Tim Drake woke up to the sound of electronic beats. He muttered in annoyance, "Jaime. . ."
Stepping out of his room in a simple vest and shorts, he marched towards his roommate's door, banging loudly.
"Hey Jaime! It's eight in the damn morning!!" Tim yelled in annoyance, banging again.
"Alright! Alright!" Jaime shouted back, turning his music down before opening the door to a pissed off looking roommate.
"I get that you love music, but does it have to be so early? You know Connor has super sensitive hearing." The teen glared at Jaime, who sheepishly smiled.
"That's why I'm celebrating that he's not back from Smallville till tomorrow." The youngster said, "You should be celebrating too."
"I get it that Connor is a bit rough around the edges, but can you blame him?" Tim subtly reminded him of Connor's background.
"Si Si, I get it. Just wish he wasn't so angry all the time." Jaime raised his hands in surrender, knowing the new boy wonder was right.
"To be fair, you did make fun of him for making out with Miss Martian."
"Point taken." Blue Beetle awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"Let's go get some breakfast, and I'm sorry for snapping at you." Tim gave an assuring smile before walking back into his room to wash and suit up.
The lounge area of Titans Tower had changed the least, the only main differences were a digitised TV, displaying the latest news of the original Titans thwarting Black Mask's plan to sell weapons onto the blackmarket. The couch was replaced with a wider, curvier seating to acommodate a larger group, and the kitchen was upgraded with a bigger dining suite.
Tim and Jaime were greeted by Miss Martian and Wonder Girl, who was teaching the young alien to cook breakfast.
"Good Morning you two!" Cassandra "Cassie" Sandsmark shouted with a joyful tone.
"Hey Cass, Heya Meg." Jaime returned the greeting, smelling something devine. "Guess Beast Boy is out since your cooking meat." He chuckled as he went to grab the carton of orange juice from the fridge.
"He's went back to San Fransisco with Raven, they're wanting to start their wedding plans." M'gann M'orzz explained as she used wooden tongs to turn the sizzling sasuages around on the grill.
"How adoreable was it when Beast Boy proposed to her last week?" Cass asked, fondly remembering the special moment between the empath and the changeling.
"Oh here we go again with love stories." The hispanic youngster groaned, with Tim simply smiling.
"Cut them some slack Jaime. They've been together for a long time." He said as he took laid out cutlery.
"Seriously, Raven terrifys me!"
"Be thankful that she's nothing like her father. She's a half demon, except she isn't the white haired, red leather jacket wearing, sword wielding, gunslinging, and pizza loving type you play as in that video game of yours." Tim stated as he finished arranging the plates.
"You're just jealous that you didn't beat the bloody palace mode without the super skins." Jaime poked his tongue out, sitting down in anticipation for the yummy breakfast.
"Asshole." The new Robin grunted, "Anyway, I know Starfire said she'd be away for a couple of days, so she's asked me to act as the leader."
"Kinda makes sense considering how Nightwing was a Robin once." Miss Martian interjected as she brought the cooked breakfast to the table.
"Think you'll ever be the new Nightwing Tim?" Cass asked, noticing how he shook his head so quickly.
"That's his schtick. I wanna be my own man, rather than be his successor."
"Does he ever talk about. . . Jason?" Jaime nervously asked, aware that the second Robin met a horrible demise at the hands of the Joker.
"We've not really talked about him. Not since we found out he was brought back to life thanks to the League of Assassins." Tim looked down for a moment, remembering his run in with the Red Hood, Jason's alter ego.
"Sorry. I shouldn't have brought him up." Blue Beetle apologised.
Robin shook his head, "No need to apologise Jaime. Red Hood isn't exactly an easy topic for anyone."
There was an awkward silence as the group began to eat their breakfast. After finishing their meal, Tim declared his "game plan".
"Since we're on our own for a few days, I think we should patrol the city tonight. Last time I checked, Mammoth and Gizmo have been sighted lately around the park."
"Detective Reyes reporting for duty!" Blue Beetle stood up to salute Robin, followed by Wonder Girl and Miss Martian.
Tim mentally sighed, "Thanks alot Bruce. . ." He quietly cursed his mentor for suggesting that he should join the Titans.
Incoming Impact, please remain in the pod until the safety protocols are active.
The passenger inside the pod felt his stomach turn as it entered the earth's atmosphere. But he did not care for as long he had escaped the clutches of his captors. He knew he couldn't go back to his family, not with his current appearance. The young being knew the pod would land in an old farmhouse outside of Jump City, reducing any chance of anyone being hurt.
"It'll all be over soon, it'll all be over soon." He repeated the phrase, shutting his eyes, thinking about what his adoptive parents said before he decided to leave them
"You're just a leech Kai. . . You may be a smart kid, but you'll never survive the outside world."
"I can't believe I wasted my time raising you to be so tight with your money."
"Your Mother died because of you!"
The minute they brought up his mother, that was when he had enough.
"Don't you DARE talk of my mother like that! You think I don't know why you took me in the first place!? You knew my mother had earned a fortune in S.T.A.R Labs, and the minute she died, you assholes convinced me to help you with the debts, only for you to ask for more cash for your drinking habits! Well enough is enough! I'm done being your piggy bank." His words were true, and so he left, taking only a small courier bag with him.
They didn't even bother in calling the police, nor did they stop him. He went off to find his independence, with whatever was left from his mother's vast fortune. For over a month, Kai Black travelled from city to city, no longer caring about his wellbeing. Then the event happened. All he remembered was a flash of light, and then he woke up inside some kind of tube, with strange animal humanoids talking about DNA splicing, test runs, etc.
First was the change in his body, once was his human skin, now covered in blackened fur. His newfound tail was that of a fox, though he retained a human body structure. He was neither complete animal, nor human, he was a unique hybrid. He was their guinea pig, the concept of time was meaningless, for he could only see a fraction of space from his window.
All he knew, was that he needed to breakout. He wanted to go back to earth, so he carefully planned his escape route. Noting the layout of the ship, he jotted down in his mind that escape pods were not far.
So when the next test came up, he used his newfound agility to run. He could not believe how fast he moved, was he really that fast as a human? No longer did he care that the guards were after him, all he had to do, was to get back home.
Impact in 3, 2, 1, please brace yourself.
He snapped back to reality, the pod touched the ground, going straight through the desolate farmhouse. The wooden structure was obliterated.
Impact, complete. Escape hatch is now unlocked. Thank you.
He pushed the hatch open, using both of his arms to climb out. He used whatever strength to crawl out, his stomach felt like it was churning. He then vomitted, letting out whatever bad meal he had before he escaped.
"God I needed that." He thought to himself as he stood up to look at the damage around him.
"Okay. . . I don't know how long I've been up there, but I better get away from the crash." Kai spoke aloud, sensing those aliens don't plan on just forgetting him.
And so he ran, and an idea formed in his head. There was a S.T.A.R Labs facility twelve miles from Jump City, perhaps he could find a "cure". He just prayed someone would understand what he had become.
Little did he know of the tracking device that was attached to his prison shoes.
End of Chapter II: New Titans, and the Earth Bound Fugitive
Author's Notes:
The name Blackstar holds multiple meanings. The first being the name of David Bowie's last album, the name of a character in the anime/manga series; Soul Eater, and finally, the third track of Celldweller's Wish Upon a Blackstar album.