Teen Titans: Revolution

Chapter 3- Surprise!

Changeling looked down at his green skin, then glanced at Hiela's blue skin. He looked up at Robin expectantly. "I don't think clothes are going to cover us up unless we dress up like we're going to the North Pole. And that'll just get us more attention." Changeling remarked, smirking. Hiela also looked up at Robin, pointing at his mask.

"And I don't suppose you plan on taking that off? I mean, I guess you could wear sunglasses…" Hiela said, a worried expression on her face. Changeling nodded in agreement with her, and glanced outside the huge Tower windows.

"It's not a very sunny day…" He smirked. Robin sighed, nodding.

"Okay already, I get the picture. So we either go hungry or face the press. What do you want to do?" He asked, glancing down at Roman. Roman glanced up from his book, a grimace visible. Robin shrugged, then looked back at Hiela and Changeling.

"We're going to face them at some point in this City. They're not going to stop me from eating, though." Roman finally grumbled, closing his book again. Changeling and Hiela smiled, while Robin nodded.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves. We still have to figure out how to get there." Roman, always the bringer of bad news, reminded the excited Titans. Robin shook his head, smirking.

"Already figured out. Before starting the team, I asked one of the old Titans, Cyborg, to give us a few vehicles. I gave him your descriptions so he could match up some things. He told me he filled the garage up." Robin had already seen the six motorcycles, four cars, a ship, sub, and a truck. He had had all his rides custom made, and had tried to add a little personalization to each of the other Titans' vehicles.

Roman's brow lifted, obviously interested in figuring out what he would be driving. Changeling rubbed his hands together, a grin appearing at the thought of driving. Robin looked in his direction.
"Of course, you'll have to have you're license. Everyone here has one, right?" Robin asked precariously. Changeling grumbled, crossing his arms, and glared at Robin.

"Of course I have a license." He stated, eager to go downstairs.

Hiela looked down at her skirt, the pants underneath protecting her from worrying about anything rising up to high. She looked back up at Robin, holding her hand up, embarrassed.

"I don't have a license." She admitted, sighing. Changeling grinned, sliding an arm around her.
"Don't worry about it, Hiela. I can always give you a ride." He purred. Hiela blushed furiously, shaking her head. Robin sighed, wondering how to manage to give Hiela transportation that didn't involve Changeling.
"As long as you can make ice, I'd like you to rely on yourself to get around, alright, Hiela?" He asked, massaging his temples. Hiela nodded her head apologetically. Robin glared at Changeling. "You can give her a ride when necessary. Hiela, we'll work on getting your license when we have the time." He added, glancing at Hiela. Changeling made a fist and pulled downward, silently whispering: 'Yes!'

Flare came out, fully clothed in her black, flamed pants, shirt, and arm-sleeves, holding her black boots in her hands. She still had the towel tied up on her hair, giving her a clownish appearance. Changeling was about to point it out when Flare glared at him warningly.

"Don't say it." She said before glancing at Robin. "Why all this talk about licenses?" She asked, jumping over the couch and landing on the seat with a soft thump. Roman looked up when the door swished open again and Tempest came out, also curious. "License? What? Do we need a license to be heroes?" She asked. Robin chuckled, to his surprise, then shook his head.

"Oh, uh, no, we were, um, talk- Cyborg went a little crazy and gave us more vehicles than we needed, but that's okay. What I was saying was that in order to ride them, we need licenses. Hiela, so far, is the only one who doesn't have one." Robin mentally scolded himself for stuttering. He glanced around to see if anyone had noticed.

To his annoyance, everyone, other than Roman and Tempest, was grinning at him. "What?" He snapped, crossing his arms. "I'm just- you two have licenses, right?" He grumbled, glaring at Flare and Tempest. They both nodded, Flare taking the towel off her hair. "Good. Then get downstairs to the garage." Robin commanded, pointing at the elevator doors.

Roman shrugged, stepping away from the group. "I'll meet you down there." He said casually. His eyes glinted black as black energy surrounded him, and he transported to the garage.

The Titans stared at the spot where he had been a moment ago.

"I have got to try that one day." Changeling finally joked, stirring everyone from their reverie. Flare tugged on her boots, stood up, and stretched out before stepping into the elevator. Tempest, followed by Changeling, Hiela, and then finally Robin, trailed behind her. While they weren't exactly squeezed into the elevator, there was little space among them. Flare had her back against the wall; Hiela was backed into the corner while Changeling stood in front of her, standing sideways to make room for Tempest, who had her back to Robin, who was facing the door. "Remind me to ask the construction workers to get this thing bigger…" He muttered. All of the Titans replied in an annoyed voice, agreeing with Robin. When the bell dinged on the garage floor, Robin, Changeling, and Tempest tumbled out. Flare and Hiela glanced at each other, giggling, before walking out, stepping over the sprawled Titans. Robin shook his head and got on all fours before standing up. He offered his hand to Tempest, who gratefully took his and pulled herself to her feet.

