Disclaimer: For the sake of having to say it, I do NOT own the Teen Titans. Duh!
there is an appearance by some bleach characters at the end of this chapter (although minor).
From Darkness Comes Light
By: Patattack
Trouble in Tokyo – Part 2
In Tokyo proper, Robin was in the middle of a brightly lit cell. As he was sitting there, looking at his pink stained gloves while contemplating what had happened, someone came into the room, sitting in a chair on the other side of the bars. "They just don't make heroes like they used to," Daizo said with a bit of a chuckle as he read from a manga. "Wouldn't you agree, my friend?"
"Please… I didn't mean to… he had a power, he could regenerate. And this…" he showed the pink stuff on his gloves. "It isn't blood. He wasn't human."
"Neither are most of your friends," Daizo shot back. "Whatever this Saico-Tek was, he used to be alive. And now…"
"I couldn't have," the Boy Wonder protested. "I would never… this isn't happening. This can't be real. It has to be some sort sick joke, or a setup."
"Oh really? And who precisely would wish to frame you?"
"The same person we came here looking for. Brushogun."
Daizo stood up and walked closer to Robin's cell. "Brushogun does not exist," he said firmly. "Tokyo does not tolerate vigilantes. And you, my friend, are in very deep trouble." He then tossed the manga to Robin and walked out of the room.
Back at the little shop where Raven and Gale had gone into, the two Titans were browsing through the selections of books. "I was just thinking…" Gale spoke up. "That thing Beast Boy said, about Saico-Tek not being waterproof, maybe it wasn't as stupid as it sounded."
"What makes you think so?" Raven asked.
"Well, for one thing, he grew back an entire arm after Cyborg blew it off," the winged boy pointed out. "And when we were bringing him in, I noticed that he wasn't breathing."
"Are you sure about that?"
"I even used my powers to check it out, and there wasn't a single breath of air inside him. It's like he wasn't even really alive, as if he was a robot, or some creation of magic. Strange…"
"No kidding…" Raven muttered. "And speaking of strange, didn't it seem weird how Daizo reacted when Robin mentioned Saico-Tek? He might know something, seeing how quick he was to dismiss it." Gale nodded in agreement at this. Raven picked up a book and started looking through it while her friend browsed through a shelf, but then she turned around in surprise when someone put a hand on her shoulder and spoke up to get her attention. As it turned out, the person was a short old man with a bushy moustache and eyebrows who wore glasses and was standing on a desk. He was dressed in a gray kimono shirt and pants, with a dark vest and a pair of wooden sandals.
"Welcome to my shop young lady and sir," he greeted them in perfect English. "Looking for something… in particular?"
Gale smiled in amusement at Raven, who had surrounded her hands with black energy and had a startled expression on her face. "Better be careful," he whispered to her. "He looks pretty vicious."
"Shut up," she shot back at her friend, blushing a little in embarrassment as she let go of her powers. "We're looking for a book about Brushogun," she spoke to the old man. "But there's nothing in fiction or mythology."
"Well of course not." The elderly man then stepped off his desk and walked further back into his shop, the two Titans following when he bade them to do so. He came to a stack of books, and after a short moment of rummaging through it, he picked up a red and white book that showed a red armored warlord on the cover. "Although few people today believe it, Brushogun was no myth. Here, take this," he added, giving them the book.
"Arigatō, Honya-san," (Thank you, bookseller) Gale said politely, he and Raven giving a short bow before they walked out of the small shop.
In the same restaurant that he'd first entered, Cyborg was sitting at his table, awaiting the next dish. All other customers had long since cleared out, leaving him alone with the little chef and his aides. "Bring it on! I can chow down anything you can make!" Cyborg boasted.
"Raw eggs? Devil fish?" the chef spoke up as each plate was put in front of his customer. In response, the cybernetic teen picked up the plates and scarfed down the somewhat questionable substances in a flash. "Pickled sea cucumbers? Chicken liver? Cow Eyes?" Almost steaming at the ears because of Cyborg eating all the food before him, the chef then picked up a small, beaten up old boot full of green substance. "Old shoe full of wasabi!" he almost screamed, throwing it at Cyborg, who caught it in his mouth and gulped it down.
"What's for dessert?" he asked with a grin. At this, the chef snapped, picking up a large knife and fork, and then jumped at Cyborg, screaming and followed by his aides. Suddenly deciding that leaving was a good idea, Cyborg quickly jumped to his feet and dashed outside, getting his rear end scorched when one of his pursuers fired off a small flamethrower at him. In his haste, he failed to notice the green gorilla running in the opposite direction, until they ran into each other and fell to the ground, the primate turning back into Beast Boy.
"Who's chasing you?" they both asked at the same time.
"Chefs!" "Girls!"
Cyborg then noticed a horde of screaming teenage girls who were running towards them from the same direction the shape-shifter had come, while the angry chefs were not far off. Seeing their pursuers coming at them like this, the two boys sprung up and ran down a side-alley as fast as they could.
Over in a different part of Tokyo, Starfire was standing in front of a pink store window. Behind it, was a little red platform, upon which was a dark blue monkey like electronic figure, and another one on the opposite side, except light blue and with a pink bow on its head. Sadness crossed her face as she watched the two figures waddled closer until they were holding each other with their lips touching. A little black haired schoolgirl walked over to the Tamaranian, looking up at her. "Are you sad about something?" she asked.
"No thank you, I am sad about nothing," Starfire replied, looking at the little girl with a fake smile. "And I do not have the boy troubles."
"Okay," she said simply.
"Ohhh… I am not even certain I have a boy with whom to have the troubles," Starfire confessed to the little girl, who looked up at her, listening closely. "Since I have met him, I have had… the feelings. I have waited with much patience, hoping that someday…" The young Japanese girl then grabbed the Tamaranian's hand, walking down the street with her. "Perhaps I was foolish to hope. Perhaps we are just heroes, and nothing more."
"Grandmother says that hoping for love is never foolish," the girl piped up, smiling brightly.
"You are right," Starfire said, cheering up already. "We can be more than just heroes. I feel this, and he does also, even if he fears to admit it. And I shall not let him go without a fight. I thank you very much for this talk, you are most insightful." Starfire stopped to gently ruffle the girl's hair. "I must go find-" The female Titan gasped as she caught sight of a giant TV screen that displayed a photo of Robin after being arrested. "Robin?"
The screen then switched over to show the mayor of Tokyo, who was speaking to the press. "… was apprehended at the scene by the Tokyo Troopers, and imprisoned on charges of manslaughter. His associates, the Teen Titans, are hereby ordered to turn themselves in, or leave Tokyo at once."
Though she was more than a little shocked by this piece of news, Starfire did not stay still. She went straight into the air, and as she was flying, she pulled out her communicator and called her friends. "Titans, emergency!" she said with desperation. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Gale, please answer!"
"Starfire," Raven spoke up. "What's wrong?"
"Robin has been… arrested, for a terrible crime."
