(Author's Note: Greeting my loyal readers, TigerVolcano5000 here and welcome to the next chapter of The New Titan! Unlike last time, this is an original chapter set after Leo joins the team. Hope you enjoy :)
Chapter Two: A New Enemy
It was a normal day in the metropolis of Jump City, and no one could be happier about that then the city's defenders. While there was an abundance of crime when the titans first formed, over the weeks it had lessened and it give the team some down time. Robin was in the gym honing his skills, Raven was in her room meditating, and Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing video games in the living room. Now, Starfire was currently looking for the team's sixth member: Leo. She hadn't seen him all day (even at breakfast) and she was beginning to worry for her friend.
Her search led her to the living room where, unsurprisingly, she found Cyborg and Beast Boy, "Hello friends."
"Hey Star."
"What up?"
"I was wondering, have either of you seen Leo today?" The two stopped playing to ponder her question.
"Now that you mention, I haven't seen him at all today. Cy?"
"No man, it's weird. Leo isn't one to be secretive and sneak around. Want us to help you look for him Star?"
"No, it's quite alright. I don't want to keep you from your game, I just wanted to know if you two knew where he was."
"Have you checked the roof?" Beast Boy suggested, "No one's left the tower today and if he's not anywhere in the tower, he might be on the roof."
"Oh, excellent idea Beast Boy!" With that last statement, the young alien girl quickly flew out of the room and began her trek to the roof. And that took her all of about seven seconds. However, she stopped herself just inches away from the door.
Slowly and carefully, she pushed the door open and found her friend. And he appeared to be…meditating? Wasn't that what Raven does? Opening the door a little bit more, she confirmed that Leo was indeed meditating. He was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and his hands out with his first and middle fingers touching. Exactly like how Raven meditates, except he's not levitating. Wait.
Starfire's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw Leo actually float a few inches above the ground. Soon, he was a full foot off the ground but she could faintly hear the sound of him breathing heavily. He continued floating higher until, just before he reached a foot and a half feet in the air, he collapsed to the ground and let out a small yell of pain.
"LEO!" Starfire quickly flew over to her fallen friend, concern etched all across her face, "Leo are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah Star, I'm fine." Starfire helped the boy up until he realized something, "Were you just spying on me?"
"N-No," Starfire muttered, looking away so Leo wouldn't see the visible red on her orange cheeks.
"Riiiiight," Leo said, a slight smirk on his face, "So, what's up?"
His voice seemed to snap Starfire out of her daze, "Oh, yes. I was just wondering where you were. Our friends and I haven't seen you at all today."
Leo rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry about that. I just needed a quiet environment where I could be alone for a while."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
A few seconds of silence passed by until, "Leo?"
"Yes?"
"Do the others know about your levitation power?"
"No. It's an ability that's been giving me some problems, so I decided to master it before unveiling it to everyone. Or at least that was the plan, until you decided to be a little peeper," Leo said, poking Starfire's nose with a smirk on her face.
"I-um, I-I-I-I," the poor girl was reduced to a blushing, stuttering mess and Leo found it funny. So funny that he couldn't help himself from bursting out in full blown laughter, "S-Stop laughing, it isn't funny."
"Starfire," Leo wiped a tear from his eye, "I've learned that a lot of material is and/or can be funny, it just depends on which side you're on." Starfire just crossed her arms and pouted at her response. He couldn't help but notice that she was pretty cute when she pouted. Whoa, where'd that come from? Leo quickly shook those thoughts from his head, hoping that she couldn't see the slight blush on his face. "Oh, Star," once again, the alien found herself being brought out of her thoughts by the sound of his voice, "Since you're here, I have something to ask."
"Oh, what is it Leo?"
"I was wondering if you could show me a little bit around the city. Despite being on the team for a while, I haven't spent that much time in the city or even for that long."
To say that Starfire was surprised would be an understatement, but then a thought came to her, "Why me? Why not Cyborg? He is your cousin, is he not?"
"Yeah, but I checked on everyone before I came up here and you're the only one who's currently available. So, do you think you can make some time for little 'ol me?"
Starfire giggled, which made Leo's heart melt (much to his annoyance), "Sure, I would love to help you explore the city. Come!" With a big smile on her face, Starfire took to the air and began making her way to Jump City.
Leo just shook his head, "Man, that girl takes optimistic to a whole new level," laughing to himself, Leo took the form of an eagle and flew off after her.
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The two teenage superheroes were having really fun time in the city. After being the one who needed to be introduced to (pretty much) everything, Starfire was really enjoying being able to help out her friend like this. Leo, on the other hand, could hardly keep himself from laughing at Starfire's eagerness. Despite him trying to force "certain" thoughts out of his head, he was smart enough to acknowledge how cute she looked when she was so happy. Or how cute she looked period. Needless to say, these were the kind of thoughts that he fought himself from having all day.
