DISCLAIMER: You know the deal. I do not own Teen Titans or Megas XLR or any of the characters used in those shows. I only wrote this fanfic.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just so you guys know, the next chapter, as well as future chapters, will be coming in late due to a crapload of school work as well as other things. The next chapter may not be ready until February, but rest assured that I will have it out ASAP, and with the same, if not better quality of writing some of you expect from me. Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding. :)
Okay, fellow readers, get ready for a fun-filled, action-packed entry to this story as we continue with:
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Chapter 3: Operation: Save Terra!
In the previous chapter, Gorrath called for a massive swarm of his troops just to show the Teen Titans who's boss. Knowing that their efforts couldn't even damage just one of the alien's mechs, Robin feels only a miracle can stop a threat so large. It looks like his prayer has been answered...
"Now would be a good time to stop this thing, Coop!" shouted Jamie as he, Coop and Kiva continued hurtling towards Jump City onboard Megas.
"I'm trying, Jamie, work with me here!" answered Coop. The controls were still fluxuating from the burrito filling.
"No good! I'll have to go inside Megas and shut it off manually, then trigger a reboot to reactivate the systems," stated Kiva, opening the hatch in the back of the car that leads inside Megas. "In the meantime, try to clean up this...burrito mess as much as you can," she ordered, heading down under.
"Well, we can at least do that," suggested Jamie. "Where do you keep the paper towels?"
"What paper towels?" Jamie's face grew grotesque in disbelief after hearing Coop's response and let out a loud, ear-piercing scream as they continued flying into the city below. Eventually, they got close enough to see a series of massive machines of a familiar color scattered about the city.
"Hey, Jamie...JAMIE!" shouted Coop, getting through his pal's screaming to get his attention.
"What?!" answered Jamie irritably.
"Check this out," said Coop, pointing at the machines.
"What the heck are those things?" asked Jamie.
"I don't know, but they look familiar..." after a few seconds of thinking (if you wanna call it that, in Coop's case), he arrived at a conclusion. "...IT'S THE GLORFT!"
"THE GLORFT?! AW MAN, WHAT'RE THEY DOING HERE?!" shrieked Jamie.
"Nothing good, that's what!" answered Coop. "And it looks like we're gonna find out what they're up to!" Reaching for the controls, Coop noticed all the electrical interference caused by the remains of his burrito. "Oh yeah, right," he remembered. Looking for something to clean it with, he noticed his terrified buddy holding onto his blue beanie-type hat for dear life. Getting an idea, Coop poked at Jamie's belly.
"Hey, quit it!" he said, letting go of his hat, which Coop snatched as soon as Jamie let go of it. "My hat!"
"Sorry, Jamie, but I need your hat to clean up this mess," he said as he began wiping the controls clean with it.
"Why couldn't you just use your shirt or something? You'd get sauce on it anyway if you got to eat that burrito." In response to Jamie's remark, Coop pointed at the sweat-soaked armpit regions of his shirt. Jamie didn't need to get close to notice that his pits were sweating up more of a storm than usual, and one can only imagine how powerful a stink so much sweat could produce.
"It's for your own good, Jamie," he replied.
"Okay, point taken," said Jamie as Coop continued wiping the control panel clean.
"Man, I hope Kiva hurries up fixing Megas," said the heavy blonde. Meanwhile, the Titans and the Glorft took notice of the giant blue mech's imminent arrival.
"IT'S THE PROTOTYPE!" yelled Gorrath, surprised to see his greatest enemy coming in from out of nowhere. "All units man your weapons and take aim!"
"But sir! What about the plan?" objected the Commander.
"Fine then! Send two units to obtain the statue and return to HQ," ordered Gorrath. "I'll deal with the primitive in control of the prototype." The Commander took his master's orders and sent a couple of mechs to the cave near the city limits to collect Terra's remains. Meanwhile, Gorrath continued giving orders to his troops. "Repeat: all units man your weapons! Take aim at the prototype and fire on my command!" Megas was closing in fast as the Glorft mechs raised and cocked their guns at it. "Ready..." said Gorrath to his troops. Megas was a small distance short of getting within the enemies' firing range when it made a sudden turn back in the direction it was coming in from. "Huh?" Gorrath and his troops were equally confused at their target's sudden action. "Well, it looks like we showed him!" said Gorrath confidently. "Now then, let us continue with the original plan--What?!" At this point, Megas made another sudden turn, this time back in the direction it was originally heading. "The prototype is heading back for us! All units return to your original firing positions! Take aim and fire on my mark!" The troops did just that as Megas made yet another sudden turn back where it was coming from. "What?!" said Gorrath, only to see the blue mech make another turnaround, and then another, and then another and then another and then another until it was basically flying around in circles.
