Last time on the Mighty Teen Titans!
Having recruited several more members into their designated team, now decidedly named the Teen Titans, Ace part ways with the assembled to reconvene the next day. With Arsenal -formerly known as Speedy- agreed to join along with Jesse Quick and Mary Marvel the six agree to plan out their next move once regrouped. With more and more details added to the nightmares Ace is envisioning, the future becomes grimmer with every passing hour.
Hope is the only thing that keeps the growing team moving forward to solve the mystery of this threat. What will they find? Who is responsible? Find out, now!
Chapter 3 - Collateral Mishap
Tim knew it was a risky maneuver to take Annie back to the mansion. The last time, as they both knew, Batman arrived too late to save her. With her return it may raise too many questions and possible restrain the pair so they can't meet again with the psychic girl the following day. He knew he needed rest, but he didn't count on leaving his revived friend alone; not when she was still reeling from the back from the dead experience she had.
Getting through the front door, he was thankful that Alfred was retired for the evening. Either that or he was tending to things in the Batcave. Their entrance was soft and quiet, enabling the two to rush up the many stairs to his spacious quarters where he just instructed Annie to make herself comfortable. As he took a shower, brushed his teeth and put on some pajamas he found that Annie was lying on the bed while looking straight up at the ceiling.
Going into his bottomless closet, he retrieved a sleeping bag and told Annie that he'd be fine sleeping on the floor while she enjoyed a comfy quilt and mattress for once. It didn't take long for him to close his eyes and drift asleep, briefly having a blissful sleep of him and Annie holding hands while going to school. It was innocent enough, till he saw what looked like enormous shadows rise from the school and spew flames among the class; among them being people he recognized from the other night.
Among the searing heat and smothering flames he was separated from Annie, buried under tonnage of charred corpses while he heard screams echo the night and the ground reduced to ash in the waking nightmare.
Waking up with a start, he felt himself weighed down by something. Among his cold sweat he turned to see Annie had snuggled up against him against his sleeping bag, her head near his own. Feeling himself blush at the closet proximity to the girl, he mustered up the nerve to poke her head with inquiry.
"Mmmmmf," She moaned, opening her eyes groggily. "Robin?"
"Hey, sleepyhead," Tim commented, feeling more relaxed now despite his earlier surprise. "Wasn't it comfy on the bed?"
"I couldn't sleep so I felt safer next to you," She admitted, looking away a bit out of shyness. Despite the warm flush on her face, she looked back at him and reached out to touch his face, making him gasp. Brushing his cheek, she smiled fondly at him. "Behind that mask, you have such wonderful eyes."
"Uh, thanks," He nervously accepted her compliment. "Your eyes are pretty too."
They both heard a clearing of the throat, interrupting the moment of intimacy. Robin immediately rolled away while Annie froze in place. Hopping upright with his sleeping bag falling loose from his pajamma clad person they both saw someone they didn't expect.
Which ultimately made the person who caught them almost bust out laughing.
"W-Wow! The look on your faces-hehehehehehe!" Jesse Quick sputtered in her hands while rapidly beating her right foot against the floor.
"Dude! Not cool!" Robin retorted back, stomping up to the speedster with an angry glare fixated at the older girl. "Is home invasion your hobby too?! And why are you even here?!"
"Please, keep it down," Ace, the second individual who appeared from the door in a nonchalant manner with arms crossed. "I've mentally blocked out our presence here, but I rather not lose focus. This is the last place I want us to be found by accident."
"Besides," Jesse brushed her bangs aside, thumbing to the clock. "You've overslept. It's almost two in the afternoon."
With widened eyes, Tim turned to leap over the bed and scramble to the nightstand next to it. Sure enough, in red letters it was One Fifty Nine O'clock in the Afternoon. Knowing that Mary may get out in the next hour or so made him realize how underprepared he was. Growling, he turned and began grabbing his discarded effects as he sprinted into the bathroom, slamming it behind him.
"Yeesh, guess he's not a morning person," The Speedster pouted her lips and blew a raspberry with impatience. "You'd think a guy would be adjusted to waking up on time, but no, he's gotta take his sweet day to be prepared."
"It was pretty late by the time we got back here," Annie protested, sticking up for him despite her aversion from looking straight into her eyes. "It's not his fault, he insisted I didn't sleep by myself out there."
