Titans: Elemental
Chapter 54: Winner Takes All, Part 2
We see Dick sleeping in a room, when he hears a light knocking.
Vic, "yo, Dick! Wake up! It's me!"
The Titans' leader yawns expansively as he opens the door to see his cybernetic teammate standing there, having been shaken out of a sound sleep, and takes a second or two to put his brain in gear.
Dick, "Victor? It's late. And I don't think we're supposed to be out of our-"
Vic, "can't sleep."
He raises his forearm, which shows a panel flashing 'BUSY' in big red letters and emits a telephone busy signal.
Vic, "I tried calling home to make sure Beast Boy, Jack and Bryan are okay…. But I can't get a signal through."
Dick, "we're in an alternate dimension, kind of outside your calling plan."
Vic, "um…."
Dick, "I'm sure they're fine. The Master said all the losers were sent home, safe and sound."
Vic, "yeah, I know. But I've just got a bad feeling. There's something weird about this game."
Dick steps into the hall, "I guess it couldn't hurt to have a look around."
After a few steps, he stops and his eyebrows go up as far as they can.
Dick, "hold on", he turns around and says, "I know what you're doing."
Vic, "what am I doing?"
Dick, "you're trying to trick me again, like you did in the card game."
Vic, "I am?"
Dick, "sure. We'll go; 'investigate', and be up all night, and find nothing. Then you'll recharge your batteries in fifteen minutes while I get no sleep."
Vic, "say what?!"
Dick, "when Round Two starts, I'll be fighting fatigue, and you'll be that much closer to winning the prize."
Vic, "no, man, for real! I'm just worried about the others. Come on. Winning isn't-"
Dick starts backing through the doorway, "riiiiight."
He closes the door while Vic switches on his built-in flashlight and makes his way down the hall.
Vic, "crazy, paranoid, hyper-competitive, spiky-haired little…."
His light advances out of the unlit far end. Cautiously he moves along, sweeping the flash back and forth, and slips into that side passage. As he continues on through the arches, some machinery is heard kicking up. He puts out the light and backs up to a wall. Gizmo's metal spider legs step past him. Vic looks out after the moving appendages.
Vic, "Gizmo?"
A shadow moves across the wall, a human figure attached to those four limbs. Vic's hand detaches from the rest of him and scuttles into view on a ledge and raises its middle finger. The tip pulls loose and trains a tiny camera on the area.
We see the owner of said hand, still hidden away and working a control on his forearm. Out pops a small joystick, which he begins to manipulate; on the accompanying panel is the view through the camera lens, which shifts as he tweaks the stick.
He gets the spidery silhouette in frame. It zooms in on the figure at the center, and the light comes up and reveals this to be not Gizmo, but the Master.
The image refocuses itself briefly, and the hand jumps up in surprise with the lens shooting straight ahead as if an eye bulging out.
Master, "magnificent", he lowers himself to the floor, "absolutely magnificent prizes", the legs retract into his back, "Gizmo, Hot Spot, Zivel, Aqualad, Beast Boy and Winter Soldier!"
He produces a spark of fire between his hands, turns it into a ball of water, then makes it disappear and turns his arms into those of a gorilla. He summons Jack's staff and one of his eyes turns cybernetic.
Master, "now that the vanquished are in my possession, their powers are mine to command! I can scarcely wait to see what I win in Round Two."
Vic, "there's not gonna be a Round Two!"
The Master looks off to one side to see Vic, who has moved into the chamber. The detached hand returns to him and jumps neatly up to connect to his wrist; he gives it a half-twist and locks it back in place.
Vic, "game over."
Master, "the game is never over, young champion, but I'm afraid that you are disqualified!"
His head changes to match Hot Spot's and he brings his huge, furry arms down to break the floor. Vic is flung back to the wall by the tremors, but has to get up very quickly when a blast of fire lances toward him from the staff. Now the Master rises on the spider legs again. Vic brings up his cannon and fires a long blast at the Master's chest with a roar; we see the jewel as it is hit dead on and the Master laughs wickedly. Energy is feeding back along the beam. When it reaches Vic's arm, it wraps itself around his body and reels him in. The bionic Titan has time for one last yell before he disappears into the great red gem.
The Master drops to the floor, head and arms back to normal and metal legs retracting; the last of the feedback disappearing into his jem.
Master, "never challenge the Master", he turns his right arm into Vic's cannon, "I always win."
He fires the cannon as a test.
….
