Finally getting to the combat! Like the previous arc, the fighting will be four chapters, something I realized when finishing the last chapter, which also means this arc's gonna be six chapters long, this chapter being the halfway point.

Sorry about not posting two weeks ago! It just completely slipped my mind honestly. But hey, here we are with the next chapter! And on Halloween! If you're going out ('Cause c'mon, some people are) please stay safe and try not to move in too big of groups. Also, please don't go to a party. We all want this thing to be over with, going to a party will just prolong it, so don't be that asshole, yeah?

While writing this and Triumphant I realized something important about A Sinister Past: I didn't have an end goal in mind. But now I do. I'm pretty sure that's part of the reason why writing that story got so hard for me, I didn't have an ending in mind. But with one now, my motivation to write that story has come back. But first, the overhaul's gotta be complete. By now (10/31/2020), the first arc's been completely edited, whilst the second's most of the way through.

Right now, though, the plan's to mainly update this and Triumphant. I'll still work on ASP, but it'll take some time until it's updated most likely.

Now, to reply to some reviews!

AlexFalTon: Yeah, no one likes Terry Long, but because he's so important to Donna's story pre-Flashpoint I feel like I had to bring him up in some way. Though, it won't be the only time he's mentioned… And yeah, Elongated Man isn't that popular. Pretty sure The Flash TV series is how he got more popular. It's funny though, by the time I brought him into the story, Hartley Sawyer (the actor) got kicked off the show. Hm. Anyways, I learned about Blue Devil and Icon 'cause of Young Justice, and Fire and Ice because of Justice League Unlimited. But to be completely honest, other than some lines here and there, they won't be that important to this story.

Jmasta32: Well, thank you! It's always a boost of confidence when someone tells me they love the story, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And yeah, gods, I have plans for the Olympians and the New Gods, though they won't appear en masse until later. Though a few will appear here and there.

And for the Endless, I'm not sure. The most I've read of them was Dream during the first Dark Knights event, back when the Batman Who Laughs was a new, cool idea, and not the overused cash cow he is now. I'll learn more about them later, but mainly for my other DC story, Triumphant's sequel. You should check it out, I think you'll like that one too!

Well, that's all from me, on with the story!

P.S. Weird, it seemed like this chapter wasn't posted earlier today, so I deleted it, let's hope this repost works.

Five Drops of Blood

It's been a few months since my first date with Donna, it's December now, actually, and Christmas break's about to start, once this last class ends. As we play dodgeball (again. I don't think our P.E. teacher really knows how to teach), Donna catches my attention.

We've gone on a few more dates throughout the months, getting closer each time, and she's also sure to test me. Sometimes she'd attack me out of nowhere, other times we'd play intense games of chess, and every now and again she'd force me into a position that makes me uncomfortable, but in the end, I grow from it. It's great.

But of course, the others notice this and begin to tease us relentlessly. Donna takes it like a champ and practically announces to the world she's happy we're dating. I'm a little more subdued. But of course, Roy doesn't take kindly to this news. The relationship between the three of us has soured pretty badly, even Zatanna and Karen have noticed it, and they've been on the team for a shorter time then us.

A dodgeball collides with my chest. The teacher blows his whistle. "You're out, Akiyama!"

I groan before heading over to the bleachers, here I find a smirking Karen. "Distracted by your lady?"

Karen's a sixteen-year-old African American girl with black, wavy hair and deep brown eyes. When she's standing up, she's rather short, but she more than makes up for it with her giant personality. She's wearing the mandatory clothes for P.E., which shows off her built form, from being the captain of the cheerleaders called the Bumblebees and being Bumblebee, the superhero.

I sit down next to her and smile as I watch Donna play. "Yeah."

Karen chuckles before slapping my shoulder. "Man, you are really in it, aren't you?"

"Huh? "It"?" I ask.

Karen rolls her eyes. "Love," she holds up a finger when I sputter. "I get it. When you find the one, you find the one."

"Yeah, you do," I agree. "But it's too early to tell. So, how're you enjoying being a Teen Titan so far?"

Karen smirks. "Freaking awesome. Just hate that I had no idea most of you were Teen Titans, especially Kory."

"Yeah, I can see why," I agree with a nod.

"How do you guys hide your identities anyway?" Karen asks. "I mean, you don't have any masks or anything like me, Lilith, or Roy."

"I vibrate my face and vocal cords in such a way you couldn't match me and Apex together. I also change my stance; you'd be amazed at how effective that is. Kory does the same, her special contacts also help. Wonder Woman made sure a sort of glamour spell was cast on Donna, like how Zee does it. Garth does the same," I answer.

"Donna knows magic?" Karen asks.

I shake my head. "No, there are some Amazonian mages though, they did it."

Speaking of Donna, she ends the game by throwing a dodgeball into one Mal Duncan's gut, ending the game, and getting a win for our team.

Donna walks over to us with a smile on her face as the other students head to the locker rooms to change. "So? How would you rate that?"

"Ten out of ten," I answer without hesitation. I then stand up and pull Donna into a kiss.

Karen slaps my back before heading towards the girl's locker room. "I'm gonna go get changed. Don't wanna walk in the snow with these clothes, you know?"

I get up and stand next to Donna. "I'm gonna get changed too, see you in a bit."

As I change, I notice some of the people to my right moving out of the way for someone, looking up, I see Jackson and Things 1 and 2 marching towards me. Lovely. Ever since Donna and I became official he's been targeting me, but he's never got the chance to go through with anything, guess now he feels like he can.

I put on my jacket and look eye-to-eye with an angry Jackson. "Yes?" I ask.

"Break up with Donna. Or else," he threatens. Things 1 and 2 crack their knuckles to add to the intimidation factor, it doesn't help.

"Why should I?" I ask as I tilt my head curiously.

Jackson glares and gets in my face, sandwiching me between him and the lockers behind me. "Or else I'll kick your ass. Donna doesn't need to be with a nerdass like you."

I arch my eyebrows. "Ah, so she'll do better with you?" Jackson nods with a smug smile on his face. "I don't think so."

He grabs me by the collar of my shirt and raises his other fist up, ready to punch me in the face. "And what makes you so damn sure!?"

I just keep my calm demeanor as I notice some of the other kids pull out their phones and record. One left the locker room, probably gonna tell the teacher what's going on.

"Jackson, you struggle to keep C's, you're at the office every other week for breaking one rule or another, and you're a known bully. I'm surprised you're still allowed on the football and basketball teams. What I mean to say is: You'd drag Donna down if she even thought of dating you. Move on, man, it obviously isn't gonna happen," I list.

Jackson roars in rage as Things 1 and 2 grab my arms. Jackson then rears his fist back, ready to punch me. Once the fist nears, I duck, causing Jackson to slam his fist into the locker behind me. He screams in pain and shakes his fist as a cracking sound can be heard from the impact. Ooh, that sounded like it hurt.

