Author: So this chapter is a special one. You get to not only see how Ruba's fairing in her new home, but you get to learn more about her powers, her appearance, a little about her past.. and you get to meet two new characters to the story; Wintergreen, who's appearance is the same as in my Fractured Translation stories, the first one where he's a lot younger and in white with a bit of armor. :P If you haven't read Fractured Translation you totally should. It's a bunch of Teen Titans one shots. But anyway. The mystery new character will be introduced further into this chapter so read to find out who it is, but I'll tell you his name below in the disclaimer (yes, he's a male lol). cx Thanks for reading, reviewing and all that! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I only own Sari (Barrett), Ruba (Cecilia) and Silvy (Roger). DC Comics is NOT mine.

[maranda111]
Yay. Sorry it distracted you. xD I hope you had fun at the Fundraiser. I actually made the second fight very flat for a reason. I didn't want to highlight on it until later when it's Robin's small view because he's having one of those flashbacks, trying to make sense of the whole situation. I'm sorry you had to suffer through my doing that, I do it quite often apparently, but it'll be explained in chapter 5, which I wrote shortly after. Sad to say I had 5 done before 4 was finished, haha! The first fight with the robots in the tower was meant to be dull because it was fast paced and Ruba wasn't really focused on it. She was kind of in that stage where you stare, but don't really see anything, like a haze. But ya. Ruba wasn't really focused on the conflict for the second fight, she was focused on Sari, but Robin's will show more. Yay PJ's. I love my sweatpants. ;_; Lol. Anyway, thanks for the feedback. :P

[MaraJade57]
Thanks. :P You won't see the actual training until chapter 6. xD

Cecilia felt only sadness after she calmed down fully. Why had she gotten so angry? That wasn't like her. Her pent up emotions had burst free and scared her. If she thought he hated her then.. boy, he would definitely hate her now.

Slade had taken her back to his lair, a high ceiling, concrete, dark and cold place. The Haunt as it became known. The grinding and turning gears overhead were on, giving sound to keep the room from being silent.

A doorway on the farthest side opened and Slade had shown her to the guest room, saying to feel at home and he'd fix it better for her later on.

Once he left she had examined the grey walled room. It was simple and the sound proof boundaries gave the room some privacy. A twin bed was situated on the northern wall, sheets white and gold. The whole room was designed in those colors. A dresser sat beside it and at the end of the bed was a desk placed on the wall. Across from the desk was a mirror and a couple book shelves lined the spare areas. Some were full of various books, others were only half stocked. A bathroom branched off from the room and it was decorated much the same; grey, white and gold colored.

The room was welcoming, but the thin layer of coated dust spoke of it's disuse.

She seated herself on the bed.. and thought.

This had been four days ago. She'd requested time to think and get used to this.. and Slade had allowed it. She kind of.. liked it here. Slade had this butler slash friend who helped cook, clean and checked on her before he went to bed and when he woke up.

Her first day here Wintergreen, the other older male, had cleaned her room for her, getting rid of the dust and cleaning the sheets and bathroom.

She sighed, cupping her cheeks. What a day that had been.. she could still remember everything Sari had said that had struck a nerve.

What did he do to you?

You're listening to the psychopath, aren't you?

It's not like that!

You're willing to.. believe this madman? You're smarter than this.

The heck did he offer you that you're so willing to be like this, Cecilia? To be so hostile toward me?

No, he wants to manipulate you, make you like him, a twisted product of this world that shouldn't exist-

You're turning my words around. I didn't mean it like that and didn't say that.

Don't go down this path. I care. I love you like a sister.

He'll change you into something you're not. You'll become a killer. A ruthless, cold, unfeeling, demented killer if you go with him, Cecilia.

The Titans and I can help you train, help you control your powers.

You will regret this.. but I won't stop you. You'll find out the hard way when you're made to kill someone..

God, he'd been so angry and so had she.

