YJ2: Misadventures in Time Chapter 2
By Kelly M. Maraglia
Author's Note: I am so sorry I took so long to get these stories out. My only excuse is that 2003 was a horrendous year for me, but 2004 will be different. Why? Because I will make it different! ^_^ Starting with stories, so here is chapter 2! Enjoy! Oh, by the way, I hope no one takes offense to this story, but I really do not like Starfire. I never have, so I paint her in a mean light here. It is fanfiction, however, right?
Disclaimer: Young Justice, Teen Titans, Justice League etc. are not mine. If they were, I would have made the Teen Titans cartoon about the newest team, not the older generation. YJ2 characters are the creations of my good buddy, Brandon "Upset about Impulse becoming Kid Flash" Johnson & myself. ^_^
Chapter 2: Teen Titans
We find our young heroes traveling along the passage of time, linked up with their team's super speedster at the helm.
"I see the portal!" Danny announced excitedly.
The others could barely nod as they struggled to hold on, but Marcus had a comment for everything.
"It had better be the right fraggin' one this time!" He snarled.
Robin silently, but fervently agreed. Despite her joy at meeting her father finally, another encounter with him could prove detrimental to her secret identity and endanger her very existence. Robin cursed herself mentally. She was trained much better, yet her actions were sloppy to say the least. She acted emotional and illogical. Her mentors would be ashamed. She had to prepare herself in case Impulse dropped them into the wrong portal again. These were her thoughts as they fell into the time portal, once again piling atop each other. Robin hung onto her mask this time and that was a good thing because, once again, they had landed in the past and this time, right in front of Titans Tower. Staring at them were the Teen Titans and the Justice League, along with some older "teen" Titans (namely Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy). [I know that Nightwing leads the Outsiders, but it is not pertinent to this story & this takes place around Teen Titans #6] Marcus was the first to recover.
"What the frag? You screwed up again, Imp!" He yelled, trying to pound Impulse who was at the bottom of their pile-up. Danny could not defend his actions because he had collapsed from the fall and general exhaustion.
"I'm beginning to see a pattern here." Keelia commented, as she finished observing her surroundings the way she had been trained to do. (Quick note: Even if I refer to Tim and Keelia by their real names, they are both dressed as Robin. It is just easier to understand then me having to type the third Robin or the fourth Robin all the time).
"What do you mean?" Haze asked her curiously.
"We show up in the wrong time, look to Impulse for the reason and he faints." She replied.
"Well, that may be but we can't really do anything about it until he wakes up so…" Cathie began.
"True" her brother agreed.
This entire conversation took place while they were still piled up on top of each other.
"Hey, they're back again!" Superboy said excitedly.
"Cool" The newly named Kid Flash agreed.
"It's been quite a while." Cassie observed.
"Very interesting" Tim murmured.
'Perhaps this time I can learn who the female Robin is. My instincts tell me that she's important to my future for some reason other than the obvious fact that she is my successor, but I don't know why.' He thought to himself.
Suddenly, a loud shriek was heard.
"Will you get the hell off me?" Starfire yelled. It seemed the teens had fallen and piled up on top of her. Starfire blasted them away in anger.
Cathie caught Impulse while Kon-al and Haze floated safely to the ground. Marcus teleported down and held out his arms.
"Where did ya go Robin? You can fall now Sweetie, I'll catch ya!" He flirted.
"You need not worry about me, Marcus. I have landed quite safely, as you can see." The female Robin replied in an arrogant tone.
The others had to contain their laughter as they witnessed Keelia standing perfectly still, atop Starfire's head with her arms raised as if she had just finished a gymnastics competition. Then she did a perfect back flip onto the ground.
"How dare you?" Starfire yelled in a rage. Her previous head ornament just shrugged at her and gave her a small smile, irritating Starfire further.
"What is going on here?" Wonder Woman wondered (sorry, couldn't resist ^_^).
"They're our successors." Kid Flash answered her.
The Justice League and various older Titans still looked puzzled, as they had not met the next generation of Young Justice before, unlike the four newest members of Teen Titans.
"Ridiculous, did they just fall through time?" Starfire grumbled.
"Well actually, yes we did" Cathie answered with a shrug. She earned a glare from Starfire and chuckles from her teammates.
"They really are from the future though. We met them back when we were Young Justice." Kon explained.
"Is that really possible?" Superman wondered aloud, exchanging a look with Batman.
Batman turned to look at the current timeline's Robin. He did not say anything, but Tim could tell he was waiting for an explanation.
"Exactly as Superboy and Kid Flash said, they refer to themselves as Young Justice Generation Two. They are from the future, but they traveled to the past before. We met them twice as Young Justice." He explained. Batman still looked skeptical, but then, he always did.
