"I was astounded when I first heard about your powers...special...Raven."
My parents... my home... where are they? Must find my home...I'm surrounded by people who want to hurt me. I must escape! You can't restrain the Crow! NO-ONE CAN!
Mark was sleeping, and for the second time that day, he awoke in a radically different position then where he fell asleep. His body may have been resting, but his mind was restless. Thoughts, sinister thoughts, were ever-present, thoughts that he never had before he was brought here. A cold chill traveled up his spine and he shivered instinctively.
It's cold in here…
There was a swoosh sound as the door to Mark's new bedroom slid open, revealing a Mark engulfed in blue flames, and a pile of grey ashes which used to be a bed beneath him. The Titans stood at the doorway, momentarily stunned, and Mark sat up slowly, trying to comprehend the situation he was in. Beast-Boy was the first to speak.
"Dude! What did you DO? You know how much that bed cost? I am so not using my Moped money for a new bed." He said, too sleepy to put any anger behind his words. Raven studied Mark for the second time, and once again noted how similar they were. With a slightly concerned tone, he asked if he was alright.
"Are...You ok?" Mark didn't answer for a moment, instead eyeing the teenagers crowded just outside his doorway. They seemed almost… afraid to come in.
"Uh yeah. Yeah I'm fine. I think I'll go back to sleep now." He said robotically, and with that Mark turned and made himself comfortable on the pile of ashes that was now his mew bed and drifted back to sleep, under five pairs of astonished eyes.
"Oh...K? That was weird. But he does have a good idea. I'm going to bed." Raven remarked and she spun quickly on the balls of her feet and walk off into the darkened corridor towards her room. Sleep soon caught up with the rest of the Titans as well, the short-lived experience now ebbing away and becoming a mere memory in their minds, and they soon joined Raven in returning to their respective rooms, leaving Mark lying on his pile of ashes trying to figure out what the Hell is going on.
A familiar smell wafted into Marks room that morning. It came seeping up the stairs and drifted under his door, filling his room with a faint bacon scent. Mark awoke to this smell, the same smell he woke to nearly every day back at home. He blinked, as if trying to blink away his room, but it was hopeless. With a slight sigh, he tumbled from his ashes that he lay upon and started his way down to the living area.
"Rise and shine, sleepy-heads! I have a breakfast feast a-la bacon and eggs ready downstairs! But it's first come, first serve, so be quick." Cyborg stated, posing a challenge to anyone who wished to eat well. Within three minutes, Robin and Beast-Boy came running down first, followed closely by Starfire and her pet mutated caterpillar Silkie. Raven was the last of the team to descend the stairs, and Mark came down quietly a few minutes later. Cyborg served up the breakfast to everybody, disregarding his previous threat, and the Team started eating, except for Beast-Boy, who was a vegetarian, and Raven, who simply didn't feel like eating. Beast-Boy instead opted for some left-over tofu and orange juice, whereas Raven boiled herself some herbal tea. With a sharp clatter, Robin released his spoon and let it drop on to his plate. He turned to Mark, who was standing and simply surveying the living-room, and started to speak.
"We have a few things to discuss, newcomer. Firstly, come and get something to eat." Robin offered a chair to the 'Newcomer' with a slight smile.
"What may we call you, friend? Starfire asked.
"Uhhh... Mark, I guess." Mark replied hesitantly, fidgeting with his school uniform that he still wore. He started to pull at his tie, and it slowly came off, unraveling in his hand, much like Jimmy's. He held his tie with a limp wrist and a half closed fist as he listened for the next question.
"How did you come by here, friend Mark and why?" Starfire continued, her green eyes beaming with curiosity.
"Um, I don't know, and...I don't know." Was all Mark could say. He didn't feel like talking, but then again, he never did, and talking seemed like the only way to get answers, so he decided to ask the next question.
"Who are you people?" He asked.
"I am Starfire!" The alien girl replied, almost immediately. "The green one is Beast Boy, our mechanical friend who made this fast-of-breaking is Cyborg, that is Raven reading the book and Robin is the one with the mask and cape!" Mark followed her finger to every member, but his stare lingered at Raven, feeling instantly attracted to her.
Raven enjoyed reading. It was her favorite pass-time, and every time she read, she felt as if she was being absorbed into the story, becoming nothing more then words that eloquently described adventures of fantastical heroes of old. However, her concentration would ultimately be broken, either by the ending of the book, or by the disruption of peace by her fellow Team-mates. Today was no different, and with a sigh of objection, she snapped her book shut loudly and looked up.
Mark quickly averted his gaze, his pale cheeks slowly reddening.
