Hello, and welcome to the second chapter of Henry's Story Revised. I'll be using HSR as an abbreviation. Thanks for coming back, since if you're here, you must have been interested enough in the story from chapter 1 to continue on. I appreciate that a lot! So, this was originally chapters 3 and 4 of the original. Very few changes here—if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So, I hope you've had a wonderful day so far, and if not, maybe this will cheer you up. On with the show!
When Henry and the Titans arrived at the pizza place, the first thing that happened was the initial swarm of fans. A dozen or so people jumped out of their chairs to say "hi" to the heroes, or to ask them for an autograph. The teens managed to subdue the crowd, and after ten minutes, finally got to place their order. Cyborg and Beast Boy took part in the classic "meat-vs-veggie" debate that the others had grown accustomed to. Meanwhile, Robin ordered the pizzas while Starfire, Raven, and Henry found a spot for everyone to sit. They settled on a medium-sized booth, and sat down.
"Henry," Starfire said once Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy joined them, "where do you come from? Surely you cannot be the alien, like I am."
"Yeah, man, where are ya from?" Cyborg asked." Henry didn't answer for a moment. He couldn't just say oh, I got sent here from a parallel universe by a weird voice-thing called the Ellimist.
"I... I don't know. I all I remember this voice talking to me, and then falling." Henry looked at the others, trying to look confused. Only Raven and Robin knew he was lying, but the two didn't say anything. They merely looked at each other momentarily, each recognizing that the other realized it too.
Most of the next hour was spent chatting casually, with Henry merely absorbing everything around him. Robin and Starfire kept mostly to themselves. Raven sat quietly save for a snide comment only half-muttered when Beast Boy mentioned how funny he was. Cyborg and the changeling kept Henry occupied, with the three discovering that they had a lot in common. Henry and the two Titans all enjoyed video games, pranking, and all-around acting stupid when they were bored. Cyborg didn't like the being stupid bit so much, but he kept quiet. It was nice to have another person to talk to-he always enjoyed hearing another person's opinions. When the pizzas arrived, the teens dug in. They had just fought a supervillain, after all. Fighting crime certainly gave one an appetite. Raven hadn't been able to grab a slice, and so as Beast Boy grabbed two slices of the pseudo-Italian food, a piece in his hand suddenly glowed black and moved away from him.
"Hey!" the green teen complained, "That's cheating, Raven!" The empath's mouth was full of pizza, and so she didn't reply. It wasn't often she consumed much other than her tea, but pizza was pizza. None of the Titans would give up a chance at pizza. Raven was merely reserved about it. When the pizza came down to one slice, the Titans and their guest eyed the food hungrily. The last slice of pizza was considered a treasure. Beast Boy was certain that it was good luck to get it.
"Alright Titans, you know what we need to do..." Cyborg announced as he pulled out a spinner. He placed it on the table and gave a quick spin. The spinner went around and around, with each of the Titans crossing their fingers. Mutters of "please be me" went on until the spinner started to slow. It looked like the spinner's arrow was going to stop on Beast Boy. Henry had a sudden thought, and acted on it. Willing a little more energy into the spinner, it moved past Beast Boy to complete an extra quarter of a turn-pointing towards Raven.
"Aw, man," Beast Boy moaned quietly, as Raven floated the last piece toward her. Cyborg picked up the spinner and put it into some small container on his arm.
"Sorry, grass stain," he said with a smirk,"maybe next time." With that, Henry and the Teen Titans stood up and left, leaving a sizable tip on the table behind them. Robin and Starfire led the group of six towards the island, talking with each other about who-knows-what. Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy tended to let the two be in their own little world whenever they could. Seeing as though it was a bright, sunny day, the Titans walked as opposed to flying back the Tower. Beast Boy and Cyborg were also engaged in conversation, consisting of giving various ratings to the girls they passed on the streets. All of this left Raven and Henry walking next to each other.
"You didn't have to do that," Raven said. Henry immediately felt a surge of... he didn't know what. Guilt? Pride? Embarrassment? He didn't know.
"Do what?" he asked innocently.
