Teen Titans
A little bird chirped outside the Titan Tower. As it fluttered its wings and stepped over its eggs to sit, someone called out to it.
"Yoo-hoo! Little birdie!" called StarFire. The Tameranian princess had tan skin and beautiful emerald green eyes. Her hair was long and bright red. It sparkled in the sunlight. In her purple-gloved hand, she held a pearly white egg, no bigger than a large marble. "You dropped an egg!"
The red bird flew down on StarFire's finger. it pecked at the egg and inspected it. After a while, the bird went back to its nest, refusing the egg. StarFire stood there and looked at the egg. "You don't want it?" she inquired. The bird shook its head. StarFire was quiet for a moment, and then she squealed, delighted. "Then I shall care for it!" she exclaimed happily.
Standing in front of the table was a female mage, pale in skin, wearing dark blue and black clothes. Her hair was short and purple, the eyes that were staring at Starfire fawning over a homemade nest with the tiny egg in it. She raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you taking care of an egg?" the mage asked, speaking in monotone almost.
StarFire had a gigantic smile on. "I found it, and no bird would take it, so I decided to take care of the poor, lost egg." While speaking, Starfire picked up the egg delicately and kissed it, then rubbed it against her cheek.
The other Titans wandered in: Beast Boy, a green-skinned shape-shifter with big green eyes; Cyborg, a dark-skinned half-man, half-robot with the ability to shift parts into bigger guns and lasers; and Robin, an equipped, kung-fu fighter, and former sidekick of Batman.
Beast Boy came up close. His green body turned into a little dog and he sniffed the egg as close as StarFire would let him. When he was human again, he scrunched up his nose. "No bird wants it probably because there's no baby birdie inside."
StarFire became terribly upset.
Raven's eyes glowed, and a black aura formed around her hand. "Then lets just dispose of this..." She made the egg turn black when her telekinetic aura reached it. But the egg seemed to reject, and shattered Raven's hold, floating in the air by itself. "What the-?" Raven raised an eyebrow. She stormed over to the egg.
But the egg began to glow a soft, white aura. It was weak, however, and blinked a few times. When Raven reached out to touch it, with everyone watching, the egg completely rejected her, and blew her halfway across the living room.
"Coooool!" Beast Boy awed.
Cyborg already had a scanner over the glowing egg from a distance. "I think its safe to say there is some sort of life in that egg," he said, staring at the panel on his forearm, waiting for an answer.
StarFire took the egg and gently rubbed it against her cheek again. "Oh! my egg is so powerful!"
"StarFire," Robin warned. "That egg is dangerous... I'd advise that you stay away from it and put it back outside." Starfire pulled away, but not because of what the Boy Wonder suggested. the egg was shaking, and its white aura was getting more defined, more powerful. It cracked a little on the top, and was immediately quiet.
After a long pause, Cyborg finally said, "It's hatching..."
The five of them grouped together, making sure they had a safe distance from the egg. It began to sparkle beautifully. It cracked again, and a piece of the eggshell fell off. From inside came a very bright white light. After a moment, the egg finally shattered, and the bright white light began to take form. A heartbeat began to sound off.
The Titans prepared for battle: Robin held a long metal baton, Beast Boy turned into a big lion, Cyborg readied an atomic blaster from his right arm, StarFire's eyes became solid green, and her hands glowed green, and Raven resumed the same when first using her power.
The white light began to look like a giant bird, but really the only feature that could be made out were the two giant wings. Whatever it was, it took its first breath, which seemed gentle and feminine. The bright lights stopped, and everything dimmed down again.
Much to everyone's surprise, and some discomfort, there was a female human standing where the egg was... naked. The girl, maybe 14 or 15 years old, opened her eyes. They were pure white at first, but then developed beautiful maroon eyes. Her hair fell below her shoulders, and thankfully covered her vital parts on top. The hair was light pink with black roots.