She rubbed her face, moving to stand. She was ready to control herself. She stretched, getting the kinks out after having been sitting in thought for awhile. She left her room, booted feet echoing in a parted melody like droplets dripping from a sink steadily.

Slade was stationed at his chair with the screens on the wall showing video feed of the Titans fighting. She approached slowly, cautiously stepping as she walked as if surrounded by sharp objects.

Slade turned his head, acknowledging her presence. When he spoke his voice was light and ever so smooth. That was the main word she associated with this man. Smooth. Well, that and impressive. The man fought so amazingly, even without special powers. "Good afternoon. Nice of you to join us."

Us? She glanced around but paused when she saw Wintergreen step forth from beside the chair, where he had been previously standing just out of her view.

"Afternoon Slade.. Wintergreen." She bowed her head before standing at his left side.

"Good evening, miss Cecilia." It was so weird to hear the British guy say her name.

He was tall, around five foot eight, lanky, but with dense muscle beneath that outfit from what she could tell. His hair was straight and ended just above his shoulders, a blend of white and silver, in his late thirties or early forties. He had blue eyes visible beneath combed back bangs with a curled tipped mustache.

He had white pants tucked into black boots, a white suit top with a blue button-up beneath and white gloves half hidden behind silver bracers that covered from his knuckles to his elbows. Silver circular metal guards framed his shoulders, front clasped with a strap circling under the arms to keep them in place. Matching guards rippled in overlapping oval plates on his legs, strapped to the limbs securely. He looked pretty capable of handling himself.

She peered up at the screens, cloudy orbs glistening with curiosity. "You're watching.. the Titans?" She glanced back at Slade, a baffled note to her vocals.

He nodded, pressing his fingertips together just beneath his chin. "The Titans need to be eliminated at one point. I would not ask you to join me in this, you are not yet ready-"

Those words stung. She'd just heard them from Sari recently, she didn't need them from Slade too.

She growled, gaining his full attention and causing him to stop mid-sentence to look at her.

She was glaring at him, arms folded across her chest. "Then make me ready."

"Are you not still deep in those thoughts of yours?" He asked, prodding, checking, searching.

She shook her head. "I've thought enough. I don't need more time alone, brooding over the past. I want to gain control of my abilities and you said you'd help me." She reminded him almost sharply, but there was no biting edge to her words, just the truth.

He didn't respond for a few minutes, but when he did it was with a blank tone.

"To start I need to know just what you're fully capable of, anything you wish to share."

She frowned and looked up at the central screen, staring at the feed of Raven shooting a beam of blackness at Plasmus while Slade studied her silently.

She inhaled, then sighed the air out. "Well.. you should know I come from a very small group of special people. People capable of Energica Mani Latica or energy manipulation. Each of us possess a colored energy that is this way because of how our bodies reacted to what was done to us. You see.. we're part of a secret, underground experiment called Project Energy Court. We were selected because of our uniquely rare DNA." She paused, considering her words.

"We were injected with a chemical that combines with that DNA which in turn amplifies the natural chi of our bodies to visible and colored energy that we can manipulate. Hence energy manipulation. There are.." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Eight types, as far as I'm aware, some of the names of which are pulled from the matching colored gemstone."

"They are..?"

"First you have to better understand their separate natures. People assume they're elemental based because of the similar traits they have to them. The best example is my own, which resembles fire. It's difficult to manage, destructive and flares up."

She then closed her eyes, visualizing them.

"Sari possesses Saphrica, which is blue, modeled after sapphire and water. I have Rubica, which is red, from ruby and fire. The one who has Emerica, which is green, is a female modeled from emerald and earth. The male who has Obsidica, which is black, is obsidian and darkness. The last four aren't connected to gemstones or element comparisons. Sonica, which is white, is light. Attica, which is golden, is some unknown type like the last two. Vilotica, which is purple, and Silvetica, which is grey." She explained.

So there were more of them. Interesting. Eight in total she said.