"That's sweet! You two kids must be head over heels in love, right?!" Jesse teased with a snicker. Seeing the girl blush hotly made her laugh all the more fiercely. "Ohohoho, I was right! So tell me, have you two done the deed?"
"Done the...what?" The bowl-cut haired girl tilted her head, embarassment switched out with stark confusion. "Deed?"
Snorting, Jesse shook her head and shrugged with a sigh, "I'll take that as a no. Typical. Bet it'll take five years before you even have 'the talk'."
"What are you even talking about? What talk?"
"Exactly my point," She replied back in a deadpanned expression.
"I too have no real knowledge of what you speak," Ace interceded with her usual blank stare that made the speedster groan.
"I bet ROBIN knows! Hey, Rob!" She cried out.
"What do you want?!" He barked back.
"Do you know what 'the deed' and 'the talk' are, right?!"
A brief silence followed by a loud shout, "Chew glass, Jesse!"
"I'll take that as a yes," Jesse smugly whispered to herself while adorning a smug grin.
Ace sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She just hoped to just pick the two up and head on out to signal Arsenal and Mary when they arrived at their meet-up location. Instead it was an annoying conversation she had no context to understand its meaning and wake up the two from their groggy woken selves.
Today was going to be one of those days, she assumed.
After Robin had tidied himself up, the pair were given another levitated ride towards their way point. Jesse just paced herself to follow from the ground without outrunning them, and Ace telepathically communicated to the other two for the appointment. After a short time of travel, they reached their destination.
"Ugh," Robin replied, stumbling about with Annie bracing him upright as he clenched his head. "I think you went a bit too fast back there. Humans aren't meant to be throttled faster than the Batmobile."
"We're here now, that's all that matters," Ace remarked unapologetically. The spot they chose was near the front of a courthouse with white pillars matching the white outlined red brick building face. With a cyan top and a weather vane that scarcely moved in a relatively clear Sunny sky. All was quiet in Georgetown, Maryland and the few people who walked by the complex of justice didn't even look at them. "We can meet here without alarming anybody. So long as I've made a prominent mind link with any of you, there's no reason for any meeting in public to be noticed unless we physically interact with them; that or cause a big enough commotion to shake them out of the periphery block I've put them in."
"A bit of a bummer I won't get any media buzz being all covert and like, but I'll play along," Jesse replied with a ho-hum shrug.
"When did you say Spee-sorry, Arsenal said he'd be here?" Robin asked curiously.
"How about right now?" A voice asked right behind him, making the young hero jump. Looking around in a spin Roy, now wearing a black ball cap with golden trim and a biker jacket of similar decor. Underneath one could assume he was keeping his assortment of weaponry but out of sight. With his hands in his pockets, he arched one domino mask covered eye with impatience. "So? Who are we waiting on?"
"Mary Marvel. She should be getting out of school shortly," The psychic intoned informally.
"When she gets here, what's the plan?" The archer cocked his head back curiously. "How do we save the world?"
"Pooling our intelligence, resources and experience we begin looking for anything out of the norm. Villains usually operate out of self interest, business or emotion. What I witnessed was the construct of a grand plan or unfeeling genocide. If we find the source then we can determine where to start looking," Ace explained, using very little emotion or gestures to convey other than her words.
"You make it sound easy, but the threat can be anything based on what you describe," Roy countered, his hands unpocketed and now crossing over his chest as he leaned to one side. "A cosmic threat from another world, an ancient sealed evil via magic or a pocket dimension, things like that. No offense to the people you selected, but how are we going to find this proverbial needle in a haystack when only you have been having the freakish nightmare?"
"Actually," Robin added, his eyes looking between Ace and Arsenal nervously. "I...kind of had a dream like that the other night."
"Really?" Roy inquired, a hint of disbelief marring his surprise, echoed by the incredulous stare shared by Ace and Jesse. Annie just looked worried, wondering if something terrible had happened in it. Given by the slight paling effect on the Boy Wonder's face, it was clear that this was no dream one would wish to have.
"It started out normal, and then it just...fell apart," He began, his body getting goosebumps as he remembered the phantoms with frightening clarity. "Giant shadows just appeared in front of us-er-me. They looked almost like monsters out of a Godzilla film, or Jurassic Park I guess. But when they breathed out this black fire, everything became a blinding wave of pain. Before I knew it I was still alive, wedged between other bodies as charred as my own in a burnt pile. I thought I saw something pass by and then, I woke up."
