My apologies for being late. This chapter took some motivation to write.
Disclaimer: Don't own too much. I own the interpretations of a few characters I introduce, but those characters are owned by DC Comics.
(Begin fic)
A few days ago…
She leaped up into the air.
Silver, lined tentacles reached after up.s
She turned around and threw a trio of blue crystals. The tentacles were cut in half.
She landed as the lasers reached out from the yellow walls. With a raise of her hand, a blue crystal wall appeared, like a wavy mirage.
She quickly ran around the wall, and as it faded out of existence she created a large weapon within in her hands.
SMASH! The laser cannons were bashed right out of their sockets.
The weapon disappeared as she struck a pose, one hand on her hip, the other leaning against the wall. An eyebrow was raised, almost inquisitively. She wore a closed smile.
As the students watched, one got ready to cheer.
The Headmaster's Voice boomed out. "I would like to welcome our new student…"
Jump City Mall, Present.
"C'mon, girl, there has to be SOME store you like."
Raven responded with a sigh. "I told you, it's pointless."
The speaker was an African-American with brown-black eyes. Her black hair was dressed with a style that some people compared to Mickey Mouse. Of course, those people generally did not live long. She wore a shirt with alternating yellow and black stripes; yellow bracelets; black pants going down to the feet; and a yellow belt with a big B on it. Holstered in that belt was a pair of silver-force laser guns, which she affectionately called "her stingers."
Bumblebee, leader of Teen Titans East, was invited to the "mall of shopping" by Starfire. So, putting Aqualad in charge until she came back (Speedy in charge? Don't be ridiculous!), she took the trip to Jump City—transportation courtesy of Más y Menos.
And Raven—to her chagrin—was dragged along.
At the moment, Starfire was floating over to the two girls, her purchases in hand.
"I am ready to leave, my friends!"
"Good. Now let's see if we can get Goth Girl here to buy something."
"I'm not Goth."
"Suuuure you aren't."
Raven groaned. Bumblebee annoyed her to no end. She silently thanked Azar that they weren't on the same team.
"Please, Raven." Starfire spoke up, her voice pleading: "Don't you wish to shop at your favorite dark and… well… scary store?" She then pointed.
Raven let herself enjoy a satisfied smile. 'Ah, Hot Topic.'
The girls looked at the store, and the red letters making up the sign.
Bumblebee muttered. "That store was thought up by a forty-year-old mom."
Raven nodded. "I know."
She walked into it.
T-T-T-T-T-T
"Oof!"
Beast Boy had accidentally bumped into a redhead with black sunglasses, blue jeans, and a brown leather jacket.
Of course, Beast Boy was just recovering from the hypnosis of the new CR portable gaming system.
"Heh heh… sorry."
The boy smiled, nodded, and walked off in the other direction. Meanwhile, Beast Boy headed toward his location… the Arcade.
And of course, there they were: Robin and Cyborg, playing the latest racing game—Drivin' Reality.
"In your face Robin!"
Cyborg had just passed Robin.
Robin only smirked as he popped a wheelie on the car and drove to first.
"In your face, Cyborg."
"I play winner, guys!" Beast Boy smiled as he took out his quarters.
Cyborg chuckled. "That might take a…"
The interesting thing about being part electronic is that you get a sixth sense of sorts; when something happens that your systems can detect, you get this instant knowledge about exactly what it is.
That is exactly what happened as Cyborg sensed a bright pulsation of energy.
"Victory!" Cyborg's hesitation cost him the race.
"Ooh, ooh, my turn!" Beast Boy was already trying to squirm in the car seat, pushing Cyborg out if the way.
Cyborg, utterly ignoring Beast Boy, looked down at his arm monitor. "Be back in a sec."
He put it down and got up off the seat, causing Beat Boy to overbalance and fall down on it.
"Dude!"
Cyborg utterly ignored him as walked along.
T-T-T-T-T-T
She sensed it. Right after she… well… bought some clothes.
She told the other two to go on without her. They whined a bit, but she promised she come back.
Magic— Strange magic; acting as a beacon to anyone who could sense it.
And she felt she had to seek it out.
She stood in a darkened section of the mall, near an empty store with a chain fence already in place.
"Hey."
She turned around to look at the face of Cyborg.
"Hey," she murmured.
"I guess you sensed something?"
She nodded.
He moved forward and looked at his monitor again. "Whatever it is, it's pretty big," he observed.
"Shouldn't we call the others?"
Cyborg muttered, "That could be what they want."
"Guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves."
She took Cyborg's hand and projected her soul-self, passing straight through the wall.
It was dark.
Very dark.
The soul-self dissipated in the dark room.
"Next, time, warn me before you do that."
Raven smirked in response.
FLASH! A giant white light turned on.
CLANK! A metal wall came up through the floor.
Raven muttered, "Trap. You are warned, Cyborg."
She took his hand and projected her soul-self again.
The giant Raven hurled toward the wall… CLANK! Bounced off it.
The bird then tried to go through the other walls, but each was as tangible to the soul-self as the first one.
"Hee hee hee! The walls are enchanted. You're stuck here with me!"
The soul-self dissipated as Raven and Cyborg searched for the source of the childish, female voice.