After an hour of Starfire showing Leo different sections of the city, they had decided to stop by a pizza place for some lunch (A/N: it's the pizza place the titans always go to. Don't think they ever gave it a name in the show).
"I'll say," Leo started after they'd gotten their food, "This has been pretty fun. Thanks for showing me around Star."
"Oh, it was not a problem. I am happy to help one of my friends."
He laughed, "You're too nice, I have no clue how this world got lucky enough to have someone like you. Lord knows we haven't done much to deserve it," Leo muttered the last part under his breath with a small frown on his face.
"Leo? Are you alright?"
"Hmmm? Yeah I'm fine, just thinking." Just then, almost in a way to really take their minds off their awkward silence, they heard an explosion coming from the street. Quickly racing toward the edge, they saw a group of men wearing ski masks and brown coats with guns bringing huge bags of money from a bank into their van. One was in the driver's seat, two were going in to retrieve the money, and another two had their guns pointed at the people in the bank to discourage heroic thoughts.
Before either teen could even begin to make their way down there, the sound of a loud gunshot suddenly cut through the atmosphere. They saw red mist exploded from the head of one of the men and his body crumple to the ground.
The two teens just stared at the seen in slight shock. These men are robbing a bank and then one of them is quickly killed by an unseen assailant. The sound of a second gunshot brought them back to reality and they look just in time to see another robber thump to the ground, dead.
As a third gunshot struck one of their comrades and the remaining robbers began to scatter, Leo darted his eyes around his surroundings in an attempt to find this mysterious shooter. Hearing another shot, he turned his head to where it came from. A fifth and final shot and he had a lock on his target, "Starfire, follow me! I found the shooter!"
After spending the last few moments frozen in shock and horror at the events that transpired, she once again found herself snapped out of a trance by the sound of her teammate's voice, "Y-Yes, let us capture them!" Taking the form of a falcon, Leo zoomed after the shooter with Starfire right behind him.
Utilizing this form's enhanced eyesight, Leo was able to make out the shooter strapping, what appeared to be, a sniper rifle to their back and running. Pouring on the speed, Leo zoomed after the mystery figure to ensure that didn't escape. Once close enough, Leo took the form of a tiger and tackled the assailant to the ground. Morphing back to human form to look the sniper in their eyes, the young man was shocked by what he saw, "What?"
"Hello Leo," using Leo's shock as an advantage, the figure, revealed to be a man, rammed his fist into Leo's left cheek and knocked him away.
"Leo!" Starfire quickly flew down to help her friend stand and the two teens got a good look at the shooter.
He were wearing a suit of dark grey armor that covered his entire body. There were lines that ran across his body, arms, and legs that all glowed a green color. His helmet was completely smooth and had no actual features on it, excluding the glowing green eyes on the face. On his belt he had a pistol, a machete, and some kind of small stick on the back. Actually strapped on his back was his sniper rifle. In the center of his chest, was a glowing green fireball.
The man looked in Leo's direction and chuckled, "It's certainly been a long time, hasn't Leo?" He spoke with a deep, intimidating voice that had to be the work of his suit.
Starfire was shocked by his statement and looked over to her friend, who was seething in anger, "Leo, you know this man?"
"Unfortunately," was all Leo said, not taking his eyes off of the man in front of him for even a second.
"You mean you never told your new friend about me? I'm truly hurt Leo. And here I thought we were best buds. Although I'll admit, you certainly know the right company to keep," the man stated, looking Starfire up and down as if she were a piece of meat.
His anger only intensifying, Leo stepped in front of Starfire and ignited both of his fists, "What are you doing in this city?"
"Oh you know. Meeting new people, taking in the sights, and just having an overall good time," the man said casually, as if he hadn't just murdered five people in cold blood.
"You are aware that I can't let you do this."
"Do what Leo?" Without a word, Leo pointed to the area where he shot the robbers that was now flooded with police, "Oh right, that. Well, you know, we all have our own ways of doing things."
"You murdered them in cold blood!"
"Correction, I helped this city and this world. Those men were scum, stealing whatever they want just because they think they can and not giving a damn who gets hurt in the process. The world's a better place without them."
"That isn't your decision to make."
The man laughed, "Oh, I think that all of my weapons and skills would tell a different story. Oh, but where are my manners?" He turned and walked closer to Starfire, "Hey there sweetheart, name's Shot and yours?"
"Starfire," the Tameranean girl all but growled, with her eyes and fists glowing menacingly.
