Deep Six

Titans Tower, Jump City

Starfire was sitting down on the floor outside Robin's room waiting ever since for him to respond, she stood up moving to his door once more. She knocked on his door. Suddenly, feeling hopeless and useless. She wondered were could Robin be. She left the doorstep looking at the hallway with a hopeless face, she floated to the living room.

"Hey! Star." Said Cyborg who was playing video games with Beastboy.

"Did you talk to Robin?" Asked Beastboy as he pushed the X button on the controller.

"No!" Replied Starfire with a sad look on her face. "I don't think his In his room." Said Star as Cy and Beastboy rised an eyebrow looking at each other.

"What do you mean his not in his room?" Asked Beastboy.

"What do you think she means?!" Said Cyborg as he looked at him.

"Nevermind! Friend Beastboy and Friend Cyborg." Said Starfire as she floated out the living room.

-Time flies-

Robin stood up from his bed removing the handset. He looked to the door's direction and slowly began to move to it.

The door opened and he began to move out the door and heading to the living room were the room, began to smell like Pancakes. The living room had the video game set layed all around the room. He walked to the kitchen and saw Cyborg, Starfire, and Beastboy. Cyborg and Beastboy sat on the dining table. While, Star worked on the counter. Star turned around holding two plates and the pan of Pancakes.

"Ro-bin." Starfire said softly before floating forward.

"Star!" Said Robin confused. "Why? Are you hugging me." Asked Robin still confused.

"I thought you were gone." Said Starfire pulling away.

"No. I overslept." Replied Robin in a soft tone.

"JOY!" Yelled Starfire as she floated back to the counter.

"Are you hunger? Robin." Asked Starfire grabbing the syrup.

"Noo. Am good." Replied Robin as he looked the window.

Choppy waves roiling in a violent thunderstorm at night.

"Why? Are you making Pancakes this late?" Robin questioned.

"Friend Cyborg and Beastboy asked for it." Replied Starfire as she served the plates of Pancakes.

Beastboy transformed into a pig and digs his face into the food. Cyborg began to behave more like a Gorilla looking at Robin so weird. Robin laughs a bit before setting his eyes on his communicator and dropping it on the table.

Jump City Bay

Choppy waves roiling in a violent thunderstorm at night. Riding the swells, a freighter sails into view toward the camera. Three crewmen struggle to secure a tarp over a group of several dozen 55-gallon drums; two other such collections have already been covered. The captain steers the steadiest course possible under the circumstances as waves break on the bow and the wind threatens to pull the sheeting out of the men's hands. Close-up of the drums, showing them to be marked with the universal symbol for radiation hazards. One tips over and rolls away across the deck, but a booted foot comes down to stop it.

"Watch it!" Yelled the Captain holding a megaphone on his hand. "Any of that toxic junk goes into the bay, we're all in deep trouble!" Yelled the Captain over the loudspeaker.

The ship is in Jump City Bay, then. There is a flash of lightning during this line, which clears to show a silhouette at the window. Close-up: it is a reptilian figure with glowing yellow eyes, and it lifts a long trident. Back to the deck, where the men are still struggling to get the waste squared away. There is an explosion from around the corner of the wheelhouse, followed by the walls and windows blowing out. When the dust clears, we are inside the ruined structure; the captain is sprawled on his back, at the feet of the intruder. This is Trident.

"Who...or what are you?" The Captain questioned.

"I am excellence. I am perfection. I am Trident!" The figure began.

On the end of this, a flash from the weapon's points illuminates him fully-think of the Creature from the Black Lagoon and you have the idea. Close-up of the captain, who cries out and shields his eyes from a sudden flare, then pull back. Trident is gone. Now a few waves spill onto the port side, carrying the creature up with them. He holds a large clamp with a cable attached.

"Hey!" One of the Crew member called out.

The clamp is attached to the railing, and Trident goes over the side. Pan to starboard, where he immediately climbs onto the deck with an identical device.

"He's everywhere!" The crewman cried.

This one is also hooked on, and Trident jumps ship again. The crew barely has time to look toward the stern before seeing him repeating the performance there as well; he glares back at them and leaps back into the water. Staggering and groaning, the captain crosses the wheelhouse and looks out through the hole in its walls. After Trident submerges, the cables on his clampspull taut and start to drag the ship down, stern first. Back to the deck.

"Abandon ship! Abandon ship!" The Captain yelled out over the loudspeaker.

The panicked crew makes to follow this order. Long shot of the freighter, its bow rising higher and higher and finally slipping beneath the waves as a life raft floats by, carrying the captain and crew. The last they see of their vessel is Trident, perched triumphantly atop the prow. Close-up of his weapon's points as they drop below the surface, then cut to the utterly flabbergasted seafarers, trying to figure out how they lost their ship and a huge consignment of radioactive leftovers in one fell swoop. Pull back to a long shot of their rubber craft bobbing in the maelstrom. A final lightning strike blacks out the screen when it recedes.

-Time files-

The Next Morning

Titans Tower, Jump City

The exterior of Titans Tower, seen from the level of the water in the bay. It is now the next morning. Tilt down into the depths and fade to black.

