A/N: I don't own the original Teen Titans or Nightstar. I do own Nightstar's teammates and the Star City Titans. Warning of physical and vocal abuse. Enjoy the story!
Teen Titans: The Second Generation
Chapter Nine: An Enemy or an Ally?
The morning after Glint left the HIVE, the atmosphere in the facility went from subdued to chaotic. It all started when Shimmer went to Glint's room to start him on his personal training. Shimmer opened the door to her son's room only to find him, as well as several of his clothes and belongings, missing and his HIVE communicator on his desk. At first, Shimmer tried to think of a logical explanation for his disappearance, but couldn't find one. She had all of the staff and students' rooms thoroughly checked with still no sign of her son. Finally, she turned to his friends and asked when they had seen him last.
"Sorry, Aunt Shimmer, but we haven't seen him since last night," said Monumenta. She cowered before her aunt, whom she could tell was growing more and more frustrated.
As Shimmer walked down the hall, trying to figure out her next move, Queen Bee approached her with a stern look on her face. "Shimmer, a word?"
Meanwhile, at the Star City Titans Tower, Glint joined the team in the main room. Hex greeted him with a smile. "Good morning! I hope you slept well." Glint was a little off-put by the cheerful greeting, but nodded and smiled back. "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked.
"Uh, toast and scrambled eggs is fine," Glint replied as he adjusted his hair. Hex nodded to confirm that she understood and went to the kitchen to prepare his meal. As Glint sat down at the dining table, Phoenix sat across from him.
"So, are you ready to help us take down the HIVE?" Phoenix asked.
Glint felt a weight settle in the pit of his stomach. He knew he had to share the information he had on the HIVE as part of his agreement to become a Teen Titan, but at that moment, he wished he could just start being a hero and forget the HIVE all together.
"Yeah, sure," said Glint, though he sounded less than enthusiastic.
"Hey, don't worry," said Hex as she set the plate of food in front of him. "Those that haven't committed crimes will likely be set free. And those who have committed crimes will be put through the justice system."
"I know what the 'justice system' is like," Glint snapped, using air quotes. "They deliver quick and harsh punishment for the pettiest of crimes. It doesn't matter to them if you have family or had no other option because people treated you like freak. They lock you up for life, never to see the outside world again. Look at that- that- that blue guy, the magician. He died in prison and for what? Stealing money from banks? Causing some damage?"
"He did use magic to commit those crimes," said Charm. "It took the Teen Titans to take him to jail."
"But did he have to die in prison for it?" Glint argued. The Titans didn't respond. "Admit it. The system is messed up."
"It might be time to make some changes," said Phoenix while Glint huffed, "but we could really use your help. The HIVE has committed crimes and they need to answer for them."
Glint sighed. "Okay. I'll tell you what I know."
After the Titans cleaned up from breakfast, Glint sat opposite of Phoenix in the interrogation room with a recording device on the table. Phoenix pressed the recording button. "Begin your statement."
Back at the HIVE, Queen Bee spoke to Shimmer about her missing son. "I assure you, my queen, Glint would never betray us," said Shimmer, trying to stay calm. "He's my- our best student. The top of his class."
"Maybe so," said Queen Bee sternly, "but we can't take the risk." She let out a heavy sigh. "We're going to have to block off our main exit. Nobody comes or goes without my consent." She drummed her fingers against the desk. "We may have to relocate."
"That won't be necessary, my queen!" Shimmer exclaimed. "Glint would never give away our position."
"It might not be up to him," replied Queen Bee. "The Titans might use torture or telepathy to get inside his head. Then everything he knows will be exposed. It would put our base and everyone in it at risk. We will have to spend what resources we have left to rebuild."
"What about Glint?" Shimmer asked.
Queen Bee stared firmly at Shimmer. "Find him. Dispatch a team if you must, but find him."
"Yes, my queen," Shimmer bowed before she left the room. Once out of Queen Bee's office, she approached two staff members. "Have team alpha sent to my office. They're missing one, so have GaleXLy join them."
