Beyond the Titans
Issue #1: Starting is hard
By Alphafemale1
Summary:
Titans! Go! When old Titans, in the year 2037, are going missing or being murdered. It's up to their children to solve the mystery of what's happening to their parents. With questions, friendship, and action to be had. There's a little bit of something for everyone in store as we follow our new titans into their adventure of discovering who they were meant to be as well as each other. Rated T for Language, Violence and some sexual themes.
Genre: General, Adventure, Mystery, Friendship, Superhero
Next Gen Characters such as Markus, Marsha, Gryphon, and Serena are my personal characters.
Ships involved:
JerichoxRaven (Raven's dead)
CyborgxStarfire
Beast BoyxTara {Broken up}
Author's Note: I did publish this on Wattpad and AO3 as well just making sure people understand its the same person.
Gotham City… 2037… The city street look like blurred lines smeared across the taxi window. The smell of smoke, drugs and whatever the hell that thing in the corner was as techno music hammered against the speakers in the car. The harsh feeling of the seat grated on her fingertips like sandpaper. How many people had sat here where she was?
Bit by bit though, the taxi seemed to venture into a completely different dimension. The sky turned red with no star in sight with clouds closing in like curtains. The radio lost signal at some point in the drive leaving only the sounds outside to take their place. Echoing caws and bat screeches made the area seem so much more forsaken than it seemed it was. The rising, full moon on the mansion like an ominous friend in a Gothic horror novel.
Her raven hair wildly whipped along the wind as she stepped out of the taxi. The cold air nipped at on her pale cheeks as the city noise seemed to fade into the background. Her every step echoed through the empty air, the only accompanying sounds were the ones coming from the wheels of her suitcase. Compared to her though everything looked so much bigger than it probably was.
Her father had often told her about the life he had had growing up here, the many adventures in college he'd try. She looked at the letter before staring at the gate that blocked her way to the long road to the front door. Her wide green eyes looked thoughtfully at it as they weren't real… They seemed like distant memories found in an old black and white movie… Stories… tales… pictures… but this scene was truly in front of her.
It was real and torn… as if it hadn't seen happier days for years. The wounds that were once there as small scrapes grew to be infected gashes.
Worn cobwebs attached themselves to the intercom which didn't seem to phase her that much as she pressed against the intercom button. "Hello," she greeted. There was silence for a moment, no shuffling, all silence. "Hello? I'm here for Bruce Wayne."
Suddenly, a raspy aged voice replied, "What's your business with him?" It was odd hearing it for the first time. She had always imagined that it sounding much more warm or at least more welcoming than the old begrudging sounds of a mizer that had clearly passed his prime.
"I'm his granddaughter… kinda," she answered. A heart beat is echoing in the place of silence. Would he believe her… she had the documentation to prove it… but… she couldn't think straight for a moment. Nothing but the whispers of leaves over the asphalt filled the air.
Creeeeaaak… The iron gates opened with a pronounced majesty to the dark kingdom on top of the hill… The hill that was probably about a good two kilometers long. Great, she thought in her head before setting off her way to the front door. Each nagging thought in her head was another weight on her back up the hill of self-adversity. Was this really how they were going to meet? He didn't even show up to their funeral, how could he possibly be able to know her…
With that being said, for a rich guy who owns a multi-billion dollar corporation, could he at least afford a moving sidewalk?! She'd been walking for nearly 10 minutes wasn't even halfway there though, eventually this long grueling walk ended with a knock at the door, and a panting spell in front of the old man. "I didn't have any children," he morbidly stated, looking down suspiciously at the girl on his stoop.
"And apparently no common decency, why don't you have have a moving sidewalk?! I'd have been here 20 minutes ago," she exaggerated. Her piercing green eyes looking up at him with questioning intent as she stood straight to actually look at him… She honestly expected more… The cane wielding man looked nothing like the billionaire playboy of his youth as her father once described him.
"I like the classics, would you like to tell me why you're here," he said plainly. No emotion on his face to give away anger, or sadness, nothing really to go off of really… It was like the look of disappointment was just always on his scowl, that seemed pretty accurate to how he was described to her.
She took a deep breath and looked down at the ground, "My… My parents died."
There was a silence at first before Bruce Wayne spoke, "The closest Orphanage is on the other side of town. I'll have my assistant drive you there."
