Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot! The plot belongs to me; DC Comics basically owns everything else.
'Teen Titans: Year 2' is dedicated to all the readers and reviewers of 'Teen Titans: Year 1'!
You don't necessarily need to read Year 1 to understand Year 2 but it does help because some of the events could go back to that time period.
Chapter One
Wednesday
July 26, 2005
11:43 PM
A street in Gotham
The sirens blared as the dark streets were illuminated with a blue light before it switched to red then back to blue. The police cars soared down the street, one following the other but none quite knowing which direction to go.
A motorcycle zoomed in-between the police cars before shooting off into an alley.
Above all there heads another shadowy figure moved swiftly from roof top to roof top, his cape flaring out behind him as he ran and jumped.
The outside of his cape was black while the inside was a dark yellow. His boots were midnight black and you could only see them when he was swinging or jumping in front of any kind of light. His legs were decked in a dark, deep red as was his long sleeved shirt that was held tight against his chest. Over his waist was a dark yellow utility belt which was over what looked like black underwear and the gloves over his hands were black as well with three scallops on the outside. On the left side of his chest was a black circle with an uppercase, yellow R inside of it. His cape reached stopped at the beginning of his boots, blending him in with the darkness completely whenever it fell over his shoulders.
His mask was black with white lenses replacing his eyes and only covering the area around his eyes and the bridge of his nose. His hair was short and midnight black and up in messy spikes. When he finally paused you could see he stood at about 5'8". He had also grown a broader build since his first year with the Titans but only slightly broader.
"What makes this case so special?" He asked as he shot off his line gun and swung off the edge of one building and over to the other, the small clamp on the end of the line being released and sent reeling back to the holder just as he landed on the rooftop and immediately took off running once more. On the side of his face was a small microphone connected to a single headphone that wrapped around his ear and had one button on the outside.
"Every case is special Robin," Nightwing answered him from the headset in his motorcycle helmet, while he increased speed.
"Hey!" Robin called out as he tried to run faster to keep up with the Night-Cycle, "I can only run so fast!"
"Then call in the R-Cycle," Nightwing told him as he moved between a few garbage cans, "We can't afford to lose him."
"Glad we had this little chat," Robin said sarcastically while smiling a bit as he opened up the keypad on his utility belt and typed in the combination for the R-Cycle, "it's good to know we can have brotherly bonding time like this."
Nightwing's smirk was masked by dark helmet visor as he cut back onto the street and continued to follow the tracker.
It was only a few moments later he heard the familiar roar of the R-Cycle behind him.
The sound of the police sirens had since stopped indicating to the two Titans that the police had lost their prey but both brothers had put a tracker on him and continued in their pursuit.
Suddenly, Nightwing turned and went through two more alleys.
"What the hell is he doing?" Robin questioned, now speaking through the headset hidden in his red helmet, "How the hell did he get so far so fast?"
Nightwing just hit the brakes and swerved to a stop. He tore his motorcycle helmet off and looked down at the ground below.
Unlike Robin, Nightwing's suit wasn't as colorful. He was basically decked in black except for the large blue bird that stretched across his broad chest. It darkened whenever he was in the shadows to help him blend in. His utility belt was also black and you could barely see it and his gloves didn't have the scallops on the side as Robin's did. His mask however, was the same, black with white lenses and only covered his eyes and the bridge of his nose.
He was six feet tall and had grown a slightly broader build since he first put on the Nightwing suit. His hair was a midnight black but, unlike last year, was slightly longer and down, not spiked up.
He pulled out his tracker from his utility belt and turned it on. He watched a blue dot move through the alleys in front of him but couldn't see or hear the actual person.
His eyes turned to slits as robin screeched to a halt behind him.
"So?" Robin questioned as Nightwing pulled out a small microphone with a speaker that went over one ear, similar to the one Robin was using earlier.
"He's in the sewers," Nightwing answered him before lowering the extendable microphone and pressing the button on the outside of the speaker, "Batgirl. Starfire."
He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for one of his teammates to respond.
"This is Batgirl," Came Batgirls voice followed by a rush of wind.
"Starfire checking in. What's up?" Starfire asked Nightwing.
