TITANS TOWER
September 25
10:25 PST
The team each individually sat on the couch in the living room before Starfire. The woman was unusually happy, like more than normal. It was as if she had something up her sleeve. A trump card if you will.
"Alright team, I have someone I'd like you all to meet. You may recognize her." Star shrugged her shoulders excitedly.
Out walked Black Canary. What was she here for though? It was weird seeing a member of the Justice League in their living room. Was she here to train the team? It would be pretty wonderful to get trained by one of the greats.
"She is not only a trained fighter as you all know, but she is trained in psychology as well. Since there has been a clear divide in the team, we're going to get this sorted out and all in the open." Starfire took her seat on the couch next to Damian, and still her smile showed no sign of fading.
Black Canary took her seat before the group. She'd done this sort of thing before, but how would this group bode? There was only one way to find out.
As the blonde bombshell opened her mouth to speak, Summer blurted out, "This isn't like, family therapy or anything is it?"
"Well, everyone needs to vent. This isn't just because of a rift in your team, but as a hero, it is good to have therapy regularly. Bottling up emotions could become a nightmare."
Canary faced Summer, "Okay, we'll start with you; the newest member. Tell me about the team and how you're adjusting."
The freckled girl sat in the corner of the sectional couch. She had her legs lifted so they were in Jaime's lap. She was in a way resisting this experience. Therapy was not something that she ever wanted, but like it or not, she needed it.
Summer rested her arm on the couch pillow and leaned her head up against her hand. "First of all, it's nice to meet you Miss Canary. As for my adjustment, it's going fine."
The older woman clicked down her pen and jotted down a note. "Alright, and why is it fine?"
The brunette crossed her arms and shifted her focal point toward the window. "I don't know. The training is the right intensity, and the team... MOST of the team is easy to get along with."
This was just an analysis, so the woman wouldn't press for more information at the moment. "Okay, we'll move onto you Jaime. We've done this before so you should know how this works. If there was something you could change about the team, what would it be?"
The taller boy hunched over and rested his elbows on his kneecaps. "Um, lately it's been hard to focus with all the bickering. So I wish that would stop."
Again, the woman scribbled something on her paper. They all wondered what she was writing. For all they knew she was rating their intelligence by their answers.
"I think that is a completely reasonable request." Once again her focal point moved to Raven. "So Jaime brings up the problem of bickering. Do you notice it as well? How does it make you feel?"
The girl crossed her arms. The only therapy she needed was from meditation. She knew Starfire wouldn't let it go though, so the faster she could get through this, the faster she could be by herself again.
"I don't really buy into those things, but yes, I've noticed."
Writing down another comment, Canary turned her attention to Damian. "Where do you think the bickering is coming from?"
The boy rolled his green eyes and looked into those of Black Canary. "I'll just say that it wasn't like this a few days ago."
"Question!" Summer raised her hand. "Shouldn't this be done in private? Like one on one?" She'd growl "Not that I have a problem telling someone they're the epicenter of the bickering, because personally I think some people should hear it out loud."
Damian chimed in, "And I'm sure that person wouldn't want you to miss a single critique either."
"There we go! Always interjecting when no one's talking to you! How come you can't just fade into the background sometimes?" Summer stood on top of the couch and started to make her way out of the living room. "I don't want to do this! My opinion keeps getting slighted, and I have a million other things to do today! Can I go!?"
As the girl walked past the blonde, she'd grab her arm. "Please, don't leave." Her blue eyes looked back toward the group, "Everyone except Summer and Damian; you are dismissed. You will both have a chance to share your opinions without interruption."
Everyone stood up from the couch and made their way to the elevator. Fingers crossed they would get it together. Something had to give, and if not, they'd fall divided.
Summer sat back on the couch next to Damian. They were near one another, but there was a large gap in between the two.
