TT: G2: by Richard Van
"The name's Jimi James, and these are my blue flames!" Jimi James shot blue flames out of his hands, narrowly missing everyone except Southpaw, who had foreseen it and taken a step back. Moonshine lit up her eyes, floated into the air, and surrounded her hands with bright red energy. Southpaw cracked his knuckles and stretched his massive arms.
Catrina hissed at Jimi James. "Hairspray is flammable you idiot. I'm going to spank you senseless," she said her whip moving swiftly around her, "and I don't mean in a naughty way."
"Ooh, baby. You could've fooled me," He said, poking his butt and making a hissing noise as smoke came from the end of his finger. "You can call me by my villain name, Jimi Flames."
Jimi Flames covered his body in bright red flames just as a car landed on top of him. He melted right through it and looked around to see who had done it. He looked behind him, where Steel Flash was standing.
"Hi Jimi. You can call me… from jail. Titans, Go!"
Moonshine unleashed a barrage of starbolts in Jimi's direction as Steel Flash sped out of the way. Jimi tossed a couple of large fireballs up to meet them, causing a large explosion and knocking Moonshine backwards in the air. Jimi struggled to see through the immense cloud of smoke, and to his surprise, Southpaw appeared from within the smoke and attempted to hit him. Jimi managed to roll out of the way and patted Southpaw on the back.
"Awww, close enough."
Southpaw's hooded bearskin vest caught on fire.
"AHHHHH!!" He screamed, trying to remove the vest and not burn his hands at the same time.
Jimi stood out of Southpaw's reach, laughing and pointing as he ripped open a fire hydrant and put his self out. Jimi was bent over, howling with laughter, when his laughing howl became a crying yelp. He looked at the seat of his pants, where there was a huge gash in the fireproof material and a welt on the skin underneath. Before he had time to look up and see who did it, he screamed and found another gash on the other side of his butt.
Catrina swirled her whip around her menacingly and smiled. "Sorry. I didn't want the other cheek to get jealous."
"Why you spicy little-"
Before he could finish, Southpaw used his telekinesis to lift him in the air. Jimi threw a spinning mass of fire at him and Southpaw dodged it. Steel Flash flew over, Moonshine following him, and wrapped him up with a streetlight.
"You Titans think you're hot, huh? You gotta be ten times as hot to catch Jimi Flames!"
The Titans were stunned as Jimi exploded, leaving an ash shaped statue in the area where he had been floating.
Moonshine's eyes began to tear up. "Did he-"
Catrina nodded her head. "I think he did."
"Awww, don't cry, ladies. Jimi Flames can never be burned out. Although I do appreciate y'all getting all hot and bothered about me." Jimi was floating over everyone's head, purple flames dancing over his body. "Well, I'll have to catch you later, alligators, 'cause this wild crocodile has bigger fish to fry and smaller beans to burn."
Southpaw cupped his hand over his mouth and whispered to Steel Flash, "What does that mean?"
"It means he's gonna try to escape. Titans: Pattern six!"
Steel Flash and Moonshine stayed level with each other and floated higher into the air, while Catrina leaped onto Southpaw's shoulders. Jimi Flames' covered his body in bright red flames and wagged a candle-like finger at them.
"No special formations ladies and gentlemen. That's cheating." He turned around and sped away, leaving a trail of smoke in the air around him.
"Now!" Steel Flash yelled.
Moonshine threw six starbolts at Jimi Flames and Steel Flash covered them in the metal nanomites that made up his armor. The nanomites split to create more of themselves and filled in the holes in his suit. At the same time, Southpaw levitated in the air, lifting Catrina high enough to reach Moonshine with her whip. Southpaw closed his eyes and using his psychic powers, made Moonshine trade personalities with Moonshade. Catrina jumped onto Moonshade's back and wrapped her whip around her throat. Moonshade grudgingly covered the metal starbolts with dark matter, and reluctantly turned back into Moonshine, who set Catrina on the ground. Southpaw and Steel Flash, using telekinesis and magnetism, made the black, metal, starbolts chase after Jimi Flames, who had decided not to stick around for pattern six.
"C'mon now! I said that's cheating!" Jimi Flames was trying his best to maneuver out of the way, but going in six directions at once wasn't easy. He made a lucky dodge through an alley and smashed into a pole, causing two of them to crash into each other. He was flying as fast as he could to escape the others when an idea hit him. He swerved around a building, hoping that Steel Flash and Southpaw would lose control of the death balls. Since they didn't need to see to use their powers, it didn't work. He went around the buildings, jumping on roofs and flipping over vents and melting through walls when another idea hit him.