Thing 1 grabs my head and holds it in place as Jackson goes for another punch, this time with his other hand.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?"

We look to see the P.E. teacher marching into the locker room, glaring at the four of us.

Things 1 and 2 quickly let go of my arms and point at me. "He did it!" Thing 1 shouts. "It's all his fault!"

The teacher gives him a deadpanned stare. "Yes, Daichi started this confrontation. That's why the two of you were holding him down for Jackson to punch him," he says sarcastically. "Come on, principal's office. Now."

The three of them reluctantly follow the teacher, but Thing 2 makes sure to bump his shoulder into me, it doesn't work like he hoped it would. The four of us then exit the locker room and I make eye contact with Karen and Donna, the two of them look at me concerned but I just wave it off.

"Don't worry about it," I reassure. "They just tried to intimidate me is all."

"Of course they did," Karen replies as she rolls her eyes.

"We'll wait with the others," Donna tells me.

The five of us then arrive at the principal's office. While the teacher and Jackson and his crew are inside, I wait on the chair next to the door. I don't listen in since they're obviously gonna try to pin the blame on me.

As I sit, I feel Lilith's presence in my mind. "Well, would you look at who's in trouble. Honestly would've expected Garth in your position-"

"Hey!"

"-What happened?" Lilith asks.

"Jackson wanted me to break up with Donna, obviously he didn't take "no" for an answer. I won't be able to stay at the Tower long, just saying," I answer. Jackson and the others then leave the office, I hear the principal call me in. "See you in a bit."

I enter the office, the P.E. teacher standing next to the principal's desk. "So, Mr. Akiyama," the principal begins. "I take it you…hit Mr. Miller's fist with your face?" The Principal asks, a small smile on his face.

"Oh, no, the locker came to his defense and protected his fist," I reply.

"Ah, I see," his smile grows as he raises his brows. "I'll be quick, you're a good kid, you've had no problems with anyone, you've quickly risen to top of your class, and you've become more active in your extracurriculars. I'll just say this, do whatever you can to avoid Mr. Miller. You're dismissed, have a Merry Christmas, Mr. Akiyama."

I get up and nod to both of them. "Happy holidays."

I head over to my locker and surprisingly I find Garth waiting, my backpack in his hands. I use my x-ray vision to see all the books I need are in it. I look at him with an arched brow. "How'd you get in my locker?"

"Donna," he answers.

"How does Donna know my locker combo?" I wonder. "I'll have to ask," I then take my backpack from Garth and the two of us walk through the hallway, the number of students thinning. "You got your gifts ready?"

"I still gotta figure out what to get Zee and Karen, but I think I'm good," Garth answers. "You?"

"Roy's the problem," I answer, Garth nods in understanding. "I mean, I don't know what to get him, what with the whole drama going on between him, me, and Donna. But I can't avoid buying him a present, it'd be so freaking obvious why."

Garth puts his hands behind his head as we exit the school, the others—minus Roy, again—waiting nearby some of the snow-covered benches. "Man, love triangles sound so damn confusing. So glad me and Lilith aren't in one."

I sigh, the condensation catching my attention. "Yeah, lucky you."

"I heard about what happened," Donna says as she stands in front of me, a frown on her face and her arms folded. "Sorry about Jackson. I should just talk to him, so he knows nothing's ever gonna happen between us."

I just wave off her concern as we all walk towards a nearby, local fast food restaurant. "It's all cool, there was no harm done."

Donna looks at me before nodding, she puts her arm around mine while her other hand stays in her pocket. "If you say so," she then looks at Karen and Kory. "How's cheerleading practice going for you guys?"

"The Bumblebees are wrecking it as usual," Karen says proudly, Kory nods in response. "Though it is a little hard to lead the group without Kimiyo's help. What happened to her?"

Donna looks away worriedly as we continue walking. "I've kept in contact with her, but she seems to be rather sick. I mean, did you see how she was before she left?"

"Yeah, she looked about ready to drop," Karen says with a worried nod.

"She'll be fine," Lilith reassures them. "She's probably just sick is all."

Or not.

I remember when she snuck up on me, I released some energy really quick when she slapped my back. Maybe that's how she gets her powers in this universe, because of my absorbing Doctor Light's energy. But that's not all, my energy was apart of that as well, so will she have some of my powers too?

"And we're here!" Donna shouts excitedly, bringing me out of my musing. "Gods, I love this place."

"We can tell," Garth mutters to himself. "Seriously though, can't you give Daichi's wallet a break, Don? I feel bad for it."

"Thank you," I whisper.

Donna elbows me in the ribs with a smirk before turning to Garth. "If it makes you feel any better, we share the bill. The only time he pays full price for me is for my gifts. Speaking of…what'd you get me?"

I smile and reply after the six of us sit down, the smell of our orders hitting my nose. "I'm not saying a thing. And you better not use your lasso."

Donna rests her head on my shoulder and looks up at me with a smile. "Okay, but you better not use your x-ray vision on my present."

"Oh, crap! I need to lead-line mine for you," Karen remembers.

"It's tedious, isn't it?" Lilith says. "Before he came along, we didn't have to worry about someone seeing the presents we'd give, now we gotta go the extra mile. At least it's only for one present."

"Oh, yeah, not like we don't have to worry about you reading our minds," Garth says as he rolls his eyes.

"That was one time!" Lilith says before resting her head on his shoulder.

Once our food comes, we all fall silent and eat, but I notice Karen looking between me and Donna, and Garth and Lilith. Eventually, Karen groans and slams her head on the table. "Uh, you good?" I ask.

With her head still on the table, she looks up at me with a glare. "I'm single, dude."

"Yes?" Where's she going with this?

She points at me and Donna. "You guys are a couple," she points at Garth and Lilith. "You guys are a couple," she points at herself. "And I'm alone. God, this is so unfair."

"I'm single as well," Kory points out.

"Yeah, well, Dick looks ready to ask you out," Karen replies.

Kory quirks a brow. "Out? Where?"

"Forget it," Karen sighs. "But still, it suuucks."

"Well if you'd stop skirting around a certain Malcom Duncan, things might be different for you," Donna points out with a smirk.

Karen looks at Donna with narrowed eyes before her face meets the table again. She groans. "I'm trying."

Lilith reaches around Garth and puts her hands over Karen's. "If you need any help, know that we're here."

Donna smiles and points at Karen with a fry. "You can count on it. Lilith and I know a thing or two about catching the one fish in the sea we want."

Garth groans at the pun and sips his drink. "I hate you, Amazonian."

"I Love you too, Atlantean," Donna replies with a smile.

The girls then have talks about relationships, something me and Garth have no clue how to join in. He and Donna switch seats, letting the two of us sit next to each other. "So, Dungeons & Dragons?"