She stepped into the light.
Blue. That was the first impression of this girl. All dark, midnight blue. Cuffs, and dark boots. A blue leather jacket, closed, with lighter blue bumps on the forearms of it; leading to bracelets of the same color. Gloves, which ended at the knuckles of her fingers. A light blue belt-buckle separating the top of the uniform from the bottom. An aquamarine jewel resting on her neck.
She gave the impression of a biker girl with the closed leather jacket. She certainly looked like one. Red hair covered the ears as black eyes peered at the two. One eyebrow was raised, inquisitively.
Then, in an expression that ran contrary to her appearance, she gave a big, closed-eyes smile. "Hi!"
Cyborg's face of determination was replaced by shock. "Erm… hello?"
Raven breathed, "Who are you?"
"Tee hee!" She giggled, putting her hand over her mouth. "Cyborg and Raven, right? I'm Shimmer."
Raven muttered: "It's an act, Cyborg. She's not some innocent little kid."
Her face turned annoyed. "Oh, c'mon! I just wanted to play!" Her smirk turned evil as she raised her empty hand.
The air itself shimmered; three small blue silver crystals came into being.
Three sharp, silver crystals.
She threw them.
The two leaped out of the way as the crystals embedded into the wall.
Cyborg rolled and fired his cannon.
Shimmer raised her hand.
A translucent, bluish crystal wall came into being. The attack was utterly blocked.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven fired black energies into the floor, ripping large chunks off the ground and throwing them at the opponent.
Shimmer smiled, closed her eyes and stretched out her hands in front of her as the wall she created disappeared.
Nothing happened at first. Surrounded by black, the objects approached rapidly.
Then, the chunks shimmered out of existence; leaving only the black energies.
The black energies promptly dissipated as Raven was thrown off her mental balance. She shook her head a bit to clear it.
She opened her eyes to see Shimmer, running towards her.
The transmuter positioned her hands as if she was clutching an invisible pommel.
And then it appeared. Crystalline blue.
Connected to what could only be called a giant hammer.
"Hah!" Leaping in the air, she brought it down on Raven.
BANG! The hammer collided against Raven's dark shield.
Focusing her energies, Raven turned the shield into a blast of telekinetic shadow energy.
"Oof!" Shimmer was knocked up against the wall, the hammer falling out of her hands and fading out of existence.
Cyborg ran forward as she got up, ready to give the transmuter a rushing tackle.
She quickly jumped out of the way of his charge… and stayed in the air.
'She can fly?'
Even as she thought it, Raven knew it was wrong. She saw the swirling gray misty platform that appeared under her feet.
She wasn't flying. She was quite literally walking on a cloud… or, at least, air.
Shimmer smirked; the girlish childishness, again. Her look was purely happy determination.
The crystals appeared in her hands again, and she started to throw them in all directions.
Raven barely found an opening through the sheer number of projectiles.
Cyborg retaliated with his cannon aimed at the transmuter, which obliterated the blue crystals.
Shimmer efficiently created another wall to block the attack.
She giggled again, the girlishness coming back. "This is fun!"
Cyborg looked up at her. 'Is she insane?'
She created another set of crystals… and suddenly whisked away a fly that landed on her nose.
A green fly.
'BB?'
Cyborg then saw the other 'insect' coming in from Shimmer's side.
WHAM! Shimmer was thrown off her platform.
Bumblebee returned to her normal size; Beast Boy took on his human-elfish form.
"Need help?" the former inquired.
Cyborg and Raven smirked.
"Owwww! No fair!" Shimmer got up, rubbing her cheek, looking like a kid who just lost a game.
Cyborg looked up. "Bee, do you know this girl?"
She shrugged.
Raven looked at Beast Boy quizzically. "How did you know we were in danger?"
Beast Boy grinned sheepishly. "Actually, I was looking for extra tokens… and I saw your signals were behind a wall."
Raven sighed and shook her head. "Did you contact the others?"
She was answered by a loud explosion as Robin and Starfire stepped into view. Shimmer looked shocked, her jaw opened.
He smirked. "Booyah."
"That's MY line!" Cyborg was smiling, though.
"Well, you did get to say 'Titans go'…"
"Ahem…"
All eyes turned toward Shimmer.
"I can't fight you like this!"
"Too bad" said Robin. "This is the only chance you get."
She looked hurt. "You know, my little brother won't like this."
Robin shook his head. "That has got to be the dumbest excuse I ever—OOF!"
Something large and enormous plowed right into Robin.
'Mammoth!'
Shimmer smiled wickedly as, behind her, pink lines of energy spread out along the ground while small missiles arced in the air.
The projectiles connected just in front of the remaining Titans.
BOOM!
They were sent flying out of the store and into the main mall. People scattered.
Robin got up and shook his head. "Everyone okay?"
There were nods from the others.
Starfire pointed. "I fear we may not be okay for long!"
Out of the smoke arose four figures.
The first was humanoid and very well muscled. Long brown hair trailed down from behind his head, with dreadlocks down the front sides, the ears poking out from under them. Wearing a small goatee on his chin, he gave a look that told you he meant business. He wore a mostly black uniform with no sleeves. The arm holes were yellow, with bumps on them, and a yellow line shaped like a "V' with its being pulled downward. He wore spiked yellow bracelets, and yellow footwear that was absolutely featureless except for three ridges jutting out from the front. To his right was Shimmer.
