"Is everything ready, Cyborg?" Robin said as we headed to the basement.
"Aw, yeah. Putting another pod in the T-Ship was nothing. Although the instructions would've been easier to follow if they weren't in Cantonese." Cyborg said.
"You know you really didn't have to do that. I could've just stayed here while you guys did your thing." I said.
"You're a Titan now, Ciela, which means you 'do our thing', too." Robin said.
I smiled to myself as we entered the basement. The T-Ship, the rocket/submarine the Titans use when cruising under the depths or through the voids of space, was already up and revving. Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire were in their respected pods along the corners of the ship. Cyborg climbed into his corner pod, Robin into his pod at the head, and my new one in the middle of the ship. I clicked my crossing seat belts and gripped the half steering wheel.
"I must warn you guys," I said as I slipped on my headset and positioned the microphone over my mouth, "I have no idea how to steer this thing."
"You'll learn in no time!" Beast Boy said, and I cringed from how loudly his voice echoed from the headphones; I could hear him all the way across the ship with how noisy he was.
"Main power on!" Robin said.
"Oxygen tanks at maximum!" Starfire said.
"Defensive systems active." Raven said.
"Twin-turbo hydro engine purrin' like a kitten." Cyborg said.
"And your secret weapon is ready to rock!" Beast Boy said.
"You should let Ciela speak for herself." Raven said, cocking an smug eyebrow. I chuckled nervously and saw Beast Boy scowl with an animated vein on his forehead.
"All right, team. Whoever this Trident guy is, we need to find our what he's planning. It can't be good if it needs forty barrels of toxic waste." Robin said.
Robin pressed a button and the T-Ship lowered down a platform and into the ocean. Giant bubbles rose around the ship and up to the surface. At the bottom of the platform, the ship faced a tunnel. Lights ignited at the sides of the tunnel like an underwater runway. I gripped steering wheel even tighter.
"Titans, launch!" Robin said, and my back was shoved further into the chair from the unexpected burst of speed and gravity. The T-Ship zoomed through the tunnel and out into the sea. After my body had adjusted to the cruising, I stretched out my fingers to put circulation and color back into them.
I heard beeping coming from my control panel, and I looked at the radar. A red spot blinked within the scan.
"The scanning doodad is picking up a red dot." I said. "I think that means someone's nearby."
"At least you can figure that out. It took Mr. Shark Attack two weeks to learn what that meant." Cyborg said.
"How about we take a break from 'Insult Beast Boy Day'?!" Beast Boy huffed.
"It's go time, Beast Boy." Robin said.
"All right! Time for you all to watch me do my thing. Please keep your jealous fits to a minimum." Beast Boy said as he removed his headset and exited his pod. A few moments later, he swam alongside the T-Ship as a giant, green whale.
"Oh, yeah. My rage is overflowing." Raven said.
We followed Beast Boy deeper into the ocean and towards a decaying ship, the cargo ship that Trident attacked and sunk. Beast Boy transformed into a hammerhead shark. Robin flipped on the headlights and kept them on Beast Boy as he swam along the side of the ship.
"Here's the ship, but where's the cargo?" Robin said.
"If this Trident dude is capable of sinking an entire ship, who knows where he could've taken those barrels? They could be anywhere by now." Cyborg said as Beast Boy swam into the ship. The T-Ship swam along the outside. At the other side, Robin shined the headlights into the hole right as Beast Boy shot out and swam away after a black silhouette.
"Looks like Beast Boy found something." Robin said.
"Not quite." I said. "Behind us!"
Another silhouette swam behind us holding a large fork-shaped object. It glowed yellow and shot an energy beam at the ship, causing it to lurch violently to the right. Cyborg cranked his steering wheel and turned the ship around.
"Raven, follow my instructions carefully." I said. "Aim right next to Starfire's pod!"
"What?" Raven said.
"Just do it!"
Raven fired a heat-seeking laser that looped around and blocked an energy ray.
"He's swimming by your pod, but he's not going to attack..." I said. "Now, by Cyborg's!"
Another of our lasers blocked the energy ray. We drove away as a barrage of energy rays blasted at the ship.
"The engines are fried. We're going down!" Cyborg said.
I gripped the steering wheel. A sweat trickled down the back of my neck at the sight of the gaping, pitch black chasm we started to plunge into. The T-Ship slammed and skidded against the side, and I shrieked as water began to gush in.
We stopped falling, and our momentum changed from down to up. I looked out the window and saw the T-Ship on the back of two whales, but none of them were Beast Boy. They brought the T-Ship to a cavern. We popped off the tops of our pods and climbed out.