Atlantic Ocean

"Begin launch sequence." Said Robin over the Comm link.

Fade in to him, strapped into a driver's seat wit a steering yoke in front of him. He wears a microphone headset and presses several buttons on a panel. Cut to each of the other Titans in time with their lines; they are similarly situated in individual cockpits, and through the windows around them water is flowing by. The Titans are in the T-Sub, their five-man submersible.

"Main power online." Said Robin over Comm link.

"Oxygen tanks at maximum." Starfire reported.

"Defensive systems active." Reported Raven.

"Twin-turbo hydrojet engine purring like a kitten." Reported Cyborg as he laughs a bit.

"And your secret weapon is ready to rock." Said Beastboy lounging in his chair.

"Only time you qualify as a secret weapon is after eating a tofu bean burrito." Laughed Cyborg.

These words surprise the little green guy and then make him good and angry. A vein stands out on his forehead; cut to Cyborg.

"Uh, 'scuse me, bud. Can you breathe underwater? Uh-uh. Can you be any fish in the sea?" Asked Beastboy.

"Uh-uh." Said Cyborg grudgingly.

"Didn't think so." Said Beastboy over the Comm link.

Back to him, saluting and cracking knuckles.

"Beast Boy's right. His skills are essential to our mission." Robin states.

Back to Cyborg. Sight gag: the shape-shifter blows a loud raspberry, and his tongue flicks out from the headphones to cover the hefty Titan with drool. Cut to Robin.

"We have to find out what this Trident guy is planning. If it takes forty barrels of toxic waste, I doubt it's environmentally friendly." Robin states again.

The engines have finished warming up. Dissolve to an overhead view of him and pull back slowly to frame the entire T-Sub. It is orange, shaped something like a manta ray, with the five cockpits in a cross formation. Bow: Robin. Port: Starfire. Center: Beast Boy. Starboard: Raven. Stern: Cyborg. The craft is on a platform that is descending in a water-filled shaft. Head-on view of a horizontal chute that connects with this passage; the platform slides down level with this, and the camera pulls back as floodlights in the sides switch on. Cut to Robin.

"Titans! Launch!" Said Robin.

The engines hit first gear, and the T-Sub shoots along the chute, steadily gaining speed and pushing Robin back into his seat. It approaches a closed hatch, which slides open upon approach to reveal the bottom of Jump City Bay. The vessel blasts out, to the sound of jubilant whooping from Cyborg, and soon recedes into the blue depths. Dissolve to a close-up of a passing school of fish; the team chugs straight through them, disrupting the formation. Starfire watches them while Beast Boy watches her.

"Oooh, wondrous!" Said Starfire smiling.

"If you think they're cool, wait 'til you see me out there kicking butt. First I'm going shark." Said Beastboy.

He turns his teeth to points and gnashes them. Close-up of a button labeled MIC; Cyborg reaches up to press it, and the sound cuts off-he has killed Beast Boy's audio. Back to the little showoff, whose teeth are still heard clicking together, but now much softer and muffled as if underwater; his next line sounds this way as well. His dental profile returns to normal.

"Hey! What just...is this thing on? Hey, cut it out!" Yelled Beastboy tapping his Comm link.

Cyborg turns the mic back on.

"Goodness me. I seem to have accidentally switched off Beast Boy's microphone." Said Cyborg innocently.

"Could you go ahead and accidentally leave it off?" States Raven with her usually look.

That vein in the green forehead throbs again as the sonar start to beep. Close-up of the display, on which a red dot is flashing.

"Sonar contact." Said Robin cutting to Beastboy. "Beast Boy! Ready to go?" Asked Robin over the Comm link.

"Dude, I was born ready." Said Beastboy taking off his Comm.

He unbuckles his harness

"Time to do what I do best." Said Beastboy swimming out of sight looking at Raven across the way "Try not to be jealous." Said Beastboy.

Cut to her cockpit. Through the transparent canopy, a gargantuan green-and-black creature rises into view and stops briefly, with its eye at her level, to blink at her before ascending again.

"He just put on three hundred thousand pounds." Said Raven.

Pull back to a long shot of the T-Sub. Beast Boy has become a whale.

"I am so jealous." Said Raven over the Comm link.

He swims off, the T-Sub following, and heads toward the wreck of the freighter at the floor of the bay. As they move closer, he becomes a hammerhead shark. The unhealthy cargo that was on the deck has been entirely cleared away.

"If this dude's bad enough to sink a whole ship, those barrels could be anywhere by now." States Cyborg.

He continues on o.c., passing a figure hidden in the murky shadows. It looks after him and then swims up and away. Outside, the T-Sub describes a slow circle around the wreck, keeping lights trained on it. Pan from here to Trident, who is standing by the hull; he watches for a moment and then swims along the ship's length to the breach. Inside, Beast Boy makes his way out toward open water, and the second figure ducks away from the opening just as the floodlight beam reaches it. The green shark goes after him; cut to a long shot of the freighter. The shadowed figure flees the scene as Beast Boy keeps a long tail on him.

