A/N : In this story, all characters' ages are between 15 and 18 years old. That may not make sense to some of ya… but hey, kind reminder : this is a work of fiction !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
(ONE) _ 1 MISSION… 2 TEAMS ! _
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Wooooah ! No way ! This is so totally cool !" exclaimed the spiked-hair teenager as he jumped out of the bus.
"All those big houses! It's nothing like Single Town ! You humans really have a taste for different kinds of housing. We don't have that back on Rhapsodia !" shrilled the small blonde as she stopped by her amazed friend.
"Well, Single Town, as its name indicates, is a town, therefore a medium-size living area, while Jump City here, again according to its name, is a city, and therefore a larger area with bigger buildings called 'skyscrapers'. That's one of the main differences between the two, Cathy." explained an indigo-haired boy as he joined the other two.
"Chris is right. American cities are known mostly for their skyscrapers, but you can still find houses the size of Single Town's in cities. I find this architectural intermix in our metropolis pretty fascinating, actually…" added an African-American female as she came to complete the foursome.
"Wooaaah wooaah wooaah ! How about stopping it right here right now with complex words, Sam ? We're on holiday here, remember ?"
That made the brunette girl snort as she gently shook her head.
"Ah la la, Danny, you really are allergic to even the tiniest bit of culture, aren't you ?" she teased.
The recipient of such derisive comment blew the speaker a raspberry, which had Sam roll her eyes to the sky.
When will that guy actually start maturing ? Hopefuly before 30…
"Alright, so… let me check again…" said Chris as he focused on his Samsung. (1)
A few seconds later, his blue eyes lit up with understanding's sparkle.
"Right, the youth hostel is in the second on the left. Let those who love me follow me !"
Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Chris using humor ?!"
Sam gave him a lopsided smile.
"You thought you were the only one mastering humor, 'The Danny' ?" she mocked and, as she walked past him, gave him a sideways glance, still smirking.
The big mouth of the group frowned at the brunette and imitated a person constantly lecturing – "Gnagnagni, gnagnagna…" – before falling into his teaser's footsteps.
Cathy chuckled as she spotted her friend's upset reaction and brought up the rear, brightening up the day with her tinkling laugh.
Twenty minutes later, they were laying their bags in on the floor of two adjacent rooms, each proposing two beds to the tired young tourists.
Then they gathered in Sam's and Chris's room to have a collation all together.
"How much time did it take to get here ?" inquired the bubbly blonde, her eyes shifting from Chris to Sam and back to Chris.
"About three hours, I'd say…" tentatively replied the black teen before turning to her indigo-haired pal for confirmation, knowing he had all the data in his cell phone.
"In fact, two hours and forty-nine minutes, to be more accurate…" he specified.
"Not too long, eh ?" remarked the green-eyed boy before brushing his spiked hair.
They had finished their meal when Danny's face briskly livened up, giving away some sudden enthusiasm.
"Hey, how about we tested the A-scan in Jump City ? Maybe there are some aliens round here…"
Sam cleared her voice.
"I know we have the constant mission of protecting humans against naughty aliens' attacks, but this is supposed to be our holiday. So if we start it by using our mission's equipment… I know we have some of our MBC stuff with us here, "just in case" – she gave a knowing look to Chris, who gulped and looked away – but can we maybe start our stay here in a more relaxed way ?"
"…says the mission freak !" Danny daringly commented.
Cathy and Chris saw how Sam's eyes sent virtual daggers to her bold friend.
Things were just about to degenerate…
"Uh, guys, this is holiday, as Sam said, so please : NO bickering ! Come one, make peace !" begged the young alien as she looked at each in turns.
"Humpf… okay !" the brunette reluctantly let out, her tone and stare dripping with obvious vexation.
"Right !" Danny muttered on his side, no happier then the MBC leader.
"Hey, how about we went for a city tour now ?" proposed the freckled genius of the team, mostly to take his quarrelling friends' minds off their argument.
Cathy almost squealed upon hearing that.
"Oh yesyesyes ! Chris is right ! Pleasepleaseplease, let's go visit ! And after, I'll call my cousin and we'll meet downtown, and he'll be our guide for the rest of the day… hum, I mean : for the rest of the stay !"
