Disclaimer I don't own the Teen Titans but I do own The Eight
Maria and her father walk towards the park.
"Papa," Maria said, "May I go on the swings?"
"Sure." Maria's father said with a smile.
Maria ran to the swings with the energy that only children possessed. She loved parks and all they had to offer.
As she swung as high as she could she notices that her father was talking to a man smoking a cigar.
Her father looked scared.
The morning came and Owl gathers up everyone in his room.
"Alright everyone listen up." Owl said as he pulled out the list. "Fox, Boa, Eel, and Barracuda you are going after targets number 15 and 16. Steer and Wolf you are going after number 17. Black Widow will stay here and finish her poison. I will be setting up for tomorrow. Are we clear?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good, let's move out."
"Papa, who was that man?" Maria asked as the two left the park.
Her father didn't look at her.
"Just an old friend." He said.
Barracuda studied the list as Fox led them to their targets.
"Huh," she said, "it looks like the two targets are related."
"How so?" Eel asked.
"Looks like father daughter."
Boa eyes turn to Barracuda.
"Please tell me you're joking."
Next week Maria and her father went to the same park.
And once more the same man with the cigar came and talked to her father.
Curiosily, Maria ran up to her father.
"Papa," Maria asked, "is this your friend?"
The man with the cigar looked down at Maria.
"You have a very beautiful daughter." The man said.
Maria's father fists clench.
"You stay away from her you son of a bitch."
The man laughed.
"Don't worry I will…if you pay me on time."
The four looked at the house that the two targets lived in.
"Alright," Eel said as she pulled out her Tasers. "So what's the plan?"
Barracuda thought for a second, "Were going to have to surround them. Boa I want you and…where the hell is Boa?"
"There." Fox said.
Boa was running across the street, ran right up to the door, and knocked it down with a flying knee.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Barracuda yelled.
Maria and her father were in their house about to eat dinner.
"Maria," her father said, "Would you like to do the prayer today?"
Maria nodded enthusiastically as she folded her hands.
"Bless this meal, and Papa, and Mommy who is in heaven. Amen. Was that good Papa?"
Her father gave a smile.
"That was perfect." He said.
As they were about to enjoy their meal they heard a few cars pull up to the driveway.
A worried look came to her father's face.
"No," he said as he got up and looked out the window, "I still have a week."
"What is wrong Papa?" Maria asked.
Her father didn't answer.
He knew what was about to happen.
"Maria," he said, "I love you."
Maria looked confused, "I love you too Papa."
Her father hugged and kissed her one last time.
And then he went into the kitchen.
Maria just stood there; still not fully aware of what was going on.
She then heard banging on the door.
"COME ON OUT!" a man's voice came, "YOU KNOW THE DRILL."
Maria's father then came back into the room…with a knife.
"Maria," he said crying, "Please…forgive me. I love you."
"Papa…what are you doing…NO PAPA STOP! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! PLEASE STOP!"
Kitten was in her room brushing her hair.
She and Fang hand broke up for the hundredth time and she wanted to look good for their guest tonight, Robin. He was supposed to come for dinner, and then later they were going to Titans Tower to stay.
She giggled at the thought of her and her father going to the tower and being able to sleep in the same building as Robin.
Today was going to be a good day.
She then heard a crash downstairs but thought nothing of it.
It was probably her father doing another one of his bug experiments.
She never saw Boa enter her room.
She didn't even have time to scream as Boa grabbed her and quickly snapped her neck.
The men carried Maria into the office of the man with the cigar and threw her on the floor.
The man took one look at Maria.
"I told you she wasn't supposed to be harmed!" the man yelled angrily.
"We didn't do that boss…her dad did it right before we killed him."
The man grunted. No brothel would buy a girl with cut off ears.
"Looks like your father had the last laugh." He said as he picks up Maria from the floor and blows smoke in her face.
Maria didn't answer… she was in shock.
"Take her to a hospital." The man ordered, "A dead girl's worth nothing."
The men carried her out.
"We'll find some way to make money off of you."
Killer Moth heard a crash upstairs from his basement.
"What the hell?" he thought as he walked upstairs.