"Looks like Beast Boy found Trident." Said Robin.

The chase continues; now the T-Sub pulls away from the freighter to follow them both-but Trident drops into their wake to tail everyone. A blast from his weapon hits the starboard wing.

"Looks like Trident found us!" Said Cyborg groaning angrily.

Beast Boy is still back of the mystery swimmer; transforming into a barracuda, he puts on a burst of speed and begins to close the gap. Trident's shots pepper the water around the submarine; he scores a hit just off the port side of Robin's cockpit.

"Cyborg! Bring us about! Raven! Get ready to fire!" Yelled Robin.

The vessel does a swift U-turn, only to find itself alone in the water after doing so.

"Where'd he go?" Asked Cyborg looking around.

Still nothing. Now Starfire scans the depths through her canopy; a blast strikes it, and she finds him floating dead ahead of her and gasps.

"He is there!" Said Starfire not for long, now he passed Raven.

"No! That way!" Said Raven as he moved again, Cyborg catches sight.

"It's him!" Yelled Cyborg as he looked.

He opens fire on the fleeing T-Sub, scoring a few near misses before properly correcting his aim. Alarms go off in the cockpits.

"He can't be in three places at once! Head for that-" Said Robin.

Close-up of two draining power gauges on the panel.

"The engines are fried! We're going down." Yelled Cyborg over the Comm link.

They proceed to do so at an alarming rate. The second figure seen in the freighter takes in the scene-the four Titans descending far too quickly for their own good, Trident bombarding the stern at will-and turns to the camera. We can see no features except two bright gleams for eyes. Waves of energy begin to radiate from the forehead, exactly after the style of Aquaman's underwater telepathy. This is Aqualad.

"Your friends are in danger." Said Aqualad Cut to Beastboy, now a bullshark, the message reaches him.

"My friends are in what? Whoa! How did you say that? Dude! How did I say that?" Beastboy speaks up seeing the T-Sub. "Hey!" Beastboy called out.

He charges after his teammates.

"Okay. Hero time." Said Beastboy transforming into a Swordfish. "This is my big chance to prove I'm the-" Said Beastboy as something blue and black flashes past. "-best?" Beastboy Continued.

Pull back. Aqualad has just left him in the dust; he strains to catch up. The T-Sub, meanwhile, is being used for Trident's target practice. Close-up of him, blazing away; suddenly he is knocked down o.c. by a hit from behind. Aqualad is now seen in full detail for the first time-roughly the same age as the Titans; blue scaly skin on fingers, upper arms and chest; black on forearms, hands, legs, and neck; pure black eyes without whites and long hair of the same color.

The badly damaged craft drops into a fissure on the bay/ocean floor. Inside, water has begun to spurt in through cracks in the hull, shorting out the controls.

"Main power's down! Hydrojets are toast and we're leaking air!" Cyborg States as Robin rolled his eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know." Said Robin rolling his eyes.

"Okay. We're all going to drown." Said Raven.

The outer structure begins to creak as the T-Sub descends toward crush depth in the fissure.

"Hull's starting to give. We sink much deeper, the pressure's gonna crush us." Cyborg states.

Cut to a rock formation. Aqualad is thrown into view to slam against it back first, and Trident moves in on him. A sudden charge by the young fellow sends both tumbling into the open to grapple a bit before Trident starts throwing punches. Aqualad swims up quickly, then comes down behind Trident and gets him in a headlock. Beat Boy, again a swordfish, zips by.

"Let Pretty Boy wrestle. Only Beast Boy can save a whole submarine." Said Beastboy transforming in a squid.

He goes into a sharp dive, preparing to do just that.

"Titans! Brace for impact!" Yelled Robin as the T-Sub kept going down.

Cut to outside, in the fissure.

"Oh, man!" Said Cyborg widening his eyes.

They grind against the wall. At the edge, Aqualad is kicked down to the surface by the escaping Trident; he looks after the villain, then down at the impending disaster, and uses his telepathic powers to summon two nearby whales. The T-Sub drops like a rock-at least, like a rock that has been dropped underwater-as Beast Boy races after it.

"I got it, I got it!" Shouted Beastboy having a thought. "Huh?" Beastboy spoke up as whales pass him.

They pull in neatly under the doomed vessel and bear it upward to the top of the fissure. Beast Boy can only watch, hopelessly confused.

"They got it? How come they get it?" Questioned Beastboy as Aqualad pulls into view by him.

"Because I asked for their help." Replied Aqualad coming closer.

"You talk to fish?" Asked Beastboy looking a the fish-boy. "Yeah, right." Said Beastboy looking the other way.

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?" Asked Aqualad looking at Beastboy weirdly.

A big sweat drop appears briefly on the squid's head.

"Well, I, uh...technically I'm a squid." Beastboy speaks up.

"It's called telepathy. Follow me." Aqualad corrects as he swims away.

"Very snarky, a vein throbs on his head "It's called telepathy." Said Beastboy in his head.

"I heard that." Said Aqualad.

"Who is this guy?" Beastboy questioned as he follows him angrily.

To be continued...

***