Okay, new story I decided to write after re-watching some of the Teen Titans cartoons, and finishing Injustice. No flames please, or rants about the comics, I'm purely going off the info I got from the Tv series, and from all the movies (Avengers, Dark Knight, etc.)
"And now, in further news, the cold spell that had plagued the city still continues, and shows no sign of ending any time soon."
The assembled Titans groaned as the news confirmed their worst fears. For the past week Jump City had been locked in a seemingly endless supply of snow and ice, and the temperature had plummeted to such an extent that it was no longer safe to go outside for more than a few hours.
That had left the Titans land-locked as the water around the Tower had frozen, one of the unexpected bonuses of the flash-freeze, but it also meant that supplies were getting limited and the entire city was suffering heavily.
Huge sections were without power as the snow collapsed electricity cables and toppled pylons, and people were being forced to abandon their homes to avoid freezing to death.
Even so, there were casualties as some; mainly children and the elderly, couldn't withstand the cold and the harsh winds that accompanied it.
"Great" Beast Boy moaned "now we're stuck freezing our asses off for God knows how long!" Robin and Cyborg nodded in agreement, their faces sullen.
Starfire floated down to the couch and nestled herself between Robin and Cyborg, the former wrapping an arm around the alieness' shoulders, and said "Friends, why does this spell of the cold cause so much pain?"
Cyborg sighed, rolling his human eye while pinning Robin with a pointed stare with the other.
Robin cleared his throat thoughtfully before saying "It doesn't hurt people per se Star; it just forces their bodies to act as if they've been hurt." His voice grew infinitely sad as his face softened. "Some people don't respond well to the process, and as a result…" he trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought.
Everyone else nodded sombrely, already guessing the rest of the sentence. Each of them dealt with death in their own way, but it had a definitely negative on their morale. Their performance had dropped considerably when the casualties began piling up, each death adding more weight to their already-loaded collective conscience.
Starfire sighed and rested her head on Robin's chest, her ruby locks spilling over her shoulder and onto his leg. Cy looked at the couple and couldn't help smiling. 'They look perfect together' he thought, eying the pair as they lounged on the couch, their bodies intertwined and their fingers laced together.
It was true, over the past four years they had all bonded on a much deeper level, and they had all changed because of it, and due to nature.
Beast Boy, now called Changeling, had grown the most out of all of them, both physically and characteristically. He had shot up to 5'8 and filled out a wasn't as muscular as Cyborg, but he had noticeably more muscle, albeit they were slightly scrawny. He, like the others, had changed his uniform from his Doom Patrol black and purple suit, to a white and red form-fitting jumpsuit, which really increased his status among their female fans. He also lost most of his immaturity, only cracking his signature jokes when he knew it would be appreciated, or when it looked like someone in the team- or all of them- needed an emotional boost. In fact, all of the Titans had changed.
Robin- or Nightwing as he preferred to be called- had grown to be 6'4, slightly taller than Star, (that caused her to giggle for a whole five minutes when she discovered that little titbit) and had beefed out a lot, almost as much as Cyborg. He had changed his uniform from his 'traffic cone suit', as Raven had dubbed it, to something extremely reminiscent of the outfit of his mentor. It was completely black, with the blue V emblazoned on the chest, it's 'wings' stretching down his arms to his gloves, a reference to Kal-El, better known as Clark Kent or Superman, and his past as a vigilante in the Kryptonian capital of Kandor.
Cyborg had changed the least out of all of them, having only grown an additional six inches, giving him an impressive 6'6 towering gait. He had upgraded his systems of course, keeping himself as high-tech as possible. Instead of the blue glow of his previous components, they were now all gun-metal silver, making him shine when he stood in sunlight.
The girls had also developed, but in other and…interesting ways. Starfire had filled out nicely; her hips and bust becoming extremely prominent, creating a perfect hourglass figure which turned a great many heads when she left the Tower, from both men and women, and her face had thinned slightly, revealing high cheekbones and a thin jaw that made her look like a mythical goddess.
Raven had also changed drastically. She had grown quite a bit, ending up as tall as Changeling, while developing curves that put some models to shame, and her rack wasn't anything to laugh at either. Her new uniform was nearly identical to her old one, aside from being sleeveless and larger to accommodate her newer, more voluptuous figure, the new eye-like broach that held her cloak in place, and the beak-like hood.
She had grown her hair out, and it cascaded over her shoulders down to just below her shoulder blades in violet waves, framing her elegant face in a sea of purple, adding to her mysterious aura. Plus, since they had defeated the Brotherhood of Evil she had started to feel more, allowing more of her emotions to show, and mature in character. They had dropped the 'Teen' part of their name, so people knew them purely as the 'Titans'.
All in all, they had all developed into one small family.
The mood was shattered as the Tower's alarm blared angrily throughout the room. Everyone shot up a dashed over to the screen to find a single red flashing dot hanging over the financial district.
"It's Doctor Light." Nightwing said, his masked eyes scanning over the screen with practised ease "He's robbed a bank downtown…huh, it's the same one he robbed the first time we met him."
Everyone turned to Raven, who was chuckling darkly and had an evil grin stretched over her face.
"Uh, care to share the joke Raven?" Changeling asked, raising an eyebrow in question; no doubt borrowing the gesture from Raven's own arsenal. Then the details of what Nightwing had said hit him and his eyes widened in understanding. "Do you think he'd mind a repeat of one of your previous…performances, Rae?" he asked, a dangerous glint in his eye.
