Sins of Youth

by Legend Maker

A Teen Titans and Incredibles crossover. New chapter, it's time to meet an old familar face. And an old unfamilar face. And someone brand new...and when you're done, you'll wish you never met her...

7. Little Boy Lost

Chapter 6: Little Boy Lost

The next day was hot and muggy, though not oppressively so. None the less, Noel had removed his jacket and found himself going through a bottle of water every half hour. If the training course didn't have water jets as part of its design, Noel wouldn't have run the drills today, but it did, so he did. The cold water kept the three Titans he was overseeing from complaining…at least about the heat.

"Not bad guys. Not bad at all." Noel said from his position. Titans Tower was situated on a small island, about a dozen acres or so of rocky terrain. The Tower had once been the labs of Silas Stone, Cyborg's father, but then again it hadn't been an island originally either. In the old, bad days, before the Titans, Jump City had actually been much larger and covered the area where the sea now flowed, However, that part of it had been badly run down and decrepit, a breeding ground for crime. Then came the battle that had formed the Titans, and the resulting explosion had vaporized the thankfully abandoned city area and 25 feet of the ground beneath it, and the ocean had rushed in to fill the gap. Silas's laboratories, due to the shielding defenses that lay within, had spared the building and the surrounding land that had become Titan Island, though the impact had burned out the shield and Victor had never been able to reconstruct it much to his annoyance, as his father had taken the knowledge with him to his grave. The labs were rebuilt into the Tower, which now stood guard over Jump City, a monument to the war that brought about the Titan age.

At least, that's the author's fanon. The point being was the island was fairly small, but still large enough to run training exercises, as all the other Titans grudgingly admitted. Noel was perched on a small cliff overhang looking down on the large flat training area, a bank of computers laid out around him. When not being used, the computers withdrew into the ground and hence prevented rain from ruining them, among other elements.

"Noel, damn it!" Rob cursed as he came out from behind the rock he had dove behind to finish Noel's previous exercise. "How many more of these do we have to do?"

"Two should suffice."

"Well, why don't you come down here and do them with us?"

"We need someone up here to run them. I COULD switch off with Cyborg, but then we'd have to do NINE more." Noel replied. Rob gaped, and then looked at his drill teammate Cyborg, who shrugged. Nigel was drinking water from a hose that Noel had separated from the defense machinery and set out to keep his teammates hydrated. "I mean, I DO know these drills backwards and forwards and inside and out, but then again knowing isn't the same as experience…"

"No no! I changed my mind! You stay up there!" Rob yelled. Noel smirked to himself.

"You sure?"

"YES!" Nigel yelled, having picked up the conversation via his big ears.

"Ok then. Let's start the final two." Noel said as he tapped rapidly at the computer bank. "This will be an assisting dodging exercise. You have to try and help each other dodge the attacks. And by that I mean helping the target, not shooting whatever's trying to hurt it."

"D'oh!" Came from Cyborg, who liked that tactic.

"I'll do three brief specific ones and then a wider general one, should take about two minutes overall." Noel said as he rapidly typed, his Shimmer letting him do a programming job that would have normally required at least two people. "Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go." Cyborg said, waving his hand in a "may as well volunteer" way.

"Ok then. Get ready guys…starting in five…four…three…" Noel said, and then like in television did not actually count off the last two numbers as he flipped open the switch and pressed the button. The exercise began, as the ground and rock walls opened up and high pressure hoses, disc throwers, stinging lasers, sudden pitfalls, and a few dozen other nasty but non lethal little toys began attacking the three Titans, who tried to assist Cyborg as the first volley was set to play against his weaknesses. Noel watched for a bit. Maybe he'd been too harsh yesterday: the teamwork skills of his friends seemed as sharp as ever. Perhaps it could be written off to bad luck. If so, Noel decided he'd volunteer to let his fellows run him through a few training exercises when this was done and hope they didn't abuse him TOO much…

Motion out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and a moment later a thoroughly exhausted Gar and Tara came jogging around the corner of a rock, Tara slightly leading the way before the two of them collapsed on an inflated mat laid out on the ground.

"DYING!" Gar gasped out, his voice a rasp.

"You're not dying." Noel replied, as he turned his head and began rummaging through the large barrel of ice filled with water bottles.

"YES I AM!"

"You've nearly been eviscerated Gar. That's nearly dying. This is just pain." Noel said as he retrieved two waters and glanced at the training course as Cyborg's portion wrapped up. "GAUNTLET NEXT!" He yelled, specifying which Titan the course was specifically targeted to next, and then trotted over to his two exhausted comrades, offering the water, which was immediately snatched and opened.

"Noel…this is…beyond…not fair!" Tara gasped out, as she struggled with the cap on the bottle.

"Hardly Tara. I've given you both a very generous time limit, and resting periods between each island lap. I can't control the weather, and as for your fatigue, it's not my fault you've been neglecting your stamina and 'normalcy' training." Noel said, and then noticed that Terra's hands were still furiously struggling with the cap of the water bottle. "Having a blonde moment?"

"Oh FUCK YOU!" Tara snapped, as she waved a hand and pulled a sharp rock to her, holding the water bottle up so the top was sliced off, as she promptly dumped the whole bottle on her face. Noel noted that Tara's decision to pick black for her top color was probably smarter then he thought, considering it was soaked through with sweat and now water.

"More!" She gasped. Noel sent off a few Shimmer strands and grabbed several more water bottles, giving them to a grateful Tara and Gar, even as he glanced at the training area: he figured that his teammates were smart enough to use the process of elimination to figure out who was the final individual. Tara greedily chugged down another water bottle and opened another.

"Careful, it'll go down the wrong tube." Noel said. Tara glared around the bottle and gave Noel the finger. Noel let it pass.

"Dude…isn't this enough? Can't you say we've…been punished?" Gar asked.

"It's rules Gar. Sometimes they can be bent, sometimes it's best not to."

"You wouldn't say that if you were running the laps!" Tara snapped.

"Oh? You want me to join you again for your final run?"

Tara's eyes widened. The first run had been watched by Noel via flying cameras, and his constant catching of Gar and Tara trying to take shortcuts, both via powers and via the island, and his chastising of them over speakers in the cameras, had annoyed the two of them so much that they had demanded he run the next lap with them. Big mistake, as Noel had run behind him snapping Shimmer whips at their rears and setting a much faster pace then they had wanted. He was nice enough to let them rest twenty minutes afterward, but they still had to run the last three, which they did with some gratitude with Noel not running behind them like a drill sergeant. Still, two MORE laps around the island, with the weather having gotten progressively muggier, could tire out anyone, and if Tara did have to run one more with Gar, she didn't want Noel and his insane cardiovascular conditioning in the mix.

"No no! I'm fine!"

"Ok then. The Tent's finally up. Go rest in that for a bit." Noel said, gesturing to an inflated clear tent that was attached to the Tower's air conditioning. The two Titans got up and staggered over to the structure.

They were opening the door when Noel heard the bellow, and he swung his head back to the training area to see Nigel flying off into the distance. By the time he realized what had happened Nigel was already on a downward arc, disappearing behind a rock shelf.

"Shit!" Noel cursed, as he hit the emergency shutdown button on the training course even as he pulled out his communicator. "Nigel! Are you ok?" He yelled into it, more to check and make sure Nigel hadn't landed in the water then if he was hurt. Nigel could live with falling a few dozen feet onto sand or rocks, but Nigel in water was always a bad thing: Blacktrinians were prone to drowning.

Static for an answer.

"Nigel!"

A groan came from the communicator. Noel couldn't help but smile: that was Nigel for you. Even in pain he'd still do something stupid like answering a hail.