"Oh, feisty. I like that."
Leo stepped forward and grabbed Shot by his wrist, "You're coming with us," the way he spoke said that his statement was a question, but a fact.
Shot smirked under his helmet before turning so his green eyes were looking directly into Leo's blue ones, "You're welcome to try," then quickly than either of them could react, he punched Leo in the face, "Try being the operative word."
"Leo!" Starfire's concern for her friend was quickly replaced by anger and she flew toward the man. Shot sidestepped her and delivered a strong kick to her side, which sent her sprawling across the roof.
Hearing a roar, Shot turned around just in time to be backhanded by Leo who had taken the form of a gorilla. After slamming into the door (A/N: those doors they have where you enter the roof. You guys know what I'm talking about), Shot moved quickly to avoid the second gorilla fist launched at him.
Pulling out the small stick from the back of his belt, it extended into a staff and he twirled it around in his hands, "Let's dance, little boy." Snarling, Leo charged forward with a roar only for Shot to dodge the attack and slap him across the face with the end of his staff. He was surprised by the force of the blow that he couldn't avoid when the staff slammed into his side or when Shot leaped and kicked him across the face.
Distracted by bringing down Leo, Shot was oblivious to Starfire when she flew over and wrapped her arms around his torso. She then flew up into the air and threw down to the streets below. She quickly flew over to check on her friend, "Leo, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Forgot how hard he can hit," Leo stated as he stood up. The two ran to look over the edge and saw Shot running away, "Come on, we can't let him escape." Once again taking the form of a falcon, Leo took off with Starfire right behind him. Once he got close enough to the ground, Leo morphed into a cheetah and sprinted after Shot.
Looking behind himself and seeing the two heroes behind him, Shot knew that he needed a plan or they'll eventually catch up to him. Taking a medium sized green cylinder from his belt, he pulled something from it (A/N: I looked and could not find how flashbangs are used/triggered. Sorry) and chucked it at the heroes. They were confused for a split second for there was suddenly a blinding flash of light.
The two teens stumbled, with Starfire crashing into a building and Leo into a car, as the flashbang attacked their senses. When the two of them could finally come to, Shot was nowhere in sight.
"Damn it!" Leo slammed his fist into the ground, causing his hand to bleed.
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Leo and Starfire were back at the tower, giving a briefing of what happened to the rest of their team. The four remaining titans left the tower after the alarm went off when the bank was robbed, but only found the corpses of the robbers when they arrived and their friends hurt on the ground.
"If you knew how dangerous this guy was, you should have called us Leo," Robin reprimanded, not happy that the two of them didn't call the others upon finding the sniper.
"I know, but Shot is a very dangerous man and I didn't want to needlessly put anyone in danger. If Star wasn't with me at the time, I would have gladly dealt with him on my own."
"Well, that's not the way this works cuz," Cyborg said with crossed arms, "You're part of a team, and we need to work together if we're gonna operate? Cool?" He put out his fist.
Leo sighed, but let a small smile grace his face as he pounded his cousin's fist, "Cool."
"Good," Raven spoke up, "Any useful information about this "Shot" guy?"
"Only, that we can to see him around quite frequently in this city. Do NOT underestimate him. Like I said, he's a very dangerous man."
"Alright. I'll contact the police stations to let them know to keep an eye out for Shot and to let us know immediately once they have anything. But, for now, everyone get some sleep," Robin told his team and everyone began walking to their rooms.
"So," Beast Boy slid next to Leo with a smirk on his face, "You and Starfire just, went out huh?"
Leo's face quickly turned red, "I just needed her help in showing me around the city. No big deal."
"No big deal huh? Then why are you blushing?"
"I'm not blushing! You're blushing!"
"No I'm not."
"I'm not getting into this with you," Leo quickly sped up his walk.
"Aw, come on Leo."
"NO!"
(Author's Note: And there ends another chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed. Like with Leo's personality, Shot's appearance just came to me as I was writing and I went with it after realizing that I liked it. Also, sorry if the name "Shot" isn't too great. I had to look to make sure that I didn't take the name of any current DC characters. Also, despite the title, he isn't a steadfast enemy of the titans or of superheroes. Think of him like the Red Hood in the comics or Vigilante on the CW Arrow show (actually where I got the idea), he fights crime but does so with lethal force unlike most heroes. Sorry for taking so long to update, I've been taking a break from writing these last few days because I've been playing Telltale's "The Walking Dead: Season One". I have to say, the game itself was good but the story was depressing as hell. But, what else would I expect from a game set after the zombie apocalypse? Anyway, review, follow, favorite, and I'll see you all next time :)
