Teen Titans: Revolution
Chapter 2- Welcome to Hell
The new Teen Titans took a seat at the round couch, all five of them looking up at their new leader. Their luggage was placed along the back wall, ready to be received and unpacked.
At the moment, the boys sat on one side of the seat, Changeling cowering beside Roman as the girls continued to plot against him. Roman was sitting in between Changeling and Hiela, shivering every once in a while when Hiela literally froze up from her nervousness. He leaned forward a bit, giving Changeling view to all three annoyed girls. Tempest sat beside Hiela, and beside her sat Flare. All three turned their gaze on him as Roman moved. Changeling sank down onto his seat.
"Hey, mind moving back just a little, dude?" Changeling begged Roman, tugging on his cape. Roman smirked, and leaned back in his seat. Robin watched this shaking his head in disappointment. He turned to the girls accusingly, his mask narrowing. The three girls snapped their heads towards him, bringing their attention fully to their leader. Tempest even went as far as addressing him, "Yes, sir?"
Robin glared at them for a while, then looked back at Changeling. "If he is harmed or taunted in any way, then I'll have to wake all three of you up early for harsh training." He simply said, then turned around to organize his papers. Flare, Hiela and Tempest all looked at his back, stunned. Changeling let out a sigh of relief, glancing at the three girls. Flare looked at the green skinned teenager and looked back at Tempest and Hiela.
"I think I can manage a little training, don't you?" She whispered. Hiela and Tempest smirked, but shook their heads. Sighing in defeat, all three girls leaned back into their seat. Roman glanced beside him and took in their auras, a bleak gray of disappointment.
Robin turned to his team, demanding attention by simply staring at them. Each of them looked up, eager to start off.
"Let me start with warning you that being a Titan will not be easy. Not in the least way; you'll be called on during late hours of the night and early hours of the morning, and all throughout the daytime. You're going to have to cooperate with me entirely, and no going solo," Robin seemed to stare at Roman during this, as if accusing him of being a problem. Roman stared back at him, his emotion-affected powers restricting him from blurting out that he was a great at joint effort.
"If you want to leave, do it now. I don't want you to come to me crying after this has gotten tough. I'm going to tell you now, this will get tough. It won't be easy. And as you walked to the Tower, I'm sure you saw how bad Jump City has gotten in the few years the old Titans weren't around. We are going to be the ones redeeming the city of its evil. And that means we're going to get kicked around. A lot. Anyone can't deal with that?" He asked, looking each of the potential Titans in the face. Flare scoffed, crossing her arms.
"If you're trying to intimidate any of us, I can assure you that you're not scaring anybody. I'm guessing we've all been in tough situations, and obviously we've gotten out of them alive. Just tell us what to do and we'll try to do it, won't we?" She blurted, looking back at the Titans.
Hiela, Tempest and Changeling all stared at her, amazed. Flare's hand flew to her mouth in surprise, her eyes widening. "Whoops. Sorry." She added through her hand, a deep blush coming to her tanned cheeks. Roman smirked, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. Robin stared at Flare for a moment, then shook his head.
"Meet me outside after this meeting is over if you still want to be a Titan. Anyway, your rooms are marked on this map," He reached behind him to grasp a piece of paper. While his back was turned, Flare stuck her tongue out at him, a childish gesture, but she was still smoking from the incident.
Literally. Tempest scooted away to avoid the heat, giggling softly at the display of childish rebellion. Robin turned back, glaring at the two girls who smiled back sweetly at him. He held up the papers, and handed them to Changeling.
"Find the one with your name on it, and then pass the rest on. This will show you where your room is. It also has a schedule of your next training rally." He paused for a moment as if gathering his bearings. Smiling, he shrugged. "Well, if you want to stay, go to your rooms, and settle in. If you don't, good bye then. Flare, I'll see you outside." He said. With that, he turned and walked into the elevator, leaving the new Titans alone.
Flare stood up, glancing down at her map. "Does anybody mind taking my stuff to my room? She asked, crunching up the paper in her hand. Flare looked behind her at the new Titans. Tempest approached her, taking the paper from her hand. "I'll do it. And please, don't kill Robin. Enjoy the one on one." Tempest said, winking. Flare rolled her eyes, trying to stop a grin from appearing on her face.
"Seriously, I'm sorry. Robin's glare just got to me though… I couldn't stand it." She grumbled, a blush appearing on her face again. The Titans all looked at each other before shrugging and getting off the couch. Roman stood up and took his bag, leaving without a further word. Hiela and Changeling examined each others' maps before taking their bags and leaving, Changeling making jokes that were, to Hiela, hilarious.