"We got a crazy from Arkham heading your way," Nightwing told them, "He's using the sewers and has two trackers on him. One from Robin, one from me."
There was a short pause as he waited for one of them to respond.
"Got it," Batgirl answered a few moments later, "I'm closer Star."
"No problem Batgirl," Starfire answered, the conversation now between them, "I'll be keeping watch further down just in case."
Nightwing pushed the microphone back and took off the small communicator before putting it back in his utility belt.
"The girls got it," He told Robin as he picked up his helmet, put it on and got on his motorcycle, "let's go."
"After you." Robin motioned before revving up the R-Cycle. Nightwing zoomed out ahead of him.
Further down Gotham
11:52
Batgirl shot off her line gun and jumped off the side of the building, her scalloped cape flying back making her look like a giant bat to the pedestrians below.
As she landed her cape fell over her shoulders, cover the dark yellow bat across her chest.
Her boots, scalloped gloves, the inside of her cape, her utility belt, and the bat symbol on her chest were all a dark yellow. The rest of her uniform and the outside of her long cape was a midnight black. It stopped just a few inches below her waist.
Unlike Nightwing and Robin, she wore a cowl which covered her face from her nose up and had a cut in the back where her red hair was pulled through. Her eyes were also just a pair of white lenses. She stood at 5'7".
She pulled out her tracker and turned it on to see one dot blinking two different colors and moving up fast behind her.
Red.
Blue.
Red.
Blue.
She pressed the red button on the side of her tracker and the dot stopped changing colors and just stayed red but kept moving closer to the area she was in.
"How the hell is he moving so fast?" She asked herself, her eyes slits. She jumped into the alley below, quickly put the tracker back in its place in her utility belt, and opened up the manhole cover.
She gagged a bit at the smell, moved her face away from the sewer and took a deep breath before turning back to the sewer and climbing down. She stopped on one of the rails and closed the manhole cover securely over the opening before she shifted around so she was standing on one of the rails and holding onto another one with one hand behind her, one of her shoulders covered by her cape and commented, "Why do they always have to go through the sewers to try to get away?"
She looked both ways, seeing and hearing nothing, and pulled out her tracker with her free hand.
She saw the red dot moving closer to where she had hidden herself.
She put the tracker away and waited in silence.
She didn't have to wait long as her first question was answered with the faint roar of an engine and the sound of sewer water splashing against the walls.
As the sound got closer, so did a dim light.
The headlight of a motorcycle.
As the light got closer so did the shadowy figure of its rider.
He came up fast and if she had blinked she would've probably missed her chance.
Good thing she didn't blink.
She jumped off the rails just in time to land on the back of his bike.
She moved quickly, her arms wrapping around his stomach and neck, before she shifted both their weight and causing the bike to go into a wheelie.
She removed her arm from around his stomach and quickly flipped over him, landed on the handle bars and then pushed her weight against the bars causing herself to go into a flip and causing him to lose control of his bike and flip over.
She landed safely in a kneeling position, her back to the crash.
He groaned as the bike landed on top of him and Batgirl slowly approached him.
He grabbed the heavy motorcycle and threw it at her. She ducked low to the ground, one hand instinctively moving to on of the pouches on her belt, as the motorcycle flew over her head. She quickly got up, bola now in hand but he was already charging at her and quickly slammed her against the wall, her bola falling to the ground on impact.
He grabbed her again and threw her to the other sewer wall so hard, she almost blacked out.
He laughed coldly before grabbing his motorcycle and zooming off.
"Never have I been so glad to have a mask made of Kevlar," She muttered weakly to herself before she moved her hand slowly to where her ear was supposed to be and pressed the button where the hidden microphone was. She pressed the button before pulling down the retractable microphone and spoke weakly into it, "Star. He's heading your way. Guys I know you're listening so I gotta ask you one thing. Can one of you pick me up? I really need a ride."
Further downtown
"Got it Batgirl," Starfire replied to her friend, "I just sent a radio wave out to Robin. If he wasn't listening then he knows to pick you up now."
"Thanks Star." Batgirl replied weakly. Starfire's eyes turned to slits at the sound of her friend's weak voice.
She pushed the microphone back as the masks of her eyes glowed a light green.
