As Rock and Strength made their way off the roof, four of the Titans gathered in the kitchen waiting for Cyborg to finish cooking as it was his turn. They chatted amongst themselves as the two newcomers sat next to them.
Strength swapped bodies with Yuu as the brown-haired girl woke up.
"Mmmm, something smells good!" She exclaimed.
"Bacon and eggs, girl!" Cyborg grinned. "Breakfast of champions!"
"It feels like forever since I had a cooked breakfast!" Yuu sighed happily.
Rock turned her head slightly and pointed her thumb over her shoulder.
She says you had a Full English yesterday. Strength translated.
"How do you know that?" Yuu asked.
Rock put her hand on her chest.
"Mato told you? Is she awake?" Yuu asked.
Rock nodded.
"Is she going to join us?" Her friend asked.
The Otherself shook her head and made a few quick hand gestures.
"Strength?" Yuu muttered.
They don't know how to change places.
"Okay, Mato you have to imagine yourself waking up. Black Rock Shooter you have to relax, Strength said you like travelling to the Sky Gates. Pretend you're there." Yuu told them.
The Titans watched the exchange with amusement, although not understanding the context
Within a few seconds, Rock's pale skin began to glow, her long hair fell out and dissolved as it dropped. Her brilliant blue, ringed eyes faded into a pale solid colour.
"Mato!" Yuu squealed, jumping up and hugging her friend.
The short-haired girl steadied herself on the counter and returned the embrace.
"It's good to see you too." She smiled, she pulled away and cupped Yuu's face in her hands.
"What's wrong?" Yuu asked.
"Why do you look so young? What happened to us?" Mato asked.
"Well first, you look young as well. It's like we're teenagers again, Strength thinks it's a side effect of us merging with our Otherselves." Yuu smiled. "And secondly, we're in another reality, no magic here."
"Well actually…" Raven started.
Yuu looked at her and Raven decided to stop.
"Wait! I can understand you! How can I understand them Yuu?" Mato gasped.
"You never noticed before?" Yuu asked.
"Well, I just thought Black Rock Shooter was translating for me." Mato shrugged.
"Another side effect of the merging." Yuu grinned.
"Yo, Mato!" Yelled Cyborg. "You want some waffles?"
Mato looked round in surprise with a yelp.
"Y-yes please." She said becoming aware of the Titans. "I'm Kuroi Mato." She bowed. "Thank you all so much for looking after me."
"It's no problem." Robin smiled.
"Yeah!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "No biggie!"
He turned to Cyborg.
"How come none of us get waffles?" He asked.
"You had waffles yesterday, Mato didn't." Cyborg shrugged.
"Aww man!" Beast Boy moped
"I would like some waffles, thank you." Mato said politely.
She suddenly became very aware of her body.
She was still wearing Black Rock Shooter's clothes, her cheeks burned brightly.
"I'm sorry!" She mumbled, pulling the long jacket around herself and zipping it up.
"It's okay, we've seen worse." Raven drawled.
"Yeah! We're used to it with Starfire." Cyborg added.
"Is there something wrong with the way I dress?" The orange teen asked.
"No Starfire." Robin said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Cyborg's just saying that we're used to unconventional dress styles."
"Exactly Star, it's important to express yourself girl!" Cyborg said happily.
"That is good, I did not wish to offend anyone." Starfire said.
"You haven't." Raven said.
"Order up!" Cyborg shouted as he slid plates laden with food to each of the Titans including Mato and Yuu.
The pair, not knowing quite what to do with themselves after everyone separated following breakfast, decided to get to know the tower. Wandering aimlessly through the corrididors for some time before stumbling across some sort of gym. Inside was Robin and Cyborg who were sparring.
I remember this with Harry Potter. Rock said inside Mato's mind. I taught him how to fight without a wand.
How did that go? Mato thought.
For a human? Not bad.
Yuu grinned at her.
"C'mon, let's watch!" She said suddenly.
"Isn't that rude?" Mato asked.
"They're friendly, if it bothers them I'm sure they'll let us know." Yuu replied.
"Can we ask first?" Mato said.
Yuu nodded and walked towards the two Titans.
"Hey, mind if we watch?" she asked.
"Yeah.. It's.. Fine" Robin grunted, leaping away from Cyborg's incoming fist.
