A/N: I swear I'm getting excited as the story is starting to get to the climax. Not really soon, mind you, but it's coming. I've worked so hard for so long to write this story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and everyone who's even reading this fanfic.
Julia didn't even have time to think about what had just happened. Robin had begun to run towards the three monsters, four explosive discs held ready in his right hand. Sprinting after him, Julia mentally rifled through the Boy Wonder's info on their opponent's weaknesses. To her, Overload was the biggest problem. His electricity could possibly have no effect on Julia – to a certain extent – but applied to Robin, it could be fatal. Plasmus and Cinderblock, on the other hand, were lesser threats by a small amount.
Scanning the surrounding area for any inspiration, the Asian girl spotted two fire hydrants, positioned on opposite sides of the street, twenty-five feet apart. Although the neighboring buildings were half-destroyed by the escaped criminals, the metal objects were undamaged and clear of any rubble.
It was the closest water source that they would be able to find.
"Robin! The fire hydrants!"
Hearing the girl's shout, the youth skidded to a halt. As he looked around, then withdrew another disc from his belt, Julia mentally thanked the gods that the Boy Wonder was quick thinking. From just a few words, he'd realized what she was planning.
Without a moment of thought, Robin hurled a disc at the farthest fire hydrant. The metal weapon adhered to the closed nozzle and began flashing a tiny red light, counting down five seconds. Meanwhile, Julia aimed her hand at the nearest fire hydrant, as lightning began to crawl down her arm, powering up for the shot.
Plasmus, Overload, and Cinderblock, unaware of what was happening behind them, continued marching down the street, wrecking the buildings on either side. The people on the entire street had long since fled the scene, leaving the three to destroy everything uninterrupted. Until now.
Just as Robin's disc exploded, Julia released a stream of lightning. The bolt almost missed the nozzle of the hydrant, barely clipping the edge. Fortunately, it still served its purpose. Both fire hydrants released gushes of pressurized water away from the two teens.
As Julia used two strong breezes to push the water in the right direction, the jets struck Overload squarely in the back, catching him unawares. The electric monster, roaring in surprise and anger, began to rapidly shrink in size. A few seconds later, as the water started to dwindle, all that was left was the red and black chip lying on the wet concrete.
"That's got to be the fastest Overload's ever been taken down," Julia remarked, looking impressed. Despite the fact that she'd missed the fire hydrant, even by a small amount, one monster was down. Now, only two to go.
Robin shook his head.
"Only because we took him by surprise," he pointed out. "We've lost the element of surprise now."
Sure enough, alerted by the explosions (not to mention Overload's deafening roars), Plasmus and Cinderblock had come to a halt, and were turning to find the source of the commotion. Seeing Overload gone, and the two teens in battle-ready positions, the two monsters gave way to guttural bellows...and charged.
As the ground below began to shake from Cinderblock's weight, Robin whipped out his retractable bo. Extending it, the youth got into a fighting stance.
"I'll take Cinderblock," he told Julia shortly, eyes on the rock monsters. "You take Plasmus."
"I was afraid you were going to say that," the Asian teen replied, summoning lightning to her fists. "Let's do this."
Together, the two teens waited as their opponents rushed towards them, roaring as loudly as they could as the earth trembled underneath. Two massive monsters against two short teenagers.
This was bound to be an interesting fight.
As Plasmus came nearer (more sliding than actual running), Julia centered her attention onto him. She couldn't even spare a second of thought for Robin; she just had to trust that the youth could take care of himself.
And as something distinctly green and bubbling was projected towards her, all thought of the Boy Wonder fled Julia's mind. Doing a neat roll out of the way, the girl dodged the green substance, which seemed to boil on the street. With a quick glance, the Asian teen noted that a few inches of the hard black concrete had been burned away by the goo. Definitely acidic.
Hearing a loud gurgling snarl, Julia looked up just in time to see one of Plasmus's magenta arms shoot towards her, faster than she could've thought possible. Eyes widening, she jumped out of the way, then was forced to make another dive to avoid the other arm. Within seconds, the teen was leaping everywhere to evade the oozing monster's attacks.
Diving behind a crumbling brick wall, Julia raised her hands, trying to summon enough power and wind to create another of her whirling wind platforms. If she could fly, her energy could be put to much better use than jumping around.
Unfortunately, it seemed that she'd reached her limit. Although the girl tried three times to spin air into a twister, the wild breezes instantly ripped free of her power and soared away.
This, Julia supposed, was what happened when she used her inexperienced wind powers in a big fight, and didn't have a good night's sleep. All she had left, it seemed, was her hand-to-hand combat skills (useless in this situation) and lightning.
Plasmus's primal shriek ripped through the air, causing Julia to flinch at how close her opponent was. No less than thirty feet away, she was sure. Still, she could use this to her advantage.
Sprinting out from behind her temporary sanctuary, the Asian girl raised both hands, and fired off a stream of lightning at Plasmus's middle. But instead of throwing him back, or even making him fall to the ground, the electricity went right through the monster, creating a gaping hole.
He'll turn back into his human form only when unconscious, but you have to use a giant force. Anything less he can recover quickly from.
Watching as Plasmus sucked in a huge breath, pulling his magenta ooze to fill in the hole, Julia mentally berated herself. Well, it seemed Robin had been right, and Julia had underestimated Plasmus's invulnerability. When the Boy Wonder had said 'giant force', he really meant it.
Or perhaps Plasmus could be taken down another way.