Right, Wally's been wanting to get a game started for some time now. I'm down for it, but the problem is, we have no idea who's gonna be the DM. I turn to Garth. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Got a character?" He asks. He stealthily goes for some of Donna's fries, but her arm shoots out and squeezes around his wrist, even without her looking. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I'm making some final adjustments. Hey, who's gonna DM? Aren't we all gonna play?" I ask.

"Oh, Zee's got that covered," Garth answers.

"All right," Donna suddenly says after Garth finishes his food. "Off to the Tower!"

Our group exits the diner and walks through the snow, a few cars driving by in this small town. It's really amazing how slow things are here, almost like Happy Harbor's in its own world. We walk into an alley and I activate my earpiece.

"This is Daichi. Me, Donna, Garth, Lilith, Kory, and Karen are ready to teleport."

"One teleport coming right up!" Zatanna replies.

All right, time to see what they've done with the place.

San Francisco, California

We arrive in Titans Tower to find Zatanna, Roy, and Wally in the living area, a massive Christmas tree in one of the corners. Along the railing to the rooms are Christmas lights that shift between red, white, and green. Along the roof we can see paper snowflakes hanging in the air.

All in all, they've made a nice festive atmosphere.

"Welcome to the Tower, friends! What do you think?" Zatanna asks with a flourish of her arms at the tree.

She's an attractive fifteen-year-old girl, I'll admit, but nothing compared to Donna in my eyes. She has long, black hair and ice blue eyes. She wears a purple sweater that looks pretty comfy and some black jeans.

Kory looks up at the tree in awe. "X'hal, it's beautiful. You do this every year?"

Lilith nods and stands next to her. "Yup. Though there are multiple celebrations had around this time, Kwanza and Hanukkah being two big examples. Christmas is great though, well, when you look at what it should be about."

"And that is?" Kory asks.

"Hanging out with your friends and family, giving gifts, and having fun," Zatanna finishes, standing on Kory's other side. "How was school for you guys?"

"Daichi got in trooouble," Lilith and Karen both say at the same time.

Zatanna turns around and looks at me with an arched brow. "Wow, you got in trouble? I'd expect that from Wally. Or Garth."

"Hey!" They both shout.

I shake my head with a smile. "Wasn't like that. There was this dude, Jackson, he had a problem with me."

Donna rolls her eyes. "He threatened Daichi to break up with me. As if that'd ever happen."

I can hear Roy scoff softly from his spot on the couch. Come on, Dick, hurry over here so we can get this meeting over with, I gotta go to Smallville.

Karen, Lilith, and Kory head over to the tree, probably to get a better look at it. Zatanna and Garth go over to the table in the dining area, talking about magic, leaving me and Donna in the teleporter area.

Donna grabs my hands and leads me over to the kitchen, she then leans on one of the counters, still holding me close by my hands. "You'll be in Smallville with Clark, Lois, and Jon, right?"

"Yeah, you're staying at Wayne Manor, right?" I ask, Donna nods. "How is your sister, by the way?"

Donna chuckles and swings our hands a bit. "Restless. It's been five years since her last pregnancy after all, she forgot how limiting it was when pregnant I guess."

I chuckle and nod. "Yeah, Lois is the same. Now I know how scary pregnant ladies can be, no matter their strength level."

"Oh, they can be terrifying," Donna agrees. She then looks up and deadpans after a streak runs by us. "Really, Wally?"

I look up to see a mistletoe above us. "I've heard about this. What're we supposed to do under it again?" I ask with a cheeky smirk.

Donna rolls her eyes and smirks as well. "Here, let me show you."

Her hands come up to the sides of my head and she then pulls me into a kiss. As we kiss, I feel her tongue brush against my lips, so I oblige, our kiss becoming more passionate. The two of us keep kissing until my earpiece activates, pulling my attention away.

I reluctantly pull out of the kiss, Donna whines in annoyance. "This is Apex."

"Apex, my man! Bring me to the Tower, I'm finally out of school," Dick says.

"Better be worth it," Donna says in annoyance.

I smile and peck her lips one more time before heading to the teleporters. "Dick's on his way," I announce loudly. I then activate the teleporter and the Boy Wonder appears shortly after. The two of us do our handshake as he steps off of it. "Hey man."

"What's up?" He looks to see Donna glaring at him. "Oh, did I interrupt sucky face time? C'mon, you two do it all the time, one interruption shouldn't be too much."

Donna just rolls her eyes and flicks his cheek. "Let's just get this meeting started "dear leader"."

Dick laughs before jumping around, again using me as a springboard. He then leaps through the area and lands in the seat next to Garth. "Hey."

Garth lightly punches the top of his head. "Hey."

I sit down next to Dick, Donna next to me and the others join around the table, we all look at Dick. "So, what's up for Christmas?" Wally asks.

"It'll be like Thanksgiving. We'll hang out here on Christmas Eve, exchange gifts, tell stories, and drink trash-ass eggnog!" Dick says excitedly. "Christmas day we'll be hanging out with our families and enjoying the holiday!"

Zatanna rests her head in her hand. "Y'know, this easily could've been told through the group chat."

"Yeah, it could've. But are you really gonna complain about hanging out with your friends before we separate for the break?" Dick asks.

"No, no I will not. So, what're we gonna do now?" Zatanna asks.

My phone vibrates. I pull it out to see a message from Clark.

Clark: We're ready to go, just waiting on you.

Me: Got it.

I put my phone away and look at the others. "Hate to say it, but I gotta go, Clark and Lois really want me to drive with them to Smallville."

"Ew, driving," Wally says. "Why can't you guys teleport there?"

"Because Lois is pregnant, remember?" I point out.

"Oh. Right," Wally realizes. "Let me teleport you home."

I get up and kiss Donna one more time. "See you guys in a bit."

I then head over to the teleporter, Wally already waiting there, a rare serious look on his face. He looks over towards the others before looking back at me. "Look, dude, I'm happy for you and Donna, really, but…"

I sigh and rest my hands on my hips. "But you're worried about Roy, I get it. He's not making it easy; you know. I get that he has feelings for her, but he needs to move on. I mean, on our last mission he nearly got killed because he wouldn't accept my help."

Batman had us sent out to deal with Intergang trying to smuggle some weapons from here to Mexico. We hit the warehouse, which led to a firefight breaking out, Roy was pinned down and Dick wanted me to go and pull him out of the fire, but when flying away he fought the entire time, getting a bullet to the arm as a result. That's when everyone started to see the problem between me and him.

Wally sighs. "Yeah, I know. And if this keeps up someone's gonna get hurt really bad, maybe even killed. You need to talk to him."

"You think I haven't tried? I get more stimulating replies from a brick wall," I rub the back of my head. "Damn, he wasn't this bad before I started dating Donna."

Wally runs his hand through his hair. "No he was not. We can talk about this later, have fun in Smallville."

"Tell Barry, Iris, and your parents hi for me?" I ask as I step on the pad.

"And the twins?"