"I take it that means you landed on something solid."

"Too solid for my tastes." Nigel muttered.

"Can you walk?"

"Most likely."

"Are you dying?"

"Despite what I feel, probably not."

"Ok, try and get back here as soon as possible."

"Uh, did I say ok? I was wrong. I'm badly hurt. I'll need someone to come over here and carry me."

"I don't think so."

"But I'm dying!"

"Continue dying. Over." Noel said to end their little joke exchange and closed the communicator. "Ok, what happened?"

"Um…well I was over HERE…" Gauntlet said, as he pointed. "And Nigel was over THERE, and I said we should go THERE, but I think he misheard and went THERE, and then something attacked him and he went THERE, and I would have gone THERE except I was HERE and I couldn't get THERE fast and then next thing I knew Nigel was over THERE and then he was Superman." Gauntlet said, waving his pointing arms around so fast it was a wonder he didn't tie himself into a knot. Noel rolled his eyes.

"Now Rob, remember how I was talking about miscommunication? Don't you think I was on to something?"

"Oh come on! I don't have eyes in the back of my head!"

"True. Maybe you need to develop them. Well, since Nigel's not there, I guess you two will have to do the last training exercise alone. Stay there and rest for a moment while I reprogram it for two combatants." Noel said, ignoring the groan and Rob as he began pestering Cyborg to veto Noel again. Noel rapidly typed for a few seconds and then went back to the cliff edge.

"The drill is starting in ten seconds! I suggest you prepare your head instead of practicing your tongue!"

"What? Noel, that's a terrible metaphor! You should be the one practicing your tongue-ACK!" Gauntlet yelled as water hoses shot up from behind him and nearly caught him in the back with two high-pressure streams.

"Raven never complained." Noel muttered, very quietly, to himself, as he walked back to the computer banks, glancing over to the Tent where Tara and Gar lay, nearly motionless. He'd give them several more minutes, as he walked back over to the cliff edge and watched his two remaining teammates. The Nigel slip-up aside, they were still on the ball. Though Noel was having second thoughts of letting them put him through some training drills.

He sensed her coming, so he felt no need to look back, instead keeping his eye on Rob and Victor. A few seconds later, Cassandra joined him by his side. Noel glanced briefly at her: she was out of full costume, only wearing her pants and boots and with a loose black T-shirt on her torso. Cassandra Cain, behind her completely concealing mask, was a fairly attractive Japanese girl, though she usually had a serious, solemn expression. Noel couldn't blame her. Her father was David Cain, one of the world's greatest assassins, and he had not looked upon Cassandra as his daughter but rather an experiment: if a child trained from birth was not taught any notions of language, she would come to see violence as a language in and of itself. This training was what contributed to Cassandra's supreme martial arts skills: she could read body language like a book, often knowing exactly what a person could do before they did it. However, this talent had come with a dear cost: Cassandra had fled her father after he had given her her first killing assignment, the act of murder proving horrendous to her, and due to his insane raising she had never learned to speak, not even in the most basic sense. Indeed, even after she had come to Gotham, where Batman had discovered her and taken her under his wing, she still had not learned to talk: it had taken a psychic rewiring her brain to grant her the power of speech, and it had come with another cost: Cassandra lost a majority of her combat talent. She had only managed to regain it after she had tracked down Lady Shiva, a female martial artist who had been considered the greatest in the world before she met Batgirl. Shiva had offered to retrain Batgirl in exchange if Batgirl met her for a duel to the death a year later. Cassandra had accepted (her rationale was it was better to be perfect for a year then mediocre for a lifetime), and Shiva had retrained her within a night.

They had met for that duel a year later.

Noel didn't know the details, but he knew this: no one had ever bested Lady Shiva in hand to hand in her lifetime. Not even Batman.

Cassandra walked away the victor, and with it the title of greatest martial artist in the world.

It was a title well earned, even if the forge that had made her still had costs. Cassandra was still illiterate, unable to read and write, and she had great difficulty connecting with people, especially people her own age. When Young Justice had formed during the wake of the Final Night, Batgirl had been a member, but she had quickly felt out of place and left. Noel couldn't blame her. She was a lonely soul by birthright. He knew all too well what that was like.

"Training is almost done?" She asked.

"Pretty much."

"That Sophie girl will not be joining you?"

"No. She's a live in, not a Titan. She might have a special power but she'd much rather be a mortician and undertaker then be going around and fighting villains." Noel replied. Sophie did indeed have a special power: she could transform her limbs and if necessary her whole body into a flock of bats. However, the power didn't have much use besides allowing her some flight and transportation abilities that weren't available to the average Joe. Noel has inquired a few times if Sophie wanted any kind of training, but she had always turned him down.

"Robin called. He was rather surprised to see me." Cassandra said.

"Not easy to slip stuff past Tim."

"He said he and the others might be home soon, but don't be planning any dates."

"Understood."

"You are not training with them?"

"If I may be arrogant, I feel that it was their deficiencies, if I may call it that, that need addressing rather then mine."

"You didn't completely succeed. That does sound arrogant."

"Well, I wish it didn't, but Cyborg hasn't been holding up his end in the co-leader position. Something's occupying his thoughts, and I haven't figured out either what it is or a way to ask him that doesn't sound like prying. So until he comes around or I do, I have to be the guiding hand. Some of my allies may disagree with such leadership, but they all know in the end that I will bring them home alive…"

And then Noel snapped off a fist at Cassandra.

To a casual outsider, it would have seemed like the perfect surprise blow. Noel had given seemingly no indication of what he would do: one instant he had been casually standing and the next he was throwing out his fist at Cassandra's head.

Completely out of nowhere…

For a casual observer.

The fist flew into Batgirl's hands, and in a movement so quick and so fluid that anyone observing would have just seen a blur, Cassandra spun behind Noel, yanking his arm up behind him even as she let go with one hand and fired off two lightning quick and insanely precise strikes which produced low hollow snapping noises as she dislocated both his shoulder and his elbow, inflicting the injuries so fast that the pain of both disarticulations hit him seemingly at the same time, as Noel let out a howling snarl of a scream and fell to one knee, Cassandra gently propping his arm, now with extra corners, up behind him.

"That was foolish Noel." She said quietly.

"Dude! What's going on?" Gar said, as he and Tara were suddenly out of the tent and ready to go on the attack, and out of the corner of his eye Noel saw that Victor and Rob had also seen the supposed "attack" and had started heading up the cliff.

"Hey! What gives?" Tara asked, as her eyes started to glow.

"No! No! Stand down! No need!" Noel snapped out, as he waved his arm at the couple, whose angry confusion transformed itself into utter confusion.

"Noel, what happened?" Gar asked.

"He attempted to get the drop on me. He failed, and learned the price of such an act. The fault was all his: do not blame me." Cassandra said quietly.

"You haven't…lost a step…Cassandra." Noel said as he slowly stood up. As if on cue, Cassandra let go of his arm as several Shimmer strands flowed up to brace it. "Not…a single…" Noel said, as he adjusted the strands and then let out another wordless snarl of pain as the lines of energy snapped his elbow back into place. "INCH!" He almost howled as the Shimmer readjusted itself and snapped Savior's shoulder back into place as well.

"I take it the dislocations were clean?" Cassandra asked, as Gar and Tara just stared in confused disbelief at the curious scene.

"Expertly." Noel replied, as he flexed and rotated his arm, checking to make sure everything was back in working order. "Before you go, you and I have to have a sparring session or two."

"Gladly. With your powers or without?"

"Without of course."

"That may not be the wisest course of action." Cassandra said, giving the very faintest hint of a smile.