"It is clear that you two are the center of the divide in the team. If you don't get it together the Titans will not last. It is effecting your teammates in a horrifically negative way. The way you act toward each other effects the dynamic between everyone. You cannot be that selfish as to not notice it or care."
Just as Summer was getting ready to dispute her words, Canary would quickly shut her down. "Summer, you just got here 4 days ago. There is no way in the world you should have this deep rooted of a grudge with someone you just met. As for you Damian, you seem to have personality clashes wherever you go, so you aren't without blame either. The way I see it, this is 50/50."
Both Damian and Summer looked in the opposite direction of one another. There was some truth to her words, and it was the reason both of them didn't get up and leave.
Black Canary pointed her pen, "Okay Summer, since it's clear you like to do a lot of the talking so I'm going to start with Damian. During this time you are only listening. I don't want to hear a word. Now then, tell me what's been going on her for the past few days."
Just like in training, the boy wouldn't pull punches. He mentally cracked his knuckles and began. "Like I said, it wasn't like this a few days ago. I don't want to coddle someone every two minutes because she's too slow to keep up with the training."
As Summer opened her mouth to speak Canary raised an eyebrow at her. It wasn't her turn, and she'd have to wait.
"Do you think this is something that can be fix or worked on?" Her eyes bargained with those of Damian in a way. "I don't want to see the Titans get taken out by themselves."
The boy shrugged nonchalantly. She was definitely hyping this up to be way bigger than it even was. "If she stays out of my way there will be no problem."
Finally the blonde woman looked over to Summer. She looked at the girl differently than she did with Damian. Her eyes weren't bargaining at all, instead they were kind of intimidating. Should the brunette girl sitting opposite the woman say anything malice or sarcastic it would be she who paid the price.
Summer sighed "Same for you." She turned to look at the upset boy. "Just let it be known that I wasn't the one who started all of this. I apologized for attacking you when we first met but you still gave me attitude. Were you afraid of someone joining this team with the same skill set as you?"
"Or maybe that's the way you took it because you were unwilling to see the fact that you were in my way. And while we're making things known, you are not on the same level as me. Not by a long sho-"
CRASHHHHHH!
Both Summer and Damian ducked behind the couch as something crashed through the window. Looking behind them, they noticed Black Canary hiding behind her chair. She appeared to be fading away.
"No!" The blonde woman yelled.
The two noticed it wasn't she who was fading, it was them. They were drifting off into another dimension, and there was no way to stop it. The duo could see Starfire and the others rush into the room. They could see the faces of Damian and Summer fade away into nothing.
Finally the window of the dimension closed, and the two were left in a space that looked like... the tower. It was the Titans Tower completely unharmed with no on in sight. Were they pulled into an alternate universe? Without a word, Damian headed for the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Summer looked around cautiously.
"To suit up."
She nodded her head as to agree to do the same. As the two stood in the elevator it was awkward. For days the two butt heads, and even just before the attack they were spewing hurtful words toward one another. Summer knew an apology might solve all of this, but maybe not. Even still she didn't want to be the only one passing out "I'm sorry's" when she felt she was deserving one as well.
"This is my floor." The brunette spoke as the doors opened. "Let's meet in the garage. Then we can figure out what's going on."
The boy agreed with a half nod and continued down the elevator.
Summer entered her room and put on the halfway made costume that was in the process of being made for her. If she were to die today, she at least wanted to wear the costume once, even if it wasn't done.
It was a long brown and turquoise unitard. The leg material was all that needed to be finished, but she'd rather go without than leave the costume behind.
Leaving her room, she'd make a quick pit stop in the common space once again before heading down to meet Damian. She fixed the mask on her face and called out to the boy.
"Hey. We can take my car." Summer spun the keys around her finger.
"I'm driving." Damian held out his hand.
"Alternate universe or not, this car is still my baby. Plus you're not old enough to drive."
The raven haired boy hit the garage opener. "Do you even know where we're headed?" He crossed his arms.
