Teen Titans is copyrighted Cartoon Network.
Important Note: In the Teen Titan's timeline, as laid down by Cartoon Network, this story takes place in the 2nd season after episode 7, "Transformation."
Teen Titans Chapter 1: Raven Singled Out.
"So what is the situation Robin?" asked a female voice as Robin and Raven entered the main room. Inside the rather cavernous room there was a large TV screen that took up almost an entire side of the room and also doubled as a window to the outside world. There were 3 door granting access to the room and each one had a red carpet leading from itself down a short flight of stairs to an oval depression in the center of the room. There a large U shaped row of interconnected, black cushion chairs provided enough seating for at least eight people. And various other chairs, complete with tables, gave enough seating for at least 12. However there were only six in the room as of this writing.
The one who had spoken, the one with red hair, green eyes and a slightly-less-than-modest outfit was StarFire, fellow Teen Titan and resident sexy alien. The rest of the crew consisted of Cyborg, a half negro human and half machine cyborg and powerhouse, and Beast boy, a green skinned and short (literally and figuratively) trouble maker and class clown whose full body suit was purple over the torso and turned black along his limbs. When combined, and mixed vigorously, this modest group, along with Robin and Raven, formed the heroic group known as the Teen Titans.
Robin called for everyone to take up their seats as he interposed himself in front of the TV and the collective seating.
"Everyone listen," Robin called for attention, "10 minutes ago we had a hostage situation go down in front of City Hall. A group of civilians have formed a picket line in front of city hall, protesting about the lack of effort to clean up the Blasted Land outside the city." Robin stopped there when StarFire raised her hand for a question.
"What is this Blasted Land that you speak of Robin? It sounds like a most unpleasant place."
"That's not important right now." Raven stepped in and StarFire dropped her outstretched hand with an air of disappointment.
"One of the protestors contacted us," continued Robin "claiming to have set C4 charges on random civilians in the crowd and will detonate them if his demands are not met." There wasn't much of a reaction from the Titans towards the news, most had been in more dangerous situations before and were quite used to the junk fate threw their way. In spite of this, StarFire let out a gasp of disbelief at the very idea that someone, anyone in fact, could cook up such a plot.
"I do not understand why someone would do such a mean thing." StarFire was no fool, yet she could be very naïve concerning darker nature of humanity.
"What are his demands." Asked Cyborg matter-of-factly. Robin's head titled down slightly and he was silent for a brief moment before he looked back at his friends and answered.
"He wants Raven." Soon 4 pairs of eyes fell upon the pale skinned gothic teenager.
"That's right." Raven said emotionlessly. "Why go through all the trouble? Most of us prefer flowers and chocolates." Beast Boy smiled. "But in Raven's case he had to do something extra to get HER attention." Raven was not amused, in fact she didn't even acknowledge that Beast Boy had spoken."
"Most of us?" Cyborg inquired, his right eyebrow sliding up ever so slightly. Beast Boy just smiled and shrugged with a chuckle. It was obvious he wasn't going to get an answer so Cyborg returned his questioning to Robin, "But we're not going to just hand her over right?"
"That's exactly what we are going to do." Robin replied to a less than enthused crowd, "I will escort Raven to the meeting site and see what he really wants. Meanwhile Cyborg and Beast Boy, both of you need to enter the crowd while he's distracted and find those bombs. StarFire I need you to patrol the perimeter in case he's got friends nearby." As Robin addressed each member they nodded their heads in understanding and, having received their duties, stood and awaited a signal to begin.
"Teen Titans, go!" shouted Robin and in a brief blur of motion all five teens had exited the 10 story, T shaped, Titans Tower and rocketed towards the city. StarFire and Raven, who also carried Robin, used their power of flight, while Beast Boy transformed into an eagle. Lastly Cyborg drove his own custom mad T-car towards the center of the City.
Facing City Hall stood a large crowd, at least 500 strong, with at least a hundred crudely fashioned, and homemade billboard signs, each sporting their own unique pro-environmental, anti-government, statement, waving over the multitude of people. The crowd was formed in a line, 3 people wide, in a U in front of the City hall stairway, that lead to the front entrance of the government building. The people shouted and screamed, demanding that their demands be met and the government take action. But all the voices overlapped each other and turned into a random cloud of noise, any demands being made were lost in the roaring noise of half a thousand voices shouting in unison.
