Summoning the Beast (Kardus/1 or 2 Titans)

While typing randomly into the control panel, a girl in a black jumpsuit, black sunglasses and a black scarf covering her face leaned nervously forward. She felt a little ridiculous, dressing like she was, but she was trying to come up with a uniform that would hide her identity with just the clothes she had brought with her to the tower. If the Titans ever wanted her help to deal with some threat, she would certainly not want her identity discovered and out there. She didn't want a lot of attention...especially considering what she would be turning into.

Once she had entered in the mode she wanted into the super computer, Carrie moved into the Danger Room with great anticipation filling her chest. Carrie entered a brightly forested area, trees as far as she could focus. As the trees went on, they grew more and more dense, making the area darker and more mysterious. The area didn't matter, though. This exercise just to see if she could control her...form...or even figure out if she could still turn into it. Part of her prayed that the beast was gone. She had slept soundly, without any dreams at all since she had been at the tower. Still, the Titans seemed certain that something like that didn't just come and go and she figured she had put off trying to figure this out for long enough.

"Alright...here we go," Carrie clapped her hands together and started to pace back and forth in the small clearing. She stopped, stared at one of the trees for a moment and tried to make herself angry. "Come on now...What are you waiting for?!"

Carrie looked around her, everything looking the same, causing her to lose her direction in the simulation. She began getting more frustrated. She didn't have to do anything before and now she had people waiting for results, for improvement but she had no clue where to even get started.

Leaning up against a tree, she slunk down to the grassy floor and put her face into her knees, feeling sorry for herself. "This is going to be a long day..." She grumbled to herself.

The silence was broken as a boy's voice announced the arrival of one of Carrie's hosts. She jumped to her feet in embarrassment as Metamorphi stared her down. She probably looked ridiculous. She wasn't a Titan and no one asked her to be one. She must have looked like a stupid fan, pretending to be a Titan.

"Uh...hey Meta, I'm fine," Carrie spoke quickly, "I mean. I don't really need a uniform or anything, I guess. I know I'm not 'one of you guys'. I just figured, well, I don't know. Maybe I should kind of look the part while I'm here. The Titans are always wearing crazy things and, well to be honest, I almost feel weird in my casuals here."

As she spoke, the cat from her room appeared among the trees and approached the two. She still didn't know where it came from or what it was really doing here, but its presence comforted her. "I'm just trying to figure out if I can turn into...it again," Carrie explained herself quickly. "I mean, it would be better to learn how to control it rather than have it take over again, right?"

Carrie paused and waited to see if they'd have any thoughts about her trying to transform again. She knew that's what Hotwire wanted her to try to do while she was here, but she wasn't sure if the other Titans were necessarily on the same page with that, especially considering the last time they came in contact with it, they were trying to take each other's lives.

"I'm having some...trouble though. I guess I don't know where to start..."

Today was Garnet's official first day in the Titan Tower, that being said, she took the liberty to explore on her own, to make herself more familiar with everything. She'd seen the hangar, the kitchen, living room, multiple living quarters, and the infirmary where she found someone in. Garnet decided not to enter that area considering she was tied to many tubes and out cold, was the Tower also a hospital? Garnet made a mental note to ask someone about it later.
However, she stumbled across something new, a forest room? There was a control like panel area and then a giant forest stretched out before her, which made Garnet wonder what it was. Maybe it was an illusion or a program, it made sense if it was a training thing for the Titans.

If she was correct by saying that it was a training room, then Garnet planned on taking advantage of it... a lot. The gem was already walking through the forest, very impressed by the detail work that the machine made when she heard voices. Was someone else training? It was never a good thing to mess with someones training session.
However, when Garnet looked towards the voices to spot Meta and an unknown smaller girl. The gem did everything in her power to make her presence known so she wasn't attacked on accident, followed by jumping up to the tree across from the two.

Crouching on the tree, Garnet saluted Meta and looked at the small girl. "I don't believe I met you Titan, what is your name?" She asked her while her branch began to slowly less and less bounce.