Tempest picked up her bags along with Flare's, then headed out the door. Flare walked to the door Robin had used, sighing, and proceeded to open it. The elevator swished open, but when she went to press the ground floor button, she noticed a note taped to it.
'Use the stairs' it said, Robin's insignia on the bottom right corner. Flare sighed again, and looked around the room. "Now to find the stairs…" She thought, opening the four doors leaving the main room. Finding the stairs at the fourth door, she continued down them, skipping three steps at a time. Finally, panting, tired, and annoyed, she made it to the entrance of the Tower, and stomped outside. Robin waited for her, seated at the control panel of some machine.
"You'll be the first to test out the course." He said, motioning to the starting line. "Go get in position." He commanded. Flare nodded, keeping her mouth shut and trying to calm her breathing. The run down the stairs had done what Robin had hoped; it had worn her out. Robin flipped a switch on the board, and a timer appeared on the opposite side of the large, box-like machine.
Robin looked at the door and saw the other Titans coming out one by one. Flare stared at them, her face going pale with embarrassment. "You can't be serious. They'll be watching!" She cried, straightening from her ready position. Robin nodded at her, then addressed the Titans, pointing to where they were to be seated.
Hiela looked sympathetically at Flare. She quickly walked up to her, eager to tell her of how they were told of the event. "Robin programmed our new communicators. When you open them, it says 'practice immediately following the first reception. So just to let you know you're not really in trouble. It was planned, but you just managed to get caught in the spotlight." Hiela said, smiling. Flare held her head in her hands, groaning.
"I don't want to do this in front of everyone…" She moaned, looking up at Hiela. Before she could reply, Robin called to her, commanding her to sit. "Flare, your countdown starts in five seconds." He reminded, clicking buttons on the board.
Flare sighed, and leaned forward, ready to run, her eyes starting to flame as she awakened her power. "GO!" Robin's voice sounded far away as she took off, her agile, sure steps avoiding the many disk-bombs that were blown at her.
A barrage of spears was thrown at her from in front. Flare held her hands out, skidding to a stop, and closed her hands into fists. The spears imploded, bursting into little flames that drifted into the dirt. Flare continued to run as fast as she could.
Out of the ground came large poles that flew up ten feet into the air. Flare snatched a hold of one of them, rising into the air with them, then pulled her hand up through the air. In front of her appeared a stream of lava that erupted from the ground with such heat that the other Titans had to shield themselves slightly. Flare burned the rest of the poles in front of her, and jumped off the one she was standing on and landed on the lava, which she made harden until it became a bridge. Panting, she made her way towards the finish line.
Robin frowned and clicked one of the blue buttons. Flare was shocked when a pool appeared in front of her, full of ice cold water. She gasped as she fell in, unable to stop, the cold water causing her powers to freeze up. She screamed in agony as the shock went up through her. Flare swam desperately to the pool side, and clawed her way up, gasping. She crawled out of the water and stood up dizzily, stumbling over the finish line. The clock stopped, and Flare fell to the ground, closing her eyes. She shivered violently, and tried wrapping her arms around her to warm herself.
"Now you see where you have to improve." Robin called to her. Flare couldn't bring herself to build up enough energy to move. Her wet clothes stuck to her, and like a leech they sucked out her vitality. Changeling stood up and started walking towards her. He turned around and faced Robin, looking back at Flare nervously.
"Dude, I don't think that was a very good idea. Doesn't water douse fire? Wouldn't that be what you are doing right now? Killing her?" He asked, his eyes narrowing. Robin leaned forward and picked up a towel, and headed towards his teammate. Tempest and Hiela looked at each other before jumping to their feet and running towards her as well.
"Oh! You're truly something else, boy wonder!" Flare hissed, her teeth chattering. She snatched the towel from him, wrapping herself inside it tightly. To her surprise, it felt warm. She pulled of her wet arm sleeves, shivering. Robin kneeled down beside her. "You're alive, aren't you? That means you're somewhat resilient to water." He concluded. Flare gaped at him, still shivering.
"What it means is that I managed to get out of the water before I died!" She coughed, shaking herself to try to get out of the moisture. Robin shook his head. "We'll work on it." He told her, helping her to her feet. Flare pulled away from him, stumbling towards the door of the Tower. "Inconsiderate jerk." She whispered, slamming the door behind her. Robin looked back at the other Titans standing around him, then at Roman who was also standing, but had stayed by the controls. He looked up at the time which read two minutes and four seconds.
"Okay, who's going next?" He asked. Tempest, Hiela and Changeling all took a step back. Their faces paled in horror, cringing at the thought of their strongest weaknesses going against them.
