[An hour later]
Edward had gone ahead to talk to Jason to let him know what was going to happen.
"Brother," he said, "I have some potentially good news to relay. We're being given a tryout with the Titans for 6 months. However, there is a condition attached: You must keep your anger under control during the spar. Remember our lessons together. It took some convincing to get Robin to agree to this as he was not at first willing to give you this opportunity. This will give you the chance to start to remove the stain upon your honor within yourself as well as with the Circle."
Jason nodded gratefully, "That is good news. I will keep my anger in check. But, I am bothered, Edward...why is Raven's words cutting me so deeply?"
Edward looked and saw the remains of the boulder Jason had selected to let his anger out on.
"I don't really know," Edward said, "She is an empath so that has to be taken into some consideration. Maybe she speaks an uncomfortable truth about you that she has already noticed? Just don't take your anger out on her if she triggers it again. Take it out on me, instead. That's the second condition. I won't pull the plug on the mission regardless. That would get you executed and I do not have many siblings left."
"You didn't consider us siblings for a long time," Jason noted, his tone not biting or insulting, "What made you change your mind?"
"Time," Edward said, "Time to reflect on how much of an ass I was to Iilahkun and the rest of the family. I've seen many excellent examples of how a family should be in the mortal realm, and, it gave me pause to reflect. That is why I sang with you. That is why I accepted this mission from our leaders. I wish to honor her memory by helping her son and my beloved half-brother regain the family honor. I wish to make it up to you and to Iilahkun."
Jason's eyes widened for a moment, "Is that another reason you left Lair? Guilt?"
"Somewhat," Edward admitted, "More like angry at myself. I should have respected Father's choice of a new mate and that the Circle gave their blessing. Seeing that you placed her next to my mother's grave told me that they both had their parts in our lives. Do you remember Iilah?"
Jason thought about it and said, "A little bit. There were times when she had to chase away some dragons who thought you shouldn't exist."
"There were too many times," Edward admitted, "Several of those bigots will have a day of vengeance coming." His eyes glowed yellow for a moment. He was biding his time.
"Well, those dragons are either old or gone now", Jason told his older brother, moving his hands in a "calm down" motion. "And at least... at least we can start to be a family again... although, I may not know how anymore." He shook his head. "But that is a talk for another time. I assume it's time for us to spar with the Titans?"
"It is," Edward said, "They should be here in a few moments. You need not worry about me. I will save my wrath for those who deserve it. You and the Titans are in the clear. And, who knows, you have the opportunity to relearn if I was reading Cyborg right. He was talking earlier how the team members all lost someone close to them.
"Jason, I never harbored any grudge against you or Sahqo. Sosfil has earned my ire, as you know. Yet, there are still dragons who will not trust a hybrid, including the Circle."
"You still are angry at the Circle, though," Jason noted, "Traditionally, the firstborn is given greater weight, yet, they want a purebred Light dragon, not someone tainted with the Traitor's blood."
"I had no choice in who I was born to, Jason!" Edward snarled, "I had no choice in having that damned TRAITOR's blood running through my veins. You think I like the looks of fear when I make a rare trip to Lair from the other dragons. The looks of 'Dark scum. Should have been killed in the shell.' They don't act on it because I am the son of Feylfil, the Grand Light of the Circle. So, yeah, I am angry. If I ever meet Oblann, his ass is mine!" His own anger threatened to burst forth, yet, for his brother's sake, he took a calming breath...then a few more.
"Dang, Edward," Jason said, "Sorry I brought it up."
Edward said, "Sure, I understand why they fear a heir potential that could go all Dark and Scary on them and switch sides. I haven't shown any dark tendencies in my life and I don't plan on it. So, I have just as much to prove as you, if not more."
A dark sphere appeared a few moments later and released the Titans.
"Hi, guys!" Edward said to the team, "We're ready to go here. I've already explained your conditions, Robin, and, they are agreed to. If Solor can keep his temper in check today, we get a 6 month probation, correct?"