The girl immediately looked upset, and she screamed, as if in pain. Outside, thick bolts of lightning came down from the clouds, making craters here and there in the ground. She knelt down, holding her head, and beginning to cry.
Starfire flew over to inspect cautiously. Her eyes got wide, and she looked scared. "Robin! She's hurt!" StarFire shrieked. The rest rushed over, and the trembling girl was bleeding-- profusely in fact. There were two giant cuts on the girl's back from her shoulder blades to the middle of her back and close to her spine. The cuts were extremely symmetrical. Each titan exchanged some sort of a look.
Later, the girl was calm, but in the Titan's Medical Facility. There were bandages wrapped all around her middle, from right above her belly button to her under arms. She was wearing white panties, and a loose white dress shirt with long sleeves, but it wasn't buttoned.
The girl jumped when the doors came open, and StarFire stood there with a tray of food. She held the best smile for the foreign, pink-haired girl. "Welcome to Earth, Girl From the Egg," Starfire greeted. "What is your name?"
The girl hugged her knees and mumbled something.
"Hmm?" Starfire asked, obviously not hearing her.
The girl paused for a moment, dropping her legs over the side of the table she was sitting on. "My name... is Angel..."
"Angel," StarFire repeated. "Will you be my friend?"
Angel seemed reluctant at first. She got really quiet. With her head down, she looked up through her hair. "You won't seal me up for disobeying?" Slowly, but surely, StarFire shook her head. Angel stood weakly on her feet. "My new friend with awesome powers, accept my gift of plentiful flowers," she said, holding out her hands. An entire bouquet of many different flowers appeared that she handed to StarFire.
Starfire showed much excitement. "Oh, they are absolutely beautiful!" she beamed. She gratefully hugged Angel, who took a sharp breath once Starfire touched her back. StarFire, immediately let go. "Please, forgive me. I had momentarily forgotten of your injury." She admired her flowers. "Are you able to use magic?"
Angel debated in her head. "I have abilities..." she responded. "But that was a simple conjuring spell. The Royal Family has been able to use magic for generations."
"Royal Family?" Starfire cheered. "You are a Princess?"
Angel slapped her hand over Starfire's mouth. "Don't tell anyone! The whole reason I was sealed away was because of my Royalty! My kind hated the Royals!"
StarFire removed Angel's hand from her mouth. "Why was Royalty hated?"
Angel opened her mouth to explain, but suddenly the room started to blink red lights all around. She looked extremely scared, and stood tremendously still.
"Starfire!" Robin's voice called over the intercom. "There's trouble in the city! There's a robbery near the docks-- its Slade! Hurry!"
Starfire looked sadly at Angel. "Can you fight?" she asked, hopefully.
Angel's eyes went white. "This call of alert gave me quite a rattle, but my choice is to suit up for battle!" she chanted. Her body lit up, and the clothes began to transform. Her hair braided, and there was a pink gem that appeared in the middle of her chest. from it were small golden wings. The white fabric became a white belly shirt with short sleeves. Her panties extended with a black skirt, and white boots formed over her legs.
"Glorious!" Starfire awed. She took Angel by the wrist and tugged her along. The Tameranian was extremely strong. She took Angel through the Titan Tower, and up stairs that StarFire flew up with Angel running as fast as she could. Excited, StarFire pushed a door at the very top of the stairs open, and they were on the top of the giant T, below a few dark clouds heading in from the sea.
Angel felt her feet leave the ground after a few steps. Starfire's hand gripped firmly around her wrist. She wouldn't drop her for any reason. Angel felt hot, like revisiting a memory from long ago-- flying. The wind rushed by her ears, through her hair, and under her clothes. It was absolutely fantastic.
There were multiple groups of men dressed in black with orange masks near the docks. Those of them who weren't doing very much of anything were hunched over like gorillas. The rest were shipping boxes to each other. The boxes were relatively small.
