Hello, people. If I could have a moment of your time, I would like to tell you a story. Well, it's actually a SERIES of stories, each starring some of the best heroes you've ever heard of. My stories are based off of some of the best cartoons & movies of the early to mid 2000's; these cartoons have received praise from critics and fans, as well as multiple awards. And now, I shall tell you a new batch of stories featuring these amazing characters.

Let's stop for a moment and consider one of the greatest animated crossover universes ever: The DCAU. Starting with Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 and officially ending with Justice League Unlimited in 2006, this universe shared many shows starring popular DC heroes, including the Big 3: Superman, Batman, & Wonder Woman. The shows were largely successful, with critics and fans giving them much praise.

Well, I'm happy to tell you that the DCAU is where my stories will be taking place. But no, the Justice League will not be the main stars. No, the main spotlight will be shared by other heroes, some from DC, some from Disney, some from Nick, even some from Marvel.

So sit back, and enjoy :)

"Where is he? Where is he?"

To say things weren't going according to plan would be a MASSIVE understatement. All of their hard work was going straight down the toilet, as far as Brian Tochi (a young adult meta-human better known as Shiv) was concerned.

"What was with those two?" he angrily muttered to himself, as he kicked another door open, looking for his "friend" Francis Stone, a fire-powered meta-human better known as Hotstreak. The two of them were in the Meta-Breed, a group of Bang Babies dedicated to causing trouble. Their leader was Ivan Evans, a shadow-based meta-human better known as Ebon.

Over the past few weeks, the Meta-Breed had been growing in numbers…before it started dwindling down to hardly any. This Dr. Todd fellow from GenomaTech had managed to get his hands on some of the original Quantum Vapor (or "Bang Baby Gas" as most called it), and with the help of Static and Gear (ugh!) had managed to make a cure for all Bang Babies. Luckily, Ebon had led a raid into GenomaTech's lab, where they stole the last container of Bang Baby Juice. Sadly, in the process they had lost Talon, who had been cured and refused to come with the group now that she was "normal" again. This, of course, had weighed heavy on Ebon, as he had always loved Talon. [1]

Despite that minor complication, Ebon went ahead with his big plan: use the canister of BB Juice to create an even bigger Big Bang than the first one. He had planned to release the gas at the docks, where the original Big Bang had taken place. Ebon would then mold all the super-powered young minds into the new Meta-Breed, with him as the leader.

Shiv had been more than ok with that; he had never wanted to be in charge, anyway. He just wanted his powers (energy-based weapons from his hands) back. But then Hotstreak just HAD to go and steal the canister. Talon (or, Teresa, as she called herself) whom Ebon had recaptured, had called Ebon weak, and pointed out he was nothing without his powers. Hotstreak had (silently) agreed with that, so after the group had captured Static and Gear, he took off with the canister.

Now, the rest of the group had gotten off the ship to search the surrounding warehouses, but Shiv knew Hotstreak better than that; he was still on the ship, and Shiv was gonna find him and get his powers back.

As the young villain searched the room he had just entered, he failed to notice Teresa run past the door towards the exit of the ship. The room was mainly empty, except for one closet, which he yanked open; nothing but a vacuum, a mop, and a box of rolled-up trash bags.

"Dammit!" he muttered to himself. Why had Hottreak gone against Ebon? As far as Shiv knew, Hotstreak just liked to cause trouble. Yeah, he had been the leader of a gang before the Big Bang, but once he got his powers, he was mainly just a "have (destructive) fun, go with the flow" kind of guy. Shiv guessed it was his lust for power that was making him rebel.

Suddenly, what sounded like…fighting interrupted Shiv's thoughts. Suddenly, there was a mini-explosion, and the next thing Shiv knew, Quantum Vapor was filling the hall outside the room he was in. Luckily for him, it spread into the room as well, and all he needed was a good whiff.

Instantly, Shiv turned his hands into buzz saws. Though he was surprised to see that they were bigger than normal.

"Must be because I'm right in the gas this time," he muttered to himself. As he marveled at having his powers back, he suddenly had a thought, "What about the others? If this is the last of the Quantum Vapor, how are they gonna get some?"

