A LARGE COMMUNAL CHAPTER…
BECAUSE MY READERS DESERVE IT…
This is a chapter that has been in the works for quite some time… I'm still trying to tie in the episodes of the Teen Titans to what I want to add, and I'm not quite sure how to do that and add Matsurokan, and the others of the Inuyasha cast that I've already mentioned in my previous chapters… Rest assure that this will be a finished story… Eventually.
(YOU'RE SO PATIENT… THANKS...)
Parallel-Agents
And
The Festival of Approaching Doom!
Kagome had been decidedly off her game. When two of Sesshoumaru's Generals had contacted her and told her that she and Shippo needed to continue training in order to keep up with Sesshoumaru's regime, (Shippo was considered to be getting soft in his age-caliber and was forced to undergo it with Kagome, he was not a happy fox.) they were semi-forcibly sent to Japan, and more specifically the ruins of Mount Hakurei. She and Shippo had returned to Japan for a "refresher" course in their training; but due to some complications, (demands from her brother to see him graduate) she had returned to the Shrine.
She had just witnessed his graduation and was sitting in the well house reminiscing with Shippo about the feudal era, when the well let out a strange glow. She and Shippo decided to investigate, when a sudden bout of clumsiness overcame Kagome and she tripped and fell into the glowing well. Out of concern for her, Shippo reached and inadvertently slipped on the edge of the old well and fell in too…
Kagome and could have sworn that she heard Star-Fire and another voice argue while in the oddly glowing time-stream, before a sudden flash occurred and Kagome and Shippo found themselves in Jump City. She and Shippo were stunned to see her home in the midst of a renovation.
Miko was confused, this event had taken place months before she, as Miko, had joined the Teen Titans.
The communicator sounded off and she opened it.
~"Miko please respond…"~
"Miko here…"
~"Three HIVE teen-agents attacked us and have taken over Titan's Tower; I know you've been busy training, but we need you back in Jump."~ Came Raven's voice.
Miko looked to Shippo. "Shippo and I just returned, we'll meet you."
~"See you soon."~ Was Raven's succinct response and the communicator shut off.
It seemed that here, she had joined a few months before Slade had officially come on the scene. Shippo called it 'String Theory'; she called it confusing. And he easily explained to her that there were an infinite amount of parallel universes. Who was there to say that in this parallel universe, that she didn't join with the Teen Titans earlier?
She didn't have an answer for him; so instead, she immediately called on her link to her cousin and was able to find him rather quickly via her Miko powers and knowledge of half-demons' power bases. Needless to say, she was not a happy teammate when she confronted Cyborg who was coordinating with Robin on how exactly to take down the HIVE teen-agent-operatives.
Cyborg let Miko know of the goings on; turns out that they were about to launch an assault on their tower, and she demanded to be let in on the villain-squatter issue. Robin agreed especially as his utility belt was with the HIVE Teen-Agents, and they needed a firm distraction a fully electronic distraction would not be enough- they needed a mental component as well.
Upon Miko's not so subtly made threat to his favorite game-systems, courtesy of Shippo's innate abilities; and thanks to some semi-hacking on the part of Cyborg, and the subsequent patch into her communicator, Miko was able to know when precisely to set the HIVE teen-agents off their game.
() * () * () * () * () * () *
'"Not to mention, Robin's favorite fashion statement…Ugh… But that's the only thing that's fashionable here… Does she have anything that isn't blue?"'
'"Tell me about it… All their food is way out of date…"'Mammoth said licking some dripping blue fuzz off of a chicken drumstick. He then proceeded to stick the whole chicken drumstick in his mouth, when he removed it, only the bone was left, which he threw in the garbage. "Hey- who was that girl, the really sick one, in the medical wing?" Mammoth asked Jinx as he rustled through the fridge to pull out an old Chinese carton of take-out, he opened it to slurp off some blue fuzzy food from the carton of old wontons.
"Slade says she has some connection with Beast Boy and his team, but to leave her alone for now… She's of no use as ill as she is…" Jinx said putting on Raven's cape.
"So, what'd ya do with the slorg sneezing goody-goody?"
"I locked her in there, after giving her a dose of Ketamine." Jinx said a sly grin across her face.
"Good… Don't want the Titans having an inside girl knowing what we're really doing here…" Mammoth said as he dumped the empty wonton carton into the trash and eating a fuzzy, half-eaten, semi-withered apple.
Cyborg patched a command into the Tower; which was to read as a page across the TV screen along with a pretty bell-chime to catch their attention: CALL MIKO. 843-6456. Shippo gave Miko a burned cell phone he had on hand and also provided Cyborg with the number.
