Falling Away: a Teen Titans fic

[JazzyChick]

ok ya'll, this is my first fic, so go easy on me, okay? just kidding, i really want your feedback, negative or positive, so please be honest! so...yeah, here goes!

Falling Away





Ch. 1

Where’s the Pizza?

The Titans’ living room was bustling with activity. Robin was out getting pizza, but the other super powered teens were waiting impatiently for his return. Cyborg had just bought a new video game and was about to defeat Beast Boy for the third time in a row. Raven and Starfire were off in a corner of the room, talking amongst themselves about normal girl things. Music, annoying things BB had done recently, and just for Rae literature. They were sipping Raven’s favorite blend of herbal tea, Starfire had promised to try it. Star was laughing brightly and loud enough for both of them, her green eyes shining brightly, Raven even let a hint of a smile creep across her face.



Their conversation was interrupted by Cyborg’s sudden shout of, “Booyah!” after his victory over Beast Boy. He promptly began his well-rehearsed victory dance while chanting, “Go Cyborg! Go Cyborg! It’s your birthday! It’s your birthday!”



Beast Boy jumped up from the couch shouting, “Dude! That’s not possible! You cheated!”



“No I didn’t!” Cyborg yelled back bringing his victory dance to a premature end, “You’re just jealous!”



“I am not!”



“Yes you are!”



“No I’m not!” Their voices were rising in volume, making it almost impossible to hear anything else.



“YES YOU ARE!”



“ENOUGH!” Raven said, bringing their argument to a rapid end, “Some of us are trying to have an intelligent conversation.” With that she sat back down, continuing her conversation with Starfire.



The living room returned to a state of relative silence, Beast Boy storming into the kitchen muttering under his breath. Cyborg returned to his video game, trying to beat the high score Robin had set the day before. This time the silence was broken by Beast Boy complaining from the kitchen, “I’m hungry! Where’s Robin? He’s been gone for over an hour now!”



Raven returning to the kitchen, two empty mugs in her hand replied, “It’s a Friday night, there’s probably a lot of traffic and a lot of people out getting pizza.”



“But I’m hungry! My stomach’s starting to eat itself!” the changeling cried.



“That’s great BB, but it won’t get dinner here any faster.” With that, Raven refilled the tea mugs and walked back to the corner she was sharing with Star.



************************************************************************



Robin was frustrated. He was cold, tired, and hungry, but mostly frustrated. It had been almost an hour since he had gotten to the pizza place, the guy at the counter had messed up his order so he had to wait there for another half and hour. When he finally did get out, traffic was backed up for miles; he had been sitting at this same stop light for the last quarter of an hour! To make matters worse, he had refused Cy’s offer to use the T-car, he had wanted to take out his motorcycle and now it had stared to rain.



“Great,” the youth said to himself. All he wanted was to get the stupid pizza, which was bound to be cold by now, get it home, and eat it with his friends, and Starfire. Robin smiled at the thought of Star, his frustration forgotten for the moment. Closing his eyes, he brought up a mental image of the Tamaranian girl. Silently he explored the gentle curves of her face, the eternal depth of her eyes, the fullness of her lips. In that moment, he let the rain wash away his frustration and anger, and was alone with Starfire.



It was in that moment of contentment that the assassin chose to strike. He had been sitting in the shadows of an alleyway, waiting for the right moment to strike, and now it had come. With one, practiced and flawless movement he let fly a single tipped dart, striking the masked youth in the side. Robin let out one, almost inaudible cry as he fell the unforgiving pavement below and darkness overcame him.



************************************************************************



“Dude!” Beast Boy cried from the kitchen, disrupting the silence for the third time, “Where’s the pizza?”

[nevermore]

The only thing that isn't to my liking here is that Raven was talking to Star about things that she liked. I don't think that Star would really understand what Raven was talking about, but oh well. It was good.

[CaligoRae]

I like it JC. It will get even better when u get to the later chaps. HEHEHEHE!!! I am glad the comp does not hate u anymore. Well i am working on my 3rd chap and i'm almost done so it should be up by tonight,....hopefully. well JE NE and good job

[nevermore]

It will get better. You know you can believe me on this. (That's if you read my fanfic The Shadow) My fanfic started out terrible but when I got to chapter five, it got much better. Chapter five is without a doubt my best chapter, and that's out of twenty now. So yeah, it will definetly get better.

