Part 2: Blood Will Run
And from Light City we head back to Jump City, and to the island off its coast that holds the T-Tower, home of our heroes, the Teen (well, not really so much any more) Titans. Let us pan over the grounds…
Past Raven, who is tending to her new flower garden, a pastime she discovered recently that helps relax her, and considering all the trouble the Teen Titans find themselves, she needs all the relaxation she can get…
And we go into the Tower, passing by Cyborg in the garage as he tinkers with the T-Car Mk 4.7, and up the stairs and past Robin who is in the training room, stripped down to his pants as he furiously pounds a punching bag, abet in the grip of intense concentration rather then any rage or violence. And we pan past him and through several hallways and up a flight of stairs before we finally stop before two men.
If you could call them that, as the two look drastically different from the average human male. Then again, that was probably a good thing.
"Why are we doing this again?" asked the newest Titan member: Nigicalnack Hastionfarlock, aka Nigel Hastings, aka Scalpel. Nigel was an alien like Starfire, and actually of a race that had warred with hers for centuries, the Blacktrinians. He had grey skin, light blue hair, eyes with black corneas and dark blue pupils, very long elvin ears, and instead of human-esque hands and feet, he possessed two long clawed fingers and a thumb on each hand, and feet that were much like his hands. Nigel was many things: a doctor, a warrior, a failure, a monster, a lover, a fallen one: his story was long and complicated, so if you want to learn it, go read Flashing Lights and Sounds, by Jedi-and.
In any case, Nigel had been on earth a long time by now, but was still learning the subtleties of human culture.
"Dude, it's called a prank!"
I never said they were honorable subtleties.
Nigel's companion is the green skinned and furred Garfield Logan, Gar to his friends, aka Beast Boy.
"You go on the door and call for Noel, and since he trusts you, he'll come to see what's going on, and when he opens the door, a bucket of maple syrup falls on his head!"
"I see."
Beast Boy grinned.
"We shall drench Noel in that sticky edible substance you humans pull from trees, hence making him very mad at both of us, and wrecking his trust in me, which I need on the battlefield and during my examinations…and we shall gain from this incident…what?"
"Ah man Nigel, this is almost as bad as when you were learning to tell jokes." Beast Boy said.
(Flashback)
"Ok, go Nigel!"
"Here's my wife, please take her right now."
"No no no! Again!"
"Would you like to take something? My wife is available…"
Thud.
(End flashback)
"Dude, it's a prank! He can't stay mad at us for long!"
"Garfield, you and I both know the candor of that statement is unsound at best."
"Aw come on man! We need to do SOMETHING to pass the time!"
"Yes, but to paraphrase our friend Rob, perhaps this is not a good time to do something stupid…"
"IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD TIME TO DO SOMETHING STUPID!" Came a sudden bellow as Robert Candide, aka Gauntlet, the artifact wielding, joke cracking, forever unserious Titan suddenly popped up out of nowhere, scaring the two Titans. "Now, there was something about a prank?"
"To be played on Noel." Nigel said.
"Ohhhhh, even better! What are we doing? The Attract and Dog? The Slip and Slide? Maybe even the all powerful Splat and Run?"
"The Splat and Run." Beast Boy said. Rob looked like he was about to swoon.
"Mar-ver-lous! It is good you can be taught! Now…!" Rob said, as he made sweeping arm gestures.
"Robert, what happened to you?" Nigel said, as both he and Beast Boy noticed that Robert was covered in mud, twigs, and leaves.
"Oh, this! Well you see, I owed Kory a favor, and she decided to have me walk her new puppy in the park. So I was doing that, and then this old lady accused me of stealing her purse! So I threw the puppy at her! But she kept coming, so I hit her with this purse I found…but the point is, we have to pull a huge prank on Noel, and we have to…" Rob trailed off at the sudden wide-eyed look that Beast Boy and Scalpel were wearing. He knew what THAT indicated. "Aw man, is he behind me?" Rob asked, sticking his arms behind him and waving them to see if they made contact with a certain white haired Titan.
"No. I'm in front of you."
"GAH!" Rob said, jumping back slightly as the white haired and garbed Noel Collins, aka Savior, indeed proved to have somehow gotten in front of him.
"Um…well Noel…wait a sec, why am I explaining myself? We've known each other for over three years!"
"Which was about 2 years and 11 months too long." Noel said in a way that was actually being nice: his tone was serious rather then condescending.
"Come on Noel!!!!!!! Please?" Rob said.
Noel just crossed his arms and gave Rob a look that had scared some criminals into confessing. In a team of joyous souls, Noel was the standout, the serious and dour one that always looked at the reality of situations, no matter what they were. True, he could loosen up, laugh, have fun, and act like a teenager/young adult, but accomplishing this took some doing, or in the case of Robert Candide, a messianic intervention. Noel knew that Robert had proven himself many times and respected his accomplishments and aid. He just didn't like him very much.
"Heh heh heh…" Rob said, putting a hand behind his head and sweatdropping…and realizing too late that the purse was still hanging on his wrist. Noel regarded the bag as if it were an interesting new species of animal, and Robert jerked his arm down in an attempt to hide it…
Causing the small dark cube to fall out and clatter on the floor. In the way that eyes attracted to sudden movement are, everyone looked at it.
"What's that?" asked Noel.
"Nothing, carry on!" Rob replied, reaching down to pick it up.
The Shimmer beat him to it, as the white line extended from Noel's hand and picked up the device before Rob could.
"What is this?" Noel asked, forgetting for the moment that Rob had seemingly just committed an act of larceny and assault against a senior citizen, as he looked at the small object.
"Absolutely nothing! Give it back now please!"
"I would have if it was nothing, but this is clearly something." Noel said, turning around. Rob darted around him.
"No really, it's nothing! Just a bit of craftsmanship from a friend! I wanted him to make a me a Rubik's Cube!"
"Right, A Rubik's Cube that's small, one color, and without any segments at all."
"I never said he was good at his craft!"
"This is another PDEM, isn't it?" Noel said. Rob opened his mouth, hung it for a second, and then shut it again.
"Yeah, it is. And it IS mine Noel. Give it back."
"Like hell Rob, I know how you get these and it's not like you have any great claim to them." Noel said.