"That's disturbing," Jesse commented, feeling the eerie vibe from this was the same if not similar to Ace's own confession to Arsenal.
"Giant Shadows? Black Flames?" Ace murmured aloud, cupping her chin as she pondered intensely. "I did notice how the light surrounding me was almost greyscale. Perhaps that was due to the dark colored fire coming from the bodies."
"Black fire isn't exactly a standard MO," Arsenal pointed out, his demeanor changing with this new validated information. "Fire users or even fire from explosions are a norm, but black flames is usually something of either great magnitude or special qualities. This has to be either a doomsday device or of magic origin. It can't be naturally man-made unless under very particular circumstances."
"And even if those circumstances are met, that doesn't explain why all of the, uh, bodies are set aflame in that way," Robin put the pieces together, declaring it out loud while exchanging looks from the others thinking about how this nightmare fit into Ace's own. "Given how it's theoretically the hottest stage of a dying star, there's no way a real black flame wouldn't have turned decomposed bodies into ash gradually. A field of ash makes sense, but the bodies? No this, also based on my ability to still 'live' through a horrific ordeal means they are kept barely alive so they can feel it, like torture. This has to be magic, there's no other logical explanation than that."
"So, our enemy is magic? I'm not exactly keen on that idea," Jesse admitted aloud with a frown, huffing with her hands on her hips. "I'm great against science, but magic? Not my forte."
"Hopefully when Marvel arrives, we can get some of that Divine Insight to point us in the right direction," The archer sighed, looking around with a slight twitch under one eye. "Just wish we didn't have to wait till she talked to every prissy friend of hers from her school."
"She'll be here soon," Annie tried to assure the older man, only serving to make him growl and pace.
"For a guy who tracked and staked out a hand-off, you're surprisingly impatient," Robin noted with a smirk.
"I can control the time of engagement. What I can't control is the tardiness of children," He snarled back, turning with a glare pointed at Ace. "Can't you tell her to hurry up."
"I could," She said.
"And?"
"Already told her on our way here. She said she'd try not to be delayed but she can't skimp on her 'scholastic duties', as she put it," Ace stressed out, not looking perturbed but only entertaining her teammate's current irritation.
"And she can't miss school for one day because?"
"You'll have to ask her that."
"I guess I will," Arsenal snorted, turning on his heel and walking off towards a shady spot in front of the courthouse. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to light one up and wait for Miss Tardy."
With his departure, Annie couldn't help but a sense of unease being around the man. It wasn't that he didn't do his job, but the reality he seemed to look down at them. She didn't know if this was just her feelings clouding her judgement, but the way she saw him get angry easily at one of them being absent felt like he had higher expectations that couldn't be met and judged them by those standards.
As he smoked under a tree, they looked up at the sky and around the lawn for a minute. Then a few more minutes. Time seemed to tick by at an irritating fashion, and soon it became clearer that she was going to tarry. During their idle state, Robin couldn't help but overhear something happening not far away.
"Are those," Annie verbally acknowledged what Robin was thinking. "Explosions?"
At hearing this, Ace's eyes widened and looked over to Arsenal, telepathically informing him. Flicking away his cigarette, he undid his jacket to reveal his standard red over black protective uniform with his quiver and bow strapped back. Tying the jacket sleeves around his waist, he took off in a run with Robin and Annie while Ace flew with her own psychic force towards the origin of the commotion.
"Ace? Can you tell what's going on from here?" Robin asked mentally, seeing the clouds of smoke rise up from several buildings that were caught in sequential detonations.
"I sense a triad of voices. Two are muffled from turmoil while the other is assured of a victory over what he assumes is a Black Demon," She intoned with a hint of skepticism that kept her from being alarmed. "There isn't any black flames so we can make a careful assumption that this isn't related to our current threat."
"Whoever they are, they still need to be stopped," Roy answered back, breaking out into a full-on sprint towards the location of the fighting.
Upon getting close, another explosion occurred, one that sent a blistering shockwave in their general direction. Ace did her best to disperse it, a yellow tint entering the atmosphere to form bubbles of psychic energy around each member of the team. When the last of the force was wafted over them, they'd see two individuals not far away.