Great. That move was soo not suspicious.
Raven eyed him with a raised eyebrow, before standing up and walking back to her room, cup of tea in one hand and her book in the other. Mark quickly shot a look at her retreating back before turning to ask the next question.
"Uh, ok. Why am I here? The place where I'm from has no-one with special powers. Not even me. And as soon as I came here I light my hands on fire without burning them...somehow...and turn your bed into a pile of ash! How does that work?" Mark was getting angry, and it was clearly visible through his hair. It was starting to glow a vibrant yellow once again.
"You must control your emotions. You can not afford to get angry. You are...well...you're like me." It was Raven who spoke this time, and everyone turned to her with shocked expressions. No-one had seen her come in, and her presence here was slightly unexpected.
"What th- When did you come back? So quickly? You just- I mean- It was- Whoa…" Beast-Boy fumbled with words for a second, before giving up with a cheesy 'whoa' and sinking back into his Tofu.
"I forgot the sugar." Raven replied simply. She perused through the cupboards, scouring every shelf for any sign of the sugar. She found what she was looking for before long, and stood up and poured sugar into her tea, a bored expression upon her face. With a sigh of resignation, she looked up and met the gaze of almost every Titan in the room. In a bored tone, she replied. "it's true. The other night when we fought Slade, I saw you get angry, I felt it. The angrier you got, the more powerful you became. Like...me." Raven couldn't believe it either. Every word that rolled over her lips directly contradicted every thought she had been brought up to think throughout her sixteen years of life.
There is someone else like me!
Beast-Boy groaned despairingly.
"That's just great. Now we have TWO Ravens here. TWO! I mean, one is ba..." Beast-Boy never got to finish that sentence, as not one, but two Ravens were glaring at him maliciously.
Quick thinking needed, BB.
"Hehe… What I was gonna say is that, you need a cooler name. You can't be named Raven, coz that's already been taken. So how 'bout, Shadow?"
Nice one
More glaring.
"Fire-ice?" The glaring continues.
"OK I got it. This is awesome. Dark-man." Beast-Boy looked up from his ponderings and, seeing their faces, shape-shifted into a rat very quickly.
"Actually, I think I already have a name. The Crow" Mark, replied, glad that he at least knew something, even if it did disturb him.
"That's a pretty sweet name. Where did you get that?" Cyborg asked, finishing his bacon at last.
"Uh... It just sorta came into my mind now, actually." Mark lied.
"Well, Crow, I guess you-" Robin started to say, but he was interrupted by flashing red lights and wailing klaxon sirens. For a split-second, he seemed unsure as to why he was interrupted, but his face soon turned to steel resolve, and turned and shouted to the rest of the Titans.
"Titans! Trouble! Crow, you're coming with us!" With that, everyone was out in a second, followed by a very confused Mark, half running, half pulled by Beast-Boy. "Come ON! We gotta go! Can't you fly?" He yelled exasperatedly. Before Mark could answer, Raven landed behind them.
"Beast Boy. Go. I'll help Mark." BB opened his mouth to object, butthought the better of it andmerely shrugged and shape-shifted into pterodactyl form as he flew off. "Ok Mark, or Crow. You can fly, I know. But you have to find your center. You must remain calm." Raven said in an almost lulling tone. Mark was getting annoyed at her eternally calm exterior composure.
"I don't know how! I don't meditate! How can I fly...Aaahhh! I'm flying! HELP!" Mark was up in a flash, heading straight towards the ceiling of the Titans Tower living room. With a painful CRASH! He was through.
"Well...Not what I expected, but it works." Raven remarked as she flew off to calm Mark.
"Mark, listen to me. You have to calm down. Clear your mind of fears. Slowly find your center and level out." Raven said as she followed Mark.
Mark heard her voice, her soothing tone, andconcentrated on overcoming this obstacle. He started to relax, and his hairslowly reverted back to its original black color. Inch by inch, hestraightened out.He stopped flailing his arms and instead closed his eyes and imagined he was floating in water. It worked, and he eventually came to a halt."Good work. Now we have to follow the others. Follow me." Raven said with genuine surprise and a raised eyebrow. Mark followed Raven as she sped towards Robin's locator signal. She didn't have to fly very far, and before long the familiar faces of Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload came into view. "Azerath Metrion-" Before she could finish her incantation, however, a large, dark figure swooped in from behind her and, grabbing her by the waist, sped off towards an abandoned part of town, away from prying eyes. Except for Mark's, that is. He was the only one who witnessed this brutal attack, and since all the rest were pre-occupied with the gargantuan villains, he was the only one who could save her.