"Kitten," he called, "Dear, are you ok?"
He never stood a chance as Boa jumps on top of him and kneed him in the head, cracking his skull.
Maria walked down a long hallway with the man with the cigar and one of his partners.
Her hands and legs were cuffed.
"This is crazy. She won't last a minuet." His partner said.
"So? The novelty of a girl fighting will at least make us a good profit."
He then turned to Maria.
"It's not like she's good for anything else."
Fang snuck into the backyard of Kittens house.
He was holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Baby please forgive me." He said as he climbed up the wall to her bedroom window.
"I'm sorry," he continued, "I can't live without you."
He poked his head in and saw Kitten's dead body.
Maria was standing in a large rusty cage with her cuffs removed. Across the cage was a boy.
"Alright!" the announcer yelled, "Place your bets people! Who will live? Who will die?"
Maria didn't want this. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to kill.
But the boy apparently did.
He charges her and tackled her to the ground.
It was easy for him. He had to be at least a good five inches taller than her.
As she fell to the ground a rain of punches hit her in the face.
The boy was showing her no mercy.
Thinking quickly she slammed her knee up hitting the boy in the groin.
He fell back in pain as she stood up.
Her nose and lips were bloody but she was still in the fight.
She then threw a punch at him.
It wasn't a strong or a fast punch but it connected, bloodying the boy's nose.
The crowd screamed with delight.
The boy then tackled her again and wrapped his hands around her throat.
Maria couldn't breath and was starting to black out.
But she remembers her father…and the man with the cigar.
With one of her free hands she gouges the boy's eyes.
He screamed in pain as he let go.
As he fell to the floor Maria pounced on top of him throwing punches wildly.
One of her punches hit him in the throat, breaking his windpipe.
The crowd roared with delight.
As she stood up, she saw the body of the boy she fought, and cried.
She didn't want this.
"All clear." Boa said as she got up from Killer Moth's body.
"You idiot!" Barracuda yelled over the headset, "You could've been killed!"
"I'm not that lucky." Boa said over her head set.
As she was about to walk out she hears a voice behind her.
"YOU F#$ING BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Hahahaha," the man with the cigar said as he counted his money, "I made a killing today thanks to you."
Maria didn't say anything.
"Who knows how much I'll make next time."
"No."
The man turned his head.
"What did you say?"
"I don't want to fight anymore, and you can't make me."
The man smiled.
"Oh, you have no idea how wrong you are."
He backhanded her in the face causing her to fall. As she hit the floor he kicks her in the ribs.
"You will do whatever I say. If I say jump off a cliff you say 'feet first or head first'. Are we clear?"
Maria gasps for air as she nodded her head.
"Good. Now clean yourself up. You have another fight tomorrow."
Fang charged Boa and shoved her outside.
Boa did a roll on the ground and stood up.
Despite the fact that she was looking at a man with a spider's body for a head, she didn't even flinch.
"I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR F#$ING HEAD OFF!" Fang yelled.
Boa stood her ground.
"You're welcome to try." She said.
Maria stood victorious over another opponent.
It had been years since she started.
She had gowned stronger, faster, and more vicious.
She was no longer the sweet little girl that her father raised.
Fang tried to hit Boa with his many arms.
But she was too fast for him.
"I'M GOING TO MAKE YOUR LAST MOMENTS ON THIS PLANET SO F#$ING PAINFUL." Fang said blinded by rage.
"Well," Boa said as she dodges another attack, "What are you waiting for?"
The man with the cigar counted his money in his office.
"Oh Maria, you are a gold mine." He said as he blew smoke in her face.
Marie didn't say anything.
"Next week a champion from Asia is coming. The poor bastard doesn't stand a chance."
"No." Maria said.
The man looked at her.
"What did you say?"
"I will never fight for you again."
The man smiled.
"Oh really?"
He tried to backhand her. Like he did years ago the last time she said no.
But this wasn't the same Maria.
She easily dodges it and countered with a powerful right cross.
The punch hit him so hard that it knocks him right out of his seat.
Before he could get up and call for help she grabbed him and slammed his face on the desk.
"That's for Papa." She said.