Shippo decided waiting in the shadows at the base of the T-Tower (slowing turning into H-Tower) but was able to see and clearly hear Miko taunting the HIVE teen-agents.
Gizmo handed Jinx the Tower phone with a grin. Five down, one to go; Mammoth and Jinx returned the grin and Jinx turned the speaker-phone on and dialed the number provided on the screen.
'"Hello Vault Park Zoo, snake department, hissssssssss… What'cha want?"' Came the female voice on the other end of the line. Jinx knew that it was the missing member of the Teen Titans, Miko.
'"This is Jinx…"' She said with a superior grin crossing her face to echo across the faces of her fellow HIVE teen-agents.
'"I'll see if she's here..."' Came the light tone of voice of the latest addition to the Teen Titans through the speaker-phone.
'"No, no, no. I said this is Jinx."' Jinx said furrowing her brow.
'"Who is?"'
'"I am, speaking."' Jinx said shaking her head at her teammates giving them a 'What the heck?' look.
'"Oh, you're Ms. Speaking…"' Miko teased through the phone.
'"This is Jinx, speaking."' Jinx said trying to clarify the mix-up.
'"Jinx Speaking… Any relation to Jinx?"' Came Miko's interested, yet mocking voice.
'"Miko, is that you?"' Jinx silently demanded Gizmo looked outside the window to the ground below the tower. He did with frown and saw Miko standing there waving at him.
At Jinx's questioning look, he nodded and pointed at the ground, indicating that the last member of the Teen Titans was on the ground and waiting for them to come out on her turf and catch them off balance if she could. But the HIVE teen-agents had already defeated the Original Five Teen Titans…
'"Who's calling?"' Miko asked jovially on the other end.
'"I am, Miko."' Jinx's were glowing her signature fuchsia in her frustration, and the coffee pot she was standing next to fell apart at the screws.
'"Oh no, you're not Miko, I'm Miko, I ought to know who I am."' Miko was having all together too much fun messing with her state of mind; Jinx decided, grinding her teeth. Her head was swirling trying to keep up with the witty verbiage that Miko was slewing her way. It was obvious that she and Beast Boy were VERY good friends. She had even picked up his bad jokes!
'"This is Jinx Speaking, Miko!"' Jinx said getting utterly frustrated at the runaround Miko was giving her.
'"Well now, that's ridiculous. You can't be all three.. Figure out which one you are and
call me back."' The voice seemed to draw away from the phone.
'"I'm coming right down there!"' Jinx yelled into the phone just as Miko hung up.
'"Coming right down- all three of her…" Miko looked at Shippo and shook her head, a grin stretching across her face at getting into and tweaking around the head of an enemy.
((A/N: I got this excerpt from a Cary Grant Film: 'Monkey Business', check it out- it's a hoot! Though I did tweak the dialogue…)) "Alright Cyborg," Miko said opening her communicator. "She's mentally off balance… Go for it!"
"Jinx- forget about her… 'Slade is gonna have kittens when he see's that we've taken their tower."' Gizmo said as he went back to the music he was organizing/critiquing.
Miko saw Cyborg's arm jump from it's posed position on the wall to the floor of the multi-purpose room, while the HIVE teen-agents were busy, Mammoth with eating; Jinx with admiring herself, and Gizmo critiquing their music.
'"Crud. Snot."' Gizmo declared as he threw the CD's off to the side and away from him
Cyborg's arm plopped into a command chairs for one of the computers, and extending three mechanical "arms" was able to access the Tower's main computer and feed it a command to have a "spizz-fit".
The screen turned blank and alarms began blaring along with the red alert light. CD's began shooting out of their places and cupboard doors began opening and closing on their own.
'"What the hairball?"' Gizmo demanded as he crab-walked backwards toward the chair that Cyborg's arm was located in, CD's still flying out at him. Cyborg's arm captured him and with the aid of arm rockets, propelled them through a circular ventilation duct and outside the tower.
A large black claw made of energy expanded from the ceiling, grabbed Jinx and pulled her through to the roof.
Then the doors opened and a star-bold hit Mammoth at the small of the back and propelled him outside the Tower as well. Miko quickly got the hint and closed her communicator and with a nod, signaled to Shippo to take her to the roof.
'"Sorry to interrupt the victory celebration…"' Robin said catching his utility belt and snapping it back around his waist. '"But like I said: This isn't over."'
'"It's just getting' started."' Cyborg said reattaching his arm. The rest of the Titan's landed behind Robin. Shippo stuck to the shadows and largely out of the way; he didn't want to get in the middle of the battle for their home.