"Thanks." She said, blushing slightly. She brushed herself off before walking towards the covered automobiles.

"Dude, don't just leave me here! Help me up, too!" Changeling blurted, dramatically lying on the concrete floor. Robin smirked, grabbing his outstretched hand and yanking him to his feet. Changeling yelped, flying forward from the excess force of Robin's pull.

"Hey! That's the last time I get help from you!" He cried, glaring back at Robin. Robin chuckled, shrugging. Changeling suddenly paled, and pointed behind Robin. "Robin, there's someone behind you!" He yelped, turning into a cat and scurrying away. Robin glanced behind him, his hand flying to his belt full of explosives.

"Cool it, Robin. It's only me." Roman remarked, his arms crossed as he walked out of the shadows. "Took you guys long enough."

Robin shrugged, watching Changeling scurry back from his hiding spot under a car. "Heh, I so knew it was you, Roman. I was just trying to scare Robin." He said, his hand going to the back of his neck in embarrassment. Flare, Tempest and Hiela were walking through the garage, fingering the tarp covering the vehicles.

"Can we take the tarp off?" Tempest asked, eager to see her new car or cycle or other mode of transport that Cyborg had provided. Flare nodded in agreement, her curious fingers already prying away the covering tarp.

Robin shrugged, switching on a few more lights. "Knock yourselves out." He replied.

Flare snatched up the tarp and started tugging, while Tempest came and grabbed a piece, too. Both of them yanked and pulled and struggled to release the tarp. Hiela shuffled her feet beside them, her arms crossed in speculation.

"Maybe if Changeling wasn't pulling the other side as an elephant while you two tugged on this side, you could get the tarp off." She suggested. Flare and Tempest glanced at each other, confused, before looking over the tarp at a giant green elephant.

"Ooooh!"

Both girls let go, allowing the elephant to trample backward. Robin looked down at him, clearly shocked. "You two held back an elephant?"

The two girls looked at each other, shrugging. "Looks that way, doesn't it?" Flare replied, turning back to the revealed motorcycles. Tempest squealed and ran over to one with lightning streaks across it, the main color a dark, midnight blue.

"I love it!" She cried, jumping onto the seat. She clicked the many buttons on the bike, turning on lights, radio, honking the horn, causing a compartment in the front to open, a helmet to appear from underneath her seat, and start a countdown for some rockets.

"Oh! Oh, turn it off!" She yelped, franticly pressing the buttons. She clicked a yellow on and the countdown ceased to everyone's relief. Roman was glancing down at a black motorcycle lined with silver, taking the keys from the ignition and placing them in his pocket.

"Cyborg did pretty well…" He complimented, glancing around. Flare was standing over a flaming black motorcycle, Changeling was grinning and showing his green and purple-pawed one off to Hiela, and two more were off to the side. The light blue one with icicles was doomed to never be ridden unless Hiela really needed it, and Robin's had his insignia along with his colors along it.

"Let's keep looking." Hiela suggested, pointing at a few more clumps of tarp-covered mobiles. Roman used his power to lift the tarp off from the closest pile, revealing four cars.

"I think Cyborg overdid himself… four cars?" Changeling observed, inspecting the team car that was mainly one color: red. Different shades of red spiraled throughout the high-tech car, and the following four had the same style but different colors: grey, black, and green.

After a few inspections over the T-ship, sub, and truck, the Titans all settled into the red T-car. Robin was driving; Hiela sat beside him as a 'trainee', while Changeling curled into a ball as a cat at Hiela's feet. This left Tempest behind the driver's seat, Roman in the middle, and Flare on the opposite side.

Flare leaned forward her lips pursed in confusion. "Okay, so how many pizzas are we going to be ordering? And how much will all this cost? And what toppings will we get? I doubt we all like the same thing…" She asked, causing Changeling's ear to twitch in response.

"Don't worry about it, Flare. As long as there's no meat," He paused, as if adding importance to his words, "Than there will be no problem."

Flare pouted, falling back into her seat. "But I like ham and pepperoni on mine!" She whined. Roman also looked up, nodding.

"You animal killer!" Shrieked Changeling, bouncing into Hiela's lap, all the while trying to glare at Flare from his position. Hiela yelped in surprise at Changeling's appearance. He kept the form of a cat, so it was hard to take him seriously. Flare pouted, crossing her arms. Changeling continued to accuse her of animal cruelty, and tried to convince her that animals had equal rights.

"Changeling, whatever rights they have, they taste delicious. And I'm going to eat them." She replied in a monotonous voice, licking her lips. Changeling, dramatically, of course, fell down Hiela's lap and crashed onto the floor. He appeared a furry mound of twitching mass as he was struck by the fierceness of Flare's words.

"Awww, don't worry Changeling. I only order cheese on my pizza." Hiela cooed, picking up the fur-ball gently. Roman and Flare both glanced at each other, rolling their eyes, then quickly looked away. Flare ended up blushing as she looked out at the streets of Jump City.

