Author's Notes: Revised 4.29.11 Enjoy!
—Chapter Five: A Meeting of Worlds—
Cyborg was entering the Teen Titan's main room with Artemis, the strange crossdressed elfin girl, when Raven teleported into the room with Reville, the black-haired empath.
Raven gestured for Reville to sit on the couch, and Cyborg, thinking that was a good idea, asked Arthur if she would like to do the same. She nodded curtly and took a seat on the far end of the couch from the empathic boy.
Raven and Cyborg went into the kitchen to compare notes and get drinks and snacks.
Reville stretched his legs out in front of him, wincing at a slight cramp in his bad leg. His head was clear for the first time since coming to this world, not a voice inside it but his own. If he closed his eyes, he could sense the minds of the serious person in the room with him, and Raven and the strange metal man from the kitchen, but it was only at the normal level. Nothing more than the impressions his empathy usually gave him.
The person sitting on the end of the couch was quite strange, Reville decided. He looked perfectly calm and serious, and most of the time his emotions were dead flat and steady, but every now and then there was a strange spike. It appeared to be fear or anxiety. Reville wouldn't pry, though, no matter how easy it would be to. It was none of his business.
"I'm Reville," he said. "Apparently I'm from another world. Same with you?"
"Yes," said the strange boy, not volunteering any information on his part.
Reville shrugged, stretching his shoulders and allowing his mind to open further.
Raven's mind was blank and flat, as was no surprise to him. He hadn't sensed a thing from her, even when she'd been inside his mind.
The metal man's emotions were mostly calm, with a strange twist to it that Reville recognized as puzzlement. The man was probably thinking of this crazy situation, trying to figure out what had happened.
Reville sensed four people approaching from below and turned his focus downward, to the base of the tower.
One mind was strong and fiery, brimming with confidence and a small bit of irritation. The one closest to that one was also strong, and but gave off a hum of worry and confusion. Confusion not just about the situation, but a more general confusion, as if not even sure what he was looking at or what anything was.
The other two minds were quite mild. A small, immature glow, with a cheerful, bubbly type of warmth, but there was some sort of deep layer behind it. The last was a very relaxed, bright-colored mind, glittering with curiosity.
They would be quite a treat to meet. He smiled slightly in anticipation. He never had this type of variety at home.
Raven collected several cups and prepared a pot of herbal tea for their guests, being sure to use a tea with a mild, calming flavor to help ease the emotions of everyone involved in this crazy situation.
"Were you able to sense anything more?" asked Cyborg, grabbing several bags of chips and other snacks.
"No, and neither the boy I found, nor the girl you found, have any sort of teleportation ability. Besides, I'm fairly sure this was some sort of mechanical teleportation. I didn't sense any magical traces where Reville had appeared."
"Ah, so you can tell she's a girl too, huh? Would you believe she introduced herself as Arthur?"
"She's pretending to be a guy?"
"She must have her reasons. I say we humor her for now, and let Robin know in private later when we form up some case files on our visitors."
"I suppose I can agree to that, for now. Shouldn't you be running some sort of scan for anything left by a mechanical teleportation?"
"On it, Rae," said Cyborg, casually leaving the kitchen with his armful of goodies.
Robin and Ray ran into Beastboy and Lore at the entrance to the Tower.
"Hey, Lore, this is Robin, our team leader," introduced Beastboy excitedly to the white-haired boy, then turning to the boy in the yellow cape with a big smile. "And I'm Beastboy. Who're you?"
"Lord… Sorry, Ray. Just Ray."
"You're a Lord? Cool! Are you rich? Do you live in a castle?"
"Well, I do live in a castle, but really it's just a title for…"
Lore reached a hand out and placed it right over the wound on Ray's shoulder. The light elemental jumped in surprise, but instead of stinging, the pain lessened, then disappeared. He turned surprised yellowish eyes towards the white-haired boy.
"What are…"
Robin interrupted. "We can get to introductions upstairs, when we're all together," he said, frowning. It was clear this situation was beginning to irritate him. The sooner he got answers, the better. He'd asked Ray a few questions on the way, and the answers had been so off, he was now positive that the superhero wasn't just from another timeline, but another world entirely. And if Raven was right, which was almost guaranteed, there were six in total of these strangers from other worlds.
Lore looked at him, concern written in his big, violet eyes. Before Beastboy could stop him, he reached a hand over and rested it on Robin's forehead.
Naturally, Robin swept the hand aside. "Don't touch me," he ordered, then frowned and held his own hand to his temple in confusion. His pounding headache had lessened.
"I was only trying to help," said Lore, sounding confused.
"Yeah…" said Beastboy, looking troubled. He grabbed Lore's sleeve and pulled him along. "Touching Robin isn't a good idea. And don't even think of touching Raven. That's the creepy girl in the purple cape with eyes that kinda look like yours, only darker."
Lore frowned. "May I touch you?"
"What the…?"
"I can heal aches and pains by touching people," explained Lore, as if it was the most simple thing in the world. "I do not like people around me to be hurting."
"Well, okay I guess. If I get hurt, it's alright to heal me."
Lore turned to Robin. "I apologize. I was never told I had to ask for permission before helping someone," he said, genuinely sorry.
"It's okay, I guess. But don't do it again," replied Robin, before noticing Ray wasn't at his side.