He was about to close the door on her before she placed a foot in the door, "Please! I don't have anywhere else to go. My dad gave me a letter to give to you." She shuffled through her pocket and brought the piece of paper through the crack in the door, "Please… at least read what it says…"
Bruce looked down at the paper then to her with eyes distant and calculating. The paper left her hands and transferred to his before the sound of a motorcycle stopped behind them. A young man no older than 18 years old stood there, getting off his element revealing the black hair and blue eyes of inexperience. "Who's the kid," he asked walking towards Bruce.
"I'm Marsha…" she answered hesitantly, "Marsha Drake."
They both looked down at her shocked, the last time they had even so much had heard about a Drake was the Joker incident a few years ago. There was really no talk about Tim in a while to be fair, the old man and him weren't on speaking terms even if they're reunion was better than Dick's and his was. Bruce slowly read the page bit by bit… the air was stiff around him, the longer it took to take his eyes off the page…
Terry meanwhile, tried to see the family resemblance, of the small girl in front of him. Her hair was black cascaded her shoulders only being pulled back from her face with a headband. His eyes looked into hers with a slight suspicious tone, "So… you're Tim's kid? Seems a little old for more kids."
Marsha glared at Terry, "I'm not looking for your approval on how old my dad was when he and my mom had me. I just want a place to stay…" She watched for any expression change on Bruce Wayne's face as her swore, he was looking at that page over and over and over again. Finally, the retired billionaire met her gaze and for only a second, there seemed to be a sadness to his eyes before hardening again.
"You'll stay in one of the bedrooms upstairs," He stated turning around with the Great Dane by his side. "We'll cover the ground rules tomorrow morning."
Marsha smiled and walks into the mansion doors without another hesitation. Her eyes took in the place. Covered in cobwebs corner to corner, man someone needed to hire a butler around here. It looked more fit for a haunted house than a billionaire's mansion.
"Your mother," he said in a questioning tone.
"Gone too…" she replied. "I don't have anyone else around… I know he wasn't your real son but… he assigned for me to be in your care. He said that he thought of you as a father figure, so… grandfather felt like the best thing to call you, Mr. Wayne." Her eyes turned to the ground in front of her, a frown graced her lips to match her morbid mood.
"How did they die…?" he asked, his voice void of emotion.
"A car accident," she replied readily. Almost too fast to let the lips fully escape her mouth… "You'd think with all the advancements we have… car accidents wouldn't be an issue anymore."
Bruce nodded at the young girl before she could say more, Bruce spoke up again, "I'll take you to your room. It's time for bed."
"It's only eight o'clock!"
"And you're going to need to be awake for school tomorrow."
Terry chipped in, "How do you already have a place for her at school."
"I'll pull a few strings," he replied still going up the stairs. "Prep the office for tonight, Terry. We need all the time we need to work this out."
Marsha looked up at Terry, "Is he always like this?"
"Usually," he said in question, "he's much worse."
Marsha watched him walk away from the living room before making her way up the stairs to follow Bruce. Pictures pass by them as they walked, large paintings on hallway walls. At first of a younger Bruce Wayne with a mustache but she assumed that was actually Bruce's father, then another picture with a younger man than the mustached one was. A small boy in front of him with a suit.
"That was your father a month after I took him in as a protege," Bruce said, taking Marsha out of her daze. "He was younger than you when he came here."
"He said that you take in people who lost their parents… tell me…" she explained, "Is that something that runs in the family? Biological or otherwise? Losing those you care about in accidents at a young age?"
"It's not something that you should worry about," he said dismissively. "For now, this is your room." It was much larger than most of the normal apartment in the city, though it was so barren that she could put really any kind of item in here to give it personality. "I'll have everything set up tomorrow morning."
"Do you need to know anything about me," she asked.
"No your father wrote down all your other education courses and extracurricular in the letter," he said plainly. "Just make sure you get some sleep." Before she could say another word, the old man closed the door on her. Bruce made a long harrowing walk to the stairs as he looked at the letter again.
Dear Bruce,
It's been a while, hasn't it? We're both old men now but, I managed to get a miracle at my age. My daughter Marsha is still too young to take care of herself and she needs someone to take care of her. I thought of so many different people but you seemed like the only one that I could at least somewhat trust her with.
I haven't spoken to Barbara in a while, Dick is MIA to me and my family long past. To add on to that my other kids are too young for the responsibility of caring for her… so you seemed like the best fit for her. She needs structure in her life something or someone to help her find her way through these times…
All I ask is that you don't tell her about the Joker or Batman, or any of it. With Terry there, it should make things easier to not have a Robin. I hope at least. There's a list of everything she needs, I tried to keep it up to date in case something like Joker happened again.