"Where'd he go?" Moonshine asked, irritated that she couldn't see him being chased.
Southpaw and Steel Flash had their eyes closed, concentrating on hitting Jimi Flames, so Catrina answered. "I can hear him over there somewhere," she said, pointing somewhere behind Moonshine in the direction of a movie theater.
Moonshine was about to complain when there was a huge explosion in that direction. Steel Flash and Southpaw opened their eyes to see hundreds of people running out of Movies & More Cinemas, screaming and ducking to not be hit by the debris from the explosion.
"Don't worry about it," Catrina said, "We'll take care of it. You two get Jimi Flames."
"We would, but we lost him. Something happened to the last part of pattern six."
Southpaw, Catrina, Steel Flash, and Moonshine were on their way to help the victims of the movie theater explosion when they were each hit in the back with a starbolt covered in metal nanomites, dark magic, and bright blue fire.
Villains run amuck and the Titans are too old…
Teen Titans!
Before they separated, Robin set a new goal…
Teen Titans!
Cause there's still evil on the attack,
We can't rest until they've got our back,
The world still needs heroes on patrol!
TT: G2!
(Turntable scratches in background, then a hip-hop beat plays)
My name's Steel Flash, I'm the magnet guy
I can manipulate metal, superspeed, and fly
TT: G2!
I'm Southpaw, I can fight with my mind
If not, I'll use superstrength to kick your behind
TT: G2!
I'll never be yours, so give up and don't bother
I'm sexy Catrina, I'm Catwoman's daughter
TT: G2!
Hey, I have split personalities! Everyday! All the time!
Sometimes I'm Moonshade, otherwise I'm Moonshine!
TT: G2!
I am Blank. I have no face or powers.
TT: G2!
(Turntable scratches again, and hip-hop beat stops)
The new Titans- always arriving fast…
Teen Titans!
All our problems, now they're in the past…
Teen Titans!
Catrina, Southpaw, Moonshine, and Steel Flash,
No thanks to Blank, they're watching your (ahem)
Cause when the world continues to lose control…
Teen Titans- Go!
Teen Titans: Generation Two!
Konichiwa!
--
Teen Titans: Generation Two
Episode 2: Jimi James and the Blue Flames
The Teen Titans dragged themselves into the Titan Tower that evening, burned and scarred to a physically and mentally unbearable point. Their clothes were burned to cinders for the most part, so that Southpaw was bare-chested, Catrina was pretty much naked, and well-placed rips and tears enhanced Moonshine's already gothic appearance. Too distracted to ride the elevator, they forced themselves up the stairs and into the top floor living room.
Blank was lounging in his favorite spot on the couch watching Pimp my Bride, a show where a rapper named Distrack and another named Prodigy showed up at random people's houses and gave their brides a usually much needed make-over.
Distrack laughed. "Look at you now, girl. You look all kinds of beautiful."
The woman wiped away tears. "My husband always said I was beautiful, but I never believed him."
"Sometimes our greatest enemies are ourselves," Prodigy told her, "but now you so cute that if you keep looking in the mirror like that- "
" -y'all might end up dating," they told her at the same time.
"Hi, Pretty Kitty," Blank said to Catrina. She ignored him and pushed herself up the hallway and into her and Moonshine's room.
Southpaw, Steel Flash, and Moonshine followed her into Moonshine and Catrina's expansive room. On one side there was a wardrobe filled with black, long-sleeve, midriff-cut shirts and black jeans, accompanied by a Queen-sized bed that had a laundry basket filled with downy sheets, yarn, and catnip at the foot of it. On the other side of the room, there was a table adorned with a large Tamaranian cloth and a vase of White Glasnacks in the middle. Moonshine looked at her flowers and beamed at Steel Flash. He forced a smile.
The four of them sat in a semi-circle around the table, with Southpaw next to Catrina, who sat next to Steel Flash, with Moonshine on his right. Moonshine grabbed his arm and tried to lay on Steel Flash's shoulder. He stood up, and now sitting opposite them, began to speak.
"It is completely unacceptable that we got our asses kicked. You guys made me the leader- "
"Temporary leader," Catrina said under her breath.
Steel Flash squinted at her for a moment and said, "Yes, temporary leader. But as your leader period, it is beyond unacceptable that we got our asses kicked. My Titans do not get their asses kicked. Can any one give me one good reason as to why we got our asses kicked?"
