Flashing Lights and Sounds
By Jedi-and
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.
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Chapter Two: Knowledge is Power...
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Several days after the encounter at the pizza house, the mysterious attacker was still unconscious in the medical bay, restrained and under a close supervision from the Titans at all times. Starfire rushed around nervously, only speaking incoherent gibberish whenever someone saw her, if she even deemed to speak to them at all. Even Robin had a hard time trying to cheer her up as she ventured from her room less and less.
"Yo, my turn sleepy." Cyborg said, tapping Savior on the shoulder just before he nodded off into a dream filled sleep.
"Wha? Oh yeah. Right. Not sleeping. Just resting my eyes." Savior yawned as he stood up. He and Raven were finding it harder and harder to get in 'quality time' ever since this thing came here, but he would try (and fail) as he had done over the week that Mr. Suitclaw was here.
Cyborg sat down with a comic book and leaned back on the chair slightly. Starfire once again walked past and through the Medi-bay.
"Yo Star, you sure you know this guy?" Cyborg asked. It had been determined that the man, or should I say young adult, was around the age of 17 (Earth years anyway) and that the claws he wore were not a gloved weapon, but actually a part of him. Also his skin was pale, though more white than grey like Raven's, and his hair was of a nearly white blue. Of course, the Titans had observed all these things during the battle with him, but now they "officially" knew, and that was a good thing.
"Not him, but I know of his race." Star said uncomfortably, rubbing her arm as she checked his vitals again. No change.
"Come again?" Cyborg asked, but all he got was complete gibberish until he asked again. Starfire had a habit of going off into her native tongue during periods of stress.
"I am sorry. It is, how you say, prickly to talk about it." She rubbed her arm again, hoping he would leave it at that, but Raven, who was looking for Noel, had walked in and heard everything.
"If you can't talk to us about it, who can you talk to?" She said, posing the question to Star, her hands never leaving her sides. Starfire gave her arm one last rub, then sighed, nodded and sat down in the spare chair.
"Many years ago, before I was born, a war started in our galaxy. On one side was the galaxy itself and on the others were the Blacktrinians." She started, leaning on her knees slightly. Vic was going to ask but then he glanced at Mr. Suitclaw and realized.
"Their Empire was strong, it spanned many worlds and ruled with fear and aggression. They were known for being fearless and hateful warriors."
Raven raised a brow at this comment. She had not sensed any Hate but she had sensed a little fear from their "guest".
"The war continued far away from my world and has raged for many, many Septars."
"Sep-"
"Two Earth years is known as a Septar." She explained.
"How many Septars has it lasted?" Raven asked, now floating in mid air, her legs crossed.
"About 50 now."
The pair looked stunned and Raven nearly fell out of the air. That was over 100 years of fighting! The way she said it meant they where still going too!
"It has wrecked havoc with the resources, draining them till there was nothing left. I do not know what happened to the great war, but I haven't been back to my home for some time...I hope they never got as far as my planet."
"And now you wish to know what the outcome of the war was?" Cyborg enquired. A reply was going to be given, but a groan and a snap was heard. The Titans started, and they turned their attention to their guest, who was now sitting upright rubbing his eyes. It wouldn't be so surprising...if he hadn't been restrained with straps that would have rendered a human powerless. The jaw of the largest Titan dropped as Starfire floated over in front of him. He opened his eyes, blinking, and then looked forward, then up, and then jumped back slightly. His eyes were the same dark blue that had glowed in the alleyway, but like Starfire's eyes, the parts of the eyes that were meant to be white were a different colour, as black as pitch. He looked around with his dark eyes one more time, and then he relaxed and stood up a little. Victor was not as relaxed, as he was busy prepping his cannon.
"How do you feel?" Raven asked, walking over. He paused and thought, then replied in a rough accent.
"I feel a little sore." He said, rubbing his stiff neck
"Great. Now that we've deemed you're not hurt, why did you attack us?" Cyborg asked, walking forward towards him with his arm raised and his cannon at full charge.
"Forgive me, it was a mistake. I thought you were with the people who attacked me." He said. He spoke as if he was still learning English, but his diction seemed around the same level as Starfire. There was one difference though: he had a slight, ever so slight lisp which was caused by his large, sharp teeth. His canine tooth seemed to be doubled into itself, as in there were two of them attached together to form one huge fang.