The so-called PDEM stood for Personal Deus Ex Machina, and in theory the small cube was just that. It was created by Rob's somewhat mentor and teacher and far more house guest and loafer Pangloss the Mighty, an ancient mystical being that was two things 1) Possessing of so much power that when Noel had actually grasped the magnitude of it he had actually lost control of his bowels, which he had managed to keep secret from everyone, and good thing for that, Rob would have had enough ammunition until the team's name was the Geriatric Titans, and 2) So incredibly lazy and lacking drive and motivation that he never used his power except to please him. Pangloss could have purged the world from virtually all evil, or likewise taken control of it and ruled it for a thousand eons, but he cared for neither. He'd rather sit on the couch and eat pork rinds and watch soap operas. When he actually did something that was HELPFUL, it was usually by accident, or just a cast off of whatever he was doing. Hence was the case of the first PDEM, which Rob had not revealed until he had used it. And while it had, in a sense, saved the day, the concept of an item that could theoretically provide a solution to ANY problem, even if it was just once, was immensely helpful and useful, and hence, Noel did not want Rob to have it. He THOUGHT that Rob MIGHT have enough common sense to save it for a serious emergency…but he wasn't wholly sure that Rob wouldn't just pull it out to use it to beat Mumbo so he could get home in time to watch Survivor.
"Noel, please! It's mine! If you take that, you're no better then me!"
"Excuse me?"
"I on, support me here guys!"
"Uh…yeah Noel, he did manage to get another one, give it back! Don't be mean!" Beast Boy said.
"I'm not being mean. I'm being practical."
"ARGH! EVEN WORSE!" Rob moaned. Noel sighed. He hated always having to be the bad guy.
"Look Rob, I'll speak to you clearly and without superciliousness…"
"Gesendheit."
A vein throbbed in Noel's forehead.
"Moving ON…Rob, you weren't here for the Lord. I was. And I don't ever want anything like that to happen again. We lucked out, mostly, with Whim and the Sorceress, but who knows what next time will bring? In battles like that, in victory we have often lost a great deal. If we could have something that could UNDO that…now, don't you think it would be better all around if I was in possession of such a device and not you?"
"No."
"Ok, why not?"
"It's really quite simple Noel. First, you don't know how to work it…"
"You press the button and tell it what to do."
"Well yes, but you have to use the right tone! If you're not careful, you'll ask to save the day and it'll hear pave the way and make you a new freeway…"
(Later)
"…And you have to understand it was on the bestseller list for twenty months, surely he must know what he's talking about…"
(Much later)
"…And people say we shouldn't squash insects because they are supposedly part of the great food chain, with all life forms dependant on each other via complicated and subtle interrelationships, which goes as follows: Man gets his food from eating cows, which in turn eat corn, which in turn comes from Iowa, which in turn was part of the Louisiana Purchase, which was in turn obtained from France, which in turn eats garlic, which in turn repels vampires, which in turn sucks the blood out of Man. So we can see that without insects…hey, I just realized, there ARE no insects in the great food…HEY!" Rob yelled, as he finally realized Noel and the others had stopped listening long ago and were now sitting on the couch playing a video game. "What do you think you're doing here!"
"Why? Are you taking a survey?" Noel commented, and frowned as his car blew up a moment later. Goddamn leader specific power ups.
"Noel!" Rob whined, which was VERY unusual. He must have really wanted the device back. Noel sighed and decided he'd give Rob another chance, and took leave of the game.
"Ok Rob, over here." Noel said, drawing Rob over to a nearby window, where the two began to speak. Gar Logan pondered listening for a second, and then realized that Rob was acting in rare fashion by actually acting SERIOUS, and droned it out as he concentrated on the game.
Until it happened.
"Hey guys." Tara Markov, aka the earth commanding Terra said as she walked past the two.
Gar immediately lost his concentration, and his car veered off a cliff as he watched Tara head for the kitchen. It didn't take Nigel long to notice his fellow player's lack of concern with what a moment ago had been a life and death matter.
"You appear to be losing Gar."
"Yeah."
"In fact you just lost, I crossed the finish line."
"Good for you."
"I just broke your high score you worked on for three months to achieve."
"Great."
"You know, I ate someone today."
"Sounds like fun."
Realizing that he wasn't going to get his friend's attention verbally, Nigel resorted to physicality as he placed his long, clawed fingers behind Gar's ear and flicked, hard.
"OW!"
"Ah, he lives."
"I could HEAR you Nigel…it's just that…" Gar said, and sighed.
"Garfield, I know that this is probably pointless, but it is clear to me what is going on, but it does no one any good if all you do with it is this. So why don't you just tell her?"
"Nigel…I wish it was that easy…" Gar said, and sighed again. He and Tara had quite a bit of history, most of which seemed to be made up of missed opportunities. When she had first joined, back in the dog days when they had found her being chased by a rock scorpion (Writer's Note: To those reading the first time, in my timeline Gauntlet stopped Terra from leaving, hooking up with Slade, and all the stuff that came afterward. And considering what ultimately happened at the end of Aftershocks, I think she'd prefer it that way), they had seemed to have a lot in common and a physical attraction. But things never seemed to develop for them. Terra's first mission, against the horrific mutation Aberration, had nearly gotten her killed and implanted in her deep fears that were still being dealt with. And that had just been the beginning: the two of them had been through other things including separation, loss of power, attraction to others, and worse things Gar would prefer not to remember. Finally, Garfield had decided that if something were to develop, he would let it. That decision was now backfiring as the attraction was still there, cooled but alive, and it had begun to gather steam again. The bad part? Terra seemed to have forgotten the old days, and didn't seem to be picking up on anything…
Nigel suggested that he just go up and say something? What COULD he say? He'd make a bad joke and she'd laugh, but it would be a shallow expression, one that could never express what he felt deep down. Noel was the one good with words…what could HE do?
Maybe he'd ask Noel later…anything would be better then this.
Anything would be better then this.
Or so Tara though as she leaned on the wall to the immediate right of the part of the kitchen she had entered.
She had thought for sure she had caught Gar's attention. She'd walked perfectly: subtly but seductively. She would have thought she'd feel liquid on her ankles from the drool. Instead, when she had finally decided to steal a backwards glance, she had found him talking to Nigel, like she wasn't there.