The next day, we see the three remaining fighters. Dick throws a few punches at nothing.
Speedy says to Wildebeest, "good luck today. May the best man win", the behemoth grunts and turns his back, "sorry. May the best…. Champion win."
Wildebeest nods reluctantly.
Dick, "right back at you, Speedy", the two shake hands, "where's Cyborg? It's not like him to be late."
Master, "Cyborg will not be joining us."
The fighters look across the chamber. He stands atop his high dais; the right arm is normal again.
Master, "your friend has been disqualified for attempting to sabotage his fellow champions."
Dick softly shakes his head, "he shoulda played fair."
Master, "and with only three champions remaining, we shall proceed directly to….", the jewel flashes, "... the final round!"
A big flash wipes out the area, and three still shots slide in to fill it, labeled as in the previous round of fighting. A "vs." slides into view at the right spot as it is mentioned, then moves off again.
Master, "Speedy versus Wildebeest versus NightWing, in a three-man fight to the finish!"
….
We move into a crater on a barren moon and tilt up to an asteroid floating not too far from it. Three lightning bolts strike the surface and leave the fighters standing there. We see Speedy and Wildebeest, facing off with Dick in at the far edge. Dick charges at Wildebeest and goes up for a flying kick, only to have his foot grabbed and flung, along with the rest of him, across the asteroid. He stops right at the edge.
Speedy fits an arrow to his bow and lets it loose; it bursts into flame as it travels to the target, Wildebeest, who just swats it down and charges. The archer jumps backward to land next to Dick as he stands up from the throw. They glance at each other and rush Wildebeest, Dick pulling out a disc, and as they go, each unleashes a salvo of his respective missiles. However, their common foe simply dodges every shot and runs through the smoke of the one that explodes too far ahead.
When they reach Wildebeest, Speedy dodges to one side and stops, but Dick goes into a leap that carries him straight over the animal head and sets off a charge in that direction. The bowman shoots off three arrows at once, none of which do any damage to Wildebeest when they hit. As Speedy stares, temporarily paralyzed with shock at this failure, Dick vaults over his shoulder and off the lowered bow for a new jump. He lands behind the head and tries to ride Wildebeest like a rodeo bull; as they skid past Speedy, he gets the brawler's fifth of a ton dumped onto one side and jumps clear.
Speedy, "thanks, NightWing."
Dick, "don't thank me yet."
Speedy looks down in surprise. One of Dick's discs is lodged in the rock between them; it turns that patch into ice, and he loses his balance with a yell and falls.
Dick, "we are playing to win, aren't we?"
Wildebeest sneaks up and wraps him up in a bone-crushing grip. Speedy gets up.
Speedy, "looks that way."
He readies a new arrow, this one with a large canister at its head that shows his S insignia. This opens up to reveal a boxing glove, and he draws the bowstring and fires. A quick flash, as we see all three: Speedy in the distance, Wildebeest knocked off his feet by the impact of the arrow, Dick jolted out of his grasp. Wildebeest crashes down on his back, the rock surface cracking under the impact. He is hit by lightning and removed from the battle zone. The edges of the asteroid start to crumble away.
Speedy, "may the best man win."
Dick, "I intend to."
The fissures are spreading in all directions now, and in due course the entire mass disintegrates into fragments. As Speedy and Dick drop toward the nearby moon, the former lets fly an arrow that has a long line attached to its feathered end. It strikes a tumbling rock and lodges there: his equivalent of a grappling hook, and in an instant he has hauled himself onto this. Dick, meanwhile, leaps from rock to rock toward Speedy, who hurls himself backward across empty space to stay out of reach.
One exploding arrow after another flashes down at Dick, forcing him backward toward the edge of his perch, and when Speedy follows them in, the black-haired Titan tumbles out of view. Now we see him hanging on to the rock's underside while Speedy draws a bead on him. The ensuing barrage sends him sliding down, one handhold at a time; as he starts into free fall, he launches a grapple and snares Speedy's bow arm. The archer is summarily yanked off to join Dick in space.
They take several swings at each other as they tumble, ending with Dick being thrown toward an asteroid fragment. He catches the edge and swings himself up onto its surface, looks down, and finds the moon's surface approaching fast. Speedy jumps from one rock to another; in one large crater, a few chunks of rock crash down to fill the screen with dust. The haze parts to reveal Speedy standing there, ready to fire, then a smirking Dick with his staff in hand.