'"Attack-pattern: Alpha!"' Jinx declared, and Gizmo and Mammoth jumped off to either side of her.
With star-bolts, Star-Fire was able to drive Jinx back into the construction area, but not before two semi-water towers fell to ether side of Cyborg and part of the roof exploded.
Cyborg stood out in the open and Gizmo jumped on his back. '"Hey, robo-wimp; feel like getting' hacked?"' Gizmo said with a smiling snarl.
'"Nope. How about you?"' Cyborg asked raising his electronic eyebrow at the pint-sized hacker. '"Robin, Now!"'
Robin was able to throw a yellow device at Gizmo's backpack which began shorting and electrocuting him.
'"Augh! AGGGh! Cut it out! It's gonna crash my whole system! Get it off me! Get it off me!"' Gizmo yelled, turning this way and that as he struggled with his electronics popping out of his backpack
'"Beast Boy! Go!"' Star-Fire declared to her teammate as she finished driving Jinx into the construction area.
He acknowledged her with a two-fingered wave and transformed into a green-monkey, clinging onto Jinx's face. In her unthinking struggle, she unleashed wave after wave of her bad luck hexes into the construction area, until she managed to pull the monkey-fied Beast Boy off her face and throw him through the rafters.
'"Your luck just ran out!"' Beast Boy said with a devious smile before running and transforming into a green-hawk and flying off the roof.
'"Huh?"' Jinx questioned before she heard her hexes taking effect and the construction began to fall around her.
Cyborg ran into the running Mammoth, as he made to charge at Raven, with a shoulder to the gut. Mammoth slid for a good twenty-yards before struggling to get up and coming face to face with a green T-Rex, who roared at him as he ran from it. Star-Fire charged up her star-bolts and threw it at Mammoth in such a way that he flipped three times in the air before Robin got a flying kick across his jaw and chest, sending him backwards into Jinx and Gizmo.
Miko was quick to hit Mammoth with a paralyzing sutra, and pasted a great luck onomori on Jinx to cancel out her hexes.
'"Ugh… Cram it, I'm calling Slade…"' Gizmo said from his position beneath Mammoth.
Robin was quick to pull him out, and dangle him by his collar. '"Who is Slade?"'Robin demanded of Gizmo, who merely smirked at Robin's lack of fore-knowledge. The goodie-goodie's never are aware of what can happen until it's too late.
~'"We gotta get you home… Come on."'~ They heard Cyborg's voice, and then that was all she and Shippo were to witness, because her powers suddenly flared and in a flash of that oddly colored light, she and Shippo found themselves standing in the bottom of the well.
"Now where or when are we?" He demanded.
"Dunno…" Miko said, being of a confused mind as well.
An alert over her communicator clued her into opening the device.
~"Miko- are you done yet?"~ Came Robin's voice.
"I…" She shared a glance with Shippo, "think so… what's up?"
~"How soon can you get back here?"~
"Um-" Miko never got to finish her thought, because they were suddenly pulled out of the well by Matsurokan, who was currently in his Youkai form.
"She shall be returned shortly Robin…" Youkai stated, then he closed the communicator. Which she then returned to its place in her uniform.
"The Generals told my father about how you and Shippo suddenly decided to go missing…" He said dryly. "Since you are back, my father has sent me to send you back to your cousin, and his teammates."
"Oh that's-" Again, she wasn't allowed to finish her sentence, before she was upswept in light and quite as suddenly deposited at the front door of the T-Tower.
"We shall discuss your excursion later." He said in a tone that matched his fathers. "I do not care for your sudden disappearance," and then quite unlike his father, he nuzzled her neck in affection. "Take care to not do so again, I would be most displeased." Then he folded himself into his ball of light and disappeared into the distance.
"Odd…" Miko said before entering the tower and going upstairs to see her teammates gathered in the multi-purpose room. "Alright, I'm here, what's up?"
"Not much, apparently, according to Tamaranian culture- today is Blorthog, the Tamaranian festival of friendship…"
"And what happened?" Miko could tell that something or some fight had occurred while she was in Japan.
"I'll let Star-Fire tell it, she knows the whole tale…" Robin said pushing her slightly forward by her shoulder.
Star-Fire was elated to see her and cried out: "Kikyo! It is good to see that you have returned! Happy Blorthog!"
Having the distinct impression that Blorthog was basically the Tamaranian version of Christmas, Kikyo returned the greeting.
"We've been waiting for you so we could all hear this." Raven explained as she looked at the Blorthog neck-chimes that Star-Fire had re-gathered and set to the side along with the Blorthog presents.