"Well, this is getting old fast," remarked one of the troops.
"Argh! Make up your mind, earther!" yelled Gorrath in frustration. As Megas continued flying around in place, the thrusters eventually gave out and the machine dove headfirst into the water with huge force, creating large waves across the surface as it was heading dangerously close to Titans Tower.
"Dude, that thing's heading for the tower!" called out Beast Boy.
"Aw man, why's everyone trying to make us homeless?!" yelled Cyborg, falling apart under the stress of the situation.
"If anything happens to my room, I'll see to it that the same happens to that thing..." warned Raven sternly, her eyes glaring at the blue mech.
"Robin! If we do not do something quickly, we may need to search for a new place to live!" urged Starfire. Same with Cyborg, Robin wasn't taking the situation so easily himself.
"I don't believe this!" he yelled angrily. "How could things possibly get any--wait...that thing's slowing down!" Sure enough, Megas slowed to a halt, stopping just before the shores of the tower, lying face down in the water. Kiva had succeeded in manually disactivating the giant mech, but it still had to be turned on again.
"Well, at least Megas stopped," said Jamie, letting out a sigh of relief.
"And the controls are cleaned up now, too," added in Coop.
"Great. Can I have my hat back now?"
"Sure, here ya go." Coop handed back Jamie's hat which was now covered in burrito gunk in many places.
"Aw, man," Jamie said to himself. Luckily, the surrounding water was high enough for Jamie to use to rinse the burrito stains out of his hat. After wringing it dry and putting it back on, he took notice of the Glorft mechs scattered across the nearby city. "Hey Coop, wasn't I screaming about something else earlier besides getting Megas to stop?"
"Uh...oh yeah, you were screaming because the Glorft are right over there," answered Coop, pointing outside.
"Right." After a few more seconds of looking at the massive green machines, Jamie came to his senses again. "GET US OUTTA HERE, COOP!" he shrieked. Coop turned the key to the ignition trying to restart Megas, but nothing happened.
"It won't start. It looks like I can't do anything until Kiva gives Megas a reboot...whatever that is."
"Why's there always gotta be something wrong with this thing?!" complained Jamie. Meanwhile, the Glorftt took notice of Megas' stationary position.
"Hmmm. The prototype hasn't moved since coming to a halt," observed Gorrath.
"It appears that it's somehow disabled itself," suggested the Commander.
"Whatever the case may be, this is the perfect opportunity to seize the prototype!" Wasting no more time, he turned his attention back to his troops and issued more orders. "All units return to your firing positions! Ready your weapons at the prototype and fire on my command!" Once again, the green mechs did just that, ready to attack. "Ready...FIRE!" The mechs then fired a huge barrage of missiles at Megas on their master's command.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!! WE'RE GONNA DIE!!" screamed Jamie as he saw the missiles hurtling towards him and Coop. Just at that moment, Megas was suddenly reactivated, courtesy of Kiva.
"Coop. I just triggered a reboot in Megas' operating system. Main systems are back online," she announced, her face appearing on the control panel's communications monitor.
"Great timing, Kiva!" said Coop, turning on the ignition.
"QUICK! GET US OUTTA HERE!" screamed Jamie.
"Hold on, guys!" In control of Megas once more, Coop got Megas to jump out of the path of the missiles just before they came too close. Since Megas was lying in the water prior to the attack, most of the missiles struck that spot, but several hit the shores along Titans Tower and even the tower itself in several places. Although the tower remained standing when the smoke cleared, it was now severely damaged (picture a T-shaped block of swiss cheese held over a flame for several seconds or so). Needless to say, the Titans weren't at all happy to see their home in such bad shape since the time of Slade's surprise attack on them when they were betrayed by Terra.
"What did we ever do to deserve this..." Robin thought to himself. After Megas landed back down after the attack, Gorrath was enraged to see his last effort fail.
"After him!" he yelled as Megas took to the skies. The mechs fired more missiles at the blue machine. Coop dodged them with ease, but the explosives ended up destroying random buildings in the process. Landing down on the city streets, Coop was ready to kick joorblochs when Kiva returned from inside Megas.
"Well, Coop, if you recall, you said you'd uninstall the microwave if it got us into any trouble," started Kiva.
"Uh...yeah?" replied Coop, trying to sound confused.