Catrina started to speak, but she caught Southpaw subtlety shaking his head out of the corner of her eye. Moonshine, on the other hand, raised her hand, and Steel Flash called on her.
"I think we got our asses kicked because-"
"Because why, Moonshine?"
"I was gonna say that-"
"Gonna say what?"
"If you would let me finish-"
"I am letting you finish."
"But I haven't said anything."
"Exactly."
"But-"
"Moonshine!" Steel Flash said just a little too loudly, slamming his hands on the table and rising out of his seat, "There is no good reason for us to lose. None. We are four people. Steel Flash, Moonshine, Southpaw, and Catrina. How the Hell do four people lose against one person?"
"He was kind of hot-headed," Catrina joked. Southpaw snickered.
"Oh, that's funny?" Steel Flash said to them. "I don't think it's funny at all. The combined power of four people should be more than enough to take down one person."
"It'd be nice if we had some additional help," Moonshine said, looking down at her hands.
"We're the Titans! We don't need help! Help from who? Blank?"
"Well… I know this other teenage superhero- heroine actually- her name's Chakra. I could go find her and she could join- "
"No, no. No outside help. The four of us is enough."
"It isn't actually," Southpaw disagreed. "I mean, we could easily handle anyone amongst the four of us, but it would be easier if we had someone else to help."
"Like Chakra?"
"No, like Blank."
"Southpaw, you know as well as I do that Blank doesn't have any powers."
"Neither do Batman or Nightwing."
"Batman's not having powers is a Hell of a lot more different than Blank's not having powers. Batman can do something. Nightwing and Batman both have utility belts and know martial arts. Blank wakes up at ten AM every morning to watch Jerry Springer on the weekends and Superfriends on weekdays."
"Nightwing and the others left him here for a reason. After you were released from the cryogenics chamber," Moonshine stopped staring at her hands and leaned in as though they would slip and say something else she didn't know, "You met both me and Blank here."
"So?"
"So, you know that they intentionally left Blank with us."
"What's your point?"
"Well," Catrina started, "I think his point is that Blank does have powers."
"Yeah, I think he does too," Moonshine said. "I just think he's afraid to use them."
Steel Flash looked at Southpaw, who shrugged his shoulders. "That's what I was thinking."
Steel Flash took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. "So… what now?"
"Now, we have the job of getting Blank to use his powers," Southpaw said.
"How do you think we should do that?"
"Get rid of his fear," Catrina said. "Help him find something to enjoy about it."
"Good luck with that," Moonshine said. "We came in here dead tired and burned to death and that'll make him wanna participate."
Steel Flash smiled. "That sounded like something Moonshade would've said."
"She did say that."
"Oh." Steel Flash stopped smiling and leaning back in his chair. He buried his head in his hand for a moment, and as soon as it had dropped it rose up again. "Alright I got it. Does anyone know why Blank wants to stay in the tower, even though he doesn't want to help?"
Moonshine raised her hand. "Because… he likes the fact that we don't have to pay for all those channels on our Satellite TV? And because of the great reception?"
"Exactly."
Moonshine laughed. "Oh, really? I was joking."
"Well, you were right. Now, what I think we should do, is tell Blank that if he doesn't save the city at least once by this weekend, we'll kick him out."
"He doesn't have to do it by his self, does he?" Moonshine asked. "And we won't really kick him out will we? That doesn't really sound too nice."
"I meant exactly what I said."
"But like you said earlier, Blank doesn't have any powers," Southpaw told him.
"And like you said earlier, neither do Batman and Nightwing."
"Have your friends plotted against you? Did they do this because you are different or appear to be disabled? Would you like to prove them wrong? If your answer is a simple 'yes' because you never speak more then a few words anyway except to a beautiful young lady you have a crush on, than you need the Friends Plotted Against Me Because I'm Different So I'll Prove Them Wrong 5000! Or for you simpler folks, the FPAMBIDSIPTW 5000! It's an ointment you combine with your friends' DNA, rub on your hands, and poof! For the next three hours, their talents are yours! Get it for 99 easy payments of 19.99! It comes with a free toothbrush, a pair of ear bud covers, and a bar of soap in your color of choice! Order-by-mail-and-send-cash-We-do-not-accept-credit-card-If-you-try-to-use-credit-card-we-will-repossess-your-house-apartment-and/or-tower-If-you-take-longer-than-a-month-to-pay-off-these-debts-we-will-repossess-your-house-apartment-and/or-tower-If-you-do-not-live-in-a-house-apartment-and/or-tower-because-you-are-poor-than-it-is-more-than-likely-that-this-is-not-your-television-and-we-ask-that-you-leave-now-or-we-will-call-the-cops."
