I woke up and coughed to clear the dust coating my lungs. I laid on the ground, which was just a layer of dirt. Opening my eyes, I found myself in a dim alley. The sun had just set, the last of its light leaving the city. The mud brick buildings and burning oil lamps gave the darkening markets an orange glow.
Where... am I?
I climbed to my feet and pulled out my communicator. I flipped the lid up, ready to call in, but I stopped myself. There's no way I can contact anyone at a time like this. Once the Brotherhood of Evil gets their hands on one of these, they'll hunt every Titan down... including me.
Especially me.
I closed my communicator and shut it off. I clipped it on the inside of my belt to conceal it from passersby. I stepped out of the alleyway.
Looking down the market, wooden stalls lined the sides of buildings. Merchants competed against each other, shouting advertisements in Arabian for their meat, fish, urns, and jewelry. I tapped a finger against my head to try and recall the name of this place, concentrating on my thoughts instead of the noisy crowd.
"Stop!" a voice cried, and I perked up and looked around. I heard wood snapping, followed by a light shower of wooden window pieces. A man leaped out of the highest story of a building, a large urn in his arms. Using the sunshade of the stall below, he landed on the ground and sprinted past me. A blast of heat hit my skin, and I watched Hot Spot, a boy capable of combusting into a fiery personage, land on the ground and run after the thief.
I sprinted down the market, shouting my apologies to those who jumped out of the way as I passed (although, no way they could understand me). I came to a sharp turn, skidded across the dirt and kicking up a cloud of dust, and stopped beneath an archway. The thief hurried in my direction, stumbling to a stop when he saw me. I pulled out a pistol and aimed it at him. He gasped and whipped around, hoping to make an escape, but Hot Spot stood on the other side of him. He held his hand up, a fireball in his palm.
"Drop it." he said.
He may have not understood us verbally, but he definitely knew what we meant. The thief dropped the urn, the urn landing right-side up, and raised his hands in surrender. Two police officers handcuffed the thief and took him and the urn away.
"Thanks for the help." Hot Spot said as he approached me. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the other Titans?"
"Oh, uh..." I said. "Before I answer that, tell me where we are."
Hot Spot raised an eyebrow. "Morocco?"
"Right! Morocco, that's it." Thank goodness. That would've driven me nuts. I cleared my throat. "I guess this is where I'm needed, so here I am."
"What? I'm lost."
"This is adult talk, sweetheart. It's something your tiny brain cannot fathom." a thick, Russian-accented voice said. I gasped and turned as Madame Rouge stepped behind the archway, dressed in a black trench coat.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Hot Spot said.
"We should leave. Now." I said.
"What's the matter, Ciela? Afraid of what's to come?" Madame Rouge said. Her trench coat peeled off her body, revealing her normal uniform, and she threw a fist at us. Hot Spot and I jumped out of the way as Madame Rouge's fist slammed into the ground. "You are clearly outmatched. Why don't you call your friends for back up?"
"Don't listen to her." I said. "Let's go!"
We hurried down the market. Hot Spot threw a couple fireballs over his shoulder, but Madame Rouge, using her elasticity, dodged them and ran after us. We turned into an alley and stopped at a tall, chain-link fence. Hot Spot gripped the fence, melting the medal and allowing us to crawl through.
"Silly children. You cannot escape Madame Rouge." Madame Rouge said as she phased through the fence. She elongated her fingers and thrust them at us. Twisting our bodies to the side, her fingers punctured the nearby mud brick building.
We hurried out the other side of the alley. Glancing over my shoulder, I didn't see Madame Rouge. We climbed higher up the city and into some ruins. Our footsteps bounced off the crumbling walls.
A silhouette stepped out, and we skidded to a halt.
"Robin?" Hot Spot said, squinting his eyes in disbelief.
"This way." Robin said, running down the path.
"Man, am I glad to see you!" Hot Spot hurried after Robin. Clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, I followed them.
