I am so, so sorry for being MIA for so long. For those of you waiting for an update for Princess, hopefully that will be coming soon. For now, this one-shot will have to tide you over. I am quite proud of it, so enjoy! Those who read Storm Hawks, I will be posting a story for that series imminently, done in the same style as this.
"Why did you commit the crimes you did?"
"For all the reasons psychologists will tell you. Because I could, I was bored, mommy didn't love me enough, Daddy abused me. But that isn't true. I did it for one reason and one reason only."
"Please, tell our viewers the reason. The public has wondered so many times what the motivation super villains could possibly have."
"Well, Ms. Newscaster, the reason is simple."
"But what is it?"
"The Titans."
"No," she whispered, her face turning even paler. "What have they done?"
Noticing her distress, her confidante came up to the frozen girl. "What is it?" He glanced at the T.V. "Oh yeah, heard him and some other people gave themselves up. Strange, our greatest rivals now locked up. Shouldn't you be glad?"
She held up her hand mutely so he could hear the rest.
"The, Titans?"
"Of course. The only reason I and others became criminals was to oppose the Titans, to challenge them. It was sport, a game. Nothing more. There were perks, of course, easy money and all of that, but I continued because it was fun to try and take them down. They enjoyed our game too."
"They were doing their duty. They took no enjoyment out of fighting."
He smirked. "Those with powers like ours can never stay in the shadows. We enjoy the spotlight too much. We love to feel the hatred of everyone, or the adoration."
"Are you accusing the Titans of abusing the trust of the people?"
His eyes widened, sharing the pale girl's fear. Their comrade came up behind them. She too, had heard the last part of the broadcast.
"But surely, the people would not believe this. He is a criminal, a bad man! They will not believe him over their heroes."
"It doesn't matter," the boy said sadly.
"The seed is sown. The idea is in their minds now, the possibility that maybe, just maybe, we are doing it for attention. He's been using 'we.' He's associating us with him—"
"And that could destroy us," finished their recently arrived metal friend.
"Exactly," the girl concluded sadly.
Their final companion joined them. "Hey, why the long faces?" He said with a huge grin.
As they told him, his face too descended into melancholy worry.
"All we can do now is hope."
"I can't accuse them of anything. After all, I'm just a lowly criminal. But I pose the question, what has happened when the Titans are gone temporarily?"
"They had replacements."
"They haven't always. And what has happened on those occasions?"
She walked silently down the street, her cloak pulled low over her head as usual. The broadcast had the effect she had expected and she dreaded doing the shopping now. She could no longer visit her favourite spots, none of the Titans could. They only went out when necessary, and it was her turn today. She could hear the whispers. The whispers got louder and louder as time went on. She paused as she passed a T.V. screen with the latest, hottest debate: are the Titans heroes or villains? Tears filled her eyes. It was bad enough they were labelled false heroes, were they now to be called villains? She quickly dashed them away and hurried on. She finally reached the store, eyes downcast avoiding everyone's accusatory gaze. She could feel the stares burning into her back. As she exited the store with the groceries she felt something hit the back of her head. When she touched it, her hand came away red and gooey. A tomato. She whirled around to find a group of teens glaring. Her heart clenched, some of them she recognized as their 'biggest fans.'
"Who threw that?"
"I did."
"Why?"
"It's all your fault."
"Because of you, my house was robbed!" Another.
"Because of you, my kids were kidnapped!" Another.
"Because of you, my parents are dead!" Another.
She flinched as each accusation came. Words were flung not only by the teenagers but by all those around. They crowded her, dumping the newly-bought food over her and grabbing her cloak.
"Why don't you fight back?" Jeers now jabbed at her. "Still think you can earn back our adoration?"
"Stop," no louder than a whisper. She hardly recognized her own voice.
"You betrayed us! How could you?"
how could you how could you how could you how could you how could you how could you how could you how could you how could you how could you how could y—
"Stop!" The strength in her voice froze them. "We protected you. We almost gave our lives for you so many times, and this is how you repay us?"
This gave them pause, until one person spoke up, and made the argument that would drive the nail into their coffin. "Funny how all your 'heroics' always end so well, with you 'almost' giving your lives."
As the attack resumed, she closed her eyes and wished herself back to the Tower. She had made it worse.
She listened to the other Titans from a hidden spot.
"The criminals are doing nothing lately. It's been far too quiet."
"They know it's better to lie low. It makes us look worse."
"What are we going to do?"
No one had an answer.
"Where's Raven? She should be back by now."
She silently stepped out of the shadows and winced at the gasps. The food had been smeared all over her, and bruises were starting to emerge. Her lover came over to her in concern.
"What happened?"
She avoided his eyes. It told him everything he needed.
"We can't continue like this, hiding in our home."
"It's gotten worse."
"Well? What happened when the Titans were away?"
"Well, nothing. The city made it through."
"Did they ever need to be called back from where they were?"
"Well, no. The city could—"
"Doesn't that ever make you wonder?"
"Wonder what?"
"Why there was never trouble."
"Oh, well, no."
"That's because without the Titans, there is no motivation. And the Titans are aware of this, of course. That's why they feel comfortable occasionally leaving."
"All rise for Judge Lilia."
"It is my sincere regret as a judge to have to be presiding over this, but the people have demanded it. Will the notary please read the charges?"
"Charges: deceit, abuse of trust, misinformation, and abuse of powers. How do the defendants, the so-called 'Teen Titans,' plead?"
"Not guilty."
