"Noctis, could I have a word with you?" Cyborg asked, poking his head into the guest room.
"Yeah, sure. What do you need?" the pale teen responded, setting down a needle and strip of cloth.
"Later on Robin wants to have a training session," Cyborg began. "He's gonna want to know what you're capable of - your powers, your strengths, weaknesses, that sort of thing. Just wanted to give you a heads up so you could think of what to say."
Noctis picked up his needle. "Thanks, Cy."
"No problem," the cybernetic said as he left the guest room.
It was the day after Noctis accepted Robin's invitation to join the Titans. That evening, Noctis had gone out to buy some much needed supplies: namely clothes and materials for his uniform. He had an idea in mind, but the materials he needed for an actual high-quality uniform, like Beast Boy's Doom Patrol outfit would take the better part of a month to arrive. As such, he would have to make do with normal cloth and leather.
Having finished with the last stitch on the first uniform, he slipped into it and stood in front of a full body mirror. It was a bit snug, but for the most part it gave him complete mobility. He cast a critical eye over his appearance in the mirror.
He was clad in a deep black one-piece uniform that seemed to mix with shadows, making him nearly invisible in them. There was leather padding on his elbows, shoulders, forearms, chest, abdomen, thighs, knees, and shins. Experimentally, he wrapped the final piece around his shoulders - a cloak that matched his uniform, held on by a spiral brooch. Satisfied that he was presentable, Noctis folded the cloak around himself and strode out the door to enter the common room, this time remembering to open it first.
Entering the common room, which he was informed was officially titled the Ops room, Noctis was surprised to find the room void of occupants. Shrugging, he went over to the kitchen to find something to eat. Opening the fridge, he looked inside and shouted in surprise and disgust. It was a very high pitched shout - nearly a shriek, but prophets don't shriek. Not out of fear or surprise, anyways. Though the fuzzy blue mold that looked suspiciously like it had a face was creepy.
"There's a reason everyone's content to let Cyborg get stuff out of the fridge," Robin said, causing Noctis to flinch.
Pressing a hand to his chest, Noctis spun to face the Boy Wonder. "Could you possibly make any less noise?" he asked in an exasperated tone. "You almost scared me half to death."
Smirking, Robin raised his eyebrows in mock disbelief. At least, the shape of his mask indicated that his eyebrows were raised. The fact that the mask covered them made it difficult for Noctis to tell.
Recovering, Noctis continued. "Cyborg said that you want me for training?" Slowly, and very carefully so as to not disturb the blue fuzz that had gained sentience, he reached into the fridge and pulled out a box of leftover takeout. Opening the box, he glanced in and almost retched. "Seriously, this fridge is more disgusting than a landfill," he complained.
Robin said nothing, merely grabbing the box and throwing it in the trash. "C'mon. The others are already there," he said, grabbing Noctis's wrist and leading him away. As he did so, he noticed Noctis's new uniform. "Nice look. What's it made out of?"
"Cotton and linen, with leather padding. I couldn't get any high density polymers or synthetic materials on short notice, sadly."
"Good quality materials, synthetic polymers," Robin commented, bringing Noctis into the elevator.
"Where are we going?" Noctis asked.
"Training room. While we're walking, there are some things we need to discuss. What are your limitations? Where do you excel, where do you fall behind? It shouldn't be too incredibly important that we know exactly what you can do for the first run, seeing as we'll tailor it to you."
"So what you're looking for is a… rough overview?" Noctis asked, seeking confirmation.
Robin nodded. "Pretty much."
"I've always put greater emphasis on protecting myself than on harming my opponent, but I will strike when an opportunity presents itself. Is that sufficient for now?"
Robin nodded as the elevator opened, revealing a large window overlooking an even larger room. Seated on chairs facing the window were Raven and Beast Boy, while Cyborg was seated in front of a screen that looked suspiciously like a control station.
"I count five people, including myself. Last I checked, there were six of us, total," Noctis commented. "Where's Starfire?"
Beast Boy pointed at the window, causing Noctis to walk up and peer through it. Starfire was in the room on the other side, if it could be called a room. It was very large - it extended to either side for a good hundred feet, was at least half that length to the far wall, and the ceiling rested at least forty feet above the floor. Wall mounted laser turrets peeked out of hidden recesses in the walls, firing away at the redhead as she flew with acrobatic grace around the glowing projectiles.
