Teen Titans: Ashes and Blood

It was a beautiful day. The crisp morning air whisked about, you could hear the birds in the distance, the waves splashed against the cay that housed Titan's Tower. Enormous and glimmering in the morning sun, if you listened closely, you could almost hear Cyborg. Almost. 

5/10/14
Morning
Titans Tower

"And don't, I repeat don't touch the T-Car! In fact, Imma take the keys with me." Cyborg remarked talking to three uncomfortable teens, and he wasn't done yet either. "The T-Sub! Don't touch my T-Sub! It's not that I don't trust y'all, I give this speech to the other Titans every time I go out on League business. I find scuff marks on this," Cyborg pointed, "we're going to have a problem." As he finished, Robin came walking down with another, an angelic looking man wearing silver and gold armor. Introductions were all out of the way, the team knew him as Jotis. 

"What if they need to use it?" Robin asked walking down the steps into the garage. "Last I checked, I don't think any of these guys can breathe underwater." Robin continued approaching Cyborg. 

"We got rebreathers, Robin, they don't need no sub!"
"Jotis can't swim. Not with his wings and armor at least."
"He doesn't know how to drive this thing!"
"He's driven a high tech alien space craft. Plus you can leave the manual with Sparky, he's a smart kid."
"Yeah well-…"

Cyborg crossed his arms, Robin raised an eyebrow. He looked away and began mumbling something about a spiky haired punk. It only put a smile on Robin's face. 

It was just then, Starfire popped her head into the garage. "Friends! There you are!" She beamed, then tried to squeeze through the door with a gigantic purple backpack, well more than four times her size. Tentacles were poking out and jell-o was leaking out the top. "Hurry! What are we waiting for! The celebration of  Tobeckpliz only comes once every five-thousand Morflarks!" She said excitedly rambled on making her way to the T-Ship past the rest of the Titans "We must make haste to make it to the Night of Glorplack so we may collect Doopar Beads as we crush Mokap berries under our feet and drink Smuzmar until we're dizzy and pass out!" Starfire giddily stuffed the T-Ship with her bag before flying out and grabbing another. "And we can play Kogmeck ball and Smuzmar pong and Flooshstek and Smick Tar Ro and-" Starfire trailed off still happy as ever.

Just as she left to get another bag, Beast Boy and Raven walked in with duffle bags of their own. "So if you say we find a room, there's a chance?" Beast Boy puffed his chest and raised his eyebrows. "I'm saying if I find you in my room, I'm going to beat you senseless." Raven annoyingly sighed walking to the T-Ship, the couple ignoring what was going on between the Titans gathering. "So… there's a chance?" He asked confused. Raven only sighed and rolled her eyes. 

Starfire came back into the garage, with yet another bag, still towering over her. "Only once in every five-thousand Morflarks friends! We must hurry!" She urged, still smiling from ear to ear. 

"I haven't finished going over Tower maintenance yet!" Cyborg complained. 
"That's fine Cyborg," Robin replied calming him down, "we left the manual on the top of the main computer. They'll be fine Cyborg."

Robin then turned to the four New Titans, handing them each a communicator with large T engraved in the center. 

"These will help you guys get in contact with each other in case anything goes wrong. There are spares in the safe in the common room in case anything happens to them."

To say that Zero had heard a single word of what Cyborg said would be wrong. Out in the city, you looked out and saw Titan's Tower and only dreamed of what it would be like. To actually be inside the tower looking back? It almost felt like he was in some kind of a fantasy. The high celing, the glittering gadgets and gizmos that Cyborg had been displaying to them, the enourmous open windows..... it was all too unreal. And to think, it was hardly that long ago that him and Karmy were out in the city, only HOPING to be here. And now, they had bright yellow communicators clenched in their hands. There was a certain thrill, a rush of electricity going through his nerves that made him only want to prove that the titans had made the right decisions. Zero lightly jabbed Karmy with his elbow, and flashed her a big thumbs up and a confident grin- they made it to the big time...

But whereas Zero was in awe of the abstract circumstances, Stewart was far to engrossed in what his eyes were beholding. Each shiny new toy Cyborg showed them made his eyes glisten with delight. He was about to be left in a hyper advanced tower, with some of the most advanced human technology every. Hell, Cyborg's toys could give what was back at Lexcorp a run for it. The computers, the Cars and flying submarine spaceships... oh baby, he should've put his application in for the Titans instead of Lex in the first place! He almost went into warp 9 when Robin told Cyborg to leave the T-sub manual with him. "Yes please, leave the manual with sparky!" He practically salivated, an eager spark in his eyes. And when Robin tossed him a communicator? His brain went into the same state as a kid at Christmas. 'I wonder how it works? Do the titans have their own network, or the use leauge satelites? No, no doubt Cyborg has his own grid. What kind of batteries, is it one of those high- capacity permanant ones? No, probably rechargable. I bet if I pop it open I can turn it into a signal jammer with a few tweaks to the GPS transmitter....' Yeah, he was in the zone, 150% in the zone...
[Lousy intro post is lousy >.>.........]