"How do we know they didn't lie to you?" Starfire asked, still glaring at the young time travelers.
"You doubt us after seeing us fall through the portal to land on top of you?" Haze asked, flabbergasted.
"Well, I don't like being lied to!" Starfire said angrily, shooting an accusing look at Tim.
"Cry me a fraggin' river," Marcus growled out to mock her.
"Well said, Marcus Dear, you said it before I did." The fourth Robin commented with a smirk and gave Marcus a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Well, I'll try to say things before you more often then." He replied rakishly.
"This isn't a club you can join. Those identities should be earned." Batman remarked in a deep, cold tone of voice. The members of YJ2 gulped, as Batman does tend to have an overbearing presence. Keelia simply shrugged it off as she was used to it by now.
"My identity especially, right Grandpa?" Keelia asked, the confident smirk gracing her face once again.
Nightwing and Robin nearly choked and Flash, along with the rest of the Justice League attempted to disguise their laughter.
"Grandpa" Flash said, snickering.
"Sorry, old habits die hard, but we are super-heroes in our own rights. My companions have their powers and as for me, I earned every thread of this costume, you can be certain of that." Keelia said confidently, staring Batman right in the eye. This was a bold move, considering most people are intimidated by the Dark Knight, but Keelia shared a trait that all Robins seemed to have. This trait being, that they were not afraid to challenge Batman if they believed he was wrong.
"We should cut Starfire and the Justice League a break, though," Robin continued to her traveling companions, "After all, Starfire originates from a war-ridden world and Earth tends to remain fairly peaceful." She added.
"And the Justice League is just uptight," Marcus put in.
"No comment," Keelia replied quickly, hiding a smirk.
"Show us proof," Batman demanded suddenly.
"Alright, we can take them!" Kon-al said excitedly.
"Damn fraggin' right!" Marcus added, cracking his knuckles.
"Wait a minute, you two! We cannot reveal our powers!" Haze said suddenly.
"Why the frag not" Marcus yelled.
"Raise your hand if you knew he was going to say that." Kid said in a monotone voice. All of YJ2 and Keelia raised their hands.
"As I was saying, if we show our powers, it might give away parts of the future." Haze explained.
"Oh yeah, that's bad." Cathie agreed.
"Well, how can we prove ourselves then?" Marcus bellowed.
"Why should they have to prove themselves at all? Batman, you trust my opinion don't you? I believe them!" Tim protested.
"It is necessary and yes, I do trust you." Batman replied, narrowing his eyes at Tim.
"Yes, I agree with Batman! If they are so tough, let them prove it! So shut up Robin!" Starfire yelled.
Keelia narrowed her eyes and glared at Starfire.
"I suggest you apologize." She said menacingly.
"Why should I?" Starfire stood to her full height and looked down at Keelia in an imposing manner.
"How could you demand respect from them when you do not give it?" The fourth Robin asked, her anger rising by the second.
"Yeah, you tell them Robin!" Kid Flash cheered.
"Alright, about time someone sees it our way!" Superboy added.
"I agree, listen to her!" Wonder Girl demanded.
Tim smiled and nodded his appreciation to his successor.
"I have a proposal for the Justice League. My colleagues cannot show their powers or parts of the future may be revealed. Therefore, I will fight on their behalf as proof that we are quite capable of bearing the weight of being super-heroes. I am the weakest, considering I have no powers, correct?" Keelia insinuated.
All those present knew that despite not having any powers, the members of the Bat-family were never seen as weak and therefore the Justice League agreed.
"What about you, will you let me represent you?" Keelia then asked YJ2. Although a bit hesitant, it seemed like the only course of action they had, so they agreed.
"Send forth your challenger and I will defeat him or her using all the training I have received since I was a toddler." Keelia said confidently.
"I thought you had trained for a four years." Haze asked, distinctly remembering Robin say that to her mother when they traveled back through to the first time.
"I trained approximately four years to become Robin, but I have received martial arts training since I was old enough to walk and I was given a detective kit for my birthday almost every year. It seems like I was destined for this role." Keelia replied nonchalantly.
"I don't care how well-trained you are! I will fight you!" Starfire stepped forward.
"That's really not fair, Robin has no powers." Cathie protested.
"Who says I need them?" Keelia asked and winked at her companions before stepping forward.
"Are you ready?" Starfire asked, anxious to get the battle underway.
Keelia did not get into a fighting stance. She turned to the Justice League instead.
"If you really want to see what I can do, you should send out someone more challenging." She said simply.
"Arrogance will be your downfall." Batman predicted.