"So what exactly is the goal here?" Noctis asked his companions.
"Right now she's destroying all the turrets as fast as she can," Cyborg explained. "After that, it'll be an obstacle course."
"I see," Noctis replied. "What are you planning on having me do?"
"Pretty much the exact same thing," Cyborg started.
"No, actually," Robin interrupted. "You mentioned that defense is your strong suit, so I want to see how long you can last with the turrets up."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Cy questioned. "It'll be difficult to tell when he's reaching his limits for his first time."
"I'm sure."
"As you command, so it shall be," the half robot sarcastically replied, glancing at the screen in front of him. "Star's going at it today. She's a minute ahead of her average. At this rate, she might set a new record."
"Personal or Titan?" Beast Boy chimed.
"You know the answer to that," Raven muttered. "She set the group record." Beast Boy nervously chuckled.
An alert popped up on the screen, grabbing everyone's attention. "Holy…" Cyborg whispered. Pressing a button, a microphone extended out from the wall, and he leaned towards it. "That's it, Star. All two-hundred. And, though it pains me to admit it, you set a new record."
Starfire flew up to the window and smiled at the occupants before darting out of the room through a door that Noctis did not see in his initial survey of the room. Half a minute later, the elevator doors opened with a ding and a beaming Starfire stepped out.
"Oh, Noctis, it is most exhilarating in the training room!" she exclaimed gleefully. "I cannot wait to see how you whoop the butt when it is your turn!" Turning to Cyborg, she continued in a somewhat calmer manner. "Friend Cyborg, what was my time?"
"Two minutes, thirty-four seconds. Fifty-two seconds faster than the previous record," he glumly said. "Now how am I gonna beat ya?" Starfire merely giggled.
"Raven, you wanna go next? Let Noctis get an idea of what he'll be doing?" Robin suggested.
"If I must," the mage answered. Tendrils of dark energy wrapped themselves around the girl and started sinking into the floor. When they disappeared, so too had Raven. Before Noctis could even be surprised, she reappeared in the room below in a similar manner, the shadows unravelling to form the shape of a raven.
"Fancy," Noctis simply said. A beeping from the console in front of Cyborg drew his attention, and he saw a window with what seemed to be Raven's vitals. He noted with some surprise that her heart rate was ridiculously low - a mere thirty-eight beats per minute. Cyborg's fingers danced across the screen, and Raven's vitals were shifted over to the side as a large schematic expanded and took up the bulk of the screen.
Bringing the microphone closer to his face, Cyborg spoke. "Alright Raven, I'm about to start. Ready?" Raven responded with a nod, barely perceptible to Noctis. However, Cyborg saw it, having known what to look for. His fingers darted around swiftly, and Raven's session began.
It was a standard start to any session - Cyborg started with a large double-barrel turret dropping out of the ceiling, its gears whirring as it tracked Raven. When it fired, Raven nimbly leapt backwards, dodging the blasts as they created twin smoking scorch marks on the ground where she had been standing. Immediately following that, two smaller, single-barrel turrets rose out of the floor on opposite ends of the room, unleashing a volley of missiles before they even rose to their full height.
In response, Raven swiped her hand in front of her, creating a streak of dark energy that floated in the air before her, absorbing the glowing laser blasts. She had to remind herself that this was an endurance run, barely stopping herself from ripping the two smaller turrets out and throwing them at the large turret. Eyes glowing, she took to the air as a standard fully automatic turret burst out of the wall and spat out a barrage of hellfire rounds. Sidestepping the deadly hail, Noctis was surprised to see the rounds exploding as they came into contact with the wall across the room.
It was at this point that Noctis realized the observation room had moved, gliding along a track in the ceiling and coming to a stop in the middle of the training room, providing an uninhibited view of the entirety of the room below. Noctis watched as Raven moved with the fluidity and grace of a dancer or gymnast, weaving in between constantly increasing volleys of bullets and lasers. "So it's like a real life bullet hell," he commented.