Sincerely,
Tim.
He must've looked at it a hundred times just in the span of a few minutes with Marsha. He could see something that was in most of the Robin's that had come in the past. That drive, the attitude, the forward nature. Though he didn't for a moment think Terry would need or want a partner other than himself. Ace nuzzled into Bruce's hand affectionately as his whimpers pulled the old man back to reality.
"Its okay, Boy," he reassured the black hound. "I'm sure I'll get used to her eventually… you will too." As he moved to the study, a pair of curious eyes watched from the top of the stairs, watching his every move. His hands gesturing towards the panel scanner next to the door of the study. The doors creaked open in a echoing whisper around the house before the man stepped through the doors with only Ace closing the door behind him.
"So that's where you're hiding everything, old man," she whispered to herself as she took meticulous notes.
In Tibet, a older man meditates by the ridge, his curly blond hair moving slightly with the wind hearing the heartbeat of the universe pass through his body. It was peaceful… quiet… Crunching moves closer interrupting the flow of energies around him before they started to flow again with a new rhythm to the beat. "Father, I have more questions about my mother." Joseph sighed and opened his eyes slowly before looking at the young teen sitting next to him, her violet eyes looking up at his green eyes with questions.
"What would you like to know?" he signed. It's not the first time that Wren had asked him about Raven… it'd been so many years on the mountain tops, but he'd never forgotten her even for a moment. She might've inherited her mother's powers but without a doubt she was her father's child… Her long blond hair conflicted with those deep violet eyes that looked around the world so innocently. Her gem sparkled at him as if a sign from Raven herself that she was still there.
"Did… she like it here…? What was she before all of this…" she asked curiously.
Joseph sighed before signing to her again with a calm but mournful smile, "She was a wonderful person. Strong, determined and caring but there was a darkness inside of her that she could never seem to escape no matter how hard she tried." He stopped for a moment allowing Wren to catch up with his words but ultimately it was hard to tell her all this at times. "She could be distant and cold but it was always out of fear for someone else's safety. She was also a villain that killed billions of people for the sake of her father. But she was also a hero, who saved them and herself from falling victim to him ever again. She seemed to like the quiet of this place the most. The fresh air, the open space, it was a small place but it was ours."
Wren seemed to be satisfied with that answer before hugging her father tightly. She was probably feeling his emotions as he signed to her and wanted to comfort him. It was the anniversary of her death… but it was still worth every day if it meant Joseph raised their daughter correctly. Suddenly the sounds of metallic equipment clanged and stretched in the air. "Dad? What was that?"
Joseph looked around for the source of the noise only to find his worst fears coming back to haunt him in his waking world. Minions, three of them glaring down at Wren and him as a target and the symbol on their chest was one that still haunted his nightmares. The Deadly and pointed S against a black and orange background. It was all that he could do was pick up his daughter and run. "Dad? Dad what's going on?"
He couldn't answer, not when he had to focus on getting them back to the house. The small house had only the necessities but there was no time to admire his work with his daughter, they had to act fast. He started packing quickly only carrying what they needed for a long travel, from passports to money.
"Dad, dad, please answer me… what's going on?!" She panicked watching her father lose her cool. Wren had never seen him so frantic nor was he so much as looking at her. She wasn't prepared for any of this… what was even happening. A large bang came to the door before a clawed hand punched through the door, the little bird gasped before screaming out in a panic causing the robot and the door to explode.
Joseph quickly grabbed Wren back rushing into the underground tunnel that Raven had made just in case. He'd hoped to never having to use it but here they were, running for their lives away from the deadly trackers coming after them. Joseph only kept running until they found themselves outside in a local village down the hill. He was covered in sweat holding onto Wren for dear life as his shaking legs collapsed down on the ground. "Dad…?"
With a shaking motion of his hands, Joseph looked her in the eye, "We're going to have to move, Wren. I'm sorry."
Meanwhile, a young man yawns walking out of the family garage as his green orbs scanned the room only to smile at his mother making his father and him lunches… oh no. He floated over to the dining table with everything in his backpack already packed. His dreaded hair wildly moved around his head before he could put a hair bange through it. "Hey mom, how are you this morning," the young man said getting himself toast.
The orange skinned woman looked up at him with a smile, "I'm simply looking for that darn Flogermizer."