[JazzyChick]

i explain the whole Raven/Starfire thing in the next chapter, and its an important scene, so bear with me, please! and thx for the feedback, and remember: be honest.

[starburn1116]

Hi peoples!

good stuff!
good good stuff!

the only problem is that i can't see chapter two
that's about it
you will fix that won't you?

[Lord Welshi]

First off, before i begin criticising, let me make it clear that i like this, it seems very promising.

Ok, just a couple points. First off, you've dived headlong into the story a bit too quickly. The first chapter, and Robin's already been victim of an assassination attempt. I understand that this might be part of your dramatical technique: the chapter itself was excellently set out, with the events at the tower coinciding and contrasting the events in the streets. BUT as a starting chapter, i don;t think it works quite so well. We have minimal introduction, and then straight into the "oh dear, assassin, robin might be dead. Shame." For Titan's fans, this is a huge "oh no! robin! nooo!" moment, but for a passive viewer, it'smore like "oh. he's been shot or something. so." We've got nothing to tell us we should care about this character.

I know, i know, it's a FANfiction, meaning fans read it, but it's just good writing practice.

Other than that, thought, i liked it. Well described, nice interactions between Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven, and as i say if the chapter had been a later one, it would have worked even better.

Lord Welshi

[JazzyChick]

uhhhhh, chapter 2 is currently still in my notebook. not really sure what you're asking, but that's okay, i get confused easily (just ask CaligoRae or TeenTitansGo)

uhhhhhhhh *stares at screne in stunned silience as she reads Lord Welshi's post then runs around chanting 'Lord Welshi posted in my fic! Lord Welshi posted in my fic!* i'm honored that you liked it, and thanks for the advice. (still too stunned to think ) thx again.

[CaligoRae]

hahahaha!!! I told you it was good. I am glad peeps like it.

[Sproxie]

that was a good chapter, but it sorta skipped to the "Action" (or Robin getting knocked out) a bit quickly. otherwise, good job

[nevermore]

Lord Welshi has never posted on one of my fanfics. But yet, I don't know if that is bad or good. It would be good because the best writer on this forum would have posted on it, but it would be bad because it seems that he only posts to give advice. Sorry if I ruined the feeling of triumph for you.

[raven54]

Originally Posted by nevermore

The only thing that isn't to my liking here is that Raven was talking to Star about things that she liked. I don't think that Star would really understand what Raven was talking about, but oh well. It was good.

I think they could. Star definitely isn't stupid, just a tad naive. She's empathetic (is that a word?) and would probably understand, just see it in a brighter sense, maybe. Or not... eh.

With this story: Yeah, it's moving a tad fast but it's a VERY good first attempt. The first character interactions with Cy, Rae, and BB were true to the character and added another dimension to the mix that I like. Seemingly unimportant good character interactions are the glue that holds a fic together. It's something that i have yet to master... Aaaaaanyways, snazztastic start. Take m'Lord's advice to heart and you'll be have a great fic in no time!! (not that it isn't already great! *stuttering* oh what the heck i'm pretty sure you get what i mean )

[JazzyChick]

okay, thanks for all of your advice. here's chatper 2, and I'll try to take it a little slower.

Ch. 2

Miss. Sarah’s

Robin woke with a start. Quickly sitting up, he groaned at his body’s objections and lay back down onto the crisp sheets. His body felt bruised, beaten up. Like it did after most fights, but Robin didn’t remember being in a fight. Sitting up again, more slowly this time, and looked around at his surroundings. Expecting to see the familiar interior of the infirmary, the small dorm style room with its uniform white walls. The only furniture in the room was a small desk and made of cheap wood and the almost to small bed he was laying in. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the tenderness coming from his many bruises, taking the three steps it took to reach the other end of the room. There were no windows in the room, and the door was locked.



“This defiantly isn’t the tower,” the youth said aloud, suddenly anxious. He had been in tight situations before, but he usually had the luxury of knowing at least who was holding him. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Robin examined his situation, “Okay, I’ve still got my mask, my uniform, my utility belt’s gone so is my communicator. The only exit’s locked, and the vents are too small for me to fit through, and there’s nothing here I could use to send a message.” This made him feel better and gave him something to focus his thoughts on.