What had happened? She remembered the old days…
(Abet not the fact that her nervousness had made her hesitate a tad too long in taking her backwards glance and when she had Nigel had already gotten Gar's attention. D'oh.)
Tara sighed and wondered what was wrong with her. She knew she had looks. Plenty of men had told her so (and some had tried to do more, she remembered with a shudder), but the one person she was interested in…every time she tried something he didn't seem to notice…
(Actually he was struggling with embarrassment…)
He barely spoke to her any more…
(Didn't want to trip over his words and say the wrong thing…)
Maybe she should be more aggressive…but what if he told her that in the end he didn't want anything, that the old days were just that and it was time to move on…
(Which was exactly what HE feared…)
What was it?
(The old idiot plot on how a few candid questions could clear up the whole mess in a page, but then we wouldn't have a plot would we? (CRASH) Sigh, there goes the Forth Wall again…)
Maybe she was too thin. Starfire, Raven, his old girlfriend Charm…they had curves. She was as thin as a stick. Maybe she should put on a few pounds…
Maybe she'd do that anyway. She needed some help with her problem.
Tara thought she had a problem. She, like many people, didn't have a clue.
Let us go back to Light City…
To a dimly lit crime scene…
And to Latoya Daye, an overweight black woman, who is screaming and bawling in the way only a mother can.
Fifteen minutes ago, her three-year-old daughter was murdered.
Why? Five days ago, Latoya had been heading home from work when she had witnessed an altercation between two men, one of whom had been skimming off the top of the take of the local crime boss, Deenen Combs, and the other who had been sent by him to show his displeasure, with a tire iron. Latoya had unfortunately witnessed some of this, and the cops had managed to track her down. Latoya had, despite being threatened with jail time and various other things, refused to admit she had seen anything. She knew what would happen.
And it had happened anyway. Deenen Combs wasn't going to take chances on people. One quick drive by, and the deed was done. Now, not only would Latoya never testify, no one else in the neighborhood would. They knew the cost.
No one would be arrested or punished for the original assault, or the tragedy that had followed. The neighborhood would lose more sleep at the seemingly untouchable predators that now roamed their streets. Even if the police could trace someone to the killing, they knew what they would find: a 14 year old who had already been twisted into a sociopath who did the killing to make his bones in the gang, and there was little Latoya Daye could do, as she had to work two jobs in order to raise her kids well enough so THEY didn't become sociopaths as well.
And with all the hardship and hopelessness these days, it would probably happen anyway.
No one should have to hear the noises Latoya was making now. But what truly made it an atrocity was that it was for such a STUPID, POINTLESS reason.
One of the officers at the scene caught it out of the corner of his eye. Movement. But when he turned, nothing. Probably his imagination…or at least that would have been his thoughts had what happened last night not happened. But…there might…
He figured he might as well, and he walked over to the car and got on the radio.
"Hey. Officer Doyle here. Get me the Chief."
Cauterize didn't hear the officer reporting his suspicions. He was already on the run. What he had seen had solidified a target for him, a true cancer on his city, and he was going to cut it out.
The mayor of Light City, the "Honorable" Geoffrey Tercero, had always looked a lot like actor Tom Cruise (Indeed, when Cruise had greyed his hair for his role in his 2004 film Collateral, the two could have passed for twins in the right light), and in his own way, he was almost as good as an actor. Instead of Cruise's suave tone however, he had a voice that he had to keep carefully modulated, otherwise it became high pitched and squeaky. He was doing a good job keeping it from that at the moment, as he was on the phone.
"…deploy all your forces Chief. Yes, ALL of them. And don't bother arresting him…" Mayor Tercero was saying when the door opened. He paused as he waited to see who it was, and continued when he judged it was safe.
Entering the room was Deputy Mayor Roman Fernendez, a young man in his mid-twenties with black hair tied in a small ponytail, sharp green eyes that were a gift from his mother, and darkly good looks of the Mediterranean genetic type. You would think that becoming Deputy Mayor was impressive at his age, but everyone, including Roman, knew that there was nothing behind it. Tercero was the mayor, he held all the power, made all the decisions, and wouldn't hand over an iota of it until the day he died. At which then the men who owned him would quickly ensure a compliant replacement as to continue their business unharassed. Roman was the seventh deputy mayor of Tercero's reign, a role he didn't much enjoy filling, as rather then Tercero's right hand man, he was really Tercero's secretary/toady/suck-up. In fact, he rather resented it. A lot.
But…there was nothing he could do…yet…
"I don't care, do it! Don't call me until he's dead!" Mayor Tercero snapped, and hung up, looking at Roman. "Where the hell were you?"
"Bathroom sir. I told you I was coming down with the stomach flu." Roman replied.
"Oh. Well, don't make a habit of it! I'd hate to fire you Roman, you'd be hard to replace!" Tercero said, and laughed loudly. He tended to laugh at his own jokes a lot, which was rather nails on a chalkboard irritating to the people around him as A) His jokes weren't funny, and B) His laughter tended to cause his high-pitched tone to leak out. Roman cracked a halfhearted smile.
"Roman, take a memo!" Tercero asked. Roman didn't say anything: he just got a pen and a pad of paper, used to be treated as a glorified secretary. "Dear Mr. Pierce, we are sorry about any inconvenience this sudden unfortunate event has caused you. Now that he is dead…"
"Your honor, I was under the impression they hadn't killed him yet."
"Oh they will! They know where he's going and they'll meet him with enough firepower to end a war, and then it'll be business as usual." Tercero said.
Yes, one must avoid all distractions to put in an optimum performance when one mistreats the people you claim to serve. Roman thought, but he just kept writing.
"…express our honest hopes that we can continue our transactions in as good faith as we have for the past twelve years. On another note…"
"Sir?"
"What is it Raymond?"
"Roman sir."
"Whatever."
"Sir…I have heard a thing or two myself…I don't think you should be jumping to conclusions. This, um…I believe they are called metahumans, may be more then our…"
"No, he won't be Roman. And you know why? Because this is MY town, and what I say goes, AND I SAY HE MUST BE DEALT WITH!" Tercero yelled. It would have sounded much better if the last half of the sentence hadn't sounded like Tercero had suddenly inhaled helium. Roman kept a stone face though. He'd heard of what happened to people who made fun of the mayor's voice.
