Arde sat in boredom on the couch next to the Boy Wonder. They had gotten dressed much faster than the others and were waiting on them. Robin sat and fiddled with his tie for a few moments before turning towards his comrade.
"So, Arde, about you and Raven…" the leader of the Titans began before being interrupted.
"Why does everyone keep saying that? Raven is my friend." Arde spoke sharply.
"Yes well, don't let your friendship get in the way of the team. I'm just worried is all." Robin said staring intently at the empath.
"Don't be." Arde said drops of acid infused in his words.
The red haired teen rose from his seat and began to head for the door, he had almost reached it when it swished open. Starfire smiled at her friend as he stood in awe. The Tameranean girl stood before him in a stunning red dress. It was rather form-fitting and strapless. The red of her hair matched the tint of it almost perfectly, the dress itself seemed to make her skin glow.
"Hello friends! Friend Raven should be coming in a few moments…I believe she needed to give herself the talk of the pep before she left her room.." she said with a small frown of confusion.
Starfire made her way over to the couch and sat next to Robin. Arde looked back at the two with raised eyebrow. He resolved not to interrupt their conversation and remained standing next to the door. BeastBoy and Cyborg were the next to arrive.
"Dude don't touch the hair!" the green teen yelled to his friend as he covered his head.
"Why!? It's not like I can mess that up! Rob's gonna be outta hair gel for a week!" he laughed as he looked at the changelings shining hair. It was smoothed back and looked like it would be that way for awhile.
"What did you say?" Robin turned to face the two with narrowed eyes.
"Um..nothing! He was just kidding, w-weren't ya Cy?" the changeling turned to his cybernetic friend.
"Um..Yeah!" Cyborg replied looking back at the fuming Boy Wonder.
Robin glared at the two behind his mask. He was contemplating how he would destroy them when the last Titan walked through the door.
Raven emerged into the room in a black dress. It was incredibly short and strapless like Starfire's. It fit the violet haired girl like a second skin.
"Awww look at Rae, isn't she cute!" BeastBoy exclaimed before shifting into a small green kitten.
Raven turned and shot him an angered glare before walking over to the other empath.
"Let's go." She uttered the words before grabbing his arm and dragging him from the room. Robin shrugged before taking Starfire's hand and following them.
(City Hall, 8:00)
Raven stood in the corner of the large room watching the others. BeastBoy was talking excitedly to a girl that was sitting at table by herself, Cyborg was walking around the room socializing with the other attendants, Robin and Starfire were in the midst of a large crowd dancing.
Arde had gone off to get her something to drink, she was glad to be by herself again. It took a lot of effort to not be confused around the empath. She looked down at her apparel for what felt like the thousandth time that night.
'Why did I let her talk me into wearing this?' she asked herself.
The violet haired girl was thinking about leaving and returning to the tower when someone approached her.
"Hey there, why is a pretty girl like you over here all alone?" a large teen said as he looked her over.
Raven frowned as he followed his gaze. She normally would have thrown him out of a window but that would probably lead to Robin blowing a fuse.
"Because I want to be." She deadpanned.
"Well that just won't do. Why don't you come with me, there's a super exclusive party going on at my house right now." He smirked grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward the door.
Raven glared at the point of contact as her other hand began to glow black.
"Raven!" Arde called as he wove his way through the crowd carrying two glasses filled with a dark liquid high above his head.
Raven pulled her hand free of the of the persistent teenager's grip, relieved by the other titan's sudden appearance.
"Hey there, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Arde grinned as he finally made his way over to the two.
Raven frowned,
"Friend?" she muttered as she resentfully looked back at the other teen.
The latter glared at the red haired boy before turning on his heel and walking away from the two.
"Thanks." She deadpanned to the empath standing next to her.
"Uhh… don't mention it!" he said quickly before heading back towards the table.
"Don't let your 'friendship' get in the way of the team." Robin's words were still fresh in his mind as he hurried away from the violet haired Raven. The rest of the Titans had already taken their seats and had their eyes fixed on the small stage in front of them.
Jump City's mayor stood behind a podium, waving as the rest of the attendants took their seats. Arde sighed before sitting down between Cyborg and Robin, leaving Raven the remaining seat next to their Tamaranean friend.
"Good evening, my fellow citizens of Jump City! I would just like to start the night off by issuing a warm welcome to our guests of honor, the Teen Titans!" the gray haired mayor boomed from in front of them.
