A/N: Okay guys. Before we get to the second chapter of the story, could I have your attention for a few seconds to ask WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL? Here's what happened:
About an hour or so after I uploaded the first chapter, I checked my email and saw that no less than 7 guest reviews had been posted. I got excited, of course, but then… I saw the reviews. They were not negative, that's not the reason my excitement quickly melted away, but they just… confused me, that's really the only word I can think of.
The 7 reviews were from the same person, a guest with the name 'anon', and they were long. And I do mean VERY long. I copied and pasted them into a Word file (I can always send it to you if you want it), and they added up to A BAFFLING TOTAL OF 9134 WORDS.
I did not read everything, but I scrolled through. The so-called 'reviews' were definitely about DC, so much was clear, but the majority was about DC-stuff that did not appear in Teen Titans. And most of all, NONE of it had ANYTHING to do with my story. Using Ctrl+F, I learned that Kyd Wykkyd was mentioned once, and Angel zero times.
From what I understood, it was mostly about why Lex Luthor isn't really a villain, why many superheroes are the real villains, comparing villains, comparing heroes, why Batman's no-killing-rule is stupid, about shipping at some point, and even about Marvel's Nick Fury at several points. Here's an unaltered extract from review 1:
I'm glad the government has Suicide Squad, Cadmus, Checkmate, the Elite, Amanda Waller, and the new female Spy Smasher, Cameron Chase I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting accountability from superheroes, having checks and balances on these living breathing weapons of mass destruction seems quite reasonable to me one will go left when they should go right and innocent people will die it WILL happen, not saying black ops don't have their necessity they can be used as a force of good
Now here's a part about Lexy from review 4:
It was Luthor who put an end to No Man's Land by flying his helicopter into the middle of it and literally throwing money at the problem, he was the one who made Gotham more modern efficient, and effective, though less beautiful artistically, there was someone who was so obsessed with Gotham's architecture that he murdered some of Luthor's builders
(Yeah, the sentences literally stop that suddenly) And here's a bonus from review 6:
The world needs men like Luthor not men like Batman check out Extermination from Boom
At the end, it got even weirder, the pro-Luthor propaganda turning into random lists of words from superheroes, fantasy stuff, lightsabers and Fairly OddParents.
Fortunately, this site comes with a button to delete guest reviews before they become public, and I have put it to good use. To the person who wrote these reviews (or at least copy-pasted them from somewhere, I may hope): I don't know what you were thinking when you posted these, but could you please not do this? Reviews are always appreciated, whether they are positive or criticizing, but please only post things that have to do with the story?
Now, I hope you (the reader) haven't left yet, let's finally get going with the story.
oo0O0oo
Part 1
Chapter 2: The Plan
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty."
Kyd Wykkyd squeezed his eyes shut against the light that poured into the room when Angel opened the curtains. He muttered something incoherent as he turned on his side, away from the window, and pulled the sheets up to his chin. Kyd Wykkyd was many things, but a morning person definitely wasn't one of them.
It didn't help, of course, that the duo had been up until 5 a.m. the previous night. Villains have to 'work', if you know what I mean.
"How late is it?" Angel managed to understand from the sad pile of tiredness that was Kyd Wykkyd.
"2 p.m." she answered.
Kyd grunted as he rolled onto his back and opened his red eyes ever so slightly. "Breakfast?" he asked, not even bothering to make a full sentence.
"At this ungodly hour, I very much doubt you could call it 'breakfast', but there is definitely some food on the table." With that, she left the room.
Kyd sat up in his bed and looked around his room. Or, rather, Mr. Roberts' room. They had agreed that Angel would sleep in her old room, and that Kyd could sleep in her father's bed. They had thrown out all the rotten, moldy food and given the place a thorough cleaning. It had been more than two months now since the H.I.V.E. Academy had fallen, and Kyd was starting to get used to his new life. He even had an awkward encounter with the man who lived across the hall in apartment 3A. Apparently his name was Ivan and judging by the amount of beer he was dragging up the stairs when Kyd met him he spent most of his time drinking (which was a good thing, or he might start to question a boy with grey skin and red eyes and a girl with wings living across the hall).
A couple of minutes after his sudden awakening, Kyd found himself eating in front of their brand new (totally not stolen) flat screen TV.
"Last night, the Teen Titans saved the world once again, from an alien invasion. Cat Grant is in Jump City."
The screen switched to the blonde woman standing next to a well-known green shapeshifter, holding a microphone. "Indeed, Iris. I am here with Beast Boy, who played a major part in stopping the aliens. Beast Boy, what exactly happened?"
"Dudes, it was totally awesome! So this guy called 'The Source' produced all these Bob clones and sent spaceships to abduct cows and build a machine to destroy humanity and stuff, but I singlehandedly defeated the entire army!"
"And where is The Source now?"
"Uh… Cyborg put him away in his most secured cell, isn't that right, Cyborg? You know what I'm talking about, right?"
"Shut it, Beast Boy!" the half-metal man in the background shouted. "You should've warned me in time! Do you know how many times I've wanted to throw up since that happened?"
Wait a second, Kyd Wykkyd thought. He recognized that voice, even though he had never really met the Teen Titans in person.
"Okay Kyd listen up…" came the voice of Angel as she stepped in front of the TV, but she was silenced by Kyd holding up his hand to shut her up. "What?" she asked.
"It was Cyborg…" Kyd slowly spoke as he stared at the TV past Angel's body.
"What?"
"The new guy, Stone. The guy who had the guts to embarrass the favorites-trio in the cafeteria."
Angel looked confused.
"Cyborg infiltrated the Academy!" Kyd realized. "It's his fault the H.I.V.E. was destroyed!"