"Will we have to do what she did? I don't want to walk into fire, Robin." Hiela said, crossing her arms bravely. Tempest, standing behind her, nodded fiercely.
Robin stepped closer, and Hiela took two steps back. "You're going to have to do this at one point or time. And you're going to do it at or below two minutes and four seconds. Understood?" Robin asked. Tempest shook her head.
"You're trying to kill us, not train us!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide with fear.
"I'm trying to keep you safe all safe, Titans! If I knew that Flare's weakness was cold water, then wouldn't others- villains maybe- realize it too? Wouldn't they exploit it with more power? I'm trying to prepare you for this." He snapped. His remark brought silence against the team. All of them waited for someone to volunteer so they could be spared the harsh trial.
"I'll go." Hiela whispered, walking to the starting line. Robin nodded and walked back to the controls, while Tempest and Changeling trudged after him, their heads hung. Roman leaned against the control panel, thinking over what his weakness could be. "Loss of concentration." Robin answered. Roman nearly fell off the control board, surprised beyond recognition. "I can read your thoughts through the board. I managed to get some history on all of you, and I analyzed all your weaknesses." Robin continued explaining, now including Tempest and Changeling in the conversation. "Changeling, your weakness would be your inability to change due to injury. Hiela's weakness is heat, and your weakness, Tempest, is lack of enough wind power in the particular area. Not to mention lack of control." He added, stealing a glance at her. Tempest nodded, fully understanding.
As Robin prepared the countdown for Hiela, he looked at Roman. "Call Flare on her communicator and make sure she's okay for me, will you? I don't want to walk in and find her body somewhere." He said, his tone entirely serious.
Roman shook his head. "She's fine. I can feel her- She's in her room right now." Robin nodded, understanding, and clicked the countdown.
"Go, Hiela!" He yelled.
Hiela ran from the starting line quickly, freezing the bombs before they could explode in front of her. The bombs dropped to the ground, and Hiela ran through them, careful not to step on them. Robin turned a dial on the board, and flipped a switch. He looked up to inspect what would happen.
The disk bombs blew up, causing a fire to catch around Hiela. She gasped slightly, skidding to a stop as fire rose in front of her. Hiela looked around quickly, and then raised her hand level with her shoulder. For a second, nothing happened. Then, water from the bay rose up in a spiral and splashed on the fire, dousing it. Hiela was panting from all the heat, though to the other Titans wasn't very strong. She backed up while the water cooled the fire down. "You have to hurry, Hiela. You're at a minute fifty!" Robin told her. Hiela nodded and barged forward, onto the next obstacle. The poles rose into the air in front of her, the first one taking her up with it. Hiela froze the rest into place so they became a type of staircase, and ran down them. She started towards the finish line, looking back nervously. Robin flipped another switch and pressed a red button. Hiela sprinted towards the finish line, not wanting to endure another fire attack. Robin's machinery was faster, though, and two flames started spilling out in front of her.
Hiela's eyes became a dark blue, and ice settled over the flames. The ice melted, and became water, dousing the fire. While the flames were low, Hiela ran through them, squealing slightly when the fire billowed up around her.
"Time! Two minutes, eight seconds. Pretty good." Robin called to her, resetting the course. Hiela fled from the fiery finish line, panting as she settled down in her seat. She looked up at Robin, waiting dismissal. Robin looked down at her and nodded, then focused his attention on the other Titans.
"After you've completed your course, you can head up to your rooms. Or you could always stay and watch the others…" He said, stretching out. Robin yawned before looking back at the remaining Titans; Hiela had fled once he had finished speaking. "Who's going next?" He asked, looking directly at Changeling. Changeling scowled, raising his hand.
"That'll be my cue." He said, then transformed into a cheetah. He ran to the starting line, crouching low. Changeling had already planned out what he was going to try to do, and unless Robin found a way to stop his transformation in the end, he'd finish the track in a minute and fifty-four seconds, hands down.
Tempest scooted beside Robin, inspecting the board. "Want to learn how to manage it?" He asked, seeing her curiosity bloom. Roman shook his head, the obvious flirty question causing him to groan. Tempest, who had been pointing at buttons and asking questions, blushed furiously. She looked up at Robin who was explaining them with ease.
"May… maybe we- you- should start the track for Changeling." She said, blushing deeper. Robin nodded, blushing too, and looked down at the grass he was standing on.
"Right, of course." He replied, clicking the reset button on the timer. Changeling, annoyed at their lack of response to his many yells of being ready, shook his head.
"Oh no you don't. We'll start when I'm ready again." He commanded, stretching and yawning. Robin shook his head, rolling his eyes, but understood Changeling's annoyance. He tapped his fingers on the start button, but Changeling refused to get up to the starting line.