"If you say so your honor."
"Good. Now let us continue…" Tercero said, and rambled on for a while in a deluge of power tripping and ass-kicking to his unofficial superior. He was just finishing up when Roman groaned.
"What is it Ramen?"
"My stomach sir…I must use the facilities again…" Roman groaned, standing up.
"No wait hold it! Finish my memo first, I want it to be faxed immediately and I don't want any delays…"
"It is finished sir." Roman said, already heading away from the desk while clutching his gut. Tercero arched an eyebrow, and then he took a look at the paper to see that indeed the whole thing was filled out, with every I dotted and every T crossed, only his signature needed to finish it.
"You wrote it all that quickly?" he thought out loud.
"It's a gift sir." Roman said as he disappeared out the door.
Nigel came into the kitchen to find Terra chowing down on about a week's forth of food.
"…And what are we doing here?" he asked.
"Eating." Terra replied.
"I see that. Are you trying to set a record in the process?"
"I need to gain some weight. I'm virtually a skeleton." Terra said, as she tossed a wrapping aside and then attacked a half full container of Chocolate Chunk ice cream.
"Yes…Tara I hate to break this to you, but your metabolism goes like a blast furnace. All you're going to do is make yourself sick, most likely. Any gain you have will be minimal and quickly lost."
"What? No…really?"
"I am your doctor Tara."
"FUCK!" Terra cursed, and the tower vibrated a bit. A second later Noel's voice wafted from the other room yelling at Nigel that if he was irritating Tara to stop it.
"Why do you want to gain weight Tara? Most women on this planet devote the extreme effort you are showing to keeping weight off."
"I'm like a twig Nigel. No substance at all. I mean…how can I…" Terra said, trailing off.
Nigel stared for a moment, and then adjusted the hat of the outfit he wore, a bizarre alien fashion that consisted of the aforementioned orange hat, vest, and pants, with a white shirt and purple cape.
"May I…as you say…take a STAB at this…" Nigel said, poking the air with one of his long pointy claw fingers that earned an alarmed look from Terra. "Sorry, took it too literally. Does this sudden desire for weight have something to do with Gar?"
"Why won't he like me?" Tara blurted out.
Nigel stared, and for a moment he considered blurting out that Terra was clearly blind as Beast Boy liked her and she should just go and say so and every problem would be fixed, but then all the lessons of what humans called tact kicked it and Nigel decided on a different course.
Never mind he had confused tact with subterfuge.
"Well Tara…I'm not sure…you two have a little history I heard…I suppose that could be getting in the way…perhaps you should just let him come to you…he may want to and is just searching for the right time…"
"But when's the right time?" Tara asked.
As much time as it takes me to drag Noel over to Gar in order to give Gar speaking lessons. He figured Noel would know what to say best: he recalled the Valentine's Day where Noel spent six weeks working on a poem beforehand and busted it out for Raven during their early morning tea. Nigel had come in at the end of it and witnessed them leaving via a shadow portal. He hadn't seen them for the rest of the day. He wondered what had happened…Noel had seemed fairly contented the next day…
"Who knows? But things can work out my dear…and if you don't mind I have to…" And Nigel trailed off as his mind blanked on coming up with an excuse to leave. "I have to…uh…shuck some…corn…" Nigel said, and took his leave as quickly as possible, leaving a confused Terra behind.
Nigel headed over to where Rob and Noel where STILL talking.
"Have you worked it out yet?" he asked.
"We've decided that we'll put it to the Titans at the next meeting, but Rob insists on holding it until then and I will not…"
"Great! Rob, I need to borrow him, talk later!" Nigel said, grabbing Noel and yanking him farther down the room.
"Owtch! What is it Nigel?"
"Noel, I need to learn how to talk."
"….Ok…well, you pass. Goodbye."
"No no no! I need some romance!"
"Oh, is your thing with Sophie on the rocks? I must admit that vampire bat thing is a bit much…" Noel said, referring to Nigel's own lady friend, an undertaker named Sophie Matthews who now worked for the Jump City Morgue, and who due to a chemical accident could turn into a flock of bats. Their relationship was rather hush hush, due to Nigel's alien ways, but the Titans knew about it (and Noel was waiting for the wedding day, though he didn't say anything).
"No! For, um, er…" Nigel said, looking over to where Beast Boy was playing the racing game still and could easily overhear. Trying to recall human body language, Nigel jerked his head in the direction of Gar…and fell on his face as he wasn't used to the sudden shift of movement.
"Ow."
"Ok Nigel…" Noel said, helping the alien up. "I think I catch your drift. You want to play cupid for Garfield and Tara, right?"
"Yes! How did you know?"
"The two have been making moony eyes at each other for two months. I'm halfway tempted to just lock them in a room with a box of condoms and let nature take it's course so they can drop all this Romeo and Juliet crap. I mean, love in the end is just a bunch of chemical messages and little else, all that other junk about spiritual togetherness and two halves of a whole aren't worth the paper it's printed on, and it's a damn good thing that I know that every single word I just said was bullshit because I KNOW you're behind me!" Noel said, spinning around to see a stunned Raven standing there. Noel smirked.
"Gotcha."
A quick telepathic yank and spin later, and Noel was lying on his back.
"I regret nothing." He said, and kipped up. "Yes my lady love?"
"If you're done with the "Oh look at me, I'm like Batman with my great sense of things around me" nonsense, you can help with my garden. Fanboy." Raven said.
"But of course. I assume you will be providing the means of transport?"
"Yes, and if you even brush me, I'll dump you into the garden from five feet above ground."
"Yes yes, of course. We shall continue this later Nigel, I need to go, uh…shuck some corn…or something…" Noel said, and a second later he and Raven were gone via a shadow portal, leaving a stunned looking Nigel.
"I have the most terrible sense of déjà vu…" Rob suddenly said next to Nigel. "What was all that about?"
"Nothing much Rob." Nigel said, and his ears twitched as he heard a sudden faint thud, like say a body being dropped into dirt from five feet, followed by a faint "I still regret nothing!". "Noel's going to be filthy, and speaking of filth Rob, why don't you have a shower and wash all that guck off?"