One was in a blue over black themed suit, appearing to be in part biological integrated seamlessly with technology. The aforementioned blue part had claw-like appendages wrapping around the more black part of his torso down to his waist, with a clawed exterior pack protruding next to his head from behind. He was in a crouched posture, his arms raised in an 'x' stance which formed what looked like a metallic shield that emitted bio-energy.
The very vicinity around his form was charred black and almost completely reduced to dust, indicating he just saved himself from atomization.
"You're a tough demon-child, I'll give you that much," A cocky voice came from the smoke, an individual of muscular build with it being exemplified by a pure white shirt that hugged his physique. A red sash wrapped around his waist with a pair of grey slacks with black shoes, complementing the black gloves and red visor covering his emerald eyes. The brunette smirked, and adjusted his spectacles with confidence as an enormous figure appeared from behind him; hulking and bipedal with smoldering red eyes and the curled horns with a feral protruding snout and teeth from its face with furred legs that possessed hooves that left indentations of ash in his wake. "But against Ifrit, you're going to be toast in the next few seconds."
"I'm not a demon, cabrón!" The blue armored man cried out indignantly.
"You're right. You're nothing more than an errand boy for the creature inhabiting your body," The red-shaded man stated with a glare, his smile becoming frightening as Ifrit's body lit up with veins glowing orange. Forming a sphere of flames above its head, the environment began to cook and metal warped by mere proximity of the infrastructure next to them. Pointing his finger at him, he shouted with righteous fury. "I'll destroy you and end the nightmare before it becomes reality!"
"Stop!" The 'possessed' entity raised his hands, now transforming into a large cylindrical barrel that primed with a loud whine. "I don't want to do this!"
In a matter of seconds, the team reacted without communication.
Ace used her psychic abilities to redirect the plasma coming from the young man's cannon to arc upwards with the fireball Ifrit had launched. They'd explode high enough that it'd rain down insignificant sparks, pelleting the environment with far least heat than before. While this happened, the others moved in to restrain them.
A trio of arrows struck the eyes and mouth of the spirit, letting loose a visible arching field of electrocution that made the beast howl. With the creature dealt with, Arsenal turned to see Robin hurtling a bola-bola to wrap from the ankles up the blue armored individual. Both seemed to have been dealt with, leaving him open to draw another arrow to point at the red visor man.
"I suggest you keep your hands up where I can see them," Roy threatened with an even snarl, eyes glaring at the smirking man. "And wipe that smug smile off your face, scumbag!"
"I see that the protoge of the Green Arrow has a temper. Sorry that I did something to earn your ire, along with the Boy Wonder and your friends. But," He bowed, waving to Ifrit as it shook its head and howled with fury. "Kid Eternity doesn't surrender. Not when the fate of the world is on the line."
Despite being bound, the young man found the strength to tear free of his bindings as if it was string. Regardless of the voice in his head harshly advising him, he seemed to retract the living armor off his body, revealing a young Latino boy with black hair, dark eyes wearing a grey hoodie with cargo pants and tennis shoes. HIs hands raised and he began to rapidly speak in a panic.
"G-Guys, please, don't fight me!" He began, pointing to himself with insistence. "I'm not a diablo -a demon- like he said! My name is Jaime Reyes! I'm just a guy, stuck with a scarab to my back, kinda like that Leaguer who's kinda my mentor. You know the Blue Beetle?!"
"Never heard of him," Eternity scoffed, raising his hand, the beast heaving back with preparation. "And my vision was clear. You are a demon who will bring ruin to this world. I will purge the threat before it becomes truth absolute. My only regret is that it found a host that I cannot save. Forgive me for that-!"
Arsenal attempted to fire a Stun Arrow, only to see Ifrit knock it aside with ease. With a roar it bellowed a molten flame that was hurled towards them. Feeling himself encased in a psychic field the same as Robin, the only person who wasn't protected was Jaime; who wasn't arming himself in time.
"NO!" Annie cried out, leaping out from cover of her friends to place herself between the unholy fire that aimed to incinerate the Blue Beetle's ward. Despite how hot it was, she did not feel pain. In fact her instinct had changed her outer body into a hardened shell of white color with orange outlines, absorbing the heat that flowed into her core. Blinking her dark eyes, she gaped at the mesmerizing transformation that had occurred, aghast that the trail of earth was ash but she was largely unaffected.
"Annie?" Robin asked, one second terrified for her and the next dumbfounded at her new appearance. "Are you, alright?"
