"Hey, Bane, guess what? I've got a fancy new ALIAS!" Jasper yelled into his friend's face as they were walking back to their apartments.
Raven sighed angrily. "What is it? Fucker underscore who underscore can't underscore shut underscore up?"
The obese man laughed. "You'd think that? And what's yours, Rae? The Bitch Queen?" Raven's eyes suddenly began to glow. Bane paled.
"Don't… make… me… angry…"
He waved her off. "Whatever. Anyways, I thought Control was a pretty cool name. What think, Nate?"
"Well… whatever suits the bearer."
Jasper frowned at Bane. "I hate it when you talk like that. How about you, Raven? How does Control sound? You know where I get it from, don'tcha?"
Bane burst into laughter. Raven calmly held up her middle finger and walked into her apartment. "Frigid bitch… anyways," Control rambled, "what are these apartments like? Any Xboxes or shit, Nate?"
"First off, my name is Bane. Second, try not to piss Raven off. She's a good person… she just doesn't like you. And lastly, Xboxes would be compared to, oh, I don't know, carved trains here." Control found it hard to keep the drool in his mouth.
"So then what system do you have here?"
Bane grinned.
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Jasper sat on the PPU, easily taking up both spaces. "How are you gonna play?" Bane laughed. "I've got my own. Fortunately."
"Don't do anything when I'm in the game!" Jasper muttered. "I'd worry more about Raven. Zion does have knives."
"How do you know?"
Bane's eyes suddenly shifted. He unconsciously moved his sleeve down and stepped out of Jasper's cramped apartment. Jasper silently sank into his PPU.
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"Bane? Bane?"
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Bane crept forward, unarmed. Control could not see in the shadows yet.
"Looks like I've got an advantage," Bane mouthed silently to his opponent. Control suddenly walked straight towards him. "Bane?"
Bane rolled behind a pillar as Jasper stepped carefully around the Stonehenge-like simulation. An artificial wind picked up. Something fluttered in the wind…
Nathan leapt out from behind the giant rock and found Control staring right at him, holding a claymore. He shivered, unarmed, but the man simply turned and looked in another direction.
"No night eyes yet…" he thought to himself as he slipped behind another pillar.
Something fell to the ground. Bane gasped as Control instinctively sliced at it. He hit nothing but air. Bane sensed Jasper feeling around the ground with his sword. He hit something… metal.
"Woah. Night vision goggles."
'OH SHIT!' Bane's thoughts raced as he looked out from his hiding spot. Control was not looking at him. He was looking up, at the top of another rock.
The fluttering wind picked up again. Bane turned on his heel and saw Jasper stepping back, holding the sword in a fighting stance. CLANG!
Metal against metal. Boot against teeth. Control stumbled back as a dark figure bore down on him. "I don't know what you want, but I'll tell you what is going to happen, freak. You're going to leave Bane alone and never talk to me again."
Raven.
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"The terrorism is getting worse," said a news announcer on the Titan's television. "According to reports, over a dozen people were kidnapped last night by a large group of terrorist cells, whose names include Logos, Mjolnir, Felicitas, Nebuchadnezzar and Believer. The Teen Titans from both sides of the city were present, as was the City Police Department. The Titans, fortunately, suffered no casualties, but according to the Titans East leader Robin, an unknown terrorist resembling himself killed every member of the police force present.
The Titans have agreed to give a warning to the public. Tune in at 6 for the whole story."
Robin switched off the TV. "Twenty people. Twenty people were killed last night," he said, pacing the floor angrily. "We can't let this continue!"
"Just be quiet!" Beast Boy shouted, trying to play his handheld game. "Pay attention," Raven hissed, her nose buried in a book. "YOU'RE NOT EVEN PAYING ATTENTION!"
Dark flames danced in Raven's eyes. The changeling cowered behind Cyborg, who moved to leave a clear shot.
"Save the deadly black energies of fun for the terrors!" Starfire cried as Raven lifted her hand at Beast Boy. She relaxed and returned to her book.
"Robin…" said Cyborg slowly, "I put the other pictures from the fight into the computer. We're fighting some weird version of us."
"Ya mean like Larry?" Beast Boy shouted, reminded of the fat little fanboy who came to the Tower for a short time.
"Possibly. But these are more dangerous. We'll have to use caution. We'll…"
"Please be quiet, Robin," said Raven, both eyes closed. "We understand what the problem is, but you talking interrupts my meditation. As Beast Boy would say, 'shut up.'"
Robin raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you started quoting Beast Boy? Anyways, I figure that if they keep going after people who use computers, we'll be able to guess where they will strike next."
Cyborg raised his arm. "Just so you know, I stopped listening after twenty. We need to be more ruthless! They certainly don't hesitate to."
"People are dying, Robin. We'll have to beat them at their own game," Beast Boy added. "Game… heeheehee," he giggled as his ADD kicked in.
"I certainly didn't hold back when… what are we gonna call our 'clones,' anyways?" said the android suddenly.
"Does it matter what we call a criminal?"
Starfire giggled and jumped up and down. "Let us create new names for our foes! The naming ritual on ou…MMMPH!" she gasped as a black strip of energy smothered her mouth.
"Stop talking," Raven hissed.
Beast
Boy frowned. "Just leave if you don't care that people are
getting killed!"
"People die. It's called life, Beast Boy.
I, frankly, just wish to keep my emotions under control.
"He got out again when we faced my twin."
Robin's eyes squinted under his eyemask. Cyborg sat up, his face full of worry. Beast Boy hid behind the couch. Starfire winced slightly, remembering what happened when Trigon broke loose.
"It seems that this 'twin,' as Robin calls them, provokes my rage. This is going to be a danger for us more than them… because she can use a form of Trigon as well."
"Oh, crap. Two Super-PMS girls are running around?" Beast Boy moaned, before shrieking as Raven glared at him. He jumped behind the couch again.