Wow. Just wow. This has been the most feedback I've ever gotten on the first chapter of any story I've written. I'm speechless. Thank you guys so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! I guess I must be doing something right! Haha, all jokes aside, thanks so much you guys! I think I'm going to reply to your reviews and questions in this story just to show you how much I appreciate it all! :D :D
krikanalo - Thanks! I feel like I've lost the Teens Titans touch in my last story so this time I'm keeping the look and feel as close as possible to the series.
Klonoakid17 - Thank you. Hope this chapter will satisfy!
LurkingShadowWillow - I'm back, baby! ;) I really do hope it'll be awesome. I have high hopes for this story. Might be my best yet.
Guest - Yeah I'm so so sorry for forgetting to mention the Titan Down scene was inspired by Skyfall. Thanks for reminding me though!
BizkitRebellion - Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Rjay Fame - Haha, doesn't it? Raven's going to be in for a rude awakening when she figures that out ;)
TheHowlingWhiteFox - Hope this chapter pleases you.
kmarie96 - Thanks!
Soulfulbard - Thank you. I was originally going to have the chapter end with the line 'Titan Down' but I felt it was too short and was lacking something. I decided to add that last scene, which was a Godsend! The chapter improved so much in so many ways. It really does start to set the tone for their incoming romance...
gabylokita41 - You're back! I haven't seen you for a while. Hope you like this story! Hmm I didn't intend for the unnamed narrator at the beginning to be much of a mystery but it seems quite a few people are intrigued at who he/she is. Hehe, that's good to know.
But as Rift would say, "Enough with the formalities." Let's get this show on the rode!
Chapter II - An Enemy's Return
The T-Ship landed in what was called Andern Falls off the coast of France. As the four Titans rode out of the jet on the T-Car, Cyborg pressed a button on his arm that activated the ship's invisibility mode. The T-Ship shimmered and slowly merged into its environment, becoming completely invisible to the naked eye.
"Aight, now to look for String Bean," Cyborg muttered. "My sensors can trace him to this general location. He's on the western side of Andern Falls but I can't tell exactly where. Raven, can you sense him at all?"
Raven furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "There's too many people here that it's difficult to pick up his scent. I'm afraid there's no way my powers can help find him."
"Should we split up?" Starfire mused.
"I think that's the best idea," Robin said. "We have to keep in constant touch with each other via our communicators. If any of us find Beast Boy, alert the others immediately."
"Sounds like a plan," Cyborg nodded. "Robin, your motorcycle's in the back. Robin and I will search by land around here since we can't fly and we're limited by traffic. Star and Raven, you two fly above and see if you can find him."
"Roger," the two girls nodded as they exited the T-Car and flew up into the air.
As Raven flew from here to there, constantly searching for any sign of Beast Boy, physical and spiritual, she contemplated the mysterious figure Rift. The Titans East had very limited information about the man, only knowing that he was a super-villain with a suit that granted him teleportation powers. However, the Titans East had been able to supply one important detail—he seemed to exhibit mind-control powers. Whenever he performs a heist, he often does so with a few guards. Upon capture, these guards had always denied helping him. Many of them were trusted men and women who have shown anything but loyalty to their respective companies. As such, it is possible that Rift had brainwashed them and ordered them to help him. Robin managed to get in contact with Batman, who confirmed the Titans East's theory of his mind-control powers.
"A villain with mind-control powers," Raven thought. "Scratch that, mind-control and teleportation." She certainly hoped they would not have to deal with him for long. Any villain with powers such as those were a threat, no matter how inept their physical abilities are. If Control Freak had those powers, even with his bumbling incompetence and lack of physical strength, he'd still pose a threat. Imagine how powerful Rift must be.
Another thing Raven had found curious was the fact that she could not sense Beast Boy. His scent or aura was there, she could feel it, but for some reason it was very vague and subtle. She found it especially odd considering that last night she had created a mental connection with him from the other side of the globe with some difficulty, but now she could not even sense him no matter how hard she tried even though she was in the same area as him. Raven had lied when she told the others that this was due to there being so many people. She did not want to worry them, but deep down she realized that there must be something interfering with her magic. There might be something near here that hinders her ability to magically sense her surroundings. But what could it be?
Andern Falls was a resort city that was very popular in France. It had everything from beaches to mountains to forests to man-made resorts. It was a paradise of a vacation and was visited by thousands of people every year. That added to the difficulty of finding Beast Boy to the sheer number of the population. But what could there be in a vacation city that would hinder her magic? Raven decided to leave it alone until it worsened. Besides, for all she knew, it could be a side-effect from the rift.