"I can do.." She frowned deeply, looking at Robin's shifting frame on the screen and the frown turned up into a smile. "People call it parkour, others acrobatic. Strategies, combative superiority.. even manipulating others.. are some of my strengths. I have the brain capacity for anything, the intellect to boot and the devotion to match."

She held up her hands. "I have Rubica Energica Mani Latica. It's what the scientist called it. Red energy manipulation. It's by far more powerful than Sari's, but unstable, with no restraint. I don't know how to control it." She glanced at Slade.

"I will teach you how." He already knew how. He had discovered the key to her powers the day he brought her back to his lair. The key to unlocking her potential was very simple and yet complex, a blend of both.

In time she would figure it out as well.

Cecilia felt hollow inside. She was willing to trust this man to help her and in return she would become his apprentice. The man was smart, like.. a genius. She knew that by how he carried himself. He had a lot he could teach her.

She was willing to learn, to become a stable person, smarter woman and a deadly warrior.

"Thank you.." She whispered and he shook his head.

"Don't thank me. You have a long road of training ahead of you. Thank me when you've mastered the power."

He could have sworn he saw a smirk cross her face for a brief moment. "Of course." Was all she said before she turned to go back to her room. She knew training wouldn't start until the next day.

Jump City was spread out before a short form, motorcycle roaring as it trailed down the long road to said city. His sources had told him two of his kind had entered this city days before and he was trying to unite them. All eight needed to know the others on a personal level. Goggled eyes stared at the approaching, looming city ahead and he revved the engine, speeding up. It was a custom bike his father had made for him and he had accepted only after the man died.

Suffice to say the man had died early. A wicked gleam sparkled in those eerie black eyes. No, he hadn't killed his father. Someone else had. A thief who had broken into the house and killed his parents while he was at a friends place.

He was homeless.. and he didn't care. That was the thing with him. His heart had frozen over. Silver hair whipped in the wind from beneath his secured helmet, gloved hands moving the throttle.

The bike was shining silver, polished, with black and blue parts to give it a dark feel. It was designed like a Harley, yet with a Kawasaki touch to it for speed and better mobility. It was fast, dangerously so, but he rarely pressed it past eighty.

His body was thin, bony, because he was young and didn't eat all that much. He never had an appetite. He weighed roughly 105 pounds, which was normal in his standards for his five foot three frame. Silvy was only 16 years old, a scrawny teenager.

He fed the bike more fuel, eager to get to this horrible place and get the lovey-dovey over with. Within twenty minutes he found himself at a pizza joint on a corner, the odd shaped building tall with a balcony above to eat on in outside.

He parked, tossed his leg over and stood, unstrapping his helmet and placing it onto a handle bar by the strap. He killed the engine and stuffed the key into a pocket.

As he entered the building to grab a bite to eat people stared at him. He wore a simple black t-shirt that was tight fitting and short sleeved, blank of design, with dark jeans, a chain dangling down from his belt, the other end clipped to the side of his pant leg. He had a silver scarf on to compliment his chin length matching hair. The right half was swept to the side while the left was combed back, gelled to stay put that way. He wore dark boots and he had on gloves that were half silver and half black, with a strap just beneath the knuckle areas. He lifted a hand, tugging up his goggles as he walked to place the lens onto his head so he could see in the dim lighting of the restaurant. It was morning by now and he'd been riding all throughout the night.

He walked up to the counter, pulled out a few bills and sat them on the counter. "Pizza. Cheese. Garlic." He stated simply.

The cashier nodded and placed the order, handing him his change. He walked over and sat in a chair, waiting patiently.

He began to nod off just as a box was placed before him and he was jarred to awareness. He watched the waiter walk away and then set to eating his meal. For once he felt famished and ate like a polite dog; scarfing it down, but slowly, implementing his table manners.

Today he'd settle into a place and then tomorrow he'd go search for his two comrades.