"It did just that, so I'm expecting you to get rid of it once we get back home."
"Aw, man! Why can't anything ever work the first time?" complained Coop.
"Coop..." said Jamie, pointing at the surrounding Glorft mechs.
"Oh, right! I was ready to kick butt," remembered Coop, reving up the engines. "Okay, squidheads! I don't know what you're doing here, but if it's another fight you want, then it's another fight you'll get!" Ready to strike, two Glorft mechs landed next to Megas on opposite sides, firing their chain guns at it. A mechanism on each of Megas' arms generated light shields which deflected the bullets until the guns gave out. Megas then landed a punch at the mech on his left, strong enough to knock it down. Grabbing the legs, Megas slammed the downed mech onto the one on his right, destroying both of the machines. More mechs came rushing in. In response, Megas began charging at them, taking down one with a hammer knuckle move, then ducking to avoid two mechs that attempted to jump at it, which Megas punched aside after they headbutted eachother. A mech from behind attempted to fire more missiles at Megas, but the blue mech sent an uppercut to the launcher, changing its direction to face upward as it fired its missiles, shooting down several mechs that were airborne. Grabbing one of those mechs, Megas swung it around viciously, bludgeoning more mechs until tossing it at more machines coming in from the air to score even more hits. Suddenly, Megas was jumped by another Glorft mech from behind. Countering the attack and slamming the oppressor down, Megas blocked an incoming punch from another mech, and one from another. Suddenly, a wave of mechs came storming in, dog-piling themselves on top of Megas, desperately trying to bring the mighty blue robot into submission. As it laid there unable to move, Gorrath appeared on the communications monitor inside the cockpit.
"You will realize how futile your efforts are once my people succeed in conquering Earth," he said threateningly. "It is inevitable..." Sweating from the stress, Coop retaliated by hitting a button labeled, "'The Matrix Reloaded fight-scene ripoff' button." As the green fighters continued throwing themselves onto the pile, Megas broke itself free in a violent rage, sending Gorrath's troops flying in all directions, destroying the buildings that stood in their path.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" howled Coop as the battle raged on, ripping apart whatever mechs he could get Megas' hands on and slamming those pieces at more mechs. The intensity of the fight was like nothing the Teen Titans had ever seen before. Explosions everywhere and flaming debris flying from every which way shattered windows and set certain structures ablaze, not to mention many were already destroyed by the fallen war-mechs being tossed aside like trash. In just a matter of minutes, Jump City appeared to have been struck by a nuclear warhead.
"This is truly horrible..." whispered Starfire, having to witness so much needless carnage on such a grand scale. It was enough to bring a tear to her eye. As of this point, Megas had just ripped off the gun-mounted arm of another mech, blew a hole in that enemy's face with it, slammed the gun down on it like a massive hammer, and continued to pummel the machine into a pulp.
"Whoa. Whoever's controlling that thing sure isn't showing any mercy," observed Raven.
"I'm just glad that no one's out on the streets with such a fierce battle going on," added in Robin, viewing the empty debris-littered roads.
"Hey, that's right," noticed Cyborg. "I haven't seen any bystanders since this fight started. They must be hiding indoors."
"Not good, considering all the destruction taking place. Then again, except for us, only a complete fool would willingly be standing out here in the middle of so much chaos," said Raven.
"Dude! I know the city's being torn apart and all, but this is wicked awesome!" exclaimed Beast Boy, watching the intense battle. "This is so much better than wrestling, I could watch this all day!"
"Yo, what're you saying?!" shouted Cyborg. "If we don't do something, there won't even be a city left anymore!"
"Cyborg's right," said Robin. "We can't just stand around while our city is being destroyed, especially with so many people taking refuge within! We know the Glorft's intentions now, but we still need to find out what they came looking here for in the first place."
"Well, now that you mention it, I did see a couple of those green things heading for the cave where Terra's remains are...uh oh." The green changeling's head was overcome with troubling images of what those things could possibly have anything to do with what's left of Terra, and so did the rest of the team. The others glared at him with annoyed eyes when he finished talking.
"And you didn't say anything until now because...?" asked Raven sternly. Unsure of how to respond, Beast Boy said the first thing on his mind.
"Um...hel-lo! Fight of the century here? It's bad enough that I don't have popcorn or at least a soda to watch this with, so the least I can do is--AH!" Beast Boy's sentence was cut short when Cyborg grabbed his arm, taking the lad with him as he and the other heroes headed for the cave.