The garage was unlike a normal one. Instead of it opening a frontal door, it opened the roof and lifted the car. The two glanced up and saw what looked to be hell on Earth. They didn't see all of this in the Tower, and it was partly to do with the fact that they were facing the ocean.
TITANS TOWER
Unknown
Unknown PST
Buildings were stripped and burned. The streets were cracked up and rugged. Smoke emitted from the inner city, and from the outside it was clear that the Titans Tower was hanging on by a thread as well.
Summer tossed her keys over to Damian, "Alrighty then. You drive."
The duo jumped in and began to head downtown. As they drove closer to the city they could see posters and signs that were anti Titans. They were a beloved and highly thought of team in the past and present, so it was clear that this was some time in the future.
"What happened to this place?" Summer looked around in shock.
They did not quite reach downtown yet, but Damian pulled the car over. He saw a person sitting by themselves next to three large bags.
"Hey! What happened here?" The young Robin yelled out to the stranger.
As the person lifted their face, they were revealed to be an older man. He was a tan skinned man with bags under his eyes and wrinkles not just from age, but stress of living in this world.
"It's you!" He pointed in terror.
As his hand still faced the two, the armor of the alien scarab began to cover his body, and he loaded up an energy blast.
"Floor it Robin!" Summer yelled before the two were disintegrated.
The caped boy put his foot to the gas and took off as fast he could. The brunette girl looked back and saw the blast take out an entire city block. It knocked the man's body back into the wall behind him and there he stayed.
"W-was that Jaime?! That was totally Jaime! Why would he of all people want to kill us?! Why was he so old?!" The brown girl screamed. "We need to find out what's going on here and fast!"
Once they were out of the vicinity Damian parked the car again. "I can't drive any further until we have a plan."
"What kind of plan can we come up with? We don't even know when we are!" She buried her face into her hands.
"Well it's clear that this is some sort of dystopian future where people hate the Titans. For some reason it was only us sucked into this dimension." Damian squinted his eyes as he tried to gather more information.
"Psst!" A voice called out to the two. "Hey, over here."
Summer looked at the alleyway in which the voice emerged and back over to Damian. "Couldn't hurt to try?"
The two cautiously exited the car and Damian unsheathed his sword.
The person pranced along down the alley and walked toward steps that lead to a basement. It was eerie, but the best thing that could come out of this was getting answers.
As the two entered, the door shut and the person turned on a hanging light. It was cramped in this space, and there was a lot of junk piled around.
"Damian and Summer; I never thought I'd see you again. Remember me?" The person speaking removed his hood and revealed his face.
It was Beast Boy. He was much, much older with white hair and wrinkly skin. Definitely not what he used to be.
"Garfield?" Summer's eyes widened. "Why are you? What's going on?"
The old man gestured for the two to take a seat. Beast boy sat on an old black tattered beanbag chair, and the other two sat on rickety wooden bar stools. One false move and those termite eaten chairs were coming down in an instant.
The green man spoke. "It's been 62 years since the world last saw you two. Probably isn't best for you to wear those costumes. Not in this world."
"62 years?" Damian frowned, "What happened to the timeline?"
"You two." Garfield pointed at each of them. "It started with just light bickering, but then it changed into an all out war. Jump City isn't the only war zone; it's everywhere. People took sides. It went from Damian versus Summer to a divided world. Your viewpoints differed so drastically that it was anarchy. There were some, like me, that stayed neutral through it all."
Summer removed the eye mask from her face, "We started all of this? The world is at its end because of... us?"
"It started with you, but like I said, the differences spread like wildfire." His green hand covered his mouth as he released an atrocious cough.
"I don't believe it. There's no way the Teen Titans caused the end of civilization." Damian shook his head.
"Why do you have to question everything, huh? You just saw the hellhole outside! What other proof do you need?!" Summer stood up from her seat.
"I'm just not as naive as you. I'm not willing to believe the first guy with green skin who calls himself Garfield."