Blank turned the TV, wondering when something like that would ever be useful to him, when Catrina dropped next to him on the couch.
"Hey, Pretty Kitty Catrina."
"Hey, Blank."
"How are you?"
"I'm fine. How are you?"
"I was okay until you sat next to me."
"What?"
"Then I felt great."
"Awww, thanks Blank."
"You're welcome. So why'd they send you in here?"
"What're you talking about? I can't just sit next to you and make conversation and watch TV?"
"You could, but you don't."
"Okay then." Catrina sat up on the couch and crossed her legs. "Blank, we were talking and decided that if you don't start pulling some weight around here, we're gonna have to show you the door."
"Pull weight as in…"
"As in defeat a villain by the weekend or get the boot."
"Like a lower class family with a box of newborn kittens?"
"Yeah. Sorry. If it makes you feel better, it was Steel Flash's idea."
"Don't worry about me." Catrina stood up to leave and Blank changed the channel. "It was nice talking to you Miss Kyles."
"You too, Mister uhhh… Blank."
"If only you were this nice in the mornings."
"Are you kidding? I'm always this nice," Catrina said, batting her eyes.
The next morning, at exactly 10:00 AM, Blank awoke as usual on the bench outside of the Titan Tower. He made his way over the rocks, boulders, and sand, ignoring the beautiful ocean view that separated the Tower from the city. When he reached the door and hit the buzzer, after a small moment Catrina answered sounding anything but friendly.
"What?" she asked.
"Let me in," he said.
"No."
"No?"
"No."
Blank said nothing and heard the intercom click off, then after a minute or two it clicked back on.
"I was having the perfect dream," she told him, purring when she said perfect. "I had broken into an arts museum, and there was this statuette called the Paw of Anubis. It had been carved in ancient Egyptian out of obsidian, and the gold and bronze set in its eyes was just beautiful. I grabbed it, and at the same time this really cute guy with the nicest body I had ever seen grabs it and says, 'I'll be taking this Miss Kitten'. Then I say, 'My name is Catrina, not Miss Kitten, and if you don't let go of the Paw of Anubis, stud, I'm gonna add some extra cuts to that chiseled physique.' And he says, 'If you don't let go, I might let you.' So I trace my finger along his chest and abs -not to hurt him- and surprisingly, he never flinches. I step closer and I'm literally waving my body at him and he never makes a move. So I get really close, and I'm blowing in his ear and on his neck, daring him to kiss me, and he doesn't. Oh my God, I wanted him that much more. I decide to let him have the statue, and he says he's changed his mind and he wants me to take it. Then he asks to put his arms around me, I say 'yes', and you know what he does next?"
Blank shrugged. "Removes his mask and tells you his name is Blank?"
"Ha! Don't you wish."
"Gives you a can of tuna?"
"No."
"A bowl of milk?"
"You're shooting blanks, Sweetie."
"What happened?" Blank had been intrigued by the story and wanted to know what happened next. "Tell me."
"I wish I could, Blank, but for some odd reason I woke up at 10:01 to answer the door for someone who intentionally leaves their key under the cushions on the couch. Why they do that is beyond me." The intercom clicked off again, and for the next hour, Blank sat outside of the tower, alone.
I have nothing to do, Blank thought, What am I with out television? Its 11:26. I've never gone one hour, twenty-six minutes, and forty-two seconds without television. "What do I do?"he asked his self out loud.
"You could try saving the city before this weekend, Blankity Blank," Moonshine said to Blank over the intercom. "I don't want you do it by yourself, but Steelio and the others are forcing you to. I think Steelio's just upset that his Titans lost. They don't know this, but I got you something. You probably saw it on TV. I hope you like it. Its called FPW-something 5000."
"FPAMBIDSIPTW 5000," Blank told her, picking up the tube of ointment she had pushed through the mail slot.
"Here," she said, pushing a plastic bag through after it. "It's got our DNA in it. I'd be careful though- Some of that stuff is really nasty. But that's all you need to beat a bad guy, so go kick some butt, Blankity-Blank Blank-Blank. Have a nice makeover!" Moonshine's always abnormally cheerful voice left the intercom, and Blank stood there with the ointment in his right hand and stared at the contents of the bag in his left hand.