"It's called a blender, Kori," retorted a older man with his flannel covering some of his chest's robotics that he'd come to accept. His eyes aged from working on anything and everything that was being thrown at him at work. His large hands held the alien by the waist and kissed her lovingly, "You don't have to call them by different names all the time. You've lived here long enough."
"Victor… not in front of the Glorpca," Kori blushed but giggling even when she didn't do anything to stop his kisses from landing. She smiled brightly at her long time friend and lover. The little Glorpca groaned slightly at his nickname but smiled in gratitude his parents were so openly lovey. To his knowledge, they've been like that since they got married, it hasn't always been perfect mind you but...
"Markus, you're going to be late for school," Victor said sternly. He was not going to wait for the inevitable scolding he was going to get if he didn't get out of the door. Markus flew in a rushed pace, making quick work of his morning routine before rushing out of the front door.
"Bye guys~! Love you," he said flying passed the door before they could reply. The feeling of the air hugging him like an old friend every morning. Sometimes the air was cold with snow falling to his body with every turn he took, others like today where the sun beamed on him like pillars of joy bring him up. Today, just… it felt like a good day…
Until the school came into view, his mind filled with all sorts of things. The knowledge he wouldn't have to have any of his mother's meals, how he was going to go back home to fix up his car and the like. Though he was the most excited to gain new allies for the school year ahead, the steps to having a nice little career as a superhero intern, the life of a high school student, and the love of his gadgets… could he even ask for a more perfect life?
His feet lightly tapped the floor before his body floated down like a weightless figure. "Aaand… he sticks the landing," he announces to himself. Before he could take his first step, a shoulder collided with his body making him fall on his face without stopping to look if he was okay. 'That was rude', he thought as he looked at the culprit leaving the scene of the crime. All he could see was the raven locks of a girl rushing to her next class but… he knew all the people at the school and no one that short, with that hair color came.
"Oooh… a new kid," he grinned before flying to catch up with her. "Hi, names Markus Stone-Andier," he introduced, finally getting a good look at her face.
"Hn," she snared. She honestly didn't seem to really acknowledging the floating young man next to her. Her green eyes looked down at the schedule in her hands, analyzing, scanning… He's met the type before.
"Hey, new kid," he exclaimed to get her attention before finally stopping her in her tracks. The annoyed face went unnoticed by the overly confident lad, "Hey ya, Markus. You seem new around here and I'm almost positive that a nice girl like you needs a big strong guy like me to help you out. Don't worry though, I'm excellent at doing two things. Making friends and helping others in need."
The sound of a closed door appears behind him, wiping the grin off his face, "Did… I just get dissed…"
Marsha sat in the back of the class closest to the door as she kept looking through her notes from the previous night. The code was a puzzle within puzzles… she didn't want to do it multiple times or else she'd set of an alarm that was most likely set up. Her eyes so concentrated on what she was doing, she jumped at the note suddenly hitting her face. "Hm," she frowned at the offending little piece of paper.
To New Kid:
'How retro', she thought to herself, her hands fiddled with the piece of paper with an uninterested look on her face. She really didn't want to be bothered this kind of nonsense but something about that green eyed redhead told her that she'd never hear the end of it.
To New Kid:
You seem pretty concentrated about something. If the school work is a bit hard for you to keep up, I have no problem helping out.
-Markus
She tiresomely looked over at Markus sitting next to her before throwing away the message entirely and looking through her notes again. Freshman year is already starting like an anime. She sighed not really interested in trying to make friends. She needed to get into the Bat Cave if her plan was ever going to get her plans off the ground… She didn't know where to look what to do… or where to start…
All the evidence she knew so far was the Royal Flush Gang was involved. She glared at the reports of that card carrying set of villains… They wanted to mess with her family… they killed her parents just for the fun of it… She'd make each one of them pay…
Beep Beep Beep
Such a sweet sound of bliss. She took out her phone from under the table to look at the notifications. While the old man was too busy in the Bat Cave, probably helping the latest Batman do his job, Marsha had managed to use the applications from her old programming classes to get a decoder. The smirk painted across her lips would make the Jokerz jealous beyond their wildest dreams. It's almost done.
The determination flashed through green orbs like lights in a raze… if it was the last thing she'd do… she'd make her family proud.
Another piece of paper hits her in the face, okay now this guy is getting on her nerves… She glared at the paper again.
To New Kid:
Oh come on…
Can I at least know your name?