Raven just shook her head and mentally cursed the uselessness and idiocy of such an activity. If 2 years had already passed, since the Blasted Land "exploded" into existence, and the government had not taken any action towards clean up, then a simple crowd of shouting people wouldn't convince them otherwise.
By this time Beast Boy and Starfire had flown in a different direction away from Robin and Raven as to approach the crowd from a different direction. Raven flew closer and could see a man standing behind the crowd line looking up at them. The man was probably in his early 30s with sandy blond hair, clean-shaven face, and a uniform consisting of a blue tank top and jeans. He looked like a weight lifter who had wandered from his gym, yet this was the criminal who had made the call concerning the C4 planted in the crowd. Raven descended to the ground, gently lowering Robin down before taking up step next to him.
A thought came to Robin, he had forgotten his cape and his gauntlets back at the tower. He didn't know why the thought suddenly occurred to him, but it reminded him of his earlier thoughts as he sat musing in his bed this morning. That cold feeling of dread that this day was distinctive, much like a holiday is unique amongst the other 300 plus ordinary days of the year, but in a more horrible sense. He quickly buried such thoughts and feelings as the criminal muscle man approached the two Titans. Robin scanned the man looking for some form of remote that could possibly be the detonator to the C4. But the man wasn't carrying anything and even the man's pockets hinted at containing anything of that nature.
Meanwhile Cyborg had parked his car behind City Hall, on the opposite side of the wild crowd and Beast Boy flew down to meet him there. Upon reaching the ground Beast boy altered his form to that of a German Shepard, like the police use in bomb demolitions.
"Alright BB," Cyborg instructed, "I'll start from the left and you take the right." As the two seekers sprinted towards the crowd to start sniffing out C4 charges, StarFire, took up position on top of the government building, scanning the air and ground for hidden criminals waiting in ambush. But she had trouble trying to focus on anything but the rioting mob. It wasn't the noise but the fear and nervous anticipation that an explosion could erupt any moment and kill hundreds.
5 yards of empty space separated the two Titans and the felon. The felon had stopped his advance and stood silent staring at Raven, hardly even recognizing Robin's presence.
"Alright I've brought what you demanded. Now tell us what you want with her?" Robin challenged, but the man just stood there like a statue except for his eyes which looked Raven up and down, from head to toe, as if expecting her to be a fake. Raven returned the stare one for one, but in her mind she was going over all the possibilities as to why she was singled out and a couple possibilities made her want to shake with either rage or fear.
"Eww a green dog!" Someone nearby said in disgust as Beast boy, transformed as a German Shepard, made his way through the crowd. Upon entering the crowd his keen sense of smell detected the faint traces of several explosives buried in the crowd. Finding them would be difficult in that the smell kept moving and it was buried beneath the salty smell of sweat and the pungent odor of too many humans in close proximity. Beast Boy's canine heart was beating with a rapid pulse. Ok so he was not the most courageous of the Teen Titans but he feared for his life as well as the crowd should the bombs go off prematurely.
Beast Boy felt a sharp pain bolt its way up his left side as he let out a yelp of surprise.
"Beat it you putrid mutt!" barked the individual who had kicked Beast Boy. Beast Boy growled in anger and pain, he wanted to bit the man's foot off for what he'd done. But fear of tripping an explosion early detained him from such a rash act. He quickly bolted to the right in time to avoid a second kick from the man and rushed down the line. Stopping when his nose picked up a frightening smell. He was behind a young black woman in jeans and a T-shirt waving a sign above her head and shouting something incomprehensible. There was a bomb planted on her, Beast Boy could smell it but he could not see anything out of the ordinary. But it was not just the smell of plastic explosive that scared Beast Boy, everything about the black woman smelled wrong.
While Beast Boy pondered this unexpected discovery, Cyborg had his own troubles. Cyborg was a big guy and consequently stood a full head taller than most of the civilians. Not to mention he was the only man sporting a half machine body, the reflection of light off his metal parts and the vibrations he emitted every time a powerful foot took a forward motion step.