We rested inside one of the more intact buildings. Despite the dark, night sky, Hot Spot's body emitted light and allowed us to see. He sat and leaned against a sturdy pillar. I leaned my shoulder against the side of a pillar nearby, Hot Spot's heat warming my body and keeping the chilly air away. Robin glanced outside.
"Can someone please explain to me what's going on?" Hot Spot said. "Who was that crazy lady, and why is she after me?"
"Her name's Madame Rouge." Robin said. "She's a member of the Brotherhood of Evil, the nastiest group of villains I've ever faced. They're latest plan is to target the Titans. They've already gotten Wildebeest, and now they're after you."
I folded my arms. Hot Spot hugged his legs. "Why?"
"We went to investigate, and we found his shattered communicator. The Brotherhood is trying to get their hands on one so they can track down the other Titans." Robin sighed and approached Hot Spot, reaching a hand out. "I never thought this would put you in any kind of danger. I understand if you would want to give back your communicator to keep your location safe."
"But I like my communicator." Hot Spot pulled out his communicator and gripped it tightly. "I don't need to worry about Rouge; she can't touch me."
Robin stepped back, sweat dripping down his face from the heat. He turned his back to us. "I'm going to go scope out the area. I'll be back."
Robin stepped out. I walked over and sat next to Hot Spot, leaning against the warm pillar. A sweat already formed at my brow. I reached up and wiped it off, glancing down at my moist hand.
"When I say so, I want you to run." I said.
Hot Spot perked up and looked at me. "What? Why?"
"That wasn't Robin. And no matter what, do not power down."
Footsteps returned, and Robin jogged back into the room. "I saw Rouge; she's heading this way. We need to go now!"
Hot Spot glanced at me. I stood, followed by him, and the three of us hurried out and to the ground floor of the ruins.
"While I was out, I contacted the other Titans. We've discussed a rendezvous point so we can get out of here and find a safer place to plan out our next step." Robin said, a few paces ahead of me and Hot Spot.
"Where's it at?" I said.
Robin paused and pointed ahead. "Just up here past the ruins."
I slowly increased my stride, inching closer to Robin. "I see. Hey, I didn't get any messages on my communicator. Do you think it's broken?"
"Maybe the dust here caused a defect. Here, I'll hold on to it, and we'll have Cyber take a look at it."
A smile twitched at the corners of my mouth. Gotcha.
"I don't know anyone named Cyber, but if you actually meant Cyborg, then maybe Jane can help you with your studying." I said. I walked directly behind Robin and lowered my voice. "As if the real Robin would know perfectly what's going on. That's my job."
"Robin" whirled around to face me. I reeled back a fist and drove it into his cheek as hard as I could.
"Run, Hot Spot!" I cried as "Robin" fell to the ground. I turned on my heel, and we sprinted in the opposite direction.
"You filthy little-!" Madame Rouge growled behind me.
"Signal Robin." I panted as we climbed up a set of short, gradual stairs, allowing us to take three at a time. "The real one."
"But Rouge can change into him. How will you be able to tell who's the real one?" Hot Spot said.
"Don't worry, you gave me an idea. Trust me."
Hot Spot nodded and pulled out his communicator. He pressed a button on the side, and the T on the front blinked red for a split second.
"All right, now what do we do?" Hot Spot said.
"Why don't you hand over that communicator of yours?" We stumbled to a stop when we saw Madame Rouge in our way. "I think I'd find it far more useful than you."
"In your dreams!" Hot Spot said, shooting a fireball at a pillar Madame Rouge stood near. She gasped and twisted her body out of the way like Play-Doh. The pillar crashed in front of her, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. We turned around and ran the other way, down the path we had originally gone with the fake Robin, to the oil rig outside of the ruins. Hot Spot walked cautiously as we entered. "I don't like this idea of yours. One wrong move and we'll both go 'kaboom'!"
"Care to test that theory?" Two fists flew at us, and we jumped out of the way. Hot Spot instinctively threw a column of fire at Madame Rouge, who clung to a pipe. A chain of explosions occurred, and we hurried to safety.
"Told you." Hot Spot mumbled. "Now we just made the ruins bigger."
