The New TEEN TITANS! (IC)

Earlier that morning, in Nova's Room

Nova raised her head slowly, letting her brow drag across the bed coverings. Ugh.. She thought. Her body was sweating, drenching the sheets. That was the least of the problems though. As she rose to her hands and knees, she saw flames across the edges of her mattress.

Outside the Tower

A burning mattress breaks through the side of the tower from the inside and plummets to the ground at the base of the tower.

Back inside Nova's Room

She looks around her room, uncomfortable about the fresh new breeze coming into her room through her self made window. She walks toward the dresser in her room and opens it, looking her clothes over. She turned from the dresser and took hold of her top. It was drenched in sweat from her dreams. Nova pulled her shirt off and discarded it off to the side. She loosed the skirt and stood now freshly bare in her room with only her stockings upon her legs. After a few minutes, she found the right set of clothes and equipped herself with a fresh pair of underwear. They were red, not that it mattered. She pulled on a skirt that was a mixture of blue. Upon looking at it, her face became red again. She thought of ice. Nova ignored it and shook her head free of the thoughts that kept clouding her mind. She finished with a black shirt and then dawned her blue jacket. To finish her attire, a red scarf was pulled over her shoulders.

Nova turned from her dresser and glanced about her room. She raised a hand and let her fingers move. Flames sparked from her fingertips. Good, she thought. She walked to the door and it opened on its own, letting her exit without a word.

Hallway

Nova walked with a purpose and determination in her steps. Likely, only Athena and Tech were up at this time. It was still early after all. As she walked, Nova raised her hands and began opening them again. A fierce extension of her fingers ignited them like matches. She moved her hands like lighters, closing, opening, closing, opening. With each time she opened her hand, flames covered her fingers. It was a test, to ensure that her flames were still her own.

Main Hall

Nova entered the main room with the super computer. She walked straight around the counter and to the fridge, opening it to see what was inside. Pizza, it quickly caught her eye. She took out two slices and mounted them upon a plate. She put the plate on the counter and began dressing her pizza. While most things in the fridge could be taken by everyone, nova was exceptionally tilted in favor against those who touched her claimed items. Peppers, exotic with such heat they could make the blood boil. Hot sauce, made from some of the worlds hottest peppers. She added the toppings to her slices of pizza before taking the plate up and placing it into the microwave. After heating it all up, she took her food and a fresh can of soft drink, and moved to the couch to see what was on TV.

Romance... She turned the channel Drama... She turned the channel. Action movie She stopped turning and began eating while watching the screen. It would be a while before training.

The Roof

Later on, Nova moved to the roof and used her time there to train herself in body. Tech was useless to her. All he ever wanted to do was make machines that did things that bored her to no end. She finally convinced him to make a punching bag that could handle her heat, one that could take the flames she emitted and ware them down to nothing.

Nova stood before the punching bag with fists raised. She took swings and jabs, with an uppercut on the side. She threw blow after blow at the bag. She did not give it a moment to rest. Finish it! She thought loudly, as she turned and swung her leg through the air. Fire waved with it and roared with a fury. SMACK! Her foot slammed hard to the bag and sent it flying off the roof. Perhaps, she overdid it. The punching bag was meant to be fire resistant after all. She forgot it wasn't in place to handle too much physical force.

The Training Field

Finally, the time for practice had come. Nova held her hands inside her coat pockets as she approached her teammates. She glanced left and right, seeing who was all there. She took note that only three of them were present at the time. Where was Red X, and Ollie, and any of the other Titans she'd heard about before? Is this all there is? Nova sighed with a heavy look. Her eyes suddenly launched a straight forward glare directly at Athena.

Athena floated with her eyes closed and and legs crossed, she made sure the things that flew off the roof didn't hit anybody and if Nova wanted her stuff back she would have to fish them out of the river. The psychic ignored Matthew's and Snow's small talk and centered herself, preparing her mind for the day was very important more so then chatting. Although Athena's eye's were closed she could feel the heat off of Nova and the glare that she was trying to run her through with. "Nova senai you're late, as you all can see Grimm, Vex, and Asima are no longer with us, this type of life demands sacrifice and it would seem that it was too much for them to bare. As for Red X I'm not sure, this does not look good for him." Athena says accidentally looking into her mind, it wasn't her fault this time Nova's mind was practically jumping at her. "You have the floor so lead us as you see fit," she said not moving and her eye's still closed. She knew she was being a bit rude but she wondered how Nova would react, she truly did not know this time because she kept her mind to herself.

