Disclaimer: I don't own Teen titans, all rights to the owners.
ROBIN
Construction is difficult, especially because we're not hiring help (aside from people to transport the materials, and Kima of course).
Cyborg is vital to the work, making sure everything is put in the right place at the right angles and generally acting as overseer. The rest of us are just muscle, which doesn't work so well for me because I have the least muscle of us all.
So I don't bother, and instead devote most of my time to working out how the Titans' public relations is going to work with Nathan. Do we want a website? How are we going to deal with social media? Should the Titans consider press releases?
Nathan can only help so much. I hired him to manage this stuff, not create it, and he has no problem reminding me of that, "You decide what you want, and I'll write for it. I'm a writer, not a public relations expert. I don't know what the Titans need, Robyn."
He's right of course, but it still takes a long time for me to make a decision.
Over the course of the next week construction progresses at a steady pace. We're not nearly as slow as you might expect, because what would usually take five people to do Starfire can usually manage on his own in half the time.
Mumbo takes to construction with surprising gusto, and Kid Flash… hates it. That's not really a surprise. She's never been able to settle into professional hero work because while she loves fighting crime, she really doesn't like everything else that professional heroes have to deal with.
The new tower has a more squat frame. We designed it after a fort, figuring that would be most fitting. We want the tower to be defensible, and not as unreasonably top-heavy as the old one was. Also, it won't be completely orange, which is possibly the most significant improvement in the whole design.
Joking of course, but not having the whole tower be one straight colour will be nice.
That's all well and good. The week is busy with construction, designing, and other miscellaneous tasks…
...and then Martian Manhunter drops by. I mean that literally by the way. She drops out of the sky like a brick, and stops only inches from hitting the ground. Manhunter has always had a weird way of flying. I guess it's dramatic if nothing else.
"Manhunter." I greet curtly. Manhunter won't mind. She's always been all business. "You're here about Rose, aren't you? It took a while."
"The Justice League had some issues to deal with." Manhunter says. "Starro was causing trouble a few systems over, and Lantern called us for help. It was quite the ordeal."
It really must have been if it took almost a week to deal with.
"That's not all I'm here for. This was intercepted yesterday, heading for the planet. It would have landed on your island." Manhunter says, handing a small capsule to me. I pull it open to see a scroll in an unknown language. "We can't decipher it, so it's not a language in the Justice League database. Adding onto that the fact that it was shot exactly at your island, we're assuming it to be Tamaranian."
Interesting. "Starfire!"
"I am already here." The boy says, and takes the capsule from me. His eyes scan the symbols, and his brow furrows. "It is indeed Tamaranian, and the message is from Kom'ander."
Kom'ander? His brother? That's… hmm… I don't know what to make of that. Though judging by Star's frown, it's not good.
"Finish what you were doing before." Starfire says. "I'll write down the translation for this in the meantime."
Starfire moves off to do just that, leaving me and Manhunter to deal with the less fun topic of Rose.
"If you want to see the body, the JCPD still has it." I offer. "She's not pulling a Joker and coming back. Her heart stopped, cell decay in the brain, everything."
"We know. We checked the coroner's report." Manhunter says. "I'm here for Changeling."
Of course she is. I knew this would happen eventually. "She's out on the town at the moment. I can give you her location through the tracker in her communicator."
"It's unnecessary." Manhunter says, rising into the sky with her usual blank expression. "I sensed her mind as soon as I came close to the city. I will have no trouble finding her. I simply wished to inform you, as your team leader, of what I would be doing."
"Right." I say. This whole situation leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, but it has to happen. "She hasn't calmed down much over the week, so… be warned I suppose."
"Understood." She says flatly. "Until later, then."
Martian Manhunter flies off. I Changeling doesn't do something stupid. Thankfully, I have Starfire's translation to take my mind off things. It doesn't take long, and the contents are, well… I'll just read it to you. It's short and to the point.
To his royal highness, Prince-General Starfire, first in line to the Tamaranian throne.
