We do not own the rights to the Teen Titans or any affiliated characters.
Downtown Jump City. 1414 Hours. 20 JULY 2014
While Starfire, Beast Boy, and Robin battled the villain, Cyborg and Raven pulled police officers from the wrecked cars and handled the blazes that the unknown attacker's missiles had started. The tall Titan sprayed the flames with a dousing foam as Raven enclosed them in telekinetic bubbles to starve them of oxygen. Approaching one of the flipped vehicles, Cyborg scanned it, noting the positioning of the cops trapped inside before tearing off the door. A small laser cut the seat belt and Cyborg easily caught the uniformed woman, pulling her from the wreckage as he checked the abrasions she had sustained. Scratches from the shards of the window dotted her features, but her injuries were minor and he set her gently to the side before going for her partner who was in a similar condition.
Raven scoured the vehicles with her soul self, feeling for those in greatest danger before rushing to their aid. She pulled people from the mangled cars with portals or careful dismantlement of the entrapment. As another officer appeared before her from a black portal, she noted the bright red gash along his arm and immediately opened one of the links on her belt, pulling a tourniquet from it. Wrapping it about the injured limb, she sapped his pain away with her touch, and his rigid body relaxed slightly. Hurriedly finishing, she passed him to several of his comrades who were in better condition and continued her search while Beast Boy, in the form of an ox, charged their foe.
"Y'know, this is puttin' me in the mood for some good ol' barbecue," sneered the armored man as fire streamed from his forearms towards the green bovine. Slipping into the form of a cheetah, Beast Boy ducked beneath the blast and closed the distance between him and the armored man before changing again.
"Names and threats first, then we do the banter. Are you new at this or something?" scoffed the kangaroo as he leaned back on his tail and his powerful legs launched the man into the air. He flailed before Starfire smashed into him, driving him back into the ground with enough force to crack the road. With a snarl, he seized her throat and switched positions, straddling her as he lifted his other arm.
"If that's how we do it, fine. Ah'm Arson. And ah'm going to turn y'all brats to ash," he growled. Just as flames were about to leap from the barrel, a cable looped about his forearm and yanked it back, unleashing the fire upon his helmet. With a scream, he bounded to his feet and Starfire shot away, rising out of the man's range. The accelerant burned until he raised his hands to his head and foam doused his helm. He wiped the spray from his eyes and the rest began to slide off as he turned his glare upon Robin who had drawn his staff.
"Boy, ah am goin' to make yah regret that," he growled.
"Bring it," Robin smirked confidently as he leapt forward. The ground before him suddenly erupted in flames and he threw his body forward, slamming his staff into the street and pushing over the grasping fire. He landed with a frown as the Arson chuckled darkly and held his arms out at his side.
"How was that, traffic light? Y'all ready for s'more?" he said, his gaze focused on Robin's weapon.
"Yeah! They'd go great with this weenie roast!" the green rhino shouted as he thundered forward.
Arson growled lightly and lifted his arms to spray streams of fire about them in a circle, creating walls of flame to deter the shape shifter. Robin's grip tightened on his staff before he shouted and dropped it, his hands burning. The glowing rod clattered against the ground before it became wreathed in flames.
"The last thing yer ever gonna smell is gonna be yer own flesh burnin'," Arson growled as he lifted his arms. Suddenly, a shadow fell across him and he turned just as the pterodactyl's talons latched into his shoulders and hauled him into the air.
"How about we take a dip, hothead? You look like you need to cool off," Beast Boy suggested, flapping towards the bay. Starfire streaked past, diving into the circle of flames to collect Robin before he could produce any gadgets to battle the flames.
"Do I get a kiss from my dear damsel after that rescue?" she teased.
"I could've gotten myself out," he protested.
Setting him upon the ground, she kissed him affectionately atop the head and smiled, "Of course you could have, dearest boyfriend. I just enjoy rescuing you."
High above them, Arson grumbled to himself as he grasped the pterodactyl's legs for security and scanned the increasingly distant ground. Lifting his gaze upward to his captor, he uttered a single word laced with venom.
"Burn."
Fire suddenly burst upon Beast Boy's form and he shrieked, accidentally dropping the armored man who tumbled through the air, crashing through a roof and into a cluttered room. Glancing about the apartment, he nodded to the terrified woman and her children, touching a finger apologetically to his brow.
"Ma'am. Kids."
Turning, he charged through a wall, smashing a hole through it and leaping across the street to the next building and digging his armored digits into the brick, riding downward. He leapt again, catching a street lamp that crumpled under his weight and dropped him crashing to the ground. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his head, staggering to his feet and muttering under his breath.
"Damn shoddy construction. Ah tell yah, folks' work ethic these days. It's downright disgraceful."
"What did you do to my friends?"