"Okay Kyd, calm down. What does it matter? We already knew it were the Teen Titans who attacked us that day."
"I guess. What were you going to say?"
"Okay," Angel said as she switched off the TV and sat down to face Kyd Wykkyd. "The last few months, we have been stealing stuff for our own comfort," she said, pointing at the expensive TV and several other brand new household objects scattered around the apartment. "But I think it's time we move on to the more serious stuff. Stealing and dealing, know what I mean?"
Kyd nodded, not knowing where she was heading.
"It's time for our first real supervillain action!" she said enthusiastically, "Project Crown Jewels!"
Kyd almost choked on his breakfast. "We're going to steal the crown jewels?" he asked.
"No, silly, that's just the codename I gave it. We'll be infiltrating this," she said as she turned the screen of her (also very new) laptop towards Kyd. A PowerPoint slide showed a picture of a tall tower. "Crown Tower," she finished.
Kyd Wykkyd waited for her to continue, while she waited for him to show any form of reaction. "And?" Kyd eventually asked. "Why would we do that?"
"Crown Tower is the highest tower in all of Crown City, and home to the local department of Wayne Enterprises," Angel explained as she proceeded through her PowerPoint. "And it houses the Cadynski Vault."
"The what?"
"The Cadynski Vault!"
"Which is?"
"Seriously, Kyd, have you paid any attention during vault-classes in the Academy?"
Kyd just shrugged as he continued to eat.
"The Cadynski Vault is the most secured vault in the entire region."
"And it contains jewels?"
"What? No, why would it?"
"Because the operation is 'Project Crown Jewels'."
"No, for the last time, that's just the codename. What's inside is way more valuable."
"Then what is it?"
"Information, Kyd! Files! Documents!"
"About what?"
"If I remember correctly, it has floorplans of some of the most important buildings in the area. Grandgate Prison, for example, Crown Tower itself…" She paused and looked at Kyd with a smirk. "And Titans Tower."
"Great," said Kyd, who was done eating. "If only we had access to those floorplans before we have to infiltrate a highly secured building."
"Not so fast, my friend. I happen to have a rough version of the blueprints of the building –and the vault."
"Where did you get that?"
"Not me," she said as she walked up to the couch. "Move it," she said to Kyd Wykkyd. Kyd stood up from the couch, and Angel lifted the cushion he had been sitting on to reveal a safe underneath it. "My dad."
Kyd watched with an open mouth as Angel entered the code and opened the safe. "You even know the code?"
"Easy to guess. It's my birthday." She took out a folder. "I have already thought out a little strategy."
"So let me get this straight: you found a safe inside the sofa, found out the code, made a heist plan, and even made a freakin' PowerPoint, without me knowing any of it?"
"I gotta have something on my hands when you sleep until ungodly hours."
"I've always been more used to being awake at night, okay? Anyway, what are we gonna do with all these blueprints once we have them?"
"There are a lot of baddies out there who are willing to pay a fortune for them," Angel answered, and then added with a smile, "But I'm sure we could put some of them to good use ourselves."
"Okay," Kyd said, finally starting to get interested in the operation. "So what's the plan? I teleport in and out of the safe?"
"Do you honestly think it'll be that easy, Kyd? This safe is villain-proof. Bruce Wayne's finest technology with sensors, cameras and locks. The entire vault is coated in a layer of barmathium, which prevents entities from teleporting inside and also makes portal-opening on the interior of the vault impossible. The door can withstand the power of Mammoth, I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R. and Wrestling Star combined, times three."
"Okay. Strong door."
"The vault's code changes every day, only known by the main gatekeeper, and Bruce Wayne himself, who creates the code and passes it on to the gatekeeper."
"How can you see that on a blueprint?"
"Right here," Angel said as she showed him some scribbles; the same handwriting Kyd had seen on the papers in his room. "The vault is located on level minus three of the tower. There are security cameras all over the place, and enough guards to fill all the vacant apartments in this building."
"Wow, that's a lot." Kyd sometimes almost got the feeling the two of them, along with Ivan, were the only inhabitants of the building. The annoying noises he heard on the nights he was home told him otherwise, though.
"As soon as you teleport anywhere on that floor, you will be spotted by a dozen of cameras, heat-, motion- and sound-detectors, and tasered by five different guards."
"When will you get to the part where you tell me just how we're actually going to pull this off?"
"Right now. In order to get down there, we have to go up," Angel said as she showed a map of the second highest floor. "This is the office of the Deputy General Manager."
"And what are we going to do with him?"
"Nothing," Angel said with a smile, "But they don't know that."
oo0O0oo
After the entire plan had been explained, Kyd sat back in his chair. "Well, Angel, I'm impressed. This is quite a complicated plan."
"But do you think it'll work?"
"No," Kyd dryly said. "But it's worth a try," he added with a smile. "When will we strike?"
"Monday. In three days."
"Why then?"
"Because I'm not working on weekends."
Kyd chuckled and looked out of the window. The sun had started to set already. "I think I'll go to bed a little earlier today," he said as he got up. "I'll try to wake up at a godly hour tomorrow."
"Not so fast," Angel said when Kyd wanted to walk away.
"What, do you want a goodnight kiss or something?"
"No," she said as she tossed his headpiece in his direction. He caught it as she placed her own silver helmet over her head. "We will need some equipment for the job. Equipment we don't have in our possession right now."
Kyd grunted. "I thought you didn't work on weekends."
"It's only Friday evening."
oo0O0oo
A/N: If you don't get the joke about The Source, you're not a real fan.
The story will be humorous at times (because that's what I'm generally best at), but there will be angsty and dramatic moments as well, so beware.
Reviews are appreciated! Just have them make sense please!