This took a little longer than I though it would, because I got stuck halfway through. But now I'm giving you chapter three! Aren't you happy? Enjoy!
I do not own the Teen Titans.
---Chapter Three: Reality---
Raven's friends stared at her in shock. She looked down, regretting having said anything at all. She must sound crazy… Gar's hand tentatively touched her shoulder. She turned to him. His eyes said that he believed her, and she gave him a tiny smile in return. Dick and Vic exchanged knowing glances. Starfire bit her lip before speaking. "Friends, I would like also to hear what Raven has seen, but I came to Earth for a reason that I must make known." They all turned to her, and she continued hesitantly. "I came from a planet called Tamaran. There I was known as Koriand'r. Three weeks ago my planet was destroyed by a race called the Krogs. My sister and I were sent away just before it happened. I do not know what has become of her." She paused and chose not to voice her fears with regards to Komand'r. "The Krogs intend to take over this galaxy, and there are rumors that Earth is their next target. I came to prevent Earth from meeting the same fate as Tamaran."
Dick blinked. "Um, not to rain on your parade or anything, but… how?"
Starfire looked away, ashamed. "I do not know. I came expecting the things Raven seems to have seen, but that is not what I found. On my planet I was only an okarum, and little was expected of me."
"What's an okarum?" Vic asked.
Starfire thought about it. "I believe the equivalent word would be 'teenager'."
Dick smiled. "We're all teenagers, Starfire."
Gar turned to Raven again. "What did you see, Rae?"
Raven stood up and walked over to the living room window. "I saw…" She stared off into the distance at something none of the others could see.
"Man, you are not going to deny me the all-meat experience!"
"So, uh, who else never want to go surfing again?"
"They went into my room. No one should ever go into my room."
"Someone has disposed of all our blue furry food!"
"Who is Slade?"
"Titans, go!"
Raven groaned and started to collapse. Gar was at her side instantly to catch her. She let him hold her as she closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath. Gar watched her, worried. When Raven could stand on her own again, Gar helped her back to the couch. "I saw us, but different. We had superpowers, and we fought crime. We called ourselves the Teen Titans. You know that empty little island out in the harbor? We lived in a t-shaped tower there. Just the five of us, no adults."
"What about our parents?" Vic asked.
Raven swallowed hard. "Most of them were dead. Dick, yours were killed in some circus accident, but it wasn't really an accident. Bruce Wayne adopted you and taught you everything. He was a hero called Batman, and you were his sidekick Robin, until you two fought. Then you came here, to Jump City. You were the only one who didn't have actual powers, just gadgets." She turned to Vic. "You were involved in an accident too, and it killed your mother. Your father managed to save you by turning you into a cyborg. That was what we called you, Cyborg." She turned away from Vic's shocked expression, finding each tale harder to tell. "Starfire's parents had to sell her and her sister into slavery when they were young. That was where they both learned to fight. Starfire eventually escaped and found us. Her sister Blackfire became a criminal, and we had to face her several times." Raven looked down, not able to face Gar as she told him, "Gar's parents were zoologists, and when he was little they took him to Africa with them. He caught some disease there, one they couldn't identify. His father worked night and day to find a cure. Gar almost died, but at last his father made an antidote. It worked, but it also turned Gar's skin and hair green and gave him the ability to transform into animals. Then his parents were murdered. He was eventually adopted by the Doom Patrol, but he left them and came to Jump City, where he joined the Titans." Gar swallowed hard, trying not to dwell on the painful information Raven had just given him. "What about you, Rae?"
Raven got that distant look in her eyes again, but this time it wasn't because she was having a vision. "In this reality, my mother never told me who my father is, and I've never asked. In that reality, when my mother was young she joined a cult. They gave her to the demon they worshiped, Trigon, as his bride. She escaped to a place called Azarath, where I was born. Because of my father I was born with powers, and the Azar, high priestess of Azarath, taught me to control them. I eventually came to Earth too, and I found all of you. I resisted your friendship, because I was the portal through which Trigon would one day come to Earth. When that day came, you all stood by me. We managed to defeat Trigon and seal him back in his own dimension. My mother guards that seal." She waited, praying that this wouldn't cost her the one thing she held dear: their friendship. Raven was not disappointed.
"So the question now is," Dick said slowly, "what do we do about it? We don't have powers, and if Starfire is right about the Krogs…"
"Earth is royally screwed," Vic finished. "I mean, it's not like the media or anybody would believe us if we told them."
Starfire looked sad. "Than we can do nothing but wait until the end comes."
Dick got a hard, serious look in his eyes that none of them had seen before- except for Raven in her visions. "Or maybe one of Raven's visions will tell us how to beat the Krogs."
Raven opened her mouth to reply, but Gar spoke first, standing up. "You can't ask her to do that! It's not like she can control what she sees, and in case you haven't noticed, the visions don't seem to be doing anything for her health."
Raven couldn't explain why, but she felt flattered by Gar's defense underneath the stronger annoyance. It was still the stronger feeling that she gave into. "I'm fine, Gar. If the Earth is going to be attacked, we have to do anything we can to save it."
Gar sat down, his eyes clearly saying he didn't believe she was fine. Raven sent a glare back at him that said to shut up. Dick sat back, watching the pair. "Then we're agreed. We will do everything we can to save the world."
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Getting Starfire enrolled in the high school was tricky, since it involved a small amount of hacking. To everyone's surprise, Jump City High's best football player was also an accomplished hacker. "Just something I do for fun," Vic told them when they all stared in amazement as he set up a fake record for Starfire under the name Kori Anderson.
Less difficult was facing the rest of the school with this new addition to their group. Dick, Gar, Vic, and Raven were also used to the stares and glares they now received daily, but Starfire had grown up as a princess, loved and adored by her people. She had trouble comprehending why these people she didn't even know disliked her so much. She didn't mind walking around holding Dick's hand, though, for all that Vic and Gar teased him endlessly about it. Raven just smiled. Inside she worried for not only their future but the present that should have been, and she wondered what her next vision would tell her. Gar was the only one who suspected that each vision hurt Raven more than the last, and he hadn't said anything since the meeting at her house. Three days passed without another vision, and Raven started to wonder if it had all been her imagination.
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Komand'r surveyed the planet. It was so green and blue, and disgustingly beautiful. Her sister was somewhere down there, on Earth. Komand'r smiled. It would be a pleasure helping the Krogs destroy it, just as she had helped them destroy Tamaran.
---End Chapter Three---
Okay, teensy-weensy bit of our favorite pairings, but those will slowly develop as the story continues. And now Blackfire has entered the picture! What will happen next? I don't know… but stay tuned to find out! Review please!