"I was going to, but I checked the best shower and Tim has it. I guess I'll have to wait."
"Not too long I hope."
"Hey, it's a SHOWER. What else could happen?"
The shower was larger then usual ones, and had multiple nozzles, hence making it very very desirable. Tim was the lucky recipient, as he relaxed his muscles and cleaned himself off, as he hummed a wordless tune to himself.
"I shot an arrow into the air…where it landed I know not where…" Tim murmured, and then slid his face into one of the streams, letting the water start to remove all the natural oils that build up in one's hair after a hard workout.
Hence he didn't hear the door opening, nor see the figure outside the shower slip off the towel she was wearing. He did however, heard his shower door opening. His eyes opened as he tensed up instinctively at the sudden unexpected element.
"Gar, I have TOLD you we can't share showers, it's awk…ward…" Tim trailed off as he turned around and found it wasn't Gar Logan who had decided to share the shower with him.
"Hello Tim." Kory said seductively. Despite the skin color difference, Kory was looking every inch like a human female as the water soaked her. "I was just thinking…" she said as she stepped up next to her human lover.
"About what?" Tim asked, barely keeping control of the brain that had just had roughly ten gallons of hormones dumped into it.
"Well…I like to see your eyes…but that's not it..." Kory said, tracing her fingers along Tim's face. "I watched you there, pounding that bag…and I thought…look at him, he works so hard. Why? To protect our city. To take care of its people. To take care of us. And I started thinking…who takes care of you?"
"You do." Tim replied, as he did a little thinking. The two of them were a bit taller and larger then they had been in their younger years, but there was still plenty of room…
"I do." Kory said, and then she had abandoned the word game and moved on to action as she crushed her mouth to his. Robin responded, their tongues snaking out and intertwining with each other, as Kory wrapped her arms around Tim's shoulder and forced the kiss even deeper. Tim shoved her back until she hit the wall, the hot water spraying all around them being matched by a liquid heat that came from deep within their beings.
"Oh." Kory said simply as their bodies connected in the deepest way possible, and she lifted her legs off the ground and wrapped them around Tim's waist. "Oh. Oh Tim. Oh…turbarm hycerto….oh yes…"
"Kory…"
"Tim…oh God….OH GOD….OHHHHH…."
"Goddamnit, I like working on the garden with Raven but DAMN, it's messy work." Noel said as he walked into the kitchen. He felt like he had dipped his arms in wax, there was so much dirt on them. "Well, cleanliness is next to godliness…"
And Noel reached and turned on both taps in the sink on the hottest setting.
And he contently washed his hands, not hearing the loud screams coming from another part of the tower. I wish I could say they were of pleasure…but they're not.
Some time later, Noel had finished washing himself off and was looking at the TV Guide when Robin came into the room.
He looked a bit off, you could say. He was wearing his outfit, abet without the cape and mask, and his hair was wet. And he did not look happy.
"Did anyone flush the toilet? Turn on the sinks recently?" he asked calmly, as he glared at Rob and Cyborg, who were sitting at a table.
"Hey man, don't look at us." Cyborg said.
"I turned on the sink." Noel said, lowering the TV Guide. Robin spun on his heel.
"You?"
"Yeah." Noel said calmly.
Tim said nothing. He just marched up to Noel and glared down at him. Unfortunately, without his mask, his gaze was reduced from a menacing pierce to a bedraggled dog look.
"Did something happen?"
Glare.
"Tim?"
Glare.
"Tim…" Noel said, standing up. "If something happened would you tell me please? I'm not my girlfriend, I can't read…"
"DON'T MENTION GIRLFRIENDS!" Robin roared, and then turned on his heel and stomped out of the room.
"…Strange bird that one is, at times." Noel said, and sat back down and resumed looking at the TV Guide, checking movies. "You know, I don't care what other people said, I LIKED Mortal Kombat Annihilation…"
Annihilation.
Predators had come to the streets of Light City, bringing with them their deadly wares. Men with dead souls who would kill for a beer. Stolen and lost weapons that were bought by bad people with bad intentions to do bad things. And of course, the great product of the hurting, the hopeless, and the hateful: drugs, from marijuana to PCP, that which had made Deenen Combs rich and powerful.
All gone.
The dealers lay dead in the streets, their parts mixed with those of their customers in an eerie bloodless scene. Cars burned, giving off the horrible stench of dead flesh roasting. Many people cowered behind their doors, wondering what was happening. Some people had tried to hide from what was coming, but there was nowhere to run, or hide, or fight.
The trail reached across several city blocks, finally ending in a four-story apartment building that was falling apart on the outside and heavily fortified on the inside with steel in the doors and men armed to the teeth.
It hadn't mattered at all. Those men were dead, cut to pieces. All that remained of the doors were twisted and melted metal shards after the structure's basic reality had been disordered and subsequently detonated. There had been no defense and no savior for Deenen Combs.
Who now sat on the floor, his gun cut into three pieces by his side, and his guts in his hands.
Blood pooled from the hideous wound (a wound Keenen honestly did not feel much, his brain was still in shock), flowing into the black boots of the man who had done all this within ten minutes.
Deenen Combs would not be killing any more kids. His soldiers were dead. His minions were dead. His customers, wastes of flesh who just exacerbated the rot, were dead. And he would be soon.
And if anyone replaced him, they would meet his fate as well.
"Go away, Mr. Combs." Cauterize said. "Go to hell. The devil's already stoking your fire. This is going to be a nice town. And it doesn't need you."
Deenen made a strange noise as he continued to study his guts.
"Hell's bells." Cauterize muttered. "When I say DIE, I mean it."
And Cauterize turned and walked away. Which was strange, because he had seemingly not followed up on the threat that was clearly possessing of vile and venom.
Until Deenen Comb's head fell off.
He'd followed up after all.
So quickly he hadn't even seemed to pause in his sentence.
Cauterize opened the door, not going at super speed at the moment. You could do many things with the power of the Speed Force, but one thing Cauterize tried to avoid was going up and down stairs (which was ironic, considering that with his power, he could literally run up walls and ignore gravity). Certain laws of reality ceased to exist when you moved at insane velocity, and while this was usually for your benefit, it could work against you. If you ran down a flight of stairs at normal speed and tripped, you might take a painful tumble. If you tripped while going down them at 3400 miles at hour and didn't save yourself in time you'd go straight through the ground like a rocket and get pulped in the process. So Cauterized walked, keeping alert in case he had somehow missed someone.