"Wha-? We left the garage!" She blurted, practically jumping out of her seat. Roman smirked, shaking his head at her.

"Yeah, you would have noticed if you hadn't been so caught up with the cat." Roman replied, watching her eyes widen in surprise.

"That was really fast…" She mumbled, leaning back in her seat. She glanced beside her to steal a look at Roman, and found him looking ahead in disgust. "What's wrong?" She asked, straightening up.

"Take a look outside your window. The press is waiting for us." Roman groaned, sinking down into his seat. Hiela sighed, looking down at the purring cat in her lap.

"I wish I could turn into… something very small and just get some pizza without everyone seeing me… You're lucky, you know?" She poked Changeling, who mewed in response. Robin gripped the wheel of the car tightly, glancing behind him at Tempest, Roman and Flare.

"Try not to answer many questions. Keep your faces averted from the cameras, and don't use your powers in front of these guys. They'll twist anything into a story about us being stupid, weak teens bent on destroying the City. Just focus on getting inside the pizza store." Robin commanded, glancing around at everyone. Changeling, still in cat form, saluted up at him. Everyone else nodded and shrugged, sinking down and looking away from the windows of the cars. Tempest and Flare turned their heads towards Roman, while Roman looked down, and Hiela sunk down in her seat, staring at her boots. Robin glared ahead, having to keep his eyes on the road. Pictures snapped away at the car while the Titans inched their way forward, their path obscured by numerous news casts trying to get a shot at them.

Flare yelped in surprise when a reporter for 'The Jump on Jump City' bounded up to her window, started banging on it, and yelled questions into the car.

"How old are all of you?"
"What are your powers?"
"How do you intend to help our City?"

"Do any of you have criminal records?"

Flare groaned, putting her hand up to the window to try to stop the barrage of questions. The man continued, his voice rising. Roman reached up and unclipped his cloak from his neck, and pulled it off him.

"Here. Since both of you are by the window this should help." He spread it out over both Tempest and Flare's head, causing both girls to squeeze against him in order to fit beneath the cloak. He leaned forward to try and get more space in between him and them. Flare and Tempest peeked out from under the cloak to thank him then covered their faces again, holding the black material tightly. Roman rested his elbows on his knees, then placed his face in his hands.

"Almost there, Titans. We're parking a few blocks away. Hopefully they won't know where we're going. Roman, can you teleport us all to the pizza place?" Robin asked, turning the wheel to narrowly avoid a camera and microphone that appeared out of the sea of reporters. "Shoot…" He growled, watching more cameras pop out along the street. "Hold on everyone." He commanded, holding the wheel with one hand while pulling back a lever and clicking a red button. The T-car rose up on a pivot, and engines appeared on the back of the vehicle. Flare and Tempest gasped, tearing the cloak off them.

"Robin! You better not be doing what I think you're doing!" Tempest cried, grabbing her seatbelt and clicking it on. Roman and Flare followed her, as well as Hiela. Changeling was held tightly against her chest. Robin nodded, switching a switch.

"Titans, hold on!"

The car jolted forward before rocketing into the air. Tempest and Flare screamed, both of them grabbing a hold of Roman. Roman grimaced, the sudden force of flying up causing all of them to be pressed against the seat.

"Doooon't doo tttthis eeever agggaaain!" Tempest yelled, her teeth chattering with the force of gravity pulling back on her. Robin nodded, desperately trying to steer the car while still being pushed back.

"Turn ttthem off!" cried Hiela, squeezing onto Changeling as if he were a lifeline. Robin gritted his teeth, reaching for the switch that would disable the engines.

"Azar zenith!" Roman finally blurted, his eyes black, his hands gripping the seats in front of him. The car, surrounded in black aura, was shoved forward, and landed at the roof of the pizza hut, its engines disabled. Flare and Tempest, who had been squeezing the life out of Roman, opened their eyes. Robin and Hiela glanced around, while Changeling wriggled out of Hiela's grip.

"Thank you, but you could have done that in the first place, you know." Flare mumbled, releasing her iron grip on Roman. Tempest did the same, nodding. Roman scowled, glaring in Flare's direction.

"Robin told me to teleport us after we got away from the press." He reminded her, pulling his cloak back on, clipping it into place with the dark blue clasp, then glanced up at Robin, Changeling and Hiela. "Is everyone okay?" He asked.

Changeling shook himself, and jumped onto the dash of the car. "Define okay…" The green cat growled, his paw rising to his chest. Hiela's hand flew to her mouth, and she gasped.

"Changeling, I'm so sorry! I must have been crushing you!" she cried through her hand. Changeling shrugged his tiny shoulders, his tail twitching.

"Eh, I'm alive, so I guess I'm okay. Don't have a kitten over it, Hiela." He said, holding back laughter. The Titans rolled their eyes and opened the doors to the car, filing out. Changeling followed them, transforming the moment his feet touched the concrete. "What? It was funny!" He protested.