To his left was almost his polar opposite. A bald kid of obviously short stature, his eyes were covered by green goggles. Wearing a full-blown body suit of green, it had pockets along both forearms and right above the hip. A wire ran down from one shoulder, ending with what looked like a video game controller with three green narrow buttons on his hands. Three similar buttons were on his chest, in a square of silver. Two more silver patches were right in the center of hands. The heels, toes, and bottoms of his shoes were all silver. He was floating in the air, as from his back came two silver blocks, with vents on top, that functioned as jet rockets. From behind him, you would see them connected to a silver backpack, connected to the controller he held. It was emblazoned with a green "G" on a black circle. His childish face was some combination of a prankster having just pulled off an amazing joke andkiddish hatred.
Finally, to the very right came the other girl. The first noticeable feature was her pink hair, dressed in what looked like horns held up by dark purple bands. A similar band was around her neck, as well as a light purple dot on her neck. Similar colors of purple adorned a piece of cloth worn around the lower neck and hung over her shoulders, ridges on the ends, with an opening in the middle to show the top of her skirt. It was dark purple, the same as her bands, with light purple buttons along the top and sleeves that fully covered her arms. A light purple line separated the bottom of the ridged skirt from the top, while the leggings alternated between cylinders of light purple and dark purple. The high heels were dark on top and light on bottom. Her pink eyes were not unlike those of a cat, with fait splotches of pink under them, contrasting with her pale skin.
In short, it was the HIVE trio… now a quartet.
"Long time no see, Stone." Jinx's usually mischievous demeanor was replaced by a sad countenance.
"It's time to pay your snotmunchers back!" Gizmo whiny voice betrayed his inner anger.
Mammoth gave an almost goofy smile. "We'd like you all to meet out newest member—my big sister, Shimmer."
The girl in question gave a girlish smile.
Beast Boy was flabbergasted. "Big sister?"
"By one minute and twenty-two seconds!" Shimmer grinned. "We're twins."
"And this time, pitsniffers, we know she's not a spy! Unlike the two of you traitors." The wunderkind pointed at Cyborg and Bumblebee.
"The two of you betrayed us. Guess we're just unlucky." Jinx again, looking solemn, almost wistful.
Shimmer grinned sheepishly and raised her hands. "I have absolutely no idea what exactly happened," she cocked her eyebrow and leaned forward, "but little bro' here says there were a lot of liars at the HIVE."
Gizmo agreed. "One metallic numbskull, and one annoying fly on the wall."
Bumblebee got out her stingers. "Better watch what you say, shorty."
"No-one calls me shorty!" He pushed a button on his controller.
Immediately there rose up from the ground several silver spider robots, emblazoned with Gizmo's logo on top and with weapon launchers atop each leg; as well as several in the center of the contraption.
"Like my new toys? Let's see how you fare against all of us!"
Robin spoke those magic words. "Titans, Go!"
T-T-T-T-T-T
Cyborg wasted no time in charging in and firing a pair of sonic beams.
BOOM! The beams hit two robots in the center, destroying them instantly.
Cyborg then barely dodged from a pair of pink hexes—thrown by an airborne Jinx.
The two combatants stared each other down for a moment.
ZAP! Bumblebee came in flying from the side, firing her stingers. Jinx gracefully cartwheeled out of the way.
She then spun around, creating a pair of pink hex waves that sliced through the very air. Cyborg hit the deck; Bumblebee shrank down and dodged.
Even in the brawl going on around them, the combatants stopped, silent.
"Why?" Jinx shook her head sadly. "Why did you do it? You pretended to be our friends… and shrugged us off without a thought. You don't know how much you hurt us. Who can we trust now?"
Cyborg was incredulous. "Jinx…"
"No-one." she said, as if in a daze. "Bad luck." She fired a pair of hexes into the floor. Two chunks immediately rocketed toward the two fighters.
T-T-T-T-T-T
SHING-SHING-SHING!
A barrage of Starbolts wrecked a portion of the clearing the field a bit.
Starfire prepared her eyebeams and—
WHACK! She was hit by a crystalline hammer.
Starfire was knocked to the ground, rolled a bit, quickly got up in a crouching position, and leapt into the air.
Shimmer stood opposite her on a platform of white mist, crystals in hand. She smiled.
"Starfire, right? The alien."
She threw the crystals. Starfire gracefully dodged. "Correct." She fired energy from her eyes.
Shimmer leapt up into the air, created a new platform as the first disappeared, and threw more projectiles. "So what do you think of planet Earth?"
Starfire paused for a moment, eyes fully green; then fired the starbolts in her hands. "It is a very nice place."
Still smiling, Shimmer lifted a hand and created a mid-air shield to block the projectiles. She quickly ran around it—platforms appearing where her feet touched the air and disappearing when she left it—dissipated the wall, and created her crystal hammer.
This time, Starfire dodged the leaping swing and gave Shimmer an alien-powered punch in the back. Shimmer was plowed down to the mall floor; her hammer fell and dissipated.
