Fan Fiction ❯ Flaming Phoenix ❯ Discovery ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

 

Discovery

 

“Who the hell are you?!” Shouted a man in his mid-twenties. He had just been slammed into the wall by Pyra, who was currently laughing because she was enjoying herself so much. “Please, I swear I won't snatch any more purses!” The thug begged.

 

“If I ever even see you sizing up some poor lady's purse, you'll learn just how mean I can get . . . understand, Pumpkin?” Pyra grinned as the guy's eyes grew to twice their normal size as he took in the flaming hair and eyes. “Just remember, I'll be able to see you. Pyra will always be able to see you.”

 

I'm a paradox, aren't I? Beating up and scaring thieves, but I keep causing my own trouble. In my own defense, I never actually take the stuff . . . I just dump it somewhere else in the store . . . but still . . .

 

Across the street, the thug from earlier was relaying his story. “I was going' to Big Ernie's . . . y'know . . . to pawn off my loot. That's when this fire-eyed demon came and started to throw me around. She said that she'd always be watchin', and would know if I swiped another purse.”

 

“Same thing happened to me, Sammy. I thought that it was a bluff, but the next time I went to Big Ern's . . . the same chick attacked me again, but she was even harder on me.” One of Sammy's friends consoled him.

 

“Me too. I've decided not to take any more chances. I'm gonna move to some other town.” Murmurs of agreement followed.

 

Hmmmn . . . I guess my message is finally getting across.

 

“What do you mean you don't know how this stuff got in here? Aren't these the exact same items that disappeared?” Robin questioned the boutique manager.

 

“No inventory is placed in garbage cans!” The manager replied, disgusted. “Icy B. Cool was right, you've lost it!”

 

“Big Papa's Pizza! Alright!” Cyborg smiled as the Titans filed into the town's pizza joint.

 

“This case is useless! Every time the stolen items are found to be misplaced, but they blame us for planting evidence! I say we forget it.” Terra concluded.

 

“Hi, I'm Amber, and I'll be your server. Can I get some drinks for you?” Asked a voice which was barely able to penetrate the fog which was a result of pure frustration.

 

“Water's fine.” Came the six murmured replies. Satisfied, the waitress left.

 

As if coming out of a haze, Robin's head snapped up from where he was reading the case files. “Was it just me, or did that waitress sound like Phoenix?”

 

On cue, Amber was back. “Here's your water. Have you decided on what kind of pizzas you would like?”

 

“Ummm . . . a medium veggie-lover and a large meat-lover please.” Terra managed to answer through awe slackened jaw.

 

When Amber left, talking erupted. “That is Phoenix!” “She looks exactly the same, except her hair is longer!” “Why doesn't she realize that it's us?” “Did she lose her memory?”

 

“Quiet!!” Robin ordered, leaving everyone stunned. “If she doesn't know who we are, there's a good chance that something caused her to forget everything. Doing something irrational could scare her, make her run, and then we'd have no chance of finding her again. It may be hard, but we can't say anything. Understood?”

 

Back in the kitchen, Amber was leaning against the door to the industrial sized freezer, trying to calm the panic in her stomach. She could feel Pyra trying to come out. That boy with the spiky black hair . . . it's him . . . the one in that vision I keep having.

 

“Ahhh!” Amber collapsed; the vision again filling her mind, twisting her insides into knots, causing her legs failed, and she collapsed on the floor. This time, the vision made her feel as if she was being sawed into tiny cubes with a dull, rusty, steak knife.

 

Vaguely, she was aware of a pair of arms encircling her body, trying to prevent her from injuring herself as she thrashed around in pain. There were voices, both inside and outside of the memory . . . and that's when Pyra took over.

 

“Is she okay?” Cyborg asked as Phoenix went limp in Robin's arms.

 

“She drank some sort of potion that's supposed to block out her memories. Apparently, her memories are strong enough to try to push out from the wall. That's what causes the pain.” Raven concluded after reading a snippet of Phoenix/Amber/Pyra's mind.

 

Suddenly, Phoenix awoke, and broke free from Robin, and then began to hover and proceeded to change. Her clothing began to shine, and then was replaced with her flame uniform (if you don't remember, read ch 35 of Phoenix's Rise). “Who are you?” She hissed.

 

“We're the Teen Titans.” Beast Boy answered calmly.

 

“No. Him.” Pyra pointed to Robin with a steely glare.

 

“My name is Robin.” He replied, trying not to reach out to her.

 

“Why do I keep having these visions? Why don't they leave me alone? Why don't you get out of my head?!”

 

“Phoenix, I-“ Robin started.

 

“My name is Pyra!” She roared as a gigantic fire-ball was thrown at them, and then she disappeared.