Flare shook her head, grinning, while the other Titans headed towards the roof doorway. Robin admitted Tempest and Hiela to go first, then entered himself. Flare, followed by Roman and Changeling, followed the first three. When all six Titans appeared in the supply closet of the pizza parlor, they were stuck.

"You can't be serious. The door is locked!" Tempest moaned, her hand resting on the door. Robin was searching through his belt, mumbling something about having a lock pick in one of the compartments. Hiela was waiting patiently beside the door, leaning against the wall. Changeling had turned into a mouse, and was now struggling to fit under the crack of the doorway. Flare stared at Roman expectantly.

Roman rolled his eyes and lifted his hand to the door knob, encasing it in black energy. In a second, the knob twisted and Tempest stumbled forward, falling into the kitchen of the pizza place.

"All this trouble for a slice of pizza." Roman growled under his breath. Robin nodded, agreeing with Roman as he helped Tempest to her feet. Flare walked ahead, speaking to the chiefs. Changeling and Hiela headed towards the door, peeking out to make sure none of the press was present. They both sighed in relief when they saw the parlor empty except for a couple groups of teenagers in the front. Both of them stepped out of the kitchen, and walked to the man behind the cash register.

"Give us six pizzas pronto." Changeling commanded, and pointed back at the booths. "We'll take that big one. Make two of the pizzas cheese. Ask the others what they want when they come out." He said, pointing back at the kitchen door where Robin, Tempest, Roman and Flare were filing out. The man behind the cash register stared up at Changeling, rubbing his eyes and glancing at Hiela.

"Yeah, I'm green. Yes, she's blue. Now can we please have our food?" Changeling begged, his stomach growling loudly. Hiela laughed softly and headed towards the largest booth. Changeling followed her, scooting in beside her. Flare stepped up to the register, her hands resting on the counter. "I'd like bacon, ham, pepperoni and extra cheese, please." She said, dropping a dollar into the tip-cup. "Please don't burn it. I'm starved."

Robin shook his head at Flare, an amused smile on his face. "I'll have pepperoni." He said before looking at Tempest. She shrugged, looking up at the menu.

"How about… uh, I'll just take extra cheese." She said, following Robin to the booth. The five titans stared at each other as they sat down, and suddenly burst out laughing. Each one of them had looked so serious, as if something big had actually happened, instead of appearing as they were just going out for pizza.

Roman, watching them, shook his head after ordering a sausage pizza. He scooted into the booth beside Changeling. Flare, sitting across from him, grinned. "C'mon Roman, you look as if someone died. Brighten up; we're just out for pizza. It's not like the press is some army of death." She teased. Roman shrugged, leaning back in his seat.

"We really need to loosen up. Imagine how serious we're all gonna be when we actually face a villain instead of the press." Changeling chortled. Before anyone could reply, six boxes of pizzas were placed in front of them. They all glanced at each other, then dove towards the center of the table, yelling.

"Cheese is mine!"
"No way! I ordered cheese!"

"Well I ordered double cheese!"

"Gimme my pepperoni!"

"Found mine! HA!"

Roman sunk down into his seat, his eyes wide as the five titans reached over the table, snatching boxes of pizza from each others' hands. Roman used his powers to snatch a box of pizza, and peeked inside. "Yikes. Tempest, I hope you didn't want your cheese on the pizza." He called to her, pushing the box in her direction.

Tempest grimaced as she opened the box, glaring at the sticky web of cheese all over the inside of the box. "Aw, this sucks. Good going, guys." She pouted, picking the cheese off the box and placing it back on the pizza.

Flare finally managed to grab a pizza, and pried it open. "Cheese, cheese and more cheese! Doesn't anybody know where the meat is!" She cried in frustration. Robin held the box above his head, smirking.

"Here it is." Robin reached over Tempest's head to hand the box to Flare. She opened the box, sighing. "No, this is sausage." She groaned, pushing the box away. Roman caught it, and opened the box again.

"That'll be mine."

"AH! GET THIS ABOMINATION AWAY FROM ME!" Changeling screamed, throwing a box clear across the table. Flare yelped, ducking down as the pizza box flew towards her, landing above her.

"I'm guessing that was mine…" She squeaked, glancing up at the box. Flare placed it in front of her, opened it, and grinned. "Ha! Only half destroyed. In your face, Changeling."

Robin and Tempest finally found their pizza, while Hiela and Changeling were already on their third slices. Roman glanced at a final pizza box on the table. His ears picked up a ticking noise, and he poked Changeling to get his attention.

"Hey, do you hear anything?" Roman whispered, pointing at the box on the table. Changeling's ears twitched, and he nodded. "Yeah. Sounds like a clock." He said before diving back into his pizza.

Roman reached towards the box, and put his ear against it. Flare eyed him suspiciously, raising her pizza to her mouth to take a bite.

"What're you doing?" She asked before biting into the pizza. Roman shook the box, causing a hollow sound to vibrate inside the box. Robin's eyes widened in realization to what the box was containing. He jumped up as well as he could while still stuck inside the booth. "Roman, get rid of the box! Titans, get out of here! Get everyone out!" He yelled, causing the Titans to stop in mid bite. Confused, four of the Titans stumbled out of the booth, pizza in hand, and started yelling at people to leave the building.