"Tell me, the war. How does it go?" Starfire said, turning him forcefully towards her. He spoke a load of random, harsh sounding words, before Star showed a side she didn't like to show.
Anger.
She shook him a little as he held his head, trying to stop her. "I do not understand! TELL ME NOW!" She yelled, now fully in a fit of rage, or pain, whichever seemed to work at the time, as tears streamed down her cheeks at the frustration of it all.
"The war might end soon!" He tried to shout, endeavouring to make himself heard as she stopped her violent shaking, which had now rendered his knees near powerless.
"The Tamaraneans? Are they safe?" She asked, silently hoping that her fears had not come true. The Tamaraneans may have produced powerful warriors, but at heart they were a peaceful race. But while being very strong in battle was just one aspect of her kind, the Blacktrinians were born for one main purpose and that was war.
Or so the propaganda stated anyway. Reality and perception didn't always match up.
"They have started a treaty with the Empire. It will come into effect within the next few nights." The young man said, as he struggled to keep himself up on his weakened claws. His only support was Kory's grip on him, as his knees had buckled under his own weight. "But both sides have had losses, and this was an act of desperation." He finished, telling her the whole truth. She was happy he did. Muttering something under her breath, she placed him back on the bed, and flew from the room.
There was a pause before Cyborg pulled up a chair, still wary about the young man.
"Interrogation time!" He said, almost happily as he sat down cannon still semi-aimed at Mr. Suitclaw. "Hey Rae! Wanna play bad cop?"
"No, but I will go grab your little 'buddy' for you." Raven said, and with that she left. Soon enough, Short and Green was in the room, sitting backwards on a chair with a hat and trench coat, like he was some sort of comic book detective.
"Right! Question one! Name!"
"To pronounce it right, I would have to remove your tongue and reattach it with the end shaped to a point. But it basically translates into your name Nigel Hastings, Nigel or Nige to be specific."
At least we have something to call him now...Mr. Suitclaw notwithstanding, but that was just plain stupid. With a glance to each other, Beast Boy took the next question.
"Alright. How old are you, if you think you are SOOO smart!" He said, pointing, his hat dipped slightly.
"In human terms, around 16, 17 this Thalkran." A pause. "Year." Nigel said, correcting himself before continuing.
"Why did you attack Starfire?"
"Instinct. I thought she was going to attack me. As the war was still in effect when I saw her I thought she was going to come after me, so I attacked first. But now I realise she only knows of the war, and does not participate in it." The Blacktrinian said, shaking his head.
"Would you attack her again?"
"Oh darkness no."
"Huh?"
"I did not like the war. I was weak and nothing but fodder to the generals. We've ceased to be anything to them but numbers, cattle, lacking any sense of mercy or compassion, or even honour. Injured and fleeing a battle I crashed on earth. When I came too, I realized where I had landed. I actually shouted out in joyful celebration as I was finally out of the reach of the Empire. And I would have washed my hands of the whole thing until I met you and attacked you. Again I apologize for that."
"Yeah 'cuz we kicked your butt!"
"Trust me, if you where fighting a proper soldier you would have been dead in five minutes."
"You're not a proper soldier? Then what was with the jumping and the clawing and the swinging with the big blade and the hurting and shoving!" Beast Boy said incredulously.
"I am a...What is that word?" Nigel said. He pointed to the medical equipment, tapping his claws together to try and piece together the wording.
"A doctor?" Beast Boy asked, opening his palm and waving it in a circular wrist motion in the gesture that people did when they were trying to help people remember things.
"Yes! I am a doctor! I heal wounds!" He yelled, wilding gesturing his arms in realization, but that caused him to get a head rush, and he coiled back and held his head. "The point is, I do not wish to fight Starfire again, because I am sick of that war and of fighting in itself, and I want to stop... Plus she could probably decimate me..."
"I dunno. You held your own pretty well." Cyborg replied.
"Really? I had been trying to improve my punches, but I draw back too much." Nigel replied, by now becoming a little more comfortable with the others.