"Girl, are you crazy?" Cyborg asked. "Robin would never commit a... whoa!" The robotic teen interrupted himself upon seeing the same picture Starfire had seen.
"And he was telling us to stay out of trouble," Beast Boy remembered.
"Do we know where he is?" Raven asked.
"No," Starfire answered. "I have tried to contact him, but he does not respond."
"What should we do?" Gale inquired. "Troopers might come after the rest of us now."
"I'll transmit coordinates for us to rendezvous at so we can regroup and figure this out," Cyborg told the rest of them.
"Hurry, please. We need to help Robin." Starfire then put away her communicator and started to fly a little faster. However, a dark and light blue boy that looked like a strange anime character flew towards her from behind, unknown to her until he shot out a ball of bluish white energy that hit her in the back. "Konichiwa!" he, or it, cried out, unleashing a blast of energy at the Tamaranian.
After having received the message from their friend, Raven and Gale took to the air with the intention of going to their meeting point. They were flying over a cemetery at the moment, silence hanging in the air, except for a bunch of crickets. Something passing behind prompted them to stop and look around for the source of the disturbance. "I know I just heard something unusual," Gale said with a frown, holding his transparent sword in one hand while Raven surrounded hers in black energy.
"Come on, let's go," Raven spoke up after a few seconds of not seeing anything. The two of them then continued flying towards their destination, until Gale caught the sound of something coming straight towards them. He suddenly turned around and brought his sword up, a clang resounding as he blocked a scythe aimed at him. The weapon was held in a pair of skeletal hands, which belonged to a figure that was covered in a black cloak and looked like the grim reaper, floating in mid-air. At the same time as this happened, another figure came at Raven, this one black, with no arms or legs and with a gray mask like face, prompting the young sorceress to take evasive manoeuvres.
In the meantime, Cyborg and Beast Boy were running along a small street, fortunately not being chased by angry chefs or love crazed girls. "Starfire, Raven, Gale…" he spoke into the communicator in his arm as they ran towards their meeting spot. Then, out of the blue, a pincer claw grabbed him by the waist and picked him up. What turned out to have grabbed him was an anime like character with a body shaped like a giant yellow and black ball, with no legs, two serpentine arms and a head without a neck. The yellow creature then opened its mouth wide and dropped Cyborg in whole. However, there was the sound of pounding from the inside, followed by the cybernetic teenager forcing the thing's mouth open and making his way out.
"Dude!" Beast Boy cried out, running towards his friend, but stopping when he saw the same girl he'd been chasing earlier who was just standing off at the side. "Hot girl, don't go away!" he said to her. "I just gotta help my friend then I'll be back to take you on the best date of your life." However, just as he finished saying this, the object of his desire spun around, turning into a pink cat-girl complete with fur, a tail, claws, paws and cat ears. She then promptly lashed out with a kick that threw him off his feet and sent him crashing into a vending machine hard enough to dent it badly.
"Meeeeow."
"On second thought… maybe we should just be friends," Beast Boy suggested, at which she lunged at him.
Back with Robin, the Titans' leader had been sitting in his cell until a pair of guards wordlessly pulled him out, putting a pair of handcuffs around his hands and escorting him to an armored car. There he stepped into the back without protest, sitting down as the doors came firmly shut, but not before he caught a glimpse of Daizo's face, which showed only contempt at the moment. He sat quietly as the truck moved out and onto the road. At some point, a small piece of paper drifted in through the slit in the door where light was coming through from the roadside lamps. It floated down to sit at his feet and he looked at it to see one word written in pink. "Brushogun…"
Oddly enough, the ink flew off the piece of paper and came together in mid-air, taking the shape of a familiar looking pink ball, which then formed into a beeping shuriken. Taking this into account in a snap, Robin dived away from the device, which exploded a second later, lifting the armored car into the air and sending it tumbling down the road. When it was finished its impromptu ride, Robin stepped out, dragging with him the beaten up trooper who'd been driving the vehicle. He set him down at a distance from the truck and laid his cloak on top of him, after which the armored car exploded in an impressive display. "Brushogun is real," he said to himself. "And I have to find him." He then walked down an alleyway, away from the burning truck.
Not too long afterwards, a bunch of troopers showed up, going quick at work to put out the fire. The commander stepped out of a police car, walking over to the injured trooper who was just sitting up, and picked up Robin's tattered cape. "Troopers!" he spoke up. "There is a criminal on the loose in our city! Bring him in, or bring him down!"
Once again with Cyborg and Beast Boy, the two titans were busy fighting the yellow creature and pink cat-girl. The yellow thing grabbed Cyborg with one of its pincers and brought him towards him mouth, attempting to bite him, although he planted his hands and feet on its face to prevent that from happening. Struggling for a split second, he kicked off, sending it crashing into the ground below. He ran forward to meet its charge, the thing's hands changing into a steak knife and cleaver. "Think you can make a meal outta me?" he asked, dancing around its blows and blocking those that came too close. "You don't have the guts." Cyborg then managed to jump onto its body and kicked it the face, shifting his right arm into his sonic cannon. However, he was forced to eat his words when the creature bounced back with surprising speed, biting off the end of his cannon arm. "Okay… maybe you do have the guts," he said worriedly. Despite this, he continued to fight with the creature, who managed to grab and put him in his mouth again. "Yo B!" he called out to his friend as he struggled against the yellow thing. "I could use a hand here!"
Unfortunately for him, Beast Boy was a little too busy with his own battle to take the time to help his friend. Shifting into a grizzly, he charged at the cat-girl, who merely smirked as she danced around his massive paws for a few seconds, then jumped up and punched him right in the nose. Falling back because of this, he growled in annoyance and then grew in size, becoming a T-Rex. The ground shook as he lumbered towards his opponent, who leapt onto the building behind him, climbed up a bit and then jumped off, coming down at him with a falling kick right on his head, causing his massive form to tumble.
"You're really annoying!" he complained, shifting to a rhinoceros and charging at her again, though she simply jumped onto his back and flipped off with grace. She then started to speak to him in Japanese, though he could not understand a single word, jumping onto his back when he shifted into a pterodactyl and flying upward. The cat-girl suddenly put her hands over his eyes, then jumped off before he crashed into the side of a building, tumbling down onto the ground below. "Come on! How am I supposed to think of a decent comeback when I don't even know what you're saying?" In response, the cat-girl started to climb down the wall until she reached Beast Boy, planting a kiss on his cheek. He simply stood there dumbly as she dropped down, speaking a few words, of which he could still understand nothing. She then giggled a bit, then lashed out at him with a kick that had him crashing into the ground a distance away.
Having just freed himself from the yellow thing's grip for the immediate moment, Cyborg caught a glimpse of his friend getting his butt handed to him. He jumped to the side as an arm with a giant fork at the end stabbed at him, then stepped on it hard. The robotic teen followed up by grabbing a hold of the creature's arm and managed to throw it at Beast Boy's attacker, who was caught off guard, resulting in both of them being knocked into a wall. Seizing the chance, Cyborg ran to his friend and pulled him up, the both of them escaping before their enemies could get up again.