She got up, shook her head, and leapt up into the air again, making another platform. As she produced her weapons, she spoke:
"So… what kinds of gemstones do you find on your planet?"
T-T-T-T-T-T
"Eheheheheheheheh!" Gizmo cackled as he fired every manner of missile and laser from his backpack.
It was almost like a video game to him. Push this button on the controller to fire this. Push this button to move. Push these buttons in succession to fry the opponent.
"Eat this, snotskin!" Beast Boy turned into a rabbit and hopped out of the way of the multiple explosions.
He then turned into a lion and pounced.
Gizmo pushed a button on his controller. A pair of small Telsa coils emerged from his backpack.
ZZZZZAPPPPPP!
The electric wires only touched Beast Boy, but the amount of electricity was immense.
Thankfully, it wasn't lethal. After the electricity pulsed through his body, he stood in the air for a moment, then crumpled to the ground.
Forcibly reverted to his pseudo-human form, Beast Boy looked up at the sneering face of Gizmo.
"Hey mucusbreath," he stated, with a relatively calm tone, "when your team picked Bolts-for-Brains to spy on us, were you against it?"
Beast Boy stared quizzically. 'What is he talking about?'
Gizmo laughed insanely. "I KNEW IT! You're so dumb, you forgot about that little traitor girlfriend of yours!"
Beast Boy barked: "That was totally different!"
In Gizmo's most oily voice, he drawled, "Oh, really? Let's see… pretending to be a friend, selling you out to the enemy, SCARRING SOME OF US FOR LIFE!" He calmed down; quite suddenly. "Yes, it was very different. No wonder she betrayed you, Mr. I-Have-Such-A-Bad-Memory! Mr. I-Don't-Mind-Hurting-Other-People-The-Way-I-Was-Hurt! Mr. I-Loved-A-Mental-Case!"
Beast Boy clenched his fists; his teeth clamped against each other. He was so mad.
"WAHHHHH!" SLAM! Gizmo was suddenly sent into the ground, metal jet rockets creaking under the strain of the force that was on him.
The force of gravity.
He walked up from the side, one arm raised at Gizmo, eyes and hands glowing brilliant yellow.
"No-one talks about my sister like that." His voice was as hard as the ground beneath him.
Beast Boy looked at Geo-Force and shook his head in surprise. "Geo-Force...?"
Not taking his eyes of Gizmo, the earth warrior responded, "I was in the area."
A mistake. Mammoth came rushing in like a bull and pushed Geo-Force out of the way. He ran after him.
Gizmo immediately stood up, grumbling, and pushed a button on his chest. Four metal spider legs sprouted from his backpack and lifted him high into the air.
"Scuzzmuffin…" muttered Gizmo.
Beast Boy responded by turning into a T-Rex and roared.
T-T-T-T-T-T
"Gah!"
A robot sent Robin flying in front of a broken store display.
He was a bit surprised when a hand was held out over his head.
He grabbed it, sprang up and looked at its owner.
He stared back into an older kid with a brown sweater, green eyes, and brown hair.
Basically, a civilian.
"You okay?"
"Yes… and you shouldn't be here." Robin's tone was firm.
The person chuckled. "Heh. I've been through much worse than this."
CRACK! The wall next to him was suddenly filled up with missed blue crystals.
The boy took a look at the crystals, a look at the battle, and immediately turned pale. "Maybe you're right…" He quickly ran off.
Robin watched the kid run away and then turned to look at three of Gizmo's spider-bots advancing.
Right before they fired, he was suddenly grabbed by his neck and hauled into the store. The lasers passed harmlessly over his head.
"Stay down."
Robin looked at the man next to him.
He was lying down, back facing the small wall. He was obviously an old man; bald on top, and hair graying. He was in a strangely white suit and tie, with a black shirt underneath.
Robin was a bit flabbergasted as the man picked up a piece of debris, sat up and hurled it.
SNZZZKT! BOOM! One robot down.
He immediately went back to his lying position, holding the shoulder he had used for the toss. In an obviously British accent, he grumbled, "I'm getting too old for this."
Robin regained his composure. "You shouldn't be fighting. Do you need help?"
The old man smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Have you ever been in the army, lad? This is nothing."
Robin nodded as the robots fired another round of lasers. He then leapt up and fired a pair of birdarangs.
SNZZZKT! BOOM! Two robots down.
Robin turned to look at his helper before he entered the fray. "Stay here until this blows over, okay?"
"No problem."
Robin then leapt in, staff out.
T-T-T-T-T-T
Standing out over the second floor, watching the battle along with a horde of onlookers, was the man in the green suit.
Of course, he was wearing a red shirt, and black sunglasses. But his suit, his pants, and the wide-brimmed hat that covered his forehead, all were undeniably green.
He watched the battle and shook his head.
'What a shame. Too weak: all of them. Oh well…there's always the next world…'
It became utterly pointless to watch this sham battle; he turned away, flapper trailing off behind him; and, unnoticed, went into the restroom.
If anyone had seen him, they would have noticed that he never came out.
UNKNOWN
Hacking into the mall cameras was an easy feat. He was watching the battle.