She switched her bored expression to his kind expression. The eyes gleamed no sense of malice or detourance as his one sided smile cockily shined as bright as the stars in the sky. An exasperated sigh leaves her lips, he wasn't going to lighten up was he…? Her pencil finally scripted a reply to the message on the paper before sending it back to the excitedly curious young man next to her.
To Markus:
My name is Marsha, Marsha Drake. Now please leave me alone so I can study.
A ring of an overworked school bell vibrates the eardrums of every student there, Markus stands up blocking Marsha's way, "Marsha huh?"
"Yes…" she replied hesitantly.
"That's kinda cute. Both our names start with M. Marsha, Markus, Marsha, Markus, Marsha-"
"Marsha, Murder, Markus, Marsha, Murder, Markus, Marsha, Murder, Markus," she said sarcastically, "It really does have a nice ring to it."
"Damn, girl… you don't have to be so defensive," his eyes widened in surprise. Such a cute little girl having such a bite, while not rare was definitely abrasive. "Look I know how hard it can be to be the new kid but, I'm here to talk if you need someone to talk to."
"I honestly don't, I just wanna be left alone if you don't mind," Marsha said. Frowning seemed to be the only answer with her but he finally complied. If she wanted to be alone, then there was really nothing that he could do about it. He wrote down on another piece of paper before putting it on her desk.
"If you ever change your mind about hanging out, just call me," finalizing the conversation, he finally left through the window to fly for lunch. To do what, it really didn't matter to her. She just wanted the day to be over so she could finally work on her plans.
"You know you don't have to be so cold," a familiar voice manifests beside her.
"Terry," she exclaimed quickly stuffing her work in her bag. "How long have you been standing there…?"
"Long enough," the senior said smirking at her. "You know you'd make more friends if you lightened up a bit. It wouldn't kill ya."
She sighed, "It's just that… I've got a lot on my mind… I have no idea why my parents were… well ya know but I don't want anyone to get close to me if I'm still in danger."
Terry glared in confusion before stepping into the classroom, "I thought you said your parents' death was a car accident."
'Shit', she couldn't believe that she let that slip. No no he was not going to let some new Gotham Knight find her out so easily, "It's just… the police think that foul play might've been involved… they found a bunch of stuff in their trunk." She watched his face to see if he believed her, "If that's true… then… am I safe? What if I'm going to be targeted too… I don't know how to shoot guns."
Terry's expression softened only slightly before putting a hand to her shoulder, "Hey, no one is going to come after you. You have me and Bruce there to protect you." Marsha gives him a look, "Hey don't knock the old man just yet. He's actually pretty tough for someone pushing 80." They both start walking through the busy halls among the gossiping teenagers surrounding them. "How about we get something to eat? My girlfriend and I are planning on lunch down the street."
"I… wish I could… I really need to catch up with this new school district if I'm going to do anything extra after school", her smile showed nervously as her hand reached her neck. "You have fun though."
Terry stood by while watching Marsha walking away into the food court though after a few moments, his smile faded. He took out his screen phone with his eyes glued to the cafeteria doors, "Hey, Bruce, have you gotten everything on her?"
The voice on the other side of the line spoke in a elderly monotone, "Of course I have, I wouldn't have slept if I hadn't." There's a distinct clicking in the background of the call before he continued, "She's fourteen years old, intelligent record from the look of her report cards. She excels mostly in software and programming. Looks like after our meet up with Tim a few years ago, he'd enrolled her in martial arts and self defense just in case something happened. High marks at most of what she was in but engineering."
"Anything on Tim or his wife", he asked, "She said the police expected foul play in the accident in the evidence."
Bruce contemplated for a moment typing his way through program after program, file after file, "Nothing in the report says anything about foul play. You might have to talk to the commissioner about that."
"I'll talk to her tonight about it", he said.
"Good. I don't want another punk going into cave and taking another suit."
Beep, well it appeared he was in a good mood. Terry mused to himself for a moment thinking about how Marsha had spoken to Markus as opposed to how she did with him… something was up…
It was another hard night in a dark office with the only light illuminating the room was the ones outside the window showing pictures on the walls and the lamp on the table. No personal effects to make the office feel like home, none of a past that was so different from now that it felt like another person's life.
The Commissioner simply looked down at each file with a blank stare. How long had she actually looked that page? An hour? Several? She looked up from it for the first time that night and spoke frankly, "You know sneaking into a Police commissioner's office is illegal."