"Yes, Ma'am!" the two staff members replied as they saluted before they walked away.
Deathwish happened to notice the exchange. He was suspicious of his mother's actions, but otherwise uninterested. "What's all this about?" Deathwish asked aloud, more to himself than anyone else.
"Oh, you didn't hear?" Glimmer asked as she came up from behind him with a crooked smile on her face. "Glint's gone missing. Mother's fuming."
"Then why do you look so happy?" Deathwish asked as he eyed his half-sister suspiciously.
Glimmer let out a laugh. "Of course you wouldn't understand. With Glint gone, it means Mother will finally realize that I should be the one to succeed her."
"Whatever you say," sighed Deathwish as he walked away.
As Glint walked out of the interrogation room, he felt his nerves getting the better of him again and walked to the refrigerator where he pulled out a bottle of sparkling water. He then turned to the counter and picked a banana from the bunch in a bowl. Once he had done that, he walked over to the couch and opened his sketch book and put down his pencils, inking pens, and erasers. He needed to get his mind off things and drawing was one of the ways he knew how to relax. As he started drawing, Charm popped up from behind him.
"Hey, that's really good. How long have you been drawing?" she asked.
Glint paused for a moment. "From the time I could pick up a pencil," he replied.
"Cool." Charm replied. Suddenly, she got a look on her face as if she had just come up with a brilliant idea. "Hey, can you draw a zombie unicorn with a scroll at the bottom that says 'believe in yourself'?" she asked.
"Um... sure," Glint replied with a shrug as he turned his sketchbook to a blank page and began to draw the requested sketch. Once he had finished, he tore the page out and handed it to Charm. "Here you go."
"It's perfect!" Charm smiled at the picture. "Hey, Hex! Look what Glint drew for me! I think I'll make it a tattoo someday." Glint smiled slightly as the other Titans admired his sketch.
Inside Shimmer's office, Monumenta, Nyte Flyer, Gadget, Benny Various, and GaleXLy stood like statues as they waited for their orders.
"Glint wouldn't really betray us, would he?" GaleXLy asked Nyte Flyer. She had white hair, pale blue skin, black eyes with red pupils, black gloves and boots, and a blue uniform with a red arrow pointing upward. "I mean, he was our friend."
"I can't say for sure. However, the evidence doesn't look good," Nyte Flyer replied gravely.
"And y'all thought I was trouble," muttered Benny.
Suddenly, Shimmer walked into the room and sat at her desk. "As you are aware, my son, your teammate, Glint has gone missing. I need you to search for him and report back to me as soon as you do so we can make our next move. You will use the back entrance. We need to prepare for any... unwelcome visitors. Whatever you do, don't get caught and don't engage with Glint until I tell you to. Understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" the group replied in unison.
"Very good. You're dismissed," said Shimmer.
Over the course of a week, Glint stayed with the Star City Titans while the Justice League investigated the location of the HIVE that Glint had given. However, when they managed to break through the wall that had sealed up the main entrance, they found the HIVE was long gone. All that was left was an empty, underground base. Everyone came to the conclusion that Glint's disappearance had spooked the HIVE into relocating.
"Great." Glint sighed in frustration. "They're still out there."
Hex put her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. We'll find them."
Suddenly, the alarm went off. "Titans, trouble at the museum!" Phoenix called.
The team got there and saw a young man dressed in an all white burglar's outfit with a rope around his shoulder and a belt with devices. "Is it just me, or does this guy look familiar?" Megawatt asked. The robber in question turned around.
"Ah, ze Teen Titans. I was wondering what that odor was," the man sneered.
"You mean the smell of old cologne and mothballs?" Hex asked.
"We thought that was coming from you." Charm smirked.
"Insolent little…" the robber growled as he grabbed smoke bombs from his belt.
"Titans, go!" Phoenix shouted. The team ran towards the man as they dodged the smoke bombs or used their powers to counteract them. Once Phoenix got close enough, he pulled out a bo staff, but the robber blocked it with his grappling hook. "Who are you?" he asked as he tried to strike the man, but he used his grappling hook to counter it.
