Character Commentary: The Siren's Call

Arnold: A "Teen Titans" fic. Oh this ought to be good.

It is a normal day in Titans Tower. Robin is sitting on the couch playing video games with BB and Cy.

Helga: They have names for a reason! USE them! Criminy! Just because they CALL each other nicknames doesn't mean you, the narrator, have to!

Star comes in with some bowl of… something that everyone will politely decline. Getting your stomach pumped is only fun the first time. Raven sat, floating with a book in her hands.

Phoebe: Does the author even know the book's name? It's the Book of Azar!

Arnold: I'll say this though, this story definitely feels so far like an actual episode of the show.

She was watching the activity, but only out of the corner of her eye. All of a sudden, an alert showed up on the screen. Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! Something was landing on the roof. The team rushed to get to the roof. Raven arrived first and saw a big, black airplane with the Batman sign on the wings. When Robin ran up, he turned pale and Raven could sense the anxiety coming from him. The door swooshed open. The Batman came out.

Lila: Ooh! Ever so intriguing! What could Batman have to say to his former apprentice?

"Robin, good to see you."

Robin warily shook his hand. "Batman."

Behind Batman, a girl poked her head out the door.

Phoebe: This girl must be the "new Titan" the description mentions.

"BATMAN! What am I doing here? I didn't get in here to see him again."

Gerald: And she's a whiny brat.

Helga: Not a good first impression.

Robin's jaw opened in shock.

"Wren?"

The girl hopped out of the plane. She was small, taller than Beast Boy but shorter than Raven, with grayish skin and haunting blue purple eyes.

"It's Jay now, Bird Brain. Black Jay."

"Dude, who is that?"

The girl walked right up to Beast Boy, stuck her nose in his face and said "Jay." Then she scarily stepped back.

"Batman, what is she doing here?" Robin asked.

Batman sighed. "She.. is here to join the team."

The Titans and Jay all stared at him.

Arnold: I'm reminded of a W.I.T.C.H. fanfic The Fanfiction Critic reviewed. Hopefully this is better than it and Wren, er "Black Jay", isn't some dumb(beep) Mary Sue.

"What!" Robin and Jay yelled at Batman.

"I don't want to join the team!" Jay nearly screamed.

Arnold: Also, I'd like to point out Jay is, obviously, an OC created by the author. Will she succumb to the inevitable fate of most OCs, becoming a Mary Sue; or will the author actually DEVELOP her. Let's find out.

"I don't want her to join the team!" Robin yelled at the same time.

Batman sighed. "Jay needs a place to stay. I can't keep her in Gotham. You owe me a favor."

Robin glared at her. "Whatever. She can stay. For now."

Jay glared at Batman. "No."

Batman looked at her. Raven could tell that they were having a mental conversation by the colors of their emotions. Finally Jay relented and Batman left in his bat plane. The six teens stood on the roof for a minute. Starfire recovered first.

"New Friend Jay! What is your favorite color? Where do you come from? What powers do you have? Will you be my friend?" She said while crushing Jay with a Tameranian hug. Jay gasped for breath.

"Let-go!" Starfire let go with a sheepish look on her face. "My favorite color is aquamarine, I come from… um… lots of places, I have… many powers and maybe."

Arnold: "Many powers"?

Rhonda: Guess the answer's yes, she WILL become a Mary Sue. And it only took ONE chapter.

Then Beast Boy found his voice.

"Dude! That was awesome! You stood up to the Bat! Man, you are awesome!"

Jay merely glanced at him with an irate look.

"Look, Boy Blunder, let's just make this as painless as possible. If you give me a place to stay, I'll tell them my story, stay out of your way and not kick your butt, as I normally would do."

Robin turned red."You would not kick my butt! Cy, can she stay in the extra room next to Raven's room?"

Cyborg nodded and left to prepare the room. Jay started down the stairs after him. Raven floated over to Robin.

"Old friend huh?"

