The long hibernation of the great Titans had hung like a blanket over the city. The streets were barren and anyone that would dare be on the street  shuffled expediently in silent terror.... but the time had come once more. The lights of that beacon flickered back to life and with it a sense of liberation, protection, and joy was reignited within the denizens of Jump City. The city buzzed with excitement at the revival of the Titan towers. Commemorative events pumped life throughout the city, the high hum of crowds, the shrieks and laughter of children, the pulse of music, the people enjoyed what seemed like the end of an oppression. With all these festivities came a price, the denizens were practically baiting catastrophe. Maybe they had forgotten, for the time being, what had made them all stay locked away for so long, but it was more likely a blatant statement.<br/>"Come try something, Villains!" they said with their cheers and celebration "The Titans will put you in your place,"<br/>Of course they expected that villains wouldn't be foolish enough to outright challenge a team of supers but they didn't take into account<br/><br/>Chaos takes no sides and fears nothing....<br/><br/>Crowds gathered around and stared intently at a massive news screen high above the city.<br/>"Jump city is bursting with excitement and questions about the new heroes to take the roles of the 'Teen Titans'! " The blonde news reporter read off perkily, she sat stark straight in her seat<br/>"The new face of LexCorp, Herleifr Luthor, is reported to have made an appearance at the tower to welcome the newcomers. With the brilliant young successor already having formed an alliance with the Justice League, the citizens of Jump city can sleep soundly knowing they have not only a new 'Leif' but a canopy of protection." She sat back and let her body relax a bit.<br/>"I'm Alice McCarthy and this ha-...." the channel went blank... no bars, no tones, just snow.... A hushed silence fell over the crowd of people as if everyone suddenly held their breath.<br/>_________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">So shiny</span><br/><br/>Sean had been perched atop a building top admiring the milky white stone he had found. The morning light threw mesmerizing shades of red, orange and yellow all around; the stone held a beautiful halo about it and glinted when he turned it in his hand. Sean was entranced when a sudden noise caused him to jolt in panic. The sudden jump accidentally dislodged the stone from his hand and forced a raspy gasp from the creatures mouth. With no hesitation, Sean dove off the building in pursuit.<br/><br/>He was so close...<br/>He could almost reach...<br/>If he could just go a little-<br/><br/>A hard crash was heard for blocks around as the creature landed on top of a car. A lady shrieked in horror and her purse dog yapped incessantly at the sight before seeing the man responsible stand with little to no injury to himself. The woman clutched her white leather bag close to her as she shuffled carefully toward him.<br/>"Oh my goodness! Are you alright sir!?" she said with urgency, she had stopped her advance completely. Her dog continued to yap noisily at the strange man.<br/><br/>Sean stood straight and looked at the woman. Her shirt was a bright pink, her pants black and her heels matched her pure white purse and it's noisy inhabitant. Sean grumbled in his throat at the woman before frowning and furrowing his brow in something akin to disgust or anger. The woman definitely noticed his demeanor and turned quickly to leave, but her dog slipped from its place in her purse and ran straight towards the man. Sean's face contorted into something like horror before a powerful force blew him upward into the air; the remnants of the car exploded from the sudden pulse. The woman screamed in terror as she ran away from the scene. The dog's yapping ceased instantly.<br/><br/>Sean held tightly to his prized stone as his vertical ascent slowed to a stop. He kicked hard behind himself and was propelled forward at an alarming speed. He crashed hard into the side of a nearby building before slowly scaling its height. He had nearly reached the top when a sound blared in his ears.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 200%; line-height: 116%;">"Jump city is bursting with excitement and questions about the new heroes to take the roles of the 'Teen Titans'!"</span></span><br/><br/>The sound pierced his ears and made his head spin. He let out an agonized garbled yelp before trying to cover his head with his arms. The rock slipped once more from his grasp.... Sean slowly slid down the tower as the sound overwhelmed him. He shook his head in agony before letting his arm wildly swing out to strike at the tower. A pulsing yellow ball of light flew from his hand and created a large explosion on contact with the tower. Steel beams groaned and creaked before folding as the heat had made them unable to hold their own weight. The tower tumbled down, cleaving into a nearby building before crumbling and falling to the ground in a heap of metal.<br/><br/>A soft sigh fell from Sean lips; the needles were gone. He let his arms fall to his sides and recollected his rock once more before walking aimlessly away from the site of destruction.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">So shiny</span>