"You know what," replied the empath. She mentally rolled her eyes. If this was just another sad attempt by some fanboy to win her affection, then he had another thing coming. Falling from the sky or not, Raven wasn't about to let some idiot drool over her.
"I just thought that since Beast Boy had already eaten half a pizza, maybe someone else should have it," the dimensionally-dislocated teen answered. A few moments went by.
"Thank you," Raven said quietly. The rest of the walk was silent for Raven. She had various conversations going on in her head. Raven's other 'selves, or 'Emoticlones' had started talking. Knowledge wanted to know more about how Henry had survived the crash to Earth. Happy was happy that there was someone new to talk to. Brave wanted to beat Henry up (of course, Brave always wanted to beat someone up). Meanwhile, Henry was busy inside his own mind. He had been in this universe for less than a day, and already he had crashed to the planet's surface, fought and beat a supervillain, and had eaten pizza with the Titans. So far, it was a weird day. Of course, he was worried about Ellie, and what had happened to her. Perhaps she was okay. If that was the case, then Henry would relax. Maybe the Ellimist would say something to him, but for now, seeing as though he had no way of finding out, he simply let it rest. More strange to Henry was the simple fact that he was walking next to Raven, one of the Teen Titans, in Jump City. Henry figured that if he looked at a map, he would find Steel City, Gotham, Metropolis, Keystone City, Central City, and all the rest. If Metropolis was real, then that meant...
"Holy chocolate éclairs," Henry murmured to himself.
When they finally got to the Tower, it was reaching five in the afternoon. The sun had only begun to appear lower in the sky, but it would still be a few hours before the sky grew darker. In that time, while Beast Boy, Henry, Raven, and Starfire were left to themselves, Cyborg and Robin went to the lab in the Tower.
"You have the results, Cyborg?" Robin questioned. It had been on his mind since Henry had been in the Tower's infirmary. Being unconscious, it had been simple to extract a little blood from Henry's arm.
"Yeah, just let me pull it up," answered the cyborg. He clicked a few times, until the test results popped up. Red text appeared on the screen: NO MATCH FOUND.
"Just what I thought," muttered the Boy Wonder. He hadn't expected a positive match. No normal human could survive that fall, or even be in such a position to fall from space in the first place. There was something... different about Henry. Almost as if he didn't belong. Not with the Titans, but perhaps in Jump City.
"So what are we going to do with him?" Cyborg asked, removing the words onscreen. He started making a file for Henry, omitting a picture, the social security number, and other personal information. In fact, the file was pretty much 'Henry Stevenson' and 'Blood Type: O Negative.'
"Well, we can't just send him away," Robin replied. "He doesn't have any anywhere to go, or even a government identity. He doesn't exist."
"He does have powers, y'know," Cyborg offered. "And he does seem to get on with the team pretty well." Cyborg stopped, knowing that Robin understood what he was implying.
"No. At least, not yet. Remember the last time we let someone join the team?" Cyborg shuddered. It hadn't been pretty. Terra had nearly caused Jump City's destruction, although she was under the command of Slade at the time. Still, despite her actions in the end, Terra had been a traitor to the team, and so Robin was concerned about another new Titan. If Henry was going to join, then it would be after a lot of review. And all of the other Titans would have to agree, of course.
"I try not to..." Cyborg said sadly. He hadn't gotten close to the blonde geomancer, but he had seen how much she had meant to Beast Boy, and how much she had hurt him. It was an unspoken agreement between Cyborg and Beast Boy to never speak of it. Or her.
Meanwhile, Raven and Starfire had gone to the roof for meditation. This left Beast Boy and Henry alone.
"So," the green Titan offered. "Ever play Twisted Wheels 2?" Henry snorted.
"No. What's that, some sort of racing game?" Henry asked. Beast Boy nearly flipped.
"What do you mean, 'some sort of racing game'?" Beast Boy spluttered. "Have you lived under a rock your whole life? It's only the bestselling racing game of all time!" Henry laughed.
"Sorry, never heard of it. But I'll play," he offered to the panting changeling.
