"Those who teach strength must first learn gentleness."
---
The morning sun rose over Jump City, washing the T-shaped tower in gold. Inside, the Titans were chaos incarnate.
"Gar, if you don't stop blasting that song—" Raven muttered, her eyes glowing faintly.
"But it helps me focus!" Beast Boy argued, juggling two protein bars in gorilla form.
Nightwing sighed, rubbing his temple. "Focus on not wrecking the floor."
Starfire floated down gracefully. "Glorious morning, friends! Today we are to be trained by a legend, yes?"
"Legend, monster. Depends who you ask." Damian said flatly, flipping his sword in his palm.
Blue Beetle adjusted his gauntlet. "Guess we'll find out which one when he gets here."
Then the elevator opened.
No announcement. No flourish. Just presence.
King stepped out. Tall, broad, calm. His eyes scanned the room once. The air seemed to still.
He said simply, "Begin."
The Test
They attacked as one. Damian from the front, Beast Boy from above, Starfire from the flank.
King did not move.
Then came motion so fast it didn't register as motion at all.
Starfire's energy bolts vanished midair, snuffed out by displaced wind. Beast Boy slammed into nothing, his bear form halted by a hand that wasn't there a moment ago. Damian's sword stopped millimeters from King's chest.
King raised a finger. "Too loud."
He flicked Damian's blade. It shattered.
"Lesson one," King said quietly. "Power that announces itself is already defeated."
The floor trembled. Blue Beetle fired plasma rounds. Raven's dark energy coiled. King vanished, reappearing behind them with a shockwave that shattered glass.
Not a single hit landed.
He moved like a storm given shape. Precise, fluid, merciless yet measured.
Each strike, each dodge looked effortless. Casual superiority contained by deliberate restraint.
When he finally stopped, the training floor was cracked, the air hazy with dust.
None of them were hurt. Just disarmed, breathless, humbled.
King stood still, breathing slow.
"Lesson two: Speed is nothing without direction. Strength is meaningless without restraint."
Tara Arrives
The elevator chimed again. A girl stepped out—blonde, sharp-eyed, nervous.
"Uh… hi. I'm Tara Markov. They said I'm supposed to be the new trainee."
Beast Boy's grin was immediate. "Hey! New recruit!"
Damian muttered, "Another distraction."
Nightwing gave her a polite nod. "You're just in time. This is our instructor."
Tara turned and froze. King stood there, silent, hands in his pockets, the triple scar over his eye catching the light. His presence hit her like pressure in the air. Subtle, crushing, impossible.
Her hand twitched toward the communicator hidden in her pocket. Slade was wrong, she thought. He didn't tell me he was like this.
King regarded her calmly. "Earth answers you, doesn't it?"
Her eyes widened. "H-how did you—?"
"The ground shifts under your steps when you're nervous." King said simply. "Don't hide what the world already knows."
Raven raised a brow, impressed. Nightwing smiled faintly. "Guess she's not sneaking anything past him."
Tara forced a smile. "Guess not…"
The Beetle Incident
As the team broke for a short rest, Jaime's laptop beeped.
"Papa! Hey!"
But before he could answer, the scarab hissed—spikes rising, voice blaring in his mind.
"Host compromised. Threat detected!"
Jaime screamed, clutching his arm as blue light surged, aiming towards the laptop screen.
King moved. There was no blur, no warning. Just an absence and then motion.
In one impossible instant, King pried the scarab from Jaime's spine.
No pain. No blood. Just silence. The alien armor writhed in his hand like a captured serpent.
"Listen closely," King said, voice calm as a whisper. "This boy is not your slave."
The beetle screamed in binary tones. "UNAUTHORIZED INTERVENTION—"
King's eyes sharpened. "You will protect him, not command him. Or I will erase you."
The beetle went still. Slowly, it folded its limbs and hovered obediently.
King placed it back and it sealed against Jaime's back, subdued and quiet.
Jaime trembled. "I.... I didn't even feel it."
King nodded. "I removed fear first. Pain followed naturally."
Raven whispered, "You can talk to things that shouldn't even think."
"Everything thinks," King said. "Some simply forget how to listen."
Tara, from across the room, stared in awe and something else. Fear.
She had seen strength before. But this one was embodying the concept itself.
The Lesson
The team gathered again, bruised but focused.
King stood before them, hands clasped behind his back. "You all have potential. But you rely too much on identity. Titles. Power sets. What you can do, not who you are."
Nightwing nodded slowly. "And you want us to unlearn that."
King's expression was unreadable. "I want you to remember that power doesn't define worth. It only reveals it."
Tara crossed her arms. "And what about you? What's your worth?"
He met her gaze, calm, steady. "That depends on what I choose to bear."
The silence after that was long and heavy. Even Damian didn't argue.
King turned away, walking toward the window. "Tomorrow, we train again. This time, the world moves."
Outside, thunder rumbled faintly over the bay.
Tara watched his silhouette against the light and thought of her mission—her orders, her promise to deliver the Titans to Deathstroke.
But for the first time, she wasn't sure which side was truly dangerous.
Read 26 chapters ahead on P.A.T.R.E.O.N
patreon.com/Danzoslayer517
New tier available. For 14 dollars you get access to all my stories in Patreon.