It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Nothing was supposed to happen this way. Of course, we never had a choice. Not really.
You see, for each of us, being a superhero was the only life we knew. We could never have been anything else. Our looks, our habits, our powers, they were all too different to fit into a little cubicle and coffee break life. We were born to be heroes, each of us.
But that day changed everything.
The power grid for the city went out. I remember stepping out of my room into darkness, Cyborg's little shoulder light shining in my face, Starfire and Beast Boy hovering behind him…
"What. Happened." I intoned angrily. I had been studying the book of Azar when the lights suddenly failed me. It was a very perturbing inconvenience.
"I don't know." Cyborg answered truthfully, rubbing his metal-plated head. "The whole city is out. The back-up systems should have come on by now. It's not even raining." He mused quietly.
"Where is Robin?" Starfire pleaded nervously. I could see her hovering in the shadows, holding up a pale green ball of light. She looked fearful and worried, never having been one to hide her emotions.
"Yeah, good question. How do we know-" Beast Boy's sentence was cut short abruptly as the Tower gave a violent shake. The sounds of explosion and breaking glass shattered the silence, erupting the world into chaos and terrible, fiery fear.
Instantly we began to run to the main control room, and its large bay window. A shape darted out in front of us, cloak billowing from his momentum. Robin reached the control room before the rest of us, hardly pausing to wait for us to catch up. I quietly cursed his impetuous need to be the leader.
At the window, we could see the flickering reflections of fire. The Tower sounded unusually quiet without the blaring noise of alarms and warning lights. There was no power, and therefore no security.
Below us, as we gazed out onto the bay, we could see the lower floors slowly burning. Several more windows exploded in showers of glittering glass as the fires and the heat caused electrical equipment to explode. I glanced sideways, to see Robin's disturbingly apathetic expression as the world shook beneath us. The fire cast eerie shadows over his features, distorting his appearance. I suppressed a shiver,
We had been through so much already, with Slade and his foolish appointments as apprentices. First, Robin and his misguided role as Red X. Then, he became the unwilling servant to the madman himself. Finally, Terra: a friend and also an enemy as she turned her back on the Teen Titans and allied herself with Slade. The experiences had changed all of us, sobering us toward our role as heroes.
"We've been attacked." Robin said coldly. Instantly the other three Titans were at attention, their bewilderment and fear suppressed beneath a thick sense of duty. We were used to villains hating us, and we were used to attempts at our lives. But this felt different. It felt wrong.
Maybe that was just me.
"We need to evacuate to a safe location-," the Tower rumbled ominously, leaning outwards toward the water. "Raven!" Robin barked in alarm, steadying himself against the couch while the other Titans compensated their balance to the sudden tilt. I remained perfectly still by the window, watching as our home crumbled.
"I can't get us out of here." I whispered sullenly. I had felt it the minute the lights had gone out. But seeing the Tower slowly fall had finally brought it to my attention.
"What?" The other Titans asked, varying levels of terror caressing their voices.
"This plan is more elaborate than we could have imagined. My powers are useless." To demonstrate, I stretched my hand out and chanted. Nothing happened.
Beast Boy began to panic, flying around the room as a small, fearful sparrow.
"Then we'll have to fly." Robin said resolutely. "Beast Boy! Carry Cyborg!" Beast Boy, ceasing his panicked twittering, became a large pterodactyl and gripped the tin man by the shoulders. Starfire floated over and gently wrapped an arm around Robin's waist, both of them blushing slightly. I watched mutely, reflecting bemusedly on how much the two of them seemed to like each other so much and how neither of them would ever say anything. Could I be panicking? Thinking about romance in the middle of a crisis like this couldn't be healthy.
"Star, can you carry Raven and me both?"
"I am sure it will not be difficult."
"…"
"Friend Raven, why are you angry?"
"Because that isn't my waist Star."
"Oh."
I tried to ignore the spluttered, nervous laughter coming from the green dinosaur and his load as we crashed through the large glass window and took to the air. Starfire struggled with our weight, but soon we were save on a nearby skyscraper, watching as our home crumbled. With a deafening crash it fell into the bay. I felt my world shake with the reverberating terror and uncertainty that this fiery display produced.
"Our home…" Beast Boy broke the silence with a quiet sadness. Starfire sobbed gently beside him.
"I should have done better. I should have double-proofed the systems. I should have-"
"There was nothing any of us could have done."
We all turned to look at Robin, who was watching the explosions with that disturbing apathy again. His eyes narrowed as we watched, the wind from the released heat and impact of the crumbled Tower ruffling his black hair.
"This was obviously a well thought out plan. Destroying the main power grid? Shutting down back-up systems? Disabling Raven's powers? Someone was trying very hard to get us killed."
"I agree." I said darkly. My powers weren't returning, leaving me free to experience the pain and uncertainty that our newly destroyed home inspired in my heart. "And now we have nothing to help us discover who did this."
"Not on our own at least." Robin mumbled softly. I was the only one to hear him past the crushing winds and remnant explosions. "Titans! Get some rest. We'll think about what to do tomorrow."
Gratefully, the others filed away onto the fire escape and the empty building below. I sidled up beside Robin, eager to hear his theories. We were the thinkers of the group, both of us intent on answering questions and focusing on the task at hand. If I had something to think about, I would better suppress my turmoil of emotions.
"What are you thinking?" I asked gently. I didn't approve of his newfound stoicism, his callous demeanor or the way he barked commands as if drilling an army. Hadn't he learned anything at all from Red X?
"I don't want to, but I think we'll need help. Our base is gone, obviously to some elaborate plan. We have no leads and no means of tracing anything-"
"We can scan the debris, look for clues. "
He was quiet a moment, the fire lighting up his face in a strange macabre of red and black. Finally, "We'll just have to go from there."
Silence settled between us as we watched the last flames die on the water. I was almost pleased to see the angry frown settle on his face. Lately, Robin had distanced himself from all of us, as if cutting his ties to us would prevent any more betrayals. He had become cold and demanding, forsaking friendship for leadership. I had only ever seen him act more like his previous self when he thought he was alone. I knew that it could prove to be a crippling factor in whatever came next.
"Robin?"
"What?"
"We'll need to be together for this. We'll need to be a team." I gazed meaningfully into his blank, white mask, trying to impress upon him my subtle intentions. I think he understood.
"I know." He turned back to the water and sighed, "I know."
Lunatic: I don't own the Teen Titans. Beware this has a really sad ending, at least that's what I think. Also, the plotline is all jumbled. Try to keep up.
It's best to read this while listening to really sad, slow music. Plus, keep in mind there are a lot of subtle, underlying, emotional motivations for the characters that I don't sit and spell out for you.