"Correct," Robin said, "I figured this was a package deal, anyway, and we discussed it further after you left, and, the team will accept a 6 month tryout. I really want you guys to prove me wrong, though. If you can do this, I will gladly retract what I said and admit that I was wrong."
"I appreciate that, Robin," Solor said, "Raven, I do apologize for my comments towards you and ask your forgiveness. Please, give us a chance to prove you wrong as well. I know not what happened with Terra, but, like I said, I am not disloyal.
"Robin, I will do whatever is asked of me, as long as it's not humiliating to me."
Robin nodded, "That's fine, I trust that Edward stated that I am the team leader, but, I will not humiliate you. Edward said that he would bear the brunt of your anger, so, if you have a need to lash out, please, talk to him instead of taking it out on the team."
"I have little choice in the matter," Jason replied, "The terms of my exile from my home require that. I slipped up in yelling at Raven."
Raven actually gave a small smirk before replying, "It's all right, Jason. I didn't know you would take my observation so seriously as an attack on your honor. I should be the one saying 'Sorry'."
"Let's call it settled?" asked Edward, "Like I said, there's several very remote islands I know of we can spar at where damage from stray shots won't be noticeable."
"Great," Beast Boy muttered, "Another teleport."
"It beats swimming, even for you," Edward said, "Unless you want me to drop you off a distance away and make you swim."
His face paled, "I'll take the taxi!"
Solor chuckled. "I wish I could fly, but I am fine with another teleport", he said with a smile. "I am used to my brother's 'taxi service' thanks to the necessity, and if we are to pass, we can help you all get used to it as well."
Robin couldn't help but grimace a bit at that idea, but he knew it would probably be helpful if they could. "Then we'll trust you to get there in one piece. Whenever you're ready, Unity."
"Relax, man," Edward said, "It's perfectly safe to use. As long as you maintain contact with me, that is. With you guys on my back, it is fine."
"What happens if we lose contact?" Cyborg asked.
"You'd end up somewhere else...even embedded in rock or worse...the bottom of the ocean," Edward admitted, "either one is instant death. But, I haven't lost anything in teleport, yet. Then again, you could end up in a different time in the past. At least if that happened, I'd be able to recover you."
That said, everyone got a much tighter grip on Edward's ridges and they were off. There was a flash of light and a slight rush of air filling in the space where they were at.
A few scant seconds later, they emerged on a small tropical island in the Hawaiian chain that was unoccupied, yet, large enough to work with for the spar of the year.
Everyone got off and Raven again shivered from the cold while the others seemed to be doing better, especially Beast Boy who had morphed into a chimp to hang on. He morphed back and smirked, "That was awesome!"
"Yeah," Jason said, "For a green chimp. Not everyone here can take advantage of that ability."
Once again, he made sure to gather a branch, lighting it ablaze and holding the torch a bit closer to Raven. "I apologize; until you can get used to it, I might have to aid you like this. I wish I could do more."
Raven blinked, but nodded, taking a hold of the branch with her magic and held it at a safe distance so she could warm up. Edward, meanwhile, raised a brow. True, Solor did not know who Raven's father was, but he seemed to keep trying to at least keep on her good side.
Edward had an idea who Raven's father was, but, decided not to mention it. It was a mere hunch, but, he wondered if Oblaan had any other "Children" and what his DNA would have produced in a non-dragon.
"So, if we need more time to prepare, let me know", Solor said. "I know that it takes a moment to get used to the teleport. I would like a moment to enjoy the sun a bit." He stretched his wings, flapping twice before launching into the air, enjoying the chance to stretch them while he could.
Edward also stretched his wings for a moment, but, stayed on the ground. He looked at his opponents and asked, "Should we set some ground rules or anything goes?"
"Anything goes," Robin said, "I need to see what you and your brother are capable of."
"Well, I do have to keep my range weapons well below killing power," Edward said, "I know...stating the obvious here."
It only took a minute or two, but when Solor returned, he was given the rules, and he frowned a bit. "Well... I can't use my claws against normal people, so I'll limit myself on those. Other than that... my flames shouldn't be too dangerous against Starfire."