It was then, out of the corner of his eye, he glanced into the closet, and noticed the vacuum and trash bags. The vacuum had a sucker on it, the kind for tight places, and Shiv knew he could use that. Quickly, he used his powers to rip the vacuum open. He quickly grabbed the box of trash bags, hooked one into the vacuum, plugged it into the outlet right by the door, and ran into the hall. He turned the vacuum on, and to his relief, it started sucking in the gas.

Shiv made sure that the bag wouldn't overflow and rip open, because somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he only had one shot at this.

As soon as the bag was full (like a big balloon), Shiv quickly and carefully unhooked it from the vacuum, made a rope with his powers, and used it to tie the bag shut. He now had a full trash bag of Bang Baby Gas. Right as he finished tying it, the gas was suddenly blown away; Shiv made sure to suck in one last time, getting another dose of the gas.

It was then that he heard Static and Gear from around the corner, so he did the smart thing and took off the other way.

He turned his hands into buzz saws and cut his way out of the ship, jumping onto the docks and heading for one of the warehouses. He figured his best bet would be to hide in the sewers for the night, while he planned his next move.

Suddenly, a loud roar caught his attention, and he turned back towards the ship…and gasped in shock! On the ship's deck was some sort of giant 2-headed monster, apparently made out of fire and…shadows?

"Oh, those idiots," Shiv muttered, instantly getting it: the monster was Ebon and Hotstreak, fused together because they were probably right by the canister when it went off.

Hiding inside the door of one of the warehouses, Shiv watched as Static and Gear, now super charged, battled the monster. At first, Darkflame (Shiv's name for the monster) appeared to be winning, but then Static surprised it by using his powers to throw a gas truck into its chest, causing it to explode and sink the ship.

As Shiv watched the super duo, he was suddenly grabbed from behind, with one arm slung around his chest, and the other arm's hand used to cover his mouth and prevent him from screaming. He kept a hold on his trash bag as he was dragged backwards into the warehouse towards an open manhole. He was pushed down the manhole, while holding his bag above him in an attempt to make sure it didn't tear open.

He landed in the sewer (gross) and looked to see Byron Turek [2] and Tamara Lawrence, two former Bang Babies known as Boom and…well, Tamara didn't really have a villain name; she just turned into a big monster. Suddenly, Heavy C, a Bang Baby formerly known as Slipstream, jumped down beside him. The trio of villains had each fought Static at different times (each was a "one time" villain, from what Shiv could remember) and when they started losing their powers, they had agreed to join the Meta-Breed under Ebon's leadership in exchange for their powers back.

"So," Shiv said, after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "You guys see what I just saw?"

"Yeah," Tamara grumbled, "Static and Gear managed to take Ebon and Hotstreak out."

"And their powers seemed to have, like, doubled," Byron added.

"What do we do now, boss?" Heavy C asked Shiv, surprising him.

"Boss?" Shiv asked, sure he had heard wrong.

"Look, man," Byron spoke up, "You're one of the founding members of the Meta-Breed. And with Talon, Hotstreak, and Ebon out of the picture, that means you're in charge."

Shiv suddenly started sweating bullets; these guys were looking at him to be their leader?

"Well," Shiv finally found his voice, "You'll be happy to know, this bag is full of Bang Baby Gas…"

"Alright!" Heavy C interrupted, "Let's get our powers back and go kick Static and Gear's butts!"

"Yeah!" Byron and Tamara both exclaimed eagerly.

"Hold it!" Shiv shouted, silencing the trio, "We can't just run out there and fight them. Even with our numbers advantage AND the fact that directly inhaling the gas will give us super-charged powers, we know Static will be able to beat us. And come on, with his brain doubled in size, how easy do you guys think it will be for Gear to turn our powers against each other? Look, I want to get revenge on Static and Gear as much as you guys do, but we need a PLAN!" Shiv was surprised to hear the words coming out of his mouth; maybe the "re-gassing" had made him smarter?

"Well, at least give us somethin', man," Tamara pleaded, "I need my powers back!" The other two nodded in agreement.