Calling to her mind the memory of Raven's weapon during the fight with Silver, Julia summoned lightning to her hand. Lengthening the bolt, the girl created her own jagged whip of electricity, which she held in her right hand. In her left hand, she let more lightning spill into the air, forming a shield that was attached to her left arm.
Not a moment too soon. Plasmus spat a mouthful of green acid at the Asian teen, who hurriedly deflected it with her electric shield. The acid sizzled briefly against the electrons, then slid away as the girl shook it off.
Destroying the shield in her left hand, Julia drew her right hand back, then jerked it forward again. The lightning whip cut through the air, then coiled around Plasmus's left arm. As Julia concentrated, a stream of electricity traveled down her hand, through the whip, and into the monster, shocking him.
Before the Asian girl could send another burst of electricity, Plasmus, roaring in pain, yanked his arm backwards. The lightning whip was heaved back, with a surprised Julia on the other end. A second later, the teen found herself buried in Plasmus's muck. And, to her horror, the monster drew another breath in and sealed his victim inside.
Gasping, Julia choked on a mouthful of the magenta substance. It was the most disgusting thing she'd ever tasted – a mixture of what she thought trash and polluted water tasted like – and the smell was enough to make her eyes water. In a burst of frustration, the girl unleashed a burst of lightning bolts, all of which sprang from her arms and hands.
The result was that the ooze surrounding Julia was blasted away. With nothing to support her, the girl tumbled out of Plasmus and onto the ground, where she was cushioned from the fall by the very substance that she'd briefly inhaled.
Needless to say, Plasmus wasn't happy.
The monster, roaring to voice his fury, filled in the wide hole, then proceeded to deluge Julia with spurt after spurt of his muck. The girl, for her part, surrounded herself with a dome of lightning, which kept her dry – until Plasmus decided to use acid instead. And if that happened, Julia was a sitting duck for any acid shots.
I don't have time for this, Julia thought angrily, unconsciously ducking as another jet of ooze splattered over her shelter. I want to get this over with, and start looking for Roger's murderer again.
It was time to go from defense to offense a gain. The girl just hoped that this time, she wouldn't be on the receiving end of Plasmus's magenta ooze.
Raising her hands, Julia blasted the lightning shield into the air, extending it in size. Before Plasmus knew what had happened, the sparking dome had surrounded him, the edges sealing onto the ground. With no holes or cracks to escape from, the monster was trapped.
Smiling grimly, Julia summoned as much lightning as she could. Dredging up the last drops, she put all her anger and frustration into it, fueling the power with her emotions.
"Time to finish this," she muttered. Extending her hands, the girl shot a wave of electricity at the flickering dome. As it absorbed the new lightning, the shield turned the energy inwards. Thick lightning bolts stabbed downwards as one, producing harsh thunder and a flash of white light, and forcing Julia to look away. Even a lightning-manipulator had her limits.
Eventually, the light died down, along with any traces of electricity. Without someone to prevent it from dispersing, the lightning had run down into the ground where it belonged. In its wake, it left behind a huge amount of magenta-colored ooze, which coated the concrete.
Wary, Julia took a few steps closer to get a better look. It was just her luck to be taken by surprise, or forced to fight when her powers were nearly drained. However, the muck eventually thinned, revealing the thin form of a scrawny man wearing black underwear – Plasmus's human form. She'd won.
Staring down at the previously congealed criminal, Julia noticed that adrenaline was coursing through her, thrumming through her veins by her rapidly beating heart. Endorphins were flooding through her, along with a deep sense of satisfaction. Was this how it felt to do good and 'kick bad guy butt'?
Shaking off the thought, the Asian teen bit back a smile of triumph and turned to see how Robin had fared-
-to see that the Boy Wonder was casually leaning on Cinderblock's unconscious form, calmly watching what was happening. He'd already beaten Cinderblock, and had time to observe Julia's fight. In a sense, Julia wasn't surprised. If the youth could competently fight Red X and Athene, of course a rock monster wouldn't pose a threat for more than fifteen minutes.
"So." Julia strode over to Robin, who straightened from his position. "How'd I do?"
The Boy Wonder raised one eyebrow, glancing at the unconscious human-form Plasmus.
"Not too bad," he replied, pretending to give the question some thought. "Took you long enough."
"Well, we can't all be superheroes," Julia remarked, shrugging. It had just occurred to her that the police would be coming any minute now. They usually did, to take in the criminals the Titans had defeated.
The Titans. Robin had, even if temporarily, made the girl a Teen Titan. Did he even know the repercussions of that single action alone?
"Aren't you?"
Half-taken off guard, Julia raised her eyebrows.
"Aren't I what?"
Robin, for his part, looked patiently thoughtful.
"Aren't you a superhero?" At the Asian girl's incredulous look, the Boy Wonder gestured towards Plasmus. "You used your powers to take down a criminal that was wrecking the city. You did something good for others. That might not be the only things that make a superhero, but it's a start."
For some reason, the thought of being a superhero struck Julia as extremely amusing – much to Robin's puzzlement.
"I'm not a superhero," the girl said emphatically, striding quickly back to the R-Cycle. The sounds of sirens were fast approaching in the distance. As the two teens mounted the motorcycle, three police cars and two different police trucks skidded to a halt in front of Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload.
Still, as Robin was pulling on his helmet, Julia's firm response nagged at him.
"Why-"
Julia slipped on her own helmet and switched on the communicator system.
"Let's just go."
But even as the two of them zoomed away from the scene, leaving three beaten monsters, the unspoken question still lingered in Robin's mind.