It had taken time, but the team had been able to build a tower out of the remnants of the Gordanian ship that had been left behind. Since they had agreed upon the name Teen Titans, they decided the tower should be shaped into a giant T. Solor thought it was a gaudy addition to the bay, but in the end, he got outvoted.
Cyborg was proud to say that he had done most of the construction, with everyone's help. He was the one that drew out the plans and designed the security, but he couldn't have done it all on his own. Fortunately, he had Starfire, Beast Boy, and Solor to help put everything together. Eventually, he worked on the wiring himself, and after a couple days, it was lights on in the tower. Everything was finally completed.
"Okay, y'all", Cyborg said, grinning from ear to ear. "I would like to be the first to welcome you to Titan's Tower!"
"Wonderful!" Starfire cheered, clapping her hands together.
"Alright", said Beast Boy, his grin almost matching Cyborg, "let's open her up and see what we got!"
Solor only snorted. The tower was impressive, but it wasn't a home to him.
Robin approached the door, punching in the access code that he had been given, and lead the others inside. Raven was walking next to the dragon, and looked over at him. "So… why are you so distanced from the others?" she asked.
"Because I'm not like any of you", he replied, a little annoyed at her intrusion. "I'm just better."
That got a frown out of the empath, but she decided it wasn't worth arguing over.
As soon as the team arrived in the living room/kitchen area, Solor decided to break off from the rest of the group. He entered another door, finding a hallway with many more doors in it. They all seemed to be marked, and eventually he found one with his own name on it. Cyborg must have assigned rooms, he decided, and entered. There was little to nothing in there, possibly for Solor to decorate it himself. Not that he really cared, though; just give him a cave and he'd sleep like a baby.
After deeming the room fit for him, he walked back out, and joined the group once again, just as they were being shown the computer… that was composed of the main window/t.v. in the living room. "And this is where the magic happens", Cyborg said, practically bouncing like a little kid at Christmas.
"We've gotten permission to hook our system to the alarms all over the city", Robin was telling them. "Anything happens, we'll know about it."
It was just then that the alarm started blaring, and symbols appeared on the computer.
"There's a rock monster breaking into the prison!" Cyborg typed into the computer, accessing the criminal's file. "His name is Cinderblock."
"Dude, why would anyone want to break into jail?" Beast Boy asked, an eyebrow raised.
"It doesn't matter. If he wants in so bad, let's help him out", Robin declared.
Solor snorted, amused by the statement. "Then, shall we?"
"Yeah. Titans, GO!"
XxXxX
If only it was that easy. When they arrived, Cinderblock had managed to break into the main courtyard and building of the prison. When confronted, he did the smart thing and attacked.
Again, Solor focused only on the enemy. He charged along with his teammates, but to him, it was as if he was fighting Cinderblock alone. The dragon only got in a few slices, but they were evident enough, leaving deep gouges in the rock monster's thick hide. That, apparently, was enough to piss of the thing, because it delivered a swift kick toward the teen, who took the full brunt of it.
It all happened so fast then. Once Solor hit the wall, he felt the tips of his wings get crushed under the force of them hitting the wall, and he let out a roar of pain. He then stood up, attempting to flex his wings before hissing, immediately regretting it. "Damn! He sprained my wings!" It was then he looked up, realizing he was next to Raven again just before a large green dinosaur almost fell on them before turning back into Beast Boy. Both gave him a glare, and his only response was a nervous, "Watch out for falling giant dinosaurs" before opting to leave them alone.
Solor looked at Raven. "What were you going to do?"
"Wrap him up in some of those support beams", she said, pointing. "They're more than strong enough to hold him."
Solor grinned, seeing that apparently Cinderblock had an idea with them as well. Seeing that, Cyborg had grabbed one, and was currently having a duel with the monster, while Solor grabbed another, joining them in the fight. However, with a swat of his hand, he managed to hit them both and knocking them both on the ground before making a dash down the hall.
Then came what would forever be known as the Sonic Boom incident, and the jailbreak that resulted from it.
Needless to say, three members of the team were not very happy.
Then again, when is Solor happy?