With Starfire's free hand, she threw a green ball of offensive energy down at a smaller group of Slade's thugs. The wood that the dock was made of broke under their feet, and one nearby dropped a box. It, too, broke, spilling out gold blocks. Raindrops started falling gently, darkening the wood.
Starfire let go of Angel, dropping her down before getting into the big crowds of henchmen. Angel saw Starfire fly more into condensed areas. She would fire down her green star bolts, making the black and orange men fall, pass out, break, or flee into a better position.
Angel breathed a sigh of relief when the other Titans started showing up. Raven was immediately taking broken pieces of the black and orange robots and hitting the still standing ones. Beast Boy arrived as a green alligator, and started whacking the robots with his giant tail, or literally biting their heads off after a decent tackle. Cyborg was using his sonic laser gun from his right arm and taking out entire groups at once. Robin was as quick as lightning with throwing bombs and then striking hard and fast with a long metal stick of his.
"How am I supposed to fight as good as them?" Angel contemplated. She looked down at her hands, thinking bad things. "There's no way I can conjure abilities of my own. And after being sealed away for many centuries, I'm sure my powers are still unusable." Unnoticed by her, there were two henchmen sneaking up behind her, ready to pounce.
"Damn it!" she cursed suddenly, clenching her fists tightly. Her body produced a small charge of white electricity, and shocked the henchmen behind her, causing them to fry completely. She heard them fall, and turned around to see them smoking. However, she was confused beyond words. Angel looked at her hands again, just in time to see a fading residue of sparks.
Angel took a breath. "okay... get pissed," she told herself. She clenched her fists, trying to focus. Think of something to be mad about... I wasn't wearing clothes when the Seal was broken... She kept observing the battling going on. One robot managed to strike Robin over the head with an empty crate. Okay, that guy just got hit... and he's a good guy...
Only sparks were dancing around Angel's tightening fists. She spotted Starfire, and felt heat against her face. I was sealed away because I was Royalty... my kind hated the Royals... Angel's fists began to burn. They dazzled with energized electricity, which danced up and down her arms. They sealed me away...
Anger flushed through Angel's fingertips, and she forced all of it at three oncoming robots. White lightning shot out, shattering them and making them sparkle with fried circuits. Surprised, Angel took yet another look at her hands. It seemed like suppressed memories were flooding back, so fast that her subconscious took over.
"They sealed me away...!" Angel muttered, obviously upset. Her eyes turned white as they fixated on more robots. She felt grown up-- more experienced. Angel started walking in a slow stride, toward where the battle was going on. One robot noticed her approaching, and started after her. Angel ducked his first punch, kicked him off his feet, and then forced her fist through his chest, ripping out a few wires and gears.
"Angel?"
Angel looked up, and ceased from sparkling and glowing. Her eyes weren't white anymore. She was normal again. Starfire was looking at her, with glowing green fists. Starfire looked worried, and terribly concerned about Angel.
With her focused anger completely gone, Angel suddenly became vulnerable and powerless. She was now focused on a few pebbles on the ground, which on occasion would bounce and rattle. As time passed, the pebbles shook more vigorously. Something big was approaching. Angel tried to seek out Starfire again, but she was busy battling again.
Out of nowhere, a robot came up and socked her in the stomach. Angel flinched painfully. She tried to fight back, but the robot easily plucked her off her feet and threw her. Angel came to an abrupt stop after hitting something extremely hard and flat, something she could've sworn wasn't there before. She bounced off whatever it was, and hit the ground. she felt numb now, for there was too much pain accumulating through her body.
Slowly, Angel rolled over, only to see a few robots over her, along with a giant, square monster made of stone. Angel was filled with terror. She stumbled to her feet, only to get caught by a robot she backed into.
"Angel!" Starfire called out to her friend. But she was too busy with robots. It was odd how as soon as she noticed Angel's danger, more robots suddenly appeared and preoccupied her. "Robin!" she called out to the Boy Wonder. "Angel is going to be killed by Cinderblock! Do something!"
