.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling the others. We need back up." Carolanne felt sick. She didn't want the others to see them like this. She didn't want to disappoint them. Especially not Bruce...
"No! We don't help!"
"Yes we do!"
"No we don't! We can do this!"
"We can't do th-" Before he could finish his sentence, Evan was sent flying by the large pink blob that was their first capture. Caroalnne's eyes widened as she looked between her two friends. Evan was getting attacked by the blob and Mar'i was trying her best to deal with the Axeman. How could they both have escaped? Heart pounding she reached for her communicator. There was no way the three of them could deal with these two.
"Look out!" Evan flattened her to the ground. He was yanked of her and sent cascading into the low wall. He groaned and Carolanne felt her head spinning. She had to help them. But where was her communicator? It had to be here!
Mar'i screamed as the Axeman sliced her with his humongous axe. She hit the ground clutching her stomach.
"No!" Carolanne shrieked running over to her fallen team mate. There was blood pooling everywhere. She heard Evan shouting and whipped around in time to see him jumping in between her and the deadly axe. She watched in horror as he was hit and he crumpled to the ground. The tears burned her eyes and she stumbled over.
"I don't think so Girlie." The Axeman said grabbing her hair. She whimpered and tried to pull herself free but she couldn't. She completely forgot about her powers as he drove the handle of his axe into her head and knocked her unconscious.
Bright light nearly blinded Carolanne as she awoke. Her head throbbed as she tried to figure out what had happened.
The memories assaulted her mind at a violent pace. She remembered everything. It was all her fault. She fell asleep, then she wouldn't let Evan call for help and then she didn't even try and fight. And Evan, oh Evan. He had taken the hit for her. And Mar'i had been hurt as well. Where were they? Were they alright? The tears started to spill out of her eyes before she could try and stop them.
"Well the good news is that you seem to possess the ability to heal yourself and that none of you are dead. The bad news is that you let two villains escape." Russell's harsh voice cut through her.
"What were you thinking? Why the hell didn't you call us Carrie? Did you honestly think you could do it by yourself? You are so stupid sometimes!" She flinched and tried to staunch the flow of tears but they kept coming faster and faster.
"What the hell Carolanne! You were supposed to stop a break out! Not just sit back and let it happen!"
"Hey, stop screaming at her. It wasn't her fault." Both of them turned to stare at Evan who was struggling to sit up.
"It was an accident. We tried and anyway it was me who didn't call. Carrie told me too but I didn't. I...I thought we could take them by ourselves. Blame me. Not her." His eyes were pointed downward and Carolanne couldn't believe her ears. Was...was Evan taking the blame for her? Why would he do that?
"Fine Evan. We'll talk to you later. But still you were leader Carolanne. You shoulda made sure. Oh and you can leave now." Russell said still glaring at her. She ran to her room and cried. It was all her fault.
That night she hovered outside the infirmary as they all shouted at Evan.
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
"Are you completely stupid?!"
"You don't even have any powers! You never could have stopped anything!"
"Moron!"
"Honestly Evan you should be kicked out for this." Carolanne couldn't listen to anymore. Why was Evan doing this? She knew she had to come forward but she was scared. What if they kicked her out?
The next day Carolanne went to visit Evan. She had to talk to him. Thankfully no one else was there. Mar'i had recovered and no one would even look at Evan now.
"Hello Evan." She saw the relief in his eyes when he realised it wasn't one of the others.
"Hey Carrie." She sat down at the end of his bed and looked straight at him.
"Why Evan? Why did you take the blame for me?" A dark look filled his eyes.
"Just drop it."
"No. Tell me." He sighed.
"It's just that no one really wants me on the team anyway. I mean they all think I'm useless and a bad luck magnet. They don't need me. But you, you have amazing potential. You made one mistake and I don't want you to lose all this just because of this. If I get kicked out it won't matter but you bring so much to the team. You deserve to be a part of this. And you're my friend. This was all your idea. I'd hate to see you lose it." Carolanne wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that they all loved having him on the team but she knew that wasn't true. He was right about what they thought of him. She also wanted to say sorry and thank you but her heart hurt too much to look at him.
He was willing to sacrifice everything. Why? Why was he so nice to her? It wasn't like he liked her in a romantic way. The whole world knew he was head over heels for Ror'i. So why was being so wonderful? They were friends yes but this was so much.
She couldn't even look at him anymore. The tears were burning her eyes and she ran to her room. It was all too much for her to handle. Evan called after her but she didn't look back.
"Friend Carolanne, are you there?" Mar'i's voice sounded through her door. Carolanne wiped quickly at her tears and let Mar'i in.
"Hey Mar'i. What's up?"
"It is friend Evan. Is he doing the telling of the truth? Did he really not call the rest of our team?" Mar'i's wide innocent eyes bored into her own and she felt her throat clench. Could she really lie and say that he had? No she couldn't do that. But could she throw herself under the bus? No, she couldn't do that either.
Mar'i seemed to take her silence as a yes and rushed out in tears. It was then that Carolanne made her decision. She would catch those two and then she could come clean about what happened. All she had to do was catch them.
There had been a reported sighting of the Axeman in the woods on the other side of town, so she quickly made her way over there. The woods were silent as she carefully treaded deeper and deeper. There was no sign of him at all. Maybe the reports were wrong.
She was getting seriously discouraged when she saw a tree that looked like it had been hacked at with an axe. There was a whole trail of them. She ran forward in glee, following the path of chopped trees.
It led her to a clearing with a little wooden shack in the middle. There was no sign of the Axeman but she was sure this was his camp. She was about to investigate when she heard him.
"Hello Girlie." She turned to see him leering above her axe at the ready. He let it swing and she closed her eyes and wished she could disappear. She waited but absolutely nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see the axe stuck in the dirt under her feet. At first she thought she was standing on the axe until she realised that the axe had swung through her. He yanked it out and tried again and she watched as it went right through her like she wasn't there.
Obviously it was another ability of hers but she didn't have time to marvel at it. She transformed into a gorilla and swiftly knocked him out while he was distracted by the fact that he had swung his axe right through her.
Even as a gorilla, it was hard for her to lift him. When she got him to town she called the cops and they dragged him away. One down, one to go.
Carolanne found the pink blob terrorizing a group of tourists and attacked. She was having zero luck capturing it as she spent most of her time creating a shield around herself and the tourists. She couldn't even get a chance to take a shot at it. And the worst part was that she was getting tired and she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold the shield much longer.
She was trying her best to formulate a plan in her head when there was an explosion on its other side. Carolanne watched as Bruce, Russell, Lucky and Mark appeared. They quickly took out the creature and made Carolanne feel extremely pathetic.
Bruce was conversing with the police and Lucky was dealing with the traumatized tourists. Russell made his way over to her.
"What were you doing Carrie?" She hung her head. Before she could answer though Bruce arrived.
"The Chief of Police says you handed over the Axeman today." Carolanne nodded.
"So you went after him and the blob. Why?"
"I wanted to catch them both to make up for before. I was going to catch them and tell you that Evan-" Russell cut her off.
"Carrie just because Evan screwed up it doesn't mean you have to clean up his mess." Carolanne shook her head.
"No! I wasn't!"
"Don't sweat it Carrie. You're way too nice. Trying to fix Evan's screw up." No matter how many times she protested, they ignored her. She tried to say it was her fault but the words kept sticking in her throat.
