Jess NightAngel

A Teen Titans Fan-Fiction

By: Eternal Heart

Pt. Two

A question…unanswered

The Titans were all gathered in one room, after Raven had woken them up and told them what happened, Robin had seen to NightAngel and asked her a series of questions, she didn't seem to remember anything. Now they were all buried in their own thoughts, trying to figure out what to do, "How do we know she's telling the truth!" Beast Boy said hotly, "This could all be part of a plan to get rid of us all!" Robin nodded, "That's true," he said slowly, "Or she could be telling the truth."

"Can't you see!" Beast Boy cried out in protest, "This is exactly what she wants! She wants us to think that she's lost her memory, and then she'll stab us in the back! It's always the same with Slade…or any of his followers for that matter." Robin sighed, he was actually lost at what to do, everything Beast Boy had said was absolutely true, but there was something about NightAngel…for some reason he believed her.

"Well," Cyborg said from the other side of the room, "Robin, what do we do?" Robin stared at the floor for a while and then took a deep breath, "I think we should try to help her…" he paused, and when no one protested apart from a venomous look from Beast Boy, he continued, "But when I say 'help' her, I don't mean help her get her memory back, because if that happens then she might just run back to Slade." Robin stood up and began to pace, "When I say 'help' her, I mean that we should train her to become good, to fight for the good way."

Starfire gave him a quizzical look, "You mean we are to help the enemy?" Robin shook his head, "What were going to do is get rid of a villain, by making her an ally." "Brilliant!" Cyborg shouted, "I mean, as long as she doesn't remember who she really is, she could be useful in battle." Robin said and smiled, "Slade created this battling machine, and now we're going to reprogram it against him!"

NightAngel shivered and looked at her alien surroundings, ever since she had regained conciseness she had been in a panic fit, NightAngel could not remember anything of her past life. Where was she? What was she doing? Where did she belong? And most importantly, who was she? NightAngel could not even remember her own name.

There was a knock on the door and it opened, there stood the one who called himself Robin, he walking in and smiled, "How you feeling?" he asked and checked the computer screens that held her heart rate and blood pressure. NightAngel shivered again and hugged her knees tightly against her chest, "Who am I?" she asked directly. Robin shook his head, "I don't know, we were hoping you could tell us that."

NightAngel closed her eyes and took a shaky breath, all her memories were a blur, they were there, but she just couldn't grasp them. There were a couple of words that seemed to stand out from her fogged memory, words like, Titans, and Slade…Slade, that was the one word that she could still remember clearly. But what was Slade? She opened her eyes and saw Robin staring at her, "What?" she asked.

"I asked you a question," he replied, "S…sorry," she stuttered, "Can you repeat it?" Robin looked at her in a puzzled manner, "I asked you to tell me if you remember anything from your past life." NightAngel looked at him. Should she trust him? Yes. "Hardly anything," she said, thinking hard, "There are some certain words that I can remember clearly…" she pause, "Like what?" Robin urged. "There's one word…" she said slowly, "…Slade."

Robin stiffened, "What about him?" "Him?" NightAngel asked, "Slade's a person?" Robin nodded slowly, "I don't remember anything about him," NightAngel said, disappointment was clearly visible in Robin's eyes, "just his name." Robin sighed and faced NightAngel, "We…the Titans and I…have decide to help you the best we can, you can stay here and train with us until you want to leave, or you…you recover you memory."

NightAngel nodded, and Robin, clearly happy with her decision, walked out of the room, but when he was just about to disappear from view he stopped and turned back, "What do you want to be called by?" he asked, NightAngel looked at him and blinked, "Since you can't remember you old name," Robin explained, "We'll have to call you by something else." NightAngel thought for a while, and then finally said, "Jess sounds right. You can call me Jess." Robin nodded, "Try to get some sleep, good night Jess."

"Good night, Robin." Jess whispered and closed her eyes, eventually she drifted into sleep and dreamt of canyons and falling into blackness.

When Jess awoke the next morning, the first thing she felt was an acute sense panic, and then pain. The night before she had been so worried about her lost identity that she hardly felt the long gash that the rock had made in her arm. Now it was burning like fire, she rubbed it experimentally and winced as her fingers brushed over the tender skin.