They sat down on the edge of the slightly padded training mat and silently observed, a few gasps slipped out but they were unheard by the combatants. Eventually the Titans fought themselves to a standstill, they commented on certain points of the fight then Cyborg laughed and patted Robin on the back.
"So what did you think?" Robin asked, turning to face them.
"That was amazing!" Yuu cried excitedly. "It was like a manga!"
Mato giggled.
Robin raised an eyebrow then smiled.
"I'll take that as a complement."He said.
"It was, it really was!" Yuu nodded.
Mato nodded in agreement.
"Would one of you like to learn?" Robin asked.
"What?" Yuu said, slightly shocked.
"As you're staying here for a little while, would you like to learn some self-defence? Jump City can be dangerous sometimes." The Titans leader said.
Do it.
What?
Do it. Rock repeated. I want you safe.
But I have you.
We do not know what this world has in it, for me Mato.
Mato nodded and looked up.
"I'll do it" She said nervously.
"I'll be careful not to hurt you." Robin smiled, holding out a hand.
He helped Mato to her feet and showed her how to stand.
"I feel silly." Mato admitted.
"It's the most efficient stance, from this position you can easily defend against most attackers." Robin explained. "I know you have your Otherself, but just in case she can't help you."
"That's what she said." Mato grumbled.
"I like her already." Robin smiled. "Now copy me."
The Titan walked her through a few basic steps, making her repeat them until she could perform them adequately.
"Now I'm going to pretend to attack you, okay? Just do what I showed you." Robin said.
"Okay." Mato nodded.
He jogged towards her, pretending to hold a knife. She grabbed his wrist, twisted herself beneath his arm so she was behind him and pulled it upwards while pushing down on his back.
"Very good." Robin said. "Now let's do that a few more times. A little faster."
They repeated the actions, steadily getting fast until she started stepping on her jacket and stumbled.
"Maybe it would be easier without the coat?" Robin said, raising an eyebrow. "Once you've got the hang of it you can put it back on?"
"I-I don't know, it's a little much." Mato said, shrinking back.
"Hey it's okay." Robin said gently. "I'm not going to force you to, it was just a suggestion. If you want to keep it on then that's fine."
Mato shook her head and slowly unzipped the jacket, after removing it and placing it next to Yuu she returned to Robin.
For the briefest of moments Robin was surprised, he had seen Black Rock Shooter wearing the same clothes, as revealing as they were, but she had always kept the jacket on, partially hiding her figure.
He assumed that she had more on underneath, merely hidden by the thicker fabric, now though he understood Mato's embarrassment. She had a small bikini top, very short shorts and knee boots on, that's it. He had to admit that her body looked good, toned but not hard. The faintest traces of muscle beneath smooth, pale skin and a flat stomach.
It reminded him of Starfire.
A small trickle of sweat rolled down his neck.
He silently cursed both teenage hormones and Batman for teaching him his analytical skills.
This all happened in less than a second.
"Ready?" He asked.
Mato nodded.
This time there was no issue, she quickly and deftly performed the manoeuvre perfectly, but did send him to the ground by accident.
"Oh god!" Mato gasped, kneeling down. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened!"
"It's okay, it happens." Robin muttered. "The most important thing." He said getting up. "Is that you know what to do, if you're a little too rough with an assailant it's okay, provided you're safe."
He turned you Yuu.
"What about you?" He asked.
"Nah, I'm okay." Yuu answered brightly. "I took self-defence when I was younger, I keep practising too."
"I guess that's it then." Robin nodded. "Unless…" He started.
"Unless what?" Mato asked.
He wants to fight me. Rock said.
Why?
He is curious, he wants to judge how much of a threat we are.
What do you mean? Mato asked.
We are new, he wants to measure what it would take to stop us if we turned against him.
Why would he do that?
He is cautious, I saw him. He does want to help you, but he was also assessing you. I believe you would call him paranoid. It is understandable, do not let it alter your opinion of him.
"Would you be willing to allow me to fight Rock? I want to see how good she is." Robin said.
Do you want to? Mato asked.
I do, he looks skilled.
Don't kill him. Mato warned.
"She says yes." Mato confirmed.
Yuu squealed from the sidelines.