I let out a chuckle and nod. "And the twins."

"And Jay and Joan?"

I groan. "Yes, Wally. Just tell everyone there who knows my identity, all right?"

"Do the same with the Kents?" Wally asks.

I nod. "See you later."

And with that, I'm teleported away from Titans Tower, but before I leave, I notice Roy glaring at me from behind the fridge.

This is gonna be problematic.

On the road

I yawn as Lois and Clark sing along with the radio. Jon also swings his arms around and lets out noises that sound vaguely like the song playing.

Clark looks at me with the rearview mirror. "Come on, Dai, sing along!"

"I don't sing," I reply as I text Lilith.

Me: They're singing songs. What do I do?

Lilith: Sing along? Put in your earbuds and listen to your own music?

Me: Lois took my earbuds.

I wait a few minutes, but I get no reply. Strange, Lilith's pretty quick at replying. Hm, maybe Wally stole her phone again or something, no reason to freak out.

Lois' hand takes my phone. "Family road trip, kiddo. That includes you," then mentally. "If I have to do this, so do you."

Jon's Green Lantern Alan Scott action figure hits me in the side of the face. "Toy!" The nearly three-year-old hybrid cries out, his arms flailing about.

I grab it telekinetically and hand it to him. "Here you go, little man."

The song ends (finally), so Lois turns her head to look at me. "First Christmas with Donna, you excited?"

I feel a smile on my face and blush lightly as I look down. "Very. I just hope she likes my gift."

"What is it?" She asks.

"Not gonna say," I shrug with a smirk.

Lois pouts and looks ahead, folding her arms in indignation. "Rude," she then notices a fast food restaurant in the distance. "Smallville, I'm hungry."

"But we just-" Clark sighs. "Okay, yeah, let's go. But drive thru, I really don't wanna extend an eighteen-hour drive."

"That makes two of us," I agree. "Can I get some chicken nuggets? Haven't had those in a while. And some Dr. Pepper, too."

"Or we could just add some fries and make it a meal," Lois suggests as she pulls out a book and starts reading.

"We could," I agree.

We wait in line for some time, Lois gets annoyed and looks up from her book to see the line of cars has yet to move. "What the hell? Why's it taking so long?"

"Put the money in the bag!" I hear from inside the restaurant.

Clark turns to look at me. "You heard that too?"

"Why someone would rob a fast food place, I will never know. Let's take 'em down," I grin.

Clark grins and the two of us speed out of the car and into the lobby of the place. Inside we find three people holding the place up, one at the counter, another at the main doors, and the third holding the citizens hostage.

The one aiming a gun at the cashier is the first to recover. "Oh, shit."

Superman looks out in the parking lot before turning to me. "Apex, there's one waiting in a getaway car. Deal with him?"

I nod and speed out through the front doors, knocking out the guy keeping watch as I go. I phase through the car and sit in shotgun as the guy in the getaway car freaks out and looks at the restaurant, not at all noticing my presence.

"Guys? Guys! Tell me I'm just freakin' out! I did not just see Apex and freakin' Superman come in! Guys?" He shouts as he panics.

"They're not gonna answer," I reply.

The guy freaks out and drops his phone. He fumbles with his gun and eventually aims it at me, his hands shaking violently.

When looking at him I see pure fear and terror in his eyes, so I decide to play it cool. I reach out and gently take the gun out of his hands. "Look, man, you're obviously scared, thankfully you aren't letting that fear control you. Here's what's going to happen: you're going to willingly surrender yourself to the cops, you're gonna do your time, and then you're gonna come out of it a better man. Okay?"

The driver looks at me before nodding shakily. "Okay. Okay."

I smile and lightly punch his shoulder. "Look at you, first step to redemption already taken! Happy Holidays!"

Superman comes out with the other three criminals knocked out in his arms, he looks as the driver gets out of the car, takes off his mask, and sits down next to the car, pulling out his phone and calling the cops.

Superman then looks at me and smiles. "You did good, Apex."

I smile bashfully. "Thanks. But I guess we have to eat somewhere else, huh?"

"No! Wait!"

We look to see the manager running outside, waving his arms excitedly, his phone in one hand. "We would be honored if you ate here. Please."

Superman and I look at each other. He then rubs the back of his neck and has an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but we're on a schedule," he quickly raises his hands at the manager's despondent face. "But we can order some food here at least! Right, Apex?"

"Yeah, sure," I reply.

It takes some time, what with us having to wait for the cops to come, the food to get cooked, and the countless pictures and autographs we've done. Eventually we're back on the road, and thanks to my energy powers I'm able to atomize the trash completely. It's amazing what mundane actions you can complete with superpowers.

Right now, it's late at night, and Lois and Jon have fallen asleep, leaving me and Clark awake to have conversations about whatever. Things with the Justice League or Teen Titans, my training with Wildcat, and of course, my relationship with Donna.

"Hey, uh, Daichi?" Clark asks after a period of silence.

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Oliver's been wondering about something," Clark says. I mentally groan. This can only end one way. "Did something happen between you and Roy?"

I groan out loud and lean my head back. "What'd Oliver say?"

Clark hums. "Just that he once caught Roy mumbling a whole bunch of things against you. Something about you stealing something from him?"

I feel a little bit of anger at that. "Dammit, Roy," I whisper. "First off, Donna isn't a "thing" I stole from him. I asked her out and she said yes, he was too slow."

Clark nods. "Ah, so it's a relationship thing."

"There's more to it then that, but yeah, that's the main idea," I say. "He's mad that I've got second-in-command, that I'm suddenly extremely popular (even though I don't want to be), and that I've been to the Watchtower."

"Jealousy," Clark says. "That's it. I've worked with him a few times, but honestly, you know him better than I do. But what I do know is that he has bouts of insecurity at times."

"Seriously? He's one of the most confident guys I know," I reply.

"It's a show. Think about it, he's on a team with a speedster, and Amazonian, an Atlantean, a Tamaranean, a girl who can shrink and shoot energy blasts, a girl who can alter reality by speaking backwards, a girl with powerful mental abilities, one of the most skilled acrobats, and you, the peak of human evolution. Anyone's bound to have self-esteem issues," Clark says.

"What about Dick? He doesn't have any powers and he's our leader," I point out.

"There's that, he's your leader, Roy isn't in a position like you or Dick. I mean, some people still think Wally is Speedy. You can see his side, right?" Clark asks.

"Yeah, I guess. I just- he needs to accept these things, otherwise someone could get killed," I sigh and look at Jon's sleeping form. Kid's lucky, he doesn't have to worry about love triangles or teammates hellbent on making your life suck. "I'll talk to him, even if he doesn't want to."

Clark smiles widely. "That's what a K-" He stops speaking suddenly.

"What?" I ask, my eyes narrowed.

"Nothing. Nothing for you to worry about," Clark says.