"None of us would have seen one if Cyborg hadn't messed up!" Robin declared.
"ME?! I messed up nothing! YOU got in my way!"
"You were too far forward and Cinderblock got away because of it!"
"You're saying this is MY fault!?"
"Want me to say it again?!"
"Stop!" Starfire cried, getting between the arguing boys. "No more mean talking!"
"Yeah, if you two are gonna fight, we need time to sell tickets!" Beast Boy joked, before being snatched by a certain bronze-scaled Titan, who shot him a glare that said, "Shut it."
"Cinderblock escaped", Raven deadpanned. "No amount of yelling is going to change that. So stop acting like idiots and let's go home."
That would have been the plan… had Robin and Cyborg not muttered insults to each other, starting another shouting match between the two.
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU'RE ON THIS TEAM!" Robin snarled, glaring at the mechanical teen.
"THAT MAKES TWO OF US! I QUIT!"
Solor watched, slightly amused, watched as the remaining members stared in shock as Cyborg stomped away. It was then his own thoughts reminded him of his mission. "I quit, as well", Solor said, starting to walk away.
"What?! No!" Starfire flew in front of him, blocking his way. "Friend Solor, you did not do anything wrong!"
"Yeah, dude", Beast Boy quipped. "Robin didn't yell at you."
"It does not matter", Solor said, gently moving them aside with his tail. "I do not belong here. I do not deal with human affairs."
"But you helped us before! You're a part of the team!" Robin shouted, glaring.
"That was before I was reminded of my mission." Solor felt himself morph back to his human form. He turned to leave again. "I'll keep my communicator, in case you need my help for emergencies. But do not attempt to contact me otherwise."
Starfire gently placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him once more. "Friend Solor… if you ever change your mind… we will welcome you with open arms."
"I appreciate the gesture", Solor responded, before walking out of the prison calmly, never looking back.
XxXxX
Most of Solor's travels included flying, or running. He never actually took the time to look around before. He managed to find himself in the park after dark, enjoying the view. There he had stayed for most of the next day, merely sitting there, reflecting on the past. A dozen times his communicator rang, but only with messages from Beast Boy, who was attempting to get both missing members back to the tower. After the twelfth time, Solor opened his communicator.
"What did I say about contacting me?"
"Dude, there you are! Why didn't you-"
"SILENCE!" he shouted, effectively shutting up his former teammate. "I told you once, and I will tell you again. Contact me only when you need my help. Otherwise, I will come to that tower and BURN it to the GROUND." After a moment's pause he whispered, "Do I make myself clear?"
"C-c-crystal."
"Good. Now stop calling me."
Solor sighed as he closed his communicator. Even now, he felt an emotion he never felt before. He could never explain it, since most of what he felt was pride, or joy, or rage. Never… this. Whatever it was, it soured his mood.
"It's called regret."
The teen turned to see a small child, no older than seven. Had he spoken?
"What you're feeling right now", the boy said, looking at the dragon. "It's called regret. It means that you did something that you wish you could take back."
"Oh really?" said Solor, looking down at his heart. "And what can I do to be rid of this useless emotion?"
"There's nothing you can do about what you did", the boy said, merely playing with his toy care. "The only thing you can do is think about why you regret it. I mean, that's what my big brother told me. He has a lot of regrets, and I think that's why he doesn't want me to do a lot of things."
"Tyler!" Another teen, this one about fourteen, ran over, catching the boy. "Why did you run off? Mom said it's time for dinner, and you just disappeared!"
"Sorry, brother…" Tyler said. He then turned to Solor, and quickly gave him the small car. "Here. I usually play with this when I'm sad. Maybe it'll help you?" With that, the teenager took his little brother away, while the dragon stared at the car.
When closer inspected, the car was shown to be made of what looked like different parts glued together. Some didn't fit, and some were different colors, from purple to blue to red. But if there was one thing he noticed, it's that the toy looked well put together.
It reminded him a lot of his team.