Robin walked away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Down in the Common room, Jay was sitting on the couch watching Beast Boy play Mega Monkeys 9 and basically ignoring him at the same time. Star was making Pudding of Happiness. Raven and Robin walked in as Cyborg walked over to tell Jay that her room was ready.

"I suppose that I should tell you my story now."

They gathered around her.

"Basically, I am a half-demon half-siren.

Rhonda: (sarcastically) Scratch that. She's totally not a Mary Sue.

Arnold: The sarcasm wasn't needed. In "Teen Titans", you CAN have a demon or half-demon character. Heck, Raven is one. So I wouldn't call her a Mary Sue just yet.

I am good because I was born on the one day of the year that I could be anything but pure evil.

Phoebe: Which is...?

I was 8 when Batman took me in. I was Traffic Lights best friend.

Phoebe: Who? I'm confused. Did I miss a few pages?

I got mad at the Bat and left. I then angered the Justice League. They didn't like that I was better than they were at beating their bad guys.

Rhonda: Can I call her one now?

Arnold: Yes.

Now, Bat is trying to "protect me" by having me work with you. The End." The Titans stared. All of a sudden, the alarm went off.

"Its Red X! Titans, Go!" Robin yelled. Everyone went, even Jay.

X was robbing an art museum. He had just slipped a Picasso into a large bag when the bag was covered in black magic and ripped away from his grasp. He jumped after it.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Teen Titans."

Robin jumped at X. "Give that back!"

"A little cliché, don't you think?" X said, throwing a sticky goo that covered Robin from head to toe.

Cyborg blasted X. X was blown back but then threw an electronic wave scrambler that shut down Cyborg. Starfire started shooting starbolts at X who used a auto-rope to tie her to a pole. Raven started chanting. "Azarat-", but got cut off by a sticky x covering her mouth. Her eyes shot daggers at X while he stuck her to the wall. Beast Boy charged, but slipped on a banana peel and knocked himself out.

Arnold: Charged as what? A bull? A T-Rex?

X retrieved his bag and was about to leave when it was wrested from his grasp again. Jay flew up from a dark shadow.

"And who might this be?" X asked coyly.

"Your worst nightmare." Jay said before hitting him with a box. She used telekinesis to push things into him, but X avoided them.

"You are just another Raven aren't you." X smirked.

Jay just grinned. She placed her palms together and slowly drew them apart. All of a sudden, she had black hair, a black outfit with a silver band around her head, and bats wings. She hissed at X with her new fangs and jumped at him, using white magic to hold him in place.

"Scared of me now, hmm?"

X nearly screamed.

"Let's get you to the police, where you belong. Hehe." The Demon Cackled.

The Demon Jay disappeared into a blazing white portal.

Arnold: Okay Mary Sue or not you have to admit, THAT was bad(beep).

Stinky: On to Chapter 3. Golly, this story's faster than The Flash.

After Red X was placed in jail, Jay flew back to the tower. Tears streaked down her face. She wasn't really a jerk, she was just mad. Robin had been her best friend until his fight with Batman. He had left, following her actions when she had run away. He had yelled at her that night. She didn't want him to leave. He did anyway. Whatever. She could manage to live with him and his new best friends, right?

Robin was pacing the living room with a scowl on his face. Jay teleported through the wall and landed in front of the Boy Wonder.

"What was that?" Robin yelled.

Jay stiffened. "I was beating a villain that you couldn't."

"No, you were showing off. I know that Demon is a fickle form for you. You risked all of us just to impress the team!"

"I have gotten much stronger since you last saw me Robin. I can control Demon. Well, most of the time."

Arnold: This author is really good at writing believable dialogue. Her problem is her story feels too short and fast.

Robin opened his mouth when BB walked in the door with Cyborg. They were having the classic tofu verses meat argument. Jay leaned towards Robin.

"Don't worry about me "getting in the way" anymore. I'll just stay out of the way" The whisper as tainted with anger. Jay then teleported to her room.