Robin frowned and turned back. Ray was staring in awe at anything and everything he saw. The boy wonder grabbed the other boy by his arm and herded him, as well as a still chatting Beastboy and Lore, up to the elevator.
"Okay," said Robin, standing in the main room, his team on one side of the couch, their four visitors on the other. He had summoned Starfire back from her search for the last two so that she would be here for this meeting. Cyborg already had the computer scanning for traces of the teleportation, so for now it was best to get things straightened out in their heads of who exactly they were dealing with.
Looking at the four guests, none seemed in the least hostile, though all wore entirely different expressions. The dark blue haired boy was frowning impatiently. The black haired boy looked mildly entertained, of all things. Ray was trying to figure out the couch, the TV, the lamp, and apparently was drawing blanks from the confused look on his face. And the strange boy from downstairs, Lore, seemed perfectly relaxed and cheerful.
"Let's start with introductions," began Robin. "I'm Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans, our superhero team. We protect Jump City." He gestured for Cyborg, sitting on the end of the Teen Titan side, to continue.
"Cyborg. I'm a cyborg, meaning that I'm half-computer, half-man."
Three looks of confusion met his face. "Yeah, I know it's not pretty, but…"
"It is not that," began the white-haired boy.
"If I may ask a question?" added the superhero-like boy.
"Yeah?" prompted Cyborg.
"What is a computer?"
Cyborg had no idea what to answer the three questioning looks pointing his way. At least the elf he'd met earlier didn't seem confused. On the contrary, Arthur looked as surprised as he was at their ignorance.
"We'll get to that later," interrupted Robin. "For now, just know he's half made of metal and can do a lot of things normal people can't."
The three nodded, still looking confused. Robin gestured for his team to continue.
"I'm Beastboy. I can change into any animal I want," said Beastboy, turning into a cat, then a dog, then a parrot, then back to a boy. Though, granted, they were all green.
"My name is Starfire! I am a Tamaranian. My people have the power of flight, starbolts, and strength superior to that of humans. I love mustard and making new friends!"
Robin waved a hand dismissively as several questioning eyes turned to glance at him. His expression, even behind the mask, insisted on "Later".
Raven sighed when everyone looked at her. "Raven. I have the power to manipulate dark energy, as well as the ability to read people's minds and feel their emotions." She did not want to get into anything more, and her expression and voice made that quite clear.
"Now it's your turn," said Robin, gesturing to the blue-haired boy in the black suit sitting on the end.
"Sir Arthur Slate. I am an elf and the bodyguard of the crown princess of Vitania," he explained, adjusting the sword at his side. "I have none of your strange abilities, nor do I know anyone with such." The blue-haired elf gestured for Reville, now sitting next to him, to continue.
"My name is Reville. I am an empath/telepath and chief advisor to the king of Jarked. I have never seen any abilities other than my own." He nodded his dark head in greeting.
Ray went next. "Ray. My full title is Lord Sunray of Elemental Castle or the Light Knight. I control light and am the leader of a group of seven elementals, each with control of a natural element. Our powers were inherited from our parents, who we never actually met. We were raised together as orphans."
"I'm Lore," said the good-natured white-haired boy. "I'm owned by the king of Wateria, but I've been on loan to the king of Klazar for about half a year now." He didn't seem to notice the shocked looks on everyone's faces at his casual statement of being owned, or the slight paling of Reville's face. "As far as what I can do? Mostly healing. I can't bring people back from the dead, but I can handle pretty much anything else, though things can get pretty crazy if the injury is bad enough. Oh, and animals and plants seem to react to my emotions, which can cause problems. I have no idea why."
"What are you?" asked Raven bluntly.
"Human, of course," was the ready response, which sounded quite strange coming from the alarmingly NON-human appearance of the boy, with his unworldly beauty, long white hair, and expensive robe. "I have a mother, a father, six sisters, and four brothers, all perfectly normal humans. One of my baby sisters is the spitting image of me, minus the white hair of course." He chuckled and gestured to his tied-back hair.
"Okay," began Robin. "So we have an elfin bodyguard, undoubtedly skilled in fighting. An empath/telepath advisor. A superhero team's leader with power over light. And a healer who can affect plants and animals."
He frowned. Something was bugging him about this group. They were… too different. Yet all were teenagers, probably between 15 and 19. A defensive fighter, a powerful leader, an empathic advisor, and a kind healer. All that was missing was someone who could crack locks and knew the criminal mind, and another to make up for the others' deficiencies with technology.
It occurred to him that they were still missing two, and he suddenly burned with curiosity about them.
It was almost like someone was trying to piece together a team from different worlds. But why do something like that? And why send them here? When they obviously didn't even know each other, let alone how to function as a team?
A strange idea came to him, which soon turned into a notion he was almost certain about. A notion he did not particularly care for.
"I'm going to go check the communications room. Cyborg, check the computer scanner. Raven, if you could run a sweep for the last two guests of ours? I have a feeling we won't want them getting into trouble. Starfire, Beastboy, you two entertain our guests."
The four Teen Titans nodded to their leader, before starting off on their tasks.
Author's note: Yes, Robin's is, as usual, spot on. Coming up, Robin finds the purpose of this strange team and begins a strict training schedule for them. The 'team' proves themselves even more hopeless than he'd thought.