There was still a question Robin couldn’t answer: how had he gotten there? He sat back down on the bed, trying to remember what had happened. “I was out getting pizza, and it had taken a long time to get it, then traffic had been backed up. I was sitting on my bike, and it had stared to rain. I was thinking about Star,” a smile came back onto his face as he thought out loud, “and then…then…nothing!” he cried out in frustration. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember anything past that.



He brought his legs up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged. Closing his eyes again, he tried to find his center, just like Raven had taught him.



Rae had really started opening up to the team in the last few weeks. She was spending a lot of time with Starfire, Robin was glad to see the two girls on the team getting along so well. Their friendship was different than most, Star providing the emotion and Raven the calm, but it seemed to be working out all right. Of course Raven could never open up entirely to the group without risk of losing control of her powers, but it was nice to see her put her books down every once in a while.



A knock on his door brought Robin out of his meditative state. He didn’t know how long he had sat there desperately trying to remember.



“You’re welcome to come in, but the door’s locked,” he said, annoyed at the disturbance. He heard a key rattle in the door, a click, and the door opened. It revealed a young woman, probably in her late twenties or early thirties; a fake smile was plastered across her face, her voice sounded like a kindergarten teacher’s.

“Hello Robin, Miss. Sarah is glad to see that you are awake,” the woman greeted, her smile starting to become creepy.



“I’m assuming you’re Miss. Sarah?” Robin said firmly, his voice not betraying any emotion.



“Aren’t we being deductive this morning,” Robin just stared at her, “Yes, I am Miss. Sarah.”



“Where am I?” he asked sternly.



“My my, aren’t we just full of questions!”



“Where am I?” Robin asked again, his voice even more stern.



With a sigh she answered, “Miss. Sarah’s Home for Disturber Boys.”



“How did I get?”



“Now Robin, Miss. Sarah thinks that you have asked enough questions for now.”



“I could care less what Miss. Sarah thinks, how did I get here?” This lady was seriously starting to get on his nerves.



“Now Robin, when Miss. Sarah says you’ve asked enough questions, you need to stop asking them. Let’s try it again, okay? Miss. Sarah thinks that you have asked enough questions for now.”



He stared at her, dumbfounded for a long time before asking, “Are you kidding me?”



“Now now Robin, that sounded rather disrespectful, and it was another question. What did Miss. Sarah tell you about questions?”



Robin’s eye had stared involuntarily twitching, he couldn’t stand this insane woman for another minute, “First off lady, you have to earn my respect. Secondly, I will ask as many questions as I want, and you’re going to answer all of them. And thirdly, WILL YOU STOP SPEAKING IN THIRD PERSON!”



“Miss. Sarah thinks you have some unresolved anger issues that we need to deal with.” With that, she headed towards the door, key in hand.



Not giving up, he asked a third time, “How did I get here?”



As she was leaving the room, she looked back at the boy wonder saying, “Your friends the Titans sent you here.”

[nevermore]

Wow. I usually thought that I was wierd but this is probably wierder than I get. (Not a chance) Oh well, good way to end the chapter.

Now I'm telling you this from the bottom of my heart......POST SOON OR DIE SOONER!!!!

[starburn1116]

Originally Posted by nevermore

POST SOON OR DIE SOONER!!!!

oooo
that was good

very good chapter

down with miss sara!

now to add my death threat
it comes in the form of a poem
*clears throat*

roses are red
violets are purple but let's just pretend they're blue
if you don't post soon then you will be to
(blue not purple)

[JazzyChick]

wow, death threats on my first fic I'm honored

anywho, one of my teachers talks in third person, so i thought i'd get back at her through Miss. Sarah

I'll probably have ch.3 later tonight or tomorrow morning, but computers hate me, so you never know...

[Lord Welshi]

That chapter was good. I quite liked how you got Robin logically thinking through his options in the room. and miss sarah is perfect, a pedantic, condesending person who has such a high opinion of themselves that they insist on talking in the third person and treating anyone else as an inferior.

Am i right about her? heh

Lord Welshi

[Sproxie]

Wow, that was a very good chapter! and Miss Sarah is REALLY starting to freak me out...
please post soon!

[JazzyChick]

okay, just so you guys know, when i started this story it was supposed to be funny, but its more serious than i planned it to be. most of the chapters involving Robin will be not so serious, but this ch. deals with the other Titans, so uhh, tell me what you think!

