Chapter 2: My Past
A/N: This chapter will be longer. Robin is going to tell the Titans all about his past and one of them will even recognize his birth name. I don't have much else to say, so here's the story.
I stared at the Titans, who all expressed surprised looks. Even Raven. Cyborg was the first to speak. "Richard Grayson?" he asked. "Where have I heard that name before?" I sighed. "Try 'Dick' Grayson. It was another aliase before I took the name Robin." I said. Cyborg snapped his fingers. "That's it! I knew your name sounded familiar! You're that kid that lost his parents at the circus in Gotham City!" I sighed. "Yeah, that's me." I said. "Why didn't you ever say anything to us?" Cyborg asked. "Uh, for one, it's a hard topic for me to talk about." I said. "And, I kinda forgot about it. I buried and repressed the memories so much that I tricked myself into thinking that it didn't happen, I guess." Beast Boy looked at me. "You lived in Gotham City? Your name is Dick?" he asked, laughing at the last question. Raven elbowed him in the jaw, before looking up at me. "Please, continue." she said. I nodded. "I was born as Richard John Grayson. As a child, my parents and I were a traveling family of circus acrobats, known as the Flying Graysons." I said. "For one such occasion, we traveled to Gotham City for a circus show." Starfire raised her hand. I sighed. "What is it Starfire?" I asked. "What is this 'circus' you speak of?" she asked.
"It's like that carnival thingy we were at when you got captured by that pod that was searching for your sister." I said. "Oh." she replied in return. "While I was preparing for my performance I overheard two gangsters who worked for the powerful crime boss Tony Zucco attempt to extort protection money from the owner of the circus. The circus owner refused and the gangsters went else where, with me following from a distance. I witnessed them sabotage the trapeze wires with acid, these wires which were unfortunately the wires my parents would use." I said, as I felt tears begin to sting in my eyes, but I continued speaking. "In the next act, my parents were swinging from the trapeze wires. A-a-a-and the wires s-s-snapped, sending them to their d-deaths." I stared at the floor as the my eyes continued to sting with tears. "Friend Robin," Starfire said. "if you do not wish to tell the story, we will not make you." I sighed and whiped away the tears, before looking back up at them. "No. You all deserve to know what I have buried underneath my feelings for all of you and my enjoyment of being a part of this team over the years. Before I could go to the police with my information, I was confronted by the Batman." I said. "He informed me that the gangsters who killed my parents worked for the powerful crime boss, Tony Zucco and revealing my knowledge would most likely get me killed." Cyborg looked at me. "So, let me get this straight dude. Your parents were killed by gangsters who worked for a powerful mobster?" he asked. I nodded. "That's what I said." I replied.
"After my parents were killed, the Batman himself took me under his wing, as he saw I had potential and I became his sidekick, Robin. Together, we disrupted Zucco's extortion rackets and gambling rackets and eventually, we successfully baited Zucco into visiting a construction sight, where we captured him. I worked with the Batman for years on end, but I was 15 when I left his side. I was greatly trained mentally and physically that in ways no other child was." Beast Boy cleared his throat. "You worked with the Dark Knight? You were his sidekick? Do you know his secret identity?" he asked. "Yes, yes and yes." I said. "Well, will you tell us who he is?" Beast Boy asked. I shook my head. "Sorry, Beast Boy. I won't tell you who he is." I said. "But I can tell you that Bruce Wayne, being as rich as he is, funds the Batman in terms of his tech." Beast Boy snapped his fingers. "That's it! Bruce Wayne is Batman, right?" he asked. "No, he's not." I said. I mean, he's right. But I can't let him know that. "You can continue now." Raven said in a shallow voice. "Yeah! What made you leave Batman's side anyway?" Cyborg asked. "I'm getting to that. One night, on one of our usual patrols, Batman got shot. After our patrol was done for the night, he tried to take me out of the field. I was angry and I felt betrayed for what he had told me. I thought I was being treated like a child and I was about to give up being a hero with Batman. I eventually left Batman's side and moved out here to Jump City to continue fighting crime, but to go solo this time around. As I said before, I was fifteen when I left his side." I said.