Once again, Shiv was sweating nervously as all eyes were on him. He knew these guys wanted their powers back, and he didn't want them to turn against him like Hotstreak had to Ebon, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind:

"A month!"

"What?" the trio questioned.

"What day is it?" Shiv choked out, trying to remain calm.

"January 12th," Tamara spoke up, "I remember it so easily because it's the anniversary of when I got together with that jerk boyfriend of mine."

"Well, then," Shiv began, ignoring the last part of what Tamara had said as he began explaining his idea, "Give me a month to make a plan. I mean, that'll give Static some time to think everything is ok, and then we can strike when he's least suspecting it. So, February 8th, we'll regroup, I'll give you guys your powers, and we'll set our plan into motion. Then, February 12th, two days before Valentine's Day, we'll strike." Shiv was silently praying that the others would accept his on-the-spot plan, because he knew they wouldn't last against Static and Gear if they just went in there blindly.

"Ok," Heavy C said after a minute, "You got a point that we need a plan, and what you just said sounds like a good a plan as we're gonna get." Tamara and Byron nodded in agreement.

"Ok," Shiv nodded, "Lay low for a while, maybe even get out of the city just to be safe. February 8th, we'll meet back here. I know Talon and Aquamaria are "done", but I'm sure most of Static's old foes would be more than happy to get revenge, so if you find any of them, invite them to join."

"Got it," the three nodded, and took off. Byron and Tamara headed in one direction of the sewer, Heavy C ran in the opposite direction, while Shiv climbed back up the ladder and exited the manhole. Luckily for him, he happened to spot Static and Gear through one of the warehouse's windows; they were heading for the city, so Shiv knew he would be fine…for the night.

After taking a breather, Shiv went to the power box and cut the power for the warehouse he was in. After making sure his bag was in a safe location, he started smashing boxes. Shortly after starting, he found what he was looking for: bubble wrap. He grabbed as much as he could, went to the box he had selected for his bag, and filled it with bubble wrap. He then carefully placed his balloon-bag into the box, laid another roll of bubble wrap on top of it, and put the lid back on the box. He then placed the box on a flat-cart and rolled it out of the warehouse.

He knew he couldn't stay there for too long because chances were Static and Gear had already called the police about the sinking ship and Bang Babies still running around the docks, so he needed to get as far away from there as possible.

After a few minutes, he was away from the docks, in the downtown/slum area of the city. He stopped for a minute to rest on a bench. He needed to find a place to crash for the night, where he could also maybe lay low for a few days.

RING-RING, RING-RING, RING-RING

Shiv's head instantly shot up and began looking around for wherever that ringing sound was coming from. He did NOT need anyone around to see him and report him. But to his surprise, he saw no one; in fact, the ringing seemed to be coming from a…payphone?

"What the?" he muttered, confused. The payphone was obviously ringing, but Shiv was certain payphones couldn't accept incoming calls.

The payphone kept ringing, so against his better judgment, Shiv walked over to it, picked up the receiver, and asked, "Hello?"

"Hello, Shiv," the voice on the other end said, whoever it was having a "standard" voice disguiser/modulator type voice: deeply robotic sounding.

"Um…" Shiv was definitely caught off guard by the fact that whoever was calling knew his name…and that he just happened to be by this payphone.

"Don't be nervous, my dear boy. I'm not a cop or a hero or anything like that. I'm a friend, a friend with an offer I'm certain you don't want to refuse."

"O…ok," Shiv managed to find his voice, "What…what kind of offer?"

"Well, I know what's in the box, for starters," the voice answered, surprising Shiv, "And I know how you can quite literally make the most of it."

"Ok," Shiv answered again, not sure what else to say.

"And I think that one month is the perfect amount of time for you to lay low before attacking Static," the voice continued.

"Are…are you my future self?" Shiv asked, not knowing any other way that this person could know about his plan or the Bang Baby Gas.

The voice chuckled, "No, no I'm not. And I'm not any of the others, if that's your next question." The voice paused for a moment before continuing, "Truthfully, who I am is unimportant for the time being. Let's just say I'm an…old friend of Static's, and I would rather he not know of my involvement in your little plan."