() * () * ()
'"…And then Cyborg handed me the clock and I stepped through the vortex."' Star-Fire finished her tale.
'"Whoa…"' Raven said, at a loss for words.
"Oh, so that's how it happened…" Kikyo said nodding in semi-understanding. "I was wondering what would cause something like that to happen…"
'"Bald? You're telling me I'm going to be bald?" Beast Boy demanded tearing at his hair in dismay.
'"Guess you were right about all that Recmaz stuff…"' Cyborg said in mellow yet sad understanding.
'"I don't want us to drift apart. Does it all have to happen? Isn't there anything we can-"' Robin said, trying to come to terms with the future.
'"Our friendship has already changed Warp's past… I believe it can also change our future…"
"Wait a minute- Speaking of future" Beast Boy stopped them. "Why weren't you in the future?" He asked turning to Miko.
Miko blanched, "I was told back in the past that I'm immune to the forces of time…"
"What do you mean immune?" Raven asked.
"I don't know-" And Miko proceeded to tell her tale about what happened to her and Shippo while in the mixed up time-line.
"Do you think that it was an alternate dimension?" Robin asked her.
"Shippo mentioned 'String-Theory' I have no idea what it means, but I know it's confusing and definitely complex…" She said.
"We never did find that game OR the waffle iron, did we?" Cyborg asked his little green buddy.
Beast Boy shook his head. "Never did… Wonder where they could be?"
'"So, is it too late to do this festival of friendship thing?"' Raven asked as she reformed the Tenabula's.
'"Oh- It's never too late!"' Star-Fire cheered.
Using her powers, Raven placed a Tenabula around the neck of each Titan, minus Robin, as Star-Fire had his in her hands.
'"Happy Blorthog!"' Cyborg cheered in Raven's ear.
'"I thought it was Blothog…"' Beast Boy said questioningly.
'"O-okay, I feel like a wind-chime…"' Raven said looking tolerantly at her teammates.
'"So, Nightwing, huh?"' Robin looked at Star-Fire with a grin as she finished placing the Tenabula around his neck.
Miko reached over and clapped her hands loudly together, making a 'popping' noise.
"Yah! What the-?"
"Needed to pop that ego before it took over the Tower…" She said with a grin.
* () * () * () * () * () * ()
Miko had finding out about it and at her insistence, the whole team was attending a local festival. There were several rides and games, none of which she was particularly keen on, though she did get a laugh out of watching Beast Boy and Cyborg trying to win Raven a prize, which turned out to be:
'"A giant chicken…. I must be the luckiest girl in the world…"' Raven said, sarcasm flavoring her every word.
Miko was at the booth next to the "ring-toss" game and was throwing unbalanced darts into unsuspecting balloons. She was enjoying the dart game, and used it, though it was rigged, to practice her hand-eye coordination. Her prize, an intricate silver beaded bracelet on 'wrought gold' wire.
It was played off as sterling silver beads on a wire-alloy made from copper and aluminum- but since she'd had her adventures, she was properly able to recognize Totosai's work; and she was able to tell that the beads were crystallized youkai koi's tears, and the wire was made from a youkai kumo's web and then hardened in molten scales from a bred ryuu's mated slumber. There was also the fact that this little piece of jewelry was made to house artifacts or special objects in the tears. Something that would come in handy, Miko decided as she slid the bracelet into the sleeve of her haori.
This "carnival" as Robin had told her of, reminded her of the festivals that she'd attended in Japan. Though she did miss the goldfish catching game and some of her culture's festival delicacies…
'"Titans! Trouble!"' Robin said landing on the ground in front of the games.
'"Where's Star-Fire?"' Cyborg asked, being serious.
'"That's the trouble."' At his answer, Raven threw the chicken to the ground and all four of them chased after Robin to the dock.
Star-Fire raced across the water, being chased by the pink electronic squid thing.
'"No more chasing now, please!"' Star-Fire asked of it after she fired two ineffective star-bolts at it. She flew through the column of her teammates, the Titans, and the squid-thing chased right after her.
'"Who's her new best friend?"' Beast Boy asked, a semi-grin across his face. Miko popped him across the back of his head.
"Seriously?" She looked at him in askance.
'"Don't know- but I can't wait to meet him…"' Robin said punching his right fist into his left palm.