"Come on! We don't have much time!" announced Robin as he and his allies entered the battle grounds. They needed to traverse through the violent warzone before reaching the cave. During their venture, the heroes did what they could to stay in one piece, Beast Boy taking the form of a cheetah for added speed and agility while the others used their respective abilities to shield themselves from the flying machine parts that got in their way.
"As awesome as this battle is, this whole situation is still crazy," thought Beast Boy to himself. "I mean, what could those guys possibly want with a statue anyway? That is, if that's what they're looking for. I just hope Terra's still okay..." Eventually, the team made it to the cave entrance, where they noticed two flying mechs leaving Earth's atmosphere high above. The Titans noticed something wrong seconds after entering."Terra!" shouted Beast Boy in disbelief as he and the others saw Terra's statue missing from it's resting place. "She's gone! There's nothing left of her now!"
"Those two machines that were here earlier must be the ones responsible for abducting our lifeless friend!" concluded Starfire.
"Yeah, but what would they want with a statue?" questioned Cyborg.
"In any case, Terra must have been what the Glorft came here for, but I'm not sure why," said Robin.
"Speaking of which..." started Raven, turning her attention back outside. As the Titans stepped back out, the fierce battle had died down. Only Megas, Gorrath's mech and several of his troops, along with only a fraction of the city, remained standing. Coop and Gorrath were in the middle of a standoff when the Commander called in.
"Warmaster! Sir! We've just succeeded in obtaining the remains of Terra. The first phase of the plan is complete," he stated, displaying the statue on Gorrath's monitor.
"Excellent work, Commander," complimented Gorrath, turning his attention back to his blue nemesis. "Well, earther, as much as I'd just love to dispose of you and reclaim my prototype, I'm afraid I must leave now."
"Better chumps than you have tried. Anyways, don't you be going just yet," objected Coop. "What did you losers come over here in this city for anyway?"
"Knowing that it's only a matter of time before your kind is finished, I may as well show you..." Gorrath then sent the image of the statue from his monitor to Coop, but the Commander was standing in the way of it at this point. "Commander!"
"Oh! Sorry, sir," he said, stepping aside to reveal Terra's petrified presence. Confusing as it was to see, Coop and Jamie couldn't help but laugh.
"A statue?!" spat out Coop in his laughter. "You came all the way over here just to get a statue?! What're gonna do, open a museum for throw-away art to bore people to death with? Is that how you're gonna defeat us?"
"Nice one, Coop!" complimented Jamie as he and Coop gave their usual "rock on!" hand gesture, and the two continued to laugh their heads off.
"Laugh while you still can, monkey-man," said Gorrath insultingly, putting a stop to their laughter. "It just so happens that this statue is just what I need to conquer Earth once and for all! Next time you see me here, everything you see before you will be nothing but barren wasteland!" The mad alien cackled maniacally at his own threat.
"You know, Coop, it kinda already is," pointed out Jamie.
"Not only that," continued Gorrath, "but by then I will have gained just the power I need to finally defeat you and reclaim my prototype!"
"We'll just see about that, chump!" Coop talked back. "And another thing. My robot's called Megas. 'May-gus', got it? You'd think you'd get the idea after so many beatings, but I guess I must be roughing you guys up too hard if you keep forgetting."
"I originally built it, so I'll call it whatever I please!" And with that, Gorrath and his remaining units took to space, leaving Earth's atmosphere and returning to their mothership. Seconds later, the Teen Titans appeared on the roof of a building which stood next to the giant blue mech. Compared to Gorrath's ugly machine, Megas was a site to behold. The massive machine was one hell of a sophisticated ride, featuring a sleek, powerful construct and sporting a racing number, flame decals, silhouettes of hot women displayed on the heels of the machine, and a tricked-out convertable for the cockpit. Coop stepped out of the car for a quick stretch as his travel companions did the same, looking up where the Glorft retreated.
"Well, at least they're gone," said Jamie. "For now..."
"I just wish that they learn their lesson already," said Coop. "I'm startin' to get bored always beating the heck out of those guys."
"Still, don't you find it strange that they came to this particular city for a statue?" asked Kiva.
"Even stranger than what Coop does to Megas sometimes, to be honest," commented Jamie.
"Where are we anyway?" asked Coop.
"I can answer that," interrupted Robin as he and his fellow fighters showed up on top of Megas. "Hi, and by the way thanks for helping get rid of those things."
"Yes, thank you so much for sending away those horrible war-machines!" said Starfire, swooping in, "...um...even though a large portion of our city was destroyed in the process." The tone in her voice seemed unusually happy considering that the destruction she just witnessed was saddening to her, but she was apparently glad that the fighting had ceased, at least for the moment.
