And here we are again. In case anyone was wondering, this story may be changing due to current plot constraints. Anyway, let us continue.
The group emerged into the vast expanse that was Hanger Bay 6, the Titans glancing at the huge array of equipment; both repair and ordnance, and numerous of F-16 Falcon fighter jets, each one with its one repair bay, repair and loading equipment.
Beyond that, on the lowering landing pad, stood the Batwing with Superman and Wonder Woman flanking it, arms relaxed at their sides, their eyes scanning everything before them.
And standing in front of the nose of the black jet, clad in full crime-fighting regalia, stood the Dark Knight himself.
The Caped Crusader scanned his eyes over the group as they approached, his eyes lingering of Dick longer than strictly necessary, something that didn't go unnoticed by David, his scientific mind storing the information away for later use. As soon as the pad touched down, the trio strode forth towards the group, confidence oozing from their every step. The group stopped as they approached them, falling into two separate lines; Avengers on one side and Titans on the others, with David in between the two groups and Fury before him.
"Director Fury I presume?" Batman asked, his gruff voice sounding like tyres running over gravel. David snickered as Batman, consciously or not, repeated his son's greetings words. The irony wasn't lost on the others, and multiple grins and chuckles broke out amidst the Avengers, whilst the Titans merely glanced despairingly at Dick who merely shrugged. All three Justice Leaguers raised an eyebrow in confusion, until they saw Dick amongst the crowd and understanding infused Superman's and Wonder Woman's features, and they smiled whilst the Dark Knight's signature and seemingly permanent scowl stayed in place, even if his eyes did soften ever-so-slightly. The two shook hands; and whilst the director repeated the process with the other two, Batman caught Dick's eye and drew him to one side. They walked away from the group, stopping just inside a fighter repair bay, with Dick sitting on a tool trolley and Batman leaning against the fuselage of the fighter.
"Okay Bruce" Dick started; his eyes narrowed behind his mask "why have you dragged me over here? Don't tell me it was a heart-to-heart; we both know how they end up." Bruce looked at his adoptive son, actually looked at him, instead of merely glancing over him as he had done before. Instead of the boy that he had rescued from the circus all those years ago, he saw the man that boy had become; strong, independent, intelligent and clearly capable of making his own decisions without someone constantly looking over his shoulder. However, in true Batman fashion, the first words out of his mouth were blunt and straight to the point.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded; his voice, while quiet, pummelled Dick's eardrums like a jackhammer. The one question that he was bound to ask, and the one he hated the most.
"I think" he said, stressing the word "I'm leading a very talented team of heroes, protecting a city no one else gives a damn about, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job" he finished calmly, leaning back with a smug smirk on his face.
Bruce merely looked on, mouth set in a thin line, eyes flinty. "You found a machine capable of punching a hole in the dimensional barrier, you discovered three of the worst and ingenious villains managed to pull three even more ingenious villains through for an unknown purpose, you got your asses handed to you on a silver platter by said villains, then find another hole in the barrier, and you don't even contact me, Clark, Diana, or any of the Justice League before investigating! In fact, the only reason I know anything about this is thanks to the orbital satellite J'onn set up!" he practically shouted, ticking the items off on his fingers, flicking them with such force Dick was certain that they would fly off his hand. David heard the shouting, and turned in the direction of the brewing screaming match to see both black-clad heroes at each other's throats. He cocked his head, his brows furrowing and his eyes narrowing to slits in concentration and perplexity. Raven noticed his change in emotion, and unconsciously turned in his direction so see what was wrong. "Ah, guys?" she said, her voice rising over the conversation going on "We may have a problem."
Everyone fell silent and turned to look at whatever she had noticed. The Titans and Leaguers openly groaned when they saw Dick and Bruce verbally duking it out, whilst the Avengers only watched on in confusion. Raven, who had moved nearer to David to get a better look, noticed that the hum of the turbine in his chest had increased in volume, and when she looked it had increased in speed for whatever reason, the glow beneath getting slightly brighter. Meanwhile, completely oblivious to the attention they had attracted, Dick yelled "So you expect me to call you whenever something new comes up?! Do you have ANY idea how much time that wastes? And I left for this EXACT reason!" His voice rose again, becoming a full-out roar.