"I am Voleur Blanc!" he exclaimed, "son of Andre Le Blanc!"
"That's original," said Glint sarcastically.
Voleur Blance was about to throw some more smoke bombs when Glint used his powers to make them turn to mist. The thief stared in amazement at Glint. "Hold on a second, I know those powers. You must be Madam Shimmer's son! My father used to work with her back in his day. How's she doing by the way?"
"Sorry, we're not on speaking terms." said Glint.
Just then, the thief turned around just in enough time to see Phoenix's fist collide with his face. Within minutes, the police came in and took the unconscious Voleur Blanc away.
"Not too bad for your first fight," said Phoenix proudly. Glint smiled back.
The fourth of July came and there was an excited energy in the air as nightfall drew closer. Glint helped his teammates bring chairs and a barbecue to the roof of the Tower. "I can't believe you guys get to do this every year," he said to Hex as he turned to look at the city. "Look at this view! It's amazing."
Hex looked confused. "Did you never get to see the fireworks while growing up?"
Glint sighed. "No. I was always training or studying. It's like you said: it wasn't much of a life."
Hex smiled. "Well, now you get to enjoy them."
The team cooked their food and had a few laughs before they sat in their chairs and watched the fireworks start.
"Glint?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you're on our team."
"Heh. Me too." Hex leaned over and kissed Glint on the cheek and he blushed.
In the distance, Gadget was flying through the air looking for Glint when she spotted him on the roof of the Tower. She pushed a button and a camera came out of her backpack as she started to take pictures. Once she was finished, she met back with her team.
"Did you find him?" Monumenta asked, desperate to know the truth of what had become of her cousin.
"Yeah. And it's not pretty," said Gadget as she showed them the photos she had taken.
"No, it can't be," Monumenta growled, torn between grief and rage.
"Come on, Monumenta. We need to report back to Shimmer," said Benny with a sad sigh.
At the new HIVE headquarters, workers bustled around as they worked on construction. In Shimmer's office, it took all of her energy to not throw the camera at a wall. "Thank you, Gadget. You're all dismissed until I have further instructions," she said through gritted teeth. Once the team left, she paced a bit, then grabbed Glint's communicator. She walked down the hallway and knocked on a door that had the name Gizmo on it. Once the door opened, she walked in and approached the short man sitting at a desk.
"So, Shimmer, what do you want?" Gizmo asked as he turned to look at her.
She pulled out Glint's communicator and handed it to Gizmo. "I need you to do something for me."
Three days passed after the Fourth of July celebration, and Glint was getting used to life as a Titan. The team had just finished training and Glint was playing a racing video game with Megawatt. Charm sat next to Megawatt while Hex sat next to Glint and Phoenix casually watched.
"Prepare to eat my dust!" Megawatt smirked as she button-mashed her controller.
"Haha, in your dreams!" Glint chuckled.
"Come on, Megawatt! You can beat him!" exclaimed Charm.
"You can do it!" exclaimed Hex.
With a smirk, Glint pressed a few buttons and he won the game.
"Woo! You did it!" Hex cheered as she hugged Glint.
Suddenly, an alarm went off.
"Titans, go!" shouted Phoenix.
The Titans found the trouble at the same bank Glint and his former team had tried to steal from and were shocked to find the same team robbing the bank again. "What?! Guys, what are you doing here?" Glint asked.
"Following your instructions," Monumenta said with a dark grin. "Gotta say, your plan worked out perfectly."
"What are you talking about?" Glint asked. The Titans turned to find Nyte Flyer and GaleXLy behind them.
Gadget pulled out Glint's old HIVE communicator and pushed a button. A recording of Glint's voice played on it. "Hey, guys. It's time we kicked things up a notch. I'm going to join the Titans as a spy. Give it a few days before you attack. Glint out!"
The Titans stared at Glint with anger. Hex looked at him with hurt eyes. "You were spying on us?!" exclaimed Megawatt as she charged her powers.
"No! They set me up! I didn't send that message!" Glint panicked.
