Teen Titans
Fragile Dreams

Disclaimer - Think about it. If I owned the Teen Titans, I wouldn't need to be rewriting the show, now would I? I also am not named Frank Herbert, so I don't own Dune either.

Fragile Dreams Chapter 1 - Final Exam
In a stainless steel amphitheater more suited to combat than to ceremony, three young teens stood in the center, facing a shadowy alcove about ten feet higher up. The seats surrounding the amphitheater were filled with other teens, but they were all silent as they looked on with anticipation.

When someone looked at the three, the first person they noticed was always Mammoth. Standing at 7'7", he wasn't just big for sixteen... he was big for a human. Mammoth was strong... he chucked busses for fun. He wasn't all that bright, though... that's why he let himself be led by the pink haired 15 year old girl next to him.

Jynx was perfectly typical looking of a high school girl if you excused the hair. Pretty, witty, and fun loving was the aura she let off... until you looked into her eyes. Colored the same as her hair, they sparkled with a dangerous light.

Floating to her left was a small 11 year old boy, covered head to toe with high tech gadgets. A brilliant inventor, his skill with the gizmos he took his name from was matched only by his arrogance. Small and rodent-like, Gizmo was the main tactician of the threesome: he made most of the plans.

The three together were the first graduates of H.I.V.E. Academy... the city's premiere school for young super-villains. As they waited, an older man with graying hair approached. "Children, it is time for your final examination." His voice came strong from his frail body, echoing through the chamber. "The Dread Slade wishes you to be put to the test by destroying these upstarts, the Teen Titans. Can you succeed?"

"Yes, Brother Blood."

Robin pummeled the dummy in frustration, delivering a wicked backhand to the throat as he spun before terminating the spin with a vicious roundhouse kick to the 'head.' "Idiots..." he muttered, "Just a bunch of hopeless, unruly, stubborn, argumentative..." He emphasized each curse with another savage blow. His new Titans had just foiled a bank robbery... barely. Everything was going fine until either BB or Cyborg got out of place. Since the position was off, Cyborg took a shoot and winged BB... and then the IDIOT turned and started yelling at Cy, allowing a bandit to get the drop on both him and Cy. Star dove in to get them out of danger, but she missed the grab and all three went down in a heap.

The loss of three titans allowed the robbers to get to their car with the loot... then Raven stopped the car. 'At least someone got something vaguely right,' Robin thought to himself. And these were just normal thugs with masks and the IQ of one of his Birdarangs.

There were days, and long dark nights, where Robin doubted he'd ever make a team out of these misfits.

In truth, Robin didn't know what he was so mad about. The team had only been training together for about a month; it had taken much longer than that for Batman to instill some sense of discipline in him. And besides, they DID still win. Robin sighed. At least Raven didn't seem like she would be a problem.

Usually, Raven came out of her meditations calm. This time, though, she returned to find herself sitting in the lotus position on the edge of the tower's roof, still every bit as frustrated as she was an hour ago. 'THIS was the team I chose to help me?' Raven thought, shaking her head mournfully, 'I'm doomed.'

At least she didn't feel like forcibly removing Beast Boy's head from his shoulders anymore. That was an improvement.

Raven decided she needed tea. It usually calmed her down, so it was worth braving Cyborg and that animal for it. Unsurprisingly, Cy and BB were playing some kind of racing game on the big screen, and equally unsurprisingly, Robin wasn't around. 'Probably training,' she thought, 'That's all he ever does.'

While she was heating the water, Starfire floated into the room and immediately went over to Raven. "Friend Raven! I have not seen you! May I partake in the drinking of herbal beverages with you?"

Without looking up, Raven rolled her eyes at the alien girl's antics. "It's a free country, Star." Just as the kettle began to whistle, a small spherical object crashed through the window and rolled to a stop between the kitchen and the couch. Four pairs of eyes focused on the object, then it started making a sound. Beep beep, beepbeepbeepbeep!