Looper giggled and flashed her best friend a big grin. "Can you believe it, dude?" she said in a low voice so the Titans couldn't hear her. "The actual Titans Tower?! We're standing in it. Our feet are actually touching the floor where Titans have stood!" Having dreamed of this for a long time, it almost didn't feel real to her. For all she knew, this could be a dream. Ever since she stumbled out of that forest, with no memory of who she was or where she was, and found Zero, she was never really sure if this was all real. But Zero kept her sane and made everything seem real to her. It was thanks to him that she was still alive to this day. They were ready for this. Who would've thought that two young amnesiacs would have made it to the big leagues? "And that's the real Beast Boy! And Starfire!"

Everyone in the room… every single one was just a kid. The only exception was Cyborg, but he seemed to act like a kid. Sure, Thanagarians were trained up to be soldiers, but to Jotis, he knew when people were military trained, and none of their stances showed any experience. Not even their leader, the one they called Robin. Jotis decided to keep it to himself, though he did find it odd that the city would entrust their lives with veritable amateurs. He wanted to do something about the constant whispering between the other teens, but the goofiness that ensued made the whispering hardly trivial. 

He didn't like it. 

While the Titans didn't hear Karma whispering, Beast Boy did hear her last comment after he was done loading his duffle bag. "Hey! I'm real! At least I think I'm real." Beast Boy said checking himself. Nevertheless, he approached her, leaving Raven's side. 

"I'm very flexible, if you know what I mean." He turned into a snake, then an octopus, then a horse, then back to normal, "If you're into that kinda stuff, cause I'm getting nowhere with her." He said throwing an arm over Karma and pointing at Raven. Before she could open her mouth he spotted Jotis and transformed into a hawk, landing on his shoulder.

"Sweet wings, Hawkboy!" He clamored, only when Jotis grabbed him by the neck and tossed him off his shoulder, angrily. Beast Boy managed to transform back into a human before hitting the ground. "Ohh tough guy, huh?"

"Don't," he said brushing off his shoulder, "call me Hawkboy." Jotis sneered. 

"Gee, someone could get a little sensitive-…ah!!" Beast Boy squealed as Raven pinched him by the ear and dragged him away. "C'mon you. Get into the ship!" She seethed. 

Robin, admittedly embarrassed by the shenanigans, scratched the back of his head. "We'll be back in nine months. Help yourself to the fridge, if you need us, we can be contacted through the satellite, oh and guys" Robin said turning to the three Teens who had been enduring Cyborg's lecture on Tower Maintenance, "Listen to Jotis... I'm issuing him as your leader." Starfire came back in with another impressive backpack hung over her and this time Silkie in her arms. "Once in every five-thousand Morflocks, Robin! C'mon! We are going to be late!!" She said stuffing the T-Ship and getting in, followed by Cyborg. 

"And don't destroy the Tower when we come back!" Robin yelled, hopping in with the rest of his team. "And my T-Car! Don't touch the T-Car! I see fingerprints on my windshield, we're going to have a problem!" Cyborg screamed before the airtight cockpits closed and the Ship began making a loud humming sound. 

Lights flickered and the ground began to rumble, lights flickered and flashed, the T-Ship began to emit waves of air, smoke, and heat. The top of the garage at Titan's Tower opened up, revealing the blue morning skies. Then the ship took off into the clearness.  

Jotis sighed and looked at the others. "Well, this is it." He said, feeling like he was actually more responsible for babysitting the new Titans.

Zero was about to grace with Beastboy with a force shot to the kiwis as he hung all over Karm, but after seeing Jotis crumple him up like old tissue paper, he replaced his mild mountain of jealousy with a small bit of pity. "Personal note; let's not piss this guy off...." He muttered, sub- contiously taking a step back from Jotis. But his attention was quickly taken back to the titans, as they piled into the T-ship and blasted into the sky. The sight of it roaring into the sky, the loud howl of the launch rattling inside his chest, the bright trail of smoke and flame pouring out of the engines like a river, it was impressive, to say the least. And the cherry on top was that he was doing this all with his closest friend in the whole world. He slyly snuck his hand over Karm's as he watched the bright orange ship scream into the atmosphere, getting smaller and smaller with each passing second.

