Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Grey ❯ Jump City's Own Guardian Angel ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Prologue - The Beast


         The beast paid no heed to the flashing green and blue lights as they flared to life quite suddenly. The droning sound of alarms cut painfully in it's ears, but the prey was too much to resist, so much so that these simple distractions would not hinder it's desire. As it stalked forward, simply sweeping aside any obstruction that presented itself, the beast finally spied what its other senses had it lead to. The girls screamed as it rose up upon thin hind-legs, roaring in response. Before, the beast had kept it's hunting silent as it had no intention of sharing it's meal with the pack, but with victory only seconds away the fairly nightmarish creature would have no qualms about the noise of battle. The beast resembled a rather wolfish serpent with armor like scales gleaming obsidian across it's entire form, only breaking the color with a mane of bright red hair, empty white eyes and a jaw of blood washed daggers. However, the roar alone easily struck fear into the two unfortunate store clerks who had been charged with closing shop when the sales girl had spotted a swarm of similar demons tearing their way into the now dark mall. She had attempted to mask her and her friends' presence by shutting down the apparel store's lights and hiding behind a desk. Much to their dismay, however, one of the beasts must have spotted them and had not hesitated in tracking them down for now it stood tall above them, moments away from ending their lives.
         "Hey cuddles!"
         The beast turned, growling. Leave it to be that something would interrupt it's hunt. The sight which greeted the monsters hollow eyes was that of two outlines - one of a diminutive figure wearing a simple cape and brandishing some kind of pole weapon, the other a large, muscular looking man covered in cybernetic augmentations glowing an ice blue - standing before a backdrop of carnage. What remained of the beasts pack now covered the mall floor in heaps, squelched under the barrage of green projectiles, black energy and what seemed to be a green Tyrannosaurus Rex. The monster roared in anger and grief at the loss of it's brethren and leaped the clerk's counter and propelled itself directly at the two standing nearest to it.
         However, with the quick extension of his arm, the large man seemed to lash out with blue energy that felt like a superheated firehose striking the beast and crushing it's body back directly into the counter, pulverizing it into wood splinters and drawing another scream from the two girls. The beast would shrug off the useless pain with a shake of it's head only to glimpse at the smaller flying directly at it before the world would go black with only the sound of bone shattering to announce it's departure into the afterlife.


         The green and red clad warrior struck the monster twice more with his bo-staff before a heavy hand would grasp his shoulder.
         "Robin! Get a grip, that's the last of 'em," announced Cyborg. The boy wonder only shook his head and shifted his weapon so that it's ends sunk back into a simple rod and clipped it to his belt.
         "I seriously doubt that."
         The two would simply check to see if the two girls they had saved were alright before rejoining the others. They were all showing signs of wear and tear accumulated from the recent battles taking place all through the night. They had been called to an old warehouse in the early evening to find near fifty of the same beasts they had been fighting all night, never quite making it back to the Tower before another distress call would be put out on their signal. Now the Titans stood before each other in different levels of physical as well as emotional turmoil. Their leader, Robin, had attained several cuts and bruises along with a hastily made bandage around his left bicep where one of the demons had gotten a little too nippy and was becoming exceedingly more and more aggravated as the night dragged into early morning. Starfire looked exhausted, her normally joyous green eyes now reflecting her lack of rest, as well as small wounds similar to Robin's own. Cyborg looked, for lack of a better word, banged-up with several dents and scratches punched into his armor and a depressing crack in that glowing red eye. Raven's own wounds would be easily covered by her voluminous cloak, though it too suffered many tears and jagged cuts along it's surface - reflecting her mood perfectly. Beastboy had suffered a trio of slashes diagonally down his front which had split his belt and seemed hastily bandaged up.
         "If I weren't so sexy, I'd say we were the saddest looking bunch here," offered BB. It seemed he never really changed personalities, his jokes simply became more and more pathetic.


         Finally, back within the Titan's home base - the "T Tower" - the sun rose, it's warm beams turning the smooth surface of their personal island's surrounding waters a beautiful orange and yellow. Robin had fallen asleep upon the main room couch, sitting there all night waiting for the next alarm while his team tended to themselves. Now as the sunlight washed over his face he would awaken with the nightmare of last night still fresh in his memory. They couldn't keep going like this, it was too much for them to spend night after night fending off such numerous foes. They could all easily handle one to one odds, two to one if they were strong enough. But ten to one was just too much, especially every night if Robin's suspicions were correct. First things first, though - even the odds as best he could. So that's what they'd do first, while they still had time before nightfall.