"I am," She nodded softly, turning to look at the petrified Jaime. "And you?"
"I am a little singed but okay. Thank you," He sincerely thanked with a smile, one Annie returned with her own.
"That was reckless of you. Ifrit's flames can reduce almost any enemy into ash the first contact it has. No matter," Kid Eternity shook his head, placing his hands on his hips as Ifrit's body was consumed in a wellspring of flames. "I'll just have to accept this town will be part of the collateral. After all, the world is far more important than a simple populace."
Before an objection could be raised, a sudden thunderclap sounded from the heavens. In what was a beautiful blue sky suddenly became a cloudy one, obscuring the Sun and thrashing a streak of luminous energy right atop the horned beast. It was flattened against the earth, unable to rise as a figure emerged from the crackling electricity and revealed herself to all in gorgeous splendor.
"Sorry I'm late," Mary Marvel, now appearing in a golden trimmed white uniform complete with a yellow roped cape, a thigh length skirt and a yellow lightning bolt insignia over her chest. With white gloves and boots, she brushed her long brunette hair aside as she easily kept her soles over the beast that writhed under her. "Got into a petty squabble at school and held me up longer than I'd like. Then, I had to find a discreet place to transform and, well, here I am."
"Way to wait until the last second," Roy grumbled with a roll of his eyes, lowering his bow with unheard relief. Scratching his head, he cocked his neck to the side and took in her appearance. "You're...older than I thought you'd be."
"Perks of a wizard endowing you with maturity along with a slew of godly blessed powers," She remarked with a grin and a wink. As soon as she had made the comment, she heard a loud cough that signaled to a young man with red visors. Arching her neck, she looked at him from over her shoulder and crossed her arms under her breasts. "And you are?"
"I cannot believe you haven't heard of me, beautiful enchantress!"
"I could," Jesse snorted from under her breath.
"I am Kid Eternity, a Spirit Summoner that can call upon any entity from the astral plane!" He boisterously struck a fist against his chest that he puffed out dramatically. Such luster was temporary as the body below Mary's feet became smoke and whisked away from view. Sighing, he bowed his head with shame. "Alas, for only a little over a minute can I make them do my bidding. Any longer or more than one, than I shall burn out, much like the earth around you."
"Neat-o," She replied dryly, looking to the others as she noticed that not so distant panic ensuing around their vicinity. "Listen, I'm sure you guys would love to duke it out, but this little fight between you all has garnered some unwanted attention. Mind wanting to move to a place more discreet?"
"I'm not going anywhere with that cabrón!" Jaime insisted with an angry jab towards Eternity. "He's loco and stupido! What makes you think he won't try and murder you all?!"
"Because none of them are the demons from my prophetic dream," Kid replied nonchalantly, as if it was obvious.
"Wait a minute," Robin finally chimed in, walking forward to look at the summoner with an incredulous stare. "You mean, you saw something in your nightmare?"
"What about prophecy do you not understand?" Eternity asked with annoyance. "Yes, I saw enormous shadows that breathed black flames on myself and all that I know. Why?"
"Because we've seen things of similar occurrence," Ace declared, approaching Kid with a measured stride before halting a few meters away. "We could use your help. If you have any insight or ability to lend us your aid, we'd be grateful."
"If our enemy is a common one, I won't turn down a request," Kid Eternity intoned with a serious expression, bowing his head to Jaime with a dramatic edge to his voice that seemed passive. "Forgive me, young man, for you bore an immense resemblance to my new sworn enemy. For that transgression I apologize."
"Ah, I guess no one got hurt so...whatever?" The Blue Beetle answered with a questioning tone.
"Great. We kissed and made up," Robin rolled his eyes and took point, ignoring the snickers he got from Jesse. "I know of a place we can go next to talk this out. Gather close before we separate to meet up."
Failure was a natural part of life, many would say. In order to become better one must learn to accept mistakes with grace and strive to never repeat them. It is a fact of life that no one is perfect. Regardless of the sickening mantra that all mankind has the potential to be good, they have all the equal potential to completely to suck. This was truth for the world that lived ordinarily, be they visitors from another world or born on this planet.
But it wasn't the same for Galatea, the lab created clone of Kara In-Ze. She was meant to be unstoppable, perfect and the ultimate weapon of Cadmus. But now, she was an asset that was hidden away after her last rebellious action when fighting the League in the Watchtower; now she waited and trained.
