CHAPTER ONE
FIVE YEARS LATER. . .
"Cyborg, take him down!" Nightwing barked out as he grabbed a dizzy and dazed Starfire around the waist and leapt back, away from the battle. The villain laughed as he continued to lash at the Titans with the glowing whips and tentacles of energy that surrounded and emanated from him. One of them had struck Starfire across the temple, causing a nasty burn and leaving the beautiful alien staggered and confused.
"I'm trying!" Cyborg called back, just before being knocked of his feet by one of the tentacles. He screamed in pain as he rolled out of the way. "Damn! Those things hurt!"
Raven attempted to summon her physic energy, but the tentacles broke right through it. The man laughed.
"You guys are a lot easier to beat than the Servants. Coming here was the best business move I ever made!"
"Think again Roy!" A voice called. Everyone, Titans and villain, looked up. Silhouetted against the setting sun, standing on the edge of a building, were five figures. Because of the sun, Raven couldn't make out anything except black shapes, and the fact that they all wore cloaks, which blew in the wind. Their leader, obviously the one who had spoken, leapt just then. But he didn't fall straight down, he leapt from wall to wall in the alley next to the building, using the walls to slow his descent and keep him upright. When he was about four feet above the head of the villain, Roy, he leapt outward and landed, gracefully and silently, right in front of Roy.
"Hello Roy. Did you miss us?"
"Changeling! Impossible!" Roy wailed. "I left you guys in the dust! I covered my tracks! How did you find me, how?!"
"It's not impossible." A second voice said. A second figure, a male judging by his height and voice, which held a London accent, landed next to the leader swiftly followed by the other three. "It's just improbable for your tiny mind to comprehend."
"Nothing really impossible when you've got a physic that gets visions on your side." Said one of the others, a girl judging by the voice and the fact that it was the smallest. "Honestly Roy, you've hurt Fog's feelings. Don't tell me you've forgotten him! We've been in so many battle, is it possible we've destroyed what little brain cells you have left?"
"Very funny Tarot!" Roy snarled. "You five aren't going to beat me this time! Not again!"
"Wow, he's learned to count." The London accent cracked. "Unfortunately, not higher than five, because he can't remember how many times we've pounded him into the dust."
"Trickster, I don't think anyone can count that high, let alone Roy. Or you for that matter." Another of the mysterious fighters spoke. This one was also a girl.
"Ha, ha Sparks." Trickster shot back. Sparks raised a fist, but was stopped by the upraised arm of Changeling.
"Enough guys. Let's take this guy down so we can do what we came for. Trickster, you're with me. Sparks and Charge, you guys know what to do. Tarot, stay close to Fog. Everybody, remember to keep your mental links open so that Fog isn't fighting in the dark. Ready? Go!"
The five fighters surged forward, expertly ducking and weaving through the mess of tentacles and whips. The one identified as Tarot jumped a tentacle, and so did the one next to her, Raven guessed that was 'Fog'. Fog dived over the next one into a forward role, then came up right in front of Roy and delivered a left punch that would have knocked Nightwing flat. Roy went flying back, just barely managing to catch himself with his tentacles.
"That was for giving me one hell of a headache." Fog muttered.
"Oh boy, you've really made Fog mad! He speaks!" Trickster teased, suddenly coming from above. Just above Roy's head, he clapped his hand together. Part of the street disintegrated and reappeared above Roy, knocking him flat. The five strangers had Roy subdued and ready to hand over to police in under ten minutes. Sparks knelt next to him and ripped something off his back.
"Damn it, I am getting tired of these things. Trickster, do you mind?" She held out the box. Trickster limped over, favoring his ankle from a bad landing, and took the box.
"Not at all love." He said. He held the box in his hands, and then suddenly yanked his hands apart. The box disappeared. Trickster hands glowed briefly and he sighed before shivering.
"Mmm, damn I love those things. I get such a charge from the atoms." He laughed suddenly. "Heh, charge." The others laughed, and Changeling slapped Trickster on the back.
"Great job kid. Let Fog fix that ankle, huh?"
"Sure."
"Umm, who are you guys?" Nightwing finally asked. Changeling hesitated, the hood of his cloak pulled up, concealing his face, just like the others.
"Umm, I doubt this is the place to discuss this. How about we meet you at your Tower in about five minutes?"
"Um, okay." Nightwing said.
"Great. See you there." All five were suddenly enveloped in a white energy, and then disappeared.
"Well, let's go." Nightwing said with a shrug.
When they got to the Tower, the strangers were already waiting. Except this time, their hoods were down, so that the Titan's could finally see their faces.
The Titans stared at the five strangers in shock. They especially gaped at the leader, who wasn't exactly a stranger. Raven was the first to speak.
"Be . . . Beast Boy?!" She gasped. Everyone else also gasped as they finally recognized the leader of the group. He shook his head.
"No, its Changeling now guys. It hasn't been Beast Boy since I was fourteen." The twenty year old seemed relaxed and at ease, but his eyes darted around, never resting, taking in everything around him, assessing entrances, escapes and attack patterns. 'A warrior.' Raven thought with surprise. 'He's grown into a true warrior.'