The team rose from their seats as the room filled with applause, after the noise had died down they resumed their previous position.
"Yes well, I do hope you all have a wonderful time. Now I will give the stage to the leader of the Teen Titans, Robin!" he grinned as he looked over to the aforementioned Boy Wonder.
Robin stood and walked up the stairs to the podium. The room cheered.
"We're more than glad to be here tonight, that's for sure. As you should all know by now, we have a new member…stand if you would Arde?" he asked looking over to the empath.
Arde did as he had been asked and stood up, he waved as he looked about the room. It stayed completely silent, the empath remained standing for a few more moments before retaking his seat.
"Arde has been a big help to the team, and we're glad to have him with us. Now, if there are any questions please feel free to ask." The Boy Wonder said to the crowd.
A reporter stood, "You claim that he is a faithful member to the Titans, but just the other day didn't he try to attack both you and innocent civilians?"
"Well our friend was going through… a difficult time that day. He wasn't really in control of his own actions." Robin gave his reply.
"But wouldn't that vulnerability make him a threat to the community?" another reporter asked.
"Honestly, yes it could. But, we have faith in him. None of the Titans are the same, and with the help of us, his fellow teammates, and the citizens of Jump City we can assure you Arde will never have an outbreak like that again." He replied.
Another reporter began to stand when the light fixtures burst above their heads. The party goers began to scream and panic as the room became enveloped in darkness.
"Outbreak. What an odd choice of words, don't you think Robin?" a voice spoke above the screams.
"Who are you?" Robin asked pulling a birdarang from his tuxedo jacket.
"I'm new here in this city of yours. Rather large, wouldn't you say?" the voice continued.
"That's not an answer. Show yourself!" the masked teen demanded.
"If you wish." The voice snickered.
A bright flash overtook the large room and in a matter of seconds the Boy Wonder had been knocked into a nearby wall.
"Robin!" Starfire yelled rushing to her comrade's side with glowing green hands.
"Starfire, get the mayor and the others to safety. We'll take care of this." The Boy Wonder said getting back to his feet.
"Titans go!" he called with birdarangs at the ready.
Starfire hesitated before reluctantly dashing off to help the citizens.
Arde frowned, he had heard that voice before. He searched his mind for its owner for a brief moment before going to help the others.
"So you're the new Titan…you don't look like anything special to me." The voice snickered in the darkness.
"And your opinion is the most valuable thing in the world to me." The empath deadpanned as he looked about the area.
The room flashed for a split second, Arde rose his hands in an attempt to block whatever attack was about to be launched at him, when he felt the shock go down his spine. The empath grew rigid as it ran it's course throughout his body.
"What…am I too fast for you?" the voice mocked as the red haired teen clenched his teeth.
"Who are you?" he managed to mumble.
"My old man named me Samson….but you can call me Lightspeed." The villain snickered as the room grew bright yet again.
Arde fell to the ground as the force of the attack hit him.
"Arde!" a familiar voice called to him, he couldn't see him but soon enough the dark room was illuminated by Cyborg's sonic cannon.
"Shit.." Lightspeed sneered as he dodged out of the way of the blast. They hadn't been able to see him so far, and he'd like to keep it that way.
Cyborg helped his friend to his feet and shook him.
"Come on, man! Star got everybody out and Rob said to regroup at the Tower. We can't fight what we can't see dude!" Cyborg assured him as the angered empath looked desperately for his attacker. Cyborg kept his hold on the smaller teen and drug him towards the nearby open window. In the moonlight he thought he could see someone standing further back in the darkness.
(Common Room)
The Titans sat around the room forlornly as their leader addressed them.
"What do we know about this guy, Cyborg?" he asked as he paced about the room.
"Not much. Arde said his name was Lightspeed. We can assume he's not from around here. I checked police reports from the surrounding cities, seems like our friend's been real busy. Six robberies were reported in the last week, most of them were jewelry stores…but one of them was this high security corporation. He stole a prototype for a military grade weapon." Cyborg replied as he looked over the screen built into his arm.
"Did you find out anything about that?" Robin questioned.
"Not really, it's top secret. They haven't released anything about to the public." The cybernetic teen replied.
BeastBoy yawned,
"So what are gonna do about this Zoomspeedy guy? I suggest a head-on attack!" spoke up from behind the couch.