Snow stood there, silent after the small exchange with Tech. She seemed in her own little world for the moment until she felt a familiar heat. Her eyes widened slightly and she looked up right as Nova walked towards them. She suddenly felt warm. Odd. Her blue eyes shifted away from Nova to focus on the floor. When it came to such things she was kind of a coward. When Athena told Nova that she was late, Snows twitched and small ice spikes shot from her fingers into the ground at her feet. The spikes were only as large as her fingernails so only someone looking at her would notice what happened. Her mind however was flailing about. Icing over with a sudden and surprising fury. Why was she angry? She didn't get angry. Her eyes lifted when Athena said the Floor was open to Nova and her attention set upon the Firebender.

Nova's fist tightened but she turned away from it. This wouldn't be the first time she would hit Athena. She wanted to believe that she did it to be a good influence; hitting the leader would cause speculation among the rest of the members. Though this was hardly the case. Nova turned her back onto the others and took a few steps away. Her arms rested behind her back. She didn't let them see her eyes turn. She looked to the side, as if to catch a small glance out of the corner of her eye at Snow. Her face had a light heat to it reflected in the pigment of her skin changing around the nose. Not now.., Nova thought. She turned to face them again as she returned to her normal state. She glared again but this time let her glare shoot down the line at all three members present on the field.

"Listen clearly," Nova called out to the teammates. She raised a hand and pointed her finger toward them. Her hand acted as a lighter and her fingertip ignited with a small flame. This was used to get inside their heads. It was like interrogation.

"Before I can help you build what you have, I need to know what you're working with."[/i] Nova approached the end of the line, starting with Athena. She began walking down it toward Tech and Snow. As she walked past Athena, her eyes glanced. "I need the details, the ones I don't know.." Her finger passes by Athena's face. The fire burning from her finger emits a strong heat that would draw sweat from her. A tactic to get her on edge. "I know you use psychic powers..." She passes Athena completely and then begins to pass Tech. "I know you use machines and gadgets...." Nova finally reaches Snow and she keeps her eyes straight ahead, not letting her eyes catch sight of the cold girl. "I know that you use ice..." Suddenly, she turned and put her back at teh others and walked away a few feet. "But how advanced are you in it... What can you do, what can't you do? Where do you lack... If you can't even tell me where you're lacking... You don't need to be here.." Her eyes turn back to them seriously.

Athena opened her eyes and her feet touched the ground, she had a new respect for Nova for not attacking her after she intentionally tried to anger her. As Nova pointed her burning finger at Athena she went cross eyed to look at it, maybe she would attack her after all but instead moved on to Tech.

Matthew felt a bit intimidated by Nova but at the same time a bit turned on. As the thoughts about Nova wearing a sexy bunny costume rolls in he fights them off in case Athena was listening to his thoughts. Matt looks to the psychic with a guilty face but Athena only gave him a quick smile before turning back to Nova. Tech gives a sigh of relief cause it seems he was lucky but he looked up at the clouds to try to clear his mind.

Athena spoke up when Nova asked about their weaknesses, intimate question to ask it was like giving someone keys to beat them. "I can only read the,minds of people I know over long distances and with enough training someone can learn to resist me, Tech can do it...some times and the villain Ghost can as well and with time you two will be able to. I can make someone forget their abilities but I have to be in physical contact. Also I can only hold my full power for 40 seconds before I break..." Athena felt a bit awkward after revealing her secrets but she needed to trust her team and hoped they would cover for her weaknesses as she would do for them.

Tech played with a small device in his hand, he knew he would have to answer now that Athena did. "I can't fight...like at all and I'm easily distracted!" He said blushing.

Snow stood there, eyes upon Nova as she went from Athena to Tech with her lit finger. When Nova got to her and did not look at her, Snows eyes shifted to the ground. Nova walked off as she continued to speak and then Snows eyes lifted a bit as Athena and Tech responded to her question. Snow replied in turn, Hand to Hand. It was all she said. She was excelent in defense and adequate at range, at least enough where hand to hand never became nessecary. Her eyes locked upon Nova after she spoke. She knew how Snow fought. As soon as she realized Nova was the better fighter she went Defensive. Novas fire even destroyed most of her defenses except for her final one but with that final defense she was not able to respond with an attack... but that was something she had been working to fix as well as something to take her physically out of the fight all together.

