Newcomer Volume 1: Introduction

Wow, it has been so long since I've updated this story. I'd like to dedicate it to Judgment Mathew, a dragons wings and Tifereth for making me update. I am so sorry, it's just that my mind has been flooded with inspiration for new stories, and I'm not really the person who can channel it into something that I want. It just sort of happens. Anyway, enough about excuses and on with the STORY!


Chapter-Three

More Rain


The weather in Jump City was not at its best. The clouds had decided that they would take the upper hand and drench the city, covering it with rain. And the Titans had to fight, no matter what the weather provided for them. And as it fell in sheets around their island, they tried to amuse themselves while they waited for the alarm to sound again.

"Come on! You gotta be kidding me!"

They were playing DDR in the arcade room of the tower. Robin was teamed up with Beast Boy and Raven, even though she just sat to the side, while Cyborg was stuck with Starfire. And Beast Boy had chosen a very hard song. But, Starfire, being a fast learner, was catching up to Beast Boy, who had played it for almost a week straight one month. It was quite noticeable too.

"Do not fear, Cyborg. We shall be victorious!" cried Star as the music started up. The first beats came on and she matched Beast Boy. However, she was leaning over and staring at the screen, looking quite stupid, while Beast Boy was just moving his feet around the board and on different arrows with ease.

"Come on, Beast Boy…" encouraged Robin, standing behind him, "You can do it…"

Raven rolled her eyes. Robin coughed. Along with a low fever, his throat was also sore and he tended to sneeze a lot. Diagnosis? The common cold. Probably from being out in the pouring rain.

He coughed again and she could sense a fit coming on. She was right. He sat down on the couch next to her as he doubled over coughing.

"Water?" she asked. He nodded. She got up and went to the fridge. When she came back, he was still coughing, though not as frequently.

She handed him the glass.

"You really should sit down. You are overdoing it."

"I'm fine," he said in between coughs.

"Whatever," she replied, turning back to her book. He stayed on the couch anyway. There was a tear in the dark blue leather of the arm-rest that he was using. He picked at it, which annoyed Raven immensely.

Pick, pick……..pick……

Flap, flap……..flap……

Her eyes narrowed and she looked up from her book. She could hardly stand the music from the game, much less someone with Severe Picking Disorder.

"Robin….."

"Huh?"

"Could you please stop that?"

"Oh, yeah….sure."

She didn't bother to say thank you. Her eyes fell back onto the words in her book.

….pick, pick….

"Robin!"

He grinned.

…..pick……

She made a sound of protest and stood up. She walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

The others looked at Robin.

He coughed.

"What?"


'Why does he have to be so darn annoying!' she yelled in her head, storming down the hallway.

She turned the corner and headed for her favorite spot, the roof. They had installed a little shelter on the roof; so that they could still be outside if it was raining. Raven took this opportunity to meditate in the rain, which she enjoyed immensely.

Her feet slammed against the concrete steps with rage.

'He has no regard for others feelings!'

Inside her, a little voice asked, 'What feelings?', but she pushed it away and flung open the door. The rain came down in sheets as she shielded herself from it with her powers. Easily, she glided over to the shelter and hovered, starting her meditation.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…..Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos……" she hummed, freeing her emotions from her soul and releasing them into space, a place where they could do no harm.

"Why does she do this to me?" Robin asked himself as he briskly walked down the hallway, following Raven's path. He so desperately wanted to go back to his room or continue playing the game with his friends that didn't make him feel abnormal, but he knew he had to apologize. And he had to do it before she closed the book.

"Dammit, where did she go?" he growled in his Batman voice. And then he used his detective skills. (A/N: Ha-ha! Numchuck skills!). He thought logically. She couldn't be in her room, because she never stayed in it this time of day. She wasn't in the living room, because Cyborg and Beast Boy had left the Gamestation on and the pause music was too annoying. Not to mention that she couldn't figure out how to turn it off. The roof?

"God, I hope not. It's pouring outside…" he said as he took the stairs up to the only other place she could be.

There was someone else outside with her. She could sense it. Another presence. Everyone had their own distinguished aura that pulsated from them. But, she couldn't seem to put the pieces together as to who it was.