It was all she could do now.
Waking up after another period of time she was put out of action due to legal issues, constrained superiors and a brief bout of soaking solar energy she put herself to work. Walking out of her quarters in an undisclosed bunker through pristine halls that were heavily monitored, she entered the training room.
"Training Simulation 37, Endgame," She told the room, watching as a swirl of speeding light amassed the scenario she yearned for. In a dimly lit street, she saw a number of randomized individuals walk across the sidewalk of a street. Counting down the seconds, she'd watch them all stop, react and turn in a panic as explosions amidst a hail of plasma streaked after them.
Monsters of gnarled flesh exposed at the necks and gaping jawlines flew or rushed after the faux civilians. In green plated armor with golden outlines with stubby wings, the creatures turned to see a sudden blur of white bowl through their ranks. Had they been real, blood and ichor would fly about instead of sparks, fluid and circuits. As they responded with a series of shrieks to fire upon her, she easily evaded with a twirling dance in the air.
Kicks took off heads, fists smashed through torsos and a wave of heat vision annihilated another assembled line of enemies. She even inhaled deeply to let loose a freezing hurricane of wind to push back them along with a majority of the infrastructure around them. Left with an arctic debris field, she grinned with satisfaction and clenched her fists with eagerness.
"C'mon! I've seen this before! Give me something new to tear into!" She cried out to the room.
A sudden shadow loomed behind her, giving her the chills. Due to half of these things being composed of Hard Light and the rest as synthetics, it was sometimes hard to rely on her senses when these things came into the arena. Turning around, all she saw was a dark gloved fist hitting her square in the chest and winding her. The force billowed the city block, shattering glass and cratering concrete with asphalt.
Stopping a quarter of a kilometer away through sheer force of will, she clenched her exposed cleavage with a grimace. That snarl became a feral grin as her eyes burned a pupiless red, bloody vapor ebbing from the corners of her eyes. Not far away was the projected image of Darkseid, the Apokoliptian Overlord who invaded Earth not so many months ago; a fight she was forced to miss.
With the silent imitation of the dark one's eyes lit up, an incoming zig-zag of homing Omega Beams went straight for her. Waiting till the last second, she unleashed her own ocular discharge, the two clashing and flaring out in a super-heated blast that scorched their environment. Soaring past the cloud of smoke, she tackled into the proxy Darkseid and began wailing on it with a relentless series of punches.
"You know why Superman lost to you?!" She shouted out loud, her gloved fists crashing without mercy against the larger being's chest. "Why Supergirl could never beat you?! I'll tell you!"
Avoiding a counter hammer fist, a right hook and another jagged beam sent from it, she spun around to land a kick to the face followed with a jackhammer of sole crushing impacts to his neck. Flipping over it, she unleashed a scorching wave of red light that set the copy on fire from behind. With a near maniacal grin she punched hard enough to bow the demi-god proxy forward with her attack.
"Because, genius! They weren't me!" She shouted aloud. But in her daze of blood lust, she failed to notice a zig-zagging Omega Beam that lanced about and struck her backside. Letting out a shriek of pain as her whole body spasm, she was left open for a mighty back hand crashed against her jaw, sending her pinwheeling head first away. Spitting out a tooth, she was stopped short with her feet grabbed by the New God, twisting around to smash into the floor with a room shuddering impact that made her see stars.
"You're right about one thing, little clone," Darkseid spoke in a menacing tone, raising her up with eyes aflame and a disappointed curl of his lips on his cracked, wrinkled face. "They were certainly not you."
Unleashing a wave of agony, she shrieked in pain and was tormented in the artificial being's grip. It felt like hours before she finally was let loose from, the program ending and her injured frame now bathed in solar radiation to heal her rapidly within the confines of the room. Heaving heavily, she grimaced and groaned as she could barely move.
"Hello, Galatea. How is your training going?" A familiar voice boomed in the room around her.
"Screw off, Waller!" She shouted out, coughing at the sudden stress put on her rejuvenating throat.
"Charming as always. However, I actually have need of you."
She was expecting a lecture or some suggestion for mental evaluation conducted through her father. She didn't need any help. She was fine. Despite that being her train of thought, it did surprise her that she was finally given an assignment after such a long time.