"Alright then" agreed Sam. "We will thank him for proposing us to come over. And reassure him regarding his impossibility to welcome us at his place : after all, house works are house works, so it's no big deal he can't have us over. But better make sure he doesn't brood over it and regret it too much. Chris, since you're the one with the plan, we follow you."
They got up from their sitting spots and were about to leave the room when…
BEEP ! BEEP ! BEEP !
The tech of the team rushed for his bag and took out the A-Scan, whose warning light was frantically flashing red.
He consulted the screen of the detecting device, frowning.
"Alien in the city's outskirts, in a wood. Let me check the right spot, in relation to our current location… Mmmmh… Wolfram Wood (2)…It's something like 40 minutes on foot…"
"The alien will be gone by then ! And we don't know the public transportation good enough !
Oh, too bad we can't use this city's sewers to get there faster, like we did in Singletown…!" complained the blonde Rhapsodian.
The leader was assessing the situation, her hand supporting her chin, one finger across her lips. And she was about to speak up when her freckled teammate did.
"I knew I should take a few gadgets with me… and notably this one !"
And Chris pulled out a device of reduced size, which the others stared at.
"What is it ?" asked Sam.
"A teleportation unit. All we need to do is walk inside the blue circle that appears after programming the arrival location and pffft… we're transported over there !" proudly replied the geek.
"Way to go, Chris !" congratulated the African-American. "Let's switch to our uniforms already here. MBC, Power up !"
Each of them in turn uttered that same last sentence, and soon were the four teenagers in their mission outfits.
"Alright, ready for teleportation ! Let's roll !" concluded Sam.
"And that's how a great holiday gets spoiled from the start… Thanks a bunch, aliens !" Danny complained as he stepped inside the blue light, releasing a huge sigh…
The dark-skinned female gave him a look, rolled her eyes, yet didn't utter a single word, sighing as well, although more discreetly than her laid-back teammate.
The foursome got bathed in a blue aura, and seconds later, the room was empty…
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Robin's frown had been there for so long that it almost threatened to become permanent.
But when Boy Wonder was focused… he couldn't help frowning all the way !
He finally grabbed his left rook and moved it to the center of the line.
Raven smirked and immediately moved her bishop along the diagonal which crossed the whole chessboard, stopping it at the strategic spot she had found minutes ago.
"Check, Robin !"
The leader couldn't take it anymore.
"I take time to reflect to find the good moves, and you always play immediately. Damn, how do you do this, Raven ?"
"Force of habit. Practice makes perfect, they say. Your turn." she replied in her monotone.
"I can't believe it. I just can't. You're… you're too gifted !" he exclaimed, partly with admiration, partly with upset.
"Thanks. Your turn." she droned on, flattered by his comment but not showing even the tiniest satisfaction about it, used as she was to control her feelings and emotions.
He mumbled away and focused hard on the chessboard.
"Dammit, can't I win even a single one ?" exclaimed another voice, in a different part of the room.
Cyborg looked at Starfire, defeated.
They had been having series of arm-wrestling contests, but despite the conjunction of Cyborg's natural strength with his mechanical power, the half-robot still couldn't outmatch the alien's otherworldly muscle power.
And although Cyborg was far less chauvinistic than Beast Boy, he couldn't help feeling bummed about losing all of his physical confrontations with the Tamaranean.
Upon hearing her teammate's outburst, the latter stopped smiling and her face "dropped".
"I am so very sorry about your not winning any of our challenges, friend Cyborg ! Please accept my apologies for - "
"No no no !" he interrupted her. "Don't apologize, Star ! It's not your fault. You're just stronger because… well, because that's in your extraterrestrial genes, that's all ! And no one is to blame for their genes ! So it's alright, you're not guilty of anything !"
She stared at him tentatively.
"Are you… are you sure, Friend Cyborg ?"
He grinned wide, doing his best to conceal his slight upset at always losing.
"Definitely ! And I'll even accept one last arm-wrestling. Ready ?"