He dropped his hand and turned at the gravelly growl to see the blue-cloaked Raven towering over him, darkness spreading from around her. Chuckling, he fully faced her and shrugged, "Probably the same thing ah'm gonna do to yah."
A shriek cut through the air with sufficient force to blast Arson off his feet and into a fire hydrant, tearing it from the ground. The spray erupted upward, dousing the villain who groaned as he sat up again, glaring through his mask at the smirking Cyborg, his arm morphed into a cannon and fixed on the armored man.
"I'd like to see you try," said the tall youth.
"Then don't blink, chrome dome," Arson snapped as a plate pushed up from his back. Missiles fired from it, streaking towards the two heroes as Arson surged to his feet. Cyborg dashed out of the way, the ground bursting behind him while Raven merely erected a shield that shuddered under the small explosions.
As the other Titans engaged the armored enemy, Starfire carried the enflamed changeling to the beach and plunged him into the waves to the amusement of the beachgoers who were distant from the violent scene. She then lifted him, sputtering and looking very much like a drenched cat, from the water and he spat out a mouthful of the murky liquid before flatly stating, "Thanks."
"You are very much welcome, friend," she beamed before releasing him. He shifted into an eagle and rose alongside her, heading back over the city, and following the plume of dark smoke. At its source, Robin launched a set of birdarangs while Raven seized nearby debris and launched it at Arson. The former detonated prematurely as they caught flame and Arson swung fiercely at Raven's arsenal, battering most of them away. Robin's kick landed aside his helm and he staggered before managing to catch the next blow and hurling the boy through the air with a hearty laugh. The Boy Wonder was caught by Raven and lowered safely to the ground as Cyborg delivered a thunderous blow to Arson.
"Let's dance, big guy," he said as Arson lashed out.
"Ah tell yah, y'all brats are startin' to git on my last nerve," he growled and booted Cyborg in the chest. He brought up his arms, but faltered when no flames came roaring from the nozzles.
Muttering darkly to himself, he attempted to activate his weaponry again, failing to notice that the cables in his arms had been disconnected by a glowing black aura. Refusing to let the opportunity go to waste, Cyborg closed the distance between himself and the taller figure to deliver a powerful uppercut that sent him reeling. Regaining his footing, he could not evade the triceratops that had approached in the form of a cheetah. The short horn opened a gash in the armor and it sparked as Arson was thrown into the air, arms desperately reaching for anything to hold onto before he slammed back into the earth.
He had the chance to groan before a blast of black energy launched him back into the air where Robin landed upon his chest, slashing at him with razor-edged birdarangs before kicking off of him. Flipping in the air, he snapped out his legs, firing off of Arson while pushing him to the ground. He landed heavily on his back and stirred only to be bombarded by a waves of jade starbolts that buried him in the street.
After a moment of the emerald downpour, Starfire ceased her barrage and lowered to the ground at the cusp of the shallow crater, studying the prone figure to ensure he was not about to stand again. Cyborg stomped forward and reached down, tearing away the cuirass of the armor to reveal the man within. A grey mesh suit covered his body, designed to interface with the armor, and a number of cables extended from ports along it. Mostly healed burn scars covered the top of his head, interrupted by uneven tufts of blonde hair, and springing from his rough chin was a wiry goatee.
"Owowowowowowow," Beast Boy gasped as he shifted back into his humanoid form. He sucked in a breath and squirmed about as he shuddered, "Oooh, that's tender."
"You were set on fire. You're fortunate that it can still feel tender," Raven admonished.
"Right. Sorry. Next time, I'll use my Jedi mind tricks and just tell the fire to go out," he rolled his eyes and then lifted his fingers to the sides of his forehead. "Force extinguish!"
"If you hadn't moved so close to it-"
"I didn't! I swear! I was just going to toss the guy in the ocean and suddenly I was on fire. It wasn't my faul-"
"You two want to save the flirtin' for after we got pretty boy here behind bars and the fires out?" Cyborg suggested as he strode out of the crater, Arson slung over his shoulder.
"We weren't flirting," Raven growled.
"I was," Beast Boy leered at the sorceress who rolled her eyes and pushed him away. He mock gasped in pain before chuckling and shifting into a pterodactyl to rise over the buildings, scouring for any injured or endangered by the fires. He was soon joined by Starfire and Raven while the last two members of the team turned in Arson and his suit to the authorities.
Main Room, Titans Tower. 2136 Hours. 20 JULY 2014
It was several hours before the fires were fully contained, and the Titans returned to their abode weary, but content with the lives they had saved. Cyborg had immediately bid his good-nights and retired to his room to recharge, but Robin had not given in as easily to slumber's sweet song. The challenge of a legitimate super villain had inspired him and he had set to creating a profile with worrisome glee. Before he could begin a training course inspired by their recent battle, Starfire had dragged him off to bed, assuring him that the ideas would be there in the morning, and he had grudgingly accepted her not-so-gentle insistences.