() * () * () * () * () * () *
After the introduction, which Kikyo saw totally through, (Black-Fire tried to insinuate herself between Star-Fire and her friends, but Miko saw completely through it. In fact, her exact words during her introduction were: "You will call me Miko, you will leave me alone, we are not friends, nor shall you ever be considered my friend." With that said she'd left the room. She had hurt Star-Fire's feelings, but the feel of Black-Fire's smirk on her back was like nails across a chalk-board.) Miko had sequestered herself in the medical/sick bay with the puppet Kagome.
Star-Fire had joined them/(her?) there and had a heart-to-heart about the situation. Miko tried to explain how she knew Star-Fire felt, but the only thing that got through Star-Fire's head was: 'They were your friends first, they do feel loyalty to your friendship, Black-Fire'll only be here for a visit, she isn't staying.'
The next day all were inside the T-Tower,Miko was trying to ignore Kikyo's snarky, snarling threats and overall indignation at the unfairness of what Black-Fire was causing to her younger sister, Star-Fire. And so was currently holed up in the basement, they'd since added a bio-metric scan and a twenty-six digit pin for each Titan to be allowed entrance. There was a thirty-two pin needed if a guest was to come downstairs. Upon recalling the issue that Kagome was remembering, (and she was seeing from Kagome's point of view) Kikyo apologized to her "other soul-self"; she'd forgotten all the problems she'd caused her reincarnation while she was in animated clay form.
"What are you working on?" Robin asked as he and Star-Fire came into the basement to take a break from the energies of Black-Fire.
"I had an idea…" Miko said as she tinkered with the databank. "Don't you find it odd that we can find no current hard evidence of something bad happening to the League?"
"It is most vexing and perplexing Kikyo…" Star-Fire agreed.
"What are you getting at?" Robin asked sitting in a chair he pulled out from behind a desk. Star-Fire sat on the desk itself.
"I decided to see if someone messed with the hard-drive…" She said as she disabled some wires. "When I went to the Vault Tower originally, there were several databanks missing…"
"Right…" Robin concurred allowing Miko to lead him through her notion.
"What if the purpose was to copy the hard-drive and add a worm to the programming?"
"And then replace the databanks?" Robin asked raising an eyebrow at her. "Miko- that doesn't make much sense…" Miko held up a finger the semi-universal signal for 'give me a moment' or 'give me a minute'.
Miko was pulling the hard-drive from the databank and compared serial numbers. "Go ahead Saena…" She said into the wireless headset she wore. "Uh-huh…" On a piece of paper she wrote down a series of numbers and letters and then repeated them back to 'Saena'. "PTG87841A3980I57526... Got it thanks…" She pressed a button on the headpiece before removing it. "I got in contact with one of my brother's people, highly trusted, and according to this…" She held up the number she'd written down and the hard-drive, "These two are not a match…"
"What does this mean?" Star-Fire queried. "I understand that the Justice League has extremely highly technical devices why would they not find these things?"
"Hold on a sec Miko…" Robin said removing himself from his seat.
Miko and Star-Fire exchanged shrugs as he climbed the stairs. "Basically- the hard-drive doesn't match the main computer… The Justice League probably didn't think to check the hard-drives against the actual data-bank…"
"Then it is good that you have found the error, but it is bad because the evil-people have…"Star-Fire trailed off, not sure where her ideas were coming from, or if they were even correct.
Miko decided that they had had enough of that and proceeded to show Star-Fire a chi technique.
Fifteen minutes later, Robin returned and saw that Miko was displaying to Star-Fire a chi maneuver by hitting a frying pan, but having the one behind it resonate and swing instead of the first, which merely vibrated.
"It's not a matter of strength, it's a matter of training your energy to affect what you want it to…" Miko explained, as she removed two blasted, melted and warped frying pans. "But not using your physical power…" She said wryly examining the pans with a droll look.
"We've been using high-tech ways to examine the hardware- right?" Robin interrupted them as he returned to the desk that the databank was laying on. He reattached some wires and activated it. After it was booted up, he attached the device he was holding, it looked like a mal-formed grey brick, with a small two-inch LCD screen. "Sometimes, using a low-tech version is more applicable to the situation and solves more problems…" He somewhat explained.
It took several minutes, which Miko and Star-Fire used to maintain their pseudo-squad room. Beast Boy had the bad habit of turning his desk into a war/game zone.
"Ah! I have found the game that Beast Boy lost!" Star-Fire exclaimed triumphantly.
"And I found the Waffle-Iron…" Miko said in an offhand manner, as she pulled the kitchen device from beneath some electronics on Cyborg's desk.
"And I found what we were looking for…" Robin said mask glinting in the lights of the squad-room. "As soon as Black-Fire's gone we're going to go through all of our systems, including Cyborg's and get rid of this…"
"Why not now?" Kikyo asked.