But he knew he hadn't.
104 people.
He had just killed 104 people.
Within the space of a night he left the likes of Bundy and Gacy and Dahmer in the dust.
There was something to be said of that, a lot of things really. But Cauterize didn't much care to say any of them. He had his mission. Light City was full of rot and cancer, and he had to cut it out.
And if he was going to do that properly, he couldn't stay here. He'd made the slums (SLUMS! His city had SLUMS NOW! God damn them all!) a bit safer tonight, but if he wanted to give them a chance to rebuild, he would need to go after the real power players. The ones that lurked in the shadows and made the public figures who had betrayed the trust that had been put in them dance. No matter how much scum he killed, those men would just bring more in order to make their money.
He had to get rid of the big players. And he had to make them suffer. And once that was done, maybe…if the police would listen to him…
By now Cauterize had reached the bottom of the building, and he opened the door.
"FREEZE!!!!!!!!!!!" Came the bellow, amplified by a megaphone, as a spotlight suddenly shone on Cauterize's face. He instinctively put up a hand, thought his headgear filtered out most of the light. He could a rapid series of clicks. Guns arming.
He had known it would be this way, as his eyes finished their minute adjusting and looked at the mass of vehicles in front of him. At least a dozen cop cars, complete with SWAT Van, all of the police in position and aiming guns at him. And without any previous indication that they had been there. No sirens, no warning, no nothing.
He knew what that meant.
So be it.
"GET DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!" came the megaphone bellow.
Trying to keep his movements cautious, Cauterize scanned the crowd for Chief Bialas, the man he had offered his aid in order to save the city, aid which had been spit back in his face. He wasn't surprised. Bialas was a spineless ass-kisser, who got his job based on connections. Had he ever been an actual cop? Who knew? Cauterize didn't much care.
He wasn't here. But Cauterize had seen a news van on the very outskirts of the cohort of officers that had been sent to take care of him. Bialas was probably sitting in his office, watching this live on a local channel and sweating the sour sweat of the terrified, hoping that this would be enough to get rid of the man who had dared stand up and say that he wasn't going to stand for what was going on.
And he knew what he had to do.
"GET DOWN OIN THE GROUND NOW, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"
Cauterize sneered.
"GO AHEAD."
A pause.
"OK, VAPORIZE HIM!"
And the streets of Light City suddenly entered World War III as every single police officer followed the order. Some did it because they thought they were helping their city deal with an actual problem. Others followed orders because that was what they were. Others did it because they knew what this killer represented and what it could do to their lives.
The cameraman and reporter recoiled at the noise, as if a god were throwing a tantrum. It went on for nearly forty seconds before the call to cease-fire came.
Silence, and drifting smoke. The officers shifted slightly, wondering what was going to happen.
A figure appeared in the smoke.
Which blew away.
Cauterize hadn't seemed to have moved an inch. But he had moved. If only they could have seen his dance. It had been a thing of beauty.
But Cauterize wasn't in a beauteous mood, as he sneered again, his teeth showing like an animal.
"NOW I'M ANGRY."
The cameraman never saw what happened. The police officers never knew what hit them. Indeed, it was as if nothing had happened at all.
All the reporter, Dave Patterson, saw was a giant flash of red and black, a flash that enveloped all the officers with a gigantic gust of wind that almost blew him over.
And then it was over, as soon as it had begun. Patterson and his cameraman, Englisher (yes, that was his name) looked back at where had been the pride and joy of the Light City Police Department…
There was no blood. No killing. Nothing so crude. Instead, all the officers were lying in two neat rows, normal and SWAT, all of them unconscious. Their weapons and armor had been stripped from them, and lay in several small neat piles nearby.
All done within a breath. The camera panned over the amazing display of swiftness and precision…and then Cauterize was in front of the camera.
"It is clear…the decision has been made." Cauterize said, breathing heavily, though his tone made it tricky to tell if the breathing was due to exertion, anger, or some of both. "My services have been rejected…and I have been declared the enemy. Fine…then. This is going to be a nice town again, if I have to cut my way through every single person who stands in the way of it. And the first one is YOU, Chief Bialas. It appears we have hit a wall in our relationship. SO BE IT."
Patterson and Englisher never quite understood what happened. One moment they were where they were, and next they were…elsewhere (in actuality, several blocks away, near the Light City Mint, which had once served to help with all the money Light City made but had now been closed down for over six years).
And Chief Bialas yanked open the door from the small room in the police station he had been watching this in, no longer caring about the sweet position he had, or all he stood to lose. He had to get out of Light City, empty his account and leave before that…
Vigilante was standing in front of him. Bialas stopped, and looked up into the reflective black glass with a tiny whimper in his throat.
"Can't even sit and accept your fate. At least I would have had some respect for you then." Cauterize said, and grabbed Bialas by the front of his shirt.
There were still some police officers in the building, but none had seen Cauterize coming, and the only indication that they had that they had left was the sound of the door Bialas had opened slamming from the wind gust.
And Bialas…was seeing something truly marvelous, in a way, as Cauterize ran, dragging Bialas with him, transferring his unique mastery over friction and resistance to Bialas, somewhat, so Bialas saw what Cauterize saw when he moved.
Perfect stillness. Rather then everything being a blur, it was as if everything was frozen and unmoving. Bialas saw people who were in mid-step who were now as still as statues, cars that had been turning now as if they were models glued to the street, even a hydrant that had been opened whose water had become like its frozen state, except it wasn't ice, it was water….perfectly unmoving and still.
This was the power of speed. Not to see how fast you were going…but how slow everything else was when you looked at it the right way.
As Cauterize dashed by where he had positioned Patterson and Englisher earlier…and stopped, letting Bialas go as he shut down his power and the protection it provided.
In a way, it was merciful, as it happened far too fast for Bialas to comprehend anything. Suddenly, everything went black, and that was the end…
As Bialas slammed into the thick stone walls of the abandoned mint, going at roughly 2120 miles an hour.