He charges and easily deflects the arrow that comes his way; when he gets in close enough, he uses the staff to throw off Speedy's aim and pin the bow to the ground. Both of them struggle for the upper hand, Dick's boots sliding slowly backward on the lunar rock.
Speedy, "just a friendly competition, huh?"
Dick, "yeah. Should be fun."
They lean toward each other.
Speedy, "right. 'Cause winning isn't everything."
Dick, "it's just the only thing that matters."
Both push off and back away. Speedy goes into a high leap and shoots a stream of arrows downward; Dick leaps and swerves to avoid their explosive impacts, does a jump of his own, and hurls a disc across the expanse of the crater. When Speedy touches down, he lets go with one more shot, and the two projectiles collide in midair and detonate with terrific force. The glare clears to show the two aggressors smirking at each other from opposite sides.
Dick retracts his staff and starts running; his opposite number beats feet as well, pulling a fresh arrow from his quiver on the way. They run around the crater's inner edge, Speedy losing one after another and Dick somersaulting away from their blasts. Now the tunic-clad marksman knocks three at once and lets them fly; Dick dives away easily, but they climb high above the moon's surface and then double back toward him. His eyes pop.
Dick, "heat-seekers!"
He starts running again and goes into a leap that brings him down just ahead of the streaking arrows, which are now descending at a steep angle. A last-second dodge takes him to one side; the missiles are unable to correct their trajectory, and they crash into the surface and blow up. Dick touches down on the crater wall and gets his feet in high gear once more, staying a few feet above its bottom. Standing on the level surface, Speedy pivots to keep him sighted and fires; Dick retaliates by slinging three discs, which go off just in front of the shooter.
As Speedy strains to steady his aim through the smoke that has billowed up around him, Dick launches himself from the crater wall. Speedy starts coughing in the murk, and he looks skyward. Dick plunges out of it for a new attack. His opponent brings up a new, canister-tipped arrow and lets it go. This time, the entire shaft falls away and the load opens up to reveal a triangular net with weights at the corners. In mid-leap, Dick whips a disc downward and gets caught up in the net a moment later.
At the crater floor, his disc slams down at Speedy's feet and starts to freeze them up a moment before he bounces across the screen. We see the expanding ice mass as it covers the legs and chest. Dick manages to get a wingding out of his belt. Not to be outdone so easily, Speedy grabs an arrow, twirls it, and jams the point into the ice; the projectile explodes, destroying it, and his counterpart cuts himself loose from the entangling strands.
Now both face off across the crater floor. As Speedy prepares another shot, Dick wings a wingding past him, it soars high and curves back, and the archer slowly turns to sight it for a long moment. When he releases the bowstring, the arrow's course sends it directly toward Dick, whose own throw is coming back as well. With his hand out to catch the wingding, his eyes bug out in sudden surprise and his jaw drops, and he disappears in the glare of Speedy's exploding arrow.
A long, tense pause, and he drops neatly into a crouch, intact and well away from the blast site. Another arrow out of the quiver, the fighting staff out and extended, and here we go again. Speedy shoots at Dick, now yelling his way through a monster leap, and misses; the metal shaft crashes against his upraised bow, and both swing their weapons at each other with renewed fury. Dick breaks away for a high jump and points one steel-soled boot straight out for a kick. It comes down across Speedy's bow and jaw, smashing the former to splinters and knocking arrows from the quiver. They tumble down, as does he, followed by the broken weapon.
Speedy, "my bow!"
Dick steps up and smirks at him, holding out his staff horizontally, "you lose."
Speedy, "but was it really worth it?"
The question gives Dick pause; his smirk fades and he lowers the staff. A flash of lightning takes Speedy away from the battle zone.
….
We go to a red/black vortex, through which Speedy falls screaming away, then dissolves into the jewel on the Master's necklace, with his fingers curled around it. Energy crackles from it, but stops. He looks down at the gem with an expression of quiet satisfaction at having captured another hero.
….
We see the Master's dais, with him standing halfway up the steps. A flash deposits Dick here in a crouch; he stands up to face the gamesman.
Master, "well done, Champion of Champions. Victory is yours."
Dick, "guess I'm supposed to get some sorta prizes now?"
The Master descends.
Master, "I did say there would be prizes, young champion. I did not say they were for you."
Dick, "what are you talking about?"
Master grips his jewel and kneels to Dick, "you may be the winner…."
Dick's wide-eyed reflection is visible on the surface; from within, the captured contestants' voices are heard in a panicked babel.
Master, "... but the losers are mine to keep."