Not a bad start to the day.

But his eyes drifted back to their appointed leader once the T-ship was well gone from the sky. "So, what's first on the agenda? Patrol? Training? Something else?" He inquired curiously. He was eager to get started.
---
But before he got his reply, Zero took a quick look over at Sparky, whom had been keeping quiet despite the shenanigans. The Manuals for the tower systems lay strewn beside him in a cluttered heap as he read a praticularly thick one, titled "Tower security, Part: II" and Sparky looked hardly stumped. In fact, it looked like he would EAT the book if he could. His eyes darted across the page with machine like effeciency and ruthelessness, as if he could somehow suck the words off the page and right into his mind via his pupils. A borderline unlealthily content smile crept across his face- oh, this was a good damn read for him! The advanced wiring behind the walls, the intricate nature of the firewalls and the power of the programing code in the computer banks that tied it all together... Oh, it was sweet nectar! It was like he was starving, and suddenly taken to a Vegas Buffet! 'He looks like he's going to rape that book....' Zero quickly thought to himself, before turning his attention back to Jotis....

[Writting Sparky in his spastastic moments is quite fun~]

"Oh wow, uhm." Looper stuttered out nervously when Beast Boy had approached, her face turning bright red. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever believe that a Titan, let alone her favorite Titan, would ever hit on her. So, rest assure, she had no idea what to when Beast Boy came on to her. Stumbling her words like a love struck puppy was not what she expected herself to do. Thank goodness Zero was there, or she might've started panicking. After that, she managed to keep her cool until Raven dragged Beast Boys magnificent butt onto the T-Ship. Letting go of Zeros hand, she ran up to the large windows just in time to see the ship zooming up into the air. Even though they obviously couldn't see her, she waved to the ship as it blasted off.

Turning back to the small team, walked back over to them. "Man it's a real sausage fest in here."

Jotis closed the bay doors, Looper's remark didn't make sense to him. He didn't plan on making any sausages, and he didn't see any sausages in the fridge. There was no fest as far as he was concerned, so as he usually did, he igored the unusual comment; it annoyed him that he didn't understand her strange language. He then turned to Zero. He didn't feel like training or patroling or anything to be honest. He pictured this operation to be less like this, and more like a Justice League level of professionalism. I mean... they were all kids. The Teens that blasted off into space were probably not more older than the teens he was surrounded by right now. He shook his head, "No," he began, "no, I suggest we settle in to the new environment. Check out your designated rooms, meet back in the common room at noon." He said walking off and out the garage door back into the meat of the Tower.

Inside, Jotis placed his hand on the pad located next to his door to his room. It even had his name engraved on the front. They probably had hundreds of rooms that never went in use, so they figured while he was there, it wouldn't matter if his handprints and name were locked to the room. The pad finished scanning his hand and the door unlocked. Walking in, the door shut behind him. He liked it. A large bed to accommodate his wings, a window, high up, near the roof. They even had a shelve filled with books on Earthly culture so he could get himself acquainted easier. Bathroom on the right, very homely, designed for him. Nothing like Thanagar, but it would do. The complimentary breakfast was nice of the Titans to make them, and it rested well in his stomach. Oh! That's what Looper was probably talking about. They did happen to make a lot of sausages with the eggs and toast. That was a while ago though. It still confused him, and he didn't like it.

Zero raised his eyebrows excitedly when Jotis announced that they had until noon to simply explore. "Sausage fest or not, we've got the romp of the place 'till noon." He observed, before casting a devilish grin to Looper. "But I bet I can find our room before you." He playfully dared Looper. "Hey, Sparky, wha-" He had turned to make the same dare to Sparky, but after seeing that he was already good and gone, figured that he had already made a beeline for his own room, no doubt to get further inhaled by the manuals and machiney that he could find. "-or not." He concluded. "Where was I...? Oh yeah, I was about to kick your butt." Zero teased Looper, playful excitement lacing his voice....
---
What was THIS?! Sparky had been hot on Jotis's heels in terms of finding a room, and the moment his hand scanner beeped him into the room, it was like he was a kid in a toy store. A workbench had been set up, and various peices of Cyborg's older or run- down machinery was sprawled out before him. Ooh, they were going to have so much fun! He grabbed a welding torch, and immediately got to work prying parts apart and putting them back together.....

Looper couldn't help but be a little creeped out by Sparky, just by the way he looked like he was about to do some dirty things with all the gadgets around. Shrugging it off she turned back to Zero. "Tsh, yeah right, Z. If I remember correctly, I was the one who left you eating my dust!" She claimed with a smirk, even though that wasn't even remotely true. Through out all of their races and games, Zero usually came out on top of Looper, but she never let that get her down. "In fact, I think this time, I'l- HEY LOOK," she screamed, pointing outside the window. "A DISTRACTION!" and she bolted down the hall towards their room.