Summer began to head for the exit, "Even during Armageddon you refuse to work together. Fine. You go your way and I'll go mine."
"Stop!" The large wings of the green condor that was Beast Boy blocked the doorway. He quickly shifted back as he was too old to maintain his form. "This is what started it all in the first place. Can't you see?! You two caused this, and you won't get back to your own time until you reverse it!"
"How do we change the past from the future? It makes no sense!" Summer yelled out. It seemed like their cause was hopeless, and at this point it was better for them to just get used to living in this time.
"You need to head to Keystone City, Kansas. Hurry before it's too late."
Damian tossed his mask on the ground. "How do you suppose we get there? It'll take us over a day by car. If time is truly of the essence, we-"
"I've been saving this for a rainy day!" The old man perked up with excitement.
He lifted his beanbag chair and haul up the worn floorboard beneath it. He pulled out a remote with a switch and handed it to the young boy.
"Here. Don't press this until you leave here." A smile finally slithered its way onto the mans face. "Please, change this future."
Damian took the remote and left out the door behind Summer. They made their way to the street and the black haired boy pressed the button. Beneath their feet was a rumbling that felt like an earthquake. The ground opened up and lifted a small jet.
"You know how to fly?" Summer grit her teeth.
"Of course." Damian replied as he approached the sleek black aircraft.
TITANS JET
Unknown
Unknown CST
A couple of hours passed and the two were closing in on their destination of Keystone City. It was quiet between the two. They were trying to still process the information that Beast Boy gave them. Could they really have started an entire world war? There was no possible way a few moments of bickering could lead to this. They disliked one another, but to say hate was a bit of a stretch.
Summer walked up behind Damian and gently placed her hands on the back of his seat. "What do you think is in Keystone City?"
"My guess is Barry Allen." The green eyed boy shrugged.
"Who?" Again, Summer was still new to this superhero business, and definitely not close enough to know the real identities of anyone.
"The Flash."
"Right." Summer nodded, "So you think he can help us? Help this future?"
"Doesn't hurt to try." He pointed at the seat next to him. "Buckle up. We're landing soon."
She'd listen and take a seat. There was an apology brewing in her heart, but she still couldn't bring herself to say it. Perhaps it was her pride, but she'd rather not get mushy while they were still in this mess of a world.
The jet began to descend, and Summer was afraid of what she'd see when they landed. Was it truly the ENTIRE world in shambles? Would Keystone City be worse off than Jump City?
The brunette twiddled her thumbs "Listen, Damian. If we die in this timeline, I just want you to kno-"
SCREEEEECHHHH!
The sound of metal ripping blistered their ears before the girl was finished. Before them flew an angered Superman ready to annihilate the teens in front of him. His eyes glowed a bright red as it was time for a round two of his burning hot heat vision.
Summer leaned over to Damian and grabbed his hand. "Don't let go of me!"
She closed her eyes tightly and the two fell through the bottom of the jet. They weren't up very high, but still elevated enough for the girl to sprain her ankle from the fall.
Damian helped the girl run with one arm around her waist and the other on his sword.
"You can't harm him with that sword, but if you keep a hand on me he can't hurt you. We need to get out of his sights though!" The girl yelled as she limped away.
He may have been the "Man of Steel", but that was one of the elements she could easily pass through her body. They needed to get off of his radar, however. She never maintained her power for longer than a couple of minutes, and it was exhausting.
While his back was turned the two jumped behind a car.
"Give me your grapple and take off your clothes." Summer whispered.
Damian was taken aback by her choice of words. "What?"
"Just do it, trust me." She spoke as she too began to undress.
He did as asked and stripped down to his underwear. Summer ripped a piece of his cape to tie the clothes to the grapple. Pointing it at a far away building, she'd shoot it and let the clothes fly free. Just according to her plan, the rage blinded hero flew after it.