"I am not a normal human," Starfire objected, "I am quite durable."
"Regardless," Edward said, "He has a point. Look at my talons, for example. They are razor sharp and may damage you." He swiped at a sapling that was nearby and it was sliced into several pieces.
"That was a small fraction of my strength," Edward said.
"Whoa... how strong are you?" Beast Boy asked, his jaw dropping.
"Well, I would say stronger than Starfire here," Edward said honestly, "When she gave me that hug earlier ... something I will always allow, Starfire ... she was probably surprised that I could return it in equal measure."
He looked around for a boulder and found one that looked to be quite heavy and said, "I'll show you." He went over and squatting to take the weight properly, wrapped his arms around the boulder and slowly lifted it out of its resting place.
Cyborg said, "That boulder weighs about 1500 pounds!"
"Feels like 15 or so to me," Edward said as he placed it back.
Solor stretched his arms, now that he was warmed by the sun. "So, I assume that we're ready to go?"
"We are," Robin said, "Raven and I will watch how the two of you spar. You each will spar for 30 minutes, unless Raven or I feel that someone cannot continue, then, we will either take a short break to recover, or stop it outright. However, I do not think that will be needed.
"There's no winners or losers here. The goal is to see how well both of you newbies fight, nothing more."
He pulled out a coin and said, "As Raven and I need to see how you fight, the first spars will be split up. Then, if there's time, everyone spars each other. Raven and I will join in at that point.
"Who wants to call the toss?"
Edward said, "Go ahead, Solor."
"I call heads", Solor said, watching as Robin flipped the coin. One flip of a hand and a reveal later, and the horned dragon-in-disguise smirked, seeing that he called right.
"Then the first sparring match is between Solor and Starfire", Robin said. "We'll stand on the side so that you two can get ready." As the team walked away, Starfire turned to the golden being.
"I look forward to our fight, Friend Solor", she said, bowing her head a bit.
"As do I, Starfire", Solor said, giving a curt nod. He stepped back a few paces, shifting into his fighting stance. He smacked his tail against the ground, hard, eliciting a loud crack as he got ready to fight.
"Are both of you ready?" Robin called out. After they both nodded, Robin yelled again. "Alright... begin!"
Solor let out a roar as he charged forward, flapping his wings to clash with the Tameranean in the air. The two met each other punch for punch, feeling the force behind each other, before Solor spun in the air, attempting to kick her. Starfire, however, easily evaded, attempting to knock him to the ground with a haymaker. However, he deflected the blow, grabbing her ankle with his tail, spinning in the air to build momentum and launch her away. Then, he began to spew fireballs, chasing her through the sky with them.
"Well, that's impressive", Robin stated, whistling a bit. "It looks like he's pretty versatile, both short-range and long-range."
"He's right about lowering his power, though", Cyborg said, scanning the fireballs. "Those fireballs would do more damage to normal folks, but against Starfire, those would probably sting like a paintball. And it looks like he's more than capable of way more power behind his attacks."
"He's enjoying himself", Raven said, getting an emotional read. "He's glad that he's able to pit himself against someone else who's powerful. I'm guessing he's not used to having an empath around, since he's not even aware of my being able to read him." She shrugged. "Either that or he's too focused on the spar to notice."
Edward said, "He's likely too focused to remember about your empathic skills. He's aware that you have this ability, but, he's got a worthy opponent on his mind."
"I know he is actually pleased at how things are going. His anger level, compared to earlier, is almost gone," Raven stated a moment later.
Edward considered warning Solor about Raven reading his emotions, but, opted not to. His brother wasn't thinking about their secret, and even then, she might already know, but hasn't said anything about it.
Solor found himself on the opposite end of the stick, having to evade Starfire's starbolts. "I've never met anyone who can attack like this before!" he called out, using his wings to shield a few bolts.
"Then it is good that we are not on Tameran!" Starfire shouted back. "I think you would be asking everyone for the sparring!"