"HEY!" Gar yelled, trying to get some attention. "A few more questions before we finish here, seeing as we will have to keep you here for a few days to figure out what to do with you."
Nigel nodded as they asked away, eventually getting to the two all important questions, probably the most important in Beast Boy's mind. "Okay, scrambled eggs, fried eggs or poached eggs?"
"All of the above." Nigel smiled, a toothy grin that scared Beast Boy a little, but he bravely went on. "Now I have to adapt this question slightly but... Starfire or Raven?" Nigel laughed a little, trying to hide it. Good to know that teenage boys are the same whatever planet you happen to be on.
"Both!"
"Wow..." The pair replied, there was a slight pause as they looked at each other and nodded. "We have to tell our findings to our boss, just stay there." They quickly added before leaving. Young Master Nigel just led back down, his eyes closed lightly.
Humans, such fascinating creatures...
Beast Boy and Cyborg nearly ran right into Savior, who was standing outside the door, his arms crossed and his look the same.
"Oh, hi Noel! Uh...what's up?" Beast Boy, grinning sheepishly. Noel snorted.
"You can ask all the perverted questions you like, but do not use my girlfriend. It makes me unhappy. And you KNOW what happens when I get unhappy."
"You pull out the Shakespeare books and try to out-angst Hamlet?"
The following chase lasted nearly twenty minutes.
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"So we failed?" A man asked as he sat upon the edge of a building, resting, while he bent his knees in a semi crouch position. He was the huge man from the night before. The sleeveless, high collar jacket fluttered in the wind, revealing some baggy, one tone combat pants in a dark green colour tied with a thick belt. He wore no T-shirt, but a thick band going around his middle, almost like another belt, a plain white colour, and the long coat he wore was of a greyish blue. His hair was dark with a black bandana covering most of it. He turned around, holding on to one of the ledges with his large arm to see his partner in crime, holding on for dear life to the side of the building, obviously scared out of her wits. She apparently wasn't very fond of heights.
"N-no, our objective was to attack the Titans, and by..." She looked down and then closed her eyes tightly as her speech sped up. "...Attacking that man we have managed to draw them out and seen what they can do! Can we go down now?" She begged as the larger man laughed.
Her outfit was also fully visible in the daytime, and Beast Boy had seen most of it. What he had missed we can see now during the day. Her colour schemes were purples and blacks with some silvers thrown in. The width of the shoulder pads, which stretched out about a foot and a half each side and were made up of rows of panels, were one of the things he had missed. She also wore a metallic black panel skirt that went around behind the hips and stopped short in the middle of her thigh. She also wore red gloves with gold stripes on them, and floating panels across her arms. She was obviously some form of technological mage. Who did not like heights. Guess she didn't have any levitation spells.
"But he wasn't as simple as we thought, and that cost us... Didn't it?" The man asked, looking back over his shoulder at the terrified young woman.
"N-no, we can attack them properly now we know what they can do." She looked back down again. "Can we PLEASE go now?!"
Again the man laughed.
"Yes we can go. But Sister?" She paused from creeping off the ledge back to the balcony.
"Yes Brother?"
"We are doing the right thing... aren't we?" A confused expression came over his face. There was a pause as he turned back around. "Aren't we?"
"Of course we are little brother, of course we are." She bravely reached out and patted her hand on his broad shoulder. Believe it or not, he was this small woman's younger brother by one year. They had been told they were doing the right thing by a person. They didn't know who this person was, and they didn't know the Titans either, as they were both from out of town. WAY out of town.
But from what they heard, the Titans were scum, real bottom of the barrel kind of cliché scum. And it was their job to stop it.
These two had their own reputation. As vulgar as it sounds, in some places they were known as the sword and the shield of justice, vigilantes outside of even the Justice League. Their names were never said, as no one knew them. But the Titans will, before they meet their end.
Oh they will...
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Another chapter done... They are not very long but meh, I tried... It seemed a good place to pause for now. So we know a little about the three that we met on that one night, will we find out more about them? Find out soon. And perhaps we will also find out why that girl was out on the ledge despite the fact she clearly DOES NOT LIKE HEIGHTS! Fool...
By Jedi-and
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.