"Um…being honest," Shiv muttered, slightly embarrassed, "I don't really have a plan."

"Of course you do," the voice argued, "And I'm going to tell you what it is."

"You are?" Shiv asked, still not getting it.

"Ok," the voice sighed, "Let me make this as clear as I can make it: I'm going get revenge on Static, and I've got the perfect plan on how to do it. But I don't want him to know of my involvement until it's too late for him to do anything about it, so you're going to be my…puppet, so to say."

"Oh," Shiv said, finally getting it, "So…what's the plan?"

"Not now," the voice told him, "I'm going to give you directions to a place where you can lay low for a while, and I'll contact you in 24 hours to begin going over details of "your" plan. Now, what time is it?"

Shiv happened to be right by a pawn shop, so he turned his hand into a set of binoculars and looked inside the window, where he was able to see the clock. "10:30," he told the mysterious voice.

"Very well," the voice said, "At exactly 10:30 tomorrow, I'll call with the first step of the plan to begin our ultimate revenge on Static."

"Thanks," Shiv said, feeling giddy at the idea of finally getting rid of the goody two-shoes hero, "By the way, even though you have nothing to do with this plan whatsoever…what do I call you?"

"For now, you may refer to me as Mr. W," the voice told him, "Now, listen closely, because I will only tell you the directions to your new hideout once."

"Got it," Shiv said, nodding even though Mr. W couldn't see him.

"Okay, first, continue up the street you are currently on…"

Dr. Todd sighed as he hung up the phone. His assistant, Andrew, wouldn't be coming back to work for a few days; understandable, since he had almost had his head cut off by a psychotic Bang Baby earlier. But still, it meant he would have to continue his work alone. And after the day's events, he wasn't sure if he would be able to.

In November, after the mayoral elections evicted Thomashina Jefferson from the office (because while no proof was ever found, many were sure she was covering up Alva Industries' involvement in the Big Bang), the new mayor, Michael Davis [3], had ordered GenomaTech to start using the research they had been collecting over the past few months to cure the Bang Baby population. After a brief "team up" with Static and Gear, the Bang Baby cure was ready.

But then, earlier today, the Meta-Breed had broken into the lab and stolen the last canister of Quantum Vapor that GT had, so they were at a set back. At least Dr. Todd still had the formula for the cure, so they wouldn't be halted for more than a couple of days.

"I'll phone the mayor tomorrow and explain the situation," he muttered to himself, as he looked up at the clock. 11:00. He needed to get home and get to bed, as he knew he would have to wake up early the next day. Plus, he knew his daughter would be up all night worrying about him.

As he began packing up his things to take home, Dr. Todd was unaware of a dark figure sneaking into the lab's basement. After about a minute of packing, the lights in the lab suddenly went out.

"Weird," Dr. Todd muttered, looking up towards the light's; he then looked towards his computer, which was still on. If it wasn't a power failure, then that meant…

"Hello, Dr. Todd," a slightly robotic sounding voice stated from behind him, as the few beakers still on the work table were suddenly shattered, their contents spilling out all over the desk. Dr. Todd turned around away from the desk towards the mysterious voice.

There, right next to the light switch, was a figure dressed in all black. Dr. Todd could tell that the mysterious figure was wearing some "mock armor" under their clothing, consisting of a bullet proof vest, knee, shoulder, and elbow pads, and quite possibly a football helmet underneath their ski mask. This person purely looked like they were TRYING to look scary, which they weren't. Of course, shattering the beakers from the other side of the room meant they probably had a gun on them, but Dr. Todd was sure he could calm this person down enough to defuse the situation.

"Look," he began, "I don't want any trouble." As he was talking, he slowly reached for his wallet, "There's a safe in the backroom, and all the I've got on me is in here." At this, he tossed his wallet towards the figure.

"You think I want money?" the figure asked, kicking the wallet to the side.

"I don't see why else you would be here other than to rob the place," Dr. Todd lied; he knew that if this person wasn't a robber, then they were probably a disgruntled former Bang Baby wanting revenge for the loss of their powers.

"Yes you do," the figure chuckled, as they slowly made their way towards Dr. Todd, "At least, you know HALF the reason."