Dick's face rearranges itself into a fierce grimace, while the Master makes Wildebeest's horns pop out from his forehead and transforms his left arm into that of a gorilla. Jack's staff forms in his gorilla hand.
Master, "and with all their powers at my command…."
The right arm becomes Vic's cannon; next Gizmo's metal spider legs bite down on the floor.
Master, "... no one will ever defeat the Master of Games."
His eyes glow as he says this, with one becoming Bryan's cybernetic eye, and after he finishes, his head takes on Hot Spot's look.
Master, "I am invincible!"
We then see him towering above Dick. The young man stares dumbfoundead for a second, then cocks his head and puts on a taunting half-smile.
Dick, "how can you be invincible if you don't have me, the Champion of Champions?"
This catches the Master flat-footed; he lowers himself to Dick's level, and he steps around to eye the youth.
Master, "you are quite skilled."
Dick, "then maybe the game isn't over."
Master, "the game is never over."
Dick, "one last round, winner take all?"
The Master smiles and hoists himself up.
Master, "NightWing versus the Master of Games", his eyes glow, "let the contest begin!"
On the last word, he shoots beams from his eyes to send Dick running for cover. The cannon blazes after him next, followed by a hail of Speedy's arrows coming from the gorilla hand. Dick bobs and weaves to avoid their detonations and fires a grapple that whistles past the Master to stick in the far wall. Hauling himself up, he plows into the Master's chest; both go flying across the chamber. The Master slams into the wall as Dick rises on the line to the attachment point of his hook.
He quickly throws the staff forward and shoots a beam of ice, that chased Dick for a few moments.
Now the dirty dealer works his jaw back and forth a bit and opens his mouth very wide. Inside is a gush of water, which he spits up at the young hero. To avoid instant drowning, Dick slides down the line and tumbles across the floor; he fires off another grapple and snags one spider leg. The Master snaps the line tight to crack Dick off and against the wall, then fires his cannon for a direct hit that drops the dazed champion to the floor.
Dick comes to his senses and looks up just in time to see the Master closing in on him. The florid face breaks into a wicked grin as the eyes glow.
Dick presses a button on his belt, opening a compartment that reveals his old cape from when he was Robin, with which he wraps himself in it just in time to stop the stream of fire that pours over him. The air shimmers slightly in the intense heat.
Master, "I win! I always win!"
The fire clears away as Dick stands up.
Dick, "not today."
A quick wave of the gorilla arm turns it into a boa constrictor, which whips down at Dick. The Titan does a quick side jump and plants both boots firmly on the serpentine body; it retracts into the Master's arm, and now one of those reinforced soles aims straight up at him. With all Dick's weight behind it, it smashes into the large red jewel, throwing energy beams everywhere that wash out the screen. From within the blinding glare, Speedy, Jack and Vic are propelled yelling to slide across the floor toward Dick. They stand up, one by one; Speedy's bow is now back in one piece.
Speedy, "nice work."
Vic, "told you there was something weird about this game!"
Jack, "I didn't even fight and he got me! That clorbag! Woah, I've spent too much time with Starfire and Blackfire…."
Staggered by the kick, the Master straightens up after a moment, and realizes that his right arm has returned to normal with the loss of Vic.
Master, "Victory shall be mine!"
He turns the other arm into Bryan's, to make up for the loss of Vic's arm.
We see Vic's right arm in cannon mode, and then look to Speedy as he fits an arrow to his bow. Jack twirls his stsff around as rings of water, fire, earth and air swirl around him. Dick moves up between them.
Dick, "winning isn't everything."
The Master roars and barrels straight toward the four fighters, putting out a wide stream of fire as he goes. It lances between Speedy, Jack and Vic; Dick somersaults away as the flames lick up the wall behind him. A cannon blast leaves the cheater reeling, and Speedy takes very careful aim. Vic fires another burst as it flashes past the Master. Speedy aims. The Master roars out his rage, only to catch Vic's next shot with his face.
Jack freezes the Master 's legs, ie: his regular ones and the metal ones as he shoots several chunks of Earth at him, hitting his chest several times!
The master snarled as he shot fire at Jack, who caught it in his hand and threw it back at him!
Jack, "I've got way more skill to go with my power than you do!"
Jack shoots water into his face, staggering him and blinding him for a moment.
His necklace's jewel flips up into the air, catching sparkles from the light. The head of that arrow goes from yellow to red and Speedy lets it go. It sings across the chamber, hitting the gem dead on.