Despite half-lidded eyes, Beast Boy had dropped onto the couch and turned on the immense television, scanning through the programs in a zombie-like manner. Raven had waited to assure that the others were gone before she looked to him and made her demand in a tone that permitted no room for argument.
"Take off your shirt."
He blinked, his eyes bewildered as he stared at her, and was surprisingly silent for a moment before he smirked, "Y'know, Rae, most people go out for dinner or two, maybe a movie, before they start making demands like that."
"Garfield," she scowled.
"I mean, not that I don't mind the eagerness. Far from it. I -"
"Garfield!"
"All right, all right," he nodded before smiling. "Wait, one more. I've got a good one here. Ahem . . . Would you be willing to consider an even trade policy?"
"Behave or I shall send you to another dimension," she cautioned as he finally pulled off his shirt, revealing the mostly healed burn scars from earlier in the day. She sighed as she lifted her hand, noting his instinctive flinch before the cool sensation of her healing flowed into his body. Relaxing his shoulders, he closed his eyes and released a long breath while Raven discreetly studied him for other fresh scars or wounds. At least, that was her excuse should he notice her quiet admiration of the physique that over a decade of heroics had created. The shape shifter may have complained fairly consistently about how physical and tiring his powers were, but the sorceress held no reservations in appreciating the fruits of such labor.
In the years since the Brotherhood's defeat, with the decrease in severe threats, Raven had increased her studies and experimentations with her powers, inadvertently discovering the empathy that had been growing since her father's defeat. Her powers had always had a mental aspect to them, but she found her ability to sense emotions to be innate and often unwarranted. When it had started, it had taken physical touch for her to sense the feelings of others, and she had purposely avoided such contact to evade the headaches that often accompanied the impressions she received. Naturally, this had worried her friends, and as her powers grew, she had been beset by their concern without any requirement for contact.
Given time, she adjusted and her empathy continued to grow to the point, but two inhabitants of the Tower remained largely immune to it. Robin's mental barriers had not been a surprise, particularly considering his mentor, but Beast Boy had given her pause before she recalled the Doom Patrol's rather harsh leader. Though she had no intention of admitting it out loud, she had made several attempts at breaching their partitions, seeking a chink in the stalwart shields. The changeling always seemed to sense her intrusions when she pushed too far, pausing in whatever action he was doing to look about curiously before shaking his head while Robin was vastly more subtle in his suspicions.
Her touch heightened her empathic abilities and she made another attempt at surpassing the walls about Beast Boy's core emotions, curious as to what lay beyond the glib smile and varyingly funny jokes. Prowling the surprisingly stable fortress of his mind, she admitted defeat as the last of the blisters disappeared and dropped her slender fingers. Beast Boy grinned as he opened his eyes, almost level to her own gaze now.
"Thanks, Rae."
"You're welcome. And it's Raven," she responded automatically, the exchange conducted out of tradition rather than any displeasure at the nickname. As he pulled on his suit's top and flopped back into the couch, she proceeded towards the door but paused as she heard the channels changing again. Turning, she chided, "You should rest. You know Robin is going to run us through his new course as soon as it's done."
"I'm training," he assured her as he cycled through the channels.
"Remote usage. An invaluable skill," she said dryly.
"Well, great. Now you just made me actually miss Control Freak," he sighed as he finally stopped on a channel. "And, actually, I was looking for Animal Planet. Now, lessee what sort of critters I can learn about tonight. Well, this morning. Y'know what I mean."
She rolled her eyes before passing through the doorway with a yawn, "Do try to find some sleep. I would rather not have you drooling on my cloak again."
"I'll catch a cat nap," he promised before shouting after her. "And that was a one time thing! I swear!"
B Block, Jump City Penitentiary. 2147 Hours. 20 July 2014
Within Jump City Penitentiary, the otherwise anonymous man known as Arson lounged on a lumpy mattress on the bottom bunk of his cell, a smoldering cigarette between his lips. His hands were crossed behind his head and he had swiped a guard's bill cap to jam over his ugly scars, which remained apparent upon the back of his neck. One leg was bent and the other rested atop his knee, his foot swinging to the rhythm of his whistle. A colorless tattoo decorated his right forearm, flames dancing across his skin and he seemed strangely confident despite his incarceration, breaking into a warbling song.
"Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry . . . Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye, singin', 'This'll be the day that I -"
He glanced up at the sound of approaching footsteps and quickly tucked the cap under his pillow and the cigarette behind his ear as the guard stopped in front of his cell, a young man with curly hair and an orange jumpsuit between him and his partner. Arson sat up as they unlocked the door, and pushed the anxious youth into the cell. Closing the door, they motioned for him to approach and he stuck his cuffed hands through the small break in the bars for them to unlock them and pocket the handcuffs. The boy rubbed his wrists and scowled at the guards as one of them warned, "You two play nice. And have a good night."
"Oh, no doubt there, sah," Arson called, over pronouncing the tile as the pair vanished. He waited a moment longer before whipping out the cap and pulling it upon his head again, slipping the cigarette back into his mouth. The boy paced the cramped room, cracking his knuckles anxiously and his cellmate scoffed.
"Kid, y'all need to set yerself down. Y'all ain't gonna git outta here by pacin' holes in the floor," he advised before blowing out a plume of smoke. "Ah got an extra if yah wanna calm your nerves."
"I don't smoke," he answered distractedly.
Arson nodded as he took a long drag, "Smart choice."
The boy halted for a second, forcing himself to stop and muse, "How'd you manage to smuggle them in, anyway? They got everything when they searched me."
"Didn't smuggle 'em," he said. "Ah liberated 'em from a guard who made some unkind remarks about my handsome mug."
"What about your m-Holy shit! Dude! What the Hell happened to you?" the youth's eye bulged as he finally noted the mess of scars revealed as Arson doffed his cap before pulling it firmly back down into place.
"Few years back, ah found out ah ain't nearly as fireproof as ah oughtta be," he shrugged as he took a final draw from his cigarette and stared forlornly at the stub. Rolling it between his fingers, he flicked it expertly into the silvery toilet before reaching into his rolled up sleeve for the crumpled pack of cigarettes. He plucked one nestled beside its brethren, but didn't light it right away, content for the moment to simply twirl it between his fingers. The boy had fully ceased his restless walk and was studying the man before him with renewed interest.
"Nice ink," he nodded towards the flames leaping along his forearm.
Glancing at them, he grimaced, "Yeah, ah din't totally think 'em through. Ah got 'em to advertise, but now they're a bit much."
"Heh. You ever think about getting them removed?"
"Ah did once. Decided it wasn't worth the cost to git rid of it."
The boy nodded, popping his knuckles again before extending a hand, "I forgot to introduce myself. Rubio Hernandez."
Flicking the cigarette behind his ear, the bald man accepted the hand and gave it a vigorous pump. "Howdy, Rubio. Name's - well, yah can call me Arson."
"And you thought the tattoo was obvious?"
"Heh. Would yah believe ah'm in fer jaywalkin'?"
Rubio laughed as Arson drew the cigarette back from behind his ear and after an instant, he asked, "So . . . Arson. Is that one of those super villain names?"
"Ah prefer the term 'super-criminal.'"
"What's the difference?" Rubio scoffed.
"Personal preference," he answered before nodding as though suddenly remembering something. "Oh, and whether y'all end up a crispy critter or not."
The slight edge to his voice was enough to end the conversation and Rubio nodded and turned from his orange gaze, glancing about the cell. With a sigh, Arson stretched out upon his cot once again, regarding the cigarette thoughtfully as Rubio slapped his palms against his legs and glanced about. His anxiety was apparent, but Arson paid him no heed as he simply studied his cigarette, still pinched between his fingers. A shout rang throughout the block seconds before the lights went out and Rubio stalled for a second before moving to the bunk. There was a thudding sound, and Arson chuckled at the epithets muttered in Spanish as the boy cradled his injured toe before hobbling into the top bunk.
In the darkness, Arson waited for his eyes to adjust until he could see the cigarette clasped between his fingers. A crude smile pulled across his lips and he chuckled to himself as he continued to tumble it cautiously, careful not to let it slip from his grasp and disappear into the deep shadows. A large part of him was far more comfortable with prisons than it should have been, and they were almost like a vacation to him, a break from the demanding tedium of free life. Shelter, food, and a number of other amenities were his without any payment on his part.
Finally catching his cigarette between his fore and middle fingers, he studied it again, his orange gaze unwavering. After a moment, the tip of the cigarette began to smolder, wisps of smoke rising from its end and he placed the unlit side in his mouth, forming another smile as he turned his gaze upward, prepared to settle in.
Bit sudden to post a second chapter, but we actually have a lot of this story already written. We wanted to give everybody a taste of the direct villains and the action that would be featured in this story. As always, we hoped that you enjoyed it.
We worked on dialect a lot for this story and a large part of writing it (the initial reason, fact) is so that we can figure out the voices and mannerisms of our characters, some of whom have gone through drastic reimagining prompted by this story.
Arson is not one of those guys. He pretty much ended up as we initially envisioned him though the singing is new.
Anyway, send us your thoughts with a review! We shall treasure them greatly.