"You NEVER leave me alone! You ALWAYS criticise my work! It's like you're never satisfied unless it's done YOUR way! 'Your way or no way', isn't that what Jason used to say?" Bruce winced upon hearing the second Robin's name, the hurt appearing in his eyes like a cloud, only to be replaced by smouldering rage.
"How DARE you criticise me!" He bellowed, his voice filling the entire hanger. "I was the one who adopted you! I was the one who trained you! You'd be nothing without me!" his hands balled into tight fists with every sentence. Beyond Bruce's voice, Raven could hear an increasingly growing hum, and turned to see David's face grow from one of confusion to one of frustration and anger. The Avengers must've heard it too, for they hurriedly tried to interpose themselves between David and the brewing storm. But it was too late.
With one last look at the duo, David flared his nostrils and strode forward, pushing past the others, his turbine screaming like the souls of the damned, with small jets of flame escaping between the blades, static coming off him in waves. When he got to about fifteen feet of them, his hands balled into fist and he drew in a deep breath. It was only then that Dick and Bruce's ears picked up the scream of the turbine, but they were too caught up in their argument to take much notice.
Eventually, five minutes after the argument started, David roared "ENOUGH!" and a positive firestorm erupted from the turbine, extending a good twenty feet outward from his chest, forcing the duo to dive for cover, effectively separating them whilst his arms swung wide, whilst the lights flickered around them. The Avengers merely sighed and hung their heads whilst the others stared at David with a mixture of respect, curiosity, fear and awe, their eyes wide as saucers. For five long minutes the fire shot from his chest, scorching the surrounding bulkheads and plane fuselage.
When it ended David fell to all fours, chest heaving as the turbine began to slow. Rhodes and Tony grabbed him by the biceps and hauled him up, wrapping one of his arms around their shoulders to support him. Dick and Bruce poked their heads out from behind their cover to see if the fusillade had stopped, then cautiously made their way out.
"What the hell was THAT?" Dick asked, his voice slightly shaky "That felt like I'd been dunked inside an active volcano!" Batman eyed David, noticing the slight scorching on his chestplate.
"How did he do that?" he demanded, pointing an accusing finger at David. Fury sighed, running a hand over his face and said "Follow me" before heading towards the elevator, the Avengers hot on his heels, David hanging limp from his place between their shoulders. The others stared after them for a few moments, before following after them, curiosity thoroughly piqued.
They arrived in one of the many labs that dotted the ship to see David, stripped of his suit, lying down inside what looked like an advanced MRI scanner, with his father working steadily at a nearby console, and the others clustered nearby. Fury turned to see them enter and said "Well, now that you're here, what'd you wanna know?" Dick nodded over to David's prone form, his eyes glancing over the young man's body.
"Him." he stated "Explain how he did that, back in the hanger." The room suddenly became very quiet, the hum of machinery the only noise audible.
Fury blinked and, motioning to Tony, said "Show them Tony. They have a right to know." The Avengers snapped their gaze to the director, their eyes both questioning and unbelieving.
"You sure?" Banner asked, his hands flickering over a holographic screen "You know what happened to the last people we showed that to." They visibly shuddered at the mention of some unmentionable horror, even the Director shivered.
"Well, we either show them the detailed report, or they make their own assumptions and make mistakes, which could cause serious damage."
The Titan's jaws dropped. Was David so dangerous that he could seriously harm them all, without even trying? Tony sighed and, whilst walking towards the bench in the centre of the room, conjured a holographic screen with an image of David's ribcage on it; showing his ribs, lungs, heart, and a strange sphere hanging next to his heart, seemingly moulding itself around it and his sternum. Whilst Raven's face remained blank, inside her emoticlones were gawking, most of their jaws slack in amazement. The sentiment was shared by the other Titans, who only stared at it in awe, Changeling and Terra's jaw hitting the deck and their eyes almost falling out of their sockets.