Through the plastic he could see one of Moonshine's long, black hairs, a piece of Steel Flash's ripped tights from when they fought Slade a few weeks back, one of Catrina's hairballs, and a curly, soapy hair that must have belonged to Southpaw. If Blank had a face, he would have looked revolted. He poured the entire contents of the ointment tube into the bag, reached in, and started mixing them with his hand. He pulled out his blue, goo-covered hand and removing his yellow baseball cap, started to smear the mixture on his head, solidifying his brown crop of hair. When he felt the ointment begin to take effect, he headed towards the city.
The Titans were sitting in front of the widescreen TV in the upstairs living room. They had planned to watch the Super Bowl on Pay-per-vision, but Jimi Flames had broken into the stadium and was wreaking havoc on the fans and players.
"Awww, I wanted to watch the Super Bowl," Southpaw complained, "and now Jimi Fool messed it all up."
"Alright, Titans," Steel Flash said, " Let's go do our job."
"Wait! Look, Steelio! Southpaw, Catrina, look! Its Blank!" Moonshine was boiling with excitement and pointing at the screen. Jimi Flames was yelling in the camera, and in the background she could see Blank walking towards him.
"We have to go help him." Catrina said. "He's not gonna be able to handle Jimi Flames."
"Wait, guys. Let's see how he does, then we'll go help him." Moonshine looked at Steel Flash and made a sad face.
Steel Flash said, "Moonshine, you were the main one who was against this."
She shrugged. "He deserves a chance, doesn't he?"
"Whoo-hoo! Nobody can stop Jimi Flames! That's right y'all, nobody! Not even the Teen Titans!" Jimi Flames cheered. When he started posing for the camera, he was hit in the back with a bright red starbolt. "Ahhhh! Who did that?" he yelled, his face as red as the flames covering his body.
Jimi Flames turned around and faced his challenger. The ointment had somehow altered Blank's customary impoverished appearance; he now looked like a combination of the other Titans. His blue Disneyland poncho had split down the middle to fit like a vest and had kept the hood, which he wore over his head. His torn blue jeans had repaired themselves and were now black and covered in brown leather belts. His white, long-sleeved shirt had turned into silver nanomites and on the top of his hood was a headband with cat ears connected to it. On his right hand, there was a black glove with diamond fingernails attached to the ends. On his left, his hand had turned chocolate brown and on his palm, was a bright red paw. His usual blank, deadpan expression was now replaced with an angry air.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Jimi Flames yelled. "Titan Man? Nobody can beat Jimi James and his blue flames!"
"My name is Blank." He turned and looked into the camera, which had slowly backed a few feet away from Jimi Flames. "This is for you, Catrina."
Catrina was shocked. Moonshine was ecstatic. Steel Flash was a mixture of the two. Southpaw was troubled.
Catrina said, "Awww, how sweet. 'This is for you'. That's- "
"The cutest and coolest thing in the world!" Moonshine said, finishing her sentence.
"Now we know what his power is," Steel Flash said. "He uses other people's powers. That's why he wasn't using them. He's afraid of being able to use so many powers at once."
Moonshine kept quiet, and Southpaw was just as silent. 'This is for you'? He thought to himself. That's not cute; it's pathetic.
Southpaw looked up and Steel Flash nodded at him. "That's a pretty good power. Yeah?"
"I don't know," Southpaw said.
"Is that jealousy I smell?" Moonshine nudged Catrina and sniffed the air.
Southpaw didn't answer, and Catrina didn't comment, but she did give him a quizzing look.
"Let's get her done!" Jimi Flames flew into the air and threw two red-hot fireballs in Blank's direction. He had vanished. "Where are you?" Jimi Flames yelled, looking behind and below him.
"Above you!" Blank came down like a comet and smashed Jimi Flames into the ground. Jimi Flames exploded, sending Blank flying in the air. He flew up to meet him and kicked him, sending Blank flying even further. Blank braced himself for another attack, and as Jimi was about to tackle him, he put up a black shield, causing Jimi Flames to smash into it. Blank sped around it and using his left hand, grabbed his head and shattered the shield with it. Jimi Flames grabbed Blank's arm and tried to burn him to get Blank to release him, but Blank held on. Blank put his palm on Jimi Flames' back and said, "Azarath, Metrion, Zenthos!" Jimi Flames was covered with a black veil and Blank used his telekinetic powers to ram him into the field goal on one side of the field, and then forced him towards the other.