The latest Batman of the ever growing family stepped out of the shadows, his already dark costume did little to give away his expression. "I'm here about a new case that involves Tim Drake."
Barbara's eyes widened slightly, "Does Bruce think that there's foul play? Funny didn't know he cared."
"Bruce doesn't know… Tim's daughter might though."
"Marsha", she responded with a question in her voice. "Don't tell me that Tim gave her to him?"
"It was apparently in his will. I'm just trying to give a young girl some closure from her parents", he reassured her. "Besides, it's not like she'd never be able to fit your ears."
Silence blanketed the room in a thick invisible smoke, the details of the case became a harsh memory of what happened to Tim. Before she responded, the aging woman shuffled through her papers, "There distinct things about the car accident that came out smelling fishy." Barbara finally gripped around the file that she needed, "They weren't wearing seat belts, their clothes were put on by someone else-"
"How do you know that", he asked.
"Because there were too many buttons that weren't properly done on his shirt, his wife's zipper wasn't pulled all the way up and their underwear was put on backwards."
"Sounds like a good time in the back of a car", he retorted with a small smirk though it was easily erased by the glare coming from the Former Batgirl. "Sounds like a sloppy job of trying to cover up something."
"It was", she stated. "We tried to look through every outcome but no matter what the possibility, there came another dead end so the case went cold about a month ago. What makes Marsha think that there's foul play?"
"She just said police suspected foul play", he answered looking at the files meticulously half for his own reading and the other for Bruce's scans. "Anything in the trunk?"
"Another dead end, I'm afraid", Barbara stated, "There were impressions found in the back but no one at his job or his family knows what it was." She got up and poured herself another glass, "Do me a favor though. Marsha stays out of this… Tim wouldn't have wanted that and quite frankly I wouldn't allow it." She turned around only to find that there was no one there, "Some things never change."
Marsha stepped through the door through the midday sunlight before shutting the door behind her. The door seemed to echo through the halls filled with cobwebs, the dust, and the silence. "Mr. Wayne, I'm home", she shout, announcing her presence; her piercing green eyes looking left to right for any sign of the decrepit, old man. Her footsteps vibrate against the wall after her like a trail of invisible breadcrumbs behind her.
She raised a curious eyebrow at the door by the staircase, the mahogany finish seemed to be the only thing that shined in this desert of dust and silence. The raven haired teen looked at it with a determined glare as her fingers reach for the entrance before a vivid growl appeared next to her. "How was your first week", Bruce Wayne asked blankly. Ace growled at Marsha to take her hands off the door with a promising glare on his face.
"It was okay, I guess", she responded cautiously meeting eyes with the large dog before backing away from the door. "I think that I've gotten caught up with everything now", Marsha added as her hand held her arm by the elbow before looking at the old man in the eye.
"You hungry?" Shrugging awkwardly, Marsha followed Bruce on his way to the kitchen with Ace following. She wasn't going to lie, it felt like she was purposely pulling away with reign of a horse. They both look through the kitchen building a meal for an evening. The pans looked brand new . The elderly billionaire gathering items from the kitchen, they looked fresh. Most of the kitchen looked new actually…
"Did you reconstruct the kitchen while I was at school?"
"How do you figure that", he said while carefully cutting up tomatoes. "I could've planned to do it months ago."
"Well you'd have had to know about these models when they were being first designed." She observed twirling the saucepan in her hand, "This line of kitchenware came out 5 days ago with the oven, stove and fridge coming out about 2 days later. That also explains why the dust coming from the surrounding areas and why you wanted me to stay out of the kitchen."
She noticed the small smirk resting on his face, "You're highly observant. I thought maybe it would be best to take care of you with a good kitchen and food instead of TV Dinners." Bruce started cutting more vegetables getting lost in the move of the knife against each piece. "Have you made any friends?"
She thought about it for a moment, "Uh, no not really, I've been focusing on school work. There's this one guy that keeps coming up to me. He's got red dreads, black, very energetic, huge sports star at school..."
"That sounds like Markus", he says putting the veggies in the saucepan. "He's Starfire and Cyborg's son from the Justice League. I met him there at the last donation function."
She kept working on the food cooking, saucing and mixing the meal as much as Bruce was limited on what he could do. Marsha just looked to getting plates together for them both, "Right, you do the fundraisers for the Justice League too." She finally starts pouring the food into the plates with the steaks next to each of them, "Doesn't make him any less of a nuisance."