It was a solid wave of liquid that had once been flesh that splattered all over the place and all over Cauterize, soaking him and the street in gore.
Patterson and Englisher stared for a second, and then they both lost their lunch.
Cauterize strolled over to the vomiting media people.
"Get up. Get your damn camera on me." Cauterize said, and the cameraman managed to get his illness under control enough to let his journalistic instincts kick in as he put the camera on Cauterize.
"Light City. I am Cauterize. You've seen what happened to those who cross me…and believe me, there's a lot more…where that came from." Cauterize said, pausing to take a breath. "I am going to make Light City a nice town again. And to do that, things are going to change. I cannot be stopped and I will NOT stop. So to everyone out there who has grown fat and suckled on the teat of this city's misery…enjoy your lives. They're about to be cut short."
And then Cauterize was gone again. For a moment the liquidy hamburger that had once been Chief Rudy Bialas hovered in the shape of Cauterize, and then it collapsed on the street.
He'd left so fast he'd left the mess behind.
The cameraman thought he had nothing left in his stomach. At the sound of the gore hitting the ground, he found he was wrong.
The car drove up the chaos and stopped, and Chesbro stepped out. An officer tried to stop him, but a quick flash of his badge got Chesbro through to the crime scene. If you could call it that.
"My god…" Chesbro said, putting a hand over his mouth as he saw what had become of Bialas. "How did the freak do THIS?"
"Very quickly." Said a uniformed female officer. She might have been fairly attractive had she not had such a grim expression on her face. "I'm sorry."
"Why be? He was a shit. He won't be missed." Chesbro grunted, backing away. "So, this Cauterize…he neutralized the entire department?"
"Before we knew what had happened. And come to think of it…where were you Chesbro?" asked a SWAT team member.
"I took some work home and dozed off doing it. I got the call, but I suspect this was over long before I arrived."
"I don't recall your house being that far out of town detective." The SWAT officer replied.
"My engine has been giving me trouble. Wouldn't start." Chesbro said.
"Well, you're lucky. You missed the whole debacle. At least the chief won't have our asses. He's beyond such things now." The female officer said.
"Yes. I suppose so." Chesbro said, taking one last look at the mess before heading back to the car. Damn freaks. His town's elevator to hell had just had its cables cut, but Chesbro was going to be damned if he just stood by and let some nutball who thought he had all the answers run around in his underwear and kill people.
Mayor Tercero was trying and failing to keep the squeaking out of his voice as he yelled at someone over the phone as Roman stepped back into the office, straightening his tie.
"JUST DO IT!" Tercero yelled (well, shrieked), and slammed the phone down. "Damon! Where the hell have you been?"
"Washroom sir. I have a stomach flu."
"Really?"
"Yes. Quite a bad one."
"I should say! Considering how long you were in there I'm surprised you haven't shit out your own guts!"
"Let's hope not your honor. Do you need my help…"
"HELP? Kid, there isn't nothing you can do, that goddamn Speedy Gonzalez vigilante just beat up the whole police station and killed Chief Bialas!"
"He DID? SHIT." Roman said, and wiped his brow.
"I'd say and…why are you so sweaty?"
"I don't know! Something's wrong with the heat in the washroom, it seems to have a mind of it's own, it was fine a few hours ago and now it's going like a blast furnace!"
"Stupid repairmen! Bunch of fucking crooks!" Tercero snapped. Roman had to put all his effort into resisting the urge to shot back "Look who's talking."
"Kid, tear up that memo and…"
"Sir it's already been sent."
"SHITTTTTTT!!!!!!!" Tercero screamed. Roman knew why: Tercero's "owner" was going to be very unhappy someone was rocking the boat.
"What do I do? Call the FBI? The Army?" Tercero said. "How do you deal with mutants?"
"Metahumans." Roman corrected.
"What?"
"I believe they're…"
"You don't matter! I need a solution! I…" Tercero trailed off, and then his eyes blazed. "THAT'S IT!"
"What sir?"
"We have a freak, what we need are OTHER freaks!"
"You mean, uh, superheroes?"
"Yeah, the morons in the spandex! They'll HAVE to come help us, it's what those idiots do!"
"Um…sir…that might not be a good idea…"
Tercero turned his gaze on Roman, and Roman could see that despite the squeaky voice and somewhat comical manner at times that Tercero was a politician and survivor to the core, which is why he had been mayor for so long.
"Ok then Mormon. Why is that a bad idea?"
"Well…you've seen those reports! Whenever these people fight they blow stuff up and wreck things and…generally I think they would make a bad situation worse."
"Worse? YOU THINK this can get WORSE?" Tercero said.
"Also, heroes tend to have a territory that they guard zealously, rarely leaving it. Considering the apparent…skill of this vigilante…we might need some considerable power, and people like that…well, I don't know if they'd be interested in helping us."
Tercero continued his glare.
"True. It might seem like that. But as you will see when you've been here a bit kid, when life gives you lemons…you hire someone to beat the shit out of it until it gives you what you want."
"…You're going to blackmail some metahumans?"
"No, I don't have to do that. And that will be all. Good night Stone." Tercero said.
Roman knew what that meant. He was being dismissed. Like an errant child.
Fine. He'd live with it.
For now.
When Roman was gone, Tercero picked up the phone and dialed a number he had thought he was never going to use again…but the man on the other end owed him a favour. And he had something that could save Tercero's city.
"Hello? May I speak to Chief Doiel please?" he asked. Brief silence.
"Hello Doiel. Yes, it's me. Please don't hang up. I know that you don't much like me now…but you have owed me a favour for the better part of fifteen years, and I'm calling it in. And before you try and hang up again, listen to me. You'll probably…"
"You're next."
The whisper nearly made Tercero jump out of his skin, and he jerked his head around…
And found nothing. There was no one in the room with him. He hadn't heard the windows open, or the doors. He was alone.
Was he hearing things now?
The voice on the other side was asking what had happened, and Tercero collected himself. Probably just a trick of his brain. He was under a lot of stress. This should help relieve it.
As he continued to speak with Chief Doiel of the Jump City Police Department.
Tara looked at the moon, hanging in the sky. It had almost completed its waxing phrase, though it was still clear it wasn't a full moon. She wondered what it might be like…
"Nice night, isn't it?"