Roman, on the other hand, was running towards the supply closet. The ticking that Changeling was hearing was getting faster, and he realized what it was.

"Bomb! Roman's getting rid of a bomb!" He yelped, grabbing the few people in the building by their arms and flinging them towards the door. "Get out, hurry!"

Flare's eyes widened and she looked in the direction of the supply closet. Roman was coming back out, the box now gone. "I had to leave it on the roof. I don't know when it'll blow so I'm not teleporting that thing with me!" he told Robin, shutting the door behind him. Hiela was escorting two chiefs to the emergency exit while Tempest was calling the cops. Flare ran towards Roman.

"The car- it wasn't there was it?" she asked. Roman hesitated before shaking his head.

"Whoever did this stole the car, too." Roman shrugged, and then looked outside. The block was full of pedestrians. "We have to get those people out of here. That thing's going to blow, and soon."

Hiela came back, pointing at the direction the chiefs had left. "They're going to tell people to get away." She said, nervously glancing back at the clearing street. Most people were running now, and a few were screaming. Flare turned and headed towards the doorway. The Titans followed her, each of them turning to Robin once they were at the door. "Titans, get everyone within a mile of this building out of here. I want it done in under a minute. Ready? Titans, Go!"

Changeling took of as a cheetah, then became an pterodactyl. Gathering people on his back, he dropped them off a mile away, and then came back for more. Flare grabbed children off the streets with help from Tempest, and Hiela ushered animals away from the pizza place. Robin escorted everyone else away while Roman made sure everyone stayed away. Flare came running back, standing next to Roman, and grabbed his arm.

"Robin said to leave. We have everyone far enough away." She said. Roman nodded, and proceeded to run in the direction that Changeling had gone. Flare had started to follow him, but turned around when something caught her eye.

A bright yellow baby carriage was left on the side walk. Screaming and sobbing was easily heard from inside of it, so Flare sprinted in the child's direction. Roman glanced behind him, and saw Flare running in the kid's direction.

'Why didn't I notice that before…?'He wondered, stopping to wait for Flare. Flare reached the carriage, and glanced inside. The white covers were concealing a small child who was kicking and screaming.

"Hurry up, Flare!" Roman yelled, glancing up at the building. Flare reached down to take the child. In her arms, the child became very quiet. Flare glanced down to make sure the baby was okay, when she noticed the eyes were completely yellow.

"What the-" Before Flare could comment on the eyes or even blink for that matter, a laser-like beam shot from the baby's eyes, hitting Flare directly in the chest. She gasped and dropped the baby, falling back onto her butt as she tried to breath. She fell onto her back and squeezed her eyes shut as the burning feeling shot throughout her body.

Roman was surprised when the yellow beam shot out, and was horrified when Flare dropped the baby. Only then did he notice the child's eyes were yellow. They proceeded to dull while Flare writhed in pain on the ground. To top off the moment, the bomb erupted, causing the building to burst into flames. Roman ran towards Flare, glancing at the parlor beside him. It started to fall in on itself, the structure causing ash to fall everywhere. Roman whipped out his communicator and clicked the emergency ring over and over until he was sure he broke it.

Flare heard the explosion but couldn't get her eyes to open. For that matter, she couldn't get her body to move. Every inch of her stung, and was frozen in place. The beam had paralyzed her. She groaned and waited for something –anything- to happen.

Roman skidded to a stop beside her. The pizza place, called Piza Palace he just realized, was throwing debris every where as the bomb continued to explode in segments. Roman kneeled down beside Flare, shaking her slightly with his hand.

"Can you move?" He asked her. Flare replied in a muffled cry. Roman looked up to see the Piza Palace crashing into the building next to it, causing that building's windows to shatter over the street. His eyes continued up the street until he saw the other Titans waving at him. They were pointing in the opposite direction; all screaming at once something that he couldn't hear.

Roman turned, and to his surprise was looking into the eyes of a blonde haired girl. "You shouldn't be here! Get out of this area now!" Roman yelled. To his surprise, two more teens came up behind her. A dark, pale girl entirely dressed in black with midnight-blue hair stepped out of the shadows and a boy dressed in a brown body suit with stripes along his back and legs appeared from what looked like thin air.

Roman slid his arms under Flare's legs and neck, and found her to be stiff. He managed to get her to relax and her neck and legs fell limp in his arms. The three teens in front of him stepped forward as Roman stepped back, his boots crunching the glass.

Robin's voice filled the air as he finally used his communicator to speak to Roman.

"Get out of there! Those are H.I.V.E. agents!" his voice was anxious and worried.

Roman continued to inch backward until he felt piles of debris too large to step over. The bomb finally silenced itself, but the buildings continued to crash. Roman glanced behind him. In the second that he did, the H.I.V.E. agents disappeared from his vision.