Starfire stood at 5'10" and had long, dark auburn hair that reached to her waist. Her mask was similar to Nightwing and Robin's but the lenses were able to glow when she was about to take flight, shoot star bolts, or just when she was angry.
Her boots were black but her pants and long sleeved shirt were a dark purple that went black when she hid in the shadows. She wore a pair of black gloves with dark silver metal bracelets over them. The back side stopped at the base of her wrist while the other side stopped where her fingers began and had a dark emerald gem on it. Her utility belt was also a dark silver and over her biceps were and were about an inch and a half wide and so thin, they looked like they were part of the shirt.
She took off into the night sky at full speed, following the sewer pipe to the outskirts of the city where I ended in a large puddle on the dirt.
She landed just a few inches outside the end of the pipe, blocking his path when he came. Her eyes stopped glowing green.
Only a few moments after she landed she heard the roar of the motorcycle before she saw it. It's engine was sputtering a bit and she smirked.
It was broken not to mention it was probably low on gas. She could tell by the sound kept getting lower and his curses kept getting louder.
Just as the motorcycle came to a stop Starfire took off down the tunnel, tackling him off the motorcycle and to the ground. She landed on top of him and held him down. He quickly got over his surprise and his giant hand went for her neck but Starfire had already seen it coming, let off the pressure she had on him and shot a star bolt at his head, causing him to fly back further down the tunnel.
He slowly got to his feet and cracked his neck before giving her a twisted, evil smile. Then he suddenly slammed his back to the closest wall and rubbed it against it as if he was a bear scratching his back on a tree.
Starfire's eyes suddenly went wide.
As if he was a bear scratching his back against a tree.
Just as she charged up a star bolt he ripped out a pipe from the now broken wall and sent water bursting straight at her, sending her flying out of the entrance of the sewer pipe.
She landed with a thud and, before she could even groan, saw an object coming down at her.
His motorcycle.
Her eyes turned to slits as she quickly moved her hands beside her head to balance herself and, in one fluid motion, flipped out of the way just as the motorcycle came down.
He'd already anticipated her move and had jumped and landed just a few inches behind where she landed. She already saw the move and, just as he moved to grab her, she turned and punched him in the face with a star bolt lit fist.
He staggered back from the force of the punch which gave her enough time to send a swift, precise kick directly to his stomach.
She pulled out a small flame shaped piece of metal with a five-pointed star cut near the bottom.
He gritted his teeth and came charging at her like a bull. She floated and then flipped over him, catching one of his tubes in-between two of the edges of her 'flame' and cutting it.
He roared in pain and grabbed his motorcycle one last time as his muscles and strength started to quickly decrease.
He threw it at her with every last bit of his strength, catching her off guard and part of it hitting her at the base of her neck with it, knocking her out.
She woke up leaning against something, wind blowing at her face fast, and a sharp pain at the base of her neck.
She didn't move and didn't change her breathing, her eyes remained slits as she opened them and she saw the front of the Night-Cycle as well as some lights quickly moving past her.
"Finally awake," Nightwing told her through his helmet and the rushing wind. She shivered a bit as she noticed how close he was to her ear.
He pulled into an alley and shut off his bike before removing his helmet.
He slowly got off his bike and helped her up, making sure she didn't fall before he leaned against the nearest building.
"One of the handle bars hit the base of your neck," He explained to her as she rubbed the spot where she was hit, "it knocked you out. We tried to contact you and, when you didn't respond, I came to come get you. His motorcycle was gone and so was he. All that was left was a small trail of his steroid fluid but even that disappeared after awhile."
"So Bane got away." She said disappointedly as she leaned against his bike.
"Bane got away," He told her evenly, "and the tracers Robin and I had put on him were on a-"
"A pipe in the sewer," Starfire finished as the memory of Bane's back hitting the sewer wall came back to mind.
They both looked up to the dark night sky.
A/N: And so, Year 2 begins! And not so well for the short-handed Titans. It's just going to be Nightwing, Starfire, Robin, and Batgirl for the next few chapters, but there will be plenty of fun, intrigue, and of course action! Plus, wait until you see what the other Titans come back to. Here's a hint: it won't be a pretty city.
Year 2 is definitely my favorite of the series, so I hope you all enjoy the ride as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think!