By my authority as King of Tamaran I formally request your return to Tamaran to fulfill your royal duty as prince for the benefit of Tamaran and the Tamaranian people to be married to Princess Thaernun of the Yaemanese Kingdom. You are required to return via the fifth of the fourth, or the twentieth of the ninth by the Earth calendar.
By the permission of our glorious Emperor, you may bring no more than five guests to bear witness to this momentous occasion. The Emperor himself will be in attendance to oversee your union, and it would not do to displease him.
Please be punctual.
Your king and brother,
Kom'ander.
"King? I knew he was running the place, but I didn't realize he was actually king last time." I muse.
"He was not." Starfire says curtly as he stares down at the words. There's something very wrong with his expression and his words. "He was merely acting ruler in our parent's absence."
"Oh, so-"
"I am afraid that the fact that he has formally assumed kingship-" Starfire says quietly, "-implies much for my parents' fates."
CHANGELING
Very little can hold my interest. There's so little for me to do in this city. It doesn't feel right to watch a movie without Ruban, anything activity that requires more than one person is not a choice, and I don't exactly care for something like going to an arcade or a spa.
No, the only thing that holds my interest is an old pastime of mine. It's been months since I did some bounty hunting, but I've started again now. It's the only outlet I can get for my anger that doesn't put someone innocent in danger.
I'm currently in the form of a rat. A spider would be more practical if I just cared about seeing my target, but I also want to hear, and spiders don't hear in the traditional sense (they feel vibrations but don't hear exactly).
The person I'm after is named David Anderson. I can't remember exactly what his crimes are, and honestly I don't care. The point is that he's wanted, and I'm hunting him down.
He wasn't exactly difficult to track down. I'm familiar with a few groups that make a business out of getting people across the border to Mexico, either through smuggling or through forged passports. They have people all across California, and keeping an ear to their dealings has let me catch more than one fugitive coming through Jump City in the past.
Right now Anderson is holed up in one of the many shoddy motels around here. The crew transporting him is waiting on the forged passport, so this is my only chance to nab him before he leaves the city.
I just need to know which motel he's in so I can camp outside, but investigating each motel individually has proven far too slow, so instead I'm skulking around one of the bars where the group usually eats, hoping to overhear something. It's not the perfect plan, but I have a backup. If need be I can simply follow the members back to Anderson's room once they have the forged passport. That will mean I have to fight all of them at once rather than just nabbing Anderson, but I can manage that.
At least, that's what I would be doing if the goddamn Martian Manhunter didn't casually walk into the bar and take a seat at the table which I'm hiding under. Oddly enough, no one bats an eye at her being here. They don't even raise their heads to take a look. The only attention she gets is someone coming over to take her order.
"Two baskets of fries and two glasses of water." The manhunter says quietly. "I have a friend coming."
For a moment, I'm curious as to who this friend is, and then manhunter looks down and directly at me and I realize I'm the friend.
Holding back an irritated growl, I wait until no one is looking and hop up onto the opposite chair and untransform.
"You did not need to be so cautious." Manhunter says when I'm properly settled. "I am modifying everyone's perception of us. They see two young women sitting at a table, and you just walked through the door."
I forgot that Manhunter has a stupid amount of abilities. She could give superwoman a run for her money. "What do you want, Manhunter? I'm busy."
"Have you not considered telling the police about the smuggling dens?" Manhunter asks, dodging the question. "I'm sure they would appreciate the information."
"If the police start listening to the smuggling and border-running rings, then I won't be able to catch people who use them." I say coldly. "I'd run myself out of business by helping the police."
"You are no longer a bounty hunter." Manhunter reminds me.
"Then I'd be running other bounty hunters out of business." I argue. "And there's no saying when I might have to go back to the job. Helping the police is bad for business."
"Is not the goal of any law enforcement to make their own job obsolete? A world with no need for heroes is a better world."
"Bounty hunters aren't law enforcement." I scoff. "If we were, we'd be police."