"This is going to be interesting, or quick. Either way it should be fun. Don't start yet, I think the others would like to see this!" She said, getting up and running off.
"Is she always like that?" Robin asked.
"An excitable ball of energy?" Mato said.
Robin nodded.
"Mostly, she has her moments though. Just like the rest of us." Mato answered.
Yuu found the other Titans back in the main room.
"Robin's going to fight Black Rock Shooter!" She shouted from the doorway. The room went silent as they looked at each other, then they barrelled out of the room, Cyborg picked up Yuu as he passed.
"Hey! I can walk!" Yuu huffed.
"This is quicker, you don't want to miss seeing your friend getting beat do you?" Cyborg grinned.
"Ha!" Yuu scoffed. "As if, Black Rock Shooter is one of the brutalist Otherselves around."
"Willing to bet on that?" Cyborg challenged.
"Hell yeah!" Yuu said proudly.
"Alright, how about a week of dishes?" The large teen asked.
"You're on." Yuu said.
In the gym, Black Rock Shooter was already there, standing in front of Robin, still without her jacket on.
"Wow, she's tiny! So how we doing this?" Beast Boy asked excitedly.
"One melee weapon, loser taps out." Robin replied removing his utility belt.
Rock nodded.
I'll hold on as long as I can. Mato said.
No you will not, you will tell me as soon as possible. Rock demanded.
I doubt he can be any worse than Yuu and… her.
Emotion flared up inside her, but she quickly smothered it. Mato had a point, Yuu and Insane Black Rock Shooter had been cruel, a living person would've died a dozen times over.
Rock nodded, both to herself and to Robin who dropped into a fighting stance. Rock stood impassively and drew the Black Blade.
"That thing looks evil!" Beast Boy said.
Robin extended his Bo Staff.
They ran at each other.
Robin swung his staff, Rock effortlessly back-flipped out of the way before lunging forwards with her sword. He dove over it, landed into a roll and span the staff above his head. Rock crouched and slammed the palm of her hand into the staff, stopping it. She pulled backwards and headbutted Robin as he staggered towards her.
Mato hissed slightly at the pain in her hand.
Robin leapt backwards, kicking Rock in the chin and hand-sprung to his feet. Rock stepped back and ran forwards, swinging her sword at his neck. The boy wonder dropped and kicked her legs out from under her.
She rolled as he impacted the mat where she had been with his knee, swinging her legs and hitting him in the face.
She's playing with him. Strength laughed.
"Shh, Strength." Yuu muttered. "It doesn't matter, it's just a friendly match."
Rock swiped low with her sword, Robin jumped over it, bringing down his staff as he landed. Hammering it into Rock's shoulder.
Ahhh!
Mato? Rock asked.
It's nothing, just a bit of a shock.
Rock grabbed the staff before Robin could fully pull it away, she yanked it towards her, repeating the action from earlier in the fight. This time, she kicked Robin back with such force he flew back a little, letting go of the staff. She threw it away and stalked forwards.
Robin got to his feet, dodged a thrust from Rock and swung a fist at her side. She spun out of the way, slamming a fist into his kidneys. The boy wonder staggered forwards, Rock was immediately behind him and stamped a foot into the back of his knee, as he fell she pointed the Black Blade at the back of his neck and thrust it forwards.
A large gasp came from the Titans as she stopped and the tip of the sword hovered a centimetre from his skin.
"Aww man!" Cyborg groaned. "I don't want to do dishes."
Yuu giggled.
"Sucks for you." She laughed.
Robin started to get up but stopped as soon as he felt the blade on his neck, he carefully extended an arm and patted the mat.
Rock withdrew the sword and offered a hand to Robin who took it. She watched as Robin smiled and held out a hand. She looked at it.
He wants to shake your hand, he's thanking you.
Rock shook his hand then relaxed.
In the next instant, Mato was standing there. She winced as she flexed her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Robin asked.
"Yeah." Mato said now rubbing her jaw. "What did you think?"
"Of Rock?" Robin asked.
Mato nodded.
"She's certainly skilled, tough as well, she didn't even flinch when I hit her." Robin said.
"Otherselves don't feel pain like we do." Mato explained. "They have a stupidly high tolerance. I believe Black Rock Shooter has been shot, crushed, stabbed, and she's had her arm ripped off. It still didn't stop her."