"No!" Jimi Flames yelled. Expanding blue flames forced the black veil around him to dissipate, and he melted right through the field goal. "You got a couple of nice hits- I'll give you that much. But now we're gonna have to take this fight up a couple degrees." Jimi Flames' clenched his fists, and the blue fire that danced around his body began to blaze fiercely. "I skipped level one: orange flames. You beat level two: red flames, but how about level three? Not even your buddies could handle this!"
Blank didn't have time to react as Jimi Flames sped toward him, even with Southpaw's foresight powers. As Jimi Flames got closer, the radiant blue light around his body blinded him. He was attacked relentlessly from all directions, and the only thing keeping him from giving up was Catrina. It wasn't just his feelings for her; somewhere within him was Catrina's confidence and self-motivation, along with Steel Flash's ego-driven determination, Moonshine's optimism, and Southpaw's wisdom. Blank was knocked out of the air and crashed into the ground, landing on all fours so roughly that had it not been for the nanomites rearranging themselves to absorb most of the fall, he would have been seriously injured. Thank Moonshine for the makeover later, he thought, and in that moment, he was reminded of something he had heard on TV.
Jimi swept his hands over the football field and set it on fire. "Come on and fight me!" Blank didn't move; he was absorbed in thought, and as he crouched there, the now burning, blue grass crept towards him. "You're scared aren't you? If you can't stand the heat, get out of my kitchen!" Jimi raised his hands in the air and closed his eyes. He began to dance amidst the fire and waved his arms as though he were doing a rain dance. "What no wise crack? Got nothing to say? You've been quiet this whole time, Blank-man. You better say something while you still can, cause its about to get hot!"
Black clouds developed in the sky just over the stadium, and the fans could see occasional red flashes within them, followed by a loud hissing noise like water hitting a hot stove. After a short amount of time, the red flashes became purple flashes, and then the entire sky over the football stadium turned a blurry black and blue, like a massive cloud of burned cotton candy. What was happening was obvious; Jimi Flames was starting a firestorm. The audience didn't bother running out of the stadium in a panic; they were too intrigued by the show that was taking place in the sky and on the football field. The two opposing football teams were standing amidst each other on the sidelines, cheering for Blank and booing at Jimi Flames.
"I'd feel bad not giving credit where it was due, so I'll have to hand it to you, Blank," Jimi Flames said lowering his hands. Blanks clothes had been almost completely disintegrated, and the skin on his featureless face and the rest of him was burned just as badly. He was surrounded by the burning, blue grass, and was holding it at bay with telekinesis. "For a moment there, you honestly were my greatest enemy."
"No," Blank said, "You were."
"What's that? I was what?"
"Your greatest enemy."
"Ha. You must mean my clone. His name is Nosuch."
"Nosuch?"
"No such thing!" Jimi Flames burst out laughing. "You gotta admit that was pretty funny," he said after a moment. "But where were we?"
"The firestorm," Blank told him.
"Oh, yes that."
"First, fight me."
"I don't think you want anymore. Wouldn't you rather be finished by the firestorm, Blank?"
"No."
"Fine." Jimi Flames floated into the air and began to speak to the fans in the stadium. The flames surrounding his body became orange and red again. "Have y'all enjoyed the show?"
There was a dull murmur for a while, and finally someone stood up to speak. He was fat, and had a blonde man with a helmet painted on his chest. One side of his face had been painted yellow, and the other was green. Another cameraman turned and began to film him and Jimi. "We love it, Jimi! You're going down! Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! Whoo! Go Vikings!"
As the fans continued to comment on what they obviously thought was part of that year's Super Bowl, Blank was on the ground, ready to finish off Jimi Flames. He looked up and saw that Jimi Flames was still eating up the attention from the fans and the camera, and realized that the fans were distracting Jimi Flames to buy him some time. Blank, still holding the flames at bay, sat down and allowed them to consume him.
"Oh, no! I'm sorry, Blankey!" Moonshine said.
"Why are you apologizing?" Steel Flash asked her. "What'd you do?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing. I'm just saying I should have let us all go save him like you said. Because now- "
"I'm sure."
Catrina was speechless. This is my fault, she thought. I was mean to him and forced him to stay outside.
No it isn't, Catrina, Southpaw told her telepathically. It's no one's fault but his.
"It isn't his fault!" she yelled at him. "And why were you reading my mind?"
"I was just trying to- "
"To what? Console me by breaking my privacy? You jealous little- "
"Hold on." Moonshine and Steel Flash were staring in awe at the television screen. "Look at that. Whoa."