She stood up and took a few tentative steps, he legs were shaky but she decided that it would eventually pass. Unsure of what to do, Jess sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to remember anything she could. Whoever Slade was, is was clear that Robin knew him well, as she was pondering over these things the door opened and Raven walked in.

"You need to stay in shape in order to heal," she explained, and beckoned Jess outside the room. Before, Jess had only seen one room in the Titans Tower, and that was the room she had been kept in, but as Raven lead her through the Tower, Jess liked what she saw. Eventually they reached their destination, it was a circular room with an assortment of weights, and other workout equipment, "This is the room that you will exercise in," Raven explained.

Jess nodded to show that she understood, but there was something that was bugging her about the Tower, where were the other Titans? "Where is everybody?" Jess asked, Raven was about to answer when another door that was located at the opposite end of the room opened, and the rest of the Titans walked in. Robin had the honors of introducing the three remaining Titans to Jess, "This is Cyborg," Robin said and pointed to the biggest of them, Cyborg inclined his head slightly and then walked away without a second glance at Jess.

Robin shook his head with displeasure, "And this is Starfire," he continued and pointed at the girl with long hair, "And that, is Best Boy." Robin concluded. Beast Boy shot Jess a venomous glance, then he turned his back and walked out of the room.

Remembering

Robin faced Jess, they were standing in front of each other about fifty steps apart, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg, were standing on the sidelines, watching intently, "When we found you in the canyon," Robin said and stole a look at the other Titans, "We had a suspicion that you were a fighter in your past life, this is just a test to see what you can do." Jess shifted her feet uneasily, "So all I have to do is try to fight you?" she asked, Robin nodded, "I'll go easy on you because your hurt."

Then, without warning, Robin leaped forward and kicked out with his foot, Jess instinctively jumped aside. Robin landed on the ground right beside her, without thinking Jess ducked down and swung out her leg in an attempt to trip him. Robin leaped up in the air and counterattacked, once again trying to kick her, something inside Jess seemed to click, and suddenly she could remember how to fight!

Jess back-flipped to avoid Robin's foot, Robin hit the ground with a resounding thud! That's when Jess attacked, with one swift movement she balled her fingers into a fist and swung it at Robin, when her fist was inches away from his face she stopped abruptly. Robin looked at Jess with wide eyes, "You remember how to fight!" he exclaimed, the Titans on the sidelines cheered, Jess smiled and dropped her fist, she remembered something! But still, so many questions remained, like where she came from, and who she was.

Jess followed a certain routine for the following days, she would wake up and eat, then go practice for many hours, after that she spent all her free time with the Titans. Sometimes she would play video games with Cyborg, or combat with Robin, often she would go out on the town with Starfire, and even Raven had let Jess meditate with her. Jess hardly ever saw Beast Boy, whenever she walked into a room, he would walk out.

"What's wrong with Beast Boy?" she asked Cyborg one day, "Oh, he's always like that," Cyborg lied, "Just give him some time to adjust." Jess had gotten a new suit to replace her old one, it had the same design but was different colors. It was dark blue, and the X across her chest was black, along with her gloves, and boots. Robin had given her a slim metal rod to fight with, she kept it strapped across her back for easy access, and she no longer wore a mask.

Jess's routine stuck for about a week and a half, until late one night, things took a sudden change. The Titans were just sitting around, Robin was at the table looking over some diagrams, Raven sat in a chair at the far end of the room reading a book, Jess and Cyborg were sitting on the sofa playing a video game, and Starfire was watching them. Beast Boy was no where to be seen, Jess leaped into the air, "Yes!" she smiled, "I win! Again!" Cyborg grumbled under his breath.

Suddenly the room flashed red and a shrill buzzing filled the air, Robin leaped into action, "Trouble!" he shouted and studied one of the computer screens, "It's Cinder Block! Down at the old warehouse! Come on!" he shouted. The Titans rushed outside, Raven and Starfire took to the air, Beast Boy could be seen in hawk form wheeling around above them. Robin boarded the R-Cycle and peeled out, then he shot off into the night. Cyborg got in the T-Car's driver seat and Jess got in the seat beside him.

Cyborg punched the gas and they blasted off, ahead of the T-Car, Robin could be seen and above him flew the airborne Titans, "Your up for a real test," Cyborg said to Jess, "Cinder Block is no laughing matter." Jess's heart was thumping, "What do I do?" she asked and glanced out the window, "Just bring him down." Cyborg said and rounded a sharp corner.