"And the rest, is pure history. There's no need to talk about it. Because, the rest is pretty much us forming the Teen Titans." I looked back up at my friends and let out a sigh of relief, getting the realization that I finally told them about my past. I put my mask back on and looked up at my friends. "Jesus dude. You've had a hard life." Beast Boy said, sighing. "Yes, friend Robin. Your life is indeed hard." Starfire said. "Yeah, Rob- er, Richard, you've had quiet the tough life." Cyborg said. I let out a small sigh of frusteration. "Don't call me that." I said. "Why?" Beast Boy said. "That's your name, Richard! Or do you prefer Dick?" I was about to respond, when I heard a chuckle. I looked over to Cyborg, who was holding his hand over his mouth. And from the look in his eyes, I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. I looked over at Raven, who was snickering. "I don't understand." Starfire said. "What's so funny about the name Dick?" Beast Boy looked at her. "Star, the name 'Dick' isn't just a name. It's also another name for a -" he started to explain to her, but I let out a yell. "No!" I said, as I pulled a gadget from my utility belt and threw it at Beast Boy's face. As soon as it made contact with his face, the gadget exploded outwards, but it's non-lethal and a tape-like fabric wrapped around Beast Boy's mouth.
"Mmmph!" Was all that I could understand from Beast Boy, as I just chuckled. "You are so immature!" Raven and Cyborg said, looking at the green teen. "Can the funniness please be explained?" Starfire asked. "No. Let's just put a pen in that." I said. Starfire got up from the couch. "I shall go retrieve a pen!" she called, as she hovered off. "It's just an expression Star!" I called out to her. She turned back around to face me, after nearing the door out of the Common Room. "A pen is just an expression?" she asked. "Just sit down." Raven said. Starfire just smiled and sat back down. "As I was saying, no, you may not call me Richard." I said, as I cringed, not happy with what I was about to say. "Or Dick." Cyborg snickered a little. "But why can't we call you Richard? It's your name, like BB said!" he replied. "Because, I've thrown my past life away and abandoned all connections to it. I've buried it." I said. "Yeah... but it's not good to bottle up those feelings." Raven replied. "Why not?" Cyborg asked. "Because, it can lead to multiple emotions exploding out at once and even mental breakdowns." Raven replied. "It's unhealthy and can lead to depression, being anti-social and even extreme anger issues."
"Like I said. I threw away any remnents of my old life a long time ago." I said as I turned to face the window. "And it's staying that way. I just can't deal with the pain that hits me everytime the memories come back to me." Raven cleared her throat. "Once again Robin, I highly suggest you try to remember your parents death every once and a while. You just need to remember and eventually the pain may reduce. But it won't go away. I also suggest you remember the good times you had with your parents, that way, you won't experience painful memories as much." she said. I continued staring out the window. "Maybe I should try that. Besides..." I said, turning to face them. "You guys have been the only family I've had in a long time." They all looked at me. Cyborg was the first to speak. "W-we're family to you?" he asked. I nodded. "Always have been, always will." I said. "I didn't know we meant that much to you." Beast Boy said. "Um, should I put his tape thing back on?" Raven asked. I shook my head. "You can't." I said. "The material that makes the tape stick wears away fast. It's just a prototype that I am work on every once and a while." Cyborg cleared his throat. "But we are family to you?" he asked. I nodded. "My parents death was in the past, my training with the Batman was the present. And my future, well, let's just say you guys made my future. See, when I came into the hero world, I was just a collection of Richard Grayson's memories. But overtime, with the help of my experience with Batman, being his sidekick and overall, my experience with you guys, the Titans, I formed memories of my own." I said. "They became my voice, my personality, my mind. They became me. They became Robin. In theory, I'd like to say that I made you guys. But in reality, you guys made me. You molded me into who I am today."