'The young fool. He'd better not get too attached to his experiments.'
Admittedly, some of those students would be hard to replace… but they would be replaced. He had many years ahead of him, after all.
He sensed the movement behind him. Quickly swiveling his chair around, he looked at the calm figure.
"Deathstroke the Terminator. What a pleasant surprise."
Slade's eye closed for a moment. "It's been a long time since I used that name."
Brother Blood chuckled. "What can I say? Here, we do our research. What brings you to the HIVE, Slade?"
Slade looked up at the computer screen. The students versus the Titans; all of them getting coverage. He turned his head down to Blood. "What are you planning?"
"Pardon?"
"I do my research too, Brother Sebastian the Seventh." Blood's face filled with surprise; Slade used his real name. "You are planning something. Something large. Something big enough to make you take control of this organization. What is it?"
Blood's face turned into a smile. "Something big? If you call training supervillains big, then yes, I am."
Slade responded quietly, "You plan on destroying the world."
"I… I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Don't play games with me."
Brother Blood scowled, made eye contact, and reached out for Slade's mind, his eyes glowing red.
But he hit a brick wall. Every time he tried to get in there, to change something, even to see anything, his mental claws scraped against an impenetrable barrier.
"My apologies. Your powers won't work on me. Neither will your friend's."
Blood grumbled as he returned to the physical world, eyes turning blue again. "Is that what it's all about? I assure you, Mister Wilson, that I didn't send him."
Slade showed no surprise at that comment. He merely turned away. "If that is how you will be, so be it. But be assured, I personally want to remain alive. And I'll do whatever it takes."
Eyes glowing red, Blood roared and sent a wave of red fire at Slade.
Nimbly dodging, he ran out of sight.
The evil priest stormed out of the room and looked left and right for Slade, a fire ball in his hands, and then returned the way he came. It would be foolish to chase Slade.
Besides—even if he knew, he couldn't stop it.
Jump City Mall
The battle lines changed. Suddenly Raven found herself fighting Jinx.
"Well, well, well…" droned the pink haired sorceress. "We fight again. What a coincidence."
Raven could sense her despair a mile away, even as she dodged a razor sharp hex.
Of course, she didn't need to sense it. Jinx had lost an aura; a sparkle; a cat's grin. It was all replaced by a dull, gnawing emptiness. Raven knew that feeling well.
'It was Cyborg…'
As if reading her mind, Jinx cried out. "What right did you have to send him? What right did you have in sending a spy, after you had one of your own?"
Raven muttered, more to herself than to Jinx, "The difference is that we do good and you do evil. That is justification enough."
A pair of tears formed in her cat eyes. The pink-haired sorceress shook her head. "That's wrong. That's wrong and you know it. You can't fight fire with fire; it only burns more. And you don't understand what it's like for us… for me…"
Raven closed her eyes. "I understand perfectly well. You're a criminal. Like everyone else." When she opened them again, they glowed white; an array of debris flew at her opponent.
Rather than dodge with her acrobatic skill, Jinx threw her own hexes into several floor tiles. They levitated into the air, span around rapidly, and shot forward.
CRASH! The projectiles nullified each other.
Jinx came in through the smoke with a diving kick.
Raven dodged it, and created a shield to block the resulting hex-powered punch.
Even as she twirled around like a killer ballerina, Jinx argued. "Do you know what it's like? To be different? To be alone? To be always running from your past?"
"Only too well," replied Raven, as a pair of claws came after Jinx.
Nimbly dodging them both, she aimed another set of kicks on Raven, all blocked with that black shield. "You know nothing!"
A hint of emotion entered Raven's voice. "I know more than you do. At least I try to do something good."
"What defines good?" Jinx sadly cackled, as she threw another pair of hexes. "It's all how a person makes of it, trust me. There is no such thing as good. No such thing as evil."
Raven, dodging, had a number of ways to respond to that. Oh yes, there was such a thing as evil. And it had four eyes.
But instead she caught a punch from Jinx, not with her shield, but by accident, with her arm.
T-T-T-T-T-T
Insane laughter, cackling over the remnants of a destroyed world.
A mother's tears at the pain caused by her child.
People in cloaks, some with fear, most with pity…
Headdresses all over, faces full of revulsion.
Demon.
Asura.
T-T-T-T-T-T
The vision ended. It was only a split second, but the shock in both girls' faces lasted longer.
Demon. Asura.
They stepped back from each other a few moments, faces both filled with bewilderment.
Demon. Asura.
Jinx's countenance suddenly shifted to one of rapt attention; head pointed slightly upward. Raven immediately sensed psionic energies.
Telepathy is like picking up radio signals. And this one was masked.
"all….return…base…."
Jinx turned to Raven. "We'll finish this later."
A pair of hexes to the ground sent up a makeshift smokescreen.
And when it was gone, Jinx was nowhere to be seen.
T-T-T-T-T-T
"SNOTMUFFINS!"
The sound of laser bullets hit the ground.
"PITMUNCHERS!"
Missiles flung out everywhere.
Beast Boy took flight as hawk. Near him, Cyborg rolled away from Gizmo's barrage. The lines had shifted.
"Gizmo, you're just bugging me." Cyborg's voice was firm.