"He's a good kid. Means well. Worth talking to." He grabs his plate and moves out, "I'll be in my room. I'll be taking a nap not long after I eat."
"For the night?"
"No, I have work to do every night."
Without another word, he left the kitchen his meal in tow and the Great Dane following Bruce in kind. Marsha stood there watching him leave, casually eating the food they had cooked together. She listened to every step that was taken up the stairs, step… by step… by step… Each sound of his cane hitting the floorboards was chased by a nervous heartbeat. Step… ba-dum… Step… ba-dum…
She quickly tried to finish her meal before looking through her notes again. To anyone who didn't know any better, each decorated page of notes were the ravings of a mad man. Connects not obvious to most but she'd piece them together as leads the police wouldn't be willing to look into.
Granted based on how Gotham used to be in comparison to now, they probably wouldn't really think to get much more detailed. The crime in Gotham wasn't near the days of gangsters and high conspiracy crooks. Of course there were gangs who longed for the days of Murderous Clowns, Umbrella wielding penguins, and the like; but those would always stay. No… she knew there was something bigger here. Something everyone else was missing and she was about to find every bit of its dirty secrets among the mess of papers and growing list of suspicions.
The loud creak of a door echoed through the halls, the air beat heavily around her, weighing down her body to the seat. Her eyes rolled across the room for a moment before looking out at the window to the shining sun on the city landscape. The smell of cooking still occupied the air of home where she could be normal. Some oblivious girl who excelled in everything but made her living among the most complacent of Gotham...
Marsha's body seemed to react on its own, her feet rushing her back to the door which forbade her knowledge. Her hands laid plastic sheeting over the scanner before she placed her own hand over it. A soft hiss came from the doors next to her before she rushed in looking around what looked like a normal office. The books on the shelves seemed to decorate the scent of the room with poetic words as the wood of the door seemed to match the entire room. It was filled to the brim with green carpeting and black lining.
She traced her finger against the smooth surface of the desk only to find bits of dust creating barriers around it. Her eyes looked around the room again to truly look over clues to the venture she was looking for. The room seemed too clean and yet for someplace that's used every night, it didn't seem to have any sign of its use. It was as if it was a holographic display hiding its truth.
Marsha stepped herself through the room with analytical intent and suspicious eyes. She took in every motion, every mark and dent but it seemed like it was undisturbed among the dust. 'Wait a minute', she thought noticing a mark in the bookshelf. 'There's a significantly less accumulation of dust here', mused Marsha. Her fingers trailed one of the books' spine with a delicate hand before pulling at it with a firm hand.
Suddenly a mechanical hissing crawled through the wall like spiders with a grinding gears, pushing the bookcase apart. 'Well, at least he thought of better way to hide it all than just a simple father clock like in the pictures', she thought as she moved towards the opening carefully bit by bit. The light slowly fades under a the cover of darkness' possessive grip.
There's no going back.
Moist walls drip down her blind hands with each step echoing like four people were in that tunnel with her. The smell of metal coming from the brisk winds ahead against the paleness of his skin. Marsha could hear something below. A beeping bouncing through her ears as the light ahead was getting brighter, closer and warmer. Her eyes squint adjusting to the blinding light before adjusting accordingly.
It was a lot warmer than she imagined it to be as she stepped carefully into the cave. The lights seem to mostly beaming from the computer screens seeming to work on its own. Though it wasn't long till more light came to view as she could see everything, the trophies from the Golden age of Batman to one or two new gadgets she was somewhat familiar with. "Woah", she marveled before stopping in front of the display cases of suits. "Bingo."
"I was wondering when you were going to make your move", clambered a voice from behind. Before she could even turn around a pair of teeth tugged at her shirt away from the display case.
"Hey!"
Bruce simply looked at her with the same look that he had had when she first walked into his door a week ago. The problem with Terry standing behind him. Bruce's voice shook through Marsha's ears, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Are you actually asking for my thought process or just telling me to stop", she joked grabbing her shirt away from Ace's mouth. Her comment though is met with only a emotionless glare though she should know better than that. There was a slight hurt under those fading blue eyes. "How long did you know?"
"After knowing some more of the facts of the case, I cross examined the handwriting of the letter you gave me", he stated sternly.
"To add to that, I payed a visit to the Commissioner to see more about your case", Terry added. "It was only a matter of time… But your dad hated the crime fighting gig, why take it up?" Terry looked down at the latest intruder in their cave only to have her pout and look the other way. Sighing, he puts down his backpack, "What are we going to do with you…?"