Robin gulped.
"So that fight?" He asked.
"Was nothing to her." Mato clarified.
He is very good for a human.
Mato smiled, wincing as a sharp pain shot through her jaw.
"What is it? Robin asked.
"She said you're good for a human." Mato relayed.
"Errm, thanks?" Robin muttered, unsure.
"That's a massive compliment coming from Black Rock Shooter." Mato affirmed. She looked at Yuu who widened her eyes and tilted her head back slightly.
Mato smirked slightly as she walked over to her friend, she sat down, picking up her jacket and putting it on as she did so. Yuu noticed that she didn't do it up however.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Yuu whispered.
"It was weird, even though I wasn't in control. I was just an observer. It felt like it was me, it was amazing!" Mato admitted.
Yuu turned to Cyborg.
"Fancy a match? Double or nothing on the dishes?" She grinned.
Yes! Please say yes!
"Girl, you are on!" Cyborg said loudly. "You're going down!"
The pair got up and headed to the centre of the mat, passing Robin, he patted the man-machine on the arm.
He knelt down next to Mato.
"What's Strength like?" He asked.
"Strength is a lot stronger than Black Rock Shooter." Mato said.
"So she could beat her?" Robin asked.
"No, Strength is stronger, Black Rock Shooter is faster. As far as I know, there's never been a definite outcome." Mato explained.
"Why not?" Robin wondered.
"There's always been outside interference, it's not something you'd want anyway. You'd lose half the city." Mato said seriously.
"Rules?" Strength asked.
"Hand-to-hand only!" Mato shouted before anyone could answer.
"Aww, I wanted to give her a taste of my sonic cannon." Cyborg moped.
"That wouldn't be fair to Strength, Cyborg." Robin said. "She doesn't have ranged weapons."
"I do actually." Strength replied.
"Are they non-lethal?" The Titan leader asked.
Strength shrugged.
"Can be." She said.
"Alright, hand-to-hand and non-lethal only." Robin declared.
"Yes!" Strength and Cyborg cheered.
Mato shook her head with a smile and Robin left and sat next to Starfire.
I tried.
Not very hard. Rock said.
I'm just happy she's not fighting you again, besides, it's their tower. Mato said.
Cyborg and Strength squared off against each other, waiting for the moment.
Cyborg moved first, his arm unfolded into a small cannon and fired a sonic blast at Strength who threw her hands up at the last second to deflect it. A boom echoed around the room, Strength slid back on the mat from the force but stayed standing.
With a grin she pointed her fingers towards the half man half machine and unleashed a barrage of large calibre bullets, Cyborg ducked down shielding his head as shots ricochetted everywhere, ripping huge chunks of stone, plaster and metal from the walls. As soon as she stopped, she ran forwards and picked up Cyborg in one hand before he could react and threw him into the wall behind her.
"Damn!" Beast Boy said as he removed his hands from his head. "That was intense."
"I said hand-to-hand only for a reason." Mato grumbled.
Strength let Cyborg get to his feet before walking towards him, she dodged backwards to avoid a wild swing then punched him with a massive fist, sending him flying into the wall again. He shook his head to clear the fuzziness, then tore a partially broken fragment off the wall and threw it at Strength who easily caught it with both hands. Cyborg followed up with a shoulder barge, causing Strength to drop the huge portion of concrete onto her.
"Dammit!" Strength muttered.
She grabbed the concrete and opened up her secondary arms, raising herself up on them. Towering over Cyborg like a vengeful deity, she hurled the fragment towards him. He blasted the concrete with his cannon, and tried shoot Strength as she scuttled around with her four arms. Then, speeding towards him, she grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. Cyborg freed his arm and fired at Strengths head, the blast knocked her backwards but before he could escape she grabbed the cannon and crushed it in her grip. Lifting him up, she held his four limbs in her four hands and pulled taut.
Not enough to damage him but enough to restrict any movement.
"Two weeks of dishes?" Strength smirked.
"Oh hell no, you might as well pull me apart!" Cyborg countered.
"How about two weeks, but we do them together. I think I owe you for the arm." Strength said.
You're doing them, I didn't agree to splitting it. Yuu said.
I know.
