"You guys haven't ever seen the titans in action, have you?" Kid Flash asked in between blurring dizzyingly around the media setup, "Oh, you're in for a treat."
"What do you mean?" Zatanna asked.
"Oh, this is gonna be great," Kid Flash parked himself on the couch next to Jinx with his popcorn, "It's been ages since I got to see all five of them fighting together."
"They've only gotten better," Jinx told him, stealing some of his popcorn, "It's better than an action movie."
The news report came on, big as a movie theater and twice as sharp. There didn't appear to actually be a reporter, maybe they got run off earlier in the fight. But the cameraman was doing his job admirably, keeping the giant purple slime monster in focus as it rampaged through downtown Jump.
"What on earth is that thing?" Rocket asked, "It looks gross."
"You have no idea," Jinx told her.
There was a shout from one of the civilians on screen, and the camera swung around to the five titans standing on a nearby rooftop, ready for battle. The sun shone down on them like a spotlight, and they seemed to glow under it like suns themselves.
Starfire and Raven, floating side by side, looked like avatars of justice and victory, radiant, fierce, and beautiful as goddesses. Beast Boy, crouched at the edge of the roof, smiled feral and sly, all of his goofiness put away for the moment and replaced with pure unpredictability and adrenaline. Cyborg gleamed in the light like a knight of old, technology straight out of a sci-fi flick glowing and revving up. And right front and center was Robin, tall and proud, shining like a beacon and entirely comfortable in his own skin in a way that the team was only now realizing they had never seen him before.
"I'd give you a chance to surrender, but we both know you're too stupid to take it," Robin called, voice clear above the hubbub, "Titans, go!"
They didn't actually all jump into action at once, the team noticed. Starfire was the first to move, blasting the monster with beams from both hands, followed by Cyborg, backing her up with his arm cannon. Only then did the others move, leaping from the building and into the fight.
The team, when they fought, did so in near absolute silence. They moved in concert, backing one another up, whirling and battling around each other with nary a foot out of place. They trained hours every day to get that kind of synchronization, and anywhere their training failed them, the psychic link smoothed the rough edges, allowing them to seem so coordinated that they shared one mind.
The titans did not fight like that.
"Ooh! That had to hurt!" Kid Flash winced dramatically as Plasmus was slammed into a wall by a wave of black energy.
The titans fought in waves, one or two of them hurtling forward to wear away at the monster before falling back to recover while another one took their place. Robin would occasionally bark orders, but for the most part they all seemed to know what to do without being told. They didn't fight like they all shared a mind, or even like they all shared a plan, unless that plan was "pummel until he stops moving". Half the time it seemed like they weren't working together at all except incidentally. And yet…
"Ewwww…" Jinx groaned as Beast Boy got grabbed and slimed. Every other female in the room shuddered in agreement, and a few of the guys, too.
Robin never took a leap without someone, usually Starfire, ready to catch him within an instant. Cyborg never took a shot without his teammates instantly dodging out of the way without even having to look, leading Plasmus into trap after trap. Speaking of Plasmus, anytime it looked like one of his wild swings might actually connect, Raven's shield was there, ready and waiting for him to spatter against. Beast Boy never charged without someone immediately coming up from behind to back him up. Starfire never once came close to even bruising her teammates as she would catch and throw them around the battle like rag dolls.
Beast Boy had shown Rocket how they trained, and mostly, they each focused on their own individual skills and abilities, hardly ever practicing how best to work together. Their coordination wasn't the product of training, their synchronization wasn't the product of a psychic link. Everything they did was experience, pure and simple. The titans trusted their teammates would have their backs one hundred percent, because they always did. It was plain familiarity that had Starfire catching Robin, Beast Boy jumping away at the last second to let Plasmus get pummeled by an arm cannon or levitating car. It was incredibly cool to watch, but for the team, also kind of sad. They had somehow missed their youngest founder finding new friends, a new team, and fighting with them until they could all probably tell where one another were blindfolded.
Finally, an explosion of green and black power sends the monster's slimy body scattering down the street, leaving behind a skinny, sickly man asleep in the road.
"Aw, yes!" Wally cheered, throwing his hands in the air, "That was awesome!"
"Think they broke their record for fastest Plasmus takedown," Jinx agreed, sitting back with a smile. The computer beeped, and the view on the tv screen switched from a news station to Robin's communicator, looking satisfied.
"We finished up with Plasmus, anything going on back at the tower?" Robin asked.
"Nope, everything's clean and clear," Kid Flash reported.
"Great," Robin smiled, "We were going to get pizza to celebrate. You guys want to join us?"
The team shared a look between themselves, "We'd be honored," Kaldur said for all of them.
"Great. Kid, Jinx, we'll wait for you at our normal pizza place, you know the one. Mind showing the team where it is?"
"You do realize I am still on the team?" Kid Flash asked, "But sure, I'll show them where to go."
"See you in a few," Robin said, and was tackled by Starfire right as the picture went to black.