Ch. 3

Missing

The sun was rising over the horizon, casting rays of light upon the Titans tower. Four youths dragged themselves through the front door, not a word spoken between them. Too tired for even Beast Boy to crack a joke, they made their way to their rooms. Each fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, everyone too tired to do anything else.



They had been out all night looking for Robin. After he had been gone two hours, they had started to get worried. When they tried to raise him on his communicator, only static answered their desperate hails. Searching the city in pairs, they had found his motorcycle and helmet: abandoned. Robin loved his bike; he would never just leave it on the side of the road with out a really good reason. It was in a fairly busy part of town, with several shops that had a good view of the street. There were plenty leads to follow, but not until they had gotten a few hours of sleep and something to eat.



Everyone woke by ten the next morning, still exhausted but too worried about Robin to notice it. The met at the breakfast table, planning and reviewing what they had learned all while stuffing themselves.



Cyborg stepped up as temporary leader of the group by opening their discussion saying, “Okay, let’s compare notes from last night. Rae, what’d you and BB find?”



Beast Boy jumped in before she could answer, “After we found Robin’s bike, we checked out the stores nearby, asking if anyone had seen anything.”



Raven stared at him for a while before adding, “I grabbed tapes from all the security cameras that had a view of the street.”



“Me and Star didn’t find much,” Cyborg began, “We followed his locator signal to the edge of the city. It was lying by the side of the road.” He angrily stared off into space, composing himself before continuing, “Okay, Best Boy tell us what the store owners saw.”



“Well I talked to a lot of people, and most of them didn’t see any of it, but then there…” the changeling began.



“BEAST BOY! Just tell us the relevant information!”Cyborg snapped at his friend.



“Okay dude, chill. I talked to this one guy who saw everything. He said eh saw Robin waiting at the stoplight for like fifteen minutes and then, just after it had started raining, he fell off his bike. Like he had passed out or something. He said robin had just laid on the ground, not moving until this other guy ran up to him. The other guy pulled Robin out of the street, and he looked like he was checking him out. You know, like seeing if he was okay, well except for the whole being unconscious part. That’s all the guy saw.” Best Boy informed them.



No one said anything for a while, mostly because they were trying to figure out exactly what Beast Boy had said. Raven broke the silence by turning to Starfire and asking, “Star, has Robin said anything to you about not feeling well, or anything that might explain him passing out for no apparent reason?”



“NO!” Starfire cried in distress, “He has been acting of the normal!”



Cyborg was thinking again by this point. He turned to Star and said, “Star, come with me. We’ll go check out the hospitals in town, see if he’s there or if he was,” he turned to Raven and Beast Boy saying, “You two take a look at those security tapes, see what you can find.” He was going to say, “Titans Go!” but it didn’t seem appropriate coming from him.



In silence, Rae and BB left the table to carry out Cyborg’s instructions. She had gotten a lot of tapes last night; this was going to take a while. Raven was glad Beast Boy was tired, that meant he wouldn’t talk too much, she really didn’t need any more distractions right now. It was getting harder and harder to control her emotions. Why hadn’t she learned by now? Don’t get close to people, bad things happened when she did. Of course, just as she had started to open up to the team, something happens to Tobin. A light bulb overhead exploded in black energy, a single tear sliding down her hooded face.



Beast Boy’s distracted mind didn’t register the bits of glass dropping form the ceiling. His shoulders were slumped, his eyes downcast. Once again he had been shot down, deserted, humiliated. No one in the Titans took him seriously; they didn’t think his jokes were funny. They didn’t understand him, and they never would.



Starfire’s eyes were glowing. Anger and fury were stirring up flames inside of her, rekindling a blaze. It wouldn’t be long before that blaze consumed her. Along side her fury lay fear. Fear that Robin was hurt, of what could happen to him if they didn’t find him, fear that she would never see him again.



Cyborg knew he should talk to Starfire. She looked like steam was about to shoot from her ears. He knew she was closer to Robin than anyone else, and this had to be really hard for her. As temporary leader, he should reach out to the members of his team, but he couldn’t. It was hard enough dealing with his own anger, let alone the complex emotions of a teenage girl. Robin made it look so easy. He was always in control, always knew what to do. Cy didn’t know how he did it.



so, what'd ya think? (did i already ask that? oh well)

[Sproxie]

good chapter!