Titans: Elemental

Chapter 12: Forces of Nature, Part 2

The two brothers begin backing up in fear and awe at what this newcomer has just brought about.

Sorcerer, "your gifts are your own. Who are they to tell you how to use them?"

Lightning, "and who are you that commands such power? Show yourself!"

The dust from the destruction of the concrete slabs starts to clear.

Sorcerer, "as you wish", the haze parts to reveal him standing within, "I am but a humble old man", the man's camera, abandoned, shuts down, "whose power is drawn from nature, like your own. Come with me, and sow as much destruction as you please."

He turns away.

Lightning turns to Thunder, "yes! More fun!"

Thunder restrains him with a hand on his shoulder.

Thunder, "will we harm anyone?"

Lightning, "what? The green one has poisoned your mind."

Thunder, "this destruction, will we harm the innocent?"

Sorcerer, "would it matter if you did? You are unique. Gifted. Better. Why should anything interfere with your enjoyment? I am going. Follow, if you wish."

He walks out of the courtyard; Lightning follows.

Lightning, "come, brother, and leave your foolish thoughts behind."

Thunder takes a few steps after them, but stops and looks back at the pile of crumbled stone for a moment. He then turns to catch up with the other two.

A small green spider, BB, scuttles out of a hole in the pile and climbs up the side a bit; he then returns to human form.

BB, "Star? Starfire? Where are you?"

He climbs down.

BB, "come on! Gimme a sign here", he starts to dig, "you have to be alright, okay? 'Cause I-it was just a joke, you know? Back at the Tower, and…. I'm sorry. I never said it, but I'm really, really sorry. It was supposed to be funny. And you could've been hurt, and…."

He strains to lift a good-sized fragment and manages to get it clear of the pile.

BB, "... I'm a total clorbag."

A few tears go down his face at not being able to apologize to his friend when he had the chance.

Suddenly, a tall shadow is thrown across him from. BB turns to see Starfire, with not so much as a scratch on her.

She gives him a warm, forgiving smile that instantly perks him up.

BB, "Starfire!"

Taking kitten form again, he jumps into her outstretched hands and she cuddles him to her chest. He looks up at her and meows happily.

Starfire, "hehehe. I am glad you are unharmed as well."

BB jumps out of her arms, takes human form and kneels before her.

BB, "I am so sorry. You gotta forgive me."

Starfire, "I already have", she helps him up, "now those evil brothers must be made to apologize."

BB, "I don't think they are evil. I think they're just like me..."

….

We go to a clearing in the mountains outside Jump City. A few scarecrow-like dummies have been set up, consisting of two crossed tree limbs with a blanket wrapped around them. Some characters have been painted on the cloth. The sorcerer stands among them.

Lightning, "sticks and leaves? Is this a joke? There is no fun in blasting such frail targets!"

Sorcerer, "are you certain, young master? Try. You may like what you see."

The young master in question groans and throws a bolt at one of the dummies; it instantly catches fire and makes him rethink his opinion of the whole exercise.

Lightning, "dancing lights! Pleasing."

Thunder, "let Thunder try his hand."

He steps toward a target and throws a blast, causing the thing to disappear in a small explosion and a great clap of sound.

Thunder, "wondrous noise!"

Lightning, "see, brother? There is no harm in our fun."

Sorcerer, "and there is so much fun to be had."

The two thrill-seekers grin at each other. Lightning flies across the clearing, blasting one target after another, and Thunder leaps high and slams a fist against the ground to open a furrow. A target at the end of it lights up, followed by several others when he redirects his efforts. Now both brothers work in tandem and turn one target after another into blazing torches. They finally stop their assault and back up to the sorcerer.

Lightning, "more targets, old one!"

Thunder, "yes, please, give us more."

Sorcerer, "that won't be necessary. You've done quite enough."

He produces a metal disc from underneath his robes. It bears a character, Chinese in appearance, that looks something like a stylized letter S. He scales the object over the clearing as Thunder and Lightning watch, totally baffled. It stops high in the sky and spins in place; electricity crackles around it as it picks up speed, culminating in a mighty orange flash. It is then suspended over the burning target as rays of light shoot down to strike every last one. Beams of orange light start to play between them and just miss the two puzzled brothers.