Opening a small panel just above the wrist on his right arm, he touched a few controls and a small LCD screen revealed a 2D radar cone, scanning everything in front of him up to 5 kilometers away. He was searching for combustible materials in the crowd, specifically those that could consist of an explosive. What he found greatly worried him. Some were not human at all but, walking, mechanical bomb carriers.
"Ah hell..." Cyborg panicked when the head of an elderly woman suddenly emitted sounds of moving mechanical parts. The scalp opening up to reveal a series of wires leading to a small battery set aside a red digital timer.
5,.4,.3..2, the red numbers showed as the woman also counted down in a calm voice laced with amusement. Cyborg had only enough time to turn towards Robin and Raven, who were nearly out of earshot at that distance.
"They're gonna blow!" he shouted as a series of deafening explosions each followed by a concussive blast dropped Cyborg and Beast boy down hard onto the literally shaking ground. Their bodies showered by small pieces of debris and mechanical pieces. The protests of the crowd degenerated into random screams of surprise, pain, and calls for help. But only a few seconds had passed before all 500 people disappeared into a cloud of choking gray smoke, punctuated by the wail of detonations that continued to go off.
"Cyborg! Beast Boy!" Robin called to his friends who were lost in the smoke and noise. Without thinking, or maybe he believed Raven could handle herself, he ran towards the growing cloud to try and rescue his friends. Raven, however, had not taken her eyes from the criminal standing before her, though her hands clenched in anger and frustration. Robin's from faded from sight, and the billowing cloud was on nearly on top of Raven.
"Azarath Metrion Zynthos." Reciting the words of power, Raven used her telekinetic powers to pull a man-hole cover out of the ground, the metal disk glowing with a black energy aura as her power took control and ripped it from it's resting spot. She hurled the disk at the man hoping to knock him down, that was until she felt a fiery hot feeling spreading from the back of her neck. She lost her concentration, the metal cover dropping with a loud metal thump, and her fingers probed the site of the burning sensation. Her search revealed a small tranquilizer dart sticking out from the back of her neck at the base of her skull.
She fell to her knees, her legs becoming too numb to support her, her vision too blurred, and her center of gravity out of reach. She attempted to call for Robin or StarFire, but her throat was dry and was slightly swollen shut. She breathed in ragged gasps as breathing became a struggle. The male criminal smiled with victory on his face and he slowly approached her. The smoke flowing up behind him, partially obscuring him from her failing vision. The last thing Raven saw was a katana blade erupting from the cloud of smoke to strike the male criminal across the back of his skull. The sound of sharp metal versus flesh and bone rang in her ears as she fell into unconsciousness.
Throughout all this StarFire stood on top of City Hall, watching events unfold below her. She had long lost sight of Cyborg and Beast Boy and didn't know where Robin had run off too. But her sharp sight caught the figure of a sniper rifle emerge from a window on the top floor of a warehouse on the opposite side of the street from City Hall. Just as quick as the gun emerged it recoiled as if firing a single shot and was gone. Raven collapsed to the ground shortly afterward, the shine of light off of metal flashing from the back of her head as she fell and was obscured by thick gray fog. StarFire was torn on what to do. Should she try to find B.B. and Cyborg, Robin, Raven, or pursue the sniper. Precious minutes passed while StarFire tried to find any trace of her friends. The sounds of sirens were now just audible over the cries of pain and anguish still being emitted from the civilians.
Now the smoke was thinning and the first people StarFire saw emerge from it was a teenage boy in black overalls and a deep blue shirt, the same color as his short head of hair, emerged from the smoke, walking backwards, his hands around Raven's arms dragging her from the smoke while a sword was clung between his left arm and torso. The blade shining with lethality and a red streak of color down, not the bladed side, but the dull side. StarFire leapt from the roof and flew down to intercept the pair. At about the same time Cyborg wandered into view and perceived the same events.
"Put Raven down!" Cyborg commanded as his right hand opened up to reveal a sonic cannon hidden in the palm. He pointed the cannon at the newcomer as jade green eyes, looked back.