And it was that thought, that single thought, that made her mind break free of concentration and end her meditation, which was an incredible feat. She gracefully placed her legs on the ground, without making a sound. Something, a presence, was pulsing in her mind…it throbbed inside her psyche. She had never experienced it before… It hissed inside her head.

…….ssssssss…….

"Show yourself!" she stated. The silence of the predator was unwelcoming. Only the rain made its mark in her ears, as it continued to pour down.

"Raven?"

She jumped and whirled around. Her conscious jerked out of contact with the unknown perpetrator. And suddenly, they were not unknown.

"Robin!" she cried, pulling her hood down, than realizing she wanted it up because she was frustrated with him still. And now she was even more angered with her teammate because he had made a fool out of her.

"What are you doing up here?"

"I—uh…I heard you yell and wanted to make sure everything was okay." He said this in more of a question tone than anything. It wasn't the truth, and Raven could tell.

She raised her eyebrow and put her hands on her hips.

"Actually—I…" He stuttered. He gave up and sighed.

"I wanted to apologize. I knew you were trying to concentrate and was acting like an immature pinhead."

"You sure were…"

………ssssssss…………

What was that?

"So, I guess…I'm sorry…"

………ssssssss…………

So he wasn't the presence. She furrowed her brow with concentration.

"Raven?"

No answer. She looked around.

"Raven? Did you hear me?"

"There's someone else up here."

………ssssssss…………

"What? Where?"

"On the roof. With us. They're very close."

And she was right.

Suddenly, something fell from the roof gracefully and landed on the edge of the shelter.

"You!" Robin yelled, he moved in front of Raven, in case this girl had bad intentions. Raven's eyebrows rose to her hairline at this sign of protection. She quickly put her hood up, not liking strangers to view her face.

"Me."

"Who are you?" he asked.

Raven tried to enter her conscious.

"Funny how we keep meeting in the rain…" said the girl. A drop of rainwater slid of her nose. The wet dreadlocks of hair, darkened by the rain, fell around her shoulders. Her expression was one of dignified humor.

"I told you we'd meet again…"

"Robin…." Raven said cautiously.

"What do you want?"

"I just thought I'd drop by and say thanks. That guy you were fighting, I'd been tracking him for months…" She fingered the knife on her right hip. She had another one on the left.

"And finally, I beat him. Or, I should say, we beat him." She grinned.

"Why can't I enter your conscious?" piped up Raven. She walked in front of Robin.

She tapped her temple.

"Barriers."

"How did you learn—"

"You're not the only one in this city, Raven."

"How do you know her name?" Robin demanded. She didn't answer, and Raven continued.

"Then why do you need those?" she asked, pointed to the knives on the girls hips.

The girl unsheathed them.

"These?" she said, twirling them around her fingers. She walked closer to Raven, knives flying around her hands. She got so close to her that Robin feared the girl might try something. The knives were still spinning, as she got as close as she could.

Then, the girl stopped them, wooden handles slapping against her palm, and raised the tip of one to Raven's chin.

"You're not scared of me, are you?"

"Once you've been inside my mind, you'll never be scared of anything on this planet again."

"I doubt that. You know, I'm surprised you couldn't figure out it was me before. I knew a long time that you were on the roof. Way before you even realized a presence existed. Why are you so weak?"

Raven's eyes turned white. A mental blast threw the girl away from her prey and into the rain again.

"What's you're problem."

"You. Get out," she growled. The girl looked at Robin. He held a solid glare.

"So much for 'thank you' s." she said and disappeared.

Raven still had her back turned towards Robin.

"Raven…."

"Who is she?"

"I don't know. I've never met her before."

"Liar!" she yelled, eyes turning white again, "She told you to your face, and mine, that she met you last night."

"Yes," he said calmly. He knew how Raven got when she was angered. He was also the only one on the team that could calm her down. "But, you cannot consider that a meeting. Why are you so offensive about her?"

"She said I was weak. I can't help it if I can't control my powers."

He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She doesn't know anything."

But, that was where the Titans would go wrong. Because, this girl, this mysterious girl, knew more about them than even Slade.


Titan009- Well, how's that for a cliff hanger? Next chapter should be out soon now that I'm back on my normal schedule! Hope you like mystery, because this girl's "cherade" will continue for the next few chapters. Enjoy! And please review...