As the trial proceeded, the Titan watched with sad eyes and a heavy heart. The jury already knew their verdict, it was obvious from before anyone sat down. Too many believed the lies. He glanced over at the sorceress, his dear love. It broke his heart to see her sitting there quietly, hands in her lap, looking down. The attack on her had hurt her deeply, and she thought her impassioned plea had made the accusations worse. His heart ached as he remembered what she had looked like when she came back covered in food and blaming herself.
Judge Lilia sighed as she read the jury's verdict. They had taken only two minutes.
"The court finds the Titans guilty of all charges, and sentences them to life imprisonment in an appropriately equipped prison. I'm sorry."
"What exactly are you saying?"
"You could call the Titans opportunists. You could call them scam artists. You could even call them villains with good publicity. They are no different from us."
"Those are serious accusations."
"I know."
"They locked us up."
"Yes."
"They're calling us villains."
"Yes."
"They hate us."
"Yes."
"They say we enjoyed the attention."
"Yes."
"What if they're right?"
"What?"
"What if they're right?"
"They are not," she interrupted the two boys. "At least, they are wrong about us doing it intentionally."
"But are they?" The other girl asked sadly. "We did enjoy the adoration. How do you know their accusations aren't true?"
"Maybe we should be locked up," the first boy said sadly, "if we don't even know whether we're guilty or not."
"How did we get here?" The final Titan spoke at last, looking around at the disheartened team. "How did we lose?"
"We lost their trust," the second girl whispered. "The villains cracked people's trust in us, and that absolute trust is what kept the line between hero and villain from blurring. It doesn't matter what we did in the past and what we say now. The people lost their faith in their protectors. The villains destroyed trust. The villains destroyed faith and belief. In doing so—"
"They've destroyed us."
"Without ever throwing a punch."
"Why should we believe you? These are outrageous accusations you are making against our beloved heroes. You, a known criminal. Why trust you over them?"
The Titans sat in their cell. At least they were together, and Judge Lilia had made sure they had luxuries. Many of their possessions from the Tower, all those deemed 'safe,' had been given to them, including their T.V. It and the basic computer were their only links to the outside. They had been talking, when a sudden alert on the news broke out.
"Panic is spreading quickly. Criminals are appearing everywhere and rampaging all through the city. We are under attack from the criminals. Police are— what are you doing?"
"Hello, hope you don't mind if I cut in."
"B-but you're—"
"Locked up? Got bored." He knocked out the broadcaster with ease, and then looked into the eyes of all the viewers. "You fools. This is our town now."
"Why trust me? Why trust me? I am merely the lawyer. I have presented you with the evidence. It is up to you how to judge the evidence. I am merely the messenger. But I will say one more thing."
As soon as they realized what was going on, they tried to break out. The layers of irony weighed down heavily on the girl as she and her friends tried to breach the impenetrable wall. So many, how could they break through the tangled web? They couldn't even break through a tangible wall. They could only watch helplessly as their worst enemies prevented the facility's guards from releasing their last hope of salvation.
Layers upon layers. The walls, so ineffective against the criminals. The trust, so easily shattered. The criminal, more cunning than they had ever thought possible.
She'd forgotten how quickly the coin spun, how quickly it was re-cast, how quickly the outcome changed.
If only she'd remembered.
"You know in your heart this is true. What does it have to say about the Titans?"
Layers upon layers. The city, so strong and rigid. But rigid doesn't bend, it collapses. Just like the layers did, collapsing in and crushing the Titans under its weight. They had refused to take drastic measures against their enemies. But their enemies had no such qualms.
Layers upon layers. He took their trust, their life, their home, and now even their identity. He found a way to suppress their powers and now they stared helplessly out, the news broadcasts from the other cities fresh in their minds.
"In other news, Jump City appears to have—"
"Titans locked up, unable to help—"
"Criminals everywhere—"
"By their own city—"
"Auxiliary Titans unable to—"
"No hope—"
"Many left wondering—"
"City has fallen—"
"Fate of Jump—"
"Asking city 'how could you'—"
how could you how could you how could you how cou—
She didn't even notice she was crying until her love brushed them away. He looked at her, and she realized she had spoken out loud.
"How, could you?" He asked.
"Something they said to me, over and over."
"But, what are—"
"How could we? We failed them?"
"Did we fail them? Or did they fail us?"
"Layers of irony."
"What?"
But it was time to go. The final irony, to die where their friend had died so many years ago, by the hand of the same man.
"Open your eyes to the truth, Jump City. Before it's too late."
"Uh, thank you, Mr., Smith, for that, interesting interview. We hope it gave everyone something to think about."
Not far away, a young teen's eyes widened and her face paled. "What have they done?"
And there it is! I hope you enjoyed it. Not exactly a happy ending, but how else could a story like this end? Hopefully you enjoyed it anyway, and please review!
One last thing before I say farewell, I have a favour to ask and a challenge to deliver. A few of my friends and I made a video, a parody. We worked very hard on it, and we want it to spread. So, the favour is me asking you to watch it and spread it around. The challenge is that one of the people shown in the video is me. Leave who you think it might be in your review, and describe your guess using what they're wearing and what lyrics they sing. Everyone who gets it right will get a one-shot written for their favourite pairing, or a general one-shot with a topic of their choice.
The video:
Paste this link without spaces: http:/ ww w. you tub e . c om / watch?v=2 6tD6hL9nj4 or
Search for "Bad Remake once upon a time" and it will be the first result
Until we meet again,
Shay.