"Zoomspeedy?" Arde repeated the name
"How are we supposed to do that when we don't know where he is genius?" Raven monotoned.
"Well forgive me for trying to help!" he replied.
Robin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Cyborg. What did your scanners get on him?" the Boy Wonder spoke through his teeth.
"His fighting skills are close to impeccable, although that may be on account of his speed. Even so, you can take a hit from Kid Flash without being thrown across the room. Anyway, I was able to slow down his movement…or at least as much as possible. It looks like he relies on darkness to move at full speed. If we can catch him during the day he shouldn't be too much of a problem." He answered with confidence.
"Right. Starting tomorrow morning, all of us will be patrolling twice. As for who goes with who, Raven you'll be with Cyborg. Arde, you're with BeastBoy. That's it." Robin finished before heading towards the evidence room.
(8:00 AM, The Next Day.)
Arde groaned as he attempted to block out the noise coming from outside his door.
"C'mon man! Rob said if your not out here in two minutes Rae's gonna send you to an alternate dimension!" the changeling pleaded.
"I'd like to see that" he laughed in reply as he rolled out of bed.
The empath yawned before lazily walking towards the door. BeastBoy sighed in relief as the gray skinned teen stepped out the door.
"Rob said we have to cover downtown and the harbor today." The changeling rambled as they walked towards the roof. "Uh, you can fly right?" he continued.
Arde looked over at the green teen with a frown before continuing up the stairway. BeastBoy shrugged,
"I'll take that as a yes then!" he replied racing after him.
The changeling ran for the edge of the roof and leapt into the air. His arms turned wings, and his body became cloaked in feathers. Arde jumped into the air after the green falcon.
The two flew over the city, eyes scanning the area for signs of danger. They remained airborne for what seemed like forever before the two landed on a roof.
"See anything?" the empath asked.
"Nothing, it's pretty calm out today…I mean we haven't even ran into a common criminal!" BeastBoy replied with a toothy grin.
"Right, well, let's head back to the tower. The others are probably back now anyway." Arde sighed before taking to the sky once more.
They traveled in silence, not awkward silence, just silence. BeastBoy occasionally questioned, or even doubted, if they could trust the red haired teen. Sometimes he felt like it was best just to not talk around him. Arde kept his eyes on the city below him, deep in thought. He was still watching when a large explosion could be heard in the distance.
"What the hell was that!?" Arde yelled coming to a hault.
He nodded to the falcon next to him, before heading off towards the sound.
BeastBoy sped ahead of the empath and landed on a nearby building. Arde was soon by his side, below them was an alley. The building across for them lie in ruin, a mass of rubble had collected at its base. The green changeling dropped down into the wreckage before shifting into a bloodhound. The empath soon followed landing swiftly and wading through the mess.
"Dude…" BeastBoy uttered having returned to human form.
He held up a torn blue cloth, his eyes held nothing but fear. Arde stared at the torn fabric frozen in place. He mouthed words, but no sound escaped his lips. The hero's eyes flashed red for a brief moment before he began frantically lifting and throwing masses of rocks.
"Raven! Raven, where are you!?" he yelled as he searched.
BeastBoy clenched his teeth together as he shifted into a gorilla. He grabbed large chunks of rock and metal and hurled them into the background. They continued their search eventually, BeastBoy could see the blue circuitry of Cyborg.
"Cy!" he yelled as he returned to his human form and grabbed the cybernetic teen's hand. He tugged relentlessly pulling his friend out of the wreckage. Arde glanced over at the two and frowned in anger.
'Where are you, Raven?' he asked himself. He pushed aside another slab of cement. He lifted another, raising it above his head. He looked down to see Raven's blue cloak beneath him.
"Raven!" he yelled desperately lifting a large segment of the building off of her.
The red haired teen grabbed his comrade by the waist, lifting her out of the rubble. BeastBoy rushed over to the two empaths, having gotten Cyborg back on his feet. Arde held the violet haired girl in his arms. She remained limp as Cyborg took her pulse.
"She's still breathing, but we need to get her back to the infirmary fast." He said with a voice dripping concern.
BeastBoy's ears drooped heavily as he looked down at his unmoving friend. He glanced up at the frowning face of Arde.
"Just go, dude. You can get her back the fastest." His words were barely audible.
Arde nodded, he held the pale girl close as he faded into the ground.