Carrie smiled at Metamorphi as he offered to help. She combed the hair behind her ear before she continued to speak. "Thanks so much! I actually could definitely use your help in case I lose control. There should be someone here to try to take me down if the need arises."

The girl's eyes widened as a red being jumped onto the tree opposite them. Had she messed up when she set up the program? Apparently she was fine, though, as the girl, the probable girl, began speaking to them. She was asked what her name was and she was addressed as a Titan.

"C..." She began speaking before cutting herself off. This was the opportunity she needed. She shouldn't just tell everyone who she was while she was here. She should use an alias for everyone she didn't necessarily trust yet and now was as good a time as any to start off. "I'm...uh...Gray Girl."

She turned her head to the side and squinted slightly as she spoke. She just said the first name that came to her head and wasn't sure how she felt about it, but she was locked in now. She shrugged, it wasn't too bad. "You can call me 'GG', though, if you like...And you are...?"

Soon, the cat from her room appeared, seemingly wanting to be held. As it jumped, Carrie caught it and began petting it as he purred. Now wasn't a good time, she needed to be training, but she just seemed to be getting distracted. Still, she was curious to learn where this cat had come from and why it seemed to attached to her.

"Hey there guy...How ya doin'?" She spoke with a smile as she tickled its tummy.

Carried turned to speak to Metamorphi and the red person that she assumed was another Titan that she hadn't yet heard of. "I'm thinking that gaining control will come if I'm able to figure out how to transform. Before, I just transformed in my sleep and that hasn't worked the past couple nights, so, I think I need a new route to try out. I guess I could try to get to some kind of 'Zen' state, or maybe it works through some kind of emotional state...I dunno, what do you guys think?"

This girl seems to have a strong power if Meta was here to help her control it, she also seemed to be a bit on edge on trying to control it, as if it was new to her. This made Garnet think, she could attempt to help her, especially if she was a Titan. If Garnet wanted to be a real member on this team she had to learn to trust and help others, so that's what she did.
Gray Girl introduced herself cautiously, like she was coming up with a new name or identity. She was young, anyone could see that, and she was nervous, meaning that she needed support. Garnet would grin and give her a thumbs up. "My name is Garnet, I like the name Gray Girl." She told her with support, almost like a mother would.

A small cat jumped on her lap as she began to explain her ideas, Garnet then beginning to understand the situation a little more clearly. She can only transform in her sleep and she's here to control it, so the Titans will help her, that explains her age. It just makes Garnet wonder where her parents are and how powerful this thing actually is. Will she be able to take it out if she transforms, and will she actually hurt the girl in doing so? Right now Zen seems like the best option, like she suggested.
"Being asleep is a humans most intimate form, you can be at your best and your worst while you sleep. Meditation can take you to that state with practice, without being asleep, being one with yourself, or in this case, both of you." She explained to the girl, relating to the situation.

"Even if this is a beast, it's your beast, the other half of you, and once you learn to accept that fact you'll be one step closer to unleashing this. Maybe even controlling it one day. However, until now, we should learn what works best for you on how to unleash it."

Carrie smiled brightly at Garnet, listening intently. "Thanks Garnet, you're right, it's still inside me and I need to see if it's still there..."

Part of her prayed that it was gone and she could just go home, but she could feel it was still by her. She could feel its breath on her neck when she was alone and things got quiet, but she couldn't find it anymore. It was her turn to go hunting for it now. Carrie folded her legs and arranged herself into a meditation position that she had seen in an old kung fu movie. She smiled to herself as she remembered back. Master Shirobi was centering himself and attempting to reach out to his dead master who would train him to become powerful enough to defeat the oncoming nameless evil.

Carrie looked to Meta, feeling awkward. "It's worth a shot, I guess...I do feel kind of silly, though. I don't really know what I'm doing." Obviously, this was untraveled waters that she hadn't ventured through yet and neither had any of the Titans. She appreciated their willingness to help, but, really, it was just guessing at this point.