-----------------------------
Chapter Two: Knowledge is Power...
-----------------------------
Several days after the encounter at the pizza house, the mysterious attacker was still unconscious in the medical bay, restrained and under a close supervision from the Titans at all times. Starfire rushed around nervously, only speaking incoherent gibberish whenever someone saw her, if she even deemed to speak to them at all. Even Robin had a hard time trying to cheer her up as she ventured from her room less and less.
"Yo, my turn sleepy." Cyborg said, tapping Savior on the shoulder just before he nodded off into a dream filled sleep.
"Wha? Oh yeah. Right. Not sleeping. Just resting my eyes." Savior yawned as he stood up. He and Raven were finding it harder and harder to get in 'quality time' ever since this thing came here, but he would try (and fail) as he had done over the week that Mr. Suitclaw was here.
Cyborg sat down with a comic book and leaned back on the chair slightly. Starfire once again walked past and through the Medi-bay.
"Yo Star, you sure you know this guy?" Cyborg asked. It had been determined that the man, or should I say young adult, was around the age of 17 (Earth years anyway) and that the claws he wore were not a gloved weapon, but actually a part of him. Also his skin was pale, though more white than grey like Raven's, and his hair was of a nearly white blue. Of course, the Titans had observed all these things during the battle with him, but now they "officially" knew, and that was a good thing.
"Not him, but I know of his race." Star said uncomfortably, rubbing her arm as she checked his vitals again. No change.
"Come again?" Cyborg asked, but all he got was complete gibberish until he asked again. Starfire had a habit of going off into her native tongue during periods of stress.
"I am sorry. It is, how you say, prickly to talk about it." She rubbed her arm again, hoping he would leave it at that, but Raven, who was looking for Noel, had walked in and heard everything.
"If you can't talk to us about it, who can you talk to?" She said, posing the question to Star, her hands never leaving her sides. Starfire gave her arm one last rub, then sighed, nodded and sat down in the spare chair.
"Many years ago, before I was born, a war started in our galaxy. On one side was the galaxy itself and on the others were the Blacktrinians." She started, leaning on her knees slightly. Vic was going to ask but then he glanced at Mr. Suitclaw and realized.
"Their Empire was strong, it spanned many worlds and ruled with fear and aggression. They were known for being fearless and hateful warriors."
Raven raised a brow at this comment. She had not sensed any Hate but she had sensed a little fear from their "guest".
"The war continued far away from my world and has raged for many, many Septars."
"Sep-"
"Two Earth years is known as a Septar." She explained.
"How many Septars has it lasted?" Raven asked, now floating in mid air, her legs crossed.
"About 50 now."
The pair looked stunned and Raven nearly fell out of the air. That was over 100 years of fighting! The way she said it meant they where still going too!
"It has wrecked havoc with the resources, draining them till there was nothing left. I do not know what happened to the great war, but I haven't been back to my home for some time...I hope they never got as far as my planet."
"And now you wish to know what the outcome of the war was?" Cyborg enquired. A reply was going to be given, but a groan and a snap was heard. The Titans started, and they turned their attention to their guest, who was now sitting upright rubbing his eyes. It wouldn't be so surprising...if he hadn't been restrained with straps that would have rendered a human powerless. The jaw of the largest Titan dropped as Starfire floated over in front of him. He opened his eyes, blinking, and then looked forward, then up, and then jumped back slightly. His eyes were the same dark blue that had glowed in the alleyway, but like Starfire's eyes, the parts of the eyes that were meant to be white were a different colour, as black as pitch. He looked around with his dark eyes one more time, and then he relaxed and stood up a little. Victor was not as relaxed, as he was busy prepping his cannon.
"How do you feel?" Raven asked, walking over. He paused and thought, then replied in a rough accent.
"I feel a little sore." He said, rubbing his stiff neck
"Great. Now that we've deemed you're not hurt, why did you attack us?" Cyborg asked, walking forward towards him with his arm raised and his cannon at full charge.
"Forgive me, it was a mistake. I thought you were with the people who attacked me." He said. He spoke as if he was still learning English, but his diction seemed around the same level as Starfire. There was one difference though: he had a slight, ever so slight lisp which was caused by his large, sharp teeth. His canine tooth seemed to be doubled into itself, as in there were two of them attached together to form one huge fang.