"I'm smart enough to know when to be done. It's not like I swore to beat you."

"Beat her? Ha! If she can take you apart like that when you're trying to blindside her, you probably would be kissing the floor before she even had to take a step face to face!" Tara laughed, both reveling in a not exactly shared but still there in some senses girl power moment and letting out a little steam at the frustration she felt that Noel was such a stickler for rules that he had made her boyfriend and her run around the island in such unpleasant weather.

The wry look Noel gave her made her quickly realize that maybe she should have kept her mouth shut, but it was too late for that, as Noel's features quickly morphed into a visage of sardonic amusement.

"Oh REALLYYYYYYYY." Noel said.

"Uh oh." Gar replied.

"Uh well…maybe we…" Tara said, as she gestured behind her.

"Oh wait wait Miss Markov. Don't go yet. Not after such a claim. I suppose you could do better?" Noel asked.

"Well uh…"

"But wait! You were so eager to brag about your hand to hand yesterday! Why be humble now?"

"Noel there's a difference between a scared kid and a martial arts prodigy…"

"Ah yes, but perhaps you should have noted that difference…a little earlier!" Noel said. "But hey Tara, you train with Tim right?"

"Uh…"

"You haven't been…NEGLECTING your sessions have you?"

"Um…"

"But all the same, it wouldn't be fair without a handicap. So tell you what…" Noel said, as he took a few steps to the side and began drawing in the ground with a Shimmer strand. "Cassandra, would you mind donating your talents?"

"I see nothing better to do." Cassandra said. There might have been the very slight hint of sadistic glee some teenagers got when they realized they could show someone a few things, carefully tempered through intense maturity and gravity but still there. Tara gulped.

"Here's the rules Tara." Noel said as he finished making the circle. "One on one, no powers. If you can even GRAZE Cassandra, you don't have to run the last lap. If you can actually land a decent blow, you and Gar can run me around the island TEN times, floating on one of Tara's rocks. Sound fair?"

"Uh…can I have a blindfold?" Tara jokingly asked.

"If you insist." Cassandra said as she produced a black blindfold from somewhere and began tying it around her eyes. Tara stared.

"Tara, you may have a chance now! Just be careful and pick your spot!" Gar encouraged. Tara glanced around nervously.

"You could always run around the island and forget about giving me combat advice." Noel said in a perfect needle. Tara's eyes narrowed slightly, and she stepped into the circle.

"Whoo! Go Tara! Go Tara!" Gar cheerleaded as Tara nervously stepped around Cassandra, who stayed in one place, her head cocked slightly. Noel stepped back, crossed his arms, and waited.

"Ok, how did this go from a seeming sneak attack to a sun splashed version of Fight Club?" Rob asked as he and Victor, having finally made it up the cliff, joined Noel's side.

"Don't talk about Fight Club." Noel joked, as Tara continued to creep around the stock-still Cassandra. Noel gave Tara some credit: her nervous apprehension hadn't left her. She wasn't getting cocky at her handicap. Maybe she had been taking some of her training seriously after all.

"I tested Cassandra's reflexes, I failed, Tara joked, and here we are." Noel said, before either of them could ask the question again.

"Oh. Can I place bets?" Rob asked.

"No."

"Awwww, why not?"

"Because this is already over." Noel said, as Tara finally picked her spot, snuck ahead a few steps, tiptoed a few inches over, zig-zagged a bit, and then, with nary a sound, sprang forward and punched for the side of Cassandra's head.

Even Noel didn't see the movement. One moment Cassandra was standing and Tara was punching, and the next Cassandra was up against Tara, her outstretched fingers a millimeter from Tara's throat, Tara's eyes as wide as saucers as she was stopped in mid blow.

"Your throat's crushed. You're dead." Cassandra said. While she abhorred the act of killing, she had no problem telling Tara exactly what WOULD have happened if this had been a real fight and she WAS inclined in such a direction. Tara stared another second, then dropped her arms and sulked her way out of the makeshift ring as Cassandra pulled the blindfold off.

"Aw man…hey! Can I try?" Gar asked.

"You WANT to?" Noel asked. Gar hesitated, then looked at his saddened girlfriend and then strode into the ring.

"Hold on Gar. Maybe we should change the rules for you. How many times have you actually fought in your human form?"

"What? Uh…" Gar said, as he tried to remember and realized it had been a long long time. If ever.

"Ok Gar. Pick a form. Same rules for you: you graze her you win, you land a blow and PLEASE keep your form in mind, you really win, and let's say Cassandra wins if she knocks you down?" Noel asked.

"I can live with those rules." Cassandra said.

"Heh. Ok then lady, time for some payback." Gar said as he changed into a fair sized gorilla. He figured this was best: gorillas were similar enough to humans that he had enough fine control to keep him from hurting Cassandra when/if he hit her, they had great balance, and they could take incredible pain, so even if she punched and kicked him several times he'd probably still be up.

"If you think so." Cassandra replied.

"Ready…go!"

Doing the opposite of Tara's cautious approach, Gar charged forward as he swung both his long arms out, the hands held open so if he did connect he'd just slap Cassandra rather then punch her.

Cassandra ducked under the blows, spun to the side, and before Gar knew what had hit him she'd snapped her leg up and buried it in his chest. The blow seemed to ripple through Gar for a second, as if there was a pause for dramatic effect…and then Gar fell to the ground, changing back to human in mid fall as he curled up in the fetal position, clutching his chest.

"GAR!" Tara screamed, running into the ring and over to him.

"Ohhhhhh…" Gar groaned, as the other Titans looked worried, Cassandra included, as she walked over and knelt down.

"Can you breathe?"

"Hurts…"

"I apologize. Let me check." Cassandra said, as she managed to pry one of Gar's arms away and felt along his stomach and lower chest. "I feel no broken bones or torn muscles. I hit your solar plexus: your pain and weakness will pass soon."

"Hey! Why'd you hit him so hard!" Tara snapped.

"I assumed that with a such a large form and with my knowledge of simian anatomy far from perfect, that my attack would merely be disabling and not agonizing. It appears I guessed correctly in where to strike and incorrectly on how much force I needed. I apologize again." Cassandra said.

"Dude…I don't think Whim hit me that hard." Gar complained, though the color was back in his face: he was clearly already recovering.

"It is merely precision." Cassandra said, as she stepped back a bit.

"Noel, do we STILL have to run the last lap?" Tara asked, hoping that maybe with a somewhat hurt Gar Noel might be nice.

"I don't know Tara. Rules are rules and bargains are bargains…"

"Hey! This challenge is clearly open to anyone! Therefore, I accept it as well!" Rob said as he walked into the ring and strangely, pulled out a coin. "Ok Batgirl, here's how it goes! Heads I win, tails you lose!"

"…I think you might have misunderstood the structure of the challenge." Cassandra replied, without a hint of irony.

"I wh…I mean, ok then! I guess we must resort to fisticuffs!" Gauntlet said, as he extended out his gauntlet. Noel was about to point out the no powers rule when Gauntlet swiftly formed the energy into a crude wig and mask and put it over his face.

"But you wouldn't hit an old lady would you?" He asked.

"You are not an old woman." Cassandra replied.

"Uh…ok! How about an old lady with glasses?" Gauntlet said as he formed glasses.

"I do not need to strike you in the face."

"No powers Rob." Noel reminded the teen.

"Well geez, if I can't use my powers I demand you add a provision that she at least REACT to my wit! ANY reaction at all!"

"No."

"Come on!"

"No."

"Noel, it's in my contract: you're Hamlet, Tim and Kory are Romeo and Juliet, and I'm the witty fool!"