After a few seconds, I saw something that surprised me. Raven actually smiled at me. "That's beautiful Robin. And deep, too." she said. "Thanks." I said. "Well, now you know what I have kept secret for the last three years. And honestly, this is the first time in a very long time that I've had to deal with the pain." Starfire got up and hugged me. "Robin, we are glad you told us. Now we can understand the pain you've been through over these years. I, feel sorry for doing the forcing you to tell me what was going on." she said. I eventually hugged her back after I recovered from the shock of her hugging me. "It's ok, Starfire. It was my duty to tell you everything." I said. Beast Boy got up and hugged me as well. "Come on, group hug, group hug!" he said. Before I knew it, all of the Titans were hugging me. Even Raven. After about twenty seconds, they all disbanded. "You don't have to be alone anymore." Beast Boy said. "We will stand by your side 'til the end, for better or worse." Cyborg said. "And we will listen." Raven said. "Well, now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's begin the day!" I said.
Beast Boy
I was flipping through my comic book collection, sitting on the couch in the Common Room a few hours after Robin told us his story. Frankly, I really felt sorry for Robin. But at the moment, I just had my face buried in my collection of comic books. "I love comics." I said, as I lowered the book I was holding. "Do you want to know why I love comic books Raven?" I asked. "I know you want to know!" I looked at Raven, who was levitating and using her powers to lift everyday items we use, with Robin's help every once and a while. "It's because of the superheroes. Right?" she asked, in an annoyed tone. "Yeah! Superheroes, supervillains, super everything! It's all so-" I was babbling away, when Robin interrupted me. "Quiet Beast Boy! Raven is training! You may join her, seeing as you'd had quiet the amount of free time lately." he said. Training? No way! I have better things to do! "Uh, I think I hear Cyborg calling me." I said, as I hopped over the other side of the couch. "Coming Cyborg! Heh heh." That's when I noticed things around the room shaking and falling to the ground. Then, it got worse. The whole room started to shake uncontrollably, everything on a shelf falling and shattering.
The door to the hallway opened and Cyborg ran into the room. "Yo, guys! What's going on?" he asked. That's when the shaking stopped. "What the hell?" I said. "Did everybody feel that?" I looked over at Robin and Raven, who both nodded at me. Starfire flew into the room as well. "Friends! What was that awful shaking?" she asked. Before anyone could answer, it starte again. "Earthquakes! Why? That always means something bad in this city!" I said. It was worse this time. A lot worse. The floor was shaking so violently, I was fearing the tower might fall over. "We're all going to die!" I said, as the shaking continued. Raven grabbed me from behind as I started running, stopping me in my tracks. "Calm down, Pinhead!" she said. "We'll be fine. It's just an earthquake!" The shaking lasted a little longer than the last one did. And once it stopped, Cyborg ran to the computer which had somehow survived the first quake. He got onto the server that told us if the city was in danger and where it was coming from. "Multiple signals." Cyborg said. "All over the city." Just then, another quake started. This went on for at least a half hour, it alternating between there being an earthquake and there not being one. Cyborg remained on the computer as long as he could. Once the fifteenth quake had ended, Cyborg got up to look out the window. "Hey, Ya'll? You might want to come see this." Robin was first to go see what Cyborg saw. "Oh my god!" he said. "We've seen that energy before!" Starfire was next to go see. "Robin is right with the 'Oh my God', it's a sign of a friend!" Raven and I were the last to go see. "Meh. I've seen better." Raven said. But I saw it, no way. Someone, if not she figured out they had powers. Everywhere in the ground outside were criss-crossing lines of a glowing gold color.
A/N: Anyone know what's going on? I'm not revealing anything about what's going on. About when Starfire hugged Robin, I just wanted to say their not in a relationship yet. In this alternate history, Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo may have been skipped over or put off. They may eventually get into a relationship, if I get enough support to keep the story running that long. So thanks for reading and 'til the next chapter!