Important Note: In the Teen Titan's timeline, as laid down by Cartoon Network, this story takes place in the 2nd season after episode 7, "Transformation."
Teen Titans Chapter 1: Raven Singled Out.
"So what is the situation Robin?" asked a female voice as Robin and Raven entered the main room. Inside the rather cavernous room there was a large TV screen that took up almost an entire side of the room and also doubled as a window to the outside world. There were 3 door granting access to the room and each one had a red carpet leading from itself down a short flight of stairs to an oval depression in the center of the room. There a large U shaped row of interconnected, black cushion chairs provided enough seating for at least eight people. And various other chairs, complete with tables, gave enough seating for at least 12. However there were only six in the room as of this writing.
The one who had spoken, the one with red hair, green eyes and a slightly-less-than-modest outfit was StarFire, fellow Teen Titan and resident sexy alien. The rest of the crew consisted of Cyborg, a half negro human and half machine cyborg and powerhouse, and Beast boy, a green skinned and short (literally and figuratively) trouble maker and class clown whose full body suit was purple over the torso and turned black along his limbs. When combined, and mixed vigorously, this modest group, along with Robin and Raven, formed the heroic group known as the Teen Titans.
Robin called for everyone to take up their seats as he interposed himself in front of the TV and the collective seating.
"Everyone listen," Robin called for attention, "10 minutes ago we had a hostage situation go down in front of City Hall. A group of civilians have formed a picket line in front of city hall, protesting about the lack of effort to clean up the Blasted Land outside the city." Robin stopped there when StarFire raised her hand for a question.
"What is this Blasted Land that you speak of Robin? It sounds like a most unpleasant place."
"That's not important right now." Raven stepped in and StarFire dropped her outstretched hand with an air of disappointment.
"One of the protestors contacted us," continued Robin "claiming to have set C4 charges on random civilians in the crowd and will detonate them if his demands are not met." There wasn't much of a reaction from the Titans towards the news, most had been in more dangerous situations before and were quite used to the junk fate threw their way. In spite of this, StarFire let out a gasp of disbelief at the very idea that someone, anyone in fact, could cook up such a plot.
"I do not understand why someone would do such a mean thing." StarFire was no fool, yet she could be very naïve concerning darker nature of humanity.
"What are his demands." Asked Cyborg matter-of-factly. Robin's head titled down slightly and he was silent for a brief moment before he looked back at his friends and answered.
"He wants Raven." Soon 4 pairs of eyes fell upon the pale skinned gothic teenager.
"That's right." Raven said emotionlessly. "Why go through all the trouble? Most of us prefer flowers and chocolates." Beast Boy smiled. "But in Raven's case he had to do something extra to get HER attention." Raven was not amused, in fact she didn't even acknowledge that Beast Boy had spoken."
"Most of us?" Cyborg inquired, his right eyebrow sliding up ever so slightly. Beast Boy just smiled and shrugged with a chuckle. It was obvious he wasn't going to get an answer so Cyborg returned his questioning to Robin, "But we're not going to just hand her over right?"
"That's exactly what we are going to do." Robin replied to a less than enthused crowd, "I will escort Raven to the meeting site and see what he really wants. Meanwhile Cyborg and Beast Boy, both of you need to enter the crowd while he's distracted and find those bombs. StarFire I need you to patrol the perimeter in case he's got friends nearby." As Robin addressed each member they nodded their heads in understanding and, having received their duties, stood and awaited a signal to begin.
"Teen Titans, go!" shouted Robin and in a brief blur of motion all five teens had exited the 10 story, T shaped, Titans Tower and rocketed towards the city. StarFire and Raven, who also carried Robin, used their power of flight, while Beast Boy transformed into an eagle. Lastly Cyborg drove his own custom mad T-car towards the center of the City.
Facing City Hall stood a large crowd, at least 500 strong, with at least a hundred crudely fashioned, and homemade billboard signs, each sporting their own unique pro-environmental, anti-government, statement, waving over the multitude of people. The crowd was formed in a line, 3 people wide, in a U in front of the City hall stairway, that lead to the front entrance of the government building. The people shouted and screamed, demanding that their demands be met and the government take action. But all the voices overlapped each other and turned into a random cloud of noise, any demands being made were lost in the roaring noise of half a thousand voices shouting in unison.