I'm not convinced, but whatever, this'll definitely come back later, and with the way he's trying to fight down a smile I can say it's gonna be a good surprise, so I'll let it slide. "All right, whatever. Good night."

"Good night, Dai," Clark replies.

I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

It's the nightmares again.

Smallville, Kansas

"Daichi, wake up."

My eyes snap open, I look to see Lois shaking me gently, careful not to lean too far due to her growing stomach. "We're here," she says with a smile.

I groan and get out of the car; I notice Jon's car seat is currently in Clark's arm. Clark takes in a deep breath with a large smile. "Ma! Pa! We're here!"

Almost immediately, two people, I'd guess in their early to mid-fifties, come out of the front door. They both have brown hair, but their hair's obviously greying. The man's rather tall, and he obviously shows signs of once being a well-built man. The woman's of average height and she has a kind smile on her face, as does her husband.

"Clark! Lois!" The woman comes over and hugs the two, after she hugs Lois, she places a hand on her stomach. "Do you know the gender yet?"

Lois nods with a large smile. "A girl. Finally too, I've had enough living in a house full of boys."

The woman laughs. "I know how that feels. I blame Jonathan and Clark for my gray hairs."

"I resent that!" The man says jokingly. He then pulls Lois into a hug. "How are ya?"

"I'm good, Pa, thanks," she then turns and looks at me, bringing their attention to me. "Jonathan, Martha, meet Daichi. He's also Apex."

"Hi," I walk forward and have my hand out.

Instead, Jonathan grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug. "Nice to meet you!"

"Uh…" I slowly reciprocate the hug. "Same here."

Jonathan then backs up, and Martha pulls me into a hug really quick before backing up and looking me over, a worried frown on her face. "Clark! Do you even feed the boy? He's as thin as a stick!"

"Well, he doesn't need to eat, Ma," that was the wrong thing for him to say.

Martha gasps and slaps Clark's arm. "I didn't raise you to not feed family now, did I!?"

I stand in between them. "It's fine, it's fine! Really. He's right, anyway, I don't need to eat anything," I create a ball of energy. "My energy's more than capable keeping me sustained for quite some time."

"Doesn't matter. Come, let's feed you," Martha says, determined in her ways completely.

I look at the others as she drags me away, they just shrug before Clark and Jonathan go to get the luggage, Lois follows with Jon's car seat in her arm.

Well, first impressions are going well. Let's hope it keeps up.

Unknown location

Baran huffs and rests his hands on his knees as the test continues.

Around him he notices his sister dodging attacks from robotic tentacles. That little gremlin, what was his name…? Gizmo, right. Apparently, he's a legacy villain, his dad being the first Gizmo, Baran doesn't care. Then there's that pink-haired girl, Jinx, she's getting spun around while trying to fight a whole bunch of those cultists. And then there's Billy Numerous. Baran doesn't like him, he's annoying. Numerous is currently dodging blades, guns, and other attacks, using clones to protect himself.

The giant robot marches towards Baran's tired form, its size creating a shadow over the massive metahuman. Baran groans before getting up, raising his fists and growling. "Come on, scrapheap, I'm gonna kick your ass."

The robot rears its fist back, Baran gets ready to fight, but suddenly it stops, as does everything else. Gizmo's box opens up as well, freeing the gremlin. Selinda walks over to her brother and rests her arm on his massive form. "I think he's tryin' to kill us, bro."

"Probably," Baran rumbles.

"Trust me, Flinders, if I wanted you dead, you would be."

The five look up to see a man, in his late thirties to early forties, slow clapping as he enters the room. He's tall, standing a little over six feet tall and is well built. He wears a red chest plate with golden designs along it, and he wears tight blue pants and a tight blue shirt under the armor. He has black bracers on his arms and a black belt that drapes down next to his knees from the sides, they also have gold outlines. His hair's a pale white and he has blood red eyes. This, is Sebastian Blood, otherwise known as Brother Blood IX.

"What's up with all this training?" Gizmo whines. "I don't even need it; you see how smart I am?"

"If your so smart why couldn't you get outta the box?" Baran taunts.

Gizmo grits his teeth and uses his jetpack to fly up to eye level with Baran. "I'd like to see you hack your way through that box. Oh, wait, you can't, 'cause your brain's about as big as my fist."

Baran grits his teeth and gets ready to crush Gizmo in his far more massive fist, but Brother Blood puts a stop to that. "Now, now, boys. We're all here for a common reason, and I won't have any infighting," his eyes flare red for a moment, forcing the two to back down. "Good, tell me, how do you feel about your training?"

Billy Numerous bounces on his feet. "I mean, it's workin', but why're we doin' this again?"

Blood smirks. "If you want to defeat the Teen Titans you need to be better," he then looks at the siblings. "Take Baran and Selinda, for example, they had the help of a living nuclear reactor, one of the most dangerous telepaths, and a bumbling fool with an incredible power source. And yet, they were all defeated."

Baran growls, but Selinda puts a hand on his arm, calming him down. "We know about our track record, Blood, no need to tell us."

"Oh, but I must," Blood counters with a smile. "You need to remember your loss, after all, what else will motivate you?"

"A reward would be nice," Jinx mutters.

Brother Blood looks at her, the smile on his face unnerves the girl. "Ah! Perfect idea, Jinx!" He begins to pace, a hand on his chin as he walks back and forth. "But what to give, what to give…" he then slams his fist into his palm. "That's it! I'll give you all the power boosts you need to defeat the Teen Titans!"

Billy and Gizmo share a glance. "Uh, what kind of power boosts?" The latter asks.

"I can make you a technopath," he then points at Billy. "And you can make more than just three clones. I'll increase your magic capabilities," he then looks at the siblings. "And your transmutation powers will be far more powerful. No more need to touch the object you wish to change, and no more needing to recognize the makeup of each element. And you, Baran, you'll be stronger, my boy, strong enough to kill even Apex!"

Baran smirks and chuckles as he cracks his knuckles. "I like the sound of that."

Blood walks towards Jinx and hands her a stone. "This is a teleportation stone; it will bring you back here as long as you say "H.I.V.E. Academy". Understood?"

Jinx nods. "Yeah. Why're you giving this to me?"

Blood walks out of the room, directing the five to follow him. He's silent the entire way, but eventually they arrive in a hangar, and the five are surprised to see a yellow and black jet waiting. "Before I give you these gifts of power, you must prove yourselves. The Teen Titans have a tower off the coast of San Francisco, attack it. If you are arrested, that's it. But if you come back…"

That's all Baran needs. He walks past the group and heads towards the jet, Selinda following close behind. Billy and Jinx share a glance before shrugging and follow the two, leaving Gizmo with Brother Blood.

"Why'd you pick us?" Gizmo asks.

