Chapter Nineteen: Reckoning
The remains of the once great ocean liner were cloaked in an impenetrable darkness. Myriad life forms swarmed in and around the wreck. One unique form of life was breaking down the ship, returning it to the environment from which it originally came. For now, it stood as a memorial to the 1500 lives lost when it sank.
A brilliant light shown from above, partially illuminating the wreck. The light came from a small, yellow and black submarine. The craft had the appearance of a shark, complete with fins (but with no mouth, obviously). At either side of the "tail" of the submarine was a pair of large motors, shaped like jet engines. They emitted a low electric hum, yet propelled the craft at considerable speed. The vessel slowed itself down as it approach the shipwreck.
Inside the new T-sub, the Titans had their eyes glue to their individual monitors. The only windows were located at the bow, where Cyborg and Robin sat side by side. Behind them were Beast Boy and Starfire. Terra and Raven sat in the last row.
"Take it easy, Cy." Robin said, watching the high definition sonar display.
"I got it, man." he replied, watching his own display.
In the darkness of the deep, over two miles down, the visual systems were almost useless. The sub had to be within a few yards distance for it to really show anything in detail. Fortunately, Cyborg was able to maneuver the craft with precision.
Cyborg and Raven had worked together for nearly three months designing and building the new T-sub (the new section of the T-ship was constructed in a matter of weeks). The vessel was over fifty feet long, 14 feet at its widest point, built like a shark, and had an extremely strong hull. It was made to survive nearly any depth, and could cut through the water at over 70 knots. Like its predecessor, it was armed with a pair of high power sonic cannons as well as lasers. In addition to its sonar, it also had a high definition visual system which fed monitors for each of the Titans. All of its other features were similar to the T-ship, which was used to carry it cross country to the east coast. There, the Titans met with the Titans East, to whom they told there story. Afterwards, they left Steel City Harbor in the T-sub for the wreck site of the Titanic.
Cyborg took great care not to hit the wreck as he provided the visual tour of the vessel, which they had once sailed on. The Titans pointed out features as they passed areas on which they had once stood, over 90 years ago! After surveying the bow section, Cyborg piloted the craft for the stern. It laid across a field of debris, two thousand feet away.
Compared to the bow, which was more or less intact, the stern looked like a disaster area. The sides were blown out, the decks peeled back. It looked less like a ship and more like a junkyard. Nevertheless, the Titans were able to point out familiar spots on the wreckage. They passed over the after mast, where they had made their last stand against the rising water. They hovered over that spot, reflecting on the events that took place there. Afterward, they made for the fantail.
"Okay, let's lay the plague." said Robin.
He activated the manipulator arms, which until now were in a concealed compartment. It was another unique feature added by Cyborg. The 'hands' of the manipulator held a silver, circular plaque. There were no words on it, but rather a large, prominent letter 'T'. Robin sighed as he tried to think of something to say.
"Today," he said at last. "We, the Teen Titans, commemorate those that sailed on the Titanic as honorary Titans. May those who died on the night of April 14, 1912 rest in peace." Tears flowed down his face.
"Amen to that, Robin." said Cyborg. "Amen to that."
The Boy Wonder placed the plaque on the torn deck. The Titans observed a moment of silence. Afterward, they made way for the surface and for Steel City.
The Titans East were waiting at their tower at the T-sub arrived.
"There they are!" said Speedy, seeing the 'back' of the sub making way for the dock, leaving a frothy wake behind it.
It eased its way next to dock. Mas y Menos worked quickly to secure the sub with lines, tying it to the pier. The hatch opened, Beast Boy being the first to exit. He inhaled deeply
"It's good to be back!" he said. The other Titans followed. Starfire stood close to Robin as to avoid Mas y Menos's affection.
"Welcome back, Sparky!" Bumblebee said.
"Thanks." he said, allowing himself a faint smile. "It's been an emotional trip, so don't expect too many laughs out of us."
She nodded. "I see."
Aqualad approached him. "I can hardly believe it. I mean, you guys were on the Titanic! And not just the wreck, but the actual ship, when it sailed!"
He shook his head in amazement.
"That is, of course you didn't just hallucinate the whole thing." Speedy said.
"It was real." Raven said tersely. "I have no doubt about that."
The young archer shrugged. "I'm just saying it could still be a possibility that it was a mass hallucination."
Raven sighed in frustration.
Cyborg placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, let's all go out for a while, okay? It's only four in the afternoon, and I'm in the mood for a walk in the park."
Starfire clapped her hands. "What a lovely idea, Cyborg! Come friends, let us make with the haste!"
She pulled Robin with her to the entrance of the Tower. Laughing, the other Titans joined them.