Raven just shook her head and mentally cursed the uselessness and idiocy of such an activity. If 2 years had already passed, since the Blasted Land "exploded" into existence, and the government had not taken any action towards clean up, then a simple crowd of shouting people wouldn't convince them otherwise.
By this time Beast Boy and Starfire had flown in a different direction away from Robin and Raven as to approach the crowd from a different direction. Raven flew closer and could see a man standing behind the crowd line looking up at them. The man was probably in his early 30s with sandy blond hair, clean-shaven face, and a uniform consisting of a blue tank top and jeans. He looked like a weight lifter who had wandered from his gym, yet this was the criminal who had made the call concerning the C4 planted in the crowd. Raven descended to the ground, gently lowering Robin down before taking up step next to him.
A thought came to Robin, he had forgotten his cape and his gauntlets back at the tower. He didn't know why the thought suddenly occurred to him, but it reminded him of his earlier thoughts as he sat musing in his bed this morning. That cold feeling of dread that this day was distinctive, much like a holiday is unique amongst the other 300 plus ordinary days of the year, but in a more horrible sense. He quickly buried such thoughts and feelings as the criminal muscle man approached the two Titans. Robin scanned the man looking for some form of remote that could possibly be the detonator to the C4. But the man wasn't carrying anything and even the man's pockets hinted at containing anything of that nature.
Meanwhile Cyborg had parked his car behind City Hall, on the opposite side of the wild crowd and Beast Boy flew down to meet him there. Upon reaching the ground Beast boy altered his form to that of a German Shepard, like the police use in bomb demolitions.
"Alright BB," Cyborg instructed, "I'll start from the left and you take the right." As the two seekers sprinted towards the crowd to start sniffing out C4 charges, StarFire, took up position on top of the government building, scanning the air and ground for hidden criminals waiting in ambush. But she had trouble trying to focus on anything but the rioting mob. It wasn't the noise but the fear and nervous anticipation that an explosion could erupt any moment and kill hundreds.
5 yards of empty space separated the two Titans and the felon. The felon had stopped his advance and stood silent staring at Raven, hardly even recognizing Robin's presence.
"Alright I've brought what you demanded. Now tell us what you want with her?" Robin challenged, but the man just stood there like a statue except for his eyes which looked Raven up and down, from head to toe, as if expecting her to be a fake. Raven returned the stare one for one, but in her mind she was going over all the possibilities as to why she was singled out and a couple possibilities made her want to shake with either rage or fear.
"Eww a green dog!" Someone nearby said in disgust as Beast boy, transformed as a German Shepard, made his way through the crowd. Upon entering the crowd his keen sense of smell detected the faint traces of several explosives buried in the crowd. Finding them would be difficult in that the smell kept moving and it was buried beneath the salty smell of sweat and the pungent odor of too many humans in close proximity. Beast Boy's canine heart was beating with a rapid pulse. Ok so he was not the most courageous of the Teen Titans but he feared for his life as well as the crowd should the bombs go off prematurely.
Beast Boy felt a sharp pain bolt its way up his left side as he let out a yelp of surprise.
"Beat it you putrid mutt!" barked the individual who had kicked Beast Boy. Beast Boy growled in anger and pain, he wanted to bit the man's foot off for what he'd done. But fear of tripping an explosion early detained him from such a rash act. He quickly bolted to the right in time to avoid a second kick from the man and rushed down the line. Stopping when his nose picked up a frightening smell. He was behind a young black woman in jeans and a T-shirt waving a sign above her head and shouting something incomprehensible. There was a bomb planted on her, Beast Boy could smell it but he could not see anything out of the ordinary. But it was not just the smell of plastic explosive that scared Beast Boy, everything about the black woman smelled wrong.
While Beast Boy pondered this unexpected discovery, Cyborg had his own troubles. Cyborg was a big guy and consequently stood a full head taller than most of the civilians. Not to mention he was the only man sporting a half machine body, the reflection of light off his metal parts and the vibrations he emitted every time a powerful foot took a forward motion step.