Brother Blood hums before replying. "Billy's powers, while not effective now, can easily give you the numbers advantage. Your technological skills are incredibly useful, especially against the likes of Robin and Speedy. Selinda's powers can be dangerous, if used in the right way, and Baran's physical strength is capable of matching Apex or Wonder Girl, but not at the same time."

"And if he comes back, he can take 'em on," Gizmo guesses.

"Oh, he can do more than that," Brother Blood turns around and heads towards the elevator. "Don't disappoint me Gizmo and I'll let you keep the jet."

Gizmo's eyes light up, the possibilities of the weapons he can add to it quickly flying through his mind.

"OI! GET OVER HERE!" Baran's voice booms from the jet.

Gizmo hurriedly activates his jetpack and flies towards the jet, a large smile on his face. 'Oh, the Teen Titans are so screwed.'

Titans Tower

Wally comes back to the table after some time at the teleporters. "What took you so long? Kissing Daichi goodbye?" Dick jokes.

Wally laughs and rests his feet on the table, leaning back in his chair, and resting his hands behind his head. "Yeah, right! Donna would kill me if I did that. And I like being alive, thank you very much."

Donna glares playfully at him. "You're right, I would. Only I get to kiss Daichi."

Garth shakes his head with a smile before looking at Roy out of the corner of his eye, the archer noticeably trying to keep his cool. 'I've gotta talk to him about this.'

"Yeah, you and everyone else," Lilith replies.

Garth sighs before tossing his backpack to the table. "While I'm here, may as well get my homework done, don't wanna worry about it over the break."

"Or accidentally get it wet," Lilith jokes.

Karen lets out a laugh before putting her own bag on the table. "You know, I used to be really confused as to why your homework would sometimes be wet when you turned it in, now I know."

"It's not fun. I mean, it's mainly Andy's fault why my homework gets wet," Garth says.

"Wow, Garth, blaming the baby princess of Atlantis, who knew you'd stoop so low?" Zatanna tsks and shakes her head.

"Truly he has fallen far," Kory adds.

Everyone laughs at Garth's expense, the Atlantean Prince groaning and sinking into his chair. "Dammit, Kory, you were supposed to be the nice one."

With a huff, Roy gets up and heads towards the massive fridge, grabbing some water bottles. "I'm gonna head to the gym."

Wally leans back to look at Roy heading towards the elevator. "Again? Dude, are you trying to be our new Superman? I think Daichi's more than got that covered."

The others wince as Roy stops, takes a deep breath, and then continues to the elevator, heading towards the gym. Wally looks around at the others glaring at him once the elevator doors close. "Yeah, I take full blame for that one."

With her lasso, Donna whips it out, hitting Wally in the chest and causing him to fall over. "As you should," she then sighs and slams her head into the table, leaving a dent in it. "Sorry."

The others look at each other awkwardly. Garth just does his homework.

Eventually Dick's the first one to break the silence. "Man, love triangles are weird, right!?"

Lilith gives him a blank stare. "Subtle," she then stands up and crouches down next to her best friend, one of her hands atop the Amazonian Princess'. "You okay, Don?"

Donna groans before turning her face to look at Lilith, part of her head still in the caved in part of the table. "No."

"Let me guess, while dating Daichi is all sunshine and rainbows, the reaction of a certain archer rains on your parade. And you want to find a way to end this before anything bad could come out of it, but you don't know how," Lilith summarizes.

"Wow, it's almost like you read my mind," Donna groans and leans back in her chair, far enough that it falls over, but she stays floating, much to Wally's jealousy. "I don't like being the center of a love triangle, it's a pain. Why can't Roy just see that Daichi makes me happy and accept it? I'd bet there's a girl out there who'd love to be with him."

"Look at it this way," Karen says. "The girl he's been pining after for years suddenly says yes to another guy who's stronger, faster, smarter, and hotter than him, and she's known him for what, a month?"

"Hotter!?" Garth shouts incredulously.

Lilith just looks at him and rolls her eyes before returning her attention to Donna.

"It was more like a month and a half. But still, he needs to accept this and move on, I don't want anyone hurt because of our relationship," Donna sighs sadly and plays with the bracers on her arms.

Lilith hums before getting up and pulling out her phone. "I'm gonna text Daichi."

As Lilith goes to the couch and begins to text him, Kory speaks up. "I was in a similar position, actually."

Donna and Dick both pop their heads up and look at her, the others doing so in a calmer manner. "Seriously?" The latter asks.

Kory nods. "A few years ago, there were two princes who wanted my hand in marriage. As per Tamaranean culture they fought in a gladiator battle, the winner would become my betrothed."

"And, uh, who won?" Dick asks.

"Neither. They both killed each other," Kory then gasps and points at Donna with a smile. "Roy and Daichi should battle for your hand! Yes! I will get the arrangements ready!" She pulls out a notebook and begins to scribble down. "We'll need a location, the proper technology to broadcast the battle, weapons, a date available for everyone-"

"Kory!" Donna shouts. "We're not holding a gladiator battle for them!"

The Tamaranean princess lowers her head in dejection. "Oh. Then I do not know how to help."

Donna sighs and lands on the ground, she then puts the chair back in place before looking at the others with a small smile on her face. "Look, I appreciate the ideas, really, but this is something that Roy, Daichi, and I need to deal with. Privately."

"Guys!" Lilith shouts. "You're gonna want to see this!"

The others quickly run over to find a yellow and black jet landing on the island, from it emerges Billy Numerous, Gizmo, Jinx, Shimmer, and Mammoth. The five of them walk forward before staring up at the Tower.

Gizmo fiddles with the gauntlet on his right arm for a moment. "Teen Titans!" Gizmo's voice shouts from the speakers, grating on the ears of everyone present. "I am Gizmo, and we are the Hive Five! Guess what, we're here to kick your asses! We'll give you ten minutes to get ready," the speakers deactivate.

Wally looks at the others, already wearing his suit. "Well, at least they gave us time to get ready."

"Tup no tius," Zatanna chants. Her clothes change to black pants, high heels, a white dress shirt, a yellow vest, and a black tailcoat. "That's their first mistake."

Dick nods and the others follow as he heads towards the elevator. "All right let's get ready. Bumblebee, Zatanna, you aren't really publicly known yet, so we can use that to our advantage. Omen, where's Apex?"

Omen groans as she puts her phone in her pocket. "Can't call, they seem to have a jammer up. And he's out of range for me to telepathically call out for him."

Robin groans as the elevator doors open, the group heads over to where their spare suits are to find Speedy already getting ready. "Who's out there?" He asks.

"Some kid calling himself Gizmo, a girl with her hair dyed pink, some dude wearing a red and white suit, Mammoth, and Shimmer," Kid Flash answers as he leans on the case for Apex's suit.

Speedy swears quietly before testing out his bow. "What's the plan?"

