Creation began on 08-16-19

Creation ended on 09-16-19

Teen Titans Go!

You're not worthy to be heroes

A/N: Someone decides to let the Titans know personally just how unworthy they are in one sense and why this is so in another.

Brother Correction watched through one of his spheres showing him events taking place in alternate dimensions, and one such universe was a very poor example of how much people desired to be recognized as heroes…but were the absolute worst at it in ways that were not going to bestow them any measure of respect or admiration. And he knew they needed to know why.

"These five think they're the best heroes in their world?" He questioned as he grabbed the sphere. "They truly think that people love them for their acts? Oh, these kids are wrong. They are as wrong as the universe they reside in is. They don't deserve the status of hero if they fail to understand at the most basic level of what it really means to be one."

-x-

At night at Titans Tower, the base of operations and the residence of the five founding members of the Teen Titans group, while the young heroes were asleep, a stranger made their presence known.

"Unworthy," went Brother Correction as he stood in the living room, looking at the large couch and menagerie of pictures that decorated the room. "This place…is nothing more than a dorm for people that can't live with people who live in the city and elsewhere where they have normal lives. Even here, nobody is safe from these…children that think themselves heroes. They need to learn how much they're not about the hero life and how far they have fallen."

He brought up his hands and unleashed a wave of energy that enveloped everything.

Awaken to your shame and know what the world truly thinks about you!

-x-

"Aaaahh!" Starfire's scream was heard throughout the tower, awakening the other Titans to the new day, alerting them to what might've been the reason for her scream.

"Gaaahh!" Robin gasped, looking around his room, and seeing nothing recognizable in it…or with himself.

He was taller, more proportioned, and his room darker and the walls covered in crime photos and files. When he vacated his room and stepped out into a dark hall with little lighting, he saw Beast Boy and Cyborg, who weren't the way they were supposed to be.

"Gaah!" He pointed to them.

"You're not one to look at, either," said Cyborg; he was taller, looked more serious and tougher, like a young adult or adult, and his arms had more organic to them than his head.

Beast Boy was taller, as well, looking less childish in his appearance and more like a young teen than a small child.

"Just what the heck happened to us?!" Beast Boy demanded. "I never looked anything like this!"

"Somebody clearly is at work and has affected us on a level greater than that of Control Freak," they heard Raven's voice as she appeared in front of them, "someone with the ability to manipulate reality on a scale unheard of by mortals."

She was as tall as Robin and Beast Boy were, but smaller than Cyborg, her outfit more proportioned to her body, her skin was paler and her hair was a darker shade of purple instead of black, like she was a young woman tortured by a past that nobody around her really understood because of how she kept to herself.

Beast Boy couldn't stop staring at her.

"Well, you look better than we do, Mama," he declared, meaning so.

Raven simply pulled on her hood and obscured her blush.

"Friends," went Starfire as she flew into the dark hall, her left hand aglow with one of her Starbolts, "I think someone is here and is upset with us. He has remade the tower and is sitting in the living room where the couch used to be the pink."

Starfire was about Robin and Raven's height, her hair barely reaching to her waist, and, like Raven, her figure was more proportioned, with the minor exception of her eyebrows, which appeared smaller.

"You mean the person that did this to us is here in the tower?" Robin asked her.

"He is," she responded.

They ran to the living room, and were shocked to find that it was much bigger than they had expected it to be, with more space and less walls beyond the ones in the background. Even the kitchen itself was in one corner of the large room, with a row of computer systems in another corner. And standing in front of the windows was a man looking out at the world beyond the landmass the tower was situated upon.

"I'm glad to see that you're finally awake," he uttered to them, turning to present his gaze. "Right now, most of you are confused as to how and why, and there will be an explanation for all of this. You just won't like it."

"Titans, go!" Robin yelled, taking out his collapsible staff and charging towards the dark man while the other Titans didn't move an inch from where they stood.

Brother Correction knew that Robin would make an unprovoked attempt on him.