These have traced out a large, rough humanoid shape on the ground, with a final wide beam from above touching the heart area. When the light show stops, the outline starts to burn intensely; the sorcerer holds up a staff topped with the same character that was on the disc he threw.

Sorcerer, "rise."

The apparition does so with an unearthly screeching noise. It has that character engraved on its forehead.

Sorcerer, "burn, Fire! Burn it all!"

It starts down the mountainside toward the city proper, but stops upon finding the Titans some distance away.

Dick, "didn't anyone ever tell you? Play with fire, you're going to get burned."

Jack, "I should know", and he forms a ball of fire as an example.

The beast swings a flaming forearm at the team, forcing them to scatter. Dick looks up from the duck-and-cover position he has assumed and sees Fire pushing trees aside and making its way toward Jump City. Smoke and flames billow in its wake as the camera pans slightly to put the entire metro area in view, and right in its path. The sorcerer waves the fumes aside with his staff.

Sorcerer, "good. Very good."

Thunder and Lightning cannot believe what they have just had a hand in unleashing.

Thunder, "Brother, what have we done?"

The fire continues down the mountain.

A group of houses built downhill of the newly kindled forest. The fire stalks on toward the city. The Titans chase it.

Dick, "Titans! Go!"

He pulls even with the creature on foot while Raven and Blackfire do so likewise in the air. Pulling a couple of grenades from his belt, he throws them at its feet; they throw up a wall of smoke when they blow. Raven and Blackfire fly through it all.

Raven, "Flames can't spread if there's nothing to burn. Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Her spell uproots several trees.

Dick, "good idea, Raven. BB! Starfire! Jack! Blackfire! Help her out!"

The group puts on a burst of speed, and BB turns into a buffalo to deliver a crushing headbutt against the base of a tree. It topples into a row of others and brings them all down. Meanwhile, Starfire and Blackfire take up positions high above the boughs; they throw starbolts that blow another clump of old growth to matchwood.

Jack begins freezing the trees and the area around the fire as fast as he can!

His cannon at the ready, Vic leaps toward Fire and let's go with a terrific blast when he lands. It skims the ground and throws up a wall of dirt in the beast's face; a large-scale equivalent of dumping sand on a campfire to put it out.

It takes some time for the view to begin to clear. Fire is nowhere in sight among the dust clouds. BB is in human form again.

BB, "is he out?"

In answer to his question, Fire stands up, still blazing and now roaring mad.

Raven, "you had to ask."

As it screeches some more, Dick runs up for a closer look. Up the slope to one side, standing on a stone outcropping, is the sorcerer. He grins maliciously. Back to Dick, who is starting to put it all together, then to the old man. Thunder and Lightning are behind him.

Sorcerer, "go, young masters. Fire is your creation. They have no right to destroy your fun."

Lightning, "yes! We must fight!"

Thunder, "but, brother-"

Lightning, "do not annoy me with your foolish concerns! Come!"

The blue brother thinks it over for a moment, and both of them disappear in a flash of light. The sorcerer turns away from the spot where they stood and spreads his arms; he starts to laugh in triumph, but it dies on his lips as Dick's yell is heard. The Titans' leader sails across the clearing and lands a flying kick that sends the staff spiraling through the air. It sticks in the ground, walking end down, and Dick lands next to it. However, the thing pulls loose and sails back into the old man's hand.

The tense seconds pass as the two face off; finally the sorcerer breaks the silence, his voice starting to take on a darker tone.

Sorcerer, "Nightwing. We meet, at last."

Dick, "who are you?"

There is no answer, except for a charge with staff raised for a swing. Dick meets it by hurling himself at the enemy as Fire moves closer to the city.

We see Raven in flight.

Raven, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

This time, she has targeted the creature itself. The stream of black energy pouring from her hands breaks against the giant's form and stops it in its tracks. When she relents, its flames have gone out, leaving the body black and smoking. The surface begins to crack all over; finally, the creature lights up again and Raven gasps in shock. It slams its fists together and creates a pyrotechnic shock wave that blasts away all the trees within several dozen yards. She is thrown back by the overpressure, as is Vic.