"Half the reason?" Dr. Todd questioned, confused, as he backed away from the slowly advancing figure.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the figure started, "I am Mr. W, and I have big plans going down soon. I'm sorry to inform you that your part in my plans has been completed, therefore I no longer have any use of you."

"I would never work for a madman," Dr. Todd argued, as he suddenly backed into the wall, stopping him in his tracks.

Mr. W chuckled as he walked right up to Dr. Todd and placed his hands on the man's shoulders (to stop him from running), "Really? Spraying a chemical to make Bang Babies, both heroes AND villains, lose their powers, so while the heroes are happy to live normal lives, the villains are desperate enough to follow anyone who will give them their powers back. So after getting their powers back, they attack the now defenseless city under their new leader, all because they were desperate enough to do so? Dr. Todd, you may-as-well be my second in command."

Dr. Todd's eyes widened as he processed everything Mr. W had just said. Then, he calmed down as a new thought occurred to him, "How are you gonna give the villains their powers back?" He was actually feeling confident as he smirked at Mr. W, who wasn't the least-bit fazed.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Mr. W told him…as he flung the scientist across the room, where he banged his head against the wall, dazing him.

Mr. W then walked over to Dr. Todd's computer, where he began typing something. Struggling, Dr. Todd managed to stand up, and, having no plan at the moment, looked around and spotted the fire alarm a few feet away from him on the wall. He managed to ignore the splitting pain in his head as he reached over and pulled down the handle…only to have nothing happen.

"I snuck into the basement and cut the power for both the fire alarms and the burglar alarms," Mr. W said, not even turning around, "I also busted that one rusty pipe. You really should have gotten that replaced at least a month ago."

Dr. Todd chided himself for not listening to Andrew when he brought up the rusty pipe earlier in the week. Now the basement was likely flooded, and as that was where he kept his filing cabinets…

"You're getting rid of the cure," Dr. Todd realized, as he watched Mr. W continue to type away on the computer. He knew the physical files in the basement were ruined, and now Mr. W was trying to get rid of the cure on the computer. But Dr. Todd once again felt slight relief upon realizing two things:

1: Mr. W would never be able to get past the computer's firewall to delete the cure

2: in the safe in the backroom, there was a hidden compartment that had a flash drive containing backups on the Bang Baby research

"Dr. Todd!" Mr. W suddenly exclaimed, sounding slightly appalled, "I am shocked that such a fine member of the community would look at…at…such a website. And at your place of business, no less." Mr. W shook his head as he stepped away from the computer. Even across the room, Dr. Todd could see that the website Mr. W had logged into was…

"A porn website?" Dr. Todd asked, slightly confused.

"And," Mr. W went on, ignoring Dr. Todd, "Downloading "special deals" from this site. How disgraceful." At that, Mr. W used the mouse to click on a button that said "Download for X-tra Fun" as he pulled a flash drive out of his pocket. He held up the flash drive so Dr. Todd could see it. Even though it was dark, Dr. Todd could barely make out a…skull on it?

"I mean," Mr. W continued as he placed the flash drive into the computer, "Don't you know that these kinds of sites come with all sorts of…" he paused for a moment, as Dr. Todd noticed his computer acting up.

"Hard drive wiped," a computerized voice stated.

"Viruses?" Mr. W finished with, even though Dr. Todd couldn't see it, a wide smile on his face as he pulled the flash drive out of the computer and back into his pocket.

"So, do you get the picture now?" Mr. W asked, "You were feeling stressed after all that's happened in the past couple of days, so you logged onto the website to "calm yourself". But, as you can see, said website ruined your computer by deleting everything on your hard drive with a virus. Then, by random coincidence, that rusty pipe in the basement burst, and just happened to spray the fuse box, knocking out the power. Of course, you didn't know about the pipe, you just knew that the fuse box probably needed to be checked. So you instantly headed for the basement, without giving your eyes time to adjust to the darkness so you could grab a flashlight. You bumped into your work table and knocked over the beakers, which spilled their contents out. Then, your cigar dropped out of your mouth onto the liquid, which happened to be highly flammable, thusly starting a fire which burned down the lab. And I'm sorry to say, Dr. Todd, you didn't make it."