"Listen, Changeling, I'm sorry, but we have to get moving. Two people still have to do this course." Robin growled, running his hand through his hair in annoyance. Roman glanced at him, smirking. To all their surprise, his thought was received by the machine, and translated.
'It's your fault for flirting with her.' The robotic voice sang out over the three titans, causing all of them to stare at the panel. Changeling's expert ears caught this too, and he burst out laughing. "Alright Robin, now I'm ready."
Robin and Tempest blushed, and Roman stared at the machine so viciously they thought it would implode. For a second, the machine started shaking, too. Robin refused to look at Roman or Tempest; instead he started the countdown for Changeling.
Robin muttered something about disabling the mind reading program until Roman's turn was up, and then pressed "go". Changeling, as a cheetah, zipped past the disk bombs easily, and jumped high into the air, rolling into a transformation where he became a turtle. When more bombs were thrown at him, they smacked against the hard shell and bounced off, exploding harmlessly a few feet away.
Changeling transformed into a cheetah again, preparing himself to jump onto the poles that were to rise in front of him. Robin noticed his prepared demeanor, and turned a dial. Instead of rising up, deep pits appeared in the ground, and Changeling, who had been ready to jump, slipped from the lack of support, and tumbled into a heap. His paw fell through one of the holes, and he felt it twist. He cried out, trying to transform into a bird. He couldn't complete the transformation due to the pressure on his leg, though, so he stayed as a cheetah. Changeling pulled his paw from the hole. He continued forward, limping slightly, and approached the finish line.
Robin had one more trick up his sleeve, though. Twisting a dial, and clicking the blue button he'd used on Flare, he watched as the same pool appeared, though shallower on one side. Changeling let out a low growl as he barged into the water, swimming lopsidedly, trying to keep his head above water. After a minute of swimming, he made it across. Panting now, he turned back into a human, and limped across the finish line.
"Zeus, Robin! Just because you're mad that you're flirty-goo-goo crap was caught doesn't mean you should take it out on me!" Changeling practically yelled. Robin smirked slightly, then looked at Roman.
"You can heal him, can't you? Once you do, get on the starting line." He commanded, resetting the timer. "That wasn't good at all, Changeling. Two minutes and fifty-four seconds? We'll have to work on that." He added, now resetting the course. He switched on the mind-reader device, centered it on Roman, and waited patiently.
Changeling lifted his leg slightly to Roman, who in turn kneeled and held his hand over the bruised ankle. Roman's eyes became black as his healing powers fixed the twisted bone. He stood up and nodded at Changeling.
"Just don't put too much pressure on it yet." He warned, then headed towards the starting line. Changeling nodded and, casting a glare at Robin, left to the Tower. Robin sighed, shaking his head.
"The team isn't going to be happy with me after this. I'm going to have to do something to make it up for them." He grumbled. Tempest touched his arm softly leaning forward to look into his masked eyes. She half-closed her eyes, seriousness filling her face.
"I realize that you are only trying to prepare us for what we're probably going to face. I think the others will see that soon, after they calm down a bit. Nobody likes their weaknesses exposed, especially so soon." She said, nodding. Robin nodded with her before looking expectantly at Roman.
"You ready, Roman?" He asked, initiating the countdown. Roman prepared himself to run, trying to focus his mind on the track, and not the mind-boggling machine that was about to be set upon him. "Go!"
Roman set off quickly, putting up a black shield against the disk bombs being flung at him. Robin enabled the mind reader, looking up at the poles about to rise at the same time. He typed in a message, clicked a green button, and waited to see what happened.
Robin had sent Roman a message, Roman realized this too late. The message told him, "Move left! The poles are rising to the right!" Roman saw the first pole rising to the left, and tried to stop, but his body had already gotten the message to move left. "Argh!" He blurted, slamming into the rising pole. He fell back, dizzy, but quickly got up. He stumbled forward, shaking his head. Regaining his stature, he zipped forward again, this time more aware for the messages.
Robin clicked a brown, blinking button, switching a dial to 'six'. He glanced up, then added another foot do the dial. In front of Roman, a seven foot crevice appeared. Roman muttered a few words of concentration, jumped up into the crevice, and fell in about half a foot. A second later he was rising up on a black panel, his eyes immersed in darkness as he concentrated.
Robin sent another message to Roman, the finish line now in sight. Before sending the message though, he crafted an illusion to make it appear that the hole was a foot shorter than it actually was. 'You're out of the hole. Stop concentrating on the panel and speed up.' Roman looked down, his eyes clearing, and the panel started degenerating. Roman's eyes widened when he realized that the hole still was open beneath him, and struggled for concentration.