Gizmo's blared out raw hatred. "Well your making me MAD, you little TRAITOR! I should have killed you when I had the chance. I should have set off BOMBS inside you! Oh yes, that would be nice. Killing you from the inside out, just like YOU TRIED TO DO TO US!"
The problem with ranting and raving is that you fail to notice when green hawks turn into monkeys.
And then land on your backpack.
And then turn into a gorilla.
Of course Gizmo noticed that. And he was too late when his backpack was flung off by Beast Boy's massive fist.
"WAHHHHHHHH!"
Utterly separated from his spider legs, Gizmo went down.
Gizmo got up and looked at them, his childish face pure hatred.
"You think it's all fun and games huh? All fun and games. Yeah, that's what you think. Protecting your cruddy city by any means possible. Well, it's not."
Beast Boy droned in a Raven-esque way. "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt."
"Yeah, and that's just what you beanheads did!"
Cyborg spoke firmly. "Gizmo, that's what you did. What you do."
Gizmo was hit with what looked like a ton of bricks, as he was forced to see and accept Cyborg's logic.
He opened his mouth to say something, stopped for a few moments, then drew back, muttering.
"Rassing frassing gutmunchers…" A smokescreen then came down from a dropped pellet (á la Gizmo). Even Cyborg couldn't see the little guy escape via his sensors.
T-T-T-T-T-T
Bumblebee was basically in the most bizarre battle yet.
The new recruit from HIVE (who was Mammoth's sister—Mammoth's older twin sister—she didn't Mammoth even had a sister) had the uncanny ability to talk while fighting.
Furthermore, she could give other people that ability.
Which is why Bumblebee, Starfire, and Shimmer were having a conversation; even amidst blue crystals, green bolts, and yellow force beams.
"Y'know, that's just sick, really. Siblings just shouldn't do that to each other."
"I have always wondered why Blackfire does these evil things."
"It's times like these I'm glad I'm an only child."
Bumblebee then shrank down to avoid a club from Shimmer, and returned to normal size to continue talking. "But you and Mammoth had to have some sibling rivalries."
"He wouldn't pin the blame for something he did on me." She threw crystals at Starfire. "Even for a thief, your sister has no honor."
"She was not merely a thief." Starfire fired a barrage of starbolts, coupled with laser eyes. "Once she tried to marry me to this… this…"
"Alien slime monster?"
"Yes… how do you know?"
Bumblebee laughed, even as she fired two bolts of energy. "You're an alien. What else would she marry you too?"
"I do not know… a Gordanian, perhaps?"
Bumblebee and Shimmer only chuckled, but the latter stopped abruptly.
"Oh darn!" she pouted. "Mammoth!" she called.
"I heard, sis!" The rather large man in question was currently engaged in battle against Robin and Geo-Force. Having twisted Robin's Bo-staff into a pretzel, he was currently trying to see through one of the Boy Wonder's smoke pellets.
Geo-Force was doing his best to hold him down, but Mammoth's strength seemed to also include a resistance to gravity.
Pushing together his leg muscles, Mammoth managed to make a jump one wouldn't expect from a person his size. It must be remembered his mass is mostly pure muscle.
Leaping over the smokescreen, he came down in a huge SMASH that probably created a tiny earthquake. Certainly, the grounded Titans were knocked off their feet.
"Mammoth!"
"I'm trying to make a getaway, Shimmer!" He rapidly picked up debris and hurled them at the fliers, then immediately turned around and plowed through the nearby wall.
Shimmer quickly followed him through the new back door.
The battle was over.
Not much of a victory…or a loss…
HIVE Base.
Silence…
Silence…
"C'mon! Aren't you gonna talk?"
"…"
"Yeah Gizzy, lighten up."
"What's there to talk about, blockhead?"
It was an exam. A test. Mostly for Shimmer's benefit. They were supposed to be all chatting about their opponents, as though learning to beat them was a tough question they couldn't get.
But that quiz hit too close to home for two of the students.
The four entered the Headmaster's office. Brother Blood swiveled his chair.
"Ah, yes… how did things go with the four of you?"
Jinx responded. "Fine, Headmaster."
Gizmo was silent.
Shimmer made up for that. "It was pretty darn cool. So, how was I? What did I get? C'mon, tell me tell me!"
Brother Blood laughed. "Your sister is very energetic, isn't she, Mammoth?"
The big man gave a smile. "She's been like that for as long as I've known her."
Blood laughed again. "You did an excellent job, Shimmer. In both single and team combat. You get an 'A'."
"Yes!" She and Mammoth gave each other a high five.
Blood then turned to the diminutive genius. "Why so glum, Gizmo?"
"…Nothing."
From the shadows, a new voice spoke out. "I do believe it is very well something, Gizmo. I don't have to read your mind to know that."
Stepping out was the man in the green suit—except, he instead wore a red robe. His sunglasses and hat were gone, revealing his strange black eyes and the even stranger glass dome coming out of his head.
"It was those annoying jerkwad spies, Professor Psimon."
The telekinetic nodded thoughtfully. "Next time, hit them harder."
"I'll try, Professor."
"Erm… Professor, can I ask you a question?" Shimmer's voice popped up.