Fifteen minutes later, both groups of Titans had gone to the city's major park. They walked across the grass, admiring the foliage.
"Places like this make me glad to be alive." Terra said.
"So, tell me about yourself." Bumblebee said to the geomancer. "Sparky here told me of you, but I'd like to hear the full story."
Smiling, Terra filled most the time telling her life story, some of which even which the west coast Titans did not know.
When they came to a group of benches, they sat down to rest their weary legs. Their location was such that is allowed a clear view of the bay. Raven was so engrossed in the view that she did not notice the figure approaching them from behind. She turned her head when she heard footsteps.
"May I help you?" she said to the stranger.
It was a woman, an elderly woman who wore a casual blue dress and a dark blue cloak. She had a hood up over her head. Something seemed familiar about the cloak, but Raven dismissed it.
"Do you mind if I sit with you?" she asked. Raven and Cyborg slid over on their bench, making room for her. She slowly sat down to Raven's left side.
"Thank you." she said, wearily. The other Titans stared at her. She lowered her hood. She had white, short hair, similar to Raven's, but held back with a black headband. Despite her age, her expression seemed youthful and alert, especially in her brilliant blue eyes.
"Is there something you wanted to talk about, ma'am?" Raven asked her. She turned and smiled at her. She then looked at her cloak.
"That's a lovely cloak there, Miss..."
"Raven. My name is Raven."
"Ah! I should've known better! You're one of the Teen Titans, right?"
"Yes. My friends are here with me. We're from west coast. I assume you know of the Titans East?"
"Yes, I do." She chuckled. "I've lived here for almost 80 years. I lived in New York prior to that when I was a little girl." She sighed. "As I was saying, Raven, I like your cloak. It's quite lovely."
"Um, thank you, ma'am."
"You know, I think mine is quite similar to yours. Let me see now." She held part of her cloak close to Raven's. They appeared to be the same color. "Well, mine is a bit faded. It is, after all, over 90 years old."
"That's a long time to hold on to something like that."
"It certainly is. You see, before I lived in America, I lived in England. Mine was a poor family, but we managed to get passage on board a grand ship. Well, as luck would have it that ship struck and iceberg and sank. I consider myself one of the lucky ones."
"Why is that?" Raven asked, with growing interest and suspicion.
"The steerage passengers to which I belonged to were locked below like animals. Imagine that! Well, this group of young, first class passengers arrived and helped us out! When we got to the boats, one of them, a young lady with a cloak like yours and black hair said to me to take care of my parents and to listen to them. And that I did."
She sighed. "Later that night, after the ship went down, I found a cloak in the water. I pulled it up and kept it ever since."
Raven stared at the woman with widened eyes. "It's you!" she whispered. "The little girl I spoke to! You're her!" Tears welled up in her eyes
The woman smiled and nodded. "Later, I discovered something odd about this cloak. Look."
She did something to the brooch on it and opened it. She stood up to show the rest of the Titans. It was a Titans communicator!
"I'll be damned!" Cyborg muttered.
The woman nodded again. "I've always wanted to thank you. Now it seems I have the chance."
The Titans and the women stood up. The young heroes gathered around in awe. Raven then embraced the woman.
"I also would like to say thanks for saving my family." she said when Raven let her go. "And also, welcome home young heroes. You are truly heroes to remember! Welcome home!"
The Titans all embraced her, one by one, including the Titans East.
"So much for your theory." Aqualad muttered to Speedy. He said nothing.
"Why don't you come to our Tower with us?" Bumblebee said to the woman. "We got plenty of room. And I'd like to here the story from your point of view."
She nodded. "Of course my dear, of course. After all, Titans, we have a lot to talk about."
Raven nodded; they did indeed.
She then noticed something in the east. "Look at that!" she said.
A white rainbow appeared in the sky, seemingly emitting its own light. They stared at it in awe, gazing at its ethereal appearance. Raven felt a tingling sensation through her empathic ability. She did not feel fear nor dread, but rather peace. She smiled.
"What is it, Raven?" Terra asked her.
She glanced at her. "I'll tell you later." she said, leading the way.
It was going to be a long night for them.
The End
Special thanks are in store for the various sources used in the making of this story: Charles Pellegrino's Ghosts of the Titanic, Michael McCauhan's The Birth of the Titanic, and the late Walter Lord's A Night to Remember. Of course, I've taken some artistic license in writing this story, so if you want to know the real deal about what happened, I suggest checking out any of these books, or others about the Titanic. You might even find stuff online.
Also, special thanks to all that have reviewed, and to those who will review in the future. Specifically, I wish to thank Bleeding Wings for the advice on how to improve this story. I hope other writers will take note of this as well.
And I still don't own Teen Titans, so don't ask.