"Zatanna and Bumblebee haven't made any public appearances with the team, so they'll hide and find an opening to attack with. Wonder Girl, Aqualad, you two can deal with Mammoth, you're best suited for it. Kid, you've got the guy in the red and white suit. Speedy and I can take on Gizmo, while Starfire takes on the pink haired girl, and Omen can deal with Shimmer," Robin plans.

"What about Apex? Shouldn't we keep trying to call him?" Bumblebee asks.

Speedy scoffs. "We don't need him."

Wonder Girl glares at him as she puts on her shoulder pad. "We don't, but it'd help to have him here. If Robin can't make a strategy he can, especially against Mammoth and Shimmer."

"He's the reason they're here!" Speedy shouts, but he recoils, regretting that he raised his voice at Wonder Girl.

Wonder Girl just sighs and shakes her head. "Everybody makes mistakes, Roy, be they speedster, archer, or evolved human."

"We can continue this conversation later," Omen then turns to Bumblebee. "I can't call him, there's something blocking communications, and he's out of range for me to call him telepathically without meditating."

Bumblebee then looks at Kid Flash. "And you?"

"I don't know where they are exactly. They could be on the road, at a rest stop, or the Kent Farm. I'd be gone for too long and I don't wanna leave you guys to fend for yourselves," he replies.

The speakers activate. "Your time's almost up, Titans! If you don't get out now, we'll blow your house up!"

"We'll get a hold of him later," Robin says as he puts on his mask. "Teen Titans Together!"

A few minutes later, the Teen Titans exit the tower and confront the Hive Five on their private beach. Zatanna and Bumblebee hide behind some rocks a distance away.

The two teams look each other over in a tense silence. Mammoth huffs, condensation coming out of his nose in powerful bursts. "Where's Apex?"

Speedy growls and nocks a smoke arrow. "Not here. We don't need him to kick your asses, anyway."

Robin puts an arm on the bow and lowers it down, not taking his eyes off of the Hive Five. "Why are you here?"

"Revenge," Shimmer answers.

"Obviously," Kid Flash mutters. "Where'd you get the new toys? I highly doubt any of you are rich enough to buy a state-of-the-art jet."

"Our…benefactor supplied it," Shimmer answers. "Enough talk, time to fight!"

Speedy quickly fires his smoke arrow at Hive Five, obstructing the view for most of them and running back to a better vantage point. Laser fire forces the team to scatter, and from the smoke Gizmo is the first to fly out, his goggles down and the guns on his jetpack firing at the Teen Titans. Robin throws some birdarangs and Speedy fires some arrows, capturing the attention of the little gremlin genius.

Next up, Billy Numerous runs out of the smoke, followed by three more, totaling at four of him. Kid Flash runs to him but the ground below him becomes ice thanks to Shimmer, tripping the speedster and causing him to slide towards the four. Billy and his clones then kick at Kid Flash's prone form.

A blast from Starfire sends the four clones flying back, giving Kid Flash the space he needs to catch his breath and run around, knocking out one of the clones almost immediately.

While she floats in the air, Starfire avoids a blast of pink magic from Jinx. She then swoops around and fires blasts of energy at Jinx and Shimmer. Jinx quickly puts up a shield while Shimmer somersaults back, but she groans in pain and holds her head as Omen begins the mental assault.

"Now then, who's you benefactor?" Omen asks as she tries to go through Shimmer's mental defenses, she arches a brow as she attempts to enter. "Hm, you've got better defenses then expected."

Omen then notices the piece of the marble walkway coming at her, she quickly telekinetically launches it away, but as soon as it's gone, Mammoth is almost on top of her, his fists reared back to slam Omen down.

Aqualad and Wonder Girl fly in and punch Mammoth in the face, due to the momentum, the giant is sent flying back into the jet. Aqualad and Omen make eye contact before nodding, Aqualad and Wonder Girl then fly over to continue their onslaught.

Mammoth's arm suddenly shoots out and grabs Aqualad by the head. Wonder Girl reacts quickly and wraps her lasso around the arm, she then pulls back hard, forcing Mammoth to let go of the Atlantean. She notices Mammoth's other fist coming towards her, seeing that she doesn't have enough time to dodge or bring her shield up she does the next best thing, she turns so the shield on her back is between her and Mammoth's fist.

The punch sends her flying away, but the lasso's still around his arm, so she pulls him along with her, plants her feet down, and swings Mammoth downwards, hoping to slam him into the ground. But while fighting Starfire, Jinx gets a moment to breath and fires a blast of luck magic at the lasso around Mammoth's arm, causing it to loosen up and unwrap.

Mammoth then lands in front of Wonder Girl, much to her surprise, and punches her away, causing the Amazonian to fly towards the ocean.

Jinx smirks but is then hit by a blast from Starfire. The mage grits her teeth before aiming her hands at the Tamaranean. She then uses her luck magic to increase the speed of the wind, causing Starfire's hair to blow into her face, blinding her.

Jinx smirks. "And that's why I don't have long hair."

Jinx goes for a blast but a sharp, stinging sensation in her neck catches her attention. By instinct, she slaps at the spot. "AGH! Mosquitos!? In this weather?"

"Seriously?" A voice says from out of nowhere. "What makes you think I'm a damn mosquito?" A small ball of yellow light appears in front of Jinx's face. "It's Bumblebee, goth girl."

Bumblebee then hits Jinx in the face with a powerful stinger blast, sending the mage stumbling back as she screams and clutches at her face with one hand, the other hoping to swat Bumblebee out of the sky.

Thanks to her training (and this isn't the first time this has happened) Bumblebee expertly avoids Jinx's attempts and flies around, hitting her with stinger blast after stinger blast, much to Jinx's annoyance. "Will you stop that!?"

Bumblebee smirks before stopping. "Okay."

'Wait, really?' Jinx thinks. She slowly lowers her arms to the side, ready to blast Bumblebee before opening her eyes. Starfire's right in front of her, and her glowing green fists don't look fun.

The Tamaranean Princess punches Jinx across the face, sending the mage flying back a distance away. Jinx sees that she's quickly flying towards the fountain, so she utters a spell that has Robin fly in her path due to an explosion, the Boy Wonder then cushions her fall.

Robin groans in pain at being used as a cushion once Jinx hurries off of him, Bumblebee and Starfire chasing after her. The latter looks a little too angry at Jinx's recent actions.

Robin shakes his head and leaps away as two small robots come after him. Their eyes then glow before firing energy blasts at him. The Boy Wonder avoids the robots and throws two electric birdarangs, deactivating the two. "Oh my God, it's like fighting gremlin MacGyver."

Gizmo lets out a high-pitched laugh as he dodges an arrow from Speedy, his jetpack gun then shoots down another one. But from the smoke a third arrow comes out and opens to become a net, trapping him. "AH! Let me go, dammit!"

Robin leaps over and kneels next to Gizmo, he raises his gauntlet and begins to hack into Gizmo's jetpack. "Wow, you've got pretty good defenses, won't lie. It'd be a shame if they were…broken."