"HIVE, eat 'em alive!" exclaimed Gadget.
"Titans, go!" exclaimed Phoenix.
Glint didn't have a chance to fight as Nyte Flyer swept in and engulfed him with his giant wings before he disappeared. GaleXLy grew ten feet tall and began to stomp around and swing her hands to knock the Titans down. Benny Various multiplied himself. Monumenta stomped the ground and shook the pavement. Gadget pulled out a remote and began to fight using her robotic spider legs. The Titans pulled out their weapons and summoned their powers to fight back.
While the HIVE kept the Titans occupied, Nyte Flyer teleported to the HIVE headquarters and dropped him on the floor of one of the training arenas. Glint looked up and saw his mother stand before him. She suddenly pulled out a taser gun and fired, shocking him with electricity before he fell to the ground.
"You may go, Nyte Flyer," said Shimmer, her cold eyes fixated on Glint as he twitched in pain. "Return to the team and head back to headquarters." Nyte Flyer nodded and teleported back to the fight. Once they were alone, Shimmer walked closer to her son. She dropped several photos on the ground in front of him, all taken by Gadget. The one that stuck out was of Hex kissing Glint's cheek. "So, how do you explain yourself?" she asked, her voice devoid of emotion.
Glint struggled as he forced himself up. With a deep breath, he smirked and looked up at his mother. "I'm a Teen Titan."
Shimmer gritted her teeth and kicked him in the gut as he coughed. "What did you tell them?" she demanded.
Glint huffed as he looked at her. "Everything I know. The old location, names, access codes, you name it. It won't be long until they find you."
Furious, Shimmer kicked him again. "You filthy little traitor! How could you do this to us?" she erupted. "The HIVE was your family." As he attempted to stand, she smacked him. "Your community!" She kicked him again. "How could you do this to us?"
Glint coughed. "All my life, you raised me to be your little soldier. To do everything you said no questions asked. And any time I did question you, there was hell to pay. I never got to relax with my friends except during meals, and that wasn't much. You never let me be myself! I barely got to spend time with my own brother who probably thinks I hate him because of you!"
Shimmer picked him up and threw him across the arena. He let out a groan. "I was preparing you for your future. A place of power and respect. What could the Titans possibly give you that we never could?!" she challenged.
He continued to cough. "F-Freedom. The ability to be my own person. Choose what I want to do with my life."
"Ungrateful little... you're just like your father!" she growled a she kicked him yet again. "He thought he was too good for the HIVE. He left us, left you, but I raised you… And I raised you better than this!" Glint tried to get up, but she pushed him down with her foot. "I guess I'll have to teach you a new lesson." She glanced at the picture of Hex kissing Glint's cheek. "Starting with your new little girlfriend."
Glint's eyes widened. "I won't let you lay a finger on her!" Glint yelled as he hit her in the knee. Shimmer's knee flinched at the action, but it didn't move as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him again against a wall.
She smirked as she walked towards him. "So, that's your weakness." Her face turned bitter. "I should have known."
He smirked back. "Yeah. She's the best thing that's happened to me."
"Idiot!" Shimmer cried. "You betrayed your family, your flesh and blood, for a girl!"
"What I don't get is," Glint snapped, as he knitted his brow, "is why you chose me, the son of a guy who rebelled against the HIVE and hurt you when you had Deathwish. And later Glimmer. Do they mean nothing to you?" Glint asked.
Shimmer slapped him. "You don't know the meaning of the word hurt! And as for your brother, he is an expendable soldier- a distraction for the enemy while we make our escape. He didn't have my powers. Glimmer, on the other hand, is still a child." She glared down at him. "You were my finest student." She punched him. "Such wasted potential." She kicked him again. "Queen Bee won't have any trouble deciding your fate." Shimmer picked him up so they were eye to eye. "Because as far as I'm concerned, you are not my son." She threw him to the ground and turned on her heel as she walked out of the room.
