Author's Note: All right I'm back with another chapter. I figure I might as well since everyone goes away over the weekend. Anyway I'm glad readers like the way I've humanized Damian and made him into a more relatable character instead of the psychotic bastard he currently is in the comics. Let me know what you think of this next one. Since Anon asked that I have him interact with the girls more. Kind of set up this little senario. Pairings are the reader's intrepretation. I think it makes it a little more intrestring that way. :D
Young Outsiders
Chapter 4
Towards Tomorrow
Later that evening upon returning to the base, Damian heard a noise coming from one of the rooms down the hall. Following the sound, he found a young girl in sports bra and black shorts working on a punching bag. At first he didn't recognize who it was. As he studied the figure, and the red ponytail flopping around he first thought it was his teammate Squire. But it didn't seem like her. Truth be told he hadn't seen any of his teammates out of uniform, but he could tell just by looking at her that it wasn't Beryl. But he couldn't think of any other redhead besides Ryand'r that was on the team. And Lord knows he's not a chick. When the girl finally spun around delivering a powerful roundhouse kick he realized who it was. But he still couldn't believe who it was. It was Carrie Kelly outside of her costume. Carrie wiped the sweat from her brow as she stepped back from the bag and looked up and saw Damian standing there. Carrie jumped and attempted to cover herself before retreating partially behind the bag. Her teammate blushed and looked away and just as surprised by her reaction.
"Sorry! I..." he started.
"How long you been standing there?" she said still standing behind the bag.
"I didn't mean to…I didn't know you…" he stumbled over his words trying to apologize to the girl. Carrie finally relaxed.
"Its all right, I just wasn't expecting anyone else to be there." she said still behind the bag. He blushed and quickly turned his back to her.
"You know its no big deal, you just surprised me is all." she said as she went over to pick up her uniform sitting in a plastic chair.
"So you always practice like this?" he asked and mentally cursed himself afterwards. Carrie blushed as she searched for an answer.
"That didn't come out right." he countered.
"What you never seen a half naked girl before?" she joked.
"Uh, well uh. Heh. I'll save that story for another time." he countered.
"I'm just kidding Dame. You know I kind of figured someone would catch me sooner or later." She assured him as she crouched down to pick up her costume. The former Boy Wonder looked over his shoulder to sneak a peek at her.
"I didn't know you wore glasses." He said noting her rectangular frames.
"I've had them for a while." She told him.
"So why do you wear that ridiculous costume?" he asked.
"As opposed to this?" she asked.
"Actually I'm starting to like the alternative." He joked.
"You perv." She quipped.
"Hey I call em as I see em." He replied.
"And you wonder why I wear a cat suit." She threw back.
"Seriously, don't you get hot in that thing? I mean its covered in fur and its summer…in Chicago. A lot of people get heat strokes up here you know." He said looking back over his shoulder.
"That's just old people." she said.
"And you think dressing like a purple panther wont give you one? I'm just saying I don't want you to pass out why we're chasing a bad guy." He told her.
Carrie looked up at him a second later. Even though she could tell he was joking, she knew he was being honest with her at the same time.
"All right then. What do you propose for a costume?" she asked. A grin formed on the former Robin's face.
"An appropriate costume." She told him as he turned back to face her. And saw that she hadn't put her costume back on.
"You'd be surprised what I can come up with." he told her in serious tone.
"I'm sure I would be." And rolled her eyes at Damian.
Just then an alarm went off within the base Damian and Carrie looked at each other.
"Guess that'll have to wait. Come on." he said as they rushed up the hallway.
Racing back into the command center a while later, the two rejoined their teammates as Geo-Force stood at the main computer.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Uh Carrie?" Static asked.
"What?" she asked looking at the electromancer.
"Uhh…" the hero pointed back at her.
She looked down at the gym uniform she was still wearing and shrugged.
"Its my new costume. You like?" she asked her still stunned teammate.
"Static." Geo-Force said grabbing his attention.
"We've got a serious problem on our hands." He said.
"Don't we always?" he shrugged.
"This one's a little different, a while back the League fought a guy named Chronos. While details are sketchy at best, he managed to break out of his prison and murdered his wife and now he's on a rampage." Geo-Force told the team.
"So you know anything about this one?" Static asked Damian.
"Not a clue. I don't think dad ever told me about him." he said.