"Because, as interesting as your sister is Star- I don't want her to know about this… This is an official Teen Titan matter, and she isn't a Teen Titan…"
Star-Fire was elated by this news… It meant that she was prized above her sister, no matter what her other teammates might say. Miko was also mollified, Robin was definitely thinking of her as a member of the team. That, and she and Kikyo really didn't like Star-Fire's sister.
() * () * () * () * () * () *
Since Black-Fire was currently out of the tower, Miko came out of the medical bay and was seated with the rest of the Teen Titans on the couch, when Star-Fire approached them her arms laden with different movies, candies and popcorn.
'"Friends, I invite you to join me in the togetherness of a stay home movie night. I bring you popcorn and non-cotton candies. Tell me, what sort of movie shall we view?"' She and Miko shared a grin.
'"Action."'
'"Comedy."'
'"Sci-fi."'
'"Horror."'
Star-Fire dropped what she was carrying. '"Perhaps a double feature?"' She offered tentatively.
"Why? 'Scream' covers practically all four of those bases…" Miko said trying to sooth Star-Fire's tangled nerves.
'"Forget the flicks kids."' Came Black-Fire's voice from the doorway. '"We're going out!"' She said extending her arms to show off what she was wearing.
'"We are? Where did you-? Are those my-?"'
'"Heard about a party down town. Cool Crowd, hot music."' She told the rest of the Titans, a smirk across her face and hands on her hips.
'"Yeah,"' said Beast Boy exuberantly.
'"I'm in."' Cyborg said.
'"Why not?"' Robin asked rhetorically.
'"…And it'd in a creepy rundown warehouse…"' Black-Fire said teasingly towards Raven.
Raven pulled her book down just enough to look at Black-Fire. "Only if Miko comes as well…"
'"I am a party animal."' Beast Boy said turning into a green-gorilla and pulling his cousin over his shoulder.
"I never said I wanted to go!" Miko complained to anyone who would listen.
'"Hey sweetie- raided your closet. Hope you don't mind me borrowing your look…" Black-Fire said superiorly as she walked past her younger sister.
If Miko had Sesshoumaru's poison whip, Black-Fire would be a puddle of ooze at that comment.
'"Why not, you have already borrowed my friends…" Star-Fire said despondently. Miko saw Star-Fire standing in the middle of the multi-purpose room amidst the dropped videos and popcorn and candy. She forced herself from Beast Boy's arms and ran past Black-Fire to grab Star-Fire's hand.
"Not me… Come on. We'll stick together…" Miko said cajolingly; determined to make Star-Fire feel special despite what was occurring around them.
() * () * () * () * () * () *
Kikyo finally cornered Robin in the stairs of the Tower. "What are you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I know you talked to Star-Fire last night, and you know how she's feeling about her sister and losing you guys to her…"
"What about you?" Robin asked trying to turn it back on Miko.
"I never liked Black-Fire from the start. Siblings do not put another down, by making them feel infer-" She halted mid-word… "Come on!"
"What?" Robin asked as Miko dragged him up the stairs to the roof.
"Star-Fire's pulling away from us!" She cried and they rushed out the doorway to see Star-Fire walking toward the edge, with her pink back-pack on.
'"She will be a better Titan than I ever was…"' Star-Fire then allowed herself to feel the joy of flight and began flying upwards.
'"You're just going to leave without saying goodbye?"' Robin asked walking forward to speak with his teammate.
Star-Fire hugged herself and landed in front of him. Miko stood in the shadows knowing that this was important to the both of them. '"Robin- I…"' She interrupted herself and gasped when a ship with a humanoid on it rose above the edge of the roof. The humanoid forced something green and gooey out of its claw to push Robin away from Star-Fire before twisting back and entrapping Star-Fire.
Robin chased after Star-Fire as she was dragged through the air to the ship, but as he leapt, he missed her foot by mere inches and began to fall.
Miko gasped before summoning the rest of the Titans. They were busy with speaking to Black-Fire, but when Miko told them of the situation, they immediately met in the garage. Black-Fire tried to way-lay them by saying that it probably wasn't anything… It didn't work- and with a glare from Miko, the Titan's left to rescue their friend, Miko on Robin's R-cycle and the other Titans in the T-car.
() * () * () * () * () * () *
"Gotta admit Kikyo- your instincts were scary on…" Cyborg said.
"What tipped you off?" Robin asked her.
"Nothing concrete if that's what you're asking…" Kikyo said stretching her arms above her head. "Sorry 'bout your sister Star-Fire…"
"It is alright… But I must agree with Robin, what was it that incited your aggravation?"