"Shit." Roman looked down at Flare, then looked behind him. "Aldruon Enlenthranal." Roman whispered, and sank down into the street beneath him. He rematerialized behind Robin, kneeling over in a dazed state. He glanced up at the Titans who had surrounded him immediately.

"Mph. I've never done that before." He muttered, slowly getting to his feet. Robin looked at Flare who was recovering from the paralysis in Roman's arms.

"Stupid baby…"She groaned, forcing her eyes to open. "What happened? Who hit me?" She grumbled. She looked up to see Roman and Robin's faces glaring down at her. "What did I do?" She asked, her words slurred.

"You got your butt kicked by a baby!" Changeling taunted, snickering. Roman shook his head and shifted Flare in his arms.

"I think they paralyzed you. Can you move your arm?" He asked, glancing down at her. She glared up at him, frowning.

"I can't even feel my arm." She protested, annoyed with the loss of motion. Robin looked at Tempest and Hiela, who were stationed as lookouts in front and behind the group.

"You're just going to get in the way with the H.I.V.E. Academy nearby. Roman, can you teleport her home?" Robin asked, looking back at the fallen buildings. Roman shrugged as well as he could with Flare in his arms. "Doesn't bother me. Should I come back and help out though?" He asked. Robin shook his head furiously. Then he changed his mind, and nodded.

"Whatever you want to do, just get her out of here- they're coming." Robin snapped, pointing at a shadow-like figure coming out of the fallen buildings.

Correction; the thing was a shadow. Hiela wielded water from her hands and blasted the figure, but the water merely went through. Tempest looked down at her shadow to find that it was stretching in the direction of the dark figure. "What the-"

"Tempest, flash that thing with a lightning bolt." Hiela suggested. Tempest nodded, her eyes flashing with along with her hands. Lifting her sparking hands, she flashed a clash of bolts at the black figure, causing it to shriek and retreat into the shadows.

"Ah, I get it, it's from darkness." Tempest said, her hands still crackling with energy. Hiela turned around, her position ready to jump if necessary. Changeling was staring at the wall with intensity, interest obvious in his eyes. Tempest raised her eyebrow.

"Now's not the time to watch paint dry, Changeling." She called out to him, smirking. Changeling bit his lip to hold back a laugh. He transformed before them, into a fly. Tempest and Robin hadn't seen the new Changeling, but Hiela's attentive eyes caught him buzzing around the wall.

While Hiela's attention was away from in front of her, the dark shadows crawled closer. Tempest swerved on her foot, pointing her hands in the shadow's direction.

"Hiela, move!" She yelled, shooting a bolt in her direction. Hiela glanced down, gasping.

Robin, watching his team as well as the villains, snapped out a grappling hook, aimed at Hiela's hips, and shot the hook. Milliseconds before Hiela was bathed in the electrical energy, Robin's hook swung around her waist, and he pulled her back with a force that sent her flying.

He caught her with one arm, and then steadied her while glancing towards Changeling. He had transformed into a cheetah in an attempt to reach her, and was now at the spot Hiela had been moments ago. The lightening had dissipated along with the shadows. He transformed back into his human form, frowning.

"Are you okay, Hiela?" He called to her. She nodded, blinking.

"I think I'm seeing things though…" She mumbled. Tempest yelped, blasting the air behind Changeling.

"Something's here! I can't see it though!" She said, stealing a glance at Robin. He looked back at her, scanning around her position.

"I don't see anything!" He protested. Tempest looked around, her stance still menacing. Changeling also looked around, nodding.

"She's right, Robin. Something's her- Oomph!" Changeling's sentence was cut short as he doubled over, and for a second, all Titans noticed the shimmering outline of a boy. "The third one!" Changeling gasped, clutching his stomach.

"Tempest, take care of the shadow. Hiela, come with me. Changeling, handle the invisible one!" Robin barked out his orders, then pointed forward, calling out the never-changing phrase:

"Titans, go!"

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T

Flare was lying stiffly on the couch. She struggled to move her fingers, and for that matter, to breath. She felt constricted, and worse, she felt vulnerable. She grunted as her body continued to protest her effort to move.

Roman wasn't making it any easier on her. He was pacing in front of her, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. Much to Flare's annoyance, he kept glancing at her, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Mmm" She groaned, her eyes moving down to stare at her hand.

'C'mon, hand, work with me. Fingers move! …Please?'

'Stop thinking. You're thoughts are going straight to me, and whether or not you think so, they're annoying.'

Flare gasped, her eyes widening. She looked up to see Roman glancing back at her.

"Sorry. I'm not supposed to pick up people's thoughts, but you're really… persistent. And you talk-think- a lot." Roman muttered, sitting down at her feet. Flare struggled to sit up, yet failed.

'If you're still too paralyzed to move your lips, just think. I'll pick up you're thoughts.'

Roman's voice filtered through her mind, and yet she knew he wasn't speaking. She stared at his face, his unmoving lips, as the words flowed through her mind.