"Alright!" Beast Boy said excitedly. He pulled a gaming console out from a box, and plugged it into the base of the screen in the large room that was the Titans' living room. Turning the device on, Beast Boy handed Henry a controller. Within minutes, Henry and Beast Boy were starting the race. The green-skinned Titan had selected a green-and-purple car to match his uniform, while Henry chose a brown car with green accents, matching his hair and eye colors respectively. The announcing voice counted down on the game.
"Three... Two.. One... GO!" the announcer crowed, and the car's took off, squealing and smoking onscreen. Henry had never played on a screen as large as the one he was using now. But that wasn't what was on his mind at the moment. What was on his mind was the game. Of course, he had never played this particular racing game before. It didn't exist in his world. However, his friend Tyler had been obsessed with racing games, and so Henry had been forced to play through hundreds of hours of various versions of racing. Tyler would always win, but that didn't mean Henry wasn't good. With Beast Boy, Henry struggled to control his car as he learned the controls of the game. It didn't take long to figure them out, but the shape-shifting Titan had gotten a decent lead in that time. However, Henry was gaining on the Titan. The track transformed into a thin, coiling ramp. Henry had almost managed to catch up to Beast Boy's car.
"Oh, yeah, I'm gonna win!" Beast Boy cried out-and that's when Henry passed him. He had saved a small amount of 'boost' and used it to pass the changeling's car. Luckily, the track had flattened out, and the finish line was visible. The two playing started sweating. It had been an intense race, and neither wanted to lose at the last second. The end grew closer and closer, and the green Titan's car sped ahead in the last second. The final times were Beast Boy 3.810 minutes, Henry 3.808.
"Dude," Beast Boy said after winning music played. "Nice race. That was intense."
"Yeah, it was," Henry agreed, and the two shook hands. There was a moment silence, and the two looked at each other. "Race again?"
"You bet!" replied Beast Boy enthusiastically, and the two picked their controllers back up.
The rest of the night went smoothly, with Henry and Beast Boy beginning to form a friendship. (This, of course, would end up being terrible for the rest of the Towers' inhabitants. Pranks would have double—well, triple—the brainpower behind them. The last thing Beast Boy needed was an accomplice). Robin began to outwardly show trust towards the crashed teen, a trick he learned from Batman. Even if he didn't trust Henry yet, and face it—Robin was smart not to trust someone they'd just met, it was his best move to make Henry think Robin did. Cyborg too was wary, but being the optimistic person he was, Henry quickly became a worthy opponent on Twisted Wheels 2. Starfire nearly dislocated several vertebrae and ribs with a hug, but that was a given. It was funny to Henry. He had seen it happen onscreen and winced at it, but never had he expected to be on the receiving end of one. As for Raven, the two had only talked twice—once when Henry was in the infirmary, and once when Henry had caused Raven to get the extra slice of pizza. When it came time to sleep, however, an issue arose: where was Henry going to sleep? There was, of course, Terra's old room, but even after all the time that had passed, the room was still a source of bad feelings. This left only two options: the couch, or Beast Boy's room. For health and safety reasons, Henry slept on the couch. Borrowing a pillow from Starfire and a blanket from Robin, Henry plopped down on the couch.
"…and remember, if you need anything, BB's room is the first door on the right after you take the elevator up. It says 'Beast Boy' on the door, so I think you'll find it," Cyborg finished saying.
"Alright, Cyborg, take it easy. Thanks man. G'night," Henry yawned, rubbing his eyes.
"Night," Cyborg returned, shutting off the lights in the main room as he stepped into the elevator. Henry closed his eyes, thinking of the day's events. He had been hit by a car, fallen to the Earth, met the Titans, discovered he had powers, fought Mumbo and won (something he still hadn't figured out), eaten pizza with the Titans, played games with Beast Boy, and had nearly been crushed by Starfire's insane Tamaranean strength. Just an average day. Man, this pillow is freaking SOFT*! Henry thought as he yawned again. No wonder she's so happy. I'd be too if I had this pillow every night. However, his thoughts didn't last much longer as the veil of sleep overtook him.
In his dream, Henry floated in space, just like he had after being hit by the car. Not again, the teen thought.