"Ah, hells nAHH" was all Cyborg got out before the grenade exploded in a blinding flash. Raven protectively crossed her hands across her chest as she projected her soul-self in the form of a black globe, shielding her. Even through the shield the flash was blinding, and when Raven finally dared to open her eyes, the room was full of smoke. Raven started when a pink haired girl cartwheeled into the room through the broken window... despite it being about 10 stories up. A short little boy covered in more techy items than Cyborg quickly followed the pony-tailed teen. Raven pushed back the fear that came with adrenaline. 'Fear is the mind killer,' she thought to herself. Slapping the alarm, Raven pulled her soul self back, ready for combat.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Responding to the blaring of the alarm, Robin opened the door to find a scene of complete chaos. A little kid flying on a glider was chasing Cyborg and BB around with bombing runs... neither thought to separate and counter attack. Star was busy trying desperately to dodge swings from a giant, and Raven was involved in a deadly game of dodge ball with a pink haired girl, slinging objects and waves of energy at each other, evading or blocking the other's spells. There was no teamwork on the part of the Titans. As he watched, these newcomers displayed the very teamwork his own combatants sorely lacked. The big one launched an easy, horizontal strike at Starfire, just begging to be ducked and countered with a starbolt.

The naive alien did just that, obediently using the predictable counter. Her attacker pulled the attack short, launching herself to the side just as a wave from the spell caster soared through. Starfire had no time to react. The hex caught her solidly, and she was blasted back into a closet. Every shelving unit promptly collapsed on her. Robin wanted to cry with frustration. Instead, he extended his staff and charged Mammoth.

Robin's initial battery was practically unblocked, but the giant didn't even seem to flinch. He patiently waited until Robin got careless and attempted too risky a strike, then grabbed the bo stick and snapped it like a twig. Robin stopped to gawk at the display of strength, and caught a fist for his efforts. The boy wonder went down, and rolled away to recover... and for a second, Mammoth was free.

"Catch this if you can, birdy!" Jynx yelled, and unleashed a wild, rapid-fire volley of hexes and curses at Raven. Raven had no trouble blocking any of them, but they did a very good job of keeping her attention on the witch in front of her: the only thing that saved her was a bad feeling and a memory of how Star went down. Raven turned just in time to project a shield against Mammoth's attacks from behind, but when Jynx began aiming her hexes again, Raven quickly found herself overmatched. Her defenses went up later and later with each attack. It was only a matter of time before she went down, and all three knew it.

Robin looked at this travesty as he rolled to his feet. Starfire was down, Raven would be as well soon enough, and Gizmo still had Cyborg and BB busy. He sighed in disgust. "Titans, retreat!" He threw three exploding birdarangs at Mammoth, filling the room with more smoke and hopefully giving Raven time to recover. Robin grabbed Star by the arm, and jumped out the window, firing his grappling hook upwards. Cy and BB quickly followed.

Raven narrowly dodged another hex from Jynx, and arrived at the same conclusion Robin had - they were outclassed, and badly. It was time to get out of here. She allowed herself to sink into her soul self, and sunk through the floor just as another curse landed right where she used to be. Jynx let out a victorious howl: they had just routed the Teen Titans! She did a flip just for the sheer fun of it. Time to enjoy the spoils of victory.

Raven materialized downstairs, quickly running away from the now hostile Titan Tower. As she ran, she realized that Jynx's last hex might not have missed after all. Her cloak was as pink as the witch's hair.

"Perfect." Raven deadpanned.

End chapter 1
Next time on Teen Titans - Fragile Dreams:

-Robin throws a fit
-Raven feels like killing Jynx
-The Titans actually use TEAMWORK?

Next Episode - Solidarity

A/N – A highschool for supervillains? I know, it's lame as hell… but it's no skin off of my back, because I didn't come up with it! It's cannon!

Go figure.

How am I doing so far? No real changes have been made yet... not for one or two more chapters. I'm still waiting to hear how you want me to handle unchanged episodes. Right now, I'm leaning towards mostly skipping them, and maybe bring back relevant parts in flashbacks. Also, what do you want for chapter length? This about the right size, or do you want it longer? I'm probably not getting any shorter than this... Anyway, review! Next chapter will be up as soon as I get 2 more reviews.