At Starfire's end, the Tamaranian girl was engaged in a full-fledged aerial fight with the little flying blue boy. She ducked and weaved in mid-air, avoiding a salve of energy pellets shot at her from a distance, then retaliated with a barrage of starbolts when her opponent came close, though he rolled over and was unharmed. The blue boy pulled out a small rocket from his mouth and fired it off at Starfire who was attempting to put some distance between them. As it came close to her, she turned around mid-flight and blasted it with her eyebeams, though the shockwave of the explosion caused her to tumble in the air for a moment before she regained her balance and continued flying away. Then, with a series of aerial moves, and by going around a building and then flying back, Starfire managed to get behind her pursuer, blasting off a series of starbolts after him, one of them just clipping him in the side, propelling him into a neon sign.
However, the blue boy then kicked off and they flew straight towards each other, fists covered in energy, a small explosion blowing them away when they collided. Not wanting to waste time, the Tamaranian girl flew away immediately, the blue boy in hot pursuit. "Go away now please," she said as he continued hounding her with pellets of energy. "You are a mean little boy and I have no time for your games. I must find-" Starfire was caught by surprise when she saw the little blue boy suddenly flying at her head on.
"Hanarete bakudan!" (Bombs away!) the blue boy yelled. He then opened his mouth WIDE, and out came a large rocket, aimed directly at the Tamaranian girl, exploding in a rather impressive display, kicking up a vast cloud of smoke. Starfire watched from an alleyway that she had dived down into, sighing in relief as the blue boy flew away when the she was nowhere to be seen.
Over in the graveyard, Raven and Gale were stuck fighting the strange masked ghost and grim reaper figure respectively. The winged titan blocked a swing from the reaper's scythe aimed at his left, ducking low when his opponent brought about the butt end towards his head. He then swung his sword in an upward arc, stopping the falling scythe. The grim reaper figure pushed its weapon against Gale's with surprising strength, though he still managed to hold it at bay. Keeping their weapons locked, Gale commanded the air below the grim reaper to explode, blasting him upward. He stood still as the reaper came down at him, and then used his powers to push himself out of the way, the scythe getting stuck in the ground where he'd been standing a second ago.
Flying a short distance up, Gale held his sword in both hands and swung it down, sending a blade of air straight at his enemy. A small cloud of dust kicked up because of this, but before Gale could blow it away, he was forced to move to avoid the twirling scythe that was thrown at him. The grim reaper was still standing, his hood having been knocked off, revealing a skeletal head that had taken a beating. The winged titan drew back his sword to attack his now unarmed opponent, but interrupted himself when he sensed something behind him. He rolled over in mid-air, just barely avoiding the scythe that was returning to its owner, though it still gave him a cut in the right shoulder. "Guess I shouldn't have held back," he muttered, the two of them resuming their fight.
And in the meantime, Raven was still locked in battle with her own opponent. With the book tucked under one arm, she raised her free hand and thrust it forward, sending a bunch of obsidian covered rubble at her enemy who flew around it, though she managed to catch it in a black claw. However, a pair of shadowy claws extended from the ghost's body, grazing her cloak when she ducked underneath it. She then jumped into the air, avoiding getting struck by the claws again, and flew away from her attacker, phasing through several tombstones while trying to reach her friend at the other side of the graveyard. The masked ghost followed easily, phasing through the obstacle as she did, then surprised her by coming up from the ground and grabbing a hold of her. Raven was twirled about in the air for a second, until her opponent flew down, drawing a cry from the young sorceress when she was slammed into the ground, losing the book in the process.
Having heard his friend's cry, and earning a cut on the cheek for being distracted by it, Gale summoned a gust of wind that blew his enemy away, then flew down next to Raven. "Any ideas?" she asked, as the masked ghost came up out of the ground and the grim reaper figure flew back towards them.
"I got one," Gale said, materializing earmuffs made of air and holding them out for Raven. "Put these on."
"What're you going to do? Scream?"
"Yep." Raven quickly put on the earmuffs as Gale breathed in deeply. Their enemies charged at them, and when they were close, the loudest, most horrible noise imaginable erupted from the winged boy's mouth. IMENSELY amplified by his powers, his voice was like a thousand blaring trumpets playing over a dozen loudspeakers. And even though the earmuffs blocked out any noise, Raven could still feel the sound waves. The grim reaper and masked ghost were caught full blast, trapped in place by the terrifying noise, Gale continuing to scream until they simply exploded, at which he stopped and dispersed Raven's earmuffs. "You… alright?" he asked his fellow titan, feeling a little tired from the effort.
"You're bleeding," she pointed out.
"It's nothing," he protested. "You don't need to worry about-"
"Just stay put and let me heal you," she said firmly. He stood still without further protest as Raven used her powers to fix his injuries, as minor as they were. As she was doing this, some of her inner emotions decided to speak up in her mind.
'Now this is an opportunity if ever I saw one,' Love commented.
'You should totally go for it!' Happy pitched in.
'Yeah, you gotta seize the moment and act, Rae-Rae,' Bravery added.
'Logically, if you were to make a move, the current setting and physical proximity between you two would make this the ideal moment,' Wisdom spoke.
'So go ahead and kiss the poor boy already,' Love said. 'You know you want to.'
"Are you sure you're alright?" Raven broke away from her thoughts at the sound of Gale's voice. "You looked like you were spaced out for a moment."
"I'm fine. I just…" 'Oh, what the hell,' she thought to herself. Following her emotions' suggestions, she then leaned forward and gently kissed him on the cheek. When she pulled back, the two of them were blushing a little as a result of her actions. "Thanks for the save."
Gale held up a hand to the spot where she had kissed him. "You're welcome, Raven."
"Rachel, Rachel Roth… when it's just you and me."
"Okay then, Rachel," he said with a smile. "Let's go find the others."
Following his escape from the armored truck, Robin was now standing in a darkened alleyway, watching closely as a helicopter passed overhead. Convinced that no troopers were going to find him here, he allowed himself a brief moment to relax and spared a look at a newspaper he had picked up. Although he couldn't understand what was written, he could still see the picture of himself after his arrest. "If everyone's looking for Robin, then I can't be Robin anymore." That said, he dropped the newspaper and pulled out an apparatus from his gloves, forcing his handcuffs open.
As he massaged his wrists, he heard the sound of someone walking up behind him. "Give me your money," a male voice said in Japanese, and then in English when he didn't react. Robin turned around and saw a man in a white trench coat, wearing boots, sunglasses and pointing a handgun at him. Robin smirked a little, and then jumped into action. A few gunshots rang out into the night, followed by the sound of someone getting clobbered, and then Robin switched the now unconscious mugger's clothes for his own and left him there.
