The San Francisco evening hung thick with fog, the kind that made the streetlights blur into ghost-like halos. I stood atop the abandoned warehouse on the pier, my new armor materializing around me in a cascade of green light that transitioned to midnight black. The transformation was instantaneous, the necklace at my chest pulsed with familiar warmth as the Nerazim-derived Protoss technology wove protective garments from pure energy. The fabric seemed to absorb light itself, dark as the void between stars, trimmed with deep purple accents that reminded me of the Dark Templar void energies I'd trained so long ago.
My fingers traced the air, conducting invisible energies. The psionic tendrils more responsive to my will now, coiling around my consciousness like half-tamed serpents. Hard-won control. I could feel Raven's meditation techniques woven into my Nerazim mental discipline.
"You're brooding again," Beast Boy's voice crackled through the comm. "And not in the cool, mysterious way. I'm worried Batman is going to sue you for copyright infringement."
I allowed myself the faintest smile. The changeling's humor had grown on me over these past days in the team.
"I am not brooding," I responded, my voice muffled in an ethereal way through the armor's fabric. "I am monitoring the docks."
"Same thing," Beast Boy replied cheerfully. "Which is why Starfire is heading your way. She says you need 'perspective.'" There was clear amusement in his tone. "Good luck with that."
The comm clicked off before I could respond. I turned to face the direction of the ocean, sensing the familiar energy signature before I saw her. Starfire descended through the fog in a controlled descent, her red hair glowing faintly from the aura of her power.
"She must be suppressing her power so that her light is as dim as possible. Clever." I thought.
She landed beside me with practiced silence, her posture balanced and ready for anything. The purple and silver armor she wore reflected the minimal light, practical and battle-tested. Her green eyes studied me with an intensity I'd come to recognize. It meant she was seeing past my defenses.
"Are you feeling alright?" Starfire asked without preamble. "Raven told me that you refused the last two times she asked you to join her in meditation." She gently placed a hand on my shoulder. "She is concerned, as am I."
"I do not require any more assisted meditation," I replied, keeping my gaze fixed on the dark waters below. "My control is stable…ish."
During the last meditation session, I felt that Raven touched the borders of my mind. I know it was an unconscious result of our meditation but I got worried.
She said she was an empath but what if she could feel more. See more. It's one thing if I tell them that I'm an alien but seeing my real form from memories is different.
For some reason, all aliens I've encountered so far seem eerily close to terrans in appearance. Superman, Supergirl, Starfire.
I finally started to feel at peace with this team. A place I can feel safe. What if they don't accept my Protoss form?
My mind spun at lightning speed as these thoughts surfaced in my mind.
"Your control is still less than desirable but perhaps passable. Your equilibrium?" Starfire stepped closer, and I could feel the warmth of her presence. Her energy was always warm, always vital. "That is another matter entirely. And I feel like you're still guarded against us."
I said nothing. What could I say? That my usual nightmares were slowly being replaced by the Titans shunning me? Or that I started to act coldly to Raven and kept refusing to meditate with her in case she could actually see my memories during those times?
Starfire waited. She had learned patience, had learned that silence was sometimes more effective than words.
"I went to Metropolis three days ago," she finally said. "The others did not know."
My head turned sharply toward her, my hand instinctively reaching for the void energies at my command. Eyes widening at the realisation of what I was doing. Void energy faded immediately.
"Kara asked to meet me." She continued, either not realising my actions or ignoring them.
"She asked about you. I told her I saw you but I couldn't tell her your location yet."
"I see. Thank you for telling me."
She smiled. Her expression indicated that she wanted to say more but that could wait for after the mission.
"Contact" Blue Beetle announced. "Two o'clock, moving toward the eastern dock. And yeah, I know what time it is; I'm being tactical."
A huge-muscled person emerged from the shadows. He had long, red hair and a goatee, and his eyes were white with no pupils. He wore a sleeveless black unitard with a yellow pattern going across his costume, and wristbands and shoes with the same pattern.