"I am not being arrogant. I know exactly what I am going up against, unlike a certain predecessor of mine, God rest his soul." Keelia replied seriously. This caused Batman to narrow his eyes at her.
"If you have any sort of warrior in your soul, you will not deny my challenge!" Starfire screamed, deeply insulted that Robin brushed her aside.
"Within my identity is the connotation of a warrior. I honorably accept your challenge, but do not expect me to hold back." Keelia said coldly and focused her concentration.
'That's a curious comment. I wonder what she meant by that.' Tim thought to himself.
Starfire began the fight by charging at Keelia. Unexpectedly, the female Robin simply sidestepped her charge, pulled the alien's hair over her eyes, and yanked on the reddish tresses. Starfire hollered at this action and tried to pull herself free.
"Let me educate you on two lessons while fighting me. Lesson number one: Never fight angry." Keelia remarked with a punch to Starfire's gut. Starfire doubled over and Keelia let go of her opponent's hair.
"Lesson number two is simply this: I know all your weaknesses and I will exploit them if I have to." Keelia concluded her educating as Starfire fired a blast at her. Keelia dodged by doing a back flip. She flipped again and kicked Starfire in the face on her way backwards. As Starfire grabbed her face in pain, Robin drew out her collapsible bo staff and used it as a javelin to propel herself upwards and finish the fight with another kick to the face. Starfire went to the ground hard and Keelia stood triumphantly above her, not even a drop of sweat on her brow.
"Wow, how were you able to do that so easily?" Superboy asked the question that many the witnesses were wondering.
"It's quite simple, actually. I have already defeated the Starfire in my time, who grew stronger than she is now. I have defeated all the Titans. I had to or I could not progress further in my training." Keelia explained vaguely.
"What do you mean?" Batman asked.
"As one of the rules in my training that you set forth, I could not continue to my next trainer until I had defeated the one with whom I currently trained. One of my trainers was the hero who once led the Titans, currently known as Nightwing." Keelia clarified.
"Oh really" Nightwing asked curiously.
"Absolutely, Uncle Nightwing" Keelia replied with a smile.
"That sounds almost as goofy as Grandpa Batman." Flash laughed aloud until he received matching glares from Batman and Nightwing. He prompted quieted after a very audible gulp.
"After I had mastered the basics of martial arts and research, my uncle took me to his old teammates at Titans Tower and introduced me as his new student. He then asked them to throw everything they had at me until I could defeat them." Keelia continued.
"Ouch" Tim cringed.
"Well, at first, yes, it was quite painful. I used it as a learning experience though and I finally defeated them one by one and then was able to defeat my uncle as well." Keelia shrugged.
"That sounds a bit harsh." Nightwing commented.
"I had to be the best of the Robins and surpass all three of my predecessors before I was worthy. The pain was a price I was willing to pay." Keelia replied seriously.
"So you really are a lot stronger than you would like us to think?" Cyborg observed.
"You are correct about that. I trained with the world's best heroes and even some of its rogues." Keelia confirmed.
"You're not bragging are you?" Haze asked.
"I don't have to." Keelia replied with a shrug.
"That's my girl!" Marcus said proudly, putting his arm around Keelia.
"Uh, yeah, okay" She said as she unraveled herself, slightly embarrassed.
"Hey, what did I miss?" Impulse asked Cathie excitedly.
"Imp, you fraggin' bastich, you missed almost the entire chapter!" Marcus yelled.
"What do you mean?" Impulse asked, perplexed.
"I don't know." Marcus replied, equally perplexed.
"On that bizarre note, we had better take our leave now that Impulse is ready to travel." Haze suggested.
"Yep, ready to go" Impulse said excitedly and raced to head off his friends' line.
"See you all in the future!" Kid yelled as the members of YJ2 waved to the Justice League and Teen Titans. While Superboy, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash waved back, Robin stood there disappointed. He had wanted a chance to talk to his successor again.
"Do not seem so disappointed Robin. Perhaps we will meet again. I wish we had more of a chance to talk and to be honest, I was hoping to face off against you. For only you would be a real challenge to me." Keelia said sadly, as she stood in front of her young father. Then she hugged him. Tim did not question it this time and hugged her back. It just felt like the right thing to do.
"My name is Keelia. Farewell." She whispered to him.
As Keelia was about to rejoin the link, Marcus put his arm around her instead of just holding her hand. She looked up at him, smiled and relaxed into his embrace as Impulse sped off once again, dragging his teammates behind him.
Later on in the current timeline, Tim looked up the meaning to the name Keelia. He found it to be an alternate form of the name Kelly, which connoted 'a warrior.'
To be concluded….