Nova had stopped in front of Snow and turned to face her. She looked at her only for a second before her face became lightly flushed. She ignored it and instead looked to Tech then her eyes shifted to Athena. "I know yours, now see mine." She said. Her right hand holds the flame still and it remains strong. Her other hand however reached out to Snow and took her hand. She stood with one hand in Snow's while the other maintained the fire. Nothing seemed to happen. Nova felt the cool embrace of Snow's cold aura about her and after a few moments, the flame begins to shrink. It is almost as if the cool air is sapping the flames from her. Her eyes become less fiery, as if they were being chilled from her. With hesitation, she suddenly steps back and looks past all three of them. "It's important for a team to know each others strengths and weaknesses," Nova turns and walks down the line again, paying each team member a certain amount of respect. "If we don't, we could all die. If we can't acknowledge each other... we might as well be dead."

Nova stopped her walk in front of Athena and turned to face her face to face. Resistance to telepathy would always be present, she needed to learn to use the subtle hints given to her by battle along with her telepathy to find holes in the enemies defense. What Athena should be working on is her ability to externally control her psychic power in both an offensive and defensive manner. Nova nods and takes a step forward, focusing on Athena for a moment. "Your psychic abilities should be an extension of yourself." Nova's hands rise up and take hold of Athena's. Unlike with Snow, there is no flushed face or nervous tone about it. Her fingers press to Athena's and she manipulates her hands to make them rise near chest level. Nova's palms part from Athena's to give them an inch or more of space. Nova's hands start to become very hot. Suddenly, in the space between them a fire begins to emerge from Nova's palms toward Athena. "In battle, you have little time to think." The fire approaches as Nova speaks.

"Your psychic powers can be used to shield yourself from incoming attacks.. Focus on your hands and tell your mind to keep my fire back.." Athena should feel the blistering pain of intense heat approaching. Nova was well aware how dangerous it was, but the best way to learn was to throw her into the fire. "If you don't.. Your hands will burn.." Nova appears to keep a serious face, but she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the chance to cause Athena pain.

Athena couldn't help but notice something was going on with Nova and Snow and it took all of her will power not to peek into Nova's mind to find out what was going on. When Nova grabbed her hand she blinked in confusion then got the picture when Nova's palm started to heat up, a pressure would be felt coming from Athena that would push at everyone there although it was a slight pressure Matt begun to back up. The fire was getting hotter still and it made the psychic clinch her teeth in pain but she didn't back down instead she planted her feet and willed her power to obey and shield only her hand. It would have been easier to shield her entire body but this exercise was all about control.

Snow tensed as Nova grabbed her hand suddenly. When a person touchs her she hardly feels the warmth but with Nova she felt it and then some. Almost as if in response her body began to react, dropping in temperature and the ground at he feet frosted over. She watched in silence as Nova made a flame and it began to die as the Cold she generated affected Novas powers. She was vulnerable to cold? As Nova released her hand her eyes looked to it. Her palm, usually pale, now had a red tint to it as if burned but she felt no pain. After that she didnt pay attention to what she was doing with Athena, just looked at her hand.

Nova watched intently. She didn't have to struggle, her task was simple. Generate fire and push it at Athena. With that goal in mind, the only thing she had to focus on was pushing out more fire which was never a real problem for her.

After a few minutes of watching Athena struggle, Nova halts her fire forging and then raised her hands up to take hold of Athena's arms. She half expected a telekinetic throw across the field because of her blunt and sudden actions but she was fine with that, especially since she'd be making sure Athena acted as her ignition and her cushion. Regardless of her inner details, she moves Athena's arms up as if to take a boxing position. Nova's eyes peer on between Athena's hands to see into her eyes.

"Everything you do can be enhanced with your powers", Nova acknowledges Athena. She took a step back and used Athena's arms with her own, bringing the psychics fists to a forward press as if in means to make it seem like a punch.

"When you punch, you can unleash psychic pressure from your fists" Nova's hands slipped from Athena's and she turned sharply to the left, away from the others and followed with a harsh right fist jab in the air. A burst of fire runs from her knuckles and across the air, leaving a smoke like smell to the air. Nova's eyes glanced back. "Every movement can be enhanced, made to go further, faster, stronger.. Failing to utilize this makes you inadequate, especially against an opponent with equal abilities.."