The warehouse came into view, and along with that Jess got her first glimpse of Cinder Block, and she immediately felt afraid.

Victory, and Trust

Cinder Block loomed above the Titans, his stone structure rattling as he advanced on them. Robin stole a look at Jess, she was shaking. "It's alright," he assured her as Cinder Block came closer, and closer, "If your ever in need, we got your back." Jess smiled and felt a sense of calm, she could do this! She was a fighter, Jess stood up a little straighter and gazed fearlessly at Cinder Block.

"ARRRRGG!" Cinder Block let out a mighty screech and lunged at the Titans, "Titans, go!" Robin shouted, and the fight began.

Starfire shot forward and bombarded Cinder Block with her disks of energy, Cinder Block stumbled a little, then swatted at Starfire like she was a pesky fly. Raven lifted a nearby tractor and hurled it at Cinder Block, the machine hit Cinder Block and split in two, but the stone giant was still standing. Not to be outdone, Cyborg shot a series of lasers at Cinder Block, this proved to be the most affective, the giant was forced back a couple hundred yards before he acted.

Cinder Block tore the roof off a nearby storehouse and chucked it at Cyborg, his aim was true and Cyborg's rainfall of lasers stopped as he was lost under a pile of rubble. Robin sprang forward and leaped onto Cinder Block's back, Cinder Block roared in protest and struggled to dislodge Robin from him. Robin swiftly planted a bomb on the stone giants back and jumped clear, with a loud bang the bomb went off.

Cinder Block stumbled forward a couple of steps and teetered, "Stand clear!" Robin shouted as the giant threatened to fall, at the last moment, Cinder Block regained his balance, he was back, and angrier than ever. Beast Boy dived down from the sky and morphed into an octopus, wrapping his eight legs tightly around Cinder Blocks head. Cinder Block thundered blindly around the battle zone, trying desperately to get Beast Boy off of him.

With a loud roar, Cinder Block grasped Beast Boy in his stone hands and tore him off his head. Beast Boy lashed out with his arms in an attempt to free himself from Cinder Block. Cinder Block threw Beast Boy aside, Beast Boy broke through three storehouses before sliding to a stop. Beast Boy morphed back into normal form and with a jolt realized his leg was trapped beneath the rubble of the storehouses. Grumbling, he set to work at releasing his leg.

First he morphed into a T-rex and tried to throw the boulders that held him down with brute force, but the rocks refused to move. Next he considered changing into a mouse and just slipping away, but when he tried he quickly realized that the bolder would crush him to death before he had the chance to get away. Trapped, Beast Boy twisted around to look at how the battle was turning out, what he saw made his heart miss a beat, Cinder Block was charging right toward him!

Jess sifted through the rubble of the storehouse roof, looking for Cyborg, that's when she head Beast Boy cry out. Looking up she saw the horrific scene unfolding before her eyes, Beast Boy, trapped under the rubble, and Cinder Block, charging right for him. Without thinking, Jess lunged toward Cinder Block, skipping neatly over the rubble, Jess soon began to catch up with the lumbering stone giant. Jess didn't know what she was going to do when she caught up with Cinder Block, but she would have to do something.

Gaining speed, Jess ran past Cinder Block and got to Beast Boy way before the mass of cement, "Can you move?" Jess asked, Beast Boy shook his head and looked at Cinder Block fearfully, "Stop Cinder Block!" he shouted, Jess drew her metal rod and faced Cinder Block, "How?" she whispered. Shaking, Jess ran through a number of thoughts in her head. Where were the other Titans? Why weren't they helping? Robin's voice came back to her, "If your ever in need, we got your back."

Jess took a deep breath, Robin wasn't here now, it was just her, she would have to save herself. Jess ran at Cinder Block, full speed, when the giant towered over her she crouched to the ground and leaped. Up she went into the air, the ground shrunk below her, but Jess had all her sights focused on Cinder Block, every once of her will power was focused on defeating him. Jess was even with Cinder Block's massive head, and then she was above him, Jess flung her arms out into the air to get balance, and dived down at Cinder Block, foot first.

Jess's kick hit Cinder Block right in his mutated face, with a loud groan, Cinder Block fell to the ground, the earth shook as his body struck the dirt floor. Jess landed on top of him, Cinder Block groaned and halfheartedly lifted his arm to knock Jess off, with a whoosh! Jess swung her rod at the side of Cinder Block's head, crack! Cinder Block fell still.