That actually got a laugh out of Solor, as he imagined himself running through the streets, demanding to fight everyone. "Considering how much I've been cooped up, I probably would! Ha!" He flew faster again, attempting to close the gap and take her on hand to hand once more. He actually managed to land a summersault kick on her, knocking her down towards the island again. Starfire did look a bit worn down, but Solor didn't seem very tired at all, considering his amount of stamina. Plus, she hadn't been able to get as many hits on him, since he was an odd opponent. "Care to continue? It looks like you're getting tired."
"I can still fight for some time, Friend Solor!" Starfire countered, charging him again.
"I think Star is getting a little into the fight, too", Beast Boy commented. "She doesn't get to let loose very often, either..."
"I had heard of her strength," Edward noted, "She certainly can go all out against Solor, and, he is going as all out as he can without risking hurting her. Neither of us know about Tamaran or how powerful their people are, but, she seems to be on par with either of us or even Superman. I'm impressed."
"She hasn't tapped into her full power," Robin said, "Notice she hasn't yet used her eyebeams, just starbolts that Solor is shrugging off. If she wanted to, she could use a full-powered starbolt and possibly damage his scales. However, he does seem to be enjoying this exercise."
"He's been wanting a different sparring partner," Edward admitted, "I fear he's grown bored having me to spar against and knows most of my moves. It's getting harder to outright defeat each other. Here, it seems to be evenly matched."
Speaking of eyebeams, she finally attempted to use them and got Solor in the chest before he used his wings as a shield. He grunted from the impact and got out of the way of a continued hit.
"Nice one," he commented, "That actually stings a bit." He let off a string of fireballs with a touch more power behind them, a fact that Cyborg's scanners picked up.
"Now, that got his to increase the power," Cyborg said as Starfire dodged and ducked the barrage, "I don't think that will hurt her, though."
One fireball found the target and she hissed at the impact that scorched her armor, but, outside of that, she was, indeed, unharmed.
"Getting too hot for you?" Solor quipped.
"Nope," Starfire replied, "I can keep this up all day."
"Good to hear", Solor said, smirking. He charged again, attempting to sock her in the gut, but she evaded, attempting to bring a fist down on him. To her shock, though, he was able to use one of his horns to knock away her arm, scraping against her armored bracelet before kneeing upward, managing to hit her in side. She let out a grunt of pain, but grabbed his arm, flipping him onto his back, where he actually let out a loud, surprised squawk before wincing as his wings hit the ground at an odd angle.
"YEEEEEEEOOOW!" he actually shouted out, surprising Starfire and the rest of the team. He rolled over, getting off of his wings as he growled. "OW OW OW!"
Everyone ran over, with Edward wincing. "Ooooh, he's gonna feel that for a day or two..."
"What's wrong?" Robin asked, kneeling down. "Are you okay?"
"Sunshine and rainbows and NO I'M NOT OKAY", Solor said, managing to bite back his anger. "I landed on my wings wrong, and now they really hurt!" He let out a hiss as he tried to stretch them out, but pulled back instinctively. "No broken bones, but my wing-joints are complaining big time!"
"Let me see, brother," Edward said and took a look. They were already swelling and he said, "They're sprained badly. Unless healed, you're not flying anytime soon."
Raven's hands started glowing a blue-green color and she said, "I can help."
She gently placed her hands over the damaged joints and a few moments later said, "Try to flex them, please."
He did and a smile grew on his face, "Thank you. They feel fine."
"You're welcome," Raven said, "I hope this is a fair way to apologize for insulting your honor, even if by mistake."
Solor smiled, "More than enough. Apology accepted."
Starfire stepped forward, looking a bit ashamed. "I apologize, Friend Solor. I did not know that your wings could be damaged."
"It is fine, Starfire", Solor said. "I grew careless; I usually only worry about an opponent taking advantage of that when sparring against clansmen. It takes some force to hurt me, even if my wings are my weak point. I hold nothing against you... just surprised me, that's all." He looked down. "I'm sorry if I surprised you with that... well, to be frank, embarrassing yelp."
Starfire couldn't help but giggle a bit. "I suppose we'll have to be careful next time, then."