He walked along by himself, mostly keeping to the shadows, until he came into a particular alleyway with an entrance that lead to a bar, guessing by the motorcycles left outside and the music being played inside. Not bothering to look at the few people standing around the entrance, he made way down the stairs and went in through the door. It was a dingy looking place, with a handful of bikers and patrons of the rough and not entirely so honest looking variety. He simply shoved his hands in his coat's pockets and walked past them, making his way towards the bartender, who nodded at a large, muscular man sitting on a stool, then nodded in Robin's direction.
The big man stood up and looked down at Robin, talking to him in Japanese, although he simply stood there impassively. However, when he put a hand on the Titan's shoulder, Robin grabbed his arm and flung him over his shoulder, sending him crashing into the wall. That done, all the other patrons rushed him at once, intending to gang up on him. However, despite this, within the space of a few minutes of hard fighting, Robin had clobbered the horde of men foolish enough to challenge him. "Speak English?" he asked the bartender, who'd been the only man who hadn't attacked him.
"Yes sir," he said simply.
"Good. This is the worst dive in the worst part of town. So I'm guessing you know a little something about Tokyo's criminals. I'm looking for Brushogun."
"Ha, he's just a myth." Not satisfied with this answer, Robin reached out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him close. Troopers don't like us talking about him, alright? They say it… inspires more criminals."
"Inspire me."
"He was real, and very bad, with strange powers."
"Was? Where is he now?"
"Nobody knows. One day he just… disappeared. That's when all the new criminals started showing up." The sound of police sirens and helicopters outside suddenly reached their ears, along with searchlights filtering into the dingy bar. "Tokyo Troopers. And I doubt they're here for me." That said, Robin simply shoved him against the wall and walked away, picking up a biker's helmet on his way out.
He then went up to a small garage where a few motorcycles were standing. He put on the helmet and hotwired one of the motorcycles just as the troopers were getting closer. Revving it up, he zoomed forward and crashed through the garage door, zooming straight past the troopers, onto an improvised ramp and sailing over their heads. And although he gained some distance, it took little time for a pair of cruisers to come after him, along with the helicopters flying overhead. Embarking on an overpass, he weaved in-between the cars and trucks already there, avoiding the troopers' fire. At one point, where they had a free stretch, two police cars crept up on either side of him. A trooper in one of the cars aimed his pistol, only to have Robin pull on the brake, causing him to miss and shoot the other car's tire, which resulted in the second car crashing into the first. However, Robin was forced to come to a stop when he was faced with a barrage of cruisers up ahead that left no space for him to pass. "Give up, my friend!" Daizo spoke into a megaphone. "You cannot win!"
Trapped as he was, Robin then stepped off the motorcycle and took off his helmet, holding his hands up in the air. However, Daizo's smug expression was wiped off when Starfire suddenly came flying through, grabbing her friend's outstretched arms and disappearing into the night before anyone could react.
Sometime later, Robin and Starfire arrived at their rendezvous point, which was a large, secluded, old style Japanese house. They walked through the sliding doors, coming into a large, empty room, where they lit a few candles on a table to have some light. "You are not the only one who has been pursued," Starfire said to her friend, laying out one of his spare uniforms before him. "We each were attacked and barely escaped with our lives. But we believe this place will be safe… for the moment."
"Thank you."
"I shall give you time to-"
"Starfire?" Robin said, gently grabbing her arm. The two of them then leaned forward, their lips almost touching, when…
"Wazzup!"Beast boy exclaimed as he barged in, Raven, Gale and Cyborg behind him.
"Man, are you ever glad to see us!" Cyborg said, the half robot now fully repaired.
"I am?" Robin asked.
"You're gonna be, once we tell you the news." The four of them walked in, closing the doors behind them.
"Well, after picking up a spare hand, we went back to the crime scene and found a sample of ooze from Saico-Tek," Cyborg spoke. "I ran a full molecular analysis, and after a few thousand comparisons, I got a match. It wasn't blood on your uniform, it was ink."
"Ink?"
"Yeah. Just like the stains on my armor, the streaks on Raven's cloak, and the lipstick from that girl that kicked B.B's butt," he explained, adding the last part with a mocking tone.
"She was a cat girl!" Beast Boy protested indignantly.
"So the criminals are all connected," Robin deduced.
"Because they were all created by the same person," Raven pitched in. She kneeled in front of the little table and set the book from the shop down on it, the others gathering around. "Brushogun, Tokyo's first super-villain. Once, he was an ordinary artist who dreamed of bringing his creations to life. He tried to make that dream come true using Japanese dark magic. His spell worked… but at a terrible price. The darkness stained him, his skin became paper, ink flowed through his veins. He was transformed into Brushogun."
"Drawings… that's what we've been fighting," Robin realized. "Then I didn't actually hurt anyone. I couldn't have hurt Saico-Tek, because he wasn't even real in the first place."
"They were ink," Beast-Boy muttered.
"All of them," Starfire added.
"Which, of course, would explain why Saico-Tek disappeared when he set off the sprinklers," Gale noted.
"So Brushogun created him to frame me." Determination set into his eyes, picked up his uniform, the others turning around to give him privacy.
"Hey Gale?" Beast Boy spoke up.
"Hmm?"
"What's that you've got on your cheek?" he pointed to the spot, Raven had kissed him, where there was just a faint trace of dark lipstick.
"Nothing," he said quickly.
The changeling grinned wickedly at this, seeing that Gale and Raven were blushing a little. "Really? Cause it kind of looks like Ra-" Beast Boy was interrupted mid-speech when Gale flicked his finger, sending him flying across the room. The Titans' sorceress silenced any further comments with a look that clearly said 'Shut up and don't ask.'
"Alright, Titans," Robin spoke up once he was done changing into his uniform, the five of them with their full attention directed towards him. "This is our mission. We're fugitives from the law, we've got a criminal on the loose who can make more criminals. And the only way to clear our names is to hunt him down, and bring him to justice."
"Yeah, great plan, but there's this one teensy problem… EVERYBODY IN TOKYO'S OUT TO GET US!" Beast Boy pointed out.
"Guys, incoming!" Gale warned them, his ears twitching as he caught onto a sound from outside.
"Raven, get us out of here!" Robin ordered, at which Raven raised her hands and they were all swallowed by black telekinetic energy and disappeared, moments before Tokyo Troopers surrounded the building and barged in, only to find it empty.
Later on in the night, the Titans found themselves in a secluded alleyway, after wandering about in Tokyo, and avoiding troopers as best they could, even though they were spotted more than once. At the moment, Beast Boy was in the form of a bloodhound, sniffing the ground, trying to pick up a trail. "Can't you sniff any faster man?" Cyborg asked/complained. "It's a matter of time before someone jumps us again."
"If you'd stayed still and listened to me, I could've cast an illusion around us so they wouldn't have jumped us the last time," Gale said.
"Really?" Robin asked. "I didn't know you could do that."