"Pretty much," Beast Boy agreed, his eyes glued to Raven. "Cy, you gonna do the thing soon?"
"Soon, Grass Stain," the metal man replied, his eyes never leaving the screen in front of him as he manipulated the turrets below.
Raven had just evaded an entire clip from a chain gun, the bullets penetrating several inches into the walls when another turret emerged from the ceiling spraying grenades all around the room. Raven surrounded herself in a dome of crackling dark energy, anticipating explosions. When none came for several seconds, and the unending hail of bullets ceased, she lowered the shield.
A hiss grabbed her attention and she spun, her eyes landing on a grenade that was spewing a dense smoke into the room. "This is new," she muttered as she confirmed that all of the grenades were spewing a similar smoke.
The sensitive sensors in the room picked up the slight vibrations of her voice and transmitted them to the control room, as Noctis decided to call it. Looking at Robin, he raised an eyebrow, silently asking a question. Robin noticed the look and shrugged.
"I've asked Cy to introduce surprises to the program. Trains us to deal with unexpected situations, should the need arise," he explained. Noctis nodded, focusing on Raven again, only to turn to Cyborg when the cybernetic spoke.
"Turning on IR vision and targeting."
"What's IR?" Beast Boy asked, confused.
"Infrared, you grass stain," Cyborg answered with a sigh. "Honestly, do you pay any attention?"
The turret that Cyborg directed to come out of the wall must have made some sort of noise, or the smoke must have thinned enough for Raven to be able to detect a hint of movement, because she leapt to the side as a laser shot through the smoky chamber, scorching the ground at her feet. With a groan, she rolled to her feet, dark energy gathering in a sphere around her. With a shout, she threw her limbs wide, her cloak billowing out behind her, revealing her feminine form.
The energy shot away from her, dispersing the smoke and funneling it into a portal, allowing her to see clearly once more. Just in time, too, because a moment later a barrage of hellfire rounds were loosed from yet another turret that dropped in from the ceiling. Dark energy encased the bullets and they exploded, creating a miniature flak cloud in the room.
"How many turrets are there?" Noctis wondered aloud.
"For endurance runs, we usually run up to about seventy," Cyborg replied. "Any more and I have difficulty controlling them."
"How many is she currently at?"
"She's about halfway there."
Noctis cast an appraising eye over the armaments in the room. There were several automatic turrets spitting out hellfire rounds, about twice as many repeating laser turrets, and a handful of large laser blasters. There were also a couple extremely loud high caliber guns that fired occasionally, but their blasts always left a large dent in the floor. He began planning how he would handle the threats.
Capable of moving between shadows nearly instantaneously, he knew that he would be able to dodge the kinetic rounds. The energy turrets would be a problem, though. The lasers were moving so fast that he would have no time to react - he would have to predict them, and when he didn't know where each of them would come from, it would be only a short time before he would be struck.
An idea entered his head as he saw Raven teleport once more, sinking into the floor and reappearing on the opposite side of the room. Cyborg then said something, distracting him.
"Are you going to do it now?" Beast Boy excitedly jabbered.
"That's what I just said, isn't it?" Cyborg proceeded to type in a code, bringing up a new schematic - this one of a gun and not the room. Pressing a green button, a large hatch in the ceiling opened up and a giant turret slowly emerged from the darkness, whirring as it rotated and traced Raven's movement.
A moment later, there was a resounding boom as the cannon fired, unleashing superheated sphere of molten iron at Raven. The blue haired girl leapt to the side, throwing up a shield as she did so. The glowing metal embedded itself in the ground, exploding in a spray of liquid iron that coated both her shield and the floor surrounding the impact point. Raven glared at the control room before disappearing into the floor.
"Looks like she's done," Cyborg muttered disappointedly. "Seven minutes, thirty-eight seconds." Resetting the room, Noctis watched in shock as the scorch marks disappeared, dents vanished, and bullet casings were swept away, all done as if by an invisible hand.
Seeing Noctis's shock, Cyborg chuckled.
"We use a hybrid between holographic and physical training obstacles. Basically, in a nutshell, the turrets are real, the munitions are not. That's why it's difficult to control more than seventy turrets - not," Cyborg smirked, "that anyone's gotten that far."