From within the net, Gizmo's able to get his arms in a way that lets him activate a holographic screen and attempt to protect his tech.

The two then have a hack-off as Speedy notices Mammoth punch Wonder Girl towards the ocean. "Donna!" He shouts before leaping off of his hiding spot and running towards Mammoth.

Robin notices and looks away from his screen. "Dammit! Speedy, wait!"

Robin's hologram becomes green, and the chibi versions of his face are replaced with Gizmo's. "Shouldn't have done that!" Gizmo laughs.

One of the robots stands behind Robin and hits him with a taser on his exposed arm, locking up the Boy Wonder's muscles. Robin grits his teeth and manages to hold in his screams of pain as Gizmo manages to get out of the net.

He then stands up and grins down at Robin's convulsing form. Two arms appear from his jetpack and place two hilts in Gizmo's hands. Gizmo then grins and crosses his arms, pressing a button on the hilts that activate lasers in the form of sword.

The robots finish tasing Robin, letting him see Gizmo's weapons. "Oh, y-y-you made l-lightsabers."

"Yep," Gizmo raises the blades up above his head. "Time to strike you down!"

One of the Billy clones slams into Gizmo, sending him flying back and tossing the lightsabers away.

Kid Flash runs around another Billy Numerous clone, hitting it with a barrage of punches. While running, another one sticks his foot out, tripping the speedster and sending him skidding along the ground. Kid Flash's back hits a bench and the speedster groans. "I'm so glad I have armor."

Two clones come running at him, they jump in the air, ready to tackle him when they suddenly stop in the air, a blue-white barrier around them. Kid Flash sits up and nods. "Thanks, Zee."

"No prob-" Kid Flash suddenly runs behind her and punches the real Billy Numerous away from her. "Thanks."

The clone that knocked back Gizmo, and the real Billy slowly get up and come back towards the two. They crack their knuckles and glare at the two. Bumblebee then suddenly flies into Zatanna, breaking her concentration and letting the other two Billy clones free.

"Sorry!" Bumblebee shouts before flying back towards an injured Jinx.

Zatanna and Kid Flash stand back-to-back as they're surrounded by the four copies of Billy Numerous. "Ya know, if he were more powerful, we'd have to deal with more than four of him," Kid Flash says.

Zatanna nods. "Yeah. I got two, you got two?"

Kid Flash smirks. He then runs and clashes the heads of the real Billy and his clone together, knocking the two out. And because the real Billy is out the other two clones disappear, much to Zatanna's disappointment. "Aw man."

The two hear someone shouting, and it's getting closer. They dodge out of the way just as Aqualad slams into the ground, some blood trailing down his nose and one of his eyes looks like it'll be black in a few hours.

They look over to see Mammoth and Wonder Girl trading blows with each other, blood flying from each hit. Speedy's also knocked out on the ground, not too far away from the fight. "What the hell is he doing there!?" Kid Flash shouts.

Aqualad groans and slowly gets up. "He was worried about WG. Your guy's down?" At Kid Flash's nod he cracks his knuckles. "Help kick his ass."

"Ekat ydeepS ot ytefas," Zatanna chants, Speedy disappears. She then notices Shimmer and Omen fighting. "I'll go help Lil."

Zatanna runs over and jumps above what's left of the stone Mammoth threw earlier. "Erif!" A ball of fire shoots at Shimmer, exploding just next to her and sending her flying back. Zatanna goes for another spell but Starfire lands right in front of her, breaking her concentration. Zatanna and Omen then help Starfire up, the three then look to see Shimmer and Jinx walking towards them.

Zatanna and Jinx glare at each other, ready to test their magic against each other. Shimmer slowly kneels down, her hands ready to shift the ground below the three. Omen sees this and telekinetically pushes her back, beginning the battle between the five.

"Drows!" A giant blue sword swings towards Jinx, but she puts up a pink shield, blocking the blade.

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices many things. Shimmer's having problems with Omen and Starfire, Billy Numerous is knocked out, Gizmo's having a hard time dealing with Robin, and Mammoth's getting his ass handed to him by Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Kid Flash.

She grits her teeth and reaches into her pocket, pulling out the teleportation stone given to her by Brother Blood. Jinx quickly hits Zatanna with a luck spell, causing the girl to breath wrong and cough as she tries to clear her throat.

She then focuses her energy on the stone, a pink glow coming from her clenched fist. "Hive Academy!" She then tosses the rock to the ground. A blinding explosion of pink light erupts as soon as the stone hits the ground, and once it clears, the Teen Titans see that the Hive Five are gone.

After a moment of silence, the eight calm down. Kid Flash lets out a breath before falling onto his ass and taking off his cowl. "We would've won. Totally."

Garth grits his teeth as he kneels down next to Wally, one arm around his injured ribs. "I think he cracked my ribs. Damn, Mammoth hits hard."

Donna grits her teeth as she slowly sits down on a nearby bench, her right leg stretched out. During the battle, he grabbed her by the leg and squeezed down on it, nearly breaking the limb. Mammoth also got in a sucker punch to her head, leaving a deep, bleeding wound. He also swung her around, which is why Roy's knocked out.

"That he does," she agrees. "They left behind their jet though. Weird."

Dick groans and holds his right arm, the muscles in it occasionally twitching. "Yeah, it is. But we can use this. I can check the flight recorder, see where they came from."

"Hive Academy, you heard Jinx," Garth points out.

"Doesn't hurt to be sure," Dick then smirks. "Then again, I did get a tracker on Mammoth and cloning kid before they escaped, just in case."

Wally smirks. "Nice," he groans before standing up, rotating his arms backwards, then forwards. "Can we call Daichi?"

Donna tries but only gets static. She growls and shakes her head. "No. Something's still jamming the signal," the group all look at the jet. "Think that's why."

Dick sighs before getting up slowly. "We'll deal with it later. Once you're good, go get Daichi, all right, Wally?"

Wally nods and walks towards Titans Tower; the others follow him.

Donna's at the back of the group, before she enters the Tower she turns around and glares at the jet. "We're kicking your asses next time. Count on it."

Hades is fucking fun, yo! And Blood of Zeus is a really great series! Wonder if that Immortals Fenyx Rising will be any good, and if it means there's gonna be a resurgence of people getting into Greek mythology.

And hey, the Hive Five are the main villains of this arc. Now they're obviously based off the Teen Titans animated series with some changes here and there. For one, this Jinx is based more off the comic version, who's a bald Indian woman, but here she's an Indian teen with her hair dyed pink, so there's some elements of her animated counterpart. Also, did you know Billy Numerous only appeared in the show? He doesn't have a comic version of himself.

I never realized how easy it is to write fight scenes until this chapter. The slower, more personal parts of stories I find harder to write, mainly 'cause I'm not sure what to really write and where, but when it comes to combat, oooooh wee, that comes pouring out like water from a broken dam.

Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people!