"More like a foolish wit."

"HEY!"

"I've read Twelfth Night too Rob. Get to it, or don't. Same rules: no powers, graze good land better, no time limit, if music be the food of love play on!" Noel said, quoting Twelfth Night again.

"Come on Rob! If you lose, then the hardasses win!" Tara yelled.

"Well yes Tara, but I'm used to getting at least SOME kind of reaction with my words…hey you! You…have big feet!" Rob cracked at Cassandra. She didn't even raise an eyebrow.

"That's IT?" Tara said incredulously.

"The best material has a base to build on!" Rob said, even as he tried to get into fighting mode and figure out if there was some weakness he could exploit, as Noel walked over to Victor.

"You want to try after?"

"Hmmmmm? Nah. I'm too slow. She wouldn't hurt me with a blow but if all she has to do is land one, the battle would be lost before it started." Victor said, as he examined a popped up monitor on his arm.

"Problem?"

"Don't know. Have you noticed how it's gotten cooler suddenly?"

"…Come to think of it, yes." Noel said; the hot mugginess his friends and he had labored under had seemingly faded away in minutes.

"Weather can do that but it's not prone to. I'm just doing a general scan to see what's going on." Victor said.

"Any bad indicators?"

"Not yet." Victor said. Noel glanced at Rob, who was still dancing around Batgirl, constantly trying to get a response from the girl's stone features and continually finding himself stifled. Noel smirked to himself: Rob could crack jokes until the cows came home and went to bed, he wouldn't get anywhere. David Cain had trained Cassandra not to react if she was SHOT: he doubted Rob's incessant need for banter would produce anything else.

"Look Vic, I need to talk to you about something…" Noel began.

And then Rob leapt to the side, did a swift cartwheel into a flipping jump, and landed and kicked out with his leg…and found Batgirl's hand there almost before he had thrown the kick, as she grabbed him and spun, throwing him down on the ground. Before he could react she planted a knee on his chest and leaned down with her fist raised, indicating that if she wanted to she could plant it between Rob's eyes before he could do anything to stop it.

"Bang." She said, as she lightly tapped him on the forehead with her knuckles. "You're dead."

"…Hey! I call foul!" Rob yelled.

"On what basis?" Noel asked, a little irritated that his opening with Victor had suddenly slammed shut.

"You said no using powers! But she's clearly using powers!"

That actually succeeded in getting a reaction out of Cassandra, as she arched an eyebrow at Rob's accusation.

"She's not using powers. She doesn't have any powers to use. She's pure human." Noel pointed out, as Cassandra got to her feet and helped Rob up.

"I am." She said simply.

"Oh no you're not! You have buttloads of powers! Like…body reading powers! And…kicking powers!" Rob protested. Noel rolled his eyes, while Cassandra stared at Rob with the expression that she was honestly questioning if he was all right in the head.

"She doesn't have powers Mr. Dynamite. You just lost. So get out of the ring and stop complaining."

"But…she…powers…!"

"She doesn't have powers! And if you don't get, I'm going to demonstrate my removing annoying twits from makeshift rings powers!" Noel snarked.

"Oh fine. 'I am gone sir! And anon sir! I'll be with you again…'" Rob sang, as he started dancing out of the ring. Noel recognized that he was quoting Twelfth Night AGAIN and rolled his eyes.

"Quit it."

" 'In a trice! Like to the old Vice, your need to sustain; who, with daggers of lath, in his rage and his wrath, cries, ah, ha! To the devil: Like a mad lad, pare thy nails dad: ADIEU, GOOD MAN DEVIL!" Rob said as he danced out of the ring.

"And that's all one, may this play be done." Noel muttered.

"Vic! Dude! Your turn!" Gar said, clearly not having given up on the idea of beating Noel's challenge.

"Nah Gar. I wouldn't be able to win anyway." Vic said.

"No! No! You could!"

"No he couldn't. Five more minutes guys, and then you run the last lap. Then we can go inside and…"

"Can I try?"

Noel turned his head around to see Nigel standing a few feet away, and realized that in the rampart Shakespeare and efficient buttkicking that he'd forgotten about the alien. The Blacktrinian had taken off his jacket and shirt for the earlier training, and he must have retrieved them before he had headed up to join the team as they were now held by one hand with the clothing draped over his shoulders, his hat perched on his head as he held his glaive with his other hand.

"…Hmmmm. You feel up to it Nigel?"

"I feel fine."

"Odd I thought you were dying."

"I got better."

"Yeah! Go Nigel! Save us!" Gar said, as Tara did her own generic cheering. Noel looked exasperated.

"Are they worth it?" He asked sarcastically.

"Tara's never-ending cracks about my girlfriend's weight aside, always." Nigel said, as he walked forward. He shoved his glaive into the ground before Noel could tell him to, reading his mind when it came to weapons, and shrugged off his makeshift cloak to reveal his gray skinned torso, criss-crossed with scars, including the one of the wound that never healed, a wound Noel had inflicted himself in a crisis and had regretted ever since. Nigel plucked his hat off his head and tossed it to Noel, who caught it as he looked on the scene with interest. While he had expected that Gar, Tara, and Rob had a snowball's chance in hell when it came to hand-to-hand with Cassandra, Nigel…

Noel recalled a story Tim had told him once, of how Cassandra had confronted the Joker for the first time. The Joker was by any standards a sub-par hand-to-hand combatant, but he had an edge most of Cassandra's opponents never would. Her power was her sublime ability to read body language, but the Joker was so nuts it actually transferred to his body language and reduced it to gibberish for Cassandra, giving him the advantage. He'd pounded on Cassandra, something that was not easy to do, and while Cassandra had eventually found a way to win, the concept still mused in Noel's head. She'd been at a disadvantage because of someone taking a normal thing and putting a spin on it, and while Nigel was no manifestation of chaos like the Joker, he certainly couldn't be classified as 'normal'.

"All right. Nigel, be careful and tone down the strength."

"Gotcha." Nigel said.

"Cassandra, he's got a healing wound in his chest, please do your best not to hit it."

"As you wish." Cassandra said, as Nigel stretched and cracked various parts of his body.

"Ok…I guess the same applies. Nigel, you get Cassandra, you 'win', or rather they do. That's about it. Any problems?"

"Are weapons still not allowed?" Cassandra said, as Nigel raised his clawed hands. Realizing what she was referring to, Nigel glanced at his two fingered hands and then smirked, showing a double-toothed fang on either side of his mouth.

"Sorry dear lady. These are…permanent." Nigel said, tapping on one claw with another. And he told the truth: Blacktrinians had to have the metal fused right onto their hands because they were born without any kind of natural defense there for some biological reason Noel had never fully understood.

"Permanent?" Cassandra repeated. There wasn't a trace of fear or nervousness in her voice: just a combatant assessing the war ground.

"Oh yes."

"Come on Nigel! I got fifty bucks on you!"

"I SAID NO GAMBLING!"

"Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep the money…"

"GIVE IT BACK!"

Nigel grinned again at the chaos, and tapped his claws together and then gestured to Cassandra.

Who, for the ever-briefest time, let a ghost of a smile flick over her features, and then, for the first time, she actually assumed a combat pose.

The first thing that came to Noel's mind from the subsequent action was that Nigel had underestimated the damage he may have taken from his little air trip, as he suddenly lurched to the side, stumbling around like he was drunk. Noel arched an eyebrow, and was about to ask if he wanted help, as Nigel stumbled around a bit more…and then he stepped on a small rock, and seemed to trip over it, but he didn't fall…something he surely would have done if he really was in a daze, considering how top heavy he was. Noel's eyes narrowed slightly, as he reexamined his vision…and saw it. He probably could only make it out due to how well he knew Nigel, but Nigel's stumbling wasn't because of any injury. It appeared to be some kind of variant on Drunken Boxing, and while Noel was sure Cassandra could see through that, he didn't yet know what alien twists Nigel might throw in, as he continued to stumble dance around. Cassandra moved much more cautiously, her arms so firmly set it was like she was cast from stone.