Athena's hand was shaking in pain but kept it from reaching her face and resisted the urge to rip Nova apart, if they could see her psychic energy they would see Nova was surrounded by a wave on energy that was ready to collapse on the fire bender but control was the very thing she meditated every day for, instead she took her took her anger as inspiration and made a fist and copied Nova's punch perfectly and aimed at the water that surrounded the tower, the water parted all the way to the other side of the river and a cloud of dust could be seen where the force came to a stop.

Athena breathed heavily afterwards but took a deep breath and let it out slowly to regain control. Her hand was red and hurt like hell but Athena simply bowed to Nova like a student would bow to her senei then floated to the river and placed her hand into the water and let it cool her burning hand.

Matthew was about to go over to Athena but he was next in line and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit terrified of Nova, he stood completely still praying that the flamethrower would just pass him and go to Snow

Out of nowhere, Nova seems to pull out a rolled up newspaper which she swiftly strikes Athena across the head with. The newspaper caught flame and burned up in her hands, but she felt her point had come across from the one strike. "If you hit someone with that much power, you'll kill them, idiot girl." Nova turned from Athena in annoyance. Athena wasn't a fighter, she was a high blood pressure battering ram that cried when she got an owwie and thought she was bigger then the world. There was always bad blood between Nova and Athena. Speculation rested on whether it was because of Nova's hatred for Athena's Telepathy or Athena's hatred for Nova's treatment of Tech and his property. Regardless, she didn't wait for Athena to reply. If Athena didn't learn to dial it down, things would get much worse.

Nova approached Matt now with a smile on her face; the smile is meant to be cruel, much like a bully might own when picking on someone weaker then them. Nova however, didn't punish Matthew for his inadequate fighting. She saw him as a good counter to Athena's Take Charge, Shut the heck up attitude. Nova picked on Matthew for his gadgets and his annoying habit of putting them everywhere.

Nova's eyes met Matthews. He was caught. It was like a snake leading its prey into a trap, once she caught eyesight with him, he would easily be pulled into anything that she put toward him. Her hand raised toward his cheek and her finger poked at it. A moment of silence fell upon them. Time seemed to hold still with the two standing there, staring at one another. No doubt Matthew was scared but-- Ker-smack! The sound of Nova's palm slapping across Matthew's face echoes. "Get a cannon!" Nova shouted with a renewed determination.

Snow stood there, looking between Nova and Athena and she tilted her head at the actions between the two. It was obvious they had issues. She followed Nova as she went to Matt and then slapped him. Snow blinked once with the slap. Suddenly a glowing line seemed to go over Snows entire body from the top of her head down to her toes and over the floor in about a 2foot radius, the ground icing over. Snow then just seemed to stare off into space ahead of her, not seeming to pay attention to them anymore.

Athena didn't react to Nova's little comedy stunt instead she stood up and went back in line but she thought of Nova's words, she would never intend to kill someone, she was just blowing off steam.

Tech was literally shaking in his boots, he was so terrified that he didn't even feel the slap and when Nova command a cannon he instantly reacted shooting out his arm and the nano bots on his arm shifted into a pulse cannon. "Cannon Sir!" He shouted like he was in the military.

"Not for yourself," Nova poked the tiny cannon that Tech forged with his nano-machines. She looked from him to Titan's Tower and raised a hand to point at it. "We need better defenses for the tower. Once news spreads that the Titan's have returned, we'll have to make sure we have some defenses. A cannon just feels right.." Nova finishes her assessment. She knows it might not be what Athena wants, but she see's Tech as more of an outside support rather then infantry with them. Putting him on the front-lines with his gear would only put another infant for her to babysit on the battlefield. Matthew took Nova's suggestions before, so of course it wasn't a surprise to her if he accepted. Though she would eventually have to teach him to defend himself.

Ignoring that for now, Nova decides to pass her judgment toward Snow and approaches her with a steady stride. As she approached, she felt her temperature drop. It was getting colder. Nova took a deep breath and tried to let her heat radiate from her body, to warm herself. She arrived at the final person who arrived for training.

"Hand to Hand," Nova speaks lightly to Snow. "Show me the extent of your ice works."