Robin raised an eyebrow under his black mask. "Angel?" he questioned. He followed Starfire's quick point with his eyes. Soon, he noticed the giant stone man in front of the girl who he knew as the Girl Who Hatched From the Egg. "Hey!" Robin called out, bounding over robots to make his way to Angel.
While Cinderblock watched, bellowing a laugh, robots were beating up on Angel, who was still being held by the one robot. Already, she was developing bruises, her head was bleeding from the impact of hitting Cinderblock, and after a few punches in the face, her lip was bleeding down her chin.
"Leave her alone!" Robin called out, swinging his metal stick as he ran. He kept fending off robots in his way, worried sick about the girl he was surprised was still alive.
Cinderblock grabbed Angel around the waist and picked her up. the rest of the robots charged Robin, holding him back from her rescue. the monster was still laughing. He trudged his heavy feet over to the water's edge, holding Angel's limp body over it.
"No!" Robin pleaded. "Angel! Leave her alone!"
Cinderblock threw Angel deep into the water. The rain suddenly poured. Angel's fragile, limp body sank like a leaf. Angel tried to keep her eyes open. She saw sparkles of light above her-- threatening lightning that teased her by dancing in the clouds. A shadow cast over her, scaring her tremendously, but she passed out too soon to really care.
"I got her! I got her!" Beast Boy called out, running to the end of the docks. Robots started running after him.
Raven's eyes glowed, and her hands enshrouded shadows. "Azarath metrion zinthos!" she chanted. A net of shadows caught the robots after Beast Boy and crushed them.
Beast Boy's toes were at the end of the docks as soon as a whirlpool started acting up on the water's surface. Scared and confused, Beast Boy backed down from his mission, only to get first row seats to a giant cyclone of water that touched the clouds. A dark figure swam up to the top just as the tip started falling down onto the docks, swallowing the robots and Cinderblock, and pulling them into the water. The robots fried, and Cinderblock sank quickly.
The water washed away, not touching any of the Titans. In the distance that Beast Boy backed up from stood another person, holding a body within his grasp. It was a boy, maybe 16 years old, wearing a black and blue wet suit. His eyes and slick wet hair were black. He held the unconscious Angel in his strong arms.
Beast Boy's jaw dropped, allowing the newcomer a chance to smirk triumphantly.
"Why were you treading so close to shore, Aqualad?"
The Titans returned to the tower. it was late, but it was still raining. They were all in the main room, except Angel, having a discussion. Robin was the one addressing the new arrival in the black and blue wet suit, Aqualad.
Aqualad cleared his throat. "There was something making the sea creatures uneasy... and word in the water travels fast, so I decided to investigate." He looked around the room, pausing as he searched. "Obviously something was wrong, or else I would not have come across your friend... whoever she is, drowning and practically dead in the water. What happened to her? Who is she?"
Starfire flew in carrying a tray of teacups and a teapot. Everyone grabbed one as she spoke. "Her name is Angel. We met her earlier today." She sat down and took a sip, as did Aqualad. "She hatched out of an egg!"
Aqualad spat out his tea and started choking. "What?" he exclaimed. "An egg? Are you kidding?"
Raven stirred some sugar into her tea. "Afraid not," she said, continuing her monotone. "We all saw it." She took a sip.
Aqualad let out a breath. Angel, huh... He smiled. She looked like an angel to me... He sipped his tea again.
The doors to the lounge room slid open, and Angel walked through wearing short shorts and a tank top. She was bandaged in several places, and her cuts were somewhat defined by mild bloodstains through the bandages. In her hand there was gauze wrap that was stained with a lot of blood.
"Okay," she spoke, somewhat alarmed. "Which one of you bandaged me up?" she asked, pointing her finger passed everyone. When Cyborg raised his arm, Angel stopped her finger at him. She opened her mouth to talk, but stopped, and looked down at the floor.