Jotis could hear them yell, run, and scream downstairs. He closed his open book that he was thumbing through, a hard covered book label The Common Agricultural Policy. It wasn't that interesting, but at least he knew what to pass the time with. He couldn't expect the unprofessionalism to stop at any point from his piers, he just hoped that it would stop if trouble came about. He flopped in bed and took off his helmet, tossing it to the side, closing his eyes, almost in pain. He glanced at the clock to his side and it read 9:45. It was going to be a long day.

Zero narrowed his eyes- so, the game was afoot, eh? He bolted off after her, jetting as fast as his feet could carry him. "Y'know, it's almost cute how you think you can whup me." He commented, keeping ever so slightly behind her as he contemplated just letting her win this once. Emphasis on ONCE, of course...

Of course, she could easily make a portal through the ceiling and the floor to make a trap, but that wasn't the way Looper played. She wanted a fair race, one without the use of their powers. So, as she veered around the next corner, she stopped suddenly, so she could jump out and surprise him as he came around.

Jotis decided to roam the halls and poke around rooms, acquainting himself with the rooms in the event of a break in. He looked around for escape routes, and hiding places. He  knocked on the windows to see how much force it would take to break out in case he had to. They were sturdy, but he could punch a hole in it in the event of an emergency. Scratching his chin he heard them coming. Were they still running around? He checked the time. 10:50 read the nearest clock against the wall in the room he was in. Walking out Jotis stepped in front of the two.

They reminded him of what happens when you let kids loose in a large building, they end up playing tag in black tie events, embarrassing their parents. Only difference here was that there were no parents.

"What on Thanagar are you two doing?"

When Jotis stepped out to block the way, Zero came to a stop so fast that smoke was practically coming off his boots. Craaaaaap, not even to his room yet and somehow he'd managed to piss off the boss. No sense in Looper taking the heat as well- Zero stepped forward to try and take the brunt of the heat. "I was chasing her about big guy, my fault." Zero stated, slightly manuvering between Looper and Jotis so that the focus was all on him....

Zero and Karma are out of breath.

"You're not kids anymore." Jotis said plainly, turning around and walking away, his wings tucked in and disappearing down a hallway. He knew he was right after second guessing himself if he was coming off as a hard ass. He rationalized the moment they stepped in the Tower they had to take on responsibilities of their own. The Tower, the City, they couldn't goof around like this anymore.

He wasn't sure how Robin had chosen these heroes, but Jotis didn't want to question that any further, knowing they were probably half a million miles away by now.

Zero waited for a few quick tense seconds after Jotis left before exhaling. "What do you say we..... just walk to the room now?" Zero asked Looper, his hands on his knees as he bent down to catch his breath for a quick second, wiping a few little beads of sweat from his brow onto his sleeve. He didn't want to tempt fate with Jotis, and it probably wouldn't hurt to just take a slow stroll about and explore the tower anyways.......

Jotis continued down several hallways, he noted them. All of them. There was a weight room, it was small by comparison to the training grounds he was use to, but he figured if it was only meant to house five teens at once, it was a proper size. Elevators, stairs, everything. He slid his hands against the walls to see how easy it would be to break apart, how solid they were. He figured which walls would have metal behind them and which structures wouldn't. He began acquainting himself with the Tower. There was a game room, a living room, the common room, the garage was downstairs, next to the basement, restrooms were on each floor, showers were in the same room, they were marked male and female. Jotis never understood the human's fascination with separating the genders for their lavatories. It was strange, but nevertheless, he accepted it. Must be a human thing.

He ran his hands across doors, to spare rooms, they were all locked and needed access codes to get in. Then he came across one that had Sparky's name engraved on it. He heard noises coming from inside. Confused, he checked the time again. The clocks read 11:15. Was he in his room all this time? Jotis thought he had told him to explore the Tower. He decided to knock on his door.

"Sparky?" He asked as if he was unsure if that was his name or not. "What are you doing in there?" He knocked harder when he didn't get an immidiate answer.

'Should I solder this circuit to this board, or that board...?' The door knocked and it sounded like Jotis said something or other, but he was too engrossed in manuvering the tiny electronics of the computers he was compiling together to acnowledge it the first time, but he was snapped back to reality when Jotis knocked a second time. He put down the tools and components he was working with and went over to the door, sliding it open for Jotis. "What's up, big guy...?" he asked, blinking as the light hit his eyes. His hands were covered in various mechanical fluids from the machines he had been working with, a nearly completed computer rig built from the parts he had been suplied on the desk behind him.