"That wasn't really how I wanted to spend my first time in a submarine." I said, crawling out of my pod and sitting on the ground.
"My ship! Look what he did to my ship!" Cyborg cried as he stood in front of the damaged T-Ship.
"Where are we?" Raven said.
"This is my place." We turned back to the cavern's lake as Aqualad emerged on top of a whale's back. He hopped off and approached Raven. "I told the whales to bring you here."
Raven blushed and smiled, something that looked even weirder in person than on a screen. "Oh, uh... Thanks." she said.
"Oh, yes, thank you so much for saving us!" Starfire cried. Hearts dotted both of the girls' eyes.
"Hello?! I was there, too! How come I'm not getting any thanks?!" Beast Boy said, dripping wet as he climbed out of the water. He vigorously shook a piece of seaweed off his foot.
"Gee, thanks so much for stopping Trident from kebabbing us." Cyborg said. "Oh, wait, you did nothing."
"I would've, but Fish Boy beat me to it!" Beast Boy said, pointing a finger in Aqualad's face.
"'Fish Boy' has a name. I'm Aqualad from Atlantis." Aqualad said, pushing Beast Boy's arm aside.
"Atlantis? Really?" Raven said, snapping out of her daydreams.
"Yes. Trident is from there as well. He's a notorious criminal, and his ego is just as bad. He believes he's the most perfect being on both land and sea, so he thinks he can do whatever he wants."
"So you know about his most recent crime. Do you have any idea what he wants with all that toxic waste?" Robin said.
"I don't, but whatever it is, it'll be bad for both our worlds. He's gained a new kind of power, which makes him seem like he can be everywhere at once. Maybe we can be of help to each other and bring him down."
"No thanks! We're better off doing this ourselves." Beast Boy said. "We've got this whole thing under control, so we'll just be on our way-"
"The surface is miles away from here, and none of us can breathe underwater." Raven said.
"We'll take any help you can offer." Robin said to Aqualad.
Aqualad smiled. "Hey, Tram!"
A hatch opened, and a short, gray, fish-like creature climbed out. He spoke, but it was in a strange language I couldn't understand. After watching this episode so many times, I could only assume he said something like, "What's up?"
"Can you help these people out and take a look at their sub?" Aqualad said, kneeling down to Tram's height. Tram cracked his knuckles, chattering in his language with a smile, and jogged towards the T-Ship. He pulled out an electric jackhammer and drilled a gaping hole at the top of the sub.
"Hey, be careful with my sub!" Cyborg said.
"Don't worry, Tram's good with tools. While he's helping you, I'll track down Trident."
"Excuse me, but I think you mean I'll track down Trident." Beast Boy said.
"That's okay, I can handle it."
"I don't need your help. Step aside and let me take care of it."
I sighed and crossed my arms. "Why don't you both go track him down?"
"I usually work alone." Aqualad said.
"If we want to stop Trident, you two need to look past your pride and work together. It's the only way."
"You ought to listen to her. She knows a lot more than you think." Robin said. "Now, go."
Aqualad and Beast Boy glared at each other before they raced to the edge and dove into the water.
"Maybe it's not such a good idea to have those two alone." Robin said, shaking his head. "I'm worried they'll rip each other apart before they find Trident."
"They're going to bicker and compete, that's true. But they'll get along." I said. "I might as well tell you guys what's up with Trident. There's a reason why it seems like he's everywhere at once."
"And that reason is?" Cyborg said.
"Well, Trident thinks he's so perfect, he thinks the world would be a better place if there were more of him. So, he's made clones of himself- an army, to be more specific." I said. "He wants to conquer Atlantis and declare war against the rest of the earth so he can rule and have everyone bask in his perfection."
"More of that egotistical fish man? Great." Raven said, crossing her arms.
"While we're on that subject..." I turned and walked towards the T-Ship. "Hey, Tram, how's the ship coming along?"
Tram popped his head out from underneath the ship and crawled out. He cheered in his strange language and jumped up and down.
"I think that's a good thing." Cyborg said.
"We'd better get going so we can be a submarine-ex-machina." I said.
"A what?" Starfire said.
"Nevermind. Let's go."
After defeating Trident, we turned to Titans Tower. Robin handed Aqualad a communicator while Starfire and Raven hovered over him. Hearts floated from behind them.
"Thanks a lot for your help. I'm glad to make you an honorary Teen Titan." Robin said.
"Thanks. It's good to know there are people up here that I can trust." Aqualad said. "I guess I'll see you guys around."
"It was... nice to meet you." Raven said.
"Guys, you're getting drool on my shoes." I said, taking a quick step back to avoid a trickle of Starfire's slobber.