"Tell me, the war. How does it go?" Starfire said, turning him forcefully towards her. He spoke a load of random, harsh sounding words, before Star showed a side she didn't like to show.
Anger.
She shook him a little as he held his head, trying to stop her. "I do not understand! TELL ME NOW!" She yelled, now fully in a fit of rage, or pain, whichever seemed to work at the time, as tears streamed down her cheeks at the frustration of it all.
"The war might end soon!" He tried to shout, endeavouring to make himself heard as she stopped her violent shaking, which had now rendered his knees near powerless.
"The Tamaraneans? Are they safe?" She asked, silently hoping that her fears had not come true. The Tamaraneans may have produced powerful warriors, but at heart they were a peaceful race. But while being very strong in battle was just one aspect of her kind, the Blacktrinians were born for one main purpose and that was war.
Or so the propaganda stated anyway. Reality and perception didn't always match up.
"They have started a treaty with the Empire. It will come into effect within the next few nights." The young man said, as he struggled to keep himself up on his weakened claws. His only support was Kory's grip on him, as his knees had buckled under his own weight. "But both sides have had losses, and this was an act of desperation." He finished, telling her the whole truth. She was happy he did. Muttering something under her breath, she placed him back on the bed, and flew from the room.
There was a pause before Cyborg pulled up a chair, still wary about the young man.
"Interrogation time!" He said, almost happily as he sat down cannon still semi-aimed at Mr. Suitclaw. "Hey Rae! Wanna play bad cop?"
"No, but I will go grab your little 'buddy' for you." Raven said, and with that she left. Soon enough, Short and Green was in the room, sitting backwards on a chair with a hat and trench coat, like he was some sort of comic book detective.
"Right! Question one! Name!"
"To pronounce it right, I would have to remove your tongue and reattach it with the end shaped to a point. But it basically translates into your name Nigel Hastings, Nigel or Nige to be specific."
At least we have something to call him now...Mr. Suitclaw notwithstanding, but that was just plain stupid. With a glance to each other, Beast Boy took the next question.
"Alright. How old are you, if you think you are SOOO smart!" He said, pointing, his hat dipped slightly.
"In human terms, around 16, 17 this Thalkran." A pause. "Year." Nigel said, correcting himself before continuing.
"Why did you attack Starfire?"
"Instinct. I thought she was going to attack me. As the war was still in effect when I saw her I thought she was going to come after me, so I attacked first. But now I realise she only knows of the war, and does not participate in it." The Blacktrinian said, shaking his head.
"Would you attack her again?"
"Oh darkness no."
"Huh?"
"I did not like the war. I was weak and nothing but fodder to the generals. We've ceased to be anything to them but numbers, cattle, lacking any sense of mercy or compassion, or even honour. Injured and fleeing a battle I crashed on earth. When I came too, I realized where I had landed. I actually shouted out in joyful celebration as I was finally out of the reach of the Empire. And I would have washed my hands of the whole thing until I met you and attacked you. Again I apologize for that."
"Yeah 'cuz we kicked your butt!"
"Trust me, if you where fighting a proper soldier you would have been dead in five minutes."
"You're not a proper soldier? Then what was with the jumping and the clawing and the swinging with the big blade and the hurting and shoving!" Beast Boy said incredulously.
"I am a...What is that word?" Nigel said. He pointed to the medical equipment, tapping his claws together to try and piece together the wording.
"A doctor?" Beast Boy asked, opening his palm and waving it in a circular wrist motion in the gesture that people did when they were trying to help people remember things.
"Yes! I am a doctor! I heal wounds!" He yelled, wilding gesturing his arms in realization, but that caused him to get a head rush, and he coiled back and held his head. "The point is, I do not wish to fight Starfire again, because I am sick of that war and of fighting in itself, and I want to stop... Plus she could probably decimate me..."
"I dunno. You held your own pretty well." Cyborg replied.
"Really? I had been trying to improve my punches, but I draw back too much." Nigel replied, by now becoming a little more comfortable with the others.