His story done, Mr. W pulled out a pack of Cuban cigars and a lighter. He lit one of the cigars up, and tossed it onto the work table; and it wasn't just a guess, the chemicals were in fact VERY flammable. The whole desk was up in flames in seconds.

Dr. Todd (having been able to process everything Mr. W said very quickly) turned and headed for the backdoor of his lab, hoping he could make it outside and flag down some late-night driver.

"HEELLLP!" he screamed, as he made his way across the lab. But it was all for naught, as Mr. W easily tackled him to the ground.

"Ya know the best part?" Mr. W whispered into the scientist's ear as he placed the cigars into Dr. Todd's lab coat pocket, "Everyone will know you were murdered, but no one will have enough evidence to conduct any investigation for more than a couple days, so they'll have to label your death an accident. Once the Meta-Breed has FULL control of Dakota City, everyone will find out the truth that you were murdered, but by then it will be too late. Oh, and your wife ran out on you when the kid was still in diapers, right? Where, oh where, will your poor daughter go now that she'll have no daddy?"

At that, Mr. W jumped back up and flung Dr. Todd right towards his flaming work table, as the poor man screamed in terror…

Unfortunately, Mr. W was right: the police were certain Dr. Todd's death was a murder, but had absolutely no evidence to go on. Gear tried to use the GenomaTech's satellites to retrieve any data (though he and Static agreed that the cure wasn't going to be recovered), but it was all for naught. All the data could recover was a porn website that had been the last website that Dr. Todd had been on, and it had apparently wiped the computer's hard drive with a deadly virus. Of course, his superiors were horrified of the gross misuse of their equipment, especially by one of their most brilliant minds.

Tina Todd was greatly distraught over the death of her father. And Mr. W had been right: Tina's mother had run out on them when Tina was only a few months old, and they (obviously) hadn't kept in contact with anyone on her side of the family. And, from what Tina had been told, her father's parents had died shortly after he had graduated college, and he himself was an only child, so she was now an orphan, no family to go to.

Despite Tina's pleas, after only 3 days, Chief Barnsdale had no choice but to call off the investigation. Static and Gear, however, both agreed to keep investigating, but Barnsdale ordered them to keep it to themselves and only come to the police once they had concrete evidence.

All the while, Static and Gear were unaware that they were being watched. Watched by none other than the mysterious Mr. W, who was more than happy to have them investigate Dr. Todd's death. After all, it would keep them distracted and stop them from getting too close to the truth.

And by the time they learned the truth, it would be too late…

Let me explain my timeline:

In the very first episode, Virgil and Frieda talk about homecoming, implying it's around the beginning of the school year. I figured it's probably freshman year.

Then, in season 3's "Flashback", it's been 2 years since the Big Bang. So, I figure Season 4 could take place up until Christmas, with "Kidnapped" (the second-to-last episode) taking place in mid-December. And finally, "Power Outage" takes place a month later, in mid-January.

And, because the shows/movies I wish to use were mainly big around mid-2000s, that's when I'm placing my stories. As my profile states I have slight OCD, I try to be accurate, yet many of the shows I plan on using have set dates. So these stories will take place in the mid-2000s, with no "set year". Next chapter, the CURRENT time of this story will be February, the week before Valentine's Day. And yes, the dates are accurate.

So, who is Mr. W? How will the Teen Titans fit into this? Why did I end the chapter with such a cliché cliffhanger? Why am I asking all these cheesy questions?

You'll just have to read to find out.

[1] While not officially stated, many of Ebon's actions over the course of the series have suggested that he has romantic feelings for Talon. For instance, in their first appearance, Ebon calls Talon his "little turtle dove".

[2] Byron and his sister Miranda weren't given last names, so I decided to use Miranda's voice actor, Gavin Turek, as their last name. In fact, for many Bang Babies with no real names given, I will just use their actor's name for them.

[3] While not named in the show, the mayor bears a resemblance to the mayor of the comics, so I used that name for her. And the new mayor is simply named after the co-creator of Static Shock.

R&R