YES AGAIN, the voice of the Ellimist echoed in reply. YOU HAVE MUCH TO LEARN, HENRY.
"Can you please just show yourself?" Henry asked. "It's hard to talk to a voice, after all." In response, a figure appeared in front of Henry as a ground appeared beneath him. He was in his yard, the yard where he and Ellie had played. A man in a black suit formed where the figure was.
"Is this better?" the man in black asked in the Ellimist's voice.
"Umm, yeah, it is" Henry murmured in reply. He was still looking at the yard. Who knew that you could be relieved to see a place as boring as your yard after a mere day of being away from it?
"Henry, I don't have a lot of time to talk, so don't interrupt me," the Ellimist said. "Your battle with Mumbo Jumbo was lucky. He had actually managed to increase his abilities, and yet you defeated him with almost no effort. Why? I helped. I gave you an increase in your abilities today. And I also clouded Mumbo's judgment. It was essential that you gained a positive light with the Titans as soon as you could. However, I cannot interfere as directly as I have. I must proceed in accordance to… certain rules, I might say. It is a much longer story that you are not a part of." Here the Ellimist paused so Henry could process the information. After a moment, he continued. "From here on out you will be much weaker. You will still be able to manipulate energy, but you must absorb it first. You will only be able to store a certain amount, and in the beginning it will be small. It will grow over time, as well as your mastery over your powers. However, you must train. Improve your skill, as the world will need you." The Ellimist's body shimmered. "I must be quick, child, as I have one more thing to show you. It will not be pleasant."
The scene changed, and Henry's yard gave way to a smaller, white area. People gathered around a small bed, with a person in it. Henry recognized the room as a hospital room, and the people were his family. His father, James, tall and proud with his eyes red. His mother, Emily, sitting and holding the person's hand. And finally Ellie, held by her father, unsure of what was happening. It suddenly dawned on Henry that it was him in the hospital bed, hooked up to various IV's and machines. The doctor was speaking.
"…looks like he has several shattered bones on his left side, and spinal damage. Brain scans show that he has altered regions on the left side, and there are signs of trauma in the skull. He is severely injured internally and externally, and I'm sorry to say this, but he may not make it." At this, Emily began to sob. Henry's father moved to set down the daughter and hold his wife.
"Is… Is there anything you can do?" his father asked, holding back tears.
"Yes. All of his injuries, except those in his brain, can be treated while Henry is unconscious. It will be difficult, as his body is in no condition to undergo so many different surgeries and procedure." The doctor looked grim as he told the Stevensons this news. This was one of things he didn't like about his job—telling families that their loved ones might not make it, or worse, didn't.
"If—when—he survives, how will he get better?" Emily asked, her eyes still leaking.
"I'm sorry, but it appears that should Henry pull through, he will be in a coma. His brain patterns suggest he is comatose. It is likely that Henry may never do anything again." Henry—the alright Henry—merely stared at his family, and at himself, barely able to comprehend what he saw. He was covered in bandages, casts, and scabs. He moved to put a shoulder on his father's shoulder, but his hand merely went through it.
"They cannot see us," the Ellimist spoke. "I'm sorry—this is the best that I can do at the moment." Suddenly, the hospital disappeared, and Henry was once again in the empty space, with Earth below. The Ellimist spoke again.
I MUST GO. REMEMBER, YOU MUST TRAIN, HENRY, the being's voice echoed, growing softer and softer until it disappeared. Henry once again felt the sensation of falling, and then suddenly sat up quickly, breathing hard. What… did I just see? He wondered. The sight of his family crying, and of him unconscious in the hospital still played in mind's eye. He shuddered, but not from the cold. It hurt, seeing his family cry like they had been. And the doctor had mentioned him being in a coma. What if this was merely a delusion? Some twisted fantasy his mind created while under extreme distress? However, despite his concerns, Henry lay back down, covered up, and closed his eyes, hoping for calmer dreams. As he fell asleep again, he thought he felt the tiniest trace of something in the back of his mind. Something probing… not that it mattered. In a matter of moments, Henry was asleep again, and stayed that way until the morning.