A few months later, the team had fallen into a new routine. Jay stayed in her room, only coming out for meals, training and bad guys. She didn't fight outright, only helping from the shadows. Robin ignored her, Cyborg, BB and Star just lived with the minimal contact with their team member. Raven, however, got to know Jay. Since Jay was also a half demon, they meditated together. Raven learned some new spells from Jay and Jay learned how to control her emotions better. This routine was going well until Jay left to visit Batman. She left early in the morning and was leaving for a week. About 10 minutes after she left, Robin went storming into the living room.

"Has anyone seen my weights? They were in the gym this morning." Robin was very irritable now that Jay lived with them.

BB spoke up. "Jay had them"

Helga: Use! Their! NAMES!

Robin snorted and stalked up to her room. He opened the door with a slam and saw his weights on the floor. He grumbled something about "stupid girl taking my weights" but suddenly stopped. On the wall was a canvas. It was half covered and Robin gently tore off the drop cloth. It was a picture of the titans. Each of the members was in a state of happiness except Jay. She was in the corner looking sad. Robin just stared at the picture. A light turned on behind him. It illuminated the room, showing the walls covered in artwork and her room as an art studio. Cyborg walked into the room with the rest of the team and they all stopped. Raven had seen all of this before but was always startled by the talent in the pictures. They ranged from action shots of the team to Beast Boy fighting over the remote. They spoke to Robin, telling him what he had known but ignored. He had hurt her. She had not been trying to be mean to him. She… cared about him.

Gerald: He really had, honestly.

Arnold: I'm glad the author actually took the time to establish this. Maybe there IS still hope. Maybe Jay doesn't HAVE to be a Mary Sue.

"What are you doing in my room?"

Arnold: (as Robin) Realizing I've made a grave mistake.

Jay walked into the room. The rest of the Titans stood as still as statues. Robin gulped and muttered something about missing weights. Jay looked at them.

"I just came back to pick up something I forgot. You can keep looking if you want. Rae, can you close my room up when you are done?"

Rhonda: Wait is she LEAVING?

Raven nodded. Jay walked over past BB and Cy to her closet. She took a silver pendent off a hook and walked back out of the room. Silently, the Titans left. All except for Robin that is. Robin sat and stared at the pictures on the wall. He had known that she loved art but had no idea that she was that good. Raven came up behind him.

"You Okay?" Robin sighed.

"I don't know, Rae. I feel awful. I've been rude and mean for no reason other than I really didn't want to have to listen to Batman."

Raven glanced at him."She really cares about you. While the rest of you have been acting like jerks, I've been getting to know her. She told me a lot about what her life was like. She is a lot like me."

Robin stared at the picture some more. "Yeah. She is."

He turned around and walked out. Raven took one last look around the room and closed the door.

Jay flew. She was cold, up in the clouds, but it was better than walking. Tears were streaming down her face. She hadn't wanted Robin to see her room. It was where she got rid of all of the emotions. They flowed into her art. After Robin had left, her art had taken a decidedly darker tone. Even Bruce had commented on it. She was very mad at Bruce. She had been under a type of "arrest" by the Justice League. She had accidentally angered Zatanna by turning into Demon Jay. Yeah, not the best idea. She was just enough like Raven to get into some real trouble. What Raven didnt have however, was the curse of a siren as well as being demon spawn. Jay veered to the left to avoid a 747 jet. She looked down at the airport right outside of Gothom. She was back. Not home, but back. She landed on the lawn at Wayne Manor. Alfred was waiting for her with a smile. She launched herself into a hug from the old butler.

"Hey there Alfred."

"Miss Wren."

Jay wagged her finger. "It's Jay now Alfred."

"Of course. Master Bruce is waiting for you upstairs."

Jay grinned and ran into the house. As always, Alfred was right. Bruce was sitting in her room, dressed as Batman. He smiled. Jay walked in.

Back at the Tower... Robin sat at the TV with Cy and BB. They here having a mega race while Raven sat reading and Starfire tried to cook. Nothing had happened for the past two days. Nothing since Jay had left. It was a relief. She had cut her trip short. Something about needing to come home. It was a good thing. They needed to have a talk. Just then, the alarm went off.