Red eyes glowed demonically in the dark of the night. The future city was bright, but here in the slums it was dark as the emptiness of space. The five figures stood there, waiting for the reason why they had been summoned.
"You five shall serve me well." The voice was deep and sounded like a crack of thunder.
"So you want us to go back into the past and kill this guy?" Her emerald hair flowed down her shoulders gracefully. "Sounds good to me."
"Yes, that is your task." The red eyes narrowed in anticipation.
"So when are we going?" Metal glinted from the red glow.
"Just be patient. All shall be done soon enough." A dark laugh erupted from the Dark Lord's lips.
"Oh…oh…YEAH!" I pumped both hands into the air, dropping the PS3 controller in the process.
"Again? Oh, come on!" Jason Rusch shook his head in frustration.
"Told ya flame head, don't mess with Rogue."
Firestorm's half and I were playing a new X-Men game I had received for my birthday. Yup, seventeen today. John and Kathy had bought me a PS3 for me while my adorable girlfriend had given me the game. The X-Men had always been my favourite comic book as a kid. I felt different as a kid since my parents had died when I was young and I could relate to the X-Men.
This was his fifth beating. We were up in my room with the door closed since we were so loud. My girlfriend Kara Kent and Firestorm's other half Gehenna Hewitt were down stairs talking. We were having a birthday party. Kinda.
"Should we go find out what the girls are doing?" Jason put the controller down.
"You're just afraid you'll be beaten again," I taunted my friend.
"Oh yeah? Bring it!" Jason picked up the controller with renewed determination.
It had been a little over a year since Darkseid had attacked the Hall of Justice. After the attack, some of the Leaguers had decided they needed a break and had left. The remaining members were Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Supergirl, Flash, Green Lantern, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and myself.
It had been a pretty quiet year. Villains had obviously attacked, but there was no big plots to either rule or destroy the planet. Oh well. I wasn't complaining.
Phoenix dropped to the ground as Rogue drained the last of her energy.
"I give up."
I grinned. "I win."
"Now do you want to see what the girls are doing?"
I shrugged. "Sure."
We left my room and went upstairs to the living room. My room was in the basement. Yup, be jealous. Kara and Gehenna were sitting on the couch talking. They looked at us as we got up the stairs.
"How's the game?" Kara asked.
"Awesome." I gave her a kiss. "Thank you."
She smiled, and I melted. "Your welcome." He smiles still had that effect on me.
"I'm hungry. When are we eating?" Jason looked down at his stomach sympathetically.
"Whenever you guys want. I'm sending Quin a text so he can meet us when we go eat."
Kara stood up. "Let's go now."
Gehenna followed Kara's lead. "Where do you want to go, Jamie?"
"Hmm…"
Kara laughed. "Don't even bother. He wants to go to a pizza place."
I faked a shocked look. "You never told me you were telepathic!"
She smirked. "I don't have to be."
I took my phone out of my pocket and sent Quin a message telling him and Alexis to meet us at Kiki's Pizza. Kathy walked in the room with a load of laundry.
She smiled. "Are you guys leaving?"
"Yup. Going out for pizza!"
"Hm. Surprise, surprise."
I put on my jacket as Kathy called from the living room, "You have your key?"
"Yes! Bye!" We all left the house and I closed the door.
We began walking down the street when Gehenna stopped. We all stopped and looked back at her.
"I just realized that Kiki's is a twenty minute walk. Are we really gonna walk when we can fly?"
"Smart." Kara hi-fived Gehenna.
"One problem. How do we do it without anyone seeing us take off or land?" Jason was the voice of reason.
"Hmm. Kara can run fast, and I can too." I shot my super-powered girlfriend a look. "With a little help."
"What about us?" Gehenna raised an eyebrow.
"We'll carry you."
Jason shrugged. "Why not?"
I picked up Gehenna and Kara carried Jason. In seconds we were at the pizza place.
Jason tried to stabilize himself as Kara put him down. "Wwwooaaahhh…"
I smirked. "Dizzy?"
He put his hand to his forehead. "You could say that…"
We went into the restaurant and sat down. Quin and Alexis arrived a couple minutes later. We ordered two large pizzas and drinks and split the cost between us. The others wouldn't let me pay since it was my birthday, but I still snuck in the tip. We sat and talked for a couple hours.
"So where've you two been? I haven't seen ya around in a while."
"We were off Earth with the Titans," Alexis gushed with excitement.
"Off Earth? Wow." Jason's eyebrows arched. "So where did you go?"
"Starfire's home planet, Tamaron," Quin revealed. "Blackfire was causing trouble again and they called us."
"Yup. We're officially Teen Titans now," Alexis stated proudly.
I nodded appreciatively. "Nice guys."
"How's life in the JLA been?"
"Kind of quiet, actually." Kara shrugged.
We didn't have to whisper about our 'jobs' since there was only one other couple in the store. A girl with emerald hair and a bald man.
"Yeah, not too much." I checked my phone. My eyes widened. "Oh crap guys! It's almost mid-night!"
"Uh oh… Ma and Pa are going to eat me alive!"
"We better get going to, Gen. I gotta get you home."
We all left and went our separate ways. Jason and Gehenna fused into Firestorm and flew off while Kara took off towards Smallville. Quin drove off with Alexis. They offered me a ride, but I said no. They had a half an hour drive to get back to Brantford. Since Kathy and John lived in Metropolis and in the opposite direction there was no point.
I began walking once the others had left. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out. It was Kathy.
"I know, I'm sorry! We lost track of time. Yeah, I'm on my wa-aagh!"
A blast of energy sent me sprawling across the street. I lay stunned on the road. I had skidded along on my arm and it was torn up badly and bleeding. I heard Kathy panicking on my phone before someone smashed it. I started to gather my wits when a big hand pulled me to my feet.
The same hand then threw me through a wall. I stumbled out and took in the sight. There were five figures standing in front of me. A giant, a half-man, half-machine, a large man with an axe, a man with a dome on his head and a green haired woman.
"Happy Birthday."