Meanwhile, in the dark of Jump City, something stirred. It was not of this world, like Henry, but it had darker purposes. A thug walked down an alley, holding a gun to an older woman's head.
"Just give up the purse and no one'll git hurt," the thug ordered. The woman dropped her purse and screamed. "Just keep quiet, will ya? No one needs to here this!" However, the woman continued to scream, and she raised a finger to point behind the criminal. Stupidly, he looked.
"What the HELL is that!" he yelled, looking at what he saw. A green blob of something had appeared next to the two people. The woman began running, still screaming a high-pitched scream. The criminal began emptying the gun's contents into the thing while backing away from the thing. It continued to advance as the bullets entered the monstrosity's body, having no affect whatsoever on it. The criminal continued to pull the trigger even after it was empty, and in a last-ditch effort, threw the gun at the green pile. It merely absorbed the metal like it had the bullets. The criminal, not looking where he was going, tripped on a bottle that had been left in the alley. Hitting his head, the thug was disoriented for a moment before he remembered where he was. A moment was all that the thing needed. A tentacle of slimed wrapped around the man's leg. He pulled it away, but the tentacle remained firm. The green pile pulled the man closer. Screams echoed throughout the black night.
Henry awoke to a small light in the kitchen area. He looked out the giant window that was the wall in the Tower. Only the first hints of orange glowed at the horizon. So who could be—Raven. Of course. Henry remembered that Raven awoke first of the Titans. Henry sat up, the sound of water boiling softly coming from near the light. Henry sat up, and looked at his clothes. Still the same maroon T-shirt and khakis he wore yesterday. This gave Henry a thought. Where am I going to get new clothes?
"Did I wake you?" came Raven's voice, softer than usual. Henry stood up and walked towards the empath.
"No, no, I usually wake up early," Henry answered. It was mostly true—he didn't wake up this early, but still early. "Mind if I join you?" he asked, yawning. He was still a little tired, but that was fine—a little tea would get him going.
"Go ahead," Raven replied, motioning to the table where she sat. Henry pulled out the seat, but before he sat down, he noticed that there was only one cup.
"If I was a cup in the Tower, where would I be?" asked Henry, examining the different cupboards in the kitchenette.
"The one next to the sink," came Raven's reply. Henry muttered a thanks, then grabbed a small teacup. He walked over and sat down across from Raven. His cup glowed black with a white outline as it floated over to a similary-colored floating teakettle. The kettle tipped and tea filled Henry's cup, and each floated back to their respective place on the table. Raven lifted hers with her hands and took a sip.
"Thank you," Henry said again, lifting his own cup. It felt warm in his hands. A little too warm, so Henry figured that this would be a good way to start trying out his powers. He willed some of the heat energy in the tea to travel into his body. It took a moment, but he felt the cup cool slightly as a warmth traveled from his hands to the rest of his body. Henry took a sip of the tea. It tasted… different**. Perhaps a little minty, maybe a little lemony, and a few other things. He set the cup down.
"So, Raven, what brings you to the kitchen this morning?" asked the teen, half-jokingly. He knew, already, but it was nice for a conversation.
"I always wake up at this time," replied Raven in a monotone voice. That right there gave Henry a weird feeling—it was the 'Raven' voice he always heard whenever he imagined her speaking, be it him remembering it from the cartoon or whenever she spoke in a… story he had read online. He wasn't about to think about the… stories… he had read on his computer, especially not when the subject of them was sitting across from him, sipping tea. "I make tea, then go to the roof to meditate for an hour or two," she continued.
"Oh," was Henry's brilliant reply. He took another sip of his tea, looking at Raven as he did. Her hood was down, revealing her purple hair and red chakra. Aside from the odd color scheme, Raven wasn't half-bad lookStop it Henry! He though angrily to himself. She's an empathy, she can sense your thoughts!While this was true, Raven only sensed conflict within Henry. Nothing unusual, so she dismissed it. "What kind of tea is this? Herbal, yes, but what?" Raven set down her cup.