Jess was breathing heavily, "Jess!" she looked up at the sound of her name and saw the rest of the Titans running toward her. Robin clapped Jess on the back, "You did it!" he said, "You defeated Cinder Block!" Behind them, Cyborg lifted the rock off of Beast Boy and helped him to his feet. Jess smiled, "I did, didn't I?" Beast Boy stepped toward Jess and gave her a long look, "Hey," he said and held out his hand, "Your okay." Jess shook his hand and beamed, all the Titans cheered, they're work was done.

Nightmare

About three days after the fight with Cinder Block, Jess sat on the roof of the Tower, overlooking the city. Her eyes strayed to the stars, and she sighed. Raven came up beside her, "What are you doing," she asked and sat down next to Jess. Jess shrugged, "Just thinking," "About what?" Raven asked, Jess remained silent, Raven was about to ask again when Jess responded, "Over the last couple of days I've been thinking a lot about good and evil," Jess frowned, "There's something that I just can't seem to figure out, I know in my past life I was a fighter…but I can't decided whether I was good or evil."

Raven shifted uncomfortably and felt a wave of guilt, "Slade is the only thing I remember from my past life apart from the fighting," Jess continued, "there's two possible outcomes of this, it's either that I fought against him, or I fought for him…" Jess paused and seemed to be in deep thought. Raven watched her intently, she didn't want Jess to remember, she didn't want Jess to become NightAngel again, over the past weeks it was as if Jess was a part of the team. Raven didn't want Jess to go back, neither did the other Titans.

"Lets…lets go back inside." Raven said quickly, together they went back inside the Tower.

Slade was furious! NightAngel was alive, and working for the Teen Titans, of all people! He had found out a while ago, he knew everything, NightAngel had lost her memory, she must have hit her head when she fell. NightAngel was a successful experiment, his plan would have worked! But he had made a miscalculation and opened a canyon instead of starting an earthquake.

It was his own fault he had lost his fighting creation, and he wanted her back. Slade set out that very night to put his plan in action, NightAngel belonged to him, he would get NightAngel back, and nothing was going to stop him.

It was about midnight when the alarm went off, the Tower was filled with the sounds of a shrill siren, and the Titans scrambled to get in order. In about five minutes, Robin was on his R-Cycle with the T-Car behind him, and Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy darted above them, they were on their way.

Robin stopped the R-Cycle and dismounted, he took off his helmet and looked around. The Titans were in the bad side of the city, the streets were dirty and there was nobody to be seen. Robin checked his transmitter, Starfire landed beside him, "This is where the signal was coming from," Robin confirmed, Cyborg looked around the deserted street, "There's nobody here."

Robin took a look at his surroundings, "We'll split up," he said, "signal the others if you find anything." He told everyone. And with that, the Titans split up, each going down a different street.

Jess walked slowly down a dark alleyway, her footfalls echoed off the brick walls that surrounded her. What am I looking for? Jess asked herself and continued down the street. Something clicked behind her, Jess spun around, and nothing was there. She took a deep breath to steady herself, "Nothings there," she whispered to herself and took a couple of steps backwards.

Her back bumped into a fire escape, Jess looked up the metal stairs, an idea came to her head, if she could get up higher, she might be able to see more. Jess agilely climbed up the fires escape and on to the roof. With that done, she looked around her, the cool night air blew through her hair and the moonlight made everything look blue. But nobody was to be seen…anywhere.

"Hello, NightAngel," said a haunting voice from behind Jess, she spun around and was confronted with a tall figure clad in armor. Something clicked in Jess's mind, "Slade," she whispered, "Ahh!" Slade said and took a couple of steps toward her, "You remember." He crooned. Jess nodded and kept her eyes glued on Slade, "Why did you call me NightAngel," Jess asked warily, "Because it is you name," he replied.

Suddenly a memory came back to Jess, a tall black building, and a loud explosion. Jess shook her head as if to clear away the thought, "Apparently you don't remember very much," Slade said, "Let me remind you…"

"Your name is NightAngel, I created you. Do you remember why I created you?" Slade asked, "To destroy…" "The Teen Titans," Jess finished his sentence, "I remember…" she whispered, "I remember."