"You sit," he spoke, and Robin soon found himself forced onto the floor, his staff several feet from him. "This is why I look down upon you more than the whole team. You're quick to react with hostility before even considering the very possibility of just conversing with someone. You think that every situation, however large, however small, has to be resolved through violence, that conflict solves everything. I understand that your past is a damaged stack of trauma, but you are no better than a pouty child that acts out badly when you can't have your way. Look at your teammates. You ordered them to attack, but they didn't. You wanted to fight me, but they chose not to. They're learning something you're too stubborn right now to understand. Now…rise up."

Robin got back to his feet and stood before him.

"You try to attack me again…and you'll spend the rest of this conversation that has yet to begin about the how and why…locked up in a sphere where you will be forced to watch, listen and learn about your situation. All of you."

The other Titans looked to one another and decided not to even attempt to fight this stranger.

"Now, does anyone have any questions? One at a time, please."

Starfire raised her left hand up.

"Yes, Starfire?"

"Who are you, the stranger in our tower?" She asked him.

"I am Brother Correction. I used to be a mere man…but over time, I became more, charged with a multitude of purpose by various beings, past and future. I am the explorer and crusader in the further regions of universal justice, salvation and redemption for the souls of all existence. A tormentor to some that refuse to learn from their mistakes made time and again…and a savior to others that wish to undo their crimes that sealed their fate."

Then Raven raised her right hand.

"Raven?"

"You're here because of something we did? Or…something we haven't done yet?" She questioned him.

"You've done it time and again, without anyone to show you the error of your ways," he explained. "The reason I'm here right now…and tell you, all of you…that none of you, despite your acts, despite your reasons and backgrounds…are heroes."

"We're not heroes?" Beast Boy spoke. "But…we save people's lives when they're in danger, sir. We fight bad guys, we…"

"You're just children that roughhouse at every opportunity with whoever you decide is the objective of your game!" Brother Correction raised his voice and Beast Boy backed down. "You may think yourselves heroes, but all any of you do most of the time is cause wonted destruction on a regular basis, endanger the lives of the people you claim to protect from harm, and act like nothing terrible's going to happen to you when you're through at the end of the day, believing you're above reproach. True, you all come from backgrounds that hold a fair measure of darkness, of trauma, of loss and suffering, but you don't try to fit in with a society that would be better off if such things as heroes and villains existed only in comic books and television. I mean, look amongst yourselves. A leader that abuses his teammates, uses reckless actions to boss them around, forces them to listen to him when they're doing something else that isn't some sort of priority that requires the assistance of someone either necessary or is expected to deal with it and pines for the affections of some extraterrestrial princess that either loves him sometimes and doesn't other times. A young man that had a future in the world of sports before suffering an accident that rendered him on the verge of death itself until his father made a desperate attempt to save him by converting him into a cyborg, but at the cost of alienating him from those that either thought he was dead or couldn't accept what he'd become, and he becomes one half of a pair of jokesters that could realize his dream of actually being a true hero if he grew up more mentally and took his current state more serious while living more appropriately amongst his fellow heroes. A young man that suffered as a child during an expedition with his parents that resulted in him being treated with an untested formula after being bitten by a strange monkey that granted him the power of animal shapeshifting, the other half of a pair of jokesters that barely uses his brain because he can't take anything serious unless pushed to the edge or in a life-or-death situation where he has to own up to his lack of intellect and willingness to try anything to do right by the others. A young woman some want to believe is evil but isn't evil, always keeping to herself or doing something crazy that most wouldn't consider on account of how impossible it seems, born of an unholy union between mortal and demon, destined to bring about the end of the world many, many times, and not desiring that life, but finding difficulty in having a life because of these concepts that are the future, destiny, fate or even damnation. And who uses her demonic powers inherited from her heartless father in ways that just make people question if she's even meant to do anything terrible when she has an interest in a child cartoon about horses with wings that embrace life lessons about friendship and making the right choices as a guilty pleasure. Or a princess from beyond the stars who was separated from her parents, brother and home world because of an elder sister that couldn't let go of her disgust towards her little sister due to being the bad apple, sent to a world where her social skills, while minor and in need of improvement, are akin to a child that does crazy things like drinking mustard and wanting to believe in love and friendship being able to make the world a better place."