"It's a new trick I came up with," the winged teen explained. "I just move air so that it settles in a way to reflect light as I see fit." He then held up his right hand, which became invisible, before appearing again a few seconds later.
"That's pretty cool," the Boy Wonder commented. "Could you make an illusion appear out of thin air?"
"Yes, but it's still easier to attach an illusion to something or someone. And besides, since it's only an illusion, you could just stick your hand straight through."
"What if you used your powers to make a solid figure of air, and then cast an illusion around it?" Robin suggested.
"Hmm… hadn't thought of that. If I practiced combining an illusion with a construct, I should be able to come up with some pretty good tricks to use when fighting. Thanks for the idea."
"No problem." They continued walking along for a moment, until Robin stopped, his attention having been caught by something in the distance. "Beast Boy, you can stop. I know where the trail leads," he announced.
The others looked in the same direction their leader was, seeing the building for Wakamono Shupa a ways off. "Brushogun's hideout is the comic book factory?" Cyborg asked, incredulous.
"It's closed, so no one will go in, and there should be lots of ink," Raven noted.
"Told you we should've taken the tour," Beast Boy said, earning himself a smack in the back of the head from the Titans' sorceress.
"Gale, can you make us all invisible until we get there?" Robin asked.
"Give me a minute." All six Titans stood still as Gale concentrated, until he announced that he was done. "Okay. I just put up a 'bubble' illusion around all of us. It'll stay until I undo it, but keep close or else you'll lose the cover."
"Good. Let's go." They then all took to the air, Starfire carrying Cyborg and Robin, all of them staying close enough together to avoid going through the illusion. After a short while, they arrived at the foot of the skyscraper building. "You can drop it now," Robin said to Gale, at which he dispelled the illusion. They then blasted their way through the doors, standing at the ready when they came into a darkened, wide open room.
"No guards," Cyborg pointed out.
As they were walking further inside, they heard a weak moaning noise coming from another part of the building. "This way," Robin whispered, pointing to a set of doors not far from their position. They charged forward, burst through the doors and found themselves in another room like the one they'd just left, safe that this one was larger and had more things in it, including a station with monitors, and a huge printing press. A light flicked up from Cyborg's shoulder, allowing them to get a better look. "Brushogun," Robin said upon seeing the empty seat at the monitors. "He's not here."
A loud noise came from the printing press as a part of it opened up, revealing a ragged looking, shadowy figure half trapped inside. "I am," the figure said in a weak voice.
"Brushogun?"
Cyborg turned his light towards the figure, revealing a worn out old man trapped in the printing press from the waist down, with tubes stuck into his back. "So glad to finally meet you."
"You're not the one behind all this, are you?" Robin asked. "You're just…"
"His slave. He trapped me in this thing… this cursed printing press that uses my powers against my will. The criminals I create serve him now."
"But you sent the card that set me free. You sent Saico-Tek to our tower, didn't you?"
"It was the only way I could call for help. I knew that if one of my creations attacked your home, it would give you a reason to come to Tokyo, and find me."
"So you weren't the one who framed Robin," Cyborg said.
"Saico-Tek was printed twice," Brushogun explained. "I sent the first as a messenger, he sent the second one as a trap."
"Who sent him?" Beast Boy wondered.
"If you're just the brush, who tells you what to paint?" Raven asked.
"That would be me." The Titans turned in the direction of the newest voice, which had come from the chair at the monitor station. "I must say, you Titans have proven formidable adversaries. Once you are destroyed, perhaps I shall print copies of you to serve me."
"Show your face, coward," Starfire demanded. "Who are you?"
"You may hide your face and talk differently, but I can still recognize your voice," Gale said.
"There's only one person who stands to gain from creating more criminals, the hero who catches them. Isn't that right… commander?" Robin asked accusingly.
"Very good, my friend," Daizo said as he turned around to face them. "But you haven't caught me, I've caught you." He then snapped his fingers, at which lights turned on and a bunch of troopers came into the room from all around, pointing their weapons at them.
"So, if the good guy was really a bad guy…" Beast Boy muttered. "Then that means… oh sweet! We're the good guys again!"
"You're a fraud, Daizo, a fake!" Robin spoke up. "Brushogun was the only real criminal you ever caught, wasn't he?"
"One was enough."
"You used his powers to lie, to make yourself look like a hero. And when I started searching for the truth, you made me look like a criminal!"
"That's a nice little story, young man. But I doubt anyone will believe it, once you're all behind bars. Troopers, charge!" The troopers charged forward at the corrupt commander's command.
"Titans go!" Robin ordered, at which they all leapt into action. Robin jumped forward and planted both feet on one trooper, knocking him down, then kicked off and grabbed the next one while in mid-air, flipping him over his shoulder and sending him into the wall. He started to run towards a group of three that opened fire on him, pulling out his staff and vaulting over their heads, then swept their feet out from underneath them.
At the same time, Cyborg charged straight towards a lone trooper, knocking him down with one punch, then turned around and put his arms in front of his face when two more fired at him. He came charging out of the smoke and threw them a ways off with a punch each. Another trooper went to shoot him from behind, but he reacted with surprising speed and was in his face in a second. "Smile," he said, before the light came up from his shoulder and flashed. He then grabbed the blinded trooper and hurled him at another bunch.
Gale summoned a shield of air in front of him as a handful of troopers fired at him, until the one thrown by Cyborg crashing into their midst. Taking the opportunity, he dispelled the barrier and summoned a gust of wind that picked them up off their feet and blasted them away. Another pair came at him from the side, at which he made a slashing motion with his hand, sending forth a blunt blade of air that had them crashing into the wall.
Three more went to fire at the winged boy, but were interrupted when Raven picked them up with her powers and threw them against the wall. She conjured a black shield to ward off another trio's fire, then swung her hands downward, blasting them back with a wave of black power. When a pair of troopers charged at the Titan sorceress, she merely flicked her wrist, sending them careening away with hardly a thought.
A green gorilla picked up one of the troopers and hurled him at one of his friends before he could fire at Raven. Beast Boy then turned into a boa constrictor as Starfire passed over his head and bowled over a half dozen enemies in quick succession. The changeling slithered his way around laser fire, jumping at his attackers and changing into a bear mid-pounce, his large shape easily carrying them to the ground. The Tamaranian girl came flying past him, grabbing two troopers' weapons and breaking them in half, then punching them and another one.
Running from Starfire, one of the weaponless troopers charged at Robin, who jumped back and bounced off the wall, kicking him hard in the head. Surprisingly enough, as his helmet fell back, a large hole could be seen where Robin had kicking him, before he simply melted away in a black puddle. "Ink… Titans, the troopers, they're not real!" he said.
"Which means we don't have to hold back!" Upon realizing that, Cyborg promptly blasted one with a shot from his sonic cannon, and in the same instant, Starfire blew up one with her eyebeams while Beast Boy, as a gorilla, punched one hard enough to literally take his head off.