She felt comforted and grinned back.
"I am ready indeed !"
And each other seized the other's hand, Starfire hoping that her good friend wouldn't feel too sad if he lost again, Cyborg hiding his sigh and doing his best to resist the alien's outstanding strength.
"I'm gonna get back at you, Jinx ! I swear I will !" exclaimed another voice, still in another part of the common room.
"That's what we will see, Beast Toy !" answered a female voice with amused effrontery.
"Hey, stop calling me that, you witch !"
"Ah ah, yup, a witch, and proud to be one ! Now come on, just try to stop me !"
Jinx and Beast Boy were playing a basketball video game on console Wii. They were standing in front of the TV, at a reasonable distance of the screen, and used their Wii remote to pass the ball between players and shoot.
The pink-haired teen was playing barefoot, as she enjoyed taking her socks off and let her feet "breathe" freely. So she did it as often as she could.
However hard the shapeshifter tried, he couldn't outmatch the witch's speed and agility : she showed incontestable qualities of ball handling and a dazzling precision at shooting, even scoring from a distance… which especially drove her adversary mad, as he himself wasn't so fortunate at remote attempts and therefore envied her successful tries, which he called 'mere strokes of luck'.
She managed a particularly complex combination between her players and one of them shot the ball in direction of the basket, but from a great distance.
Beast Boy goggled, hoping she wouldn't have that much luck that she would put it in from so far away.
But it turned out differently : another player of Jinx's was running towards the basket on the opposite side, the ball closing in so quickly…
… Jinx suddenly raised her remote to have her player leap in direction of the basket …
… she briskly brought her hand down, as if she wanted to knock something down…
…and the player grabbed the ball to make an awesome dunk !
Just at that precise second, the virtual referee whistled, indicating the match was over.
"102 to 78 ! Not bad, BB… No hard feelings ?" she asked him, stretching out her open hand to have him shake it.
He grumbled something, motionless, but finally reluctantly took her hand and gave her a handshake as unenthusiastic as possible.
Which made her giggle, and him frown even more.
Beaten by a girl at basketball ! Speaking of shame…
Just then, Cyborg let out another scream of frustration.
"Okay, I've had my fill ! Sorry, Star, but I'm not doing any more arm-wrestling with you today… You're too strong… for a girl !"
The Tamaranean tried to apologize again but he didn't let her and ensured her that it was all okay, that it wasn't a big deal. But he couldn't help being a tad disappointed after concluding their session with no less than… ZERO victory !
And immediately following this was the final act of the chess play.
"You are checkmate, Robin !" said Raven as she released her queen.
He sighed and looked at her, powerless.
"Has someone ever told you that you're too gifted at chess ?"
She smirked.
"Well, now, someone has. Thank you for the compliment. And I hope you will still be willing to take up the gauntlet, next time I propose you a play…"
He shrugged.
"Why would I refuse to ?"
"Well, I always win, so you might get tired of it…"
"No, Raven, I'm not tired of challenging you, even if I apparently can't beat you. It's still a pretty interesting game, and I appreciate how it forces me to ponder and analyze each move. It's a fascinating occupation, and I'm always in for another play."
Her smirk imperceptibly grew.
"Alright, then thanks for remaining interested."
"With pleasure !" he told her, flashing a smile as he rose from his chair.
Jinx came his way, grinning brightly.
"Who said girls were hopeless at basketball, eh ?" she said with irony.
"Hum…I think Beast Boy did…" Raven replied somewhat sardonically.
"And who won the game we just played, mmmmh ?" continued the witch.
"Guess it's you, given your immodest attitude…" answered this time Cyborg, who had come from the other side.
Starfire and Beast Boy joined the rest of the gang, the second one loudly claiming that Jinx had just had "too much luck" and that he would "get back at her" soon enough… which had the girl with the vertical pupils chuckle.
"Well, I never said girls couldn't beat boys at arm-wrestling, but I got punished just the same by Star, who won every challenge we took… Isn't a 'boy day' today…" remarked Cy.