Glint could barely move as he watched his mother walk out the door. One eye had blackened and he hurt everywhere. However, he couldn't care less about how bad he hurt or what Queen Bee was going to do with him, he knew Hex was in danger now that Shimmer knew about their relationship.
Suddenly, the door slid open again. Glint expected it to be Shimmer, back with Queen Bee, but instead it was Deathwish.
"Wow. She really did a number on you, didn't she?" Deathwish sighed as he looked at his brother.
"What are you doing here?" Glint asked.
"I'm getting you out of here," said Deathwish. "Can you walk?"
"Why are you helping me?" Glint asked as he struggled to get up.
Deathwish picked up Glint and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "Unlike Glimmer, I care what happens to you. Can you use your powers?" Glint nodded. "Then let's get out of here."
The two brothers made their way out of the room and into the hallways of the headquarters unaware that Glimmer had spotted them. She smiled deviously. They made their way to the garage where rows of stolen vehicles were parked. Deathwish grabbed a set of keys hanging on the wall and helped his brother into the car.
"Where to?" Deathwish asked once they were out of the garage.
"Star City Titans Tower," said Glint.
"Seriously? You want to go back after what just happened?" Deathwish asked. "They might not trust you and I won't be there to save you again if the HIVE captures you."
"It'll be okay. Just take me there," Glint said. He looked at his brother. "What about you?"
Deathwish shrugged. "I don't know. Wherever the wind takes me, I guess."
"Well, when you find that place, let me know how you're doing, okay?" Glint asked.
Deathwish looked at his brother and nodded. "I will."
At Star City Tower, the Titans were in the main room sulking when the alarm of a trespasser went off. When they went to the front to see who it was, they saw a beaten Glint barely standing.
"Glint! What happened?" Hex asked as she rushed to his side.
"My mom is what happened," Glint grunted.
"How do we know you're not lying?" Megawatt asked.
"Meg, I don't think he's lying," said Charm as she pointed to the taser burns on his arm.
"Let's get him inside and bandaged up," said Phoenix.
At the HIVE, Shimmer was in a rage as she paced her office. "How could both of them escape?" she turned to a guard as he cringed. "What do I pay you for?!" There was a knock on the door. "WHAT?!"
Glimmer slipped into the room, treading carefully. "Mother-"
"Not now, Glimmer." Shimmer groaned.
"Please, listen," Glimmer said calmly. "I know that you might think now's not a good time…"
"It isn't." Shimmer snapped.
"But maybe it's the best time," Glimmer continued. "With both my traitorous brothers on the run, you need someone to train under you. Someone you can depend on."
"And let me guess. You want to be my apprentice." Glimmer nodded, her eyes eager. Shimmer sighed. "Fine."
"Oh, thank you, Mother! You won't regret it!" Glimmer smiled sweetly. As she shut the door behind her, her smile turned sinister. "Finally!"
In the infirmary at the Star City Tower, Glint lay in a medical bed all bandaged up. The team stood around him as he told them the full story of what had happened. "She had be brought to the new headquarters and asked me why I betrayed them. I told her I became a Titan because it offered me freedom to live my own life, and you can see how well she took it. I'm lucky that my brother helped me escape and come back here."
"We're sorry we didn't believe you." said Hex as she cupped his hand.
Glint gave her a half smile. "Hey, I got back and you took me in. It's all good."
"We'll let you get some rest." said Phoenix.
"I'm going to stay a bit longer," Hex replied. Once the team left, she turned back to Glint. "Can I get you anything? Water? Something to eat?"
"I'm fine. Actually, there is one thing," he said.
"Name it." said Hex.
He reached up and kissed her on the lips before he flopped back down, too sore to sit up for long.
Hex leaned in. "Idiot. You could have just asked."
She kissed him again.
To be continued...
A/N: Fun fact, Charm loves zombie unicorns. Jinx was a fan of unicorns, so it makes sense that her kids would like them too. Even if they are undead. Yeah, so Shimmer doesn't like it when her kids choose a different career path than what she set up for them. And yes, I'm totally playing with the idea that Voleur Blanc has no originality whatsoever.