Cyborg got up and walked over to Angel, noticing that the gauze wrap she was holding was actually supposed to be around her head. "why did you take this off?" he asked, taking it from her hand and inspecting it. He looked at her again. "And why isn't your head bleeding?"
"That's just the thing," Angel said, "...Cyborg, isn't it?" She took off the wrapping around her left hand and stretched out her fingers. there was no cut. there was only a few almost unnoticeable scars. "I'm not hurt anymore..."
Cyborg inspected her hand more closely. "Incredible..."
"Not really," Raven chimed in, still drinking her tea. "I've heard of Healers before. I thought they'd all been wiped out centuries ago."
Robin looked interested. "Is that all you know?" he asked.
Raven stared into her tea, and raised an eyebrow. "there wasn't much about them... just that at one time, long ago, people were able to heal themselves." She turned her attention momentarily to Aqualad, who was sticking his neck far out to the side, trying to see around Cyborg. When everyone crowded around Angel, Raven and Aqualad were the only ones sitting on the couch.
"Try any harder to see Angel in underwear, and you'd be falling off your seat," Raven criticized.
Aqualad stopped trying to see Angel, sat properly, and cleared his throat. There was a bit of blush on his cheeks. Raven seemed bothered, but poured herself another cup of tea.
Beast Boy stretched, yawning widely. He scratched the back of his head, looking like he could drop down and sleep. "I'm hittin' the sack, dudes... Beast Boy needs his beauty sleep."
"dude... you need a lot of it," Cyborg laughed. Nonetheless, Cyborg accompanied Beast Boy in leaving the room.
"That goes for me, too," Raven said, putting down her cup. She used her power to put the tea set and tray over by the sink. She walked out of the room silently.
Starfire hugged Robin's arm. "Shall we 'hit the sack' as well, Robin?" she asked, smiling.
Robin frowned. "I'm really not all that tired," he said, just before he started yawning. He chuckled. "Okay, I'll go to bed." he turned his head to Aqualad. "You're gonna have to sleep out here, I'm afraid... Angel has the only guest room that's clean at this point."
"That's fine," Aqualad responded, completely calm. He waited as Starfire and Robin started to leave. When Angel turned to follow, Aqualad got up and touched her shoulder. "Angel," he called out, just before his hand landed on her shoulder.
Angel turned around, and her maroon eyes met with Aqualad's. He was much taller than her; she seemed like a child to him. "Well..." Angel said, chuckling a little as she let out a breath. "This is awkward..."
Aqualad got confused immediately. "I'm sorry... why?"
With yet another chuckle, Angel scratched her cheek. "Well... if I'm not mistaken, I believe you were the one who saved my life... yet I cannot think of anything to say to thank you enough for that." There was a touch of red that brushed across her cheeks.
A chuckle came from Aqualad this time. He brushed a lock of Angel's pink hair from her face. "You're pretty smile is more than enough of a reward for me." He noticed that Angel only blushed more from the comment, yet she was still smiling like it didn't affect her. Maybe it didn't? Maybe she was happy that he complimented her like that. She was good at hiding it from him.
Aqualad was about ready to lean down and try to kiss her, but he successfully refused the urge. Instead he took her by the hand and led her onto the couch beside him. "So, tell me about yourself. Why did you hatch from an egg? Do you have any powers other than self-healing?"
Angel looked up at the ceiling for a brief moment. "Well..." she began. She looked down at her hand. There was a pretty golden ring with a pink stone on one of her fingers. My kind hated Royalty... "I don't quite remember..." she sighed sadly.
"Nothing at all?" Aqualad inquired. "You don't remember... like, what your favorite color is... how old you are... are your people born from eggs?"
"An egg is an imprisonment," Angel admitted. "I don't remember much... just that I wasn't supposed to be..." Angel trailed off. Her eyelids lowered. Her hand went over her mouth. She was yawning. "I'm really tired..." she said suddenly, almost as if she completely forgot that she was talking.