"It also means there are plenty more where those came from," Daizo spoke up, pushing a button on the panel next to him. Brushogun moaned in pain as his eyes glowed blue and the printing press came to life. Seeing this, Robin charged at the corrupt commander, only to have his staff be intercepted by a pink Saico-Tek, then be forced back by another. All around the Titans, a multitude of ink creatures rose, including more troopers, cat-girls, masked ghosts, grim reapers, blue boys and replicas of the yellow floating ball character that had bitten off Cyborg's hand. One of the latter ink creatures turned its hand into a cleaver and swung its arm at the young heroes, prompting them to take evasive action.
A little blue boy came straight at Robin, fist reared back and glowing with energy. Robin dropped down, avoiding the blue boy, who flew around and came back at him. But before it could connect, in one fluid move, the Boy Wonder leaned to the side, dodging his enemy, pivoted and pulled out an explosive disk from his belt, throwing it at his target. The projectile flew with pinpoint accuracy, catching the blue boy in the back and blowing both up. He jumped up, retracted his staff and shot out his grapple when laser fire was fired in his direction, swinging across the room and kicking a cat-girl as he passed by. Robin landed with grace in the offending troopers' midst, whipping out his staff again and smashing into them.
Beast Boy grunted as his back collided with the wall when one of two cat-girls kicked him. Quickly getting up, he changed into a cheetah and dashed forward with impressive speed, catching them off guard when he slammed into one and smacked the other with his paws. Changing into an ankylosaurus, he dealt the first a crushing blow with his clubbed tail, then changed into a gorilla and took a swing at the second, though she had already recovered and dodged his fist. He swung at her again, unsuccessfully, at which she replied with a kick to the side of his head. But, as she lunged at him, Robin, swinging from his grapple, kicked her in passing, giving the shape-shifter a chance to grab her. The annoying cat-girl now trapped in one of his large hands, he slammed her into the ground, and then stepped down hard enough to squash her head.
Hovering above the ground, Gale swung his sword, sending forth a blade of air that cut a masked ghost in half, then spun around to block a grim reaper's scythe. Another one flew at him from behind, weapon poised to strike, when Gale suddenly dropped down, causing the two grim reapers to collide. He then came up behind the second one and ran both through with his sword, swinging upward and cutting them almost in half. The winged titan dispelled his weapon and conjured a shield in its place to defend himself against laser fire. However, the troopers shooting at him were interrupted when an obsidian claw slammed a yellow ball creature down on them, leaving barely a half dozen intact. The remainder of this particular group were terminated when Gale conjured razor sharp gusts of wind, slicing them into pieces.
At her end, Raven, after dropping the yellow ball character on the troopers harassing her friend, used her powers to grab a few shurikens thrown her way, redirecting them towards a blue boy, who was hit by this and exploded. She then turned her attention towards a masked ghost coming at her, and raised a black shield when it was close, the creature splattering against it. A lone grim reaper flew towards the young sorceress, who surrounded both hands with her powers, making it look like claws, and chanted. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" She then released the energy surrounding her hands, shooting it out at the incoming scythe wielder. And despite being able to block some of the attack with its weapon, enough made its way through, one shot blasting the grim reaper figure square in its skeletal head.
Weaving around a pair of troopers' fire, Starfire did a mid-air roll, throwing two starbolts powerful enough to disintegrate their targets on contact. She was soon set upon by a cat-girl who sprung off the ground at her. Starfire dodged one kick thrown at her by said cat-girl, blocked another and then lashed out with a powerhouse punch, her Tamaranian strength causing the unfortunate creature to involuntarily fly down and splatter against the floor. Turning her attention towards a trio of shurikens sent her way, she blasted them with her starbolts, only to have a second Saico-Tek come down on her with a double kick, forcing her to the floor below. The first Saico-Tek made to move towards her, only to have her get up, spin around and promptly blast him out of existence with her eyebeams.
Over at his end, Cyborg was, at the immediate moment, jumping around laser fire, as well as a steak knife and fork hand. The knife hand swung, though he was able to block and push it away, catching the giant fork that stabbed at him. Holding a firm grip, he pulled on the arm, bringing its owner close enough to put a hole in its chest with his fist. Shifting his arm, he blasted a few troopers with his sonic cannon, then changed it back and caught a long yellow arm that swung down at him. This time, he spun the creature around like a wrecking ball, ploughing through the troopers' ranks and released it.
The yellow creature travelled across the room, towards where Robin was facing a little blue boy. Seeing the large projectile coming his way, the Boy Wonder leapt up onto a stack of large boxes, leaving his enemy to be picked up like the rest and splatter against the wall. A steak knife hand swung down at his current perch, prompting him to jump out of the way and run up the creature's arm. He then stabbed the yellow ball in the head with his staff, ink flowing out of the wound, until it crashed down on the floor in a black puddle. Upon looking up, Robin could see Daizo, running away on a catwalk. "Starfire, give me lift!" Hearing her comrade's words, Starfire picked him up and flew him to the catwalk, dropping him down on it, effectively cutting off the corrupt officer's retreat.
"Running away? I guess they just don't make heroes like they used to," he said, returning Daizo's earlier comment back at him. In response, the commander pulled out a laser pistol and fired at Robin, who simply twirled his staff in front of himself, deflecting the shots, and then threw it forward, knocking the gun out of his hands, following that up by leaping forward and hitting him with a flying kick.
"Give it up, my friend," Daizo said, acting confident despite everything. "You cannot win."
"I'd say I just did."
"You can knock me down all you like," he went on, slowly backing away from the Boy Wonder, who followed at the same pace. "Destroy me, if you wish, it doesn't change a thing. When this is over, everyone out there will still think you're a criminal. And the people of Tokyo will still call me a hero."
"I know what it means to be a hero, commander," Robin said. "And trust me, you are no hero." Daizo then stopped, looking down over the cat-walk. Sparing his adversary a smug grin, he suddenly leapt over, falling down into the printing press. Brushogun cried out as the machine started to act up.
"Uh oh. This can't be good," Beast Boy commented as things began to shake up all around them. Large pipes flowing with ink erupted from the floor, attaching themselves to the walls while the machine shook even more and ink poured out of Brushogun's mouth. All of a sudden, there was a booming explosion, and all six Titans were forced outside and unceremoniously dumped on the comic factory's grounds. Getting to their feet, they could see the entire building tearing itself up. Then, from the dust and smoke came a pair of long black arms, a huge black ink behemoth rising up, standing as tall as the building had been. The giant had a red mouth and eyes, Brushogun was trapped in the middle of its chest, and there were large pipes over its body, including a bunch at its shoulders that were waving in the air like tentacles. "That's a lot of ink."
"Gonna be one heck of a stain when this is over," Cyborg noted.
"He may have Brushogun's magic, but I don't know how long he can control it," Raven spoke up.
