Notes: This story takes place after the 2003 animated series and the Trouble in Tokyo movie. This story will not acknowledge anything from the Teen Titans Go cartoon, or the live action Titans series, or even the comic books, unless stated otherwise. Only the five seasons of the 2003 series and the Tokyo movie are canon for this story.
In the city at night just outside the docks, a machine created to cause destruction and death sat in the ocean. Waves moved up and down around it, but it stayed in one place. There were several naval vessels of varying size in the vicinity, including a fairly large ship coming into dock. It did not yet see the evil thing awaiting it.
It was dark, and few people were around. Low but steady currents pulsed through the water. The sky was dark and cloudy, and the night air was cool. But in the water, the machine was emitting blasts all around it, sending shockwaves all about. The ships nearby began to rock and sway. As the shockwaves intensified, the ships became damaged, their structure weakening. The dock splintered and fractured. A couple who had lingered a little too long at the dock began to scream as the wooden planks beneath them lurched violently, and they lost their balance.
It was unclear where this machine came from. But it was clear that it was created by some villain. There have always been villains who cause misery and destruction. And there have always been heroes to fight them, and protect the innocent. And so it went here as well.
As the shockwaves grew ever bigger and more violent, a huge surge burst through the ocean. A giant spear of water that reared up, arced in the air, and then came down like a hammer onto the evil thing. The metal was battered, and the pulses faltered, but only for a moment. They started up again. But the thing was then attacked from below. Sea creatures rose up to pound the machine. It was knocked about, and the pulses stopped again, this time for longer. A wave rose up out of the ocean, and someone was riding it. Or rather, riding a dolphin. A young man in a blue outfit. He was the Atlantean known as Aqualad, who had power over water, and could call on the sea life as his allies. He had come to defend his ocean, just as he had done many times before.
Aqualad raised his arms, summoning a spear of water. The machine in the water floated there, whirring. A round red "eye" in the center top part reflected the light from the moon as the water bore down on it. Seconds before the water crashed, a loud noise emitted, and the eye, housed within a small round chassis, ejected from the larger part of itself. The water spear struck the machine, creating a sizeable gash in it. It was split open. And immobile. Nonetheless, Aqualad watched as the eye landed on the dock nearby. It began to scuttle away. The enemy was no longer in the ocean.
Aqualad, still on his dolphin, swam over to shore. Aqualad quickly thanked his friend and jumped off, heading after the mechanical thing. He felt more comfortable in the water, but could fight on land when he needed to. For a while he had regularly done so, back when he was with the Titans East.
It was dark, but Aqualad was fairly sure he saw the red-eye head into an alleyway between a few buildings up ahead. He ran after it. He didn't know what it was, just that it was dangerous and needed to be stopped. He could hear metal clacking against the ground nearby. Aqualad turned a corner and saw it ahead. It quickly skittered away, but he was fast too. His body was lean and athletic, and while he preferred swimming to running, he could do both. He ran hard and after a short chase, caught up to his quarry. Aqualad saw it just ahead. The small thing stopped, cornered. It was surrounded by walls, and the only way out was through Aqualad.
"Time to put you out of commission." Aqualad said to the machine. He didn't know if it could understand him, or if someone was listening through it. Regardless, he raised an arm, and summoned water from a pipe on the side of a building. The water enveloped the machine and slammed it into the wall. He then slammed it a second time, and it bounced off. It fell to the ground, the red eye broken. The pipe was broken and empty. Aqualad looked down at the enemy, and walked over. He knelt down and examined it. He carefully picked up a piece of the broken red eye. It wasn't normal glass. Not even the acrylic one would normally find on seafaring vessels. Aqualad frowned, and then noticed something. A reflection in the glass. A figure standing behind him.
Aqualad sharply turned and shifted to the side, narrowly avoiding being impaled by a piece of rebar. Aqualad saw a shadowy figure above him. He moved and got to his feet. He felt a sharp pain in his side. He was bleeding. The rebar hadn't completely missed after all. Just a flesh wound, he thought to himself. I hope.
Aqualad was now the one cornered. He had run far enough that he was no longer near any major water sources. Unless… He glanced to the side, while keeping one eye on the person who attacked him, even though they were in shadow. It was so dark in that alley he could barely see. But he did notice a grate on the ground nearby, presumably leading to a sewer. The figure rushed at him with the rebar. He ducked, feeling the pain in his side. He swept his leg to knock the other person down, but they jumped. He was kicked in the face, and knocked backwards.
Aqualad looked up, and heard rapid footsteps. He gasped, and rolls backwards into a standing position. The rebar, pointed end first, flew towards his head. Aqualad quickly fell backwards again, landing on his back as the metal passed above. He saw the figure in front of him and used his legs to kick them in the abdomen. They staggered a little, and he jumped back to his feet. He followed up with a hard punch, but the enemy already recovered, and grabbed his fist. His arm was yanked, causing pain. This was followed by him being thrown several feet.
Aqualad was on the ground again. He propped himself up on his hands, but was kicked in the face, hard. He was dazed, and he felt a loose tooth. As he rolled on the ground, he felt the metal grate. He instinctively grabbed it and pulled on it. The footsteps were coming again, but in just seconds he used his strength to pull the grate off and throw it at the attacker. This move actually caught them off guard. It connected, although he wasn't sure how much. Regardless, he decided to dive down into the sewer. He needed a moment to recover. Besides, there would be water down there, giving him the advantage.
He fell down into the dark pit, and still managed to do so with some grace and land on his feet, even in his injured state. The sewer had enough space to move around, and there were a few lights in the tunnel. There was not as much water as he hoped though. Likely because of the time of day, or rather night. Aqualad looked up at the open hole where the grate was, and backed up a few steps. He wondered if his attacker would follow him down, or if they ran off? Who was this person, and what was the deal with the robot?
As Aqualad thought these things, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. At first, he thought it was the same wound from before, flaring up. But as he looked down, he saw metal sticking through his torso. After a second, the metal was pulled out, leaving a bloody open wound in his stomach.
"Oh no." Aqualad said as he fell to his knees. He moved his hands to the wound, but felt himself being kicked in the back. He hit the ground. He lay face down, bloody. He heard footsteps approaching again. Somehow, they sounded a little heavier this time. He couldn't stand, but he used his strength to turn himself over onto his back so he could look up. He could feel himself weakening. His vision was going dark. He strained to focus. He at least wanted to see who was responsible for this.
The figure stepped closer, and Aqualad could make out the outline of a masculine physique. The man was holding something. A light from the tunnel shown on the villain's head. Aqualad gasped, and his eyes widened with recognition.
"You!" he said. The attacker tilted their head, for just a moment. they raised something into the air, and then brought it down. Aqualad stopped moving. He lay still, one hand fallen to the side, submerged in the sewer water.
End Notes: I started writing this story a couple months ago, and am only now uploading it to this site. I will probably upload all the chapters I've written so far in the next few weeks.
You might notice the relationship tag at the top. This story acknowledges that Robin and Starfire were a couple. But in this story, they are now broken up. The reasons why will be explained later. I am planning on Raven and Nightwing as the main (and only?) couple in this story.
I considered leaving this as a surprise that would unfold as the story went along, since it could be considered a spoiler of sorts. But I decided that it would probably be better to be upfront about this, rather than people coming into this story expecting certain things, only to be disappointed later when the story goes in a different direction.
For the record, I have nothing against Starfire and Robin as a couple. But this is the story I wanted to tell.