Chapter One: The Breeding Program
I believe it must have all began when some of the more evil residents of Earth who were concerned with the future of villainy started a Breeding Program. It would ensure the next generation of villains to carry on their anti-hero legacy. They had decided on using the youths as their pawns because adults were more difficult to control. They needed youths on both the evil and the good side, as the combined pool of genes was far larger than only that of the evil.
They had decided on this program after noting that many of the stronger villains were either genetically enhanced or the offspring of two meta-humans. There was Monsieur Mallah, a large gorilla whose genetic code had been tampered with, and Madame Rouge, the daughter of an extender and an imitator. It was after those types of people that the Board of the Breeding Program modeled their system. They would pair people together and then match their abilities to get guesses of what their offspring might be like. If it seemed a good combination, they would announce the match. If necessary, the genetic code of the children produced would be altered to amplify abilities.
Not everyone was considered for the illustrious program. Some, such as Wildebeest, were excluded because of their unusual physical structures which may have been incompatible with that of humans--- which was the species most of the villains were. Others, such as Gizmo, were excluded because they were considered too physically or characteristically unattractive to convince anyone to mate with them. These exclusions were put into a second group, as second choice. More formally, it was called the "Second Pool."
Some schools, such as the HIVE academies, offered their students for the Breeding Program. This unusual alliance of villains offered them all a chance to produce exceptional children for future plans. It had potential to be beneficial to all involved, and that was what drew everyone in.
Many children were involved and evaluated, although the age for prospective Breeders was seventeen or older. Those who were paired with a person on the opposite side were told to wait until further orders were given. There were three I know of who were marked as being a good match for people I knew well. In their mission of establishing a relationship, two were successful and one was not.
I am the Leader of the Teen Titans. Since we were all youths, we were all evaluated for the Breeding Program. I, myself, was listed as being an Agile Fighter. Beast Boy was listed as an Animal Shapeshifter. Raven was described as an Incantation-Based Magic User, with more detailed descriptions of her powers afterwards. Hotspot was listed as a Fire Controller. Similarly, Aqualad was called a Water Controller but with an added detail of Underwater Telepath. Bumblebee was called a Human-Bee Shifter. Speedy was considered an Expert Archer, with a tint of agility mixed in.
I did not mention all of us, as the reader may note. They were mostly placed into the Second Pool. Cyborg was placed there due to his robotic form. Starfire was originally considered for the main program, but they decided that her alien physical structure could cause difficulties. Wildebeest was more animal than human, so he was also placed in this group. Mas y Menos were not categorized, because they were placed on the agenda to be studied in the future. There were some other Teen Titans, but they were scattered across the Earth and not a part of the core group. The only one of especial note considering the situation was Kid Flash. He was listed as a Human Speedster, with more detailed explanations of his skills.
The three villain youths who became closely concerned with us directly because of the Breeding Program were called Jinx, Kyd Wykked, and Cheshire. Jinx was a Magic User--- more specifically, of bad luck. Kyd Wykked was classified as a Teleporter. Cheshire was considered an Agile Fighter, as I was.
The first, Jinx, was well known to us. She resided in Jump City with her companions. She was matched to Kid Flash. The reasons behind this decision were that their offspring would most likely be able to cast spells faster and move quicker than normal. The other more distant and less desired possibility was that their offspring would have more of their father's abilities but have a slight immunity to magic.
We knew less about the second, Kyd Wykked. He was a telepath who rarely, if ever, spoke. He also had the ability to absorb information from the minds of other people. His match had been Raven. They were very similar, which fueled the confidence of the Breeding Program that the two's offspring would have nearly all of their skills and characteristics combined and amplified, whether it was telepathy, telekinesis, stealth, information absorption, or teleporting. It was also hoped that any offspring would be able to use magic without incantations.
While we had a bit of information on the first two, the third, Cheshire, was virtually unknown to us. She came from Asia and was trained as an assassin. She had no supernatural powers, but was deadly to encounter if her intent was to kill. Beast Boy was the one matched to her. Their children would be agile, intelligent shapeshifters.
I should have suspected something in the first place, after multiple things started happening at once. My instinct about something being wrong was correct, but I did not imagine the true reason. Instead, I looked erroneously in the other direction. Later, I found that I narrowly avoided a Teen Titan's death. But I cannot neglect to add that I drove another to die in his place a period of time later.
It was this program, though, that made the Brotherhood of Evil take a pause in its plan to annihilate all hero youths. Even the Brotherhood was interested in the Breeding Program, and the Breeding Program needed us alive to be able to use us. It was because of this lengthy pause in progress that the Brain managed to continue his research into Body Control and that we managed to become stronger. Ultimately, we did triumph, but we also lost.
Signed by Robin, or Dick Grayson.