Dick rushes at the Master, whose necklace is now glowing very strongly with that arrow protruding from it, and brings one foot up with a savage scream. It hits the shaft as the arrow is pushed all the way into the necklace.
Master, "NOOOOOO!"
As light pours from the stone, he crashes helplessly to the floor. All four heroes move closer and watch as he is enveloped in a broad shaft of crackling light. A wave expands from floor level to fill the entire chamber; when it clears, we see a the Master kneeling as the necklace goes out. He has lost all his stolen powers.
He looks off to one side. The chamber is now repopulated with all of the contestants.
Master, "I lose."
He disappears in a flash of light and smoke. When it clears, the view is of a patch of the floor, and his necklace clinks down against the stone after a moment.
….
Dick, "as far as I'm concerned…."
Dick places a communicator in Speedy's hand. The five others now hold the devices.
Dick, "... you're all honorary Titans."
Gizmo opens his.
Gizmo, "cool!"
Vic, "yo, gimme that! You're not a good guy, remember?"
He grabs the communicator from Gizmo.
Gizmo, "scrum-buffing toe-jamming gunk-eater!"
Jack, "seriously, read a book on better insults. You'll sound less stupid that way."
Dick holds out a hand to Speedy.
Dick, "sorry I've pretty much acted like a jerk."
They shake and smile broadly.
Speedy, "we both did. Besides, in the end, it was your drive to win that saved us."
Dick, "actually, when I faced the Master, I wasn't fighting to win. I was fighting for my friends."
BB approaches and holds up the Master's necklace as Vic joins him.
BB, "well, dudes…."
He tosses it ahead.
Vic, "it's been fun."
Dick catches it.
Dick, "and if you ever need us, you know how to reach us."
The gem glows.
Speedy, "right back at you."
All of them promptly disappear in smoke and lightning. The necklace clatters down again. It is silent now, but it promptly glows again and another blast goes off. This one clears to show Starfire, Rose, Blackfire, Jinx, Raven, and Terra now on the scene, along with other young female heroes.
They appeared to be the ones known as SuperGirl, Bumblebee, Jessica Cruz, and Wonder Girl.
Master, "welcome, champions all! You are hereby invited to compete…."
The master is back atop the dials and wearing the necklace.
Master, "... in the Tournament of Heroines!"
Starfire, "Raven?"
Raven, "yeah?"
Starfire, "I have a bad feeling about this."
Blackfire, "you and the rest of the universe."
….
An indeterminate amount of time later...
Raven, Rose, Blackfire, Starfire and Terra reappeared in front of the others.
Jack, "you guys deal with that jerkwad game master too?"
Rose, "yep!"
Blackfire, "the clorbag tried putting me and Starfire against one another."
Bryan, "same happened to me and Jack."
Raven, "I was the last one standing, and freed the others from that maniac."
Starfire, "friend Jinx was there. As were a few other female heroes. I believe we ran into Wonder Girl, Bumblebee, Jessica Cruz, and Supergirl."
Blackfire, "we got them to join the Titans."
BB, "sweet. We did the same for the ones we met."
Bryan, "Hot Spot, Wildebeest and Speedy. Aqualad and Gizmo were there too."
Raven, "interesting…."
Rose, "I'm just glad we're all back home."
Bryan, "us too…."
….
Reviews:
Bailey Radcliff: glad you enjoyed the chapter so much.
Canadude2029: glad you liked the chapter, and what I chose to do with Jack and Bryan.
pokemonking0924: well, I'm glad you liked the chapter, my joke with Terra, and I have plans for what the Master gets from Jack and Bryan.
DaV1nc136: glad you liked the chapter. And yeah, Dick Grayson is very much like his mentor, but more lighthearted and open.
TheGoldenYoshichu: happy you liked the chapter so much. Especially my addition with Terra. I wasn't sure how to do the Tournament of Heroines, since I feel like the girls were more evenly matched, but I do think Raven would've been the last one standing. Starfire probably wouldn't willingly fight any of her friends, especially her sister. Plus, unlike Dick thinking Victor was just trying to win, Raven and Starfire would've worked together more.
Ushindi: thanks.
….
It was a little tricky to do this episode, but I managed it. I had Bryan and Jack refuse to fight one another, so that's how they got disqualified.
Also, I figured this would be a good way to bring in some other young heroes to join the Titans later on.
With Wonder Girl from Young Justice, and the SuperGirl and Jessica Cruz in this story will be more like the one from DC SuperHero Girls.