Behind him, three trucks idled with their loading ramps down. Stolen medical equipment, the intel had suggested. Nothing world-shattering, but the Titans took their responsibility seriously. This was what heroism looked like when you weren't facing apocalyptic threats or alien invasions. The small acts of prevention, the consistent defense of the vulnerable.
"That's Mammoth, he was super strength and toughness but nothing absurdly powerful." Raven very kindly informed the only person who was unfamiliar, me, about who we're facing.
"Engaging" Starfire announced, her body already beginning to glow with barely contained energy.
The Titans moved with practiced synchronization. Starfire descended in a brilliant arc of green energy, forcing the guy to raise his massive arms defensively. Blue Beetle came in from the side, his suit's weapons systems painting warning lasers across their target. Beast Boy was already shifting, his form morphing into something that looked like an Iyote, a creature found on Mar Sara.
"I think Beast Boy called it a wolf."
I could never quite predict his transformations since I wasn't familiar with this planet's animals.
I descended more slowly, deliberately. My cloak trailing, hands raised with fingers spread. Faintly red psionic energy crackled faintly around my palms, barely visible arcs that danced like contained lightning.
Mammoth roared, a sound like boulders tumbling down a mountain, and charged directly at Starfire.
"Note for the new guy." Jamie's voice came through, "he commits hard to direct engagement."
"Story of my ex-girlfriend," Beast Boy quipped, now in the form of an armored beast with a horn on its face. "No emotional intelligence whatsoever."
"Your 'ex-girlfriend' was a training dummy," Blue Beetle said. "Remember? The inflatable one?"
"And she still left me," Beast Boy replied with mock hurt.
I unleashed a subtle psionic wave that wasn't an attack, but a force field-like pressure that forced the lumbering villain to alter his trajectory. Mammoth skidded, his massive frame unable to fully compensate and Starfire's counter-strike connected cleanly across his chest. The impact cracked the ground around them.
"Thank you for the assist Voranis" Starfire called out, already launching her next assault.
The fight developed into something almost choreographed. Blue Beetle kept the pressure from range, his weapons forcing reactions. Beast Boy currently some kind of amalgamation of strength and speed that my mind struggled to categorize. Starfire brought raw power and resilience. Raven hung back, her dark magic serving as counterbalance, limiting Mammoth's movement paths.
And I tried to help here and there without disrupting their teamwork.
Mammoth finally dropped, exhausted and overwhelmed. Not dead, not even seriously wounded. Just... defeated. Apprehended. The Titans moved with efficiency to secure him with specialized restraints designed for his level of durability and strength.
"Not bad," Blue Beetle said, breathing harder than he probably expected. "New guy barely broke a sweat."
"Voranis has trained extensively," Starfire observed, though there was something almost like approval in her tone.
She approached me as the others worked, her expression unfamiliar to me. "Your new attire suits you well. It is... appropriately intimidating. Though I confess I preferred the golden armor. It was quite beautiful."
I looked down at my Dark Templar suit, then at Starfire. The mention of the golden armor didn't twist my chest the way it had weeks ago. The armor represented a time of certainty, of identity borrowed from another world. This new form represented a subtle shift. I will wear gold again…when I'm ready.
"Beauty and function need not be mutually exclusive," I replied carefully. "But this... this feels right for now."
Raven nodded slightly from where she stood, and I felt something like settlement in my mind. Progress. Growth.
"Come on," Beast Boy called out, already morphing back to human form. "The cops will handle cleanup. I'm starving, and there's this place in North Beach that makes incredible pizza. My treat, but no meat toppings!"
"You never pay." Blue Beetle said.
"Exactly" Beast Boy grinned. "That's what makes it so fun."
As the Titans moved to regroup, I remained a moment longer, looking out at the fog-shrouded bay. The psionic energies inside me were calmer. Somewhere in Metropolis, Supergirl was likely on her own patrol. And somewhere in my past, Lorelei and Cynthia remained beyond my reach. A loss that would never fully heal.
But here, now, among heroes who asked little of my past and much of my present, I felt something approaching peace.
I turned to follow the Titans, my dark cloak trailing behind me like shadow.
"Pizza sounds acceptable."