Opening a small panel just above the wrist on his right arm, he touched a few controls and a small LCD screen revealed a 2D radar cone, scanning everything in front of him up to 5 kilometers away. He was searching for combustible materials in the crowd, specifically those that could consist of an explosive. What he found greatly worried him. Some were not human at all but, walking, mechanical bomb carriers.
"Ah hell..." Cyborg panicked when the head of an elderly woman suddenly emitted sounds of moving mechanical parts. The scalp opening up to reveal a series of wires leading to a small battery set aside a red digital timer.
5,.4,.3..2, the red numbers showed as the woman also counted down in a calm voice laced with amusement. Cyborg had only enough time to turn towards Robin and Raven, who were nearly out of earshot at that distance.
"They're gonna blow!" he shouted as a series of deafening explosions each followed by a concussive blast dropped Cyborg and Beast boy down hard onto the literally shaking ground. Their bodies showered by small pieces of debris and mechanical pieces. The protests of the crowd degenerated into random screams of surprise, pain, and calls for help. But only a few seconds had passed before all 500 people disappeared into a cloud of choking gray smoke, punctuated by the wail of detonations that continued to go off.
"Cyborg! Beast Boy!" Robin called to his friends who were lost in the smoke and noise. Without thinking, or maybe he believed Raven could handle herself, he ran towards the growing cloud to try and rescue his friends. Raven, however, had not taken her eyes from the criminal standing before her, though her hands clenched in anger and frustration. Robin's from faded from sight, and the billowing cloud was on nearly on top of Raven.
"Azarath Metrion Zynthos." Reciting the words of power, Raven used her telekinetic powers to pull a man-hole cover out of the ground, the metal disk glowing with a black energy aura as her power took control and ripped it from it's resting spot. She hurled the disk at the man hoping to knock him down, that was until she felt a fiery hot feeling spreading from the back of her neck. She lost her concentration, the metal cover dropping with a loud metal thump, and her fingers probed the site of the burning sensation. Her search revealed a small tranquilizer dart sticking out from the back of her neck at the base of her skull.
She fell to her knees, her legs becoming too numb to support her, her vision too blurred, and her center of gravity out of reach. She attempted to call for Robin or StarFire, but her throat was dry and was slightly swollen shut. She breathed in ragged gasps as breathing became a struggle. The male criminal smiled with victory on his face and he slowly approached her. The smoke flowing up behind him, partially obscuring him from her failing vision. The last thing Raven saw was a katana blade erupting from the cloud of smoke to strike the male criminal across the back of his skull. The sound of sharp metal versus flesh and bone rang in her ears as she fell into unconsciousness.
Throughout all this StarFire stood on top of City Hall, watching events unfold below her. She had long lost sight of Cyborg and Beast Boy and didn't know where Robin had run off too. But her sharp sight caught the figure of a sniper rifle emerge from a window on the top floor of a warehouse on the opposite side of the street from City Hall. Just as quick as the gun emerged it recoiled as if firing a single shot and was gone. Raven collapsed to the ground shortly afterward, the shine of light off of metal flashing from the back of her head as she fell and was obscured by thick gray fog. StarFire was torn on what to do. Should she try to find B.B. and Cyborg, Robin, Raven, or pursue the sniper. Precious minutes passed while StarFire tried to find any trace of her friends. The sounds of sirens were now just audible over the cries of pain and anguish still being emitted from the civilians.
Now the smoke was thinning and the first people StarFire saw emerge from it was a teenage boy in black overalls and a deep blue shirt, the same color as his short head of hair, emerged from the smoke, walking backwards, his hands around Raven's arms dragging her from the smoke while a sword was clung between his left arm and torso. The blade shining with lethality and a red streak of color down, not the bladed side, but the dull side. StarFire leapt from the roof and flew down to intercept the pair. At about the same time Cyborg wandered into view and perceived the same events.
"Put Raven down!" Cyborg commanded as his right hand opened up to reveal a sonic cannon hidden in the palm. He pointed the cannon at the newcomer as jade green eyes, looked back.