As Raven scanned the streets below, she wondered aloud, "If I were a little green boy, where would I be?" She decided to check the food court. Flying down and joining the flock of people on ground-level, Raven closed her eyes and tried to sense if Beast Boy was near. She managed to pick up a scent, which she deduced to mean that he was fairly close. If she concentrated more, maybe she'd be able to figure out what direction he was in—
"Ah!" Raven yelped as she fell to the ground. She looked over and saw a man lying next to her. He had crisp brown hair, bright green eyes, and was wearing a tuxedo. He looked over to her and immediately said, "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied as the man helped her up.
"I should've watched where I was going. It's my fault," he apologized.
"Honey! Honey, you okay?" a woman standing next to him said. She had long, brown hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a bridal gown. Turning towards Raven, she said, "I apologize for my husband's clumsiness. He's like that sometimes."
"Newly married?" Raven asked, examining their respective outfits. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," the man replied. "Could you do us a favor? Do you know where the Andern Hotel is? A car was supposed to come pick us up but was delayed so we figure it'd be easier and more fun to walk the way there."
Raven thought for a moment and recalled having seen the hotel nearby while she was flying. "I think it's that way," she said, pointing to her right. "You can't see it here because of the trees but if you walk a little closer, you should see it. It's huge."
"Alright, thank you!" the man said, beckoning the woman to follow him towards the direction Raven had pointed.
Raven continued looking for Beast Boy, trying to pick up any trace of him. To her disappointment, he must have left, for now she could not sense him at all. She picked up her communicator and said to the others, "I've done a visual search through the skies and in the food court. He's not here. Any luck from you guys?"
"He's not at the arcade," Robin answered.
"Haven't seen him on the streets, either," Cyborg answered.
"Nor is he in the mountainous regions," Starfire answered. "I fear that at this rate, we may never find Beast Boy. Oh, what shall happen to—"
"Starfire?"
"Star?"
"You still there?"
"I—" she hesitantly replied. "There is a helicopter approaching."
"So? You've seen helicopters before."
"No, this one…" she said warily. "This one belongs to the Brotherhood of Evil."
"What?" Raven cried as she flew into the air. And sure enough, there it was—a large helicopter approaching the city with the Brotherhood logo on its side. "She's right. They're here."
"But why?"
"Who knows?" Raven watched as the chopper flew down towards the Andern Hotel. "It's heading towards the hotel," she told them. "Head over there right away!" As she placed her communicator back in her pocket, she flew as fast as she could towards the hotel.
As she approached, she saw the helicopter land and several android soldiers running out with guns in their hands. They quickly caused everyone to flee, except for two people whom they surrounded. The robots all pointed their guns at the two people they've captured, whom Raven recognized as the newly wedded couple she had met moments earlier.
Raven watched as the Brain, Monsieur Mallah, and General Immortus slowly walked out of the helicopter. "The Brotherhood of Evil…" she whispered to herself. "But where's Madame Rouge?"
Raven flew down as the three villains spoke to the couple. "—know why we're here. We want the woman," Monsieur Mallah said as Raven landed between the couple and the Brotherhood.
"Raven?" General Immortus said in a stunned tone. "The Teen Titans are here?"
Ignoring them, Raven muttered her trademark mantra and surrounded the couple with a magical shield. "Stay here," she instructed them as starbolts rained down from the skies.
Starfire arrived with two glowing orbs of starbolts on her hands. "The Brotherhood of Evil… why have you returned?" she demanded.
"That's none of your concern, Titan scum!" Mallah cried. Pointing towards the Tamaranian in the sky, he ordered the soldiers to fire at her.
"Not so fast, Mallah!" the gorilla heard as he was struck by a sonic cannon blast from behind. Falling down, he looked behind him to see Cyborg smiling and declaring, "Booyah."
"Imbeciles!" Mallah roared as he took out twin pistols and fired them at the cybernetic man. Cyborg carefully evaded them but was suddenly electrocuted by the Brain.
"Ah!" Cyborg cried while writhing on the ground in pain. "—the heck?"
"I would like to introduce you to my new upgrades, Cyborg," the Brain robotically said with a hint of glee in his voice. As he edged closer to the Titan, a contraption emerged from the Brain's body that transformed into a chainsaw. Cyborg struggled to get up but the pain from the electrocution was simply too much.
Just as the chainsaw was inches away from his neck, a birdarang latched itself onto the back of the Brain's body. Beeping three times, the birdarang created a small explosion that sent the Brain flying. Robin appeared on his motorcycle and revved into the scene as he immediately went to Cyborg's side. "You okay?" the Boy Wonder asked.