"Room looks about ready," Robin interjected. "Take the elevator down," he directed Noctis.
Noctis stepped out of the elevator and almost immediately regretted his decision. Sure, the lasers and bullets weren't real, but the turrets sure as hell were. And the chamber appeared a lot larger from the floor than it did from the control room. His footsteps echoed on the metal floor loudly.
"We're ready to start," Cyborg's voice rang out, echoing in the large and as of yet empty room.
"Start it now, before I come to my senses," Noctis muttered.
There was a hiss as two hatches opened up on either side of Noctis, and two turrets emerged from within. With a low whirring sound, they rotated, locking in on Noctis and unleashing a hail of glowing lasers. Noctis dove to the side, narrowly avoiding getting clipped in the leg as he rolled to his feet. A clanking sound from behind alerted him to the presence of another turret.
With a series of clicks, the new turret spat out a barrage of hellfire rounds at Noctis. Instead of hitting him, though, the bullets passed through him, embedding themselves in the wall.
"That's new," Robin murmured. "Cy, please tell me that he didn't just get hit by those."
"System's saying that there was some kind of temporal disturbance around the bullets as they neared Noctis. No, they didn't hit him."
"Wonder how he did that," Robin continued in a quiet tone.
Noctis was wondering as well, though not about how he phased through the hellfire rounds. Instead, the prophet was trying to figure out how the hell he was going to last another minute, let alone the next five seconds. Frankly, Raven had made it look a hell of a lot easier than it really was, he wryly noted. Unfortunately, he ran out of time before he could think of a plan of action when a bullet whizzed past his ear.
"Rude," he muttered as he leapt out of the way of the following rounds. Raising his hand towards the hellfire turret, he clenched his fist. Shadows extended from the ground and walls, creeping swiftly to coat the turret and blind its tracking mechanisms. He cursed when it unleashed another salvo with pinpoint accuracy.
"Really, Cy?" he asked, frustrated. "Can't even let me disable one?" He was distracted when a hissing sound indicated the arrival of more turrets that demanded his attention. "Why did I agree to this?"
Several minutes later, Noctis was lying down on the floor of the control room with Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Robin eyeing him with concern.
"You know, most people, namely sane people, would stop the session after taking a bullet through the leg," Cyborg commented offhandedly.
"Obviously I'm not like most people," Noctis darkly retorted.
"I realized that," Cyborg continued in a manner far too cheerful to be fitting for the conversation. "It became quite apparent when the laser hit you in the chest, bounced off a hellfire round, and tore through yo - "
"Enough!" Noctis complained, interrupting Cyborg. "Can't you see that I'm absolutely miserable right now?" he added with a groan. "Your hybrid system thing is extremely good at mimicking pain…"
Cyborg smirked, but relented in his teasing. Robin turned to another screen that had appeared during Noctis's session, already analyzing Noctis's technique and ways to improve upon it. "We'll have to have a discussion later," he said aloud, not really directing it at anyone. "Regarding what exactly it is that you do."
Noctis drew in an unsteady breath, releasing it with an explosive puff. "Of course we… will," he sarcastically murmured. "But for now… I just want… sleep…" His head rolled to the side, and his breathing slowly evened out at a slow pace.
Robin sighed. "Beast Boy, would you mind taking him to a bed? I need to discuss some things with Cyborg here. Star, would you mind finding Raven? I think she might have some insights that Cy and I will miss regarding his powers." Beast Boy groaned, but rose to his feet and unceremoniously threw Noctis's unconscious form over his shoulder. Cargo in tow, he entered the elevator, followed closely by Starfire.
As the elevator door slid closed, Robin rewinded the recording and replayed it in slow motion, his perceptive eyes missing little. "Someone either trained him, or he's learned from a lot of mistakes," he said, stopping the tape. "Right here - he's made a lot of dives, but the only damage he's sustained is from being grazed by bullets and lasers. He knows how to land."
Cyborg nodded. "There's something I noticed, too. It sorta reinforces that thought." Slowly, he wound forward to a point where Noctis was taking fire from several directions. "See here," Cy continued. "He's completely hemmed in, with the exception of his four o'clock. But there's a chain gun that's about to open fire there, essentially turning it into a trap that he wouldn't have noticed without constant awareness of the environment. Watch what he does."