"Alright, put me down." Cyborg said, admitting defeat.
Strength lowered him gently, making sure he had his balance before letting him go. The rest of the Titans rushed over to him.
"Cyborg! Are you okay?" Beast Boy asked.
"I'm fine man." Cyborg said looking at his arm. "This is trashed though."
"I'm sorry." Yuu said, in an upset voice, as she swapped. "I thought he could handle Strength."
"You would have been better fighting Starfire." Raven said.
"Why?" Yuu asked.
"She's super strong and really resilient." Cyborg said. "I'm tough but I'm limited by the strength of materials. It's fine, I've got a few replacements"
"Oh, I'm sorry again." Yuu said quietly, bowing.
You shouldn't be sorry, it was fun. Strength said.
"But I asked him to do it." Yuu said.
If he didn't want to do it, he wouldn't have agreed. We were as in the dark about him as he was about us.
"Hey there." Cyborg said kneeling down in front of Yuu and holding her arm with his one operational hand. "Sounds like neither of us knew what we were getting into, but I agreed and I'm glad I did."
Told you.
"Shut up the both of you." Yuu said smiling.
"We both said the same thing?" Cyborg asked.
Yuu nodded.
"Then you definitely don't have anything to be sorry about." Cyborg grinned. "Next time Strength, go easy on me okay? I can't afford to constantly rebuild myself."
He stood up.
"This stuff is expensive."
Yuu gasped, then smiled.
"Booyah!" Cyborg yelled.
Booyah! Strength cried.
"You two are going to drive me insane" Yuu laughed.
"Raven!" Mato shouted as they left the ruined gym. The grey-skinned girl stopped and turned towards Mato.
"What?" She said in a monotone voice.
"I, err, I just wanted to say thank you. For helping. Me." Mato whispered nervously. "I mean us." She corrected.
"That's alright, I know what it's like living with inner demons." Raven said.
"Yeah." Mato muttered.
"I admit I'm surprised, I expected you to be more like Rock." Raven said.
"What do you mean?" Mato asked.
"Calm and controlled, less… Bubbly." Raven stated. "Instead it's like she's a darker side of you."
"I guess, before she got stranded in the human world she was a lot colder and less forgiving, she would've killed Robin before." Mato said with a shiver.
"It's good she changed then." Raven said.
"There's still a part of her that's like that, she was imprisoned for eighteen years. Cut off from me and the Otherworld, it's still there just beneath the surface." Mato said.
"Just how old are you exactly?" Raven asked.
"Thirty five." Mato told her.
Raven didn't respond to that.
"You were also cut off from Rock, Mato. It affected you as much as her. I understand she exists to help you, but you've got to remember. Everything she experienced in your world would have been overwhelmed by the sudden influx of negative emotions that you suffered in those years.
"That darkness probably never went away, it's part of her. But your emotions would have brought it closer to the surface." She said.
Mato looked down at the floor, tears welling up in her eyes.
"It's not your fault, it's who she is." Raven sighed. "I can help you control your emotions through meditation, it might let Rock suppress that darkness."
Mato looked up at Raven, hopeful.
"I will make no promises." Raven said.
"What are you doing Robin?" Starfire asked as she walked into a room filled with computers and monitors.
"I'm checking the Titans databases to see if there are any records for Otherselves or anything like them." Robin answered, rubbing his neck.
"I'm guessing from the look on your face, you have had no success?" Starfire stated.
"None, there is nothing on Earth that matches what they are." Robin sighed.
"They did say they came from another world and we did find them beneath that ball of energy." Starfire reminded him.
"What worries me is if they are as powerful as they appear, they could cause us serious problems." Robin said.
"You are thinking of Terra?" Starfire asked.
Robin nodded.
"I want to believe them, and I do believe Mato and Yuu, but something about the Otherselves bothers me." He admitted.
"I believe Beast Boy calls this 'stressing out' you need a break." The teenaged alien said.
Robin sighed again.
"You're right, it's just things have been so hectic lately and yesterday with Cinderblock also attacking. We need to find out who released him, he isn't smart enough to break out on his own." He said.
"Do you suspect Hive?" Starfire asked.
"Not yet, I do think that whoever broke them out also freed Cinderblock, but I don't know who that could be," Robin said, turning back to the monitor.