"Nothing." Terry and Marsha whipped towards Bruce in surprise as he simply stared at the two with a strong look of indifference. "You want to put yourself in danger and avenge your parents?"
"Well… yeah… otherwise I wouldn't have gone through the trouble." Bruce nodded and walked over to the Robin suit, his footstep ricochet against the walls with airs of mystery surrounding him. Something as simple as opening the door to the Robin suit display felt like more of an execution than an honor… Everything about his stance was solemn and expectant. He'd seen those like her before and most did not end in happiness… or they just ended.
"Its up to you", Bruce said as Terry looked on in shock. "I'll give you the materials and the suit, but you have to put the rest together on your own."
"Seriously", Terry asked.
"So you're going to give me the suit… the gear in pieces but you're making me put it together", Marsha guessed, slightly hoping for that to be his answer.
"No. You are getting the blueprints for each agent but you have to put them together." Her heart crashes to her stomach. She knew nothing about the world of engineering. Her mind was racing that this was her chance. Her only chance to prove herself and avenge her family's death… did she really have a choice though…
"I'll do it." Her voice echoed through the Bat Cave as bats shook themselves off the ceiling. Consuming the latest addition of the Bat Family from sight.
In an apartment on the other side of Gotham, there lies a green boy on his couch, sleeping in through the early evening. His green skin illuminating against the TV screen lighting. His drool glistening off of his cheek from his sleeping fits. He suddenly jolts up in surprise and fear before looking around. Weird dreams… Another weird dream… so much pizza chasing pickles…
He mused for a moment too lazy to grab the remote to change the channel from… whatever this was? Was it the food channel? Were they wrestling? He wasn't really fully awake to understand what was going on. His blue eyes scanned around for the remote again only to find it was all the way on the coffee table. A excruciating 3 feet away from his couch ridden body.
Oh the humanity!
"Just… a little… closer", he muttered under his breath as his arm reached out to the distant feat of the remote. He scanned the room one more time before his hand glowed bright yellow lifting the stone table closer to the green boy. "Perfect." He grabbed the remote with this other hand with a cocky glimmer in his eye.
"You know you're not supposed to use your powers in the apartment, Gryphon."
Gryphon jumped at the voice only to see a little yellow cat with vibrant green stripes on her coat. He glared at the little Fur ball with a great annoyance behind his eyes, "Hey, Serena, have you met the kettle? You should probably introduce yourself or there."
The cat seems to shift in a flash to a green haired girl with slightly tanned skin only marked with slight markings of green on her cheeks. Her bright green eyes glared back at his blue ones, "At least I'm not sleeping off school work... again."
"I better not be hearing fighting in the living room about powers", shouts a voice from the other side of the wall. The voice was followed by a pair of footsteps walking through the halls to check on the living room. A tall woman standing at the doorway to the living room expectantly at the bickering twins. "Neither one of you are supposed to be using your powers in this house."
"Sorry mom", they said in unison. Tara chuckled to herself musing at the two's unique situation. Though over time she had come to understand it better than most would. She was still finding it hard that it had really been just less than 15 years. Tara had long since never remembered a life as Terra but she was just happy that Beast Boy accepted that she could never be her. Gryphon and Serena though were probably the best parts of that relationship. That love… though she suppose it wasn't really meant to last.
"Alright guys, are you packed up for your dad's", she asked with a smile.
Serena got up going to one of the bags, "I had to pack our stuff together because someone took a nap after school."
"Hey! I mean, I was tired, we had a test in Mr. Romlen's class", Gryphon defended walking to the door.
"That's enough you too. For once can you act like you love each other?"
The twins tilted their heads and looked at each other before looking back at Tara. "We do love each other." Tara laughs a little before grabbing the keys. Another week on her own.
Ring… ring… ring…
Tara quickly taps the screen of the house phone, "Hello?"
"Ms. Marakov, I'm afraid to tell you this, but your ex-husband has gone missing."
At that moment… the entire world fell apart.
Next time: Beyond the Titans- Issue #2: I'm not just a kid
Marsha: "You said I could call."
Markus: "You really want to know how my parents got together?"
Wren: "When does the training begin?"
Gryphon: "There has to be a lead we can follow."
Serena: "I don't know if Mom is going to like what's going on."
Terry: "You're never alone."