"Yes?"
"How do you Gizmo and Jinx and Mammy?"
"Shimmer! I asked you not to use that name!"
Psimon chuckled. Brother Blood proceeded to answer.
"In addition to being Vice-Headmaster, Psimon is also the HIVE Academy's head talent scout. He was basically the one who got them into this wonderful institution."
Psimon smiled.
"Professor Psimon…" Jinx's voice spoke up. "It is good to see you again… but where have you been all this time?"
"On another planet." The students looked up at him.
Psimon began to laugh. "Only joking! I just decided to take an extended vacation. No offense, but taking care of all those kids? The strain was threatening to crack my head." He tapped on the glass dome for emphasis.
Jinx smiled. "It's good to see you again, Professor."
"Likewise."
"You had a rough day." Brother Blood looked at each student it turn, looking into their minds, making sure that they were compliant. "Return to your rooms and rest."
"Yes, Headmaster." The four filed out of the room.
"You did not have to check, Headmaster." Psimon mentally talked to Blood, even as the kids left. "There is no chance for a relapse. Not from them."
Mentally responding. "You never dealt with Shimmer, old friend."
"Her mind is easy to mold. It is just like her brother's. A pity I could not know her more. She would be an intriguing specimen."
"Don't forget the big picture here, Psimon. You heard. You saw their minds. They will soon become a possible threat, and we don't want anymore unwanted variables."
"We should at least keep them alive while they are still useful."
"Just don't get too attached… oh, by the way, we had a visit. The Terminator may have to be taken care of."
"He knows?"
"Something. I could not reach his mind. I don't think you'll be getting any mileage out of his minions."
"How immediate is the threat?"
"Not immediate, but he will have to monitored, if possible."
"Secondary variable."
"Indeed."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, several screens appeared; a mental construct of Psimon's.
All focusing on one Titan in particular.
Psimon spoke out loud. "When will the surprise be open?"
"Soon." And Brother Blood's face twisted in a cruel smile.
T-T-T-T-T-T
"Are they always like this after an exam?"
The two siblings were walking to their rooms. Jinx and Gizmo had already silently departed.
"They'll be fine, Shimmer. Next day, Gizmo will probably play another practical joke!"
"Better not be on me."
"I think he learned his lesson the last time." Shimmer laughed. As she quiet down she looked around herself.
'Never thought I'd be ever get in here…' Her mind took her back to her exposition battle.
T-T-T-T-T-T
The Headmaster's Voice boomed out. "I would like to welcome our new student… SHIMMER!"
A wave of cheering erupted, and over it Mammoth's shout. "Go big sis!"
Jinx and Gizmo immediately turned around, utterly and completely shocked.
T-T-T-T-T-T
"You never told us you had a sister, Mammoth."
The four of them were sitting in the cafeteria.
Mammoth laughed. "That's 'cause you never asked!"
"Very funny," grumbled Gizmo.
"Seriously, we've sort of been out of touch for awhile."
Shimmer smiled. "It was a silly argument. I didn't want to go to school."
"Well, Shimmer, I guess I told you so."
Shimmer responded by gently rapping on her brother's head.
"You knew she was coming, didn't you?" Jinx gave a warm smile.
"Heh. Of course!"
"This gives us a little problem." Gizmo spoke like he was analyzing a machine. "Since she is your sister, I suppose we can't give her the initiation… not that she could eat a unicycle."
"A what?"
Mammoth grinned sheepishly. "Long story."
"But," Gizmo continued, "we still can't tell if you're a spy."
Jinx's face fell. Even Mammoth had a look of dismay.
Shimmer looked around. "Did I miss something?"
Jinx replied softly. "We've been having some people pose as students."
Gizmo's voice was oily. "They want to stop our 'evil ways'. Scuzzmuffins."
"We've sort of been suspicious ever since," Mammoth finished.
"So…" Shimmer chose her words carefully. "What are you going to do?"
Immediately, Gizmo pushed a button on his controller, and a bizarre series of wires and cables came out of the chair.
The entire student body, and a few of the cloaked escorts, came in to watch the proceedings.
Shimmer had a purely embarrassed look on her face as the pads at the edges of the wires stuck themselves to her face and arms.
"Jinx?"
Jinx walked over, eyes glowing pink, and put her hand on a small flashing gemstone inlaid on one of the wires.
"Erm… Mammoth?"
He held his hands up. "Don't blame me."
Gizmo looked at the machine, stared down at his controller, and spoke as though he was teaching a class. "Okay then Shimmer, it's a simple lie detector test. Lie, and either me or Jinx will know. Got it?"
"… Erm… okay."
"Okay, first, what is your favorite color?"
"Uh… blue."
"Is Mammoth really your brother?"
"Uhm… yes he is."
The big man spoke up. "C'mon, Gizmo!" The diminutive wunderkind ignored him.
"How long have you been in contact with him since he enrolled?"
"We've been talking only for a few weeks. It's been such a long time since we last saw each other." Shimmer then gave a conspiratorial wink; "He spoke very highly of you and Jinx."
Gizmo turned to Mammoth. "Did you really?"
"Well… yeah. You're my friends, aren't you?"