"Definitely not, since Raven also gave me another chess lesson. All girls are winning today. But as for me, I'm not that upset when they do : I'm absolutely opposed to the concept of so-called superiority of men over women. That's just moonshine !" explained Boy Wonder.
"Thank you for your valuing the human females as well, friend Robin !" cheered the red-haired alien.
"So what, Robin ? You're on the girls' side ?" the changeling said with indignation, frowning with his arms crossed, in the typical displeased attitude.
"No, I'm just saying that - "
"Oh, come on ! You're not gonna bicker to know who's superior, from men and women !" scolded Jinx. "We all can win, sometimes girls, sometimes boys, and there ! Don't make all a fuss of that, you're gonna tire us up with such pointless argument !"
"Totally concur. It's utterly pointless." agreed the empath. "Nobody is superior. We are different, and anybody can win. So let's not waste time with useless quarrels. We have better to do."
"Oh yeah ? Like what ?" questioned the green teenager.
Just then, the Titan alarm went off.
"Like kicking bad guys' butts !" replied Cyborg as they all hurried to the supercomputer.
The half-robot typed quickly, and soon a map appeared, with a flashing dot drawing everyone's attention.
"It's not exactly a bad guy, but a suspect presence. It says that the signal doesn't originate from a human. Maybe an alien ?"
"Where ?" simply asked the Caped Titan.
"In the Wolfram Wood (2), east of Jump. But I can't get a visual, as there aren't any cameras in that area. We'll have to see the enemy by ourselves."
"That's not a problem." replied the young acrobat. "Titans, GO !"
And they all took off for another mission, this time in a city area they absolutely weren't familiar with…
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Alright, so where do we head to ?" asked Sam, her gaze on Chris.
The young tech studied the A-scan to get an accurate location of the non-human being lurking in the surroundings.
"That way" he replied with a nod in said direction. "But static has just appeared on the A-scan, it comes and goes, so I'm not certain the A-scan will keep working until we reach the alien…"
"Bah, let's just go and see !" Danny said on his usual energetic tone, the one he often used while in mission.
"Exactly !" added Cathy with a grin.
Sam nodded and they set out towards their goal, as usual walking as quietly as possible.
While progressing through the trees, they ended up noticing the eerie silence that reigned in that desert place.
Not even bird chirps to attest of life.
"Isn't it too calm to you ? There is absolutely no sound around…" whispered the leader as they slowly moved forth, blaster in hand.
"Yeah, I had noticed that as well…" agreed the young Rhapsodian. "I was wondering if it was normal for an Earth forest to be so quiet…"
"Well, there normally always are at least birds singing in a forest... Absolute silence is actually really rare here on Earth, Cathy !" explained Chris to his extraterrestrial friend as he kept an eye on his scanner.
Danny didn't say anything, but he still reacted according to what he had heard : his grip tightened on the laser weapon.
Something definitely wasn't right about that place…
Suddenly, Chris stopped and so did his three teammates.
Peeking over his shoulder, Sam could see the screen of the A-scan… covered with visual interferences !
"The signal got lost…" announced Chris.
"Great, just great !" complained the spiked-hair teenager.
There was a short pause, then the leader turned to the freckled boy.
"How far exactly were we from the alien ?" she asked.
"Well, the screen was getting messier and messier as we progressed, but I would say we should be really close now…"
Another silence.
And then Cathy's eyes widened.
"Hide !" she whispered as she swiftly knelt down behind a nearby bush.
Nobody, not even Danny, felt like asking what the matter was : the urging tone of their alien friend made it clear now wasn't the time for questions. That would come seconds later, once all were concealed by the large bush.
"I heard noises in that direction…" she whispered in a rushed voice while pointing her finger.
"Ok. No more talking ! Be on the lookout !" ordered the black teen before focusing her senses on the other side of their "leafy shield".
Chris reached for his side pouch and pulled out a tiny device.
After a switch was pressed, it grew longer and evolved in a telescopic handle, with a part bearing a lens at one end and a small screen at the other end.
The indigo-haired boy lifted the long handle, so that the lens could face the other side of the bush, that the foursome couldn't see, and kept the screen in front of his face, observing it carefully.