"Eh, this is nothing," said Jamie, taking a look at what's left of the surrounding city. "You should see what Coop here does to other places during our trips."
"Wait, who are you guys anyway?" asked Coop, ignoring that last remark.
"Oh, sorry 'bout that. I'm Robin," he began, shaking Coop's hand.
"Uh, nice to meet ya," he replied.
"This is Starfire." She gave a friendly giggle and waved.
"Raven."
"Uh...hi."
"Beast Boy."
"'Sup?"
"And over here is Cyborg."
"How ya doin'?"
"Uh, fine, thanks," replied Coop.
"And together, we're the Teen Titans: crime-fighting superheroes whose job is to make sure this area, known as Jump City, stays free of danger at all times."
"Great. Another S-Force," thought Jamie sarcastically. "So I see..." he told them, still viewing the ruined city, "though, for a second I thought Halloween came early or something, judging by the outfits."
"With a fashion sense like yours, I was thinking the same thing," remarked Raven, observing Jamie's attire.
"Oh yeah, real funny," replied Jamie unmovingly.
"Well anyways, I'm Coop, as you probably know by now. This is my friend Jamie."
"Eh."
"And this is Kiva."
"Hi." She gave a friendly wave.
"She knows more about how Megas works than Jamie and I do, so she does most of the repair work."
"So you call your machine Megas?" asked Cyborg.
"That's right," confirmed Coop.
"Well, if I can say so, this is one sophisticated ride if I've ever seen one!" commented the half-machine.
"No kidding, this thing is just awesome!" added in Beast Boy as he began pacing around the top of Megas, observing more of its details. "I mean, the way you trashed those guys was one thing, but the design of this robot, the flames painted on it, a racing number, those hot chicks on the backside, and a car for the head? This thing gives new meaning to 'tricked-out'!"
"Heh, uh...thanks."
"Okay, that's enough, Beast Boy," ordered Robin. "We know who's who now, so let's cut to the chase. About the Glorft..."
"You know about the Glorft?" asked Kiva.
"Their leader told us who they were when we tried to take on them," stated Cyborg.
"As well as their ultimate goal of universal conquest," added in Starfire.
"We fight off bad guys on a regular basis," continued Robin, "though, I have to say that we never encountered a threat as big as what you just took care of."
"Tell me about it. I gotta deal with those guys almost all the time back in Jersey City," said Coop.
"And as such, it's vital to ensure that Megas runs at peak performance at all times," added in the tan-skinned redhead.
"Yeah, now is someone gonna say something about what the Glorft would want with a statue?" reminded Jamie.
"That statue used to be one of us. A Teen Titan," said Robin.
"Her name was Terra, and she had the power to control the ground we stand on," continued Beast Boy.
"The Glorft knew about us before they got here, so they must know about Terra and her powers as well," stated Raven. "The only reason I can see for them to come here and take her remains is that they've found a way to revive her and plan to take control of her powers to achieve their goals, as did Slade."
"So you're telling me that this is gonna be like fighting Slade all over again?" questioned Cyborg.
"Even worse, by the looks of things," replied Raven. "These guys can storm an entire city in less than a minute in their robots. Who knows what else they have in store back at their headquarters?...wherever that may be."
"Yeah, and that Gorrath guy said that this was only the tip of the iceburg," said Beast Boy. "...Wait, what does that mean?"
"It means that all those machines he called for was only a sample of what he's capable of. It's basically what I just said," replied Raven.
"Oh, my bad, heh."
"But even if we knew where they're hiding, how would we get there?" asked Cyborg. "They trashed the T-Ship, and if we get there by riding on Megas, I don't really see enough room in the cockpit for all of us to squeeze inside."
"Well, we can always have Beast Boy transform into a possum or something, run him over, pretend he's roadkill and leave him in the trunk," joked Raven.
"Hey! Not funny," Beast Boy talked back.
"I know!" Coop jumped in. "You guys can ride in the secondary control bridge inside Megas. It's almost like a living room."
"Great! That answers my question," said Cyborg.
"And with Megas on our side, we can infiltrate the Glorft's headquarters once we find out where it is, save Terra, and stop their plan for world conquest!" said Robin readily, pressing his knuckles.
"I'm afraid that's going to have to wait," butted in Kiva. "Much of Megas' power was drained during that last fight. I'll have to do some repair work before Megas is ready to fight again. Plus, once that's done with, I still have to spend time locating the Glorft mothership on Megas' navigation system. They could be hiding anywhere, so it may take a while to spot them."