'You should go help the others.' This was the first thought to come to mind, and Roman frowned. "That's it? You're telling me to leave?" He asked, his brow rising in question. Flare tried to nod, but then rolled her eyes in remembrance.

'They need you more than I do. 'Sides, you're just getting me aggravated pacing up and down like you were.' She snapped, closing her eyes.

"Robin would tell me to come back. You can't even move; if the H.I.V.E. agents were to infiltrate the Tower…"

'I'd be a sitting duck. Hm, okay, stay. But can't you do something to make me move?' Flare asked, opening her eyes again to stare at him.

Roman thought for a moment. He glanced at her, his stare apprehensive.

"I've only removed paralysis once before, and that was on a dog." He warned her, placing a palm on her shoulder. Flare's eyes narrowed accusingly.

'There's something you're not telling me.' Roman hesitated before nodding, placing another hand on her other shoulder and staring into her eyes.

'The dog kinda… uh, well… boom.' He translated the thought to her, closing his eyes. Flare tensed under his hands, and he waited for her response.

"Don't you DARE try to use some exploding mumbo jumbo on me!" She screamed, jumping to her feet. She wobbled momentarily, then looked at Roman in wonder. She gaped at him, annoyed at being tricked. For a moment, she could have sworn there was a twinkle in his eyes and a smirk on his face. She pointed at him, her eyes narrowed.

"That was wicked, cruel, and totally uncalled for." She hissed, her eyes blazing with embarrassment. Roman shrugged, and pointed at her.

"You're standing, aren't you? Besides, I have practiced that on a human. Fright gets adrenaline rushing, and it speeds up the process. I'm not going to hurt you." He said, rolling his eyes. Flare pouted for a moment before looking out the window. "We should help the other Titans."

Roman nodded, taking her upper arm. "Zaire Azen" He muttered, pulling his cape around Flare as darkness enveloped them.

T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T

Roman appeared in the middle of a fight between Hiela and the blond HIVE agent. Robin emerged, slamming his bo-staff into the back of the girl's lower back. Roman lifted Flare while she was still in a daze from the transportation, and jumped out of the way as Hiela shot ice from her hands.

"Roman, help Tempest. She can't fight the shadow, it keeps running away!" Robin yelled from his position. He dodged a yellow ray from the blond girl's hands. "And for God's sake, don't get hit by this thing." He added.

Roman nodded, running towards Tempest. He stopped when he heard a loud 'Ehem' from his arms. "Oh, right." He muttered, letting Flare go. She fell to the ground with a thud, and Roman ran forward again, leaving Flare shaking her head and getting to her feet.

Changeling stumbled past her, his eyes searching as he turned around quickly. "It's invisible. Be ready." Changeling blurted to Flare before turning back around.

"I'm not invisible. My name is Chameleon." The boys' monotonous voice drifted from Flare's left side, and in a blast, she shot a ball of fire in it's direction.

Chameleon was no longer droning. Instead, his yelp was heard, and smoke along with the smell of burning appeared behind Changeling. Flare knew she may not get another chance, so she pounced, landing on Chameleon. She locked her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and held on tightly. "Changeling, hit him with something!" She yelped, jolting around as Chameleon tried to shake her off.

"And if I hit you?" He asked circling Flare. Her grip on him was slipping. "Just do it!" She cried, her hands grabbing onto his shirt piece. Changeling winced before transforming into a small rhino. "NO! Something smaller!" Flare screamed, shutting her eyes.

Changeling grunted before changing into a raptor, and ran forward to the hidden body of Chameleon, aiming to hit him with his head. Chameleon twisted, trying to use Flare as a shield to him. Flare let go and crawled away as quickly as she could. Changeling hit the boy head-on, and he crashed onto the street, his camouflage fading. Flare ran towards a stop sign, melted the bottom half and the red hexagon 'stop' shape, then ran back towards the fallen villain, heating it so that it was pliable in her hands. She wrapped it around him twice, squeezing it slightly, and leaned him against the wall.

"Caluori!" He whimpered, his voice ringing through the street. The blond girl with streaked hair looked up immediately. She smirked when she saw Flare.

"Recover so quickly?" She asked, her voice taunting and quiet. Roman glared in her direction, his eyes narrowing. Flare rolled her eyes, heading towards Caluori with flames in her hands.

"I had some help. Besides, it was a weak attack anyway." She shot back, her response just as cocky. Changeling transformed into a guard dog and paced in front of Chameleon. Hiela and Robin were using Flare as a distraction as they crept closer to Caluori.

"Don't think I can't see you two. I think it's time you guys freeze." Caluori snapped, flinging down a yellow beam at their feet. It ricocheted off the street and smacked the two Titans' knees. Hiela fell back and Robin fell forward, grunting. Flare ran forward, blasting herself up with a stream of fire, and kicked Caluori in the back of her neck. Caluori fell forward, gasping, and reached back to latch on to Flare's ankle.