Nigel stumbled again…

The exact move details Noel couldn't make out, as Nigel first seemed to 'drunkenly' swat at Batgirl, and even as she started to dodge he seemed to fall on his face, only to put a hand under him and slash out with his leg, and even as Cassandra saw that and jumped away Nigel shifted his weight and hurled himself through the air and over Cassandra. He lashed out with a kick, but as Cassandra dodged around it and tried to use the same move she had used to fell Gauntlet, Nigel twisted and did a very tight flip backwards, landing on his knees and springing forward as he did a quick volley of slashing punches. Cassandra blocked them all with a flurry of arms and flipped backwards, trying to catch Nigel with a kick on the way, but Nigel swung his head back and snapped it back into place as Cassandra completed her flip and got back into a combat position.

The three Titans who had been beaten cheered, Cyborg appeared to be too interested in his data to watch the fight, and Noel's eyes narrowed some more, even as he smirked a bit. It always amazed him how stupid the Blacktrinian Empire had been. They lived for war and yet had dismissed Nigel as being weak, which is why he had been trained as a doctor instead. Yet on Earth, Nigel had shown more combat potential and skill then their feeble little minds could have ever comprehended.

But as skilled as he was…Cassandra was something else.

That didn't mean the fight was over yet though.

Cassandra had changed her stance slightly, as the two circled each other. Nigel leaned to the side, putting his weight on one knee while keeping one outstretched, as he waved his claws in lazy circles…

And then he was flying through the air, his legs a tornado. Cassandra dodged one and blocked another, but the impact clearly threw her off balance. Nigel landed and spun up with a claw, but Cassandra went with her slight disorientation as she fell and thrust up a knee to block the blow, using the impact to flip over and get to her feet and charge, snapping off two jabs that took Nigel in the face and knocked him back. A kick to the shoulder knocked him down, and Cassandra took a step back as Nigel landed on his hands, flipped up, and flexed his knees as he prepared to leap again. His body began to surge up…

Cassandra was already lifting her leg to kick him out of the air…

And then Nigel's momentum abruptly changed as he somehow changed the impetus from up to out, as he sprang forward, low to the ground…so low he actually slid right under Cassandra's leg.

Cassandra whirled…

Nigel's hands were snapping up, seizing Cassandra by her head, and then Nigel leapt down and out as he yanked the girl down to the ground, slamming her face slightly against his shoulder as they both fell down.

Blow landed.

"YEAH!" Gar and Tara cheered, as they grabbed hands and danced. No fifth lap for them.

And Noel couldn't help but smirk again. Nigel's alien fighting style had proven to hold up long enough after all, even as Nigel released Cassandra as she shoved off and flipped away, Nigel spinning up to his feet.

He smirked as he rubbed a finger under his nose.

And despite herself, Cassandra let a tiny grin curl up one corner of her mouth as well.

"I guess you're lucky as well as skilled."

"More skilled then lucky."

"That has yet to be decided." Cassandra said.

And then she leapt forward and furiously attacked Nigel. In Noel's experience, it was the first time he had seen such a blitzkrieg type maneuver without a hint of intense emotion behind it, as Cassandra, her features completely serene, fired off punches and kicks in a style more benefiting an enraged Bruce Lee. Nigel threw up his defenses, but there were just too many blows, as they slammed into his legs, arms, and twice, his face. Nigel didn't panic though, as he weathered the storm and fired off his own blows that were dodged or blocked…

Until Cassandra turned a dodge into a whole new kind of block, as she moved just enough to remove most of the impact from the blow as her other arm reached up and grabbed Nigel's, twisting it as she tried to throw him to the ground.

To her surprise, Nigel went with her, and assuming he was going to try a reversal of the momentum she shifted the maneuver so he'd be dropped right into the ground instead of being tossed to it…

Only to find Nigel shifting once more, and as soon as his feet landed he shoved off the ground even as he somehow managed to untangle his arm from Cassandra's, sliding right under her legs again.

Cassandra wasn't falling for the same move twice though, as she spun in a different away even as she snapped up her foot to performing a pistoning stomp kick…

And found Nigel's claws seizing her ankle. He didn't do the same move twice either, as when he'd gotten behind her he'd started a backflip and then rolled to his side, timing the move precisely with Cassandra's so he was on his knees and in the right position to grab when she kicked, a grab he turned into a throw as he hurled Batgirl across the ring.

She flipped in mid air and landed on her feet, even as the three cheered again and Noel's eyes widened in surprise.

"Man. Nigel keeps this up he'll have the best ever title in a bit." Cyborg said, finally having looked up from his data.

"……No." Noel said, as Nigel tipped an imaginary hat to Cassandra and then got down on all fours to charge at her like an animal. "Nigel's managed this much due to his alien nature, but what Cassandra doesn't know, she learns. And she learns…VERY fast…" Noel said, as Nigel tried to catch Cassandra with a low dropkick type maneuver, only to have her spin away and come up right behind him as he got up, thunking a knife edge chop into the back of his head. He spun, and then spun again, not attacking on the first twirl but the second in an attempt to catch Cassandra off guard, but she was having none of that as she zipped in around the blows and kicked Nigel in the knee. He went down to the other with a gasp.

"Is this matter settled?" Noel asked.

"No…not just yet!" Nigel said as he got up and lashed out with a flurry of kicks. But it was clear his time was done: Cassandra had adapted to his style and now knew how to exploit it like she had been training against it for years, as his last kick flew into her hands, and with a blur of motion she snapped the leg down and twirled it in such a way she threw Nigel face first into the ground. Nigel was immediately up though, as he tried a few feints and then a claw blow to Cassandra's torso, but the claw also found its way into Cassandra's hands as she locked his arm and then brought her leg up, aligning it with Nigel's face as she snapped off several kicks into it, her knee working like a jackhammer as she struck numerous quick blows to his face, and when Nigel tried to break free she adjusted the lock as she slammed her foot across his face and then her heel back across from it, finally letting Nigel's arm go as he fell onto his back.

"You really want to continue Nigel? It most likely isn't going to get any better." Noel said as the fallen alien leaned up on one hand, shaking his head as he tried to clear the cobwebs.

"Heh! Please. After Cauterize's blitz combat style, I can barely feel this!" Nigel said, though there was more lie to his boast then he would have liked.

"Well if you insist. Don't damage him if you can manage it Cassandra." Noel said.

"I will do my best."

"I'm not the one who should worry about damage!" Nigel said as he got up, and as Noel prepared to watch the latest clash, he suddenly felt a hand tapping him on his shoulder.

"Yes?" He said, as he turned to look at Cyborg.

"Look at the sky."

Noel did so. The sun had been covered with a thick layer of dark gray clouds.

"I take it there's something strange about this."

"Potentially. Weather's a Machiavellian thing: change one small detail and everything changes, so this could just be natural…but…my readings are giving me a feeling…" Cyborg said. Noel looked at the small monitor on his arm, but he couldn't make heads or tails of what he was seeing.

And he was suddenly aware of a certain scent. A scent normally only detected in the wake of lightning strikes and laser grids. The scent of ozone.

"So what is it the weather?"

"I don't know if it's the weather or something affecting the weather."