"In that case, let's head on over to Titans Tower. You guys can finish the repair work there," suggested Robin.
"And I'll lend a hand to help you guys get done faster," offered Cyborg.
"Uh...just to let you guys know, Megas isn't the only thing that needs fixing," reminded Beast Boy, looking at the missile-stricken T-shaped tower.
"Man, do we got a lot of work to do," pointed out Cyborg.
"Then we better get started. Let's go!" ordered Robin, and everyone left for the tower.
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We are now at Titans Tower, or at least what's left of it, where everyone is helping make repairs. Upon first arriving, when the Titans started with the repairs right away, Raven fortunately didn't have a temper tantrum since she discovered that her room was perfectly intact from the Glorft's misfire. She only noticed a few pieces of plaster which cracked off the ceiling and was resting on the floor as she entered. She cleaned it up without a problem, but after a few seconds she could hear a light cracking sound coming from the cracked part of the ceiling. The sound faded after a few seconds. Raven waited a few minutes and noticed that the sound seemed to come and go. Eventually, the noise grew louder and louder until nearly all of the ceiling in her room fell apart and her room caved in, leaving plaster all over almost all of her stuff and an angered look on Raven's face. "Oops! Uh...sorry, Raven," said Beast Boy nervously, who was busy trying to fix the damaged floor above Raven's room. Flying up to the green lad as if she was ready to kill him, she noticed that the floor above Beast Boy's room a few rooms away (or behind the next wall or whatever; I don't know the precise locations of the rooms) was in equally bad shape. Grabbing a large piece of debris from her room, Raven used her powers to drop the piece over the damaged floor, causing Beast Boy's room to cave in.
"Now we're even," said Raven with a smirk. Now Beast Boy was the one with the annoyed look on his face.
Meanwhile, Megas was parked in the launch pad where the T-Ship used to be, hooked up to large cables designed to restore power to the mech's engines. Luckily, this chamber had a backup set of security doors in case something were to happen to the original cover, which was destroyed earlier by the Glorft mech who trashed the T-Ship(otherwise, water would be pouring in right now). Anywho, Jamie is standing around near Megas, reading a magazine...okay, so not everyone is exactly helping. At this point, Cyborg came with an extra tool box to take up to Coop, who was busy making adjustments to the engine in the cockpit. "Hey, um...Jamie, is it?" asked Cyborg.
"Yeah, what?" replied Jamie apathetically, turning a page in his magazine.
"Aren't you gonna help with the repairs?"
"No, thanks. Besides, I don't have a clue how Megas works. It'd be a waste of time for me," he answered back, never looking away from his magazine. Cyborg was a bit bothered by Jamie's attitude, but didn't say anything about it.
"Okay then," said Cyborg, using his grapple arm to make his way to the top of Megas with the tool box in tow. "Here's the extra tools you wanted," he said when he got to the top.
"Hey thanks," said Coop, reaching into the tool box and pulling out a socket wrench of a special type as he continued working on the engine of his car. Cyborg grabbed another wrench and joined in.
"Hey, no offense, Coop, but your friend seems a ," mentioned Cyborg. "Something bothering him?"
"Eh, don't mind him, he's just being himself," replied Coop. "Hey, you want a soda?"
"Sure, I'd appreciate it."
"Okay then." Coop reached into the minifridge inside his car and pulled out a couple of sodas, tossing one to Cyborg.
"Thanks."
"No prob." The two opened their cans and each took a sip.
"So tell me, Coop. What's the story behind you and Megas?"
"Well, it's like this," started Coop, setting his tools aside for a bit. "Some time ago, I went to the junkyard back in Jersey City to look for some spare parts when..."
-----(begin flashback)-----
We are now at the Jersey City junkyard, where Coop is looking for some spare parts for his car. This place is run by Goat: an old dude with a large nose, long brown hair and mustache, and he happens to be a mechanical expert. He was reading from a newspaper as he sat under an umbrella and on an old arm chair mounted high on a large pile of junk when Coop asks, "Hey, Goat. What's in this pile anyway?"
"Don't really know. It's been around here since this place was opened back in the 30's."
"And you never went through it?"
"Nah, been too busy, what with my social obligations and all."
"But I've never seen you leave the junkyard."
"Oh yeah. All the time! Uh, I got things...you know."
"Oh." Coop sifted through some junk and found a small pipe with a bend at one end. "How much for this?" he asked.