Gizmo gave a grin as Jinx smiled a smile fit for a cat. "Now then… let's proceed to the real questions. Were you sent here by those snot-mouthed, wart-skinned, putrid-smelling 'heroes,' known as the Teen Titans?"
"No. Actually, I never even heard of them until recently!"
Gizmo looked at Jinx. She nodded.
"Okay then, did anyone else send you?"
"Nope. I applied all by myself."
Silence.
"Then why did you come here?"
"So I can be with my little brother."
"Shimmer!"
"Jinx?"
"All clear."
Gizmo sighed and pressed another button on his controller. Immediately the wires retracted.
Jinx smiled. "Congratulations. Welcome to the HIVE."
There was a wave of cheers and claps from the crowd.
T-T-T-T-T-T
"Shimmer…?"
She walked forward, lost in her thoughts.
"Shimmer?"
She snapped her out of her reverie. "Yes Mammoth?"
"You okay? You were out of it."
"I was just thinking… how nice it is to be here… to see you again."
"Heh… can't keep the Flinders down."
They paused for a moment and gave each other an embrace.
"It's really good to see you again, Selinda."
"It's good to see you too, Baran."
T-T-T-T-T-T
He always found his work to get his mind off the problems of day to day life. Of course, he'd been doing a lot of that lately.
Still… why not do something that makes you happy? Especially when it is so simple to do?
He reached for a wrench and found it missing.
"Stupid cruddy wrench," he quietly muttered.
He peered around his room, his desks, and eventually the cabinets.
Some people say there are no coincidences, that there is something that controls the strange events in the world. Gizmo, being the scientific genius that is, disregarded that theory, because in his experience, the coin should come up heads half the time—yet, it sometimes comes up heads all the time. It's all a matter of probability.
Of course, the probability of the location of the wrench was extremely low, at least in Gizmo's mind: because in the drawer where he kept it was only a small green journal.
Staring at it, fearing it, loathing it, he picked it up anyway and leafed through the pages, drawn by a grotesque magnetism.
"IQ equals 150, and is rising.
"Subject appears to enjoy mechanical and electronic objects. He already seems to have made his own computer. This is probably an environmental factor. More study will be required as to how interests must be directed."
"Subject remains stunted, despite use of growth hormone and other form of treatment; possible mutation due to prenatal stimulus. Subject will require analysis and possible dissection to determine the cause and a cure for the defect."
Dissection. The word leered at him like a goblin.
Slamming the book, he put it back in the drawer and took out the wrench, closing it behind him.
He would probably be pulling an all-nighter.
T-T-T-T-T-T
She looked at the wallpaper of her room and then her room in totality.
Pink, mostly. With posters of various American musical stars, bookcases filled with various spell books, a purple mat used for exercise and a large desk mirror.
Walking up to it, she sat down in the chair and muttered an incantation, her eyes glowing.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a box warped into existence. It was, of course, magical.
Opening it up, she looked at two things; a large red ruby and a scrap of white cloth.
Her face quickly turned sad as she looked at the items. Two items that marked her past.
'A past I've so desperately tried to forget.'
But she didn't really. No matter what she did, the box never left the back of her mind.
The box and what it meant.
'It's not like any of them cared. Back home.'
She closed it and, with another incantation, the box faded into nothingness.
She looked at the gymnastic mat lying on the floor in an empty space. Briefly, memories surfaced of poses, meant to strengthen and purify the body…
'Don't you think about that, Jinx. That part of your life is over.'
She shook her head, as though to clear thoughts from it. Then she proceeded to get ready for bed.
She hoped her dreams would be in the present…
Somewhere out there, a restless entity murmured in a multitude's voice. "Follow your hearts, children. Find them and follow them."
Somewhere else, a cursed girl slept, having been through a strange day, though not as strange as others.
A pity for the girl, as in her room, an item began to glow a deadly red…
(Fade to black…)
Postscript: And we are done!
As previously stated, I had some trouble writing this chapter. Don't ask me why, maybe it was writer's block.
I'm actually kind of disappointed, actually. Looking back, I wondered why I put these people in, but by then I just wanted to get this thing done. Hopefully it's not too shoddy.
Don't worry folks, next chapter will get in the swing of things. I'm looking forward to it, as I've said previously. I'll give you a hint; that chapter came in mid when I tried to determine the name of this fic. Not that it'll have the same name.
Ahem… Shimmer is yet ANOTHER character from the comics, and yes, she was Mammoth's sister. I think I've changed her powers a bit, but I've definitely changed her personality-in this story she's supposed to be a bit of a contrast to Starfire, for reasons you will understand later. Her appearance is based on her current comic appearance, but it's less… revealing. The hammer came a bit from Sonic character Amy Rose.
I've also decided to delve in the backstories of the HIVE kids. They will eventually be covered in more detail.
Special thanks to my beta-reader Blackshield, who has only gotten better as an author.
And now, as we wait for the episodes of the show known as "TROQ" and "Prophecy" I engage in randomness and leave you with a pair of meaningless quotes:
"Space is a Waste of a comprehensive commentary"
-Post, author of "These Black Eyes"
"Oh, really?"
Derrick Wyatt, character designer for Teen Titans.