Author's Note: All right I'm back with another chapter. Thanks for all the support guys. Hope you like this next installment. Enjoy.
Teen Titans All Stars, Vol. 2
Chapter 4
Identity Crisis, Part 1
Later that evening the team was cleaning up the broken glass and wrecked furniture in the ops center. As Roy tried to patch up the bullet riddled couch, he couldn't help but ask.
"So what was that all about?" he asked Gar. Beast Boy sighed as he searched for an answer.
"That's kind of a touchy subject with me." he said putting a chair right side up. He turned to Roy and related his story to the team.
"When my parents died I was appointed guardianship to Nick Galtry. The only reason he did was because of the inheritance left behind by my parents…he tried to kill me several times until the Doom Patrol came and took custody away from him. That guy that tried blowing us away today was that man." He said solemnly. His teammate bowed his head.
"I'm sorry man." He said.
"Don't be, that dude was a real piece of work…the Doom Patrol's probably the best thing that ever happened to me. At least then I had real people who cared for Me." he said.
"You still do. Believe me, my dad died when I was a kid." He said cleaning up the mess infront of the couch.
"You never really told me about how you grew up." Gar told him.
"My dad was a forest park ranger out west, he died in a forest fire. I was taken in by the Navajos and raised by the chief named Brave Bow. When he died I was then taken in by Ollie and that's how I became Speedy. Then a few years ago I worked my way up to Arsenal." He said while working on the foot of the couch.
"What was like growing up on a reservation? I mean, assuming that…"
"I did as a matter of fact. It was great, they treated me like one of their own." He said.
"You must have fit in real well." Gar said.
His friend stopped for a moment and fell silent. Gar bit back his tongue in that moment he could tell he struck a nerve on that one.
"Well I can't say it didn't have its drawbacks. I was picked on a lot by the other kids because of my color, especially my brother." He said.
"You had a brother?" he asked.
"The Chief had one other son, since I was the outsider…you…fill in the blanks." He told him.
"I see." Gar said.
"It's cool though. I think there's some universal rule that older brothers have to pick on the younger ones." He said as he continued fixing the couch.
"What was his name?" he asked.
"David Truebow, we had a lot of animosity between each other growing up but I think we grew out of it eventually. Especially after his father died." He said.
"What happened to him?" asked Garfield.
"Bear attacked him in the woods." He told him.
"Ooh." was the reply.
"Its all right Gar, I've learned to bury the past. All you can do is just accept things and move on." he told him.
Across the states at Cadmus Labs in New York, a group of young men stood infront of Iscariot who addressed them. The men ranged in age from late teens to mid-twenties about the same age as most of the Titans.
"I would like to thank you gentlemen for coming out here today. After viewing the Titans in battle against my OMACs I have determined that the best way to defeat them is to counteract them. This strategy has been proven in battle before when Blockbuster assembled such a team earlier this month. However you guys will have an advantage they didn't." he smiled looking at the group.
"Because several of you have close, personal ties to the Titans. Isn't that right Mr. Truebow?" he asked. A man in his mid-twenties with long brown hair nodded.
"Just call me Sharpshooter." He replied putting on a silver breastplate with an emblem similar to Roy's.
Back in New York things have livened up considerably. Conner was now out of the hospital having fully recovered and was in the mood to party. The Boy of Steel headed downstairs in his new uniform, to rouse his team out of their boredom.
"Hey what do you think?" he asked now wearing a blue Superman t-shirt, red button down shirt and jeans.
"Not bad." Robin replied with a shrug.
"Come on guys! I've been stuck in a hospital the last few days, I say we go out and celebrate!" he said.
"Yeah? Like what?" Robin asked.
"We should go clubbing!" he said. The team looked at each other.
"Yeah." said Owen.
"Sure." added Tim.
"I'm all for It." said Rose.
"Sounds like a plan." mentioned Eddie.
"Come on let's get changed." Robin said standing up.
"No, think about it Tim. If we show up in costume, they'll let us right in and we wont have to wait in line…or be turned away." Conner said. The guys looked at each other again.
"He has a point." Rose said.
"All right so then which club do we go to?" asked Tim.
"Which ever one's the closest." He replied.
About 10 blocks up the road from the warehouse the Titans appeared on the scene at the nearest nightclub. As a large group of teenagers and college students waited in line some of them looked up and saw the team walking towards them in full regalia. The burly bouncer guarding the entrance turned to face them as they walked up to the front of the line.
"It's the Titans." said one girl in the crowd. Several more murmured as they made their way towards the bouncer. People started taking out camera phones and flashing pictures of them. Owen took out his communicator and flashed it at the security guard.
"Hi, Titans NY." He said holding it like a badge.
"You guys really who you say you are?" he asked.
"You see anyone else walk up here in spandex?" was the reply.
The guard shrugged and let them pass.
"Thanks." Said Mercer.
"Have fun." the guard said before rehooking the velvet robe. The guard got a look at Kid Devil as he walked past.
"I gotta say I've seen a lot worse. Next." He said to the women in line.
As evening approached Dick and Kori visited a cemetery in the decimated city of Bludhaven. Reconstruction was still underway even two years later after Blockbuster had enacted a scorched earth attack on the city so Dick wouldn't be able to claim final victory over him the last time. The graveyard they were at was on a hilltop high above the city. This part of the cemetery was especially sacred to Dick; it was the place where his friends and loved ones have all been laid to rest. With his wife behind him he placed flowers on four different graves. One of which was a family plot.
"They didn't deserve it." he said.
"Dick, if you don't mind me asking…who were they?" asked Kori.
"They were people that lived in my apartment, they were all good friends of mine. When Blockbuster found out my identity he bombed the apartment killing everyone inside…including my grandfather." He told her.