"Mardon's in jail." Noel said, referring to the Flash foe known as the Weather Wizard.

"More then one fish."

"Then just what are you worried about?"

"That's the thing: I don't know!"

"Well Victor no need to panic for no reason."

"But there has to be a reason!"

"I'm inclined to believe you but sometimes things are just things."

"When is it ever that way in our lives?"

"Less often then I'd like."

"Ok then…" Cyborg said, feeling more cross at himself for not being able to put a finger on his intuition then Noel's answers. "Then answer me this: is that buzzing just in my head?"

"………………No…I hear it too…" Noel said, as he was suddenly aware of a noise that sounded like the mother of all bee swarms…

And then it happened.

With a sound that was part paper tearing, part glass breaking, and part noise Noel couldn't find an appropriate descriptive metaphor for, the air down on the beach near where the three male Titans had trained suddenly tore open like it was a garbage bag instead of, well, reality. A loud bang followed the ripping noise, causing the Titans to recoil, all of them having stopped dead in what they were doing.

"What the hell…!" Noel yelled.

"Never a dull moment!" Rob commented.

And then the hole, maybe eight feet from tip to tip and two feet in length, pulsed with strange lights…

And then it flew from the hole, and the Titans recoiled again at the light and noise, and even as they did Noel's brain piped up with some info, a strangeness he had detected in the noise, part of it more then just interdimensional racket, part of it sounding…

Human.

And as quickly as it had come, it was gone. The hole closed up and vanished, leaving not a trace behind of its existence. The sand beneath it wasn't even disturbed.

At least by the hole itself.

The thing had had been tossed from it…not so much.

"What's going on?" Cassandra asked, suddenly beside Noel, even as he tried to find out himself.

"Oh the usual. Training drills, martial arts, the laws of physics finding a new way to show us they aren't." Rob said as he headed over and hopped onto the computer bank to get a better view at whatever had been tossed out of the hole.

"Cyborg." Noel said, even as a subtle shift happened in his head. He wasn't Noel Collins any more, he was Savior, as a Shimmer strand reached out and retrieved his jacket. A brief glance upward showed that the dark gray clouds were beginning to break up. Savior supposed that could be coincidence…or that it had just been a sign of what had just happened, which was…what?

"On it." Cyborg said as his eye shifted into scan mode, even as his head opened up and attached a small telescope to his mechanical eye so he could scan in really close.

That didn't much help him determine exactly what lay in the sand…at first anyway.

Then it moved.

"Geez, I think it's human." Cyborg said.

"Human?"

"Yeah…I think…it looks like a young boy. Maybe twelve years old. Assuming that's a red suit and not a natural skin color."

"Or an injury." Savior said as he went closer to the cliff and peered at the figure lying on the beach.

He was too far away to see the movement, but Cyborg did.

"Damn, it is a kid!"

"You sure?"

"About as sure as I can be!"

"Well all right then. If it's a kid, who is he and what is he doing here and HOW did he…come to think of it, one question at a time." Savior said.

"Damn, those young whippersnappers always have to do the fancy reality tearing to impress us old timers these days!" Beast Boy joked.

"I doubt this was an attempt to impress us." Savior said. "Is he hurt?"

"Maybe…he doesn't look happy but I can't see any wounds…or his face…" Cyborg said as he continued to scan.

"All right." Savior said as he went into leader mode. "Gauntlet, Cyborg, you both have the best armor. I want you to go down there and find out what's going on. Terra and I will be covering you in case this is a trap."

"But…the first person to check out the disturbance in horror films always dies first! I mean, it was a nice gesture to send Vic with me, but I'm probably gonna be dead in ten seconds anyway!"

"And wouldn't THAT be a great loss."

"HEY!" Both Gauntlet and Cyborg said, though for different reasons: Gauntlet was replying to Savior's nasty sarcasm and Cyborg was replying to Gauntlet's old assertation in horror films that the black guy always died first.

"Terra and I will be covering you. Gauntlet, please. You can take a hit much better then any of us." Savior asked.

"You didn't seem to have such confidence in me a second ago." Gauntlet replied.

"Argh. Gauntlet, we can fight later! Please go back up Cyborg!"

"Ok, ok…" Gauntlet said as his namesake expanded out into full fight mode, as he and Cyborg hopped off the cliff.

"Batgirl, Beast Boy, Scalpel, back us up." Savior said, as Terra floated by on a rock platform and Savior hopped on. The Titans and guest made their way over to the fallen figure, Savior dropping off the rock and sprinting past Gauntlet and Cyborg in order to cover the two head Titans at both sides.

"Yeah, definitely a kid." Cyborg said as they approached.

The form on the ground stirred.

Cyborg debated prepping his sonic cannon or keeping it concealed to prevent himself from looking hostile. In the end he decided that he'd take the peaceful route.

The kid was getting up, thought his back was still to Cyborg…

And he was making…rather strange noises that Cyborg's better hearing was picking up. Farther away, Scalpel's elongated ears twitched as he also heard the oddness.

"…Hello? Kid? You all right?" Gauntlet asked.

The child was on one knee now, still facing away, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly. Somehow Cyborg didn't think hyperventilating was a good sign.

"Kid? Are you ok? Do you speak English? Hey! HEY!" Gauntlet said, as he took a few steps closer.

Dashiel Parr turned around.

It was true that the Titans didn't know him from Adam, but they didn't need to in order to know something was wrong.

Dash's face had some sand stuck to it, and a slight string of saliva dangled from his mouth. It was now clear he was hyperventilating, his chest rising and falling, his eyes as wide as saucers…and lacking any kind of sense, comprehension, or order. There are wild eyes, there are WILD eyes…and then there are those who go beyond even THAT.

And Dash's eyes were in the last category. Gauntlet stopped his approach.

"Holy…"

Dash screamed. It wasn't a human scream, or even the scream of an animal in pain. This was a sound only a human brain could produce when it had been subjected to conditions both unknown and terrible, a sound that a human throat could never produce under normal circumstances.

Apparently it had been a VERY bad trip.

And then Dash did what he always did when it came to his abbreviated name. He ran.

As mentioned, despite aging three years Dash was still rather short. Unfortunately, he wasn't short ENOUGH, as his first sprint took him right at Gauntlet…and right between Gauntlet's legs, as he had widened them in case he needed to jump, only to find his reflexes were too slow to prevent anything from happening, as Dash's upper head slammed against a certain area that all males know is a BAD place to be hit.

"…Hrk." Gauntlet whimpered as he hit the sand.

"…I felt that. Poor guy." Scalpel commented.

And in the time of that comment, the following actions occurred.

Dash ran down the beach.

Cyborg, having seen what had happened to Gauntlet, started to target him as his arm shifted to his cannon mode.

And Dash changed directions and ran back towards Cyborg. He was far too fast for Cyborg to dodge, but Dash didn't run straight into him. He merely glanced him…but with his speed that was enough to spin Cyborg around as he fell on his back.

And then Dash was on him, snarling and screaming like a rabid dog, as he tore at Cyborg's face, and Cyborg yelled and tried to keep Dash's hands away but they were moving so fast, clawing at his features, as Dash snarled some more, out of his mind…

"HEY!" Savior yelled as he leapt in, lashing out with a Shimmer strand. It slammed into Dash, knocking him off Cyborg…and even as Dash flew through the air his hands seized on the strand, clawing at it several times without effect before Dash was either struck by inspiration or his misfiring brain just got lucky as Dash bit down on the energy.