"Oh Sh---" Roman fell through the hole, loosing two seconds before he rose again, landing on solid ground, and skidding past the finish line. He looked up at Robin, his eyes narrowed.
"I must admit- that was… testing." He growled, dusting himself off. Robin smirked, shaking his head.
"One minute fifty-seven, new course record. Nice…" Robin said to Roman, who just shook his head and walked indoors.
Robin glanced beside him at Tempest. "You're up, Tempest. I'm not going to go easy on you, so don't even ask." Robin added seriously, pointing to the starting line. Tempest sighed, rolling her eyes, and partially skipped, partially walked to the starting line.
Tempest leaned forward, glancing at the countdown at the control panel. Robin set the correct form of tasks Tempest was to complete, reset the course, and started the countdown. He looked up at her, watching her waiting for him.
"And… go!" He called to her. Tempest started off quickly, adverting the disc-bombs thrown at her by steering the wind in their direction, causing them to fly backwards onto each other.
While Tempest managed the poles, Robin mentally kicked himself for letting him fall for her in less then five minutes. After all that 'Strictly enforcing the no couples rule', crap, too. He scolded himself, reminding him that he was here to protect the city, not to fall in some teenage love. Robin heard a boom in front of him and looked up immediately. Tempest had blown up the last pole using a lightning bolt, her shocked face showing that she hadn't meant to.
Robin frowned and turned a few dials, causing massive fans to appear on either side of the training course. Tempest slowed down, unsure of what they would do, but continued at a jog. Robin flipped the on switch, and caused the winds to gust around Tempest. "Aye! Ayeeeeeee!" She squealed, confused at the directions of the winds swirling around her.
She struggled forward, trying to create a barrier at the same time. Tempest focused on both the fans, aiming a sparking lightning bolt at both. The bolts flashed from her hands, yet missed one of their targets. Now one fan was whooshing her from the left side, forcing her towards the bay. Tempest growled, focusing all her attention on the fan while inching towards the finish line. Aiming correctly this time, she shot her bolt at the fan's whizzing blades. Striking it directly, the fan slowly died out, and Tempest crossed the finish line.
Robin nodded, looking up at Tempest while he reset the course, and turned off the timer. "Two minutes, four seconds." He walked towards Tempest, who had already made it to the Tower's entrance. She was leaning against the wall, panting softly. Robin stared at her before starting.
"Listen, Tempest, about our…" Robin pulled on his collar, trying to keep his voice from stuttering. "Flirting earlier. Well, I just thought that it'll be better to keep relationships totally neutral on this team. And with you…and me, it's not setting the right example."
Tempest watched his blush deepen with every word. She nodded, winking slightly. "Of course, Robin. I can resist." 'Can you?' Her thought went unspoken, though, and she walked in front of him into the entrance of the Tower. They took the elevator to the living room, and Tempest proceeded to her room, where her bathroom would provide a nice, warm shower. 'Just what I need.' She thought.
Robin turned to the three teammates in front of him. Roman was on the sofa, cross-legged, a small, black book in his hand with a strange gold insignia on the back, Changeling was transforming into cute animals, and Hiela, seated in front of him, giggled and laughed when Changeling would rub against her ankle purring in the form of a cat, dog, fox, bear cub, lion cub, and more childish animals.
Robin shook his head and took this as entertainment instead of flirting. He'd keep an eye on them just in case. He turned towards Roman accusingly. After a few minutes of ignoring Robin's glance, he looked up. "Yeah?" He asked, snapping his book shut with a dusty smack.
"Flare hasn't quit, has she?" Robin asked, concerned over the lack of a teammate. The doors swished open and Flare stepped out, a black towel wrapped around her body and hair. "No, I'm right here." She said, then continued to the stairway to get to her room.
Roman and Robin stared in her direction for a moment before Changeling scoffed. "Would you perverts stop drooling and start paying attention? Hiela and I want to know what and when we'll be eating."
Roman flushed, diving back into his book, and Robin readjusted his cape neck. "Oh. Uh, well, there's a pizza place in the City. I'm sure when Tempest and Flare get back and dressed; we can all head down there."
Roman glanced up from his book. "I'd hate to get caught by the news casts out there. Can't we just get a delivery?" He asked, groaning at the thought of being asked a hundred questions at once.
Robin nodded. "We can get into normal clothes. Take your costumes with you. It shouldn't be too hard to get them on. If you want, wear your clothes over them." He offered as an idea.
Changeling and Hiela glanced at each other. "Dude! What're WE going to do?"