Jack manages to stab his staff into the ground, keeping him steady.

Vic slams down, and Starfire, Blackfire and Raven land and start to help him up. Before they can get him upright, though, a lightning bolt flashes down and knocks all four even farther away. The brothers descend to the clearing; Lightning warms up his hands and advances, while Thunder stays put and gets ready to attack. Before he can throw that curveball, though, BB, as a tiger, steps into view before him.

Thunder, "stand aside, green one!"

BB just roars. They charge at one another, but before any blows can land-

….

- Violet smoke boils up and covers the entire area around them. When it clears, we are in the middle of a bank of clouds in this color. Thunder is among them, but his body is largely in shadow. BB is in a similar manner. The entire view shimmers and wavers somewhat, and the two voices echo slightly.

Thunder, "I do not wish to harm you."

BB, "but you want to destroy homes and innocent lives?"

Thunder, "no."

BB, "then what are you fighting for?"

Thunder, "my brother and I…. The old one says we are unique, gifted, better."

BB, "gifts don't make you better, just different. It's how you use them that counts."

Thunder turns this over in his mind a bit.

….

Lightning, "it seems your power has its limit", he holds up a sparking hand, "but mine has none."

He is standing over the unconscious Starfire and getting ready to light her up like a Christmas tree, but before he can do so, a blast from Thunder plows him away.

She comes to and looks in the direction of the shot.

Blackfire runs to Starfire in worry.

Thunder pushes over a charred tree as he steps up, and Lightning gets to his feet.

Lightning, "you betray me?"

Thunder, "we have done wrong, my brother. Our fun must stop."

Lightning, "no one commands Lightning…. Not even Thunder!"

He throws a wide beam; the impact sends Thunder tumbling among the trees. Dick and the sorcerer, meanwhile, continue their melee as the mountain burns all around them. Slowly but steadily, the young Titan retreats downhill before his attacker's swings. Soon, though, he holds his ground and blocks one strike after another, then sidesteps when the upper end of the staff is jabbed at him. It hits a tree and sends up a wisp of smoke as if it were a red-hot branding iron. The sorcerer grimaces down at him.

Fire continues its inexorable advance toward the lower houses as the other six Titans gather to watch. BB is back in human form.

Vic, "those houses go, the whole city could go. We gotta stop the fire!"

Raven, "how?"

Jack, "yeah, even the ice I make can't stop it!"

Vic, "we'll just have to use any way we can."

They run down the slope.

….

We see Lightning in flight; he throws a bolt out ahead, and Thunder's face suddenly goes slack-realizing he is the target. The electricity washes over him and hurls him back against a wall of rock. He slides down to a sitting position and groans wearily. Looking up, he finds his brother standing over him and ready to unload a king-size shock at point-blank range.

Thunder, "tell me, brother, are we still having fun?"

Lightning's conscience gets to him.

Lightning, "no."

Thunder points, "observe."

They look to behind Fire as it descends the mountain, then to in front of it and tilt down to the houses. It is hit in the face with a sudden torrent of water, accompanied by an elephant trumpeting. Raven is casting a spell to hold the flames back, BB, as the pachyderm, is spraying water from his trunk, and Vic has opened a fire hydrant. Jack is standing at a riverbank and starts shooting as much water as he could at fire, chilling it as cold as it could go. Starfire and Blackfire descend among them.

Thunder, "they also have gifts, but they use them for good, while we waste ours on dangerous fun", he puts a hand on Lightning's shoulder, "if we are so special, brother, let us act special. We must help."

Lightning, "but how? Our gifts can only destroy."

Thunder, "true. But together we have another gift."

They are gone in a flash of light, ascending into the cloud cover. When they have vanished from sight, a blast of lightning is seen from within. The six Titans find themselves staring at a mountain in flames and a walking inferno that has not let up one bit despite their best efforts. It towers over them and roars.

….