And while the pain wasn't as bad as if Dash had attacked the Shimmer with a knife, it was still enough to jolt Savior into stopping his leap, his feet touching the ground…

And then Dash ran into him, just before Savior's weight fully settled down, slamming into Savior's right leg. The fact that Savior hadn't fully hit the ground probably saved him from a broken knee and Dash from a broken face, as Savior spun through the air, doing a complete 450 rotation before he slammed face first into the sandy beach, as Dash ran on, seemingly unaffected by the powerful impact his small frame had made or maybe just not caring about it.

"What the hell…!" Terra said as Dash ran past her. This didn't make any sense. She wasn't far off the ground: he could have gotten her with a leap. But after taking down three Titans Dash seemed to have forgotten all about them, as he ran past her and then sideways to a cliff face, and then actually up it for a bit before he lost his hold and fell back down. He got back up and ran off back towards Terra, and she realized she couldn't figure out his tactics or lack thereof later and fired off several dull pebbles.

They all missed as Dash zipped past her again, and then Beast Boy was there, transforming into a cheetah and giving chase, but Dash easily outpaced the changeling. Terra flew off to assist as Dash ran around the curve of the island.

"PLE-AH!" Savior gasped as he got up, spitting out sand as it streamed from his nostrils and burned in his eyes. Blind, he stood up, waving his arms and trying to gather his senses…and then he felt a clawed hand putting something in his. A water bottle. Most likely grabbed by Nigel for the young boy who had proven the only help he wanted was to seemingly help the Titans to an early grave. Savior tore the top off and dumped it on his face, blinking away the stinging sand as he spat more of it out, hating the way it ground between his teeth.

"Argh! Fucking Speed Force user!" Savior cursed, though he didn't know if that was the case. But it usually was, so Savior went with that assumption.

"Do you know that child?" Batgirl was asking.

"No!" Savior snapped, as he looked around. "Cyborg, you ok?"

"I think so…" Cyborg said as he tried to collect himself.

"Gauntlet?"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK?" Gauntlet roared.

"Scalpel, go check and make sure that impact didn't rupture a testicle. Batgirl…um…" Savior said as he realized that Batgirl was a guest and he technically couldn't command her.

"I'll stay here for now."

"Thanks." Savior said, as he bounded after Beast Boy and Terra, while Batgirl went to help Scalpel with his checkup and Cyborg popped up another monitor to do some calculations.

You could say Dash was running rings around Terra and Beast Boy…except the young boy lacked the sense to even do such a simple maneuver. He made up for it in the fact he could run at several hundred miles an hour. Every animal form Beast Boy choose either couldn't keep up with him or snare him, and Terra's rock attacks proved to be no more successful. You would think after fighting Cauterize, they would have been somewhat better at battling speedsters…but as mentioned, Beast Boy and Terra tended not to take their training too seriously.

That was frustrating Terra now, as she made several sand hands and tried to grab Dash, but he dodged them all and ran past Terra, kicking up a wave of sand that washed over her. She was quick enough to close her eyes but not quick enough to avoid inhaling some sand, and she quickly began gagging and spitting as Beast Boy chased after Dash as a swift, the fastest of all birds. Even THAT couldn't keep up with him.

"Ah!" Terra said as Savior landed on her rock next to her just as she was finishing up cleaning out her mouth.

"Status report." Savior said, ignoring the fact he'd startled the blonde.

"No good! Not only if he fast, he's attacking without rhyme or reason!"

"That's because he doesn't have the capacity for it."

"What?"

"You saw his eyes. Something's wrong with his brain."

"You mean he's on drugs?"

"Or been subjected to something that would cause a similar reaction. He's not even using the instincts of a wild animal, just acting on whatever info his misfiring synapses feed him. Bad type of foe: it's virtually impossible to predict…" Savior said, and then Dash was gone, running back the way he had come. "Shit! GO GO GO!" Savior ordered, and Terra sent her rock perch after Dash, as Beast Boy joined them.

"You sure you're ok Gauntlet?" Scalpel asked the now standing teenager.

"Oh sure. I can even do the voice of Alvin the next time they make another Chipmunks cartoon!" Gauntlet squeaked.

"Your voice is not affected by testicular impact Gauntlet. That's just an urban legend of your species." Scalpel said.

"Why don't I kick you in your balls and you can see how urban it is!"

"I suggest you not fight among yourselves, that child may…" Batgirl began.

And then Dash was back, running past the group of the three and heading for Cyborg again, who looked up from his calculations.

"AW HELL NO!"

And then Dash ran past him.

"What the?"

And reversed and ran past him again.

"Ok if you're not going to take this seriously…!" Cyborg yelled, as Dash ran back towards the three, easily avoiding Batgirl and Scalpel's leaping blows and Gauntlet's yellow energy tendrils. Terra flew in with Savior, Beast Boy right behind them…and then Dash shrieked and began running in a large circle, swiftly whipping up a dust devil that drove all the Titans back due to the wind and stinging sand. Terra yanked several chunks of cliff down to use as cover and the Titans ran behind them…and then the tornado stopped, the sand clearing as Dash clawed at his eyes, clearly having gotten sand in them himself, as he continued to snarl and growl.

"Geez, this is like fighting the Tasmanian Devil!" Beast Boy cursed.

"Maybe, but we still have to stop him. And to do that we first have to determine if he IS a Speed Force user." Savior said.

"On it." Gauntlet said, as he leapt over the boulder and ran over near Dash as he apparently finished getting the sand out of his eyes. "Hey! Toro, toro!" Gauntlet said, waving a yellow energy cape.

Dash, er, dashed right for him, and Gauntlet, by the skin of his teeth, reformed the cape into a wall that Dash ran headlong into, bouncing off and falling to the ground. Gauntlet withdrew the wall and ran back to the group.

"He's not a user of the Goes Fast. Even nuts, he would have vibrated right through me." Gauntlet said.

"………..And it didn't occur to you to follow up on the attack before he recovered?" Savior yelled. Gauntlet's eyes widened, and he turned to find Dash back up and running down the beach again.

"…damn." Gauntlet said.

"You see what I mean by saying you need more training?" Savior said.

"I was a lot more competent back when I didn't have a team to think for me, really I was." Gauntlet defended himself with, as Cyborg joined the two teens.

"Well at least we know he's not going to vibrate through us and rip out our hearts or something." Cyborg said.

"Yeah, but it's clear from the fact he got sand in his eyes from his own dust devil that he's so nuts he doesn't even have the capacity to think of self-preservation. So I suggest we grab him before he runs face first into a wall and brains himself." Savior said, and he took off after Dash, Beast Boy and Terra in tow. The rest of the Titans and Batgirl stayed behind, having gathered they would probably just get in the way at the moment.

"I take it he's moving too fast for you to read, Batgirl?" Gauntlet asked the Japanese teen.

"Even I cannot read a dictionary in two seconds."

"Thought as much. Speeds like that…wait a minute." Gauntlet said. "Cyborg, I haven't heard one sonic boom. That means if you set the cannon to wide dispersion, it should be fast enough to catch Taz there."

"Hey, that just might work!" Cyborg said, as he armed his cannon and began pressing buttons on its side.

"Cyborg, if I am mistaken forgive me, but won't dispersing the beam severely weaken its impact?" Scalpel said, as he scanned the distance for any sign of the superfast preteen and his Titan pursuers.

"Yeah, but it'll mess up his balance something fierce. I think that'll be enough with his mindless…"

"HERE HE COMES!" Scalpel yelled.

And even that almost wasn't fast enough, as Dash zoomed in and by…

And was caught in Cyborg's wide range blast. Fortunately, he had enough wherewithal to lead his shot.

Dash flew off his feet and bounced across the sand several times, coming to a stop. He didn't move…at first…

Beast Boy came bounded after him as a cheetah again, crossing the distance as Dash got up, shaking his head…

And then two large gorilla hands seized him.