The giant raised both hands, ink dripping down in masses that transformed into hordes of the different ink creatures and troopers they had previously fought, in all manner of colors. A streak of thunder and lightning boomed across thick night clouds, adding to the 'dark' atmosphere hanging in the air. "My, my, there's quite a few of them," Gale said, cracking his knuckles.
"What must we do?" Starfire asked.
Robin's answer was simple. "Erase him." The giant then reared back one of its massive hands and swung down, hitting nothing as they moved out of the way.
Robin jumped into action with all his usual grace and skills, kicking a cat-girl in the face, then bouncing off her to deliver another kick to a Saico-Tek next to her. While still in mid-air, he flung a birdarang that embedded itself in a grim-reaper's skull face, and when his feet touched the ground, he nimbly leapt aside to avoid a cleaver hand swinging down at him. He then executed a backflip, at the same time throwing a couple of explosive disks at the two enemies in front of him, blowing them away.
As this happened, a dozen of their more humanoid enemies came charging at Cyborg, latching themselves onto him after he'd taken down a few of them. Struggling for a moment, he managed to overpower them and sent them flying away. While they were in the air, he shifted his arm into his sonic cannon and blasted a handful of them at one end, while Starfire flew by and hit the rest with a flurry of starbolts. A floating ball character came towards the cybernetic teen, who grabbed a hold of its arm and flung it into the path of another one, blasting them both into oblivion with a powerful shot from his cannon arm.
A bunch of masked ghosts and grim reapers and two copies of Saico-Tek chased after Gale in an aerial pursuit. The winged boy put on a burst of speed and materialized his trademark sword in one hand. He then formed a transparent wall of air in front of himself, flipping his body around to kick off it and suddenly flew in the opposite direction. Now rushing headfirst towards his pursuers, Gale held out his sword arm to the side and began to spin rapidly, the flashing blade cutting his enemies into ribbons. That done, his sword began to glow a little as he dived down towards a large group of enemies, at the same time as Raven was coming at them from the other side.
The Titans' sorceress shot out a blast of dark energy from her hands, while Gale thrust his sword forward, releasing a charged beam of wind, the two attacks eradicating the bunch of ink creatures in a snap. Raven then saw Starfire caught in one of the giant's tentacles, who slammed her into the ground a few times, before his limb released her and reared back. She dived down to stand in front of her friend as the tentacle stabbed at them, conjuring a black telekinetic shield to ward it off, then lashed out with her powers, slicing the limb into pieces, her and Starfire flying away before the giant tried to hit them again.
At his end, Beast Boy found himself set upon by a multitude of different enemies. He first shifted into a tiger, lunging at a Saico-Tek and sinking his fangs into its neck, then became a rhinoceros, his armored skin protecting him against a grim reaper's scythe. The offending skeletal creature was promptly impaled on his horn and tossed aside as Beast Boy shifted into a grizzly, barrelling through a bunch of enemies, before changing into a T-Rex, clamping his mouth around a floating ball character. The ink creatures charged him simultaneously, their collective weight dragging him down a little, until Cyborg blasted a few of them off his back with well-placed shots from his sonic cannon. He then shifted into a hummingbird, flying up a little, and changed into a whale, his now massive weight crushing them all flat.
Robin flipped back, avoiding laser fire and bolts of energy sent his way. Drawing a pair of disks from his belt, he threw them at his immediate opponents, who exploded upon being hit. With a moment to spare, Robin looked up, seeing Brushogun trapped in the giant's chest, sinking in bit by bit. A determined expression on his face, he began to run forward ploughing through a few enemies that were in his way, and dodging the giant's tentacles that came down at him, jumping onto one of them and running up along it. Drawing his combat staff as a handful of ink creatures popped up on the limb ahead, he leapt into their midst, expertly twirling his weapon and batting them aside. As he charged through the last one, he ran up a little higher, and jumped towards the ragged old man, planting his staff in the giant's body near him. "How do I stop him? How do I break the spell?" he asked.
"Without me, he is nothing. You must remove me… from this machine," Brushogun managed to say, before being engulfed completely. Letting go of his staff, Robin planted both hands in the giant's body, making a grab at the trapped old man and trying to pull him out. However, as he was doing so, bits of ink reached out and ensnared his legs and arms, dragging him in despite his efforts, until he was engulfed as well. Laughing maniacally, the giant villain lashed out in the air with its tentacles, catching both Raven and Starfire. It then smacked Gale with one of its massive hands, making him crash into the ground, and slammed another into Beast Boy and Cyborg.
The three boys stood still as they looked up at the spot their leader had disappeared into, their colossal enemy laughing in triumph, until its expression changed into worry and surprise. Robin stuck out a hand, pulling both himself out, and dragging Brushogun along with him. As they were falling down, he shot out his grapple, which caught in the giant's body, allowing him and the freed man to land safely on the ground. "You… saved me…" he said, closing his eyes in peace, fading away until he was gone.
With his disappearance, all his creations melted away into puddled of ink, while the giant's body began to fall apart. "Brushogun's spell, it's breaking," Raven said. The colossal creature's form bubbled up, ink falling down in torrents, until it finally burst, splattering all the Titans in ink.
"Everyone alright?" Robin asked, brushing off a bit of ink.
"We're fine," Cyborg said as Beast Boy helped him stand.
"Same here," Raven pitched in as she grabbed Gale's hand to pull herself up, the teen girl smiling a little.
"Starfire!" Robin called out, seeing the Tamaranian's arm sticking out from a blotch of ink. He ran over and helped her out of it, holding her gently in his arms. "Starfire… are you okay?"
"I am now," she replied. At that moment, water began to pour down from the sky, soaking the Titans and washing away the mess of ink, which revealed the now unconscious Daizo lying on the ground, at which Gale twirled his index finger, binding him in coils of air.
"I think I was wrong before," Robin said as he and Starfire stood up.
"You do?"
"Maybe… a hero isn't all that I am. Maybe I could be… maybe we could be…"
"Robin?"
"Starfire?"
"Stop talking." The two of them then leaned forward until their lips touched, sharing a tender, heartfelt kiss, wordlessly expressing their emotions for one another.
"Well it's about time," Cyborg said as he and the other watched the happy couple.
The following day, Daizo was locked away in prison for his treachery, Robin's name had been cleared, and almost everyone in Tokyo knew about the young heroes' accomplishments. In fact, at noon, the six of them were standing on a podium, with a TV screen showing the team of heroes for the HUGE crowd around them to see. "So I guess you're not a wanted man anymore," Cyborg said to Robin.
"Hmm… I wouldn't say that," he replied, him and Starfire holding hands.
Beast Boy, who was standing next to Cyborg, looked at Raven and Gale, who were standing on the other side of the happy couple, then leaned in to whisper to his half metal friend. "Now that Robin and Starfire are together, we just need to wait for Raven and Gale to do the same." Cyborg grinned a little, giving his green friend a short nod in agreement. All of them stood still as the mayor came up to them, with another man who was holding a cushion with six medals on it.