Not sure what to make of the boy, Jotis crossed his arms and looked behind him. He was making... something. "Have you been in here since the Titans left?" He asked. It was strange, he was pretty sure he was clear on exploring the tower and not locking one's self in the their room.

After Jotis was well out of earshot, Looper muttered a snide remark about the crazy bird boy before leaning against the wall to catch her breath. Running wasn't a big deal to her, but with all the new changes, she had been a little tired as of that. "Sure, but I'm a llittle curious about this place." she said, looking around the area they were currently in. There were several open doors that seemed very tempting. "There's only five Titans, you think they wouldn't need all this space. So, it makes you wonder what else is around here."

Zero stood up straight and stretched his arms in front of him, resulting in a satifying crack from his joints. "Workshops? Computer banks? Crime labs? A basement where they keep guys like sparky?" Zero speculated out loud. "I say we find out the old fashioned way..." He suggested, trotting up to the first unlocked door he could find. And it didn't disapoint- a soon as it opened, he was greeted by the sight of Robin's trophy room. Weapons and relics from the Titan's enemies adorned cases everywhere and dangled from the wall, everything ranging from Slade's mask to Control Freak's remote. Zero couldn't help but let out a sharp whistle. "Get a load of some of THIS stuff." He observed, gazing at the trove before him...
---
Sparky got that Jotis was probably a tad irritated, but he decided to cough it up to first day junk and didn't pay it much heed. "Yup. Been slapping this baby together;" Sparky pointed a thumb over his shoulder to the nearly completed computer. "Since i'm sure Cyborg would throttle me if I screwed around with his personal machine, I figured i'd just build my own." he relayed casually, as if simply building a computer out of veritable scrap was nothing...

That had been two and a half hours ago, Jotis didn't want to yell at him. Part of him did, but he didn't. He just wasn't sure what everyone was capable of just yet. He got the gist when introduced themselves, but he didn't want to crush them yet. "Sparky.." he said, still unsure of how he would keep calling him that. "I thought I told you to explore the tower. I'm not just telling you to lock yourself in the room, I'm telling you to get yourself familiar with the tower." He had to admit he was impressed with Sparky's work, but he had to know when to personal time was personal time and when he had to follow orders. Jotis wanted everyone on the same page.

"You have less than an hour left. Walk around and familiarize yourself with the Tower." Jotis said pointing down the halls, not expecting him to retaliate.

"Oh man, this is aweome!" Looper was in awe as she walked around the room. When she came across Slades mask, she a chill went down her spine and she felt very frightened all of a sudden. It was almost like de ja vu but she had never encountered the villain in her life, so she just shook it off and walked on. "I hope that if we catch any villains, we could put a trophy in here as well."

Zero perked up a slight smile at hearing how enthusiastic Looper was. It was really, really adorable when she got all excited like that. "You and me both- just wait, we'll find something awesome!" He commented confidently. Anything would be cool to add, really, even if it was small. He continued to peer around, trying to see which relics he recognized and which he didn't....
---
Sparky raised his hands in submission. "OK, ok, i'll check out the tower." He said passively. Sparky wasn't the type to even pretend he was going to butt heads with anyone, let alone the boss. "So, quick question, what do we call you in the field, just Jotis...?" He asked, trying to simply strike up small talk with Jotis as he took a few steps out of the room..

Jotis looked at the boy, he didn't like his attitude. Not one bit. He liked it even less that he would show angst to his superior. Still, he was confused at the boy's question. He wasn't sure what his question even meant. He didn't have an identity to protect, and he wasn't sure, but he knew that a mother in the right mind wouldn't call their child Beast Boy.

"You call me Jotis." He said.

5/10/14
12:00 Noon
Titan's Tower- The Common Room

Jotis was waiting in the center of the circle couches, the other Titans began filing in. His team. He motioned to the couches and everyone took a seat, he was pacing about the room, back and forth, not sure what to make of them. Being the reason he gathered everyone here.

"I trust we became rather acquainted with the Tower by now.. hopefully all of us." He began looking at Sparky in particular, "After this meeting, you can do what you wish. Go out to the town, lock yourself in the bedroom, whatever. If trouble is to occur though, I do want everyone to keep their communicators handy. Everyone understand?" The new Titans nodded their heads in agreement. "Good." Jotis said, as he stopped pacing, he had his hands folded behind his back, and his wings still tucked in. Formal, standing erect, he took a deep breath and said what he dreaded.

"Let's use this time to get to know each other." He said through his teeth, if anything it was for himself, but it had to be fruitful for the rest of the group as well.