"Well," Aqualad said, chuckling at her childish moment. "You can go to bed if you want--"
Angel fell asleep leaning against Aqualad's shoulder in an instant. For some reason, something tapped her completely out of energy. She was already in a deep sleep. Aqualad leaned away from her, but she fell on top of him. Futile. Aqualad pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and set it over himself and Angel. He smirked for some reason. There was something about Angel falling asleep on him that seemed victorious. He slept well.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE---!
Angel sat up, immediately awake. Her eyes were wide open, and she looked carefully at her surroundings. She was in her own bedroom--- there was no one else there, and she wasn't in the living room anymore. The walls were painted like a desert. The sky was periwinkle and purple.
"This is your room," Angel heard Raven's voice. Raven wasn't in the room, though. No one was. "Welcome to the Teen Titans." Raven's voice continued.
"My room? The Teen Titans!" came a female voice Angel didn't recognize. "Awesome!" laughter echoed in the room.
"We'll find a way to bring Terra back," came Robin's voice.
"Dude, she's made completely of stone!" echoed Beast Boy's voice.
"Her powers were too much to handle," followed Cyborg's voice.
Angel's eyes turned white. "There is someone who belongs to this room; show me the girl who met her doom," she chanted. A yellow light appeared in the middle of the room. A girl formed, one with long blonde hair and sky blue eyes. She was wearing some type of armor, but it was busted and ruined in a few places.
The girl looked around. "My room..." she said, looking sad. She spotted Angel. "Who are you? Did the Titans replace me?"
Angel felt a wave of grief. "You're Terra?" The girl nodded. Angel looked around. "I love your room. Please don't take any offense to me staying here... I didn't know I was here until I woke up this morning."
"Am I a ghost?" Terra asked, touching her body. She was transparent, with a light yellow aura. "Did I finally die?"
"Terra..." Angel spoke softly. "Is your body made of stone?"
Terra looked surprised. "Yeah, how'd you know? I never saw you coming into my cave." She paused. "Oh, that sounded weird... um... yeah, my body is stone, but I can still, like, see things. the Titans come back occasionally to leave me flowers and stuff."
"Then it's your spirit that stands before me," Angel corrected. Terra looked confused. "The stone traps your spirit, like a shell."
Terra became really happy. "then if you guys break it, then I'll be okay?"
"No, Terra. The stone is your body." Angel sighed. She put her hand over her chest. "This is my body, but my spirit is inside it. If you destroy my body, then I'll die."
Terra looked really sad again.
"The Titans will find a way," Angel reassured.
Terra looked up at Angel. "Then, you're not my replacement? Or a part of the Titans?" she looked somewhat hopeful. "Who are you?"
Angel stood. "I am... a temporary inconvenience to the Titans."
"Like a burden?" Terra asked. "Do you have any powers?"
Angel looked around. "Well, I conjured your spirit here... which reminds me." Angel pointed a glowing white hand at Terra. "You should get back to your body. Any longer out of it and it will become just a rock, and a new body would have to be found."
"Wait a minute! I never got your name--!" Terra's spirit disappeared.
Angel looked at her hand. A few sparks of lightning ran from her palm to her fingertips. I can't control my powers... she sighed sadly. She closed her eyes and hung her head.
The door to the room suddenly slid open, and a familiar, blue-cloaked heroin stepped in. Raven stared at Angel with a most-confusing expression, Angel couldn't tell whether or not she was angry. "Get up and follow me," Raven insisted, turning around to leave again.
Angel paused for a moment, but once Raven started to leave, Angel got up quickly, tripping over her blanket as she started walking. Raven led Angel through many hallways, some she could swear they went through more than once. There were a few staircases they went up, in which Raven climbed by floating above the steps. Angel struggled to keep up.
They finally went down the final corridor. At the end of the hall was a giant, old-looking door. Raven opened it with her telekinetic powers and entered the darkness on the other side. Cautiously, Angel followed.