"Perhaps I should consider rejoining the Titans…"
It was then that his left ear twitched lightly, and all of a sudden, he was ducking, avoiding what appeared to be a very sharp dagger, shifting back into his half-dragon form, growling angrily. He then turned around, glaring viciously at every human that happened to be nearby. "WHO DARES TO ATTACK SOLOR?!" he roared, his wings flaring behind him.
There, on the other side of the park, was a young man. And normally, Solor would have ignored him… if he wasn't making a very rude gesture towards the dragon. That was enough to push the dragon over the edge, roaring as he charged.
The young man appeared to be a great martial artist. Every move that Solor made, the enemy counted. The dragon slashed, the young man would deflect the blow and use the following energy to knock him on his tail. Then the dragon would sweep out with his feet, using his tail to help spin around, while the young man would only dodge, and hit him on the head. Finally, the dragon saw an advantage, and tried the combination again, only this time, opening his maw wide enough to capture his opponent's leg, flipping him over his head and slamming him into the ground.
"Nice try, mortal", Solor growled, spitting his leg out and holding the smaller boy with his claw. "But Solor is better than any human!"
"Great", said the teen, his voice smooth and collective. "The only survivor of the Teen Titans is the stuck up lizard."
"I am not stuck up, I am confident." Then he realized exactly what the teen had said. "What do you mean 'only survivor'?" He growled as he got close to the teen, showing his very sharp teeth.
"Simple. Two villains were seen today. One of them is Cinderblock, the other is Plasmus. Cyborg is taking care of Cinderblock, but even if he gets there in time, the others won't survive an attack from Plasmus." The teen smirked at the dragon, pushing his claw away from him. "So, big guy, you can either keep fighting me… or you can save your friends."
Solor growled, and made his decision immediately. Releasing the boy, he spread his wings, taking out his communicator and tracking the others before taking off, flying toward the chemical plant.
XxXxX
Robin grunted angrily. Here he was, fighting a fragment of Plasmus. And he was losing, badly. The glob had pinned him to the conveyer belt they were on, and in only a short amount of time, the two would be dropped into the vat of some green liquid. Whatever it was, something told Robin that touching it would be a very bad idea. But as the conveyer belt began to vanish beneath him, with a surge of strength, the Boy Wonder managed to flip the glob monster over his head, quickly flipping in midair and grabbing onto the side of the conveyer belt.
Too bad the glob had strong pincers that grabbed onto his foot.
It only took mere seconds for the final support of the conveyer belt to give away; it wasn't designed to hold the weight of a boy and a giant piece of… whatever Plasmus was made of. And it only took another second for a bronze claw to grab onto Robin's outstretched hand, swiftly pulling him out of the villain's grip and back onto solid ground.
Solor smirked, feeling accomplished. His leader had needed to be rescued. He knew it meant nothing other than a pat on the back, but it was another bit of evidence that said he was better than the human. It had taken only seconds for him to sniff out the boy wonder, since he was separated from the others. He also had run into Cyborg, but out of the two, only Solor could move fast enough to save the leader of the Teen Titans.
"I still got the sonic if you still got the boom", Cyborg said, smiling at his leader.
And thus, with another attempt at the Sonic Boom technique, Plasmus was finally defeated, forced to sleep and reverted back to his human form. The authorities arrived with an extra chamber for the meta-human, and along with Cyborg's "gift" of Cinderblock, now all the criminals were accounted for.
Solor turned to his team, having the decency to look a little ashamed. "I must… apologize. I was selfish, to think that my mission could not include you all. It blinded me from what is important."
"And that would be?" Beast Boy asked, nudging Solor a bit.
The dragon smirked, and nudged the green teen with his wing. "Protecting this city. With all of you. My friends."
Starfire let out a delighted giggle before Solor was wrapped up in a Tameranian bear hug. Of course, he was more than strong enough to withstand it, but he was a bit uncomfortable all the same. It wasn't very often his own kind displayed public affection, and if it weren't for his scales, he'd be blushing right now. Of course, that wasn't the only thought bothering him.
Who was that boy, who had warned him about his team's almost demise? Why did he go out of his way to warn the dragon?
Solor didn't know, nor did he care. All that matters is that he had managed to help save his team, and he never saw that boy again