One - Jump City's Own Guardian Angel

         "Why do we wait for him on the roof when the only passage here is underground?" questioned Starfire, puzzled by their whereabouts. The entire team had been forced up onto the tower's roof by Robin, after rousing them all sometime in the afternoon. He had told them that they needed more help and the nearest they could get was already on his way - it was only fitting to have a joyous welcome before they were all shoved back into little pits of Hell.
         "Because this is where he said he'd meet us," answered Robin.
         Beastboy quirked a brow as Cyborg plodded up to the group, parts of his cybernetic armor still showing signs of their previous battles as the big man hadn't enough spare equipment to repair it all. The changeling would laugh as Cyborg mumbled something about how difficult ordering parts had become.
         "Please press one for English," he joked, placing his hand to his head in a makeshift telephone, "thank you, please wait - click! Beep beep beep!"
         "Can it, shrimp," Cyborg growled in response.
         "C'mon Cy, you know I'm funny!"
         "If that's what you wanna call lame, then sure - your funny. REAL funny."
         And without hesitation, Beastboy leapt atop his much larger mechanical friend and taking on monkey form to beat on him as Cyborg tried to wrestle the green chimp down. Raven would roll her weary violet eyes and turn away from the childish fight only to spot something amongst the blue sky, high above Jump City.
         "I think.. I see him," she would announce. In reaction the whole team would turn to her then follow the mage's own vision as she pointed. Though the Titans were all thinking something different about the newcomer, what slowly made it's way into their field of vision wasn't quite what any of them had expected. Wearing a black t-shirt and vest with crossing white belts on his chest, white pants and black boots. He flew towards them gliding on a pair of purple and violet wings that seemed to be made of a transparent smoke. Strangely, he carried a simple red suitcase and travelbag which hung below him by lazy arms.
         BB would nudge Cyborg and whisper, "He seems to like black, must be Raven's type."
         "I heard that," growled the aforementioned mage, bringing a grimace to Beastboy's face.
         Robin would turn to glare at the two, silencing them just as their new ally set down at the edge of the great T Tower and began walking towards them, a friendly smile across his face as those mystic wings simply pulled into his back, like smoke being inhaled through two tiny holes under his shoulder blades. As he approached, the Titans' red and green clad leader blinked then made a motion towards the new arrival.
         "Titans, meet Skyangel."
         He stopped a few feet away from them, dropped his suitcase and pushed a pair of red lens shades up onto his forehead which pushed aside strands of black hair which fell from a middle part - the rest of which was combed back and spiked not unlike Robin's, just not quite so built up.
         "Let me guess: Cyborg, Beastboy, Raven, Robin and Starfire," Skyangel would point at each of them in order as he named them off. Beastboy would grin and cheerfully respond, "Hey, he got us all right! We must be popular or something."
         Skyangel would then snap to attention and stare at Robin, "Sir! I hope it isn't a problem, but I got everyone something to show my gratefulness for taking me on as a Temporary Titan, sir!"
         At this, Robin would blink then close his slack-jaw before nodding with amusement, "No, it isn't a problem-!"
         Before he could finish the sentence, Skyangel suddenly zipped over to the first on his left and offer a fist. Cyborg recovered from the startling approach and would pound his own metallic fist down on their new ally's.
         "What up, Sky?"
         He would look on curiously as 'Sky' forced his free hand into that travelbag he had yet to release, scrounged around then produced a square case and hand it to the cybernetic giant. Cy peered at it for a moment before grinning and adding "a GameStation Virtual Reality headset, neat!" before Skyangel turned to the next in line: Beastboy. The shorter green lad's brow furrowed to Cyborg's announcement of the headset.
         "Dude, that's so unfair!" exclaimed BB, to which Robin almost face vaulted at his utter lack of respect.
         "Revenge of the Vampire Zombies from Space Four," read their new ally then handed the DVD to Beastboy and grinned, "What were you saying?"
         "Sweet - Thanks man!"
         To this point Raven had been watching with a look of little to no interest. However when Sky turned to her and bowed in an oriental fashion, Raven had to admit to herself that she was curious as to what this newcomer would think her tastes were. When he straightened from the bow, Sky produced what could only be described as a tome from his travelbag and offered it to the cloaked mage. She took it with both hands and looked to him questioningly.
         "The book itself has no real name, but many of my people call it Deus Imber ," he offered.
         Raven's head would cant to the side slightly as she uttered 'thank you' before sliding it under her left arm. When it was Robin's turn, he just shook Skyangel's hand when it was offered and watched him bury his arm into the travelbag. The Titan's leader was suspicious of how their new ally seemed to know so much about them. Sure they were popular in Jump City, but things like their interests and hobbies weren't very public. However when Skyangel drew a strange disc like device and planted it into Robin's hands, the boy wonder couldn't help but ask what it was.
         "It's designed like your Birdirangs but will electrocute whatever it strikes before automatically returning to you. I call it a Voltirang!.. Sir."
         Robin nodded, amused by the 'sirs,' "Thanks Skyangel, but you really don't have to call me Sir."
         "I'll try not to Sir- uh.. Robin!"
         Starfire was practically bouncing on her heels in curiosity as to what her new friend had gotten her. When he pulled a strange box from his travelbag, throwing the rest of his luggage aside to gallantly bow and offer the gift like it was something far too holy for him to otherwise handle, she took it up and removed the lid to reveal a six-pack of..
         "Mustard!" Star cried, hugging the box close to her in shameless love.
         The other four Titans' jaws dropped in disgust, Beastboy getting out a "Bleck!" as Cyborg's head shot into the air on a disjointed spring. Raven and the boy wonder could only face vault helplessly. As they recovered, Starfire took Sky's shoulders and lifted him high into the air, spinning around gleefully.
         "Oh, thank you many times new friend Skyangel!"
         She sat him back down and he had to hold his head to keep from falling over, eyes spinning dizzily behind those red shades which had slipped back down onto the bridge of his nose in a disjointed angle during the merry-go-round of glee.
         "Heh, your welcome, sheesh."
         Robin, slightly peeved by Starfire's attention to the newcomer coughed to return focus back to the boy wonder then announced, "Well Skyangel, if you grab your stuff we can show you your room then we'll brief you on why we asked for your assistance."
         "Right, sure," he would reply, then carefully move to his luggage and gather it all together, "where to?"