The audience had stopped trying to appease Jimi Flames, and they were now awestruck by the figure standing amidst Jimi James' blue flames. Blank's blue Disneyland poncho had been devoured by the fire, and the rest of his body, from the cat ears to his boots, had been covered in the metal nanomites. Using psychic powers and black magic, he had covered his body with a fusion of Jimi Flames' light blue fire and Moonshine's electric red starbolt energy, causing his entire body to give off a dazzling, purple brilliance. He looked like a star that had been molded into human form.
"Your greatest enemy," Blank said.
Jimi Flames was beyond intimidated, but he was trying his best not to show it. "Y-yeah- yeah, my greatest enemy is myself. Someone with powers like mine. I'm ready. Let's go." Jimi Flames covered his body in his signature blue flames, and floated higher in the air. Blank followed, and they rose higher and higher until they were just underneath the blue firestorm clouds. "It's about time your flame was put out, and when I'm through with you, I'll finish the Titans so there are no more surprises."
"Its 7:30," Blank said impatiently.
"So?"
"I'm missing Adolescent Avengers."
Blank's complaint drove Jimi Flames to the boiling point. He rushed forward to attack Blank, who emitted a black shield over his eyes so he could see through his opponent's luminous aura. Using Catrina's night vision, he could see just as well as he usually could, and dodged Jimi Flames in time. Jimi Flames made a U-turn and came back at Blank. He dodged him again, and this time he kicked him in the back, following it up with a few blasts of what Blank had dubbed in his mind as 'flamebolts'. Jimi Flames caught two in his back and dodged the next two, and reaching out his hand, he caught the last and threw it back at Blank. "Azarath," Blank threw another flamebolt into it, causing it to explode in Jimi Flames' face, "Metrion," Jimi Flames put his arms in front of him self to block the explosion, "Zenthos!" Blank sent a beam of dark magic out of his right hand, and a beam of flamebolts out of his left, and Jimi Flames sent a pillar of blue fire towards the beams, which had swirled around each other and combined into a single ray of black fire.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Jimi Flames yelled, pushing his fire as hard as he could against it, determined not to let it hit him.
"I am," said a voice behind him. Before Jimi Flames could turn around and defend himself, Blank interlocked his fingers, made a two-handed fist, and struck him between his shoulder blades. Just as he was about to crash into the ground, Blank had appeared underneath him and used his telekinesis to push his body into the ray of black fire just as it was about to hit the audience. "Azarath, Metrion, Zenthos!" he yelled, trapping Jimi Flames and the explosion in a dark sphere to protect the audience. The audience cheered, but was quickly quieted when an explosion of blue fire freed Jimi Flames from the dark sphere.
Jimi Flames was doubled over, breathing hard and very much injured, and also like Blank, was just as determined to win. "That was for the audience," he said, faking a laugh, "but I'm done wasting time. You've had your fight, superstar, and now that Act one and two are over, its time for the grand finale. This aughta blow you away." The blackish blue clouds above the stadium began to rumble and sizzle, and after seeing Jimi Flames survive Blank's attacks, the spectators began to get nervous. There was an easily audible roar from within the clouds, and the blue color that was dispersed within the clouds began to accumulate in separate areas, so that the underside was covered with grayish blue polka dots. "Like I said earlier, its about to get hot!"
Everyone in the stadium went into an immediate panic.
"Your greatest enemy," Blank yelled, somehow audible over the roar of the fans and the firestorm, "is yourself, Jimi James of the Blue Flames!" Blank rose slowly into the air, and stopped midway between the field and the clouds; the fans had stopped running and screaming and paid attention to the figure covered in metal and purple flames. "Like they say, "Fight fire with fire'."
"You tried fighting with fire and now, Blank, you get burned!"
Blank's foresight kicked in, and he saw massive balls of blue fire dropping out of the sky to fall on the spectators like rain. Stop him, a voice said in his head, stop him for Catrina. Blank said, I will. Good luck then, the voice said. Blank's mind reached deep into the DNA that Moonshine had given to him for help, because even his television-based ingenuity didn't spark any ideas. He searched through Catrina's memory, then Southpaw and Moonshine's, and when he reached Steel Flash's memory, powerful black magic was blocking him from accessing his past memories. Fortunately for Blank, there was one spell that had not been blocked. Blank awoke from the semi-meditation the anonymous voice had put him in. The clouds opened up and released a downpour of immense fireballs as Blank had foreseen. The fans and players didn't try to escape; they were praying, crying, or both. One passed near Blank, and using his left hand, changed its course and sent it at Jimi Flames.