The mayor smiled happily as he bowed at the Titans, who returned the gesture, keeping their heads down as he began to place the medals over their heads. "For uncovering the truth, for pursuing justice, and protecting out city from a treacherous evil, I present these medals to Tokyo's newest heroes, the Teen Titans." The Titans stood straight and waved as the crowd cheered and clapped loudly.
"So… I guess we have to go back home now, huh?" Beast Boy asked after a moment had passed.
"You know, sometimes even heroes need a vacation."
"Maybe we could go to Karakura?" Gale suggested.
"I don't see why not. Why don't we go first thing tomorrow?"
"Works for me. Thanks."
That evening, not entirely far from Tokyo, in his home in Karakura Town, Ichigo Kurosaki sighed contently as he lay on his bed doing nothing more than simply relaxing. However, the fifteen year old teenager's peace was disturbed when a petite, raven haired girl barged into his room, holding a sketchpad in her hands. "What is it, Rukia?" he asked lazily as he saw her come in.
"Ichigo, you just have to see this!" she said excitedly. "I just did a true masterpiece of art!" He sat up on the side of his bed to look at a drawing that she had done on her pad. It showed a crudely drawn, apparently female bunny, with long black hair in a braid falling down its back who was dressed in a black kimono outfit. Next to the first bunny was another one similarly dressed, except with a white haori overtop. The second one also had long black hair in a braid, except that it was hanging in front of her. And to top it off, there was a third bunny, this one apparently male, with orange hair, who was being hugged by the first two. "Well?" Rukia asked expectantly.
Ichigo looked at the drawing for a moment before giving his answer. "This was after I'd recovered from fighting Byakuya and Aizen. Shelliane and Unohana were saying goodbye before I left the Soul Society."
"I know. So what do you think?"
"It's nice… even though your little bunny drawings still look kind of stupid."
"What'd you say!" Rukia spoke up indignantly.
"I said your little bunny drawings look stupid."
"Why you little…" The raven haired girl then promptly smacked him in the back of the head.
"How dare you insult our beloved Rukia!" a new voice resounded. This was followed by someone diving at Ichigo, who stuck out his foot, kicking them in the face. The person in question turned out to be none other than Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's annoying father.
"Shut up, dad," Ichigo said, annoyed.
"I see your reflexes are as sharp as ever!" Isshin said as he sprung to his feet. "But that doesn't mean I'll let you get away so easy!" The crazy, borderline child abusive father lunged at his son, the two of them fighting it out for a few brief moments, until Ichigo knocked him down with a punch to the face. "Okay… you win. You've done well, my son."
"I'm going downstairs to watch TV," the orange haired teen said, stepping over his dad, with Rukia following him. The two of them made their way downstairs and sat on the couch, Ichigo grabbing the remote and turning on the TV, flipping through the channels. "Crazy old man," he muttered under his breath.
"Come on, Ichigo," his little, brunette sister Yuzu spoke up, from where she was sitting at the table. "Why do you and dad have to fight all the time?"
Her twin, a girl with black hair who had a bored expression on her face, answered for her brother. "Because dad's a lunatic with the maturity of a preschooler."
"It can't be good for them," Yuzu noted.
"Whatever," Karin said, unconcerned by it all.
The relative peace was broken by the sound of the phone ringing. Karin went to pick up the phone, and after a few seconds, informed Ichigo that the call was for him. The orange haired teen stood up and put the receiver to his ear. "Yeah, hello?"
"ICHIGOOOOOO!" a ridiculously loud voice spoke up on the other end of the line.
"What is it, Keigo?" he said annoyed by the volume of his schoolmate's voice. "And don't talk so loud."
"Are you watching the TV?" he asked in a more normal tone.
"Yeah."
"Then switch it over to the news channel right away! It's the coolest thing ever!"
"What is?" Ichigo inquired, just the slightest bit curious.
"THE TEEN TITANS ARE IN TOKYO! IT'S SERIOUSLY THE COOLEST AND MOST WICKED AWESOME THING EVER!" Ichigo held the receiver at arm's length as Keigo shouted loud enough for all of them to hear.
"Okay, I'll check it out. Bye." Ichigo then hung up and used to remote to come up with the news channel his schoolmate was so excited about. What came up was a video, apparently put together with footage taken from peoples' cameras and phones, which showed the Titans' fight against the giant green Godzilla like monster. Karin and Yuzu stood up and came closer to the TV, and Isshin came downstairs to join them. They watched the battle against the green monster, then saw footage of their fight against the ink giant and its minions, along with receiving an explanation of what had happened with Daizo being corrupt. Following that, there was the part where the Titans were honored for their actions by the mayor himself, which showed the group as a whole, then an individual shot of each of them.
"Wasn't that Amicus?" Yuzu asked after the news story was finished.
"Yeah," Karin answered. "Not like there are a lot of people who look like him."
"Little Amicus and his hero friends are not far away!" Isshin said with excitement. "How wonderful that is! I bet Shelliane would love to see him as well!"
"It has been a while since the last time we saw him," Ichigo commented.
"Umm, excuse me?" Rukia piped up. "I'm still a little confused. Would someone mind explaining to me who these 'Teen Titans' are? And why you all seem to know the one they call Gale?"
"The Teen Titans are a group of teenaged super-heroes from Jump City in America who fight monsters and villains and protect people," Karin explained. "Gale, the one with wings and has air powers, well, his real name is Amicus Rhodes and he's our cousin."
"He's your cousin?" Rukia asked, visibly confused by this.
"His mother was Kelly Rhodes, one of mom's sisters, and his father, well… none of us really knows who he was," Ichigo spoke up. "Anyway, every year Amicus and his mother would come here for Christmas and spend a week with us. But, at Christmas seven years ago, they didn't come, and we hadn't heard a single word from them."
"What happened?"
"We travelled over to Jump City… and found out that Kelly had been killed by a rampaging villain almost a year before, and that Amicus had gone missing," Isshin said with a solemn expression. "Apparently, someone, probably Amicus, beat up the villain, who was then consumed by his own powers."
There was a moment of silence before Yuzu interrupted by speaking up again. "At least now he looks like he's living a good life, with his friends," she said with a bit of a smile. "And since he's not too far away right now, and he's finished with the bad commander, maybe he'll come pay us a visit."
"Oh joy!" Isshin exclaimed. "I'm sure little Amicus can hardly wait to see his favorite uncle again!"
"If he sees how much of a lunatic you are nowadays, he might just run off," Karin noted, rolling her eyes as Isshin clutched his chest and pretended to be shocked by her words.
"I hope I get to meet your cousin," Rukia said to Ichigo. "He sounds like an interesting person."
"He's a nice guy," Ichigo replied. "And it would be fun to see him again."
so, that's finally done. By the way, as for the Bleach timeline of events, it is after the bount arc and before Ichigo begins his training with the Vizards. Anyway, hope you liked it and please review.
The Titans head to karakura town in the next chapter.