"Ah, let's see here...two bucks."
"How 'bout this?" (small pipe with attachments on it)
"Two bucks."
"Hey, how 'bout this?" (barrel of radioactive waste)
"Two dollars."
"How 'bout--"
"TWO...bucks. Anything in that pile: two bucks. I doubt that whole pile is worth more than two bucks."
Enthusiastic from the "anything for two bucks" part, Coop pulled out an old muffler from the pile, triggering an avalanche which caused Goat to slide down to Coop's level. In the process, the original body of Megas was revealed. "Whoa...what's that?" he asked.
"No idea..."
"Two bucks, huh? I'll take it!"
"Aw, man..."
"It was pretty banged up, so I did the best I could..." And he did, starting by polishing the exterior of the giant old mech to restore it's shine, uncovering the letters "M.E.G.A.S." in the process, then hammering bolts here, using a blowtorch to solder pieces together there, etc. He then raised an old green car to where the original head used to be, but it just didn't match good enough. Coop continued with his work, using the torch to cook a burger and then painting on Megas it's flame decals. He tried a volkswagon car for the head this time, but it wasn't good enough to go with the rest of the giant machine. After cooking some more burgers, he tried again with his own car: a customized convertable with its own flames painted on it. Goat gave a "rock on!" solute to show his approval; Megas was complete.
-----(end flashback)-----
"Man. Some people get all the luck," said Cyborg, giving a chuckle.
"Tell me about it," replied Coop.
"But that story doesn't explain how Megas got there in the first place," realized Cyborg. "I mean, a giant fighting robot laying there since the 30's? It musta been sent back in time or something like that for it to get there..."
"It was, actually, from the future," told Coop. "Heh. Sorry I didn't mention that earlier. Kiva told me that part, she can tell you the rest. After all, she's from the future too."
"Now that explains a lot already," commented Cyborg.
Just then, Kiva disconnected the cables attached to Megas which was supplying power to the engines, then made her way to the top. "Well, I've finished restoring power to the main engines. Now I can focus on locating the Glorft's mothership," she told the guys, heading to the car's backseat to access Megas' navigation system to begin her search for the Glorft. As she got inside, Cyborg came up to her.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" he asked.
"Sure, what?" replied Kiva as she began working.
"Is it true that both you and Megas are from the future?"
"That's right, and so are the Glorft." confirmed Kiva. "We come from the thirty-first century, to be more specific."
"So I take it that you know the history of Megas?"
"Sure do. I can tell you about it, if that's what you're interested in."
"Go ahead, I'm all ears."
"Alright. In the future, mankind will be at war with the Glorft, who want to conquer Earth as well as the rest of the universe, as you know by now. Originally, Megas was a new type of fighting mech designed and manufactured by the Glorft. Our Earth coalition forces managed to seize it from them during one of our raids. After returning to base with it, we began making modifications to it in order to strengthen its abilities as well as put in new ones. During that process, we officially named it the Mecha Earth Guard Attack System, or M.E.G.A.S. for short. When the Glorft attempted to break through our defenses, I took the opportunity to try and send Megas back in time by opening a wormhole in the space/time continuum using the time drive built into Megas. Before sending it through, I attempted to transport myself to Megas' cockpit for direct control of it, but the original head was destroyed by one of the Glorft's missiles and I was sent back into my own mech. That explosion caused a malfunction in the time drive, disrupting the stability of the wormhole so that anything that goes through it may end up in any possible place in time. Megas ended up being transported through the wormhole, and knowing that Earth doesn't stand a chance of salvation without it, two CPU-operated mechs and I went in after it. We ended up in this time period, running into Megas which by then had been remodified by Coop. I tried to take it back from him, but he ended up destroying my mechs and defeating me in combat in the process. I tried again from the cockpit when he let his guard down, but I couldn't decipher the controls he put in, and even now I don't know how they work. I later learned that the time drive which created the wormhole which sent me here had been damaged, and to this day I haven't been able to repair it so that I could finally send Megas back into the future to stop the Glorft and save Earth. Even worse was when I discovered that the Glorft had followed me through the wormhole, and yet again tried to conquer Earth. We've faced them numerous times already, but thanks to Coop's piloting skills and my efforts in keeping Megas in top fighting form, they haven't been able to beat us since." Coop listened with a smile throughout Kiva's story as he continued working under the cockpit's hood.