"I've been on the receiving end once too often…"
"And that and your instincts on the matter, made sure you were there for me when I needed it most…" Star-Fire said easily, clasping a hand on Kikyo's shoulder. "Thank you Kikyo…. Once we return to the Tower, I shall recite the poem of gratitude; all six-thousand verses…"
"How about we shorten it to the first and last stanzas?" Miko offered in compromise.
Star-Fire agreed and began reciting, still in the car. The poem, though translated was surprisingly nice and heartfelt, and left the team not feeling overpowered.
Once all Titans were back in the T-Tower and recovering from the experience that wasBlack-Fire, Robin initiated the 'oldie-type' scan of all the Tower's systems; after explaining to the rest of the team what they wanted to do.
Several harmful software folding worms were found from the origin of the search grid that Cyborg had initiated of the databank. Once they were recognized and quarantined, they were noticed by the system and removed.
Cyborg, after seeing how the worms had penetrated the Tower's firewall and safety software's, willingly underwent the scan as well. There were only two worms found in his system, but upon finding them, and repeating the aforementioned procedure, his system recognized the threat and upgraded it's systems once he'd copied Robin's old-time scanner software. He also installed the software into the Tower's defenses, there was no way he was going to be taken unawares by worms again…
"At least we're on the right track…" Beast Boy said. "When they try to subvert all that has been accomplished or discovered, and try to divert us with bogus evidence, then there's no way that there's not something on those drives…"
The rest of the Teen Titan's frowned, not used to hearing or witnessing Beast Boy actually use his brain. But once they got the gist of what he was saying, comprehension set in and they ran downstairs eager to uncover more information from the Databank and other sources, now that they'd found how to uncover worms in the programming.
Miko did however, get Cyborg to accede to not 'hook-up' any of HIS systems with the databank or video files even after the worms were removed from them. Once all systems were double-checked, including the ones in the T-Car and the rest of Jump City that Cyborg had hooked up to they backed up all their findings, and since it was just after One in the morning slept the rest of the morning till just before noon.
() * () * () * () * () * () *
That day, the Teen Titans, minus Robin and Miko were grouped in the multi-purpose room, just after "breakfast", enjoying a brief moment of serenity. Well, as much serenity as two teenaged hormonally-driven boys, a teenage alien princess and a teenage female half-demon could indulge in without breaking something.
Miko returned from a quick check on the stability of Kagome in Sick-Bay. She approached Beast Boy and informed him that whatever was ailing his cousin was not abating in the slightest. Just then Robin entered the room, a frown marring his masked face, as usual.
"Hey- Rob! Just finished the T-sub, and all systems are go!" Cyborg declared with a large grin. "We're ready to find Aquaman any time you are!"
"That's great Cy…" Robin said not losing his train of thought.
Robin pulled Miko to the side and spoke to her lowly in rapid and extremely fluent Japanese. A frown formed on her face, but she nodded and answered his questions, also in Japanese.
Beast Boy was only able to understand a few words and phrases: 'Miko', 'fish', 'Aqua-Man', 'power', 'sea', 'energy balance' and 'will try' .
Grasping her hand, Robin pulled Miko outside the Tower and had her focus her powers once more. The others followed them outside, for lack of anything better to do in the tower; plus, they wanted to know what Robin had spoken to Miko about. Star-Fire, Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg watched in curiosity as Miko sat down on a large boulder, and settled herself into a meditation pose. Their curiosity rose as a pink glow surrounded Miko and using her as a center point, seemed to echo around her for miles, sliding through them and other objects, such as the tower with ease, leaving no lasting impression or sensation.
Using her powers as pond ripples, Miko endeavored to find what was the problem with Aqua-Man. They hadn't progressed farther than searching the bay and just beyond for any physical sign of him. Now, at Robin' s prompting, it was time to search for him metaphysically.
The purpose of her using this form of sensation was equated to sonar used on submarines, much like the kind of sonar dolphins and bats use to navigate. As Miko extended her powers, she felt a tingly resonance, much like one would feel when using a tuning fork. However, when the tingly feeling rapidly dissipated, she took note of the person her powers had ensconced and continued searching for the illusive Aqua-Man. The answer took time, and having seven excruciating large main bodies of water to look through meant that it took about a solid half-hour. The answer was: Aqua-Man was nowhere in the oceans or seas. Much to her astonishment, there wasn't even a ping off of anything else living in the seven seas. The one ping, and One Ping only that she had received was off of that one person…
"Well, I'll be damned…" She muttered, only to have Kikyo mentally whack her upside the head in chastisement. The mental whack fluctuated her powers somewhat and she noted that the one 'ping' that she had received, had echoed off the ensconced person and forced them to the surface.