She looked him over, taking in all the difference. He was taller than even Nightwing now, just an inch short of six feet. His body was still lean, but Raven could still see a lot of muscle definition that she never thought Beast Boy, 'No, Changeling,' she reminded herself, could have. He wasn't heavily over muscled, he was too lean for that, but his body looked like it had been carved out of granite. His muscles were the compact, coiled, hard muscles of a gymnast or martial artist. Raven suspected he was both. His green fur had darkened to almost black, and so had his hair. He had it shaved short on the sides, but long in the front so that it hung in his eyes, which were almond shaped, and the same emerald green she remembered. He still had his fangs and pointed ears, but they seemed smaller, in better proportion to his face.
Changeling was wearing a pair of loose black pants with a pair of black, green and silver thick soled army boots and a tight black long shelved tee shirt with a blue silhouette of a bird on the chest. He was also wearing a strange looking cloak, an oversized hooded cloak that swirled between green, brown and black. He had it hanging so that it covered his left side, but was tossed back over his right shoulder. On the inside of the cloak, Raven caught sight of a strange symbol, a gray hand holding two swords, hilt to hilt, one black and one white. She wondered what it meant.
Raven was snapped out of 'observation mode' when Changeling spoke to his team. "Guys, these are the Titans; Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and," he paused when he reached Nightwing, "I'm guessing that it's Nightwing now."
"Right Beast . . . uh, Changeling." Nightwing said with a grin.
"Titan's, meet my team. The Servants of the Right." He motioned to the man who was standing to Changeling's right, shoulder to shoulder with him. "This is my second in command, my right hand man, my best friend, and our resident psychic, telepath and telekinetic, Fog. He gets the visions that send us out on our missions."
Fog was Changeling's height, but more muscular and with broader shoulders. He had darkly tanned skin, with hair that was cut short, spiked and died light blue. He was wearing a light blue body suit that matched his hair, with black army boots and a knee length black trench coat with a high color and a dark blue bird on the right shoulder, as well as the same symbol from the cloaks on the left shoulder. He was also wearing the same cloak as Changeling, and black sunglasses, even inside, and had a horrible white burn scar on the side of his neck that started at his jaw and disappeared into his trench coat. He nodded at the Titans, his blank poker face giving nothing away.
"Next is our favorite witch, gymnast, fortune teller and music player, and everyone's big sister, Tarot." Tarot was about twenty one, a year younger than Raven, and she glared coldly at everyone, while shooting protective glances at Changeling. Tarot was the shortest of the Servants, and had short, chin length, curly black hair, pale, flawless china skin and wide, almond shaped bright sky blue eyes. Tarot also had the body of a dancer and gymnast, small and lithe with strong, compact muscles. She was wearing a green, bodysuit that had a blue bird across the chest. She wore an ankle length half skirt that tied around her waist and was made up of a bunch of different patches of different colors, along with a pair of gold bracelets, and gold hoops in her ears. Tarot also had a black belt with several pouches, a pair of black army boots like Fog's and the same color changing cloak as the others.
"Next, our twins and favorite elementalists, Sparks and Charge." Changing said, motioning at the last two women. They were a little taller than Tarot, and the same age. They both had curly dark red hair that fell almost to their waists, pale, flawless china skin and wide green eyes. Sparks's costume was a body suit made up of various patches in silver, red and gray, with a blue bird across the chest and silver bracelets around both wrists and large silver hoop earrings. Charge was dressed exactly like her sister, except her bodysuit made up of patches in blue, silver and brown, with a blue bird and the same silver bracelets and earrings. Both twins also wore the same cloaks as the others.
"And, of course, our youngest member, our matter manipulator and my 'little brother', Trickster. Be nice." Changeling warned the youngest member of his team. Trickster was shorter than Fog and Changeling, yet was still taller than the three women. Trickster had high, sharply defined cheekbones, and huge golden eyes that seemed to glow slightly, and an expressive mouth that sneered at Changeling's warning. With his pale, almost translucent skin and unruly white-blonde hair that was sticking up in all directions, and even his nose that seemed slightly crooked, Raven knew that every other girl on the planet would have found him devilishly handsome. He pulled out a cigarette and a lighter, but seemed more interested in playing with his lighter, flipping it open and closed, then lighting his cigarette. He was wearing a dark blue bodysuit with a dark red bird on the chest, black thick soled army boots, a black leather jacket and dark blue gloves, along with the color shifting cloak.
"And, of course, last by certainly not least, Phoenix." Changeling threw back the left side of his cloak and revealed the small five year old clinging to his leg. She had silver hair that hung in ringlets past her shoulder, pale, flawless china skin, a small upturned nose, a perfect heart shaped mouth and wide, almond shaped eyes that were blue, but then changed to green, purple, gray, brown, black and back to blue while Raven watched. "My daughter." Changeling announced, smiling down at the little girl, who was dressed just Trickster in a blue body suit with a red bird, Raven realized that the birds represented the little girl, black army boots, a black leather jacket and a miniature cloak.
"Daddy." Phoenix whimpered, pulling on Changeling's pant leg while hiding her face at the same time. Changeling squatted down and scooped her in his arms, resting her on his hip so that she could wrap her arms around his neck and hide her face in his shoulder.
"Shh, it's okay darling." Changeling whispered, twirling one of the girls silver ringlets around his finger. He looked at the Titans, his eyes sad. "Guys, I need your help."