         The Titans gathered in the main living space around their holographic projector. Cyborg would toggle a few keys to bring up a screen displaying the serpentine monsters they had been forced to fight eight times in the span of two nights. Data began to run by the beast as Robin turned to explain.
         "So far we've been unable to discover their source. All we know is that they travel in packs of fifty, only attack at night and don't really stop fighting until you kill them. Otherwise they're quite a nasty thing to fight, so you need to stay on your toes."
         "What do you call them," asked Sky. Robin faltered but Beastboy easily gave him time.
         "Last time I heard, Cy called them 'cuddles.'"
         Cyborg would glare at the diminutive green shape shifter, "c'mon, you know what I meant."
         "We... Really don't have a name for them yet," sighed Robin, "mostly, we've been worrying about how to stop them."
         Skyangel nodded. Star took the opportunity to momentarily pause sucking her second bottle of mustard down to ask, "why is 'cuddles' not a wise name for these monsters?"
         "Would you seriously want to cuddle one of those things?" asked Raven dryly, motioning to the fierce demon on screen.
         "I do see what you mean."
         "Why do we have to have a name for them anyway?" the magus would question arrogantly. As usual, Beastboy had an answer, though it wouldn't actually change Raven's perspective on the matter.
         "You gotta admit, Rae: Everything strange in Jump City has a title. Cinderblock, HIVE, even us - the Teen Titans. So now we have these cuddle things."
         Cyborg would point at the changeling and growl, "Would you just drop that, please?"
         During the little quarrel, Sky would place two fingers on his chin in thought before blinking with a sudden idea.
         "How about this: Wardogs? I mean, they have the body shape of wolves, work in large numbers and don't quit fighting until dead."
         "Anything to stop this inane fighting," Raven groaned. Robin just smacked his forehead and sighed, "Fine, Wardogs. Whatever," turning and keying in another set of buttons, Robin brought up a screen displaying several of the 'Wardogs' in action.
         "As you can see, they have yet to reveal any supernatural powers, simply fighting with their own speed and strength. And don't let their teeth near you - they've got quite a nasty bite," as he spoke, the boy wonder would pull his left sleeve back to display the still bandaged left bicep, "well, I suppose that's all. Rest up as best you can before sunset. Dinner's at five instead of six tonight."
         The Titans then broke away from the screen, Cyborg resetting the hologram and powering up his beloved GameStation as BB sat on their long couch and snagged a controller to wait for his big friend to join in a match. Starfire moved into the kitchen - still enjoying her bottle of mustard - intending to make a Tamaran Welcoming Feast for their new ally as Raven glided to the door on her way back to her room. Skyangel meant to return to his room as well, but Robin would halt him with a hand upon the newcomer's shoulder.
         "Sky, wait. I need to ask you something."
         "Sure, what's up," Skyangel would reply.
         "Look, I know you told me about your abilities, but we simply don't have the time to go through them all. Can you tell me now that you have complete control over your powers and that I won't be risking the team tonight having you join us before running any tests?"
         Skyangel would turn fully to his leader but contemplated what he had just been asked. After a moment, Sky would nod and say, "Yes, sir, my abilities will not be a threat to the Titans."
         With that Robin would smile and nod, relieving Skyangel of his soldier-like stance, "Good to hear it, Sky. Now rest up, it's going to be a long night."