"Gotcha!"

"All right!" Cyborg said, grinning.

As Terra and Savior approached, Beats Boy turned around…

And then Dash screamed and began fighting furiously to get out of Beast Boy's grip. And while not able to vibrate, he could still move at super speed, even if it was tiny movements, and tiny movements at super speed quickly added up to a lot.

"Hold him BB!" Gauntlet yelled as the remaining Titans charged toward him.

"I'm trying! Little…bugger's a real…handful!" Beast Boy grunted as Dash fought even harder…

And then bit Beast Boy.

That wasn't so bad.

Except he did it seventeen times in a second to a relatively small area.

"OWWW!" Beast Boy roared, as he felt his muscles instinctively relax…

Dash slipped out of his hands, and before Beast Boy could grab him again he was off, dodging both Beast Boy and Shimmer strands as he ran towards the sea…and off across it, running on the water as if it was as solid as rock.

"…He can run on water. Of COURSE he can run on water. Where's Aqualad when you need him?" Savior cursed.

"I don't recall needing girlfriends stolen or fish scolded." Gauntlet commented. Savior glared at him briefly and then looked back at Dash as he ran back and forth through the bay near the island.

"Cyborg, can you shoot him again?" Scalpel asked.

"Too far out."

"Not to mention he'd fall in and probably drown. Ok…Cyborg, give me a rebreather!" Savior said.

"You got it." Cyborg said, as a compartment snapped open on his waist.

"Terra, you follow him from above, Beast Boy, you join me below water. Maybe we can ambush him."

"Dude, what are you going to do under water? I can't carry you, you'll slow me down!"

"Don't worry about it." Savior said, as several Shimmer strands sprang from his back. "Ian Thorpe's gonna have nothing on me."

Cyborg tossed Savior the rebreather, essentially a miniature gas mask and oxygen tank, though it only had a few minutes of air.

"If he runs back this way, do your best to nab him. Come on BB!" Savior said as he ran for the water and dove under, Beast Boy by his side as Terra flew out above the waves and headed for Dash.

Beast Boy transformed into a dolphin and began swimming…and found that Savior wasn't with him. He turned around and found the teen struggling with his Shimmer "motors", as he clearly wasn't experienced enough in underwater travel to properly use them to go in one direction at high speed. Beast Boy watched, then shrugged (in a metaphorical sense) and assumed Savior would have ordered him to give chase (seeing how he couldn't talk with the rebreather in his mouth), and swum off in Dash's direction.

Terra was doing her best to keep up with Dash on her perch, but she'd had severe trouble doing it before and with the wide open terrain the water allowed it was now even harder, as he zipped and zapped all over the place and she frantically tried to follow him. When Beast Boy tried getting him by rising up as a whale with his mouth open, Dash just ran in, banged around like a pinball, and ran back out as Beast Boy transformed back into himself, clutching his jaw.

"Well this is a remarkable way to spend our morning." Scalpel commented as he, Cyborg, Gauntlet, and Batgirl watched from on shore.

"I have a question." Batgirl suddenly said.

"What?" Gauntlet asked.

"Before I came here, Oracle warned me you would probably try something, uh, romantic with me. Why haven't you?"

"Is this the best time to be asking such a question?"

"I don't see why not now."

"…Fair enough. I'm…" Gauntlet began to reply, then nearly broke his neck as Dash made a funny turn. "I'm idiotic, but I'm not stupid. I know you're not interested in that kind of thing. So, the next girl that comes along gets my stalking double."

---

Somewhere in a void between dimensions…

"ACHOO!"

---

"You're sure he's not a Speed Force user? Or is it a Goes Fast user? What's the name now?" Scalpel asked Cyborg and Gauntlet.

"Technically it's Speed Force, but really, it's the power of going fast. Which makes all the stuff Flash does with it ridiculous. I mean, you shouldn't be able to make pants out of Goes Fast." Gauntlet said.

"Speed Force or Goes Fast, he doesn't seem to have access to the dimension of the runners. I've got him clocked at a few hundred miles an hour. That's fast, but not that fast."

"Speak for yourself." Gauntlet said, rubbing his still sore testicles.

Terra was now calling rocks from the ocean bottom and trying to trap Dash, but he kept running out of and away from her rock snares before she could finish them.

Then Savior suddenly exploded from the water, Shimmer tendrils firing out…

And missing. Savior landed in the water again as Dash ran on, and he aggravatingly slapped the water and dove under again.

A giant green squid next arose from the waves, but Dash avoided all of Beast Boy's tentacles…and then suddenly changed directions and ran right back for the shore.

"Ack!" Gauntlet said, as Dash was among them before he knew it. The Titans all launched into attack mode…and three seconds later were all tangled in a heap as Dash ran on, down the beach again.

"I hope this kind of embarrassment is not common for your team." Batgirl commented, as Savior emerged from the bay, pushing his soaked hair away as he blinked salt water from his eyes.

"This is getting us nowhere. Worse, the damn kid doesn't register the need to stop in his madness. He'll keep running until his lungs explode, at this rate." Savior said, as Terra hovered down near him and Beast Boy also emerged from the waves rubbing his jaw. "Anyone have any ideas?"

"Could see if he's faster then a speeding rubber bullet." Cyborg said, his sonic cannon switching to a gatling gun.

"Not a good idea with his small frame. Might do as much damage as a normal bullet, but then again I'm hard pressed to think of an idea to run him to ground…" Savior trailed off, and then his eyes widened as he thought over his last word.

"So what do we do?" Scalpel asked.

"Give chase!" Savior yelled as he leapt up onto Terra's rock. He said something the other Titans didn't hear, even Scalpel, and then suddenly Terra was flying the rock away from the group and towards the Tower.

"What the…hey! Savior! What the hell! What, do you have to use the bathroom or something?" Beast Boy yelled after the two.

"He probably has a reason…" Cyborg said, and then Dash ran past the group again. "TITANS, GO!"

The next fifty or so seconds, as the Titans chased Dash around the island, would have just needed a sped up piece of piano music to be a perfect modern version of the Keystone Kops. To people born in the last 80 or so years…that means they didn't do very well.

"You know, it's funny how we can beat gods and demon lords, but a kid who's been neglecting his Ritalin causes us so much trouble." Gauntlet commented after he and Batgirl attempted to corner Dash only to have him run by them so fast the wind knocked them down.

"KID! STOP RUNNING! YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Cyborg yelled as he ran after Dash, trying to zap him with the wide range cannon, but he kept missing. His only hit was Scalpel, who tried diving on Dash from a cliff above and just dove into the shot, causing him to collapse on his face as Dash ran on.

"Oh no Scalpel! Are you hurt?"

"Just my bones…and organs." Scalpel muttered as he got up.

Then Dash ran into his back. Scalpel flew forward and crashed into Cyborg, and as the two fell down Dash ran over them and ran on. When Beast Boy and Gauntlet jumped in front of him he did a perfect 90 degree turn and ran for the cliffs…

And right into a flock of bats. Dash stopped dead as the tiny winged mammals swarmed him, screaming and snarling as they batted at him with their wings and hammered his ears with a litany of squeaking shrieks. For once Dash's madness worked against him, as he couldn't coordinate enough to actually mount an offensive on the bats as they continued their attack, though strangely without any bites, as Dash thrashed and screamed in their midst…

And then suddenly the bats seemed to lessen in a certain area, and Dash went for it, breaking from the cloud and running away…

As a hump of sand suddenly shot up right before him.

The opening had been intentional. Dash had been led. And as a result, he ran