Tara jerked a bit at the sudden voice, and then relaxed as she saw it was Gar. The relaxation was swiftly followed by another feeling. Argh. Goddamn it.
"Yeah…yeah it is." Tara said.
"Yeah." Gar said.
Awkward silence. Tara wondered what to say, and Gar was frantically wracking his brain to remember what Noel had told him to say before he had shoved him out. But his mind had blanked, so…
"Did you know that Napoleon once killed 1,000 people with a cough?"
Goddamn blurting reaction.
"…………WHAT?" Terra said.
"Yeah, really! He was apparently examining this large group of Turkish prisoners and pondering whether to let them go when he coughed and said to himself, in French, "My damn cough." However, apparently his officers overhead and misheard it as ANOTHER French phrase that meant "Kill them all", and they did."
"…Is that real?"
"Think so."
"French could change that much?"
"Not sure, I'd have to look it up…"
"I don't know if that's true."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Maybe we should look it up together to be sure."
Awkward silence. Gar hoped his green fur was hiding his blush.
"Well uh…I suppose…" Gar said.
"Guys."
Tara and Gar jumped at Tim's voice, and turned to see their leader standing in full costume.
"Meeting. Right now. Come on." Tim said, and turned on his heel.
"Uh…ok leader boy." Tara said, following. Gar stared, and then began cursing in the back of his head as he also fell into step. So damn close!
One wonders if he would be surprised if he knew that Tara was doing almost the same thing.
"Ok guys, here's the situation. I just got a call from Police Chief Doiel. He wants us to do something for him. And before any of you say anything, let me point out that we have inadvertently caused huge chunks of this city to be razed to the ground…"
"Twice." Raven commented.
"Three times if you count…" Gauntlet added.
"QUIET! I know what has happened to this city! Now, the point is, the police department really does put up with a lot of nonsense from us, so I think we should do the chief this favor."
"Ok Fearless. What is it?"
"One of the cities down the coast is having a problem. Apparently it's a Speed Force controlling vigilante, calls himself Cauterize. He's already killed a lot of people and has plans to keep doing it. He wants us to go down there and stop him. From what I've heard, I think we should too."
A brief pause.
"HOWEVER, we cannot leave our city unprotected, so I have decided that only some of us will go there to stop the vigilante, and the rest of us will stay behind to protect Jump City. Now, I need a good leader for this task, gee I wonder who I should pick…HOW ABOUT YOU NOEL!" Tim suddenly yelled, twirling and seizing Noel with a look.
Noel just look perturbed.
"Am I missing something here?" he asked.
"You might say that." Starfire said, her voice a tad bit cross, which was odd.
"Ok, it's decided. Noel, you will lead the task force. You can pick three of us to go with you, but I'm afraid Raven can't be one of them."
"Why?" Noel said in what Raven called his Sam Neill voice (To be specific, it was from the film Jurassic Park, where Sam Neill, playing the paleontologist, is asked by the chaostician played by Jeff Goldblum if Neill's character is seeing the female he is in fact, seeing, to which Neill's character replies "Why?" in a tone that perfectly suits that of a person asking for the answer to a stupid question that he knows said person may not be able to provide…but I digress…).
"We…need her. Tactical reasons. We might need to go somewhere really quickly. Or…um…"
"If anyone says "shuck some corn…" I'm gonna…" Beast Boy muttered.
"I will explain later! Anyway, pick three!"
"Ok." Noel said in a perfectly nonchalant tone. To his credit, Robin hid his surprise and irritation. No no no! Noel was supposed to get mad and hence get an idea about what Tim now felt due to his blue balls…
"Not knowing the specifics, we could get hurt, so I'll take Nigel. We'll need a doctor."
"Very well. I'll go pack." Nigel said, as he got up and left.
Noel scanned the table.
"Ok…I'll take Gar, we might need his animal abilities for more then fighting…"
Gar sighed inwardly. It figured…
"And I'll also take Tara. She can be our heavy hitter."
Gar blinked. So did Tara. So did Nigel, who had stopped and was now sticking his head back out the door.
"Ok then! The team will be Savior, Scalpel, Beast Boy, and Terra. I suggest you leave immediately." Robin said.
"What? Why now?"
"Considering how fast this vigilante moves, the sooner you get started the better. Ok guys, meeting over. Noel's team, pack quickly. I'll loan you one of my cars Noel. Try not to trash it like last time."
"Excuse me, I DIDN'T trash it, it was Power Girl with her damn need to throw…" Noel trailed off as he realized Robin wasn't listening. He turned to Raven who had floated over.
"I am missing something here, aren't I?"
"Yeah, but nothing you can change. Best head off quickly Noel, before he really gets mad and changes the locks on the tower while you're gone."
"All right, all right…" Noel said, and headed down to pick a car.
Wrong choice of car.
"Get your feet out of my face!"
"Get your ear out of my nose!"
"I call shotgun!"
"I already called shotgun!"
"You don't need that many clothes!"
"No Nigel, don't put that there!"
"I hope that wasn't what I thought it was!"
"Children, either behave or we'll turn around and go home and there will be no amusement park for anyone!" Noel yelled. "Nigel, you need more room due to your body structure, YOU get shotgun. Tara, Gar, sit down and get reading on Light City. I'd like to know what we're stepping into."
"But I hate reading." Tara grumped.
"Well unfortunately we don't have Cliff Notes or Books On Tape for this. Now start reading, PLEASE?" Noel asked in a pleading tone, as the bridge that connected to the mainland rose up.
"Anyone forget anything? Need to use the washroom? And so on?" Noel asked. A chorus of No's. "Ok, then we are off!"
Noel was almost at the end of the bridge when he realized he had never given back Rob's PDEM.
Then again, maybe that was a good thing.
And so the group of four headed off to Light City, as we pan back and see the car, a small dot of light on the long black road of night that stretched off into the distance, eventually ending in Light City.
Which we pan through.
All the way up to the top of a building, which is lacking lights and shrouded in deep shadow due to the hidden moon.
Cauterize stared off into the distance, at the roads leading out of Light City. He snorted.
"Metahumans." He said to himself. "Fine. Come and get me. And try to keep up."
To Be Continued