"Is that…" Cyborg began, still not believing his eyes, "a fusion reactor, inside his chest?!" Starfire gasped, Dick and Bruce paled, whilst the others' only reaction was the further widening of their already saucer-like eyes. Tony nodded, his face forlorn, a notion the Pepper mimicked whilst the other Avengers glanced at David sadly.
"He was born with severe CHD" he began, his eyes drifting from one face to another, the sadness clear in his eyes "it caused his heart to drastically grow and shrink with every beat." His eyes fell on his son, still in the scanner, as Banner and his mother worked to keep the display up whilst extracting him from the machine. "It would've killed him in under a month" he continued, his voice soft and quiet, and tears began to fill his eyes. Thor took up the conversation upon seeing his friend's condition.
"I suggested we visit Asgard, on a good-will trip to secure relations" he said, his deep voice strong and regal, just like Loki's. He sat next to David and continued "Due to David being a few weeks old at the time, we brought him with us to Asgard. My mother, being the kind soul she is, took pity on him." His eyes took on a far-off look, as if he was staring back in time to the exact moment of the tale.
"She ordered Eir to find a way to keep his heart stable, but this was new to us and she could think of nothing to help him." He chuckled, shaking his head at something only he could see. "Ironically, it was Loki who came up with a solution. We were passing the dungeons when he starting shouting something about a solution and magical devices." He chuckled again, this time it was dark and bitter.
"Naturally, due to our past interactions with him, we were wary of letting him near David to begin with, yet alone operate on him. But he was insistent that he knew a way, and he can be very persuasive when he wants to be. He's not called the Lie-Smith for nothing." He stopped for a moment, and silence reigned over the room. Natasha picked it up, her voice clear and light, with no trace of her Russian accent.
"We managed to get Heimdall to verify his story, and then got him to perform the operation under guard." Her eyes hardened as she continued, her fingers digging into the hardened leather of her jumpsuit. "Odin insisted on being present during the procedure, to make sure nothing went wrong. But as soon as he entered the room, Loki started panicking, saying something about us having planned it as a trap to get him executed, and tried to run for the door. It took four guards to calm him down, and by this point David was scared out of his mind, and you know what three week olds are like when they're scared."
All the Leaguers nodded, some of the Titans winced at the sentence, whilst Pepper stood next to David, her eyes shining. "Anyway, after he'd calmed down, he approached David to start the process. And the weird thing was, that when Loki got near him, David just calmed down, just like that" she said, snapping her fingers for emphasis.
"So" Thor said, picking up the threads with a nod to Natasha "he decided he would magically implant this thing" gesturing to the screen "inside his chest to keep his heart stable, whilst at the same time strengthening the parts of his body that were weakened during his development. He also bound it to his nervous system, so it pulses in time with his heartbeat, and gave his ribs the ability of Seidr to keep it in place." Banner looked up from his console, adjusting his glasses as he dragged some data over to the larger monitor.
"We surgically added the turbine to keep the temperature even. The downside is that if his heartbeat gets too high, or his body's put through too much stress, it starts to heat up and build pressure. Eventually the turbine can't cope, so the excess gas is vented through it, hence the little display in the hanger." He gave Dick and Bruce a pointed glare, his eyes sending a very clear message. Before anyone could offer a retort, the alarm blared again, louder and sharper than last time, followed by the message
"Alert! All hands to battle stations, hostiles approaching from the south-east. Repeat, all hands to battle stations!" Both groups looked at each other in surprise, then glanced at Fury, waiting for his reaction.
He bowed his head slightly, thinking rapidly, then raised his head and said "Alright people, suit up" he spared a quick glance at David as his stood, his eyes flinty, before adding "all of you." The assembled Avengers nodded before dashing out of the room to arm up. The director glanced at the others and said "We have no idea what we're up against here, we could use your help. Mind lending a hand?" Superman nodded without hesitation and turned from the room, motioning for the others to do the same.
The Titans followed them out, all of them preparing for whatever they met outside. Little did they know that they were marching towards the start of the most dangerous time of their lives, and towards their possible demise.
Here we go, now we're getting somewhere. So, now that that's settled, I'll see you guys in the next one. Ciao!
Leman of the Russ