"Since when does she have any real form of powers?" Beast Boy asked his friends, already forgetting about the energy portrait, and most of the heart-to-heart he'd had with her before Operation: Bait-and-Switch…
Raven shot him a look, and he grimaced, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh yeah- My bad… I forgot…" He then focused his attention back on Miko. "Wonder what other things she really can do…" He mumbled semi-rhetorically to the group at large.
As Miko pulled her powers back to herself, stating the answer aloud and began standing up as Robin noted that his fellow Titans were watching them curiously. Speaking in Japanese once again, Miko drew his attention back to the ocean.
It was… glowing…
Green.
A Bright Mystical-esque Green.
"That is not good." Beast Boy said stating their thoughts on the matter.
Cyborg shot his teammate a: 'No! Really?' sarcastic glance, as he used his electronic eye to scan the waters of the bay.
Raven immediately sat next to Miko in her meditation pose and struggled to find the source of the green glow.
Robin took a sample of the water, and ran into the tower to perform a series of analyses on it.
Cyborg used every scanning device he had built in. He was getting conflicting readings, with confused and frustrated him. According to his scans, it wasn't salt-water, or any type of water they were aware of. But it mimicked the ocean, down to microbes, it just didn't allow for oceanic life. This wasn't good, and a quick message from Robin confirmed his results, it wasn't water or any other type of element they were familiar with… It was… Other.
In the distance, Star-Fire saw something that looked familiar. She hovered and then flew to the site where it drifted in the ocean. It was Aqua-Lad. There was a slightly pink sheen to him amidst the glowing green of the bay. Gasping in horror she lifted him from his floating position and flew back to the Tower. As she lifted him, she silently noted that the pink sheen dissipated, puzzled she contacted the others as she flew. The others met her inside in Sick-Bay.
Aqua-lad was not in good shape. As a matter of fact, he was in decidedly horrible shape. He had several lacerations across his back, a black-eye, a large cut across his lips, and multiple bruises across his torso which could be seen through his ragged body suit.
Since a good many of the wounds were minor, and the resident mystics (Raven and Miko) were busy trying to identify the green substance in the bay, Cyborg and Beast Boy started patching him up. After taking care of most of Aqua-lad's wounds, they carried him to a saline tank and upended him into it. The salt water did the trick and within twenty minutes he was revived. Shaking his head, and despite his injuries, which although had healed rapidly during his saline immersion still had not fully mended, he pulled himself from the tank.
Once he was wakened enough to note that he was among friends and allies, Aqua-Lad carefully articulated the course of events that led him to the point which had caused him his injuries. Apparently, Aqua-Man was attacked while in Atlantis and taken. As soon as it was realized, Aqua-lad was summoned by the Queen to find her husband. There was no trace of the Atlantean King, and when they attempted to contact their JLU allies, there was something wrong with their communications. And across the week of searching for the Atlantean King, several other facts became apparent:
1) They were losing people
2) Native fishes and Atlantean life were disappearing
3) Structures and objects from past wars both Human and Atlantean were vanishing
And 4) When the Queen and Prince disappeared, Aqua-Lad swam as fast as he could to the surface to contact the Titans
But along the sped course of his swim, he too was attacked by an unremitting malicious green light, and he had struggled to get as far as he could before he lost consciousness. The last thing he remembered was a pulsing pink light that beat the green light from his body.
It was at that point of his tale that Miko and Raven entered the room. Raven was frustrated, but as she ignored the aquatic hero in the room (no small feat for a teenage hormonal female half-demon) she grabbed Cyborg by his arm and proceeded to drag him out of the room and down to where their mini-squad room was.
When Aqua-lad noticed the Teen Titan's new member, Miko, he smiled at her and introduced himself.
"Hi, I'm Aqua-Lad, it's nice to meet you- You must be Miko…"
"It is nice to meet you as well…" Miko said rising her hand to shake his. He shook it and gave her a fond glance. Miko was uncomfortably aware of the similar feeling that she had when she was first introduced to Kouga's enamored side.
Why do these type of things always happen to her?
"Of course that does leave us with the issue- Why would they leave you basically alone, and want you to warn us?" Robin asked the question that was on everybody's mind.
A/N: As always, since you've read- Please REVIEW!
Please have faith that I will continue writing for this and my other stories, it just takes time and my actually finding the manuscripts from my earlier (much earlier) days as a writer, transcribing them and editing them to work them the way I want them to….
Thanks, JoWashington