"We probably have just a minute or two before he realizes that's not us. Let's get out of here!" Summer bartered with her eyes.
Damian kept a helping hand on her for his safety and her own. Superman could not be the reason Garfield wanted them to come to Keystone City.
The two pressed forward, but before they could get too far an unidentified craft appeared right in front of them. The door opened and a man coughed profusely as he exited.
His green eyes looked at Damian and Summer, "No way. No way!"
The elderly man walked over to Summer and placed a caring veiny hand to her face, "You look as stunning as the first time I saw you. It took you 10 years to reveal to me your true identity, but by then you were already filled with so much anger and rage."
Summer placed a hand over the man's, "Wait, are you? Kid Flash? What happened to Barry Allen?"
"I was, yes. Grandpa, he's been dead for many years now. This was my fourth attempt at restoring a better future, but it would seem you two are so set in your customs that the future can only end one way."
"Well, what if you take us with you?" Damian exclaimed. "If you take us back to the time we left off, we can fix this."
The man removed his hand from Summer and shook his head. "I can't. This old tank can only make one last trip. There's only room in there for one of you, and even that's pushing it."
The three turned their attention as they saw an even more upset Superman destroying every building in sight as he approached.
Summer's gray eyes began to water, "Well if only one person can go than I should..." She stopped just short of saying something selfish, "I should stay."
Damian looked surprised at the girl, "What?"
"I will stay behind. If it's between me and you, my money is on you all the way. There are people who care about you. There is no one who cares about me in this world or the one we came from. Everyone who could have possibly loved me is dead. You still have a father, the Titans, the Young Justice team, hell, the Justice League. The world might be a better place if I just end my destiny here, you know?"
"Why are you saying this?" Damian frowned at the girl. "Why now?"
Bart began to pull the boy into the craft as it booted up.
"Because there's no time! Listen, I'm sorry okay!" She smiled through the tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry I made your life a living hell. I was jealous, and instead of learning from you, I fought against you. I'm sorry Damian."
She extended her hand for a handshake and the boy received it. "That goes both ways. I was wrong to challenge you. And... as far as I'm concerned, we are equals."
"Alright! Here we go!" Bart yelled as door began to lift up.
"Hey, let go of my hand!" Summer yelled!
"You're holding onto my hand! I let go already!" Damian rose his voice as the door was getting ready to smash both of their hands.
"You're gonna jam the door!" The old Kid Flash yelled out.
A loud thunderous sound was heard as Superman came flying at the trio.
"Let go of me, you need to change the future Damian! Let go!"
BOOOSHHHHH!
Superman came crashing into the three and the world went to black.
TITANS TOWER
September 25
21:17 PST
"I think they've had enough." A disembodied voice giggled.
Both Damian and Summer opened their eyes and saw themselves on the couch inside the Titan's Tower right where they were before they were sucked into the alternate dimension.
The brunette girl looked at her fully clothed body and back to the boy beside her. "Damian? We made it! We're back!" She'd pounce on the boy and give him a slightly unwarranted hug.
"Well, technically you didn't go anywhere." The voice spoke again.
Summer cut her hug short before realizing how full the room was. There was Starfire, Garfield, Jaime, Raven, Black Canary, and... Miss Martian?
The green alien spoke once again, "Took you two long enough. You're lucky to have someone like Starfire who cares about your well-being you know."
The freckled brunette pointed, "But wait! We were in.. You were all.."
M'gann tapped her temple, "All an illusion."
Garfield teased the girl, "Seeing as you two woke up hugging I'd say it worked."
"You were all in on this?! You had me believe I was going to die in some messed up future! Was that whole therapy thing just trickery?! Were you all in on this?! Were you?!"
Jaime shook his head, "Star filled us in after we left the room."
Summer looked over at Damian, "Can you believe these people?!"
The boy rolled his eyes, "I'm going to train. Coming?"
The girl sighed as she stood from the couch, "Right behind you buddy."