"I'm so sorry Dick." She said clutching his shoulder. Her husband sighed.
"So am I." he said.
Back at the dance club the party was already underway as the Titans took to the dance floor. Cassie took Conner off to one side and started dancing with him, while Spoiler did the same with Robin. Kid Devil and Ravager stood off to the side before the houselights came on and swept across the dance floor in brilliant displays of blue.
Yo listen up here's a story
About a little guy that lives in a blue world
And all day and all night and everything he sees
Is blue just like him inside and outside
Blue his house with a blue little window
And a blue Corvette
And everything is blue for him and his self
And everybody around
Cos he ain't got nobody to listen to (to listen to, to listen to)
I'm blue da bu dee da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu da
Conner stood behind Cassie and the two swayed back and forth opposite sides smiling at each other as the song played. Rose bought Eddie onto the dance floor and danced freely facing each other. Kid Devil spun on his foot and did a partial split before picking himself back up and continued dancing. Rose laughed as she watched him. The Ravager swung her hips slowly and brought her hands above her head and gyrated slowly. Eddie did a reverse spin and put his arm around her back bringing himself closer to her while she continued dancing. She shook her shoulders and smiled wide at the demon as she put her arm behind his back. The DJ spun a record as it switched to the remix version by Flo Rida.
My lips like sugar (my lips like sugar)
This candy got your sprung (this candy got you sprung)
So call me your sugar (so call me your sugar)
You love you some (you love you some)
I'm sweet like da
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
Da bu dee, da bu dai
As the rest of the team danced, Captain Boomerang stood off to the side and watched. But that wouldn't last for long as two girls approached the captain and flanked him on both sides.
"Aren't you going to go out there?" a brunette asked him.
"Uh, I'm kind of on look out." he said coming to come up with an excuse.
"Well come dance with us." She said pulling on the Captain's arm.
"Yeah I'm sure they wont mind." Said the blonde on his right who started pulling on his arm as well. The two girls led the stoic Titan out on the dance floor much to his displeasure.
"Whoa wait a minute I can't dance!" he yelled as they drug him out there.
As the music played Superboy and Wonder Girl stepped out to get some air. Standing on a balcony several stories above the street level dance club the two basked in the night air.
"It's been quite a ride hasn't it?" she asked.
"Yeah…this may sound like a stupid question. But did you think we'd make it out of there battling Doomsday and those goons?" he asked turning his attention to her.
She looked back at him somewhat stunned by the question, but could tell from the look in his eyes he was being serious. She looked away from him at the street below.
"Well I'd be lying if I didn't. When you went into space with him, I didn't think I'd ever see you again." she said looking back at him. The Boy of Steel sighed.
"I was thinking kind of the same thing, when I was up there I thought to myself: 'Conner what the hell are you doing?' I'll admit it wasn't one of my better ideas but we were running out of options. I knew if I didn't do something he would have killed you and…to me that was worse than anything he would have inflicted on Me." he said softly.
"If he had killed you…it would have killed me as well." He admitted grimly.
"How do you think I'd feel?" she asked touching his face. He chuckled a bit as he answered.
"Guess I hadn't thought of that." he smiled.
"You dork, you never were good at planning ahead." She said and kissed him.
"Hey in fairness I've only been around for three years." He joked and earned a laugh from her before kissing her back.
"But your supposed to be as smart as any 16 year old." She said.
"When I choose to be." He replied. Wonder Girl laughed and shook her head in disbelief.
"Your as bad as Bart you know that?" she smiled.
"I am not! I'm way cooler than that guy!" he shot back.
"That's a matter of opinion." She joked.
"Jeeze, tough crowd." He muttered.
"Come on let's go back inside." She said taking his arm.
"Well all right but only if you agree that I'm cooler than Bart." He joked.
"Ha ha. Of course." She said.
"I mean it!" he chided pointing his finger at her.
"Fine, your way cooler than Bart." She told him.
"Thank you." he said as they went back in. At the top of the stairs they heard screams comeing from the dance hall. Superboy and Wonder Girl looked at each other and raced down stairs to intercept the threat.
The music stopped as three guys stood in the middle of the dance floor in costumes. The Titans made their way through the crowd and stood to face three villians. Superboy and Wonder Girl rushed through the crowd to join the rest of the team.
"Who are you guys?" Robin asked. A smirk played on one guy's face.
A young man with blonde spikey hair was dressed in a purple and gold uniform with a lightning bolt on his chest and wore a stylized violet mask with gold Spider-Man lenses built into the cowl. His costume was a reverse analogue of the Kid Flash costume; violet on top, gold in the leggings. His gloves and boots also had a reversed color palate, with more flare added to his shinguards that resembled bat wings.
"The name's Kid Zoom." he smiled insanely.
The boy next to him beared a strong resemblance to Captain Boomerang and wore a red leather jacket with a barbed wire design crisscrossing over the jacket and had a cache of bronze razorangs on his right forearm. The man had dirty blonde spiked hair simular to Owen's and wore a scarlet ski visor for a mask and an inverted red scarf with gold boomerangs adorning it.
"And I'm Richochet." the masked man told em.
The last one was a young girl that seemed to be a bizarre analouge of Wonder Woman with reddish black hair wearing a crown of thorns and a black armored dress with a bronze omega symbol laying sideways on her chest.
"And I'm..."
"Devastation." Cassie said.
"Anti-Titans?" Bart said.
"Please, that's so played out." Richochet said as Kid Zoom smiled.
"You've heard of the Justice League? Well we're the Judgement League." the speedster said.
Author's Note: So what do you think? Thanks for all the support guys it really means alot to me knowing I havent lost my touch as a writer. Looks like the guys are in for it this time. Stay tuned for more.
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Green Gallant.