"It's an attempt to recreate the tea that was served by the monks of Azarath during my years there," Raven replied. Upon seeing Henry's look of confusion, Raven continued. "For most of my young life, I lived in Azarath, where I learned to control my emotions. The monks there have raised me since birth. There's a lot more to my life story, but that's a good summary for an early morning." That was a lot of talking for Raven, considering she kept quiet most of the time. She took another sip of her tea. Henry breathed out, thinking about what she had told him. Not what she had told him, but rather that she had told him. It seemed unlike the Raven he had grown accustomed to watching.
"I suppose I might come clean about my past," Henry started. "It started about… wow, I don't even know when. I guess it was yesterday. My sister Ellie—she's four, cute little thing—and I were playing in our yard." Here Raven raised an eyebrow, at the word playing. "What? I'm a big brother. Anyway, she had this ball she loved, right? And she was bouncing it. Well, I got the idea to headbutt it when she bounced it. So she bounces it, and I hit it with my forehead. It goes flying, and Ellie chases it, laughing. Now, I watch her, but for a second I look away, and what I see is a car. It's still a decent ways away, but it's moving fast. And Ellie is too close to the road for my liking, so I start running. The car gets closer and closer to Ellie, and I keep getting closer and closer to her, and when I get to the road, she's in the middle going after that ball, and I jump and hear tires squeal, and—" Henry stopped talking. He couldn't bring himself to say the next words. "Suddenly, I'm floating in space. I can't see anything, when suddenly this voice starts talking to me. It says that it is 'the Ellimist' and that I'm needed in this world. He—I think it's a he—also said something about fiction in one universe being reality in another." Henry paused to take a long sip of tea. This was insane—he was telling everything that had happened to him within the last day. "Where I come from, you guys… the Teen Titans…. even Jump City…. are fictional. For goodness sakes, I watched you guys on TV. You were a cartoon, based on a comic book series. You had voice actors, who sound exactly like how you sound!" Henry placed his head on the table, and softly pounded the top of it. "I just—" pound "don't under—" pound "stand!" He sat back up. "Sorry Raven. I needed to get that out."
"I understand. Pent-up emotion can cause a lot of distress. It's good to let it go," Raven commented. Not that she could do like Henry did—half of the Tower would be in orbit if she let loose like Henry did. The boy wiped an eye.
"Thanks for putting up with this," Henry said. A sound surprised Henry, a whoosh, but it was merely the elevator doors. Out stepped Robin, wearing his colorful uniform.
"Morning Raven, Henry," he greeted sleepily. Raven and Henry watched as Robin started a pot of coffee. Raven stood up.
"I'm going to the roof if you need me," Raven announced, then disappeared through a black portal in the ground. Robin looked over at Henry.
"Rough night? You look like you had a bad dream," the Boy Wonder commented.
"Yeah," Henry sighed. "I kinda did."
"Need to talk about it?" asked Robin. This would be a good way to connect with Henry, get him to trust Robin. Robin was still unsure of Henry, but that was realistic. Thoughts of Terra wandered through his mind, but he dismissed them. Hopefully, this time would be different, but until Henry proved otherwise, Robin would have to stay wary.
"Yeah, but give me a moment." Henry breathed in, then out. It was going to be a long day if he had to tell all the Titans his backstory of one day. "I had a sister named Ellie…"
As Henry told Robin of his crazy day, something walked about in a body not its own. As the sun rose over Jump City, the green thing walked about in the form of the thug. It stretched.
"Ah… a new body, a new city, a new planet. Let's see how much… fun we can have," its deep voice spoke. Its laughter echoed through the alley where it had first arrived. "I have things to do," the creature spoke to itself, and began walking. Now, where would one find the criminal element in Jump City?
Aaand there's that! I do hope that you are enjoying this as much as I had fun writing it (nearly a year ago!). If there are any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or if you have anything to say at all, please either review or PM directly! I love feedback, and pretty much anything helps me to not only improve the story, but also feel inspired to write it. Granted, the first chunk of it was already written (thanks, past-me), but keep in mind that I WILL be writing new material for this at some point. Thank you so much for your time, and I sincerely hope that you all have a fan-freaking-tastic day!
—Cortexin