As Gray Girl casually stroked the cat sitting on her lap, she froze. The cat began speaking through all their minds, confirming the girl's suspicions that this was the same voice that had helped her originally on that night. The voice offered to guide her and go with her into her dream state.

"Thank you, I'd definitely feel more comfortable if I had someone with me..." She paused as she wondered how she felt about someone invading her thoughts. At least this time she was giving her permission, on that night it had just gone in by its own will. It came to help, but she felt nervous about what might happen if it ever didn't have the best of intentions.

"Let's just uh...give it a try..." She paused and let out a deep exhale. "If one of you could coach me through this...that might help..." GG added quickly, peaking out from one eye before attempting delve back into her 'Zen' state, breathing slowly and holding the cat warmly on her lap.

---

Soon she found herself opening her eyes, once again in her old bedroom, the same place that she woke up that night when her night terror took over. She looked down and saw that this time she was wearing her Gray Girl uniform rather than her night gown like before, but otherwise, it was definitely the same place. The walls had huge scratches on them now and her wardrobe had been crushed to pieces, and yet, the terror was nowhere to be found. She looked over and saw Kasha had joined her beside her bed.

"This...this was where it happened." She explained quietly, feeling a twinge of fear already nagging at the back of her mind. She shrugged it off quickly, though. "I guess we have to just go looking for it..."

She walked through the heavily damaged doorway to the hallway leading downstairs. The walls were bent and elongated in an unnatural way, as though they were in a nightmare. Carrie carefuly slid her hand down the railing as she walked down the twisting staircase, too nervous to speak. She remembered where she last saw her night terror. Soon the arrived in the kitchen and she turned straight towards the oven. Everything had been twisted and distorted, with all color completely dissipating from the scene. She could see her breath as she walked forward and slowly clicked open the oven door to see if the beast was still inside.

With a gasp, Carrie saw that it was completely empty. She turned to look at Kasha with a little frustration. "Is...is he gone? Did I get rid of him for good?" She asked hopefully, although part of her knew it wasn't true.

She walked carefully to her front door and opened it up slowly. Outside, rather than seeing her neighborhood, she laid her eyes on a dark forest, similar to the one in their simulation, but much darker. "WHY ARE YOU HIDING!?" She yelled angrily out into the darkness. She could feel it watching her, waiting, but for what? She could sense it standing silently in the trees, waiting cowardly.

Carrie turned back to Kasha. "It's still here...but it's hiding...What should I do?"

---

As Gray Girl fell into her trance along with the cat, her body fell limp and her eyes opened as wide as they could manage, revealing that her pupils had rolled back into her head. Her body began shaking violently, as if she was seizing. Her skin turned to a pale gray as she twisted around on the grass in front of Garnet and Meta. Dark wind began blowing around, rustling the trees at great intensity that would push any normal person far away from the girl and the cat, but somehow not disturbing Carrie or Kasha. It was safe to assume that a transformation was happening, but it was definitely different than before, although no one present would be aware since they hadn't seen her attempt this, yet.

Gray Girl seemed to accept her ideas of meditation and use that to start off. Of course she was hesitant, but it didn't take long for a fourth member to chime in to give their two cents. Garnet, at first, was confused and worried, but then realized this wasn't the weirdest thing she came across. She is a gem that fights crime and destroyed a giant ice monster the other day, how weird can things really get? Talking cats definitely wouldn't be the weirdest thing she's seen.
The cat seemed to have won GG over, but Garnet suspected them having a previous relationship with the cat being so comfortable with her. Also, Gray Girl didn't freak out when it started talking, so that was a pretty convincing sign.

The girl soon went into a trance with the help of a cat, followed by her eyes fluttering around. Garnet would move the unconscious body to the ground carefully so she didn't accidentally fall out of the tree, followed by her moving a few steps back. She'd then sit criss cross and wait to see what happened.
She wasn't surprised by the convulsions and the smoke, she just wanted to see what came after that. Garnet stood up and ready her gauntlets, not making at movement just in case the beast was in control. "Gray Girl, are you there?"