"Caught" by the lens, a group materialized on the screen, walking just as cautiously as the MBC had been.
They stopped not far from the foursome's hideout and started checking their surroundings.
"Look ! Two of them are flying ! These are the aliens !" quickly whispered Danny.
"But there was only one alien signal, no ?" observed Cathy.
"There was. Which means there normally is only one alien. Unless perhaps… another one joined them ?" suggested Chris.
"Hum… this being said, if you take a good look at these persons, they almost all look like potential aliens. The one with green skin doesn't look exactly human. As for the half-robot half-human one… The only ones who look more or less human are that masked boy with the cape and that girl with the pink hair. But all the others could be non-humans, as far as I'm concerned…" explained Sam, frowning.
"So there could have been only one alien up to now, hence the unique signal, and the others joined short ago ?" proposed the alien member of the MBC.
"Yes, that would account for the sole extraterrestrial activity singled out by the A-scan" admitted the tech.
While the MBC team was busy exchanging opinions and remarks, the Teen Titans also were discussing… about the same thing : the mysterious signal.
"You lost track of the enemy activity, Cyborg ?" asked Robin.
"My sensors are experiencing interferences, therefore did I indeed lose it . But according to the previous readings, the enemy mustn't be too far right now…" replied the Titan Tech.
"Then we should be able to find that scum and kick his ass !" exclaimed Beast Boy.
"Hey, Bro', since when are you cursing ? That's more my domain, y'know ?" remarked Jinx, smirking.
"Bro' ? What does that mean ?" asked the naïve Starfire.
"It means 'brother'. And before you ask, Star, no, Beast Boy isn't Jinx's brother. It's just a nickname friends use when addressing each other. Now, could we please focus on the mission instead of getting astray from the real thing ?" Raven said in her monotone.
"Right. Let's just check our surroundings once more !" ordered Robin.
And they all observed carefully the wood around them, trying to make out any suspicious noise or movement.
But seeing nothing, they decided to continue just a bit further, in the same direction they had been walking to.
Back to the MBC, Danny was getting rather impatient, tightening his grip on the blaster.
"So what ? Do we bust these guys or not ?"
Sam gave him a stern look. She was always slightly upset about her energetic teammate's impatience.
Then she turned to Chris and Cathy.
"Although Danny's always so restless about fighting, I guess he's right : we'll have to battle these guys. They may well be an extraterrestrial alliance of some sort, here to try and take over the Earth, and we evidently won't let them carry out their plans."
She gave a panoramic look, catching each teammate's gaze, her eyes narrowed, fully focused.
"Are you ready ?"
They nodded in unison.
"Then… let's roll !" Sam ordered.
And they all swiftly stood up, weapon in hand, prepared for the confrontation…
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
AUTHOR'S NOTES :
'as he focused on his Samsung' : I admit it, I'm a fan of Samsung over Apple, and I'll even go as far as claiming there are too many I-Phones and not enough S4, S5, S6… And yet, I'm usually not one to make product placement in my stories ! But that's the exception to the rule, eh eh…
'Wolfram Wood' : this is my personal homage to Amy Wolfram, one of the TEEN TITANS' most gifted scriptwriters, to whom we notably owe the scenario of THE END PART I (one of my TT's fav's !)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
And… CUT !
That's it for chapter 1 !
Kinda short, I know, but I didn't feel like writing much, ya know ?
I usually start my stories with chapters of reasonable size… before possibly producing chappies of 9'000, 10'000… or even 12'000 words, at my maximum ! Yeah, I can be that mad, eh eh !
So the Teen Titans and the Monster Buster Club are about to battle against each other… but what will come out of this ? Will someone get hurt ? Will they eventually manage to find the mysterious enemy ? (because, as ya probably guessed, that mysterious signal does not originate from any of the Titans… so there's someone else behind it !)
Hope ya liked this introduction, and that ya'll continue reading. Fingers X.
I'm handing the keyboard to Skychild101 now, for her to craft chapter 2, and I hereby wish her good luck with it !
Next time : the TT-MBC fight !
Stay tuned !
Peace, Love, Ecstasy !
(Dixxy)