Solor nodded, before looking back to Robin. "Do you need us to fight some more, or do you think you have an idea of what I can do?"
"I've seen enough," Robin said, "I half expected you to get quite angry with that last move, but, you stayed calm. I would have hollered as well had one of my limbs been sprained, so, it's all right.
"Time for the second spar. Edward vs. Beast Boy and Cyborg."
The three took their places in the assigned area and Edward thumped his own tail into the ground, causing it to shake a tiny bit.
"I am ready," he said.
"We are as well," Cyborg said.
"Fight!" Robin said.
With that Cyborg's arm changed as he deployed his sonic cannon and fired, only to see Edward jumping into the air and flapping hard, evaded the beam. He returned fire with his lightning, but, that was knocked off target by a green eagle.
Edward looked at Beast Boy and loosed an icy blast that coated Beast Boy's wings, sending him to the ground where he morphed back.
"That's what I call brain freeze," he quipped, only to get a groan out of everyone.
"Seriously, another bad pun, and you'll be seeing stars," Edward groused before catching Cyborg trying to sneak up with a hard tail strike that sent Cyborg tumbling.
Beast Boy morphed into a gorilla and went to punch Edward, but, didn't count on Edward flipping him and used the momentum against him.
He got back up and charged again. Edward morphed into a gorilla of his own and after blocking the incoming punch, struck back hard, sending Beast Boy staggering back.
"Not bad," Robin commented, "How are his emotions?"
"He's also enjoying this," Raven said, "He's not worried about if I am reading him, in fact, he is welcoming it. I am not sensing any anger or annoyance."
Robin nodded as he saw Cyborg getting up and firing his cannon again almost got Edward, but, Edward fired his lightning and the two forces collided in a classic beam fight. The two cancelled out as Edward took to the skies again. However, Edward ran out of breath and had to dive out of the way of the sonic beam.
Beast Boy formed a T-Rex and tried to charge Edward. Edward formed a Stegosaurus and using his now clubbed tail, knocked Beast Boy right in the chin, forcing him to turn at the last moment. Edward roared and charged Beast Boy. The target formed a cheetah and took off for the trees.
Cyborg leapt onto Edward's back and started hitting away at the hardened back. That got Edward to go to a stallion and tried to throw Cyborg off, but, Cyborg wasn't fazed by the change and hung on. That was until Edward decided to roll and that forced Cyborg off. Edward got back onto all fours and planted a stunning kick into Cyborg's chest, leaving two well defined hoof prints there.
"Dang!" Cyborg said, "Even in that form, that's quite a kick!"
Beast Boy, however, formed an elephant and trumpeted loudly before charging again. Edward opted for a wooly mammoth and the two clashed hard, tusk meeting tusk. Both pushed against the other for several moments before Edward gave a savage twist of his head, throwing Beast Boy aside. That caused him to revery back to normal, and Edward reverted to his hybrid form and went over to make sure Beast Boy was all right.
"You could have thrown me aside before this?" he asked, seeing some stars.
"Easily, but, where is the fun in that?" Edward replied, "You OK?"
"I'm fine," Beast Boy said.
Edward was surprised by a blue beam as Cyborg took advantage of Edward's distraction.
"Ok, tin man," Edward said, "You're on."
Edward's ridges lit up blue and before Cyborg could react, he was iced to the ground. It would take him a while to thaw out without help.
"OK," Robin called out, "take a break! This round's over."
Edward walked over to Cyborg and his ridges glowed a soft white, indicating a low powered lightning was coming.
Edward used that to break the ice and allowed Cyborg to free himself.
"You may want to develop heating circuits," Edward suggested.
Cyborg said through chattering teeth, "No kidding! Thanks for not leaving me to chill out for too long."
Solor rolled his eyes at the wording, but smiled anyway. He heard his stomach rumble a bit, and looked down at himself. He turned to Edward. "I think I'll go for a swim and grab some grub. You want to join me, Brother?"
"Nah," Edward replied, "You go on ahead."
Solor shrugged, then turned to the water, diving in. Mainly he was hungry, but it also gave him time to think about what he's been learning... and what he should do to earn the Titans' trust.