"HEY!" Gar yelled, trying to get some attention. "A few more questions before we finish here, seeing as we will have to keep you here for a few days to figure out what to do with you."
Nigel nodded as they asked away, eventually getting to the two all important questions, probably the most important in Beast Boy's mind. "Okay, scrambled eggs, fried eggs or poached eggs?"
"All of the above." Nigel smiled, a toothy grin that scared Beast Boy a little, but he bravely went on. "Now I have to adapt this question slightly but... Starfire or Raven?" Nigel laughed a little, trying to hide it. Good to know that teenage boys are the same whatever planet you happen to be on.
"Both!"
"Wow..." The pair replied, there was a slight pause as they looked at each other and nodded. "We have to tell our findings to our boss, just stay there." They quickly added before leaving. Young Master Nigel just led back down, his eyes closed lightly.
Humans, such fascinating creatures...
Beast Boy and Cyborg nearly ran right into Savior, who was standing outside the door, his arms crossed and his look the same.
"Oh, hi Noel! Uh...what's up?" Beast Boy, grinning sheepishly. Noel snorted.
"You can ask all the perverted questions you like, but do not use my girlfriend. It makes me unhappy. And you KNOW what happens when I get unhappy."
"You pull out the Shakespeare books and try to out-angst Hamlet?"
The following chase lasted nearly twenty minutes.
----------------------------------------------------------
"So we failed?" A man asked as he sat upon the edge of a building, resting, while he bent his knees in a semi crouch position. He was the huge man from the night before. The sleeveless, high collar jacket fluttered in the wind, revealing some baggy, one tone combat pants in a dark green colour tied with a thick belt. He wore no T-shirt, but a thick band going around his middle, almost like another belt, a plain white colour, and the long coat he wore was of a greyish blue. His hair was dark with a black bandana covering most of it. He turned around, holding on to one of the ledges with his large arm to see his partner in crime, holding on for dear life to the side of the building, obviously scared out of her wits. She apparently wasn't very fond of heights.
"N-no, our objective was to attack the Titans, and by..." She looked down and then closed her eyes tightly as her speech sped up. "...Attacking that man we have managed to draw them out and seen what they can do! Can we go down now?" She begged as the larger man laughed.
Her outfit was also fully visible in the daytime, and Beast Boy had seen most of it. What he had missed we can see now during the day. Her colour schemes were purples and blacks with some silvers thrown in. The width of the shoulder pads, which stretched out about a foot and a half each side and were made up of rows of panels, were one of the things he had missed. She also wore a metallic black panel skirt that went around behind the hips and stopped short in the middle of her thigh. She also wore red gloves with gold stripes on them, and floating panels across her arms. She was obviously some form of technological mage. Who did not like heights. Guess she didn't have any levitation spells.
"But he wasn't as simple as we thought, and that cost us... Didn't it?" The man asked, looking back over his shoulder at the terrified young woman.
"N-no, we can attack them properly now we know what they can do." She looked back down again. "Can we PLEASE go now?!"
Again the man laughed.
"Yes we can go. But Sister?" She paused from creeping off the ledge back to the balcony.
"Yes Brother?"
"We are doing the right thing... aren't we?" A confused expression came over his face. There was a pause as he turned back around. "Aren't we?"
"Of course we are little brother, of course we are." She bravely reached out and patted her hand on his broad shoulder. Believe it or not, he was this small woman's younger brother by one year. They had been told they were doing the right thing by a person. They didn't know who this person was, and they didn't know the Titans either, as they were both from out of town. WAY out of town.
But from what they heard, the Titans were scum, real bottom of the barrel kind of cliché scum. And it was their job to stop it.
These two had their own reputation. As vulgar as it sounds, in some places they were known as the sword and the shield of justice, vigilantes outside of even the Justice League. Their names were never said, as no one knew them. But the Titans will, before they meet their end.
Oh they will...
---------------------------------------------------
Another chapter done... They are not very long but meh, I tried... It seemed a good place to pause for now. So we know a little about the three that we met on that one night, will we find out more about them? Find out soon. And perhaps we will also find out why that girl was out on the ledge despite the fact she clearly DOES NOT LIKE HEIGHTS! Fool...