"Oh!" Flare managed to squeak before falling to the ground with Caluori. The blond girl jumped to her feet and grabbed Flare's ankle again, dragging her on the street and swinging her in a circle before letting her go, causing her to hit the bank behind her. Flare shook her head to regain her stature and jumped to her feet, only to realize that she had lost sight of Caluori.

"You seem to have the bark, but do you have the bite?" Caluori asked, dropping down from above Flare. Her feet landed on her back, causing Flare to fall to the ground. Flare's eyes narrowed into slits and her hands burst into flames as she flipped around and shot a stream of fire above her, only to find that Caluori had jumped away.

Flare charged forward until she realized that Hiela and Robin were amidst the confines of a shadowy box. Roman and Tempest were struggling to get them out, but Tempests' lightning wasn't bright enough. Flare looked back at Caluori, skidding to a stop, and ran towards her teammates. She leapt up onto the shadow enclosure.

"Tempest, on three, shoot at Caluori." Flare commanded, aiming downward. Roman stepped back as Tempest nodded. He glanced back at Changeling to see him watching in amusement, obviously wanting to join the fight.

"Three!"

A blast of combined fire and lightning flashed through the street. Roman flung his cloak above his head to cover his eyes, and he heard Changeling yip as a dog. Flare stepped back a bit as the shadows retreated, hissing, and the girl appeared, swaying from side to side and rubbing her head. Roman slung his cape from his face, and used his powers to grab the girl and pull her towards him. She did so while staggering, and he tied her up in his power. Caluori narrowed her eyes at the Titans, clutching her stomach from Tempests' lightning bolt.

"I can see we actually face a challenge this time." Caluori scoffed, straightening. She looked at her fallen comrades. "I'll be seeing you guys soon." She added, taking a small, round grey ball from her skirt pocket. Tempest' eyes widened in realization. She proceeded to run towards the blond, paralyzing HIVE agent but was pushed back by the smoke bomb hitting the floor.

When the smoke cleared, she noticed Changeling dragging Chameleon towards them, and Roman pulling the dark girl by the back of her turtleneck shirt. Flare was helping Hiela to her feet, who had received the lesser blow of the paralyzing ray. Robin was sprawled on the ground. Tempest headed in his direction, sighing, and kneeled beside him. She pulled his head into her lap for comfort, and brushed his hair away from his mask.

"Well, that blond girl got away. We caught two of them, and- oh, look at that. The press is coming. You might want to get up now, boy wonder." She whispered to him, smiling slightly. Robin grunted, frowning slightly. Flare watched in silent amusement, crossing her arms. She looked at Roman, smiling.

"Would you do the honors?" She asked. Roman rolled his eyes, and let go of the black-clad girl. He knelt beside Robin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Heads up, Robin. I've only done this once before, and it was on Flare. Just look at what I did to her." Roman sighed, watching Flare expectantly. She pouted before dramatically dropping to the ground, twitching exaggeratedly. Robin murmured something incomprehensible as Roman used his powers to relax the paralyzed muscles throughout his body. Robin jumped to his feet, searching around.

"You're welcome, you know, it was my pleasure." Roman muttered, crossing his arms. Robin glanced behind him, grinning, and nodding. Roman looked at Flare on the ground, and offered his hand to her. "We're done, you can stop." Flare opened her eyes and smiled, shaking her head.

"Are you kidding me? We haven't even started. We still have the press to face, the H.I.V.E. to find, a place to put those two," Flare took his hand and he pulled her to her feet, biting his lip to keep from smirking. Flare looked at him in shock, smiling wider. "Oh, look at this, progress. I can mark one thing of my list, 'make Roman smile'." She said sarcastically.

Roman shook his head, looking down. The streetlight above them smashed open, sending glass raining down on Flare. She held out her palm, sighing. "And to top it off, I'm showered by glass."

Robin called to his Titans and ordered them to pull the two captured H.I.V.E. agents onto the sidewalk. Roman encased them in a cage, which he reminded, would probably not hold the shadow girl. Robin shrugged, "It's fine. Okay, Titans. Answer the questions you want to, because there's no avoiding them now."

Flare glanced beside her at Roman, crossing her arms. "And don't think you're off the hook, mister. I'm not forgetting what you did earlier. Just dropping me like that. The nerve of you boys…" She muttered. "And to top it off, I also want to ask you about why you procrastinated so long to unfreeze me. It's not fun being paralyzed, and you just stay there, pacing in front of me, while you had the change to unfreeze me the moment I was frozen!" She added, glaring at him. Changeling smirked and nudged Tempest.

"Oh-la-la, Roman's got one heck of a love problem there. Why did you wait, Roman? Wanted to stay near her? To hold her?" Changeling taunted. Roman's cheeks flushed as he held his arm out at Changeling, darkness zapping the green teen. "Ouch!" Changeling yelped.

"Shut up, you little-"

"All of you quit it! They're coming!" Tempest squealed, pointing ahead at the cameras that were running towards them. The police were squeezing past them trying to get a squad car though to gather up the H.I.V.E. agents.

And so, they prepared to face their next biggest fear:

The reporters.