The Titans couldn't believe how he was describing them to the very core of their respective histories, but felt there was more to what he was saying.

"I want to believe in you five being capable of actually being what you claim to be, but so long as you continue to act the way you do, none of you will be heroes. None of you will deserve to be called heroes, no matter what you say, no matter what you do. You want to be heroes? You want to be admired by the people you want to protect from harm? How far are you willing to go? What price are you willing to pay to earn the hard-earned status of hero? Raven? How about you, Cyborg? What are you thinking you'd pay, Beast Boy? What about you, Robin? What are you willing to sacrifice to become a true hero? What price are you willing to pay…to be someone that others can actually look up to?"

None of the Titans answered him, each of them thinking about what he just said. This was just reminding each of the multiverse belief, on how, in other universes, there were alternates of each of them, and in some of those universes…they actually were heroes…or something else entirely.

For Robin, in some universes, his family was still alive and they were still in the circus. But in others, they were dead…and instead of becoming a crusader for justice, he became worse than how he was stated to be right now by the majority of people around him.

Cyborg, on the other hand, in some universes, either avoided the accident that destroyed his life by means of some other person taking his place…or ended up reduced to being a ghost in the machine with no shred of humanity left. But in some other, small universes, sometimes, just sometimes, the former young man with a future in the world of athleticism…returned to a life of humanity by being given a new body grown from his salvaged DNA. Sometimes, he never thought to wonder if it was possible for him to go back to that life of normality over being a cybernetic organism.

Raven never felt the need to wonder if she could be like other girls her age because of her origins. She was a half-demon, the result of an unholy union between her mother Arella and the inter-dimensional demon Trigon, and as a result, she was more affiliated with the darkness of the universe than the light, considered a monster that pretended to be human most of the time, unable to be genuinely human. But she had glimpsed in just a trio of other universes that she was around in…and found that she was a regular girl with no ties to Trigon or any cults, that her mother had gotten out of the bad crowds and turned her life around or came from a happy family, free of abuse, both physically and emotionally. Oh, how there were times where she thought it would've been better for her to live in one of those universes than the one she currently inhabited.

"What do we have to do?" Starfire questioned. "What can we do…to prove to you that we can be heroes, Brother Correction?"

"For once, one of you asks the question that will decide whether you can be heroes for real…or just be labeled as troublemakers," Brother Correction responded. "There is a way for you to earn the status of hero, to truly earn it. The question is, though, do any of you think you're capable of making the hard decisions to do one thing that is a multitude of smaller tasks? Do you have what it takes to live the life that heroes live, knowing that you have to live with the consequences of your actions and inactions…and not acting as though it's child's play?"

"What is it that we have to do to prove that we're heroes?" Robin asked.

"I will send you five to another universe…where you will face a fiend that only understands a goal he was tasked with as a child through a message he receives when he comes of age…and chooses to carry it out at the expense of the people around him."

"What goal?" Beast Boy questioned.

"To take the world," he answered, "and by 'take the world', he will destroy cities, end millions…until there is nothing left to take…and no one to put up a resistance. Do you think you can stop someone from another world that will reign nothing but death and destruction on one you'd recognize? Do you believe you can be called heroes by saving those that are left from a threat to their lives? If you believe that you can without thinking it'll be easy, please say so now. If not, if you want to back out in favor of self-preservation, you'll just be proving that I was right about you. Decide now."

Robin wanted to prove that he was a hero and a capable leader, that he wasn't some sort of lunatic that would physically and verbally abuse his teammates…or that he could stop being that person and change for the better.

Starfire felt that this person from another world was similar to her sister, but was worse due to being willing to inflict suffering onto millions because of what his people had intended of him to do, something she felt she needed to end in favor of proving to the people of Earth that not all extraterrestrials were cruel.