"Well regardless we need to stop him. Be on your best guard Chronos can manipulate the time stream. This is likely to be one of our more challenging adversaries. Outsiders move out." Bryan advised them.
The team nodded as they went over to their vehicle, which was a large yellow Hummer H1 combat patrol vehicle. Several members jumped into the convertible, while Squire got on a red motorcycle with her emblem embossed on the front of the bike and took off. The tires squealed as the Hummer raced out of the lair with lights flashing. A large hatch opened at the edge of the tunnel allowing the team entrance into the city as Squire led the charge. Static and Nitrofire flew overhead. Several blocks ahead the team saw flashes of light. At the city center Chronos was using his time warping powers age nearby structures to dust. Citizens ran for cover trying their best to avoid the falling debris and the time waves that ran rampant throughout the area. The Squirecycle rocketed through the air seconds later and fell towards Chronos. The time villain shot a warp wave at the cycle and struck the bike overhead. Squire abandoned the cycle and fired a rescue line and drove her foot into the villain's chest. He skidded back on the soles of his shoes and stared at the girl murderously.
"Your going to wish you hadn't done that." he said issuing another time wave and hurled it at her.
Squire hit the pavement as the wave went over her head into a nearby building and damaged the side of it. Overhead Static blasted him drawing his attention as the Hummer raced over the hill and fired its rooftop lasers at him knocking him to the ground. The Hummer skidded to a halt as the Outsiders leaped out of the vehicle and took their positions.
"So what's this guy's story?" Static asked.
"They locked me in a perpetual time loop, where I had to listen to my wife for all eternity!" the villain growled.
"Ooh, that is harsh." He replied.
"You have no idea what I had to put up with when I was married to her. But now I'm free, and now the whole universe will suffer." He said.
"Couldn't you just divorce her?" Static asked.
Chronos fired a temporal blast at the hero. Static dodged it at the last minute.
"Sheesh. Ask a simple question." He said.
"We need to take him down." Geo-Force said.
"Well I'm open to suggestions." said Black Tiger.
"So are the rest of us." added Damian.
Katana just stared at Chronos and drew her sword and went in.
"What are you doing?!" Geo-Force yelled.
"Fresh prey eh? Then allow me to escort you to your demise!" he yelled and fired chronal blasts at the Outsider.
Cassie dodged the time warping blasts effortlessly jumping left and right and tumbling through the last one.
"Hold still will you!" he yelled as he continued blasting her.
Cassie held up her sword staving off one of the chronal energies and held her ground against it to everyone's shock. Katana sliced through the time wave and twirled her sword above her head.
"But that's impossible!" he yelled as she came at him.
"No! Stay back!" he yelled and continued blasting at her.
Katana continued to evade the blasts with little effort and finally got within his field and lunged her sword at him. Chronos panicked and grabbed the blade with his bare hand. A strange light greenish glow emitted when the two came in contact. The others rushed in to help as the field of light surrounded them and the team vanished.
A while later the team reappeared in a strange new location still huddled together minus one villain. Static was the first to open an eye and glanced around at his surroundings.
"Where are we?" he said breaking free from the group.
The rest of the team unlatched themselves from one another and looked around quizzically.
"And what happened to Chronos?" Carrie asked seeing him lying on the ground catatonic.
"I don't know." Bryan said looking around.
"Well whatever it is, it can't be good. There's something familiar about this place. But I cant quite put my finger on it." Damian said investigating his surroundings.
Indeed the team was surrounded by fog so it wasn't like any of them had a handle on where they were in the first place. Ryand'r finally hovered up above the clouds to gage a better understanding.
"Hey guys, I see a tower." He told them.
"A tower?" Damian asked and twirled around.
"Oh no." he muttered seeing the heavily armed Titans Tower infront of him.
"Damian?" Bryan asked.
"I've been here before." he told them.
"But that looks like Titans Tower." Said Carrie.
"Exactly. And I think we're in serious trouble." He told the group.
The tower's searchlights sliced through the fog and bared down on the team.
"Who goes there?" a voice said over a megaphone.
Author's Note: All right this should come as no suprise to some of my readers since apparently I cant keep a secret anymore. Anyway that's all for now. As you can tell this is a revisitation of the Titans Tomorrow arc from Teen Titans All Stars, Vol. 1. Let me know what you think.
Please review,
Green Gallant.