         The beast took a quick whiff of the air, checking to make sure it had not been fooled. Stalking down the dark hallway, it felt a pang of isolation but easily shoved it aside. This particular monster had been raised away from its pack, taught against its instincts that it didn't need the pack. The beast, being an individual, had also acquired a name - Sethriel - and was spoken to by it's master as a male, though amongst Sethriel's race there really was no gender division. Thus, raised alone and given a title, he was special and he felt special though he wasn't quite sure why. His race was taught of war and mass slaughter, yet he was taught of stealth and information. He had been taught spoken language and the ability to ignore his instincts to do more than just kill and retrieve.
         Now, he put his strange skills to work, soundlessly moving around a corner and remain in the shadow. Sethriel had been made more like the darkness by his master. His hind leg's claws had been removed to prevent from any catching on carpet or clicking upon solid floor. His red mane had been cut short and dyed black to contain it's otherwise vibrant red, along with his teeth. The only thing Sethriel really had to worry about was noise and his eyes, otherwise he could easily be mistaken for just another shadow on the wall to unwary prey.
         And now, as he waited, Sethriel's advanced hearing easily picked up voices. Soon after, a door slid open ahead of him to wash a section of the hall in light. Sethriel easily avoided it and watched as a shadow played across the beam before a cloaked figure glided out into the hall, turning away from him to move down the corridor. After the form had vanished around another corner, Sethriel moved to the open door and quickly peered inside and spotted four of his prey, recognizing them instantly. In his language lessons, Sethriel had been taught of five people he would later be sent to assassinate. Now the three his master had called "ra-ben, si-boarg and beest-boy" gathered in a room with a fourth Sethriel had not recognized. The one he had seen leave the others was "ray-vin," but Sethriel was unable to locate "star-fyer."
         He could then hear his master's instructing voice play through his mind, ordering him to "try to capture one alive." Sethriel's mind told him moments after that an isolated enemy was much less difficult to take alive than in a group. He would move past the door quickly and follow his foolish prey that had separated herself from the rest of her pack. Sethriel saw himself as brilliant amongst his race. Now he could capture this "ray-vin" and hide her away then wait for the rest of his prey to separate themselves to search for their missing comrade. In doing so, he would simply kill them one by one then return to his master with the captive.
         Moving quickly down the corridor, away from the still open door, Sethriel followed his prey's pathway into another long hall with doors on either side. They were all a simple square without any handles and had something written across each one which confused the beast. He had not been taught written language as his master thought it was not necessary for Sethriel's missions. However sound only emanated from one, the sound of water running. He would check there first and stalk quietly down the hallway and approach the door at an angle, curious as to how to open it without alerting his prey. The question answered itself as the door slid automatically into the wall, revealing a dark room covered in bookshelves on one side, a bed and cabinets on the other. The room's only source of light were several candles and a dim wash from another room near the bed, which was where the sound of running water came from. Perfect , thought Sethriel.