The others turned to stare at the changeling, confused as to his sudden change in behaviour.
Unbeknownst to the others, Raven and Changeling had dated for about six months before both agreeing that a relationship between them wasn't going to work, so they mutually ended it. But due to their closeness, they had finally managed to escape their previous love/hate style relationship.
Then his words clicked into place, and everyone grinned at the implications. Even Starfire; who couldn't understand human mannerisms or speech a year ago, had a huge smile on her face, her emerald eyes shining with a mischievous light.
All eyes turned to Nightwing, who still wore his 'Bat-face', as Cyborg once described it. Then, quite suddenly; it split into a huge, near-maniacal grin.
"Alright" he said, his calm voice at odds with his crazed expression "you all know what you have to do. Titans…GO!"
The T-car screamed through the streets, Cyborg driving it as fast as the modified engine would allow. Starfire, Raven and Beast boy flew above it whilst Robin drove his R-Cycle like a pro, weaving through corners like he'd done it for years (which he had).
They sped through the city, tearing past entire blocks of onlookers, turning heads as they flew past. They shot down to the bank just in time to see Doctor Light climb inside his bank truck and start the engine. He glanced up just in time to see the Titans gather around the truck, each wearing an identical scowl, and each prepping their weapon of choice: Robin with his Bo staff, Cyborg and his sonic cannon, Star with her starbolts, Beast Boy sharpening his claws mid-way through a phase, and Raven floated with all four of her demonic eyes revealed, her entire being swathed in dark energy.
He gulped, his eyes darting in every direction, seeking a way to escape his current predicament. It was then that a very familiar voice echoed over the truck's radio.
"We're in position" Slade said "Keep the Titans occupied until the signal is sent." Everyone's eyes widened, and a cruel smile spread over the good Doctor's face.
"Time to face the Light!" he yelled whilst leaping through the sunroof to land on top of the truck and proceeded to bombard the Titans with lasers in his suit, blasting away at them with careless abandon.
"Titans! Scatter!" Robin yelled right before a laser beam slammed into his chest, sending him flying across the street and slamming into a nearby wall with bone-crushing force.
Starfire gasped, her eyes widened in shock, before turning to glare at the villain with murder clearly written in her eyes. With a great cry she launched herself at the Doctor, her hands glowing a fierce emerald.
He barely had time to look up before the Tamaranean's fist smashed into his face, knocking him off his perch and right into the line of fire of Cyborg; who chose that exact moment to unleash a barrage from his sonic cannon, the sapphire beam catching Light straight in the chest and sending him hurtling down the road…and landing at Raven's feet.
"Good day Doctor" she purred, her demonic visage all the more horrifying thanks to the maniacal grin she now wore "I do hope you put up more of a fight than you did last time we met."
The poor villain could only stand there, a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look on his face and Raven loomed above him, laughing evilly, her four blood-red eyes glowing like four brands in her head, her hood obscuring the rest of her face. She honestly looked like something that had just climbed out of the Sixth Circle of Hell. Suddenly, the surrounding temperature plummeted, making the already cold air practically unbearable. Then Doctor Light's radio crackled into life again.
"Superconductor reaching optimum temperature, projection sequence online, power coils in place. We're as ready as we're ever going to be. Sequence start in T-minus sixty minutes." a voice said, deep and resonant and, to Nightwing, horrifyingly familiar.
"Mr Freeze!" he coughed, his voice hoarse as he hauled himself from the wreckage of the wall he had landed against, yet to the others he seemed to have shouted every word.
Everyone froze, and it seemed time had paused, their bodies stilled to inaction for the merest second, before Slade's voice again returned to the radio.
"Very well." Then he addressed the terrified Doctor. "Thank you Arthur, your work is done. Evac is en-route."
Everyone's eyes shot skyward as the sound of rotor blades filled the air, and a black helicopter appeared above them. The side door rumbled open and a single black rope dropped from within, sliding through the air like a snake, landing right before the petrified villain.
With inhuman speed, he wrapped his arms around it and hauled himself up to the waiting transport, scrambling up the thin cord in record time before discarding it and slamming the door shut.
Just as the helicopter began to turn, Cyborg raised his arm and shot a small disc, about the size of a shirt button, at the aircraft from his wrist. It impacted on the upper hull and latched itself firmly to the metal, before flashing a vibrant red and began transmitting its signal. As the helicopter sped away, the Titans regrouped around their now-limping leader; who now had the look of a man who had just witnessed his own death six times over, his face incredibly pale, and his mask almost sliding off his face with the size of his eyes. His chest heaved as he forced air into his aching lungs, before collapsing to the floor and fainting.
Everyone gasped and Starfire lunged towards him, lifting him bridal style and flying off towards the Tower. The others just stared after her, their minds still processing everything that had happened in the past two minutes.
Eventually, Cyborg broke the silence by saying "Did anyone else just see what I think I saw?" The others nodded mutely, their eyes stilled glued to the still shrinking speck that was Starfire's retreating form.
"Should we…I don't know, follow them?" Changeling suggested, his eyes following the pair as they flew, his hawk-like vision allowing him to make out their every detail. Again, the other two nodded wordlessly, still staring at where Star and Nightwing had once been. Without preamble, they all turned back to the T-Car, one thought running through their minds:
What the hell just happened?