Raven was convinced that there was someone out there that was more twisted and sorrowful than she was in terms of background…but was clearly willing to do whatever he had to on account of a message his people left him to follow.

As for Cyborg and Beast Boy…they needed to prove that they could help the people placed in danger, that they were capable of being heroes for real and taking things serious, that they weren't just a pair of pranksters that tried to have a good time.

"We'll prove that we can be heroes," they each said to Brother Correction, who gave a small smile in return.

"We shall see about that," he told them as a portal opened behind him . "We shall see."

-x-

Stepping out onto a patch of farmland, the Teen Titans found their new setting where they would prove to Brother Correction that they could be heroes…was wrecked by a sense of destruction with impending death not far behind.

"My God," went Robin as he looked up at the sky, seeing that it was red, possibly due to fires occurring far away from where they were.

"You're saying that just one person did all of this?" Beast Boy questioned.

"One powerful person…with absolutely no regard for the people's safety," said Raven, feeling nothing but dread from the residual energies of the people that died before they arrived. "Something of this sort has happened once before…in at least one other universe."

"This level of cruelty is intolerable, even on my world," Starfire expressed, looking down at a sign that had been around for some time. "It says here that…this place is called Brightburn, Kansas…with a population of zero."

Cyborg picked up the sign and they all saw the name of where they were…along with a bunch of strange symbols that appeared to be of the second letter of the alphabet.

"Brightburn, Kansas?" Robin questioned. "That's not too far from…where Smallville is."

"Except that this…isn't a universe where Superman exists," they heard Brother Correction state to them, appearing behind them. "This…is a universe where the people you think could grow up to be heroes…become the very people you fear and despise for their decisions made after revelations become twisted. Dark knights and men of steel don't deliver hope to those in need of it, people from before your time and from below the oceans using their abilities to harm rather than help people of today's generation. But if you stop this one threat to the world…you can turn the tide of the future. But only if you can stop this threat."

"But…why here?" Cyborg asked.

"Here's a hint: Invulnerability is all but absolute. What doesn't exist here existed elsewhere before. Within the past of the one that brings despair…can another find salvation when all else fails, from reason to force."

None of the Titans understood his hint.

Robin wanted to beat the secret out of him, but was then reminded that if he did, he'd be proving that he wasn't capable to lead the Titans in saving the people left in this.

Brother Correction knew what he had thought of doing and uttered, "You're showing restraint, Robin, which is a good thing. If I gave you the answer so simply, you wouldn't learn the truth on your own, which you must. From here on out, you five must strive to be the hope for the people of this world. Find out how to stop the threat, face the darkness and restore the light. Uncover the past to save the future. Bring justice for the people that were taken. Become the heroes you should be. Save the world!"

And then he was gone, leaving them to do what they could to end this nightmare.

"Great," went Beast Boy as he looked around them. "Now, what do we do?"

"We get to work," Robin explained. "All we have to work with right now is the hint he gave us. If we figure out what it means, then we can stop this villain for good."

"We should split up into two teams to ascertain our situation," Raven suggested. "Starfire and I can go survey the land and do reconnaissance from the air while you three find out whatever you can on the ground."

"That's a good idea," said Cyborg to her. "Be careful, though; we don't know how powerful this guy is. For all we know, he could be as strong as Superman is, if he's even anything like Superman at all."

Raven and Starfire then took to the skies while Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg started to search the ground.

Beast Boy found an old newspaper article that read, "Mankind Falls To Brightburn!", which indicated that the threat they were facing was called Brightburn, after the town he lived in and began destroying in his goal to take the world.

"Looks like Brightburn is the name of our enemy here," he told Robin and Cyborg, showing them the old article.

To be continued…in a world without heroes

A/N: Well, here is what can be described as the least serious version of the Teen Titans being challenged to become like their serious incarnations and become the real deal against a threat to people in a universe where heroes don't exist by facing a threat that could kill them. But what do you think? Can these Titans grow out of their childish antics and earn the status of hero…or will they fall?