"Hot Spot! Where are you?!" Robin's voice called from the smoking bricks. Hot Spot lifted his hands as they created more fire, but I stretched my arm in front of him. Robin glanced through a gaping hole in a lone wall. He knit his eyebrows.
"Ciela? Is that you?" he said. He crawled through the hole and approached us. "What are you doing here?"
He stopped in front of us, a small line of sweat forming on his brow from Hot Spot's heat. I lowered my arm.
"I guess because this dilemma is the focus of today's episode, I got sent here." I said. I chuckled and scratched the back of my neck. "And with season five being sort of all over the place, it's probably going to insist I do the same."
"Time out!" Hot Spot cried, a wave of heat radiating off his body. "What is going on?!"
"Yeah, what is going on?" Robin said.
"You went to look for Wildebeest, right?" I said. Robin nodded. "The Brotherhood is trying to get a communicator so they can locate the other Titans and take them out. That's they're newest plan- to get rid of the Teen Titans. They tried with Wildebeest, but his communicator broke before Rouge could get it. Now she's after Hot Spot. She tried to impersonate you and trick us."
"But you saw right through it, right?"
I scoffed. "Of course. I'm not stupid. Although punching fake you in the face was an interesting experience."
Hot Spot gasped and threw a fireball at Robin's feet. He leaped aside as the fire hit a hand crawling to him, connected to a ten-foot long arm. A cry of pain rang out nearby, followed by a curse in Russian.
"Get going. I'll handle Rouge." Robin said, pulling out a birdarang.
Hot Spot and I nodded, and we ran a good distance before hiding behind a wall.
"Give me your communicator." I said. "When Rouge comes after us, lead her away. All she wants is your communicator."
Hot Spot nodded, plucked his communicator from his pocket, and handed it to me. I held the communicator to my heart and nodded. The wall nearby exploded, and I tucked the communicator into my belt. Madame Rouge stepped out of the smoke and dusted her shoulders off.
"Some people never learn." she said. She lifted her eyes to us and smiled.
Hot Spot threw some fireballs at Madame Rouge, attracting her attention. He propelled away using fire as thrusters, and Madame Rouge chased after him. I stood up, but my feet refused to move.
Although... I did just send him to his doom... I gripped the communicator even tighter. Wasn't there anything I could do?
Standing back and doing nothing? Hmph. Typical.
My eyes widened, and I slackened my grip. The thought came so unexpectedly... yet so naturally. I harshly shoved the thought away with a stern head shaking and hurried the other way, to the smoking mess. I ducked through the new archway created from the explosion. Robin laid at my feet.
"You okay?" I said, nudging his arm with my foot. Robin sat up and rubbed his head. I offered a hand, and he accepted it and stood up.
"Where did Hot Spot go?" he said.
On cue, the ground rumbled from an explosion. I stepped past the archway and at a crumbling building.
"Over there."
We ran to the giant pile of smoking debris.
"Hot Spot!" Robin called, cupping his hands over his mouth.
A silhouette appeared through the smoke, and Hot Spot emerged in his normal human form. He hobbled down to us, and Robin caught him.
"Good job." Robin said.
"Thanks. It wasn't easy." Hot Spot panted.
Robin set Hot Spot down on a nearby rock to rest. "Listen, we've got to get going. Are you all right here, or would it be better to come with us?"
"I'm fine now that I don't have Madame Rouge chasing after me. So, are you heading home?"
Robin shook his head. "Not until we've stopped the Brotherhood of Evil."
"Well, if you ever need me, you know where to find me."
I nodded and handed him back his communicator. "And if you ever need us, you know who to call."
Hot Spot nodded. Robin and I walked down the path while Hot Spot waved goodbye.
When Robin turned the corner and out of my sight, I pulled a pistol from its holster, turned around, and fired. The laser cut through Hot Spot's communicator. "Hot Spot" released the pieces of wire and metal, and they landed in a small pile at his feet. He looked up at me in surprise. His hand curled into a trembling fist while his face contorted into a deep scowl.
"Nice try." I mumbled before turning and jogging away.