With a smile, she began to stretch out her aching muscles and twist her body about while inquiring. "Who do you need to kill?"
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Galatea. I need you to re-appropriate something that belonged to Cadmus. Rather, a someone," She emphasized in a way that piqued the clone's curiosity.
"I'm listening," She replied in a patient manner.
"There was a incident several years ago related to a terrorist plot made by the Joker. After he had raided a laboratory belonging to Cadmus that held a number of test subjects, he recruited five particular members to be part of his 'Royal Flush Gang.' Not to be confused with the mob family that's currently cruising in European waters, of course," She began to explain, with Galatea continuing her prep exercise for this impending mission. "Four of them are still at large and likely operating in conjunction with each other. They've appeared in and out, nothing too troubling that needs your care. The fifth one is the subject we're most concerned about."
"Concern? That almost sounds like fear, Waller," She remarked with a cheeky grin, performing push-up's with her legs completely vertical to the ceiling. "Come on. None of your subjects were ever 'World Ending' in scale. Unless you somehow found Project Doomsday from the rock he's been hidden away in, or if Eiling has come out of hiding himself, I doubt there's anything you suits can't handle on your own without my help."
"This is no laughing matter," Waller assured her, the older woman's tone becoming grave as she gave her the facts. "Subject-062305 is one of the strongest psychics on the planet, if not the strongest in potential. At age six, she accidentally put her entire school into a catatonic state that left them all comatose for months. Her family was too terrified to even understand what she was doing, believing that we were simply putting her into a correctional facility. Since then, we've controlled and tested her limits, her mental faculties seemed docile; till all Hell broke loose when the Joker assaulted the compound, taking valuable tech and those five subjects with him. When she put millions into a hypnotic trance, it's been alarmingly apparent she's a threat to national security.
"This girl, this 'Ace', has been simply nowhere until now. Despite the locals never truly calling it in, it wasn't until a particularly loud instance in Georgetown, Virginia that our satellite picked up. Combined with what the locals described as a bout of forgetful short-term amnesia, it's clear that between the images presented and testimonies that this is our subject," She finished, a number of images and bold text side-long with enhanced imagery of the girl.
Long black hair, fair skin with black lips and long eyelashes, onyx irises blending with her prominent pupils. With a white-black dynamic spandex covering her torso up over her shoulders down to form-fitted sleeves. A white card-club hair pin placed into the left side of her hair, her long midnight tresses flowed freely over her shoulders down to the middle of her back. With a pair of grey boots and her legs left bare, she looked harmless had it not been for the passive blank stare that looked inhuman if anyone was to look at it straight-on.
"Who are the others?" Galatea asked, still studying the image of Ace to get a feel for what she should look out for.
"Prominent to obscure individuals who don't have any direct affiliation save for a few. It is unknown what they are doing with her, but it's irrelevant. Your main objective is to retrieve her, alive and with little harm as possible. If she retaliates, make sure she doesn't get away; lethal force is authorized," She ordered, making sure to add with a grating tone for emphasis. "But do not try to pick a fight with the others. Treat them as collateral damage, and if you cause too much, I'll make sure to drop you where you stand and pick up the remains. Are we clear, Galatea?"
Smiling, Galatea's eyes glowed a vibrant crimson around the blue irises, punching an open palm with eagerness, "I gotcha. I'll try not to rough them up; much."
A/N: Whoo boy! This one took longer than I had wanted. I had originally two other ways this chapter could've ended, but I finally got it all together.
In regards to Blue Beetle, let me just say that Young Justice made him likable enough for me to include him into this incarnation of the Teen Titans. His character will largely circulate around the snippets of the comics I've seen him from (Pre-New 52) and his TV Show appearance of YJ. So look forward to his interactions in future chapters.
Kid Eternity is an...odd character, to be sure. A friend suggested him to me as an ideal Magician that defied from the norm or more predictable members I could've thrown in. Given he's the one with the biggest ego, he'll definitely make fun scenarios for our selfless to serious heroes to deal with. Plus, summoning is always fun when you can have such a wide selection to choose from.
With our team assembled at long last, Galatea is on the move after their showdown in Georgetown (unintentional alliteration there). How will they handle the Mighty Maid of Mayhem? Will she succeed in securing captivity of the terrifying psychic? Who or what is the evil threat that looms in the horizon?
Find out, in the next chapter of The Mighty Teen Titans!