She then kneed him in the ribs breaking them.
"That's for all the kids you made me kill."
As he fell, gasping for air she wrapped her arm around his neck.
"And this is for me you son of a bitch!"
She squeezes his neck cutting off his air flow.
She wanted him to die slowly.
He struggle for a bit, but she didn't let go.
After a few minutes his body went limp.
Maria let go and sat on the floor looking at the door.
Any second his henchmen would come in and find her.
She didn't care.
She had her revenge.
All of the sudden she heard yelling in the next room.
"They must have heard me." She thought.
More yelling came from the room…as well as screaming.
She didn't care enough to look.
The door then slammed open and a man walked in carrying a sword.
Maria closed her eyes.
"Please," she said, "Set me free."
She was expecting the man to kill her.
But death did not come.
"Very good." The man said, "He was at least three times your size and yet by the looks of it you easily disposed of him."
He then help Maria up and led her out.
She saw the dead bodies of the man's henchmen all over the next room.
"Quick, we don't have much time." The man said as he led her outside.
Outside was a car with a teen boy in the driver's seat.
As she sat in the back, the two in the front talked while they drove off.
"Who is she?" the driver asked.
"Our third member." The man with the sword said.
The driver turned his head.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
The man with the sword then turns around and looked Maria in the face.
"I owe you fifteen grand." He said.
"For what?" she asked.
"For the man you killed." He said with a smile, "How would you like to join us?"
Maria didn't even pause to think.
"No."
Barracuda had had enough.
She ran to Boa and Fang and pulled out one of her daggers.
"HEY UGLY!" she yelled.
Fang turned his head just as Barracuda threw the dagger.
It hit him right in the middle of his forehead.
Maria walked into her small apartment.
Her fifteen grand that she got last year was running out.
She couldn't get a job. She didn't have any other skills.
She couldn't make any friends, her scars scared them away.
"Why," she thought, "Why can't I do anything else?"
As Fangs body slump to the ground Barracuda stomp up right to Boa.
"What the hell is your problem!" she yelled right to her face.
"What?" Boa asks with a dry tone.
"Well first, what part of team don't you understand and second, what the hell was up with that bullshit fight you just had with spider man? You could have finished him off at any time yet you decided to dance around like an idiot."
Boa shrugs, "I wanted to give him a fighting chance."
A few more months past and she ran out of money.
Fifteen grand doesn't last long when that's all you have.
She was now holding a card that the man with the sword gave her.
"If you ever change your mind give me a call."
Barracuda wasn't buying Boa's excuse.
"Then why didn't you give the other two a fighting chance."
Boa turned away, "You wouldn't understand."
Maria walked into an airport with a suitcase of all she had left.
She saw the man with the sword.
"I'm so glad you called." He said.
As the two started to walk towards their plane the man started talking.
"We have few new members' since we last met. They're a little rough around the edges. Would you mind helping me train them?"
Maria nodded.
"Good." He smiled, "Oh and one more thing."
He then brushes her hair aside and looks at the remains of her ears.
"I know a few good surgeons." He said, "Just say the word and you'll have new ears in no time."
"No thank you." She said.
"If that's what you want." He said as they boarded the plane, "May I ask why?"
"They were the last gift my father gave me."
She knew why her father did what he did, and just like her father hoped, she forgave him.
"Owl, come in." Barracuda said.
"This is Owl."
"Targets number 15 and 16 are down…as well as number 18."
"How did that happen?"
"From what I can gather number 18 seemed to be friends with the two targets."
"That's great news. All of you can head back now."
Barracuda and Eel started to leave but Boa stayed behind.
"At least it was quick." Boa thought, "At least they didn't have to see the other one die."
She fell to the ground and cried.
"At least they're together now."
Fox went up to Boa and helped her up.
"Why Boa cry?"
"You wouldn't understand Fox."
"Fox would understand." He said, "Boa must give Fox a chance."
"Maybe later." She said as the two joined up with Barracuda and Eel.
Maria didn't die when her father was killed; she didn't die when she killed her first person, and she didn't die when she had her revenge.
She died when she made that call to Owl.
And Boa was born when she walked into the airport.