"Wow, and I thought my friends and I had it rough," said Cyborg. "We usually deal with simple robberies and break-ins. On occasion, the safety of all of Jump City itself is at risk, like it was during Megas' last fight, but that's the most we have to worry about. On the other hand, the fate of the entire world, let alone the universe is depending on you guys and this blue robot. I can only imagine how hard it must be on you guys."
"It's difficult, needless to say, but, in a way, we're used to it by now. As long as Megas is working properly, we should be okay. Then again, something usually goes wrong, often by Coop's modifications, and we end up finding ourselves in trouble, but Coop usually gets us out of it in the end. In fact, the whole reason we're here in the first place is because of an exploding burrito."
"Huh?!" Cyborg became confused from that last part. "Care to tell the story behind that?"
"Coop installed a microwave in the cockpit, cooked a burrito in it, it exploded leaving its contents all over the controls, triggering a malfunction which eventually sent us here," summarized Kiva.
"Uh, yeah, I was supposed to punch holes in the wrapping...or something," added in Coop.
Cyborg laughted at the thought, then stopped. "Sorry 'bout that, but a burrito?! Man, that's just...I don't know what to say to that."
"Stranger things have happened," added Kiva.
"That was quite an interesting story, I should say," said Robin as if from out of nowhere. He and the other Titans were with him who had reached the top of Megas from behind.
"How long have you been standing there?" wondered Cyborg.
"A couple minutes, give or take," answered the team leader.
"Robin suggested that we take a break from the fixing of the tower in order to see how that of the Megas is progressing," stated Starfire.
"Well, I'm done tuning up the engine," said Coop, shutting the hood of the car closed.
"And Megas' energy is restored and returned to battle-ready status," added Kiva as she continued working on her computer.
"Great! The big blue bot is ready to trash some more Glorft bots!" said Beast Boy enthusiastically, pressing his knuckles.
"Yeah, but what if something goes wrong and Megas ends up getting captured or even destroyed?" asked Raven.
"Well, here's the thing," began Robin. "According to what Kiva said, Megas was originally a mech built by the Glorft before being modified, right?"
"Yeah, and?" asked Cyborg.
"And you guys saw the way Coop destroyed all those Glorft mechs by hurling other mechs at them and so on, right?" he continued.
"Heh, yeah, that was so awesome," added Beast Boy.
"A huge battle of giant fighting robots spanning an entire city? Hard to miss," remarked Raven. "So what's your point?"
"My point is, that's just how we defeat the Glorft; we turn their own technology against them!"
"Hey, I get it now!" realized Cyborg.
"Right. Although Megas is ready to fight now, we still need to come up with a plan on just how we're going to save Terra and stop the Glorft's plan to conquer Earth," announced Robin.
"Alright then, let's get to it! And in the meantime, Kiva can finish finding out where the Glorft are hiding," said Cyborg, turning his attention to the future girl. "By the way, how's that coming along?"
"Well, so far I haven't found any...wait a sec...I'm picking up a signal!" alerted Kiva. "...I found the Glorft mothership! It's...just outside Earth's orbit, directly above the Jump City region!" Everyone looked at Kiva as she informed the others of this update. Just then, Jamie had just climbed up to the top of Megas where everyone is gathered.
"Uh, hey guys. Did I miss anything?" asked Jamie.
"Bad news, Jamie. Kiva says the Glorft are right above us," told Coop. Jamie's expression seemed undisturbed, but in reality he was freaked out inside.
"Uh...yeah, forget I asked," he replied.
"Looks like we don't have as much planning time as I was hoping for," pointed out Robin. "Okay, team! Let's all get to work on our plan. Not only is the world depending on us, but so is Terra. Are you with me?"
"YEAH!" shouted everyone in unison, each raising a fist to the air with Coop giving his "rock on!" solute. The exception was Jamie, who just stood there, somewhat confused.
"Did you hear that, Terra? We're comin' to rescue you!" thought Beast Boy, ready to carry out whatever plan they were to come up with. In any case, Operation: Save Terra! was now under way...
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And that's it for chapter 3! Coop and the Teen Titans are ready to fight, and it looks like the brawl to end all brawls is about to begin sooner than expected. Will they succeed in their plan to save Terra, or will the Glorft succeed in their own plan to conquer Earth? Will something go awry with Megas along the way (as usual), and land our heroes into even deeper trouble? Find out what happens next in chapter 4: Megas captured? See you then!
END NOTE: Wow...this chapter ended up being much bigger than I expected. Even Megas would be impressed! Anywho, sorry I took so long to get this next chapter up, but now you see why. I put even more time and effort into this piece of the story, so I hope you like the results. Remember to leave a review!