Raven watched him leave, her eyes narrowing a bit. She did not know what their secret was; she knew they were hiding something big, but that was all that she could glean off of them. Then there was the fact that Edward's teleportation left her very cold. That was definitely one of the things she didn't like about them right now. But, in general, Edward seemed much more understanding than most of the team.
Jason, on the other hand, was an angry enigma. She thought, thanks to his anger and lack of practice with mental defenses, he'd be so easy to read, but in truth, it was hard to keep up with his thoughts. But on the contrary, his thoughts constantly shifted, to moments from the past that he didn't focus on long enough to actually figure out, to moments in the now. His brainwaves were very different, and considering she had figured they weren't human, it would probably be a while before she could figure him out. Which was frustrating.
But, Edward, while readable to her, was not as easy. He was calmer than she expected, yet, she sensed something else, like an area of darkness that reminded her a bit of Trigon the Terrible. It was coiled up and ready to strike. It reminded her of the time Beast Boy and Cyborg had accidentally entered her mind and helped her against Rage. At the time, Rage had assumed Trigon's form. But, Edward had a handle on this aspect of his personality, she sensed, so, she filed a mental note for later on.
She decided, though, that maybe Solor could use some help in mastering that temper he had displayed, so she would set aside her reservations and extend a hand of friendship.
"Edward?" Raven asked, "I need to talk to Robin...in private."
Edward nodded, "Of course. I think I might also take a swim for a few minutes. Please, give a shout when you're done."
"OK," Robin replied.
Once the two were alone, Raven spoke up. "So, about Solor-"
"You want him to stay close by so you can help him with his anger, right?"
Raven's eyes widened. "How did you know?"
"Because I know how you work", Robin said. "And you've helped all of us in ways that we weren't expecting. You've bonded with Starfire on an emotional level, thanks to you two swapping bodies when Puppet King attacked, you helped Cyborg rebuild his car when the original was destroyed by Overload, and I think, given the chance, you would have been more than willing to help Terra, as well." He looked out to the ocean, where they last saw him. "He's got anger problems, that much is certain... but he's taking the right steps to fixing that. And I don't see anything wrong with you wanting to help him find his way to getting over that problem once and for all."
Raven sighed. "Well... you were trained by Batman, so I shouldn't say I'm surprised. So, I'm guessing you already decided you want them on the team?"
"Of course, but they don't need to know that yet", Robin said with a smirk. "We haven't shown them the strength of the Titans. It's best if we don't disappoint them."
Meanwhile, Edward and Jason were finishing their swimming. Before Jason came back to the group, he stayed at the shore a bit, washing the blood off of his face. He knew Beast Boy probably wouldn't be happy if he saw that, since he heard his argument with Cyborg over pizza, and would much rather avoid incurring the changeling's ire than have to explain why he just ate a ton of fish.
It was probably a good thing that Edward just wanted a quick swim to cool off and relax before heading back to hear the verdict.
They both returned to the group and Edward said, "I think we did pretty good, Solor. You kept your cool, even when Starfire damaged your wing joints and even allowed Raven to repair the damage. That, to me, was worth several points. But, I think we need to spare Raven the chill of teleportation. I'll open a tear back to the apartment regardless of what they say, or let her take us back."
"She'll appreciate that," Jason said, "She seems to be affected more for some reason." He did have a comment about how she had little protection that he could say, but smartly decided to keep his mouth shut.
"So then... now it's time for th match", Robin said to the dragons as they got closer. "The Titans against Unity and Solor. Same rules as before, with a 30 minute time limit."
"I see no problems with that", Solor said, looking over at Beast Boy. "I'd love to go toe-to-toe against your T-Rex form. I've always wanted to fight one of them."
Beast Boy gulped, wondering how easily Solor could throw him around no matter what form he took. Raven merely smirked a little, knowing what she was planning. Starfire merely smiled knowing that Solor would likely want a chance to get some minor payback for his wings. Robin assumed a battle stance next to Cyborg and with the words "Titans, GO!" the spar was on!