"Now that's only one fireball, Blank. You aren't gonna stop them all," he said. He moved slowly to the side and escaped it.
Blank held out his hands, closed his eyes, and concentrated on all the dark energy inside of him. 3 minutes and 47 seconds, then the powers wear off. He dismissed the thought, and centered all of his power- Steel Flash's mysterious, hidden dark knowledge, Moonshade's dark magic, and Southpaw's psychic abilities -on the chant he had learned. Neglecting a portion of the chant's requirements, he held on to his affection for Catrina, accessed the unbridled joy Moonshine had inherited from her mother, and kept in mind the joy being a hero on national television would bring him.
Hatred.
I don't like Jimi Flames.
Fear.
What if I fail?
Death.
Jimi might get hurt.
Sin.
I try not to.
Love.
I deeply admire Catrina.
Hope.
What if this works?
Life.
The audience will live.
Honor.
The others will respect me.
"Mython… Derelil… Nexus!!"
"No!" Steel Flash yelled, and in the same instant, Moonshade seized control of Moonshine's body and screamed in agony. Then everything went black for the both of them.
The boulder-sized white and blue fireballs became immobile just before hitting the audience, suspended above them like planets in a science fair project on the solar system. An unnatural Darkness replaced all of the light present in the stadium; even the light given off by the heat of the fireballs ceased to shine. Blank could feel the Darkness seizing him, and doing the opposite of the spell's instructions again, concentrated on everything he enjoyed and admired, everything he believed, everything that had lived and had given life, and on everything that was noble and deserved respect. The Darkness was instantly discharged from his mind, and took with it the knowledge and power of the dark magic that had been inside of him for the last three hours. He fell slowly to the ground, and in his decent, he saw Jimi Flames lying on the ground, muttering to himself and twitching, the fire in his eyes finally put out. Blank looked up and saw that the firestorm was gone, along with the fireballs. When he stood up, he received instant applause from the fans and the two football teams. One of the fans in the upper levels dropped him what he realized was a blue Disneyland poncho exactly like his, with the exception of the name Carl Farthman written on the inside of the hood. If Blank had been born with a mouth he would have smiled. He put it on, and the moment he buttoned the sides his clothes returned to normal, and the powers Moonshine had given him were gone.
He walked out of the stadium, and after adjusting his yellow baseball cap, hopped into the taxi that had patiently waited an hour and a half for Blank to return.
Blank walked up to the Titan Tower's front door and hit the buzzer.
Catrina answered, "Yes?"
"May I come in?"
"Yes, Blank. Yes you may." Catrina opened the door, and the moment Blank entered, she embraced him. "Thank you. I'm so glad you're okay. If you ever need a favor…"
"You're welcome. Me too. And I'll think of something." He walked past Catrina and was met by Moonshine and Steel Flash, both of them smiling weakly.
"Good job, Blankey! Although I could've done with out the agonizing pain part," Moonshine said.
"Same here. You did good, Blank. I'm glad to have such a powerful Titan on the team. You can stay now. Although… I have to know how you did that last spell. That was powerful black magic and I've only seen two people use it. One of them got trapped in another universe, and the other is responsible for it; neither would tell anyone how to do it."
Blank shrugged.
Steel Flash dropped his casual tone. "I'm serious, Blank. Where did you learn that- "
Moonshine spoke up. "I kind of had something to do with that. I got him this three-hour ointment that you mix with other people's DNA and rub on yourself and then it gives you their powers. So, Blank didn't actually use his own powers… but he did defeat a villain before Friday, and you already said he could stay."
Moonshine expected Steel Flash to be upset with her, but he actually seemed pleased. "He knew because I knew and it's been three hours, so it wore off and he's forgotten. Okay, cool."
Blank squeezed between them, and was confronted by Southpaw. "Congratulations on defeating your first villain."
Blank said, "That voice- "
" -was me. Yeah. Catrina's all yours now."
"No, I owe you."
"What?"
"For helping."
"No, you don't."
Blank turned around and pointed at Catrina. "Have my favor." He pushed passed Southpaw, leaped on to the couch, and turned to WB to watch Enchanted, a show about three brothers who found out that they were wizards.
You're fine with that? No flirting in the morning? Southpaw asked telepathically.
No, and it depends, Blank thought back.
Depends on what?
Blank checked his pockets and then underneath the seat cushions without taking his eyes off the screen. My key's missing.
Southpaw didn't understand what that meant, but it sounded like it meant no.