"I—I wanna say 'yeah'… but I'd be lying," Cyborg choked. "Must've been 500 or so volts… I probably wouldn't survive if I wasn't half robot…"
Robin nodded and let Cyborg rest on the ground, knowing that moving him would only cause more pain. He gritted his teeth as android soldiers approached them with electric swords—their guns, Robin assumed, were destroyed by Starfire and Raven. Robin knew fully well that if a single sword were to touch him, he'd be electrocuted and may not survive.
Taking a deep breath, he took out two birdarangs and combined them to create a birdarang sword. Swiftly making another sword for his other hand, he solemnly closed his eyes as if to recall all his training from Batman. "There is a flow in battle," the Dark Knight had taught him. "Learn the flow and run with it. Go against it and you will be defeated. Go with it and nothing can stop you."
The soldiers attacked. Robin swiftly parried the incoming attacks with one sword and quickly counterattacked with the other. Taking care to defend himself as well as Cyborg, Robin fought the android soldiers with sweat pouring down his forehead. As he almost became overwhelmed, the remaining soldiers were suddenly levitated in the air and crushed by a magical force. Looking over and seeing Raven with her hand outstretched, he thanked her as he helped Cyborg up.
"Can you move now?" he asked.
"Yeah," Cyborg replied. "I don't think I can fight though. My systems may have short-circuited.
"It's fine. Go over to Raven and escort the couple somewhere safe."
"Roger." Cyborg nodded and ran over to the couple, protecting them with his body as he led them into the hotel.
With Raven no longer having to protect the couple, she could now fully participate in the battle. Chanting her mantra, the sorceress created a solid telekinetic construct similar to a large fist to crush the remaining robotic soldiers. Starfire and Robin, in the meantime were busy fighting Monsieur Mallah and General Immortus—the former wielding his twin pistols and the latter swinging an electric sword.
Raven panted with exhaustion as she finished off the last of the soldiers, unaware that the Brain was slowly creeping towards her with a taser weapon outstretched. "The cyborg could barely sustain a 500V charge," the Brain thought to himself. "Let us see how much an Azarathean can sustain a 750V charge."
Just as the Brain was about to electrocute Raven, a green blur knocked him back. Raven turned around as a green Bengal tiger bit and tore away the taser weapon off the Brain's mechanical pod. The tiger turned around to face Raven, as if to make sure she was okay, then sprinted towards the other Titans, leaping over Robin and Starfire and landing on Monsieur Mallah. The tiger clawed at the gorilla until the latter threw it off.
The tiger reverted back into human form as Beast Boy rubbed his head. "Beast Boy!" Raven cried as she ran to him to check if he was okay. The Brain, damaged as he was, crept closer to them and extended two helmet-like items from his body. "This may be the perfect chance to test my new creation," the Brain muttered as he stood behind the two Titans. The two helmets suddenly latched themselves onto Beast Boy and Raven's heads. They felt some kind of electric current flow through each of them as they yelled out and screamed in pain. They fell unconscious.
"Retreat!" the Brain shouted. Roaring with all his might, Mallah ran over and grabbed the Brain as he and General Immortus escaped into their helicopter. The chopper flew away as quickly as it had come, leaving behind five wounded Titans and several destroyed android soldiers.
…
Beast Boy felt incredibly dizzy and light-headed as he regained consciousness. "Whoa, dude…" he muttered. "So not cool." His vision cleared up and he saw Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire staring at him peculiarly. "Hey guys, let's go home, okay?" he said. "I'm tired and hungry and—well, I need a break from fighting bad guys. I'm craving some tofu pancakes right now, too."
"B—Beast Boy?" Starfire said curiously.
"Is that you?" Robin asked.
"Dude… what happened?" Cyborg gasped.
"What guys? What's the matter?" Beast Boy raised a hand to his mouth as he yawned. It wasn't until he pulled his hand away that he noticed it was completely gray. His eyes widened. "Wait—what the?" Looking around frantically, he had a panicked look on his face.
"Guys…" Beast Boy asked. "Where's—where's Raven?"
~Difficult Words to Say~
Dat cliffhanger doe ;)
Hmmm... wonder what happens next?
Why is the Brotherhood of Evil back? What do they want? Who is the mysterious couple? Where is Madame Rouge? And most importantly... what just happened to Beast Boy and Raven? All...most...or at least some of these questions will be answered next time!
Please REVIEW and tell me what you guys think. :):)