He pressed the play button, taking the footage frame by frame. The turrets spat out bullets and lasers, almost pinning him except for behind him and to his right. A chain gun emerged from the wall, taking aim tangential to the opening. Noctis dropped to the ground and lunged forwards, away from the trap and into a direction with fewer incoming projectiles.
"How long did it take him to decide where to go, and was it a mistake or did he deliberately go there?" Robin asked.
Cyborg rewinded the footage once more, playing it back in real time. It took less than two seconds between the projectiles leaving the barrels of their respective turrets and Noctis landing on his shoulder and rolling to absorb the impact. "Exactly point-five-six seconds between perception and action," the metal titan said. "There's no way that sort of decision making and risk analysis wasn't developed."
"Especially coupled with his awareness of his surroundings…" Robin added in a quiet voice. "Seeing that he wouldn't get out of there unharmed before all of the threats even presented themselves. Then, on top of that, 'escaping' in the direction where any bullets that hit him would be in non-fatal or non-incapacitating locations, even though there were more… appealing options."
"I'm not entirely sure why I even ran that sequence," Cyborg admitted, muttering. "If it were Raven, she would've just blocked them. You would have deflected them, Starfire would've just taken the bullets - they don't really do too incredibly much to her, and Beast Boy would've become something big enough that the bullets wouldn't affect him."
Robin rewinded the footage and replayed it again. And again. And again. Frowning, he paused it again at the trap, trying to figure out how Noctis even knew that the chain gun would cut off his escape. He sighed, seeing no physical indicator. It would have to wait until later, when they could have a full discussion.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Without turning around, Robin spoke. "Raven, take a look at thi - "
"Dude, you've got to see this!" Beast Boy interrupted frantically. "Noctis went all weird glowy eyes again andstartedsayingrandomthingsandRaven'swithhimandshelooksconcerned," he babbled nearly incoherently.
Robin shot to his feet and entered the elevator with Cyborg close behind. Impatiently, he pressed the button to go to the top floor, where Beast Boy would have taken Noctis. Abnormally, he was fidgeting, his foot tapping quietly on the floor as the elevator accelerated upwards. After what felt like an eternity, but in reality was merely fifteen seconds or so, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, revealing a disconcerting scene, to say the least.
To start with, Noctis was a hunched over on his hands and knees, wisps of silver energy rising from the corners of his eyes. Raven was crouched over him, one hand on his shoulder as she listened intently to the words that he was spouting - words that echoed unnaturally in the room. Starfire hovered nearby, a worried look on her face. The lighting in the room itself was also contributing to the bizarre situation, in that they were flickering like candles despite being fluorescent bulbs.
Robin rushed over to Noctis, but an extended hand from Raven stopped him just out of reach. "Wait. Listen," she silently mouthed to him. Robin tilted his head, angling his ears so that he could better hear Noctis.
"... daughter of Earth approaches… With stony heart must choice be made, to grind to dust or train with blade… Wandering exile self-imposed, for fear she runs from friend and foe… Primordial power in her veins, wild destruction be her bane… Cursed by nature - doomed by fate, her soul be burdened by great weight… Titanic courage see her plight, titanic action cure her blight… Born of stone and weather tempered, by dark or darker be she mentored…"
Noctis fell silent, rolling onto his side. Robin stared at Raven, who stared back. Nothing moved, other than the lights ceasing their abnormal behavior. After a period of silence, Beast Boy stepped forward and broke the silence.
"Uhh… I don't know about you guys, but I've got a really bad feeling…"
A/N: Yay... I finally start to reveal Noctis's abilities to the Titans, only to realize I'm not quite entirely sure what his abilities really... are... Sorry about that. Titans know, you guys don't, that's some sort of literary device I think. Also, first prophecy that's entirely my own.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. As I write this, I can't think of any ideas I borrowed to write this chapter, but if there are some in there that I'm missing, I don't own their franchise either.
P.S. Reviews are still like cookies, and I have a... shall we say, sweet tooth. (Nudge nudge wink wink)