"You say 'we'. You consider yourself a bounty hunter."
"I didn't become a hero to do the right thing." I say bluntly. "I became a hero for the free room and board, and for Crow's sake. I knew he'd fare better living among the Titans than a cramped little apartment. I wouldn't exactly call myself a bounty hunter, that's never been my main job, but I'm certainly only playing hero because it's convenient."
"Is that why you were so quick to kill Rose?"
Took her long enough to get to that. I knew that's why she was here from the start, and was wondering why she was bothering with my motives for bounty-hunting. "I wasn't quick to kill her. She threatened Robyn, and slashing her throat was the safest way to make sure Robyn would survive. I didn't kill her arbitrarily. Would you have me leave Robyn to die?" I sneer.
"Of course not." Manhunter says calmly. She doesn't care about my anger. Bitch. "But it is concerning nonetheless that such a measure was resorted to. A hero is always under pressure, and it is imperative that lethal force does not become a standard response."
"So you're afraid I'll do it again."
"I was phrasing it more diplomatically, but yes." Manhunter agrees. "There is concern that you are not sufficiently restrained and do not see the issue with your actions."
"By your standards that's probably true." I say bluntly. "I'm not about to let my companions get their throat slit. I'm sorry that I value the lives of a good person over an attempted murderer."
"All sentient life is sacred." Manhunter replies firmly.
"Bullshit. I agree with not killing if you don't have to, but some people have made the choice to be terrible people. They chose to devalue their own lives." I assert. "We're not talking about an unfortunate soul here Manhunter, we're talking about an attempted murderer with no good justification. It was her choice to reduce her life's value from sacred to secondary."
We both fall silent for a moment as the server brings our fries and water. I nibble on one and frown. Ruban could make better.
"The Titans are affiliated with the Justice League now." Manhunter says quietly. "Anything you do reflects on us. Rose's death is not as much of a problem as your justification. A more cavalier attitude toward death reflects poorly on us as a whole."
"So you just care about the League's image?"
"No, I care about the morality." Manhunter says. "But I figure that you might be more receptive to a pragmatic argument."
I sit back in my chair, angrily biting into another fry. "My opinion isn't going to change, if that's what you're trying to do. I'm always going to put good lives first."
"That's a fine line to walk." Manhunter warns. "You can justify great cruelty with that mindset."
"Yours is no better." I scoff. "You can justify great negligence and risk by refusing to take drastic action when it is warranted."
The two of us stare each other down, our food and drinks sitting untouched for several minutes.
"It would seem we are at an impasse." Manhunter murmurs. "Your mindset is not necessarily wrong, but it is more obviously dangerous and requires keen moral judgement. For now, a warning: be cautious. You walk a very fine line."
She waves hand over her food and drink and it magically vanishes to an empty bowl and glass, and stands up and starts to walk out.
"Lake street, Roadside Motel, fifth room from the left." She says as she leaves.
It takes me a moment to realize she's talking about David Anderson. Fuck telepathy.
I managed to deal with several important points in this chapter. You can also now see what the next sub-arc will be about.
legendaryNOT: Ketchup then.
TREBOR.E: Well, I haven't introduced any new ones in a bit. I mentioned Hysteria I suppose, but they've never shown up in person. Eventually we'll be getting more teen heroes when the fifth season comes around, but you probably won't see many new active players for a while.
Origami Stars: Yes, Kima's parents were lumberjacks. Also, remember that the term "lumberjack" is just the closest translation to English of what their job was.
I love Razor too! He's so good!
Starfire is serious about everything. Hence, serious mustard.
Ava and Evan are characters I have an idea of what they could do, but I have no idea if they'll ever actually be needed.
Shiranai Atsune: :D
Trase: I'm sort of fumbling around with Kid Flash at the moment. I don't quite know how to get her from point A to point B in what I've planned for her.
iHateFridays: I'm glad to have you back! I can't believe this story is actually that old… and it's not even halfway done yet.