Snow just stared, unblinking, forward. She didnt move, not even that little wobble people do when they try to stand still. If Nova looked into her eyes they would seem... Empty. Snows face would suddenly crack across her cheek. Then right after the Temperature suddenly dropped behind Nova, with her heated form she would most definatly feel it. Tech and Athena would see .. Snow?! rise silently from a circle of ice behind Nova, one hand was covered in Ice spikes and the other had a sprite in her hand.Boo. she said softly. The 'Other' unmoving Snow suddenly burst apart in a cloud of blue dust, ice particles that was intended to obscure vision.

The Crack in the 'copys' face was done to throw a person off. She appeared and spoke to make them turn in surprise. And then the exploding copy of dust was another surprise factor. Snow was more about being sneaky then hand to hand.

She didnt attack, just stood there as the Blue dust settled, drinking her sprite from a straw. What did I miss? she looked to Nova innocently.

As the ice copy cracks...

Nova's eyes suddenly widened and the heat emitted from her body intensified. Unexpected of what might happen next, Nova's fist was sent forward with a hard punch that released a wave of fire that enveloped the ice clone and incinerated it with overwhelming heat. Nova knew at that point it wasn't the real Snow, but was not aware that it was just there as a demonstration. In other words, it was a bad habit.

As Snow appeared behind Nova...

Nova's feet rotated across the ground to spin her, this was meant to put her on sight with Snow. Her hands thrust to Snow and with one hand caught her waist and the other caught the hand that held the can. This would cause an awkward moment of Nova holding Snow with a red face, almost like one might hold someone close to them. To Nova, this was her preparing to counter someone armed with a weapon-- the can being the weapon. The event left a hole in Nova's defenses from the embarrassment not only of having mistaken a simple show for an attack but also for holding Snow in such an intimate way. None of it was intended and her actions made her still and unaware of her surroundings. She was dazed.

Snow got a bit of a red tint to her cheeks as Nova spun aroudn and took hold of her. As Nova stood there, seemingly surprised, Snow lifted her other hand slowly, the claws turning to dust to expose her empty hand, and set a single finger to Novas lips. You shouldnt take things so literal. Her empty tone ringing like a soft bell.

"Hmm a large cannon, maybe one that would shoot down from the heavens leaving scorch marks out of any who dare to rise against us and even the gods of old would bow to the Titans as we reclaim the world with ULTIMATE POWAH!" Matthew had a wicked grin as he thought of designs for the new death cannon that he was going to build and any trace of fear was gone, when it came to building nee tech that was all he cared about, until he got bored and moved on to another idea.

Athena sighed, Matthew had his mad scientist moments when he got too excited and there was only one way to snap him out of it, a good smack in the back of the head. Whack! Matthew held the back of his head and his face was scrunched up in pain, "or something more modest with less death in it.

Snow turned into two then the one that was standing to the side of Tech shattered into powdered ice, Matthew clapped as if it was a magic trick and wondered if Snow was some sort of ninja of the ice, a master of fridjitzu.

Red X awoke the next morning groggily, letting himself enjoy a moment of relaxation on the bed. Only a moment, though, then he pushed himself up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, and stood up. He stretched out his body from head to toe, grimacing as his muscles became taut then relaxed. Then he dropped to the floor and began his daily morning regiment. He went through the basics: push ups, crunches, etc. He didn't push it too much, just something to get the blood flowing and keep him fit. He was sure he'd get plenty exercise from the coming day. In fact, he was kind of looking forward to it. He had to finish his morning first, though.

X stretched out once more after the calisthenics and stood up, feet together, and closed his eyes. He stood there for a moment while breathing steadily, then shifted his feet to shoulder length and rose his arms up, outstretched before him. He took a careful step forward as his right hand pulled back to his side, forming a fist as he settled into the new stance. He continued this slow, deliberate shifting of stances for some time, the motions giving him the appearance of taking part in a battle in slow motion.

It forced his mind to slow down as he concentrated on the movement of his body. With each motion his head cleared, leaving his thoughts blank. He took a deep breath as he pulled his arms and legs back to straighten up, mind fresh and prepared for the day. With it done, he swiftly stepped into the suit. Then next moment, he was out of his room and walking into the common area.

He steps through and out, making his way to the training grounds. What he sees when he arrived makes him widen his eyes and let out a low whistle. "If I'd been told this was prom training, I would've put on a tux," he says as he folds his arms across his chest, looking at how close Nova was holding Snow and how it made the ice lady blush.