In the clouds, Thunder strikes them with his sticks and Lightning directs his hands here and there, producing the same effects as before. A driving rain begins; the result of combining their talents. At ground level, Fire looks up in alarm at the downpour, then screams in agony as its flames go out in a thick wall of brown smoke. When the view clears, there is nothing left but a few piles of ashes. BB, Jack, Blackfire, Vic, Raven, and Starfire all look up. All but Raven cheer wildly; BB is in human form.

….

Up on the mountain, the sorcerer has caught the front of Dick's outfit and has hoisted him up. The former's tone of voice is now unmistakable.

Sorcerer, "Nightwing. Is that the best you can do?"

There is a tremendous flash of lightning that whites out the entire area. When it subsides, the view is at ground level; Dick drops into a crouch, free of the man's grasp. The robed figure throws up an arm to guard his face; he brings it down after a moment, revealing it to have been only a mask that was damaged in the strike. Most of the left side has fallen away, and underneath is a smooth expanse of red-orange metal with a narrow slit for the eye. The last remaining pieces come loose to fully expose that half of their still-concealed face; the first time we see it.

Dick gasps in shock and stares, frozen in place, and after a long moment, the mastermind disappears in a blast of smoke that fills the area. The view clears to show the metal disc he threw into the air to bring Fire to life. Dick regards it thoughtfully, then picks it up for a very close look.

Dick, "Slade."

….

We see the celebration still going on. BB has his tongue out to catch the raindrops.

BB, "ah, yeah! Ha ha!"

Vic, "that's what I mean! Very nice!"

Jack, "never have I been so happy for rain!"

BB turns away from the street and sees Thunder and Lightning coming down from the mountain. He walks up to them. Lightning looks away, showing very clearly that he would rather be doing anything else right now.

Thunder bows, "I am sorry for the trouble we have made."

He nudges Lightning, who faces forward.

Lightning, "I am….", he also bows, "... Also sorry."

Thunder and BB shake hands.

Thunder, "you have taught us much, green one. Thank you."

BB, "don't thank me", he gestures at Starfire; she steps forward, "thank the person who taught me."

She and the brothers bow to each other.

Starfire, "and thank you for helping to defeat the flame monster."

….

We go to sunrise the next day, the clouds have broken, and a rainbow stretches up from the horizon behind the Tower. We see the entire team, on a ridge overlooking Jump City. Dick hands Slade's talisman to Vic so he can give it a look over.

Vic, "so Slade wants to destroy the city. Question is, why?"

Dick, "I don't know, but I will find out, and he won't get away with it."

BB comes up behind Starfire.

BB, "so…. Am I, you know…. Still a clorbag?"

Starfire, "mmm, no. I believe you are more of a…. Milnip wusserloop."

Blackfire grins at her sisters words.

Not being too fluent in Tamaranean, he does not know what to make of this label for a moment. Bewilderment quickly gives way to a big grin, though.

BB, "SWEET! Go, BB! I'm a milnip! Who's your wusserloop? Huh?"

He stops dancing; for a moment his eyes have stars in them.

BB, "that is a good thing…. Right, Star?"

She just giggles and goes airborne to head home. Raven follows her, while Dick, Jack and Vic start running. The green Titan is left standing by himself.

BB, "Star?"

Blackfire, "for the record Beast Boy, it is."

BB hot-foots it after the others with Blackfire close behind.

….

Later at the tower, we see the team approaching the front doors.

But before they can open them, they hear a voice.

"Wait!"

They all turn to see the girl with white hair standing there. The hair covers most of her face.

Dick, "who are you?"

The girl, "my name is Rose Wilson."

Jack, "and why are you here?"

Rose, "I have information on the man NightWing fought."

The others all looked at one another before Dick asked, "how do you know of him?"

Rose, "because…. I am his daughter."

Everyone was shocked by her words.

They clearly had much to discuss….

….

Reviews:

raven 2012: I'm glad you really liked the chapter and are excited for the next one. And yeah, Raven and Jack will be a couple soon. And I'll make sure Jack tells Raven she's not a monster.

….

And after the brothers help stop their creation, we get the first appearance of Rose!

I've been excited to add her to the story, since there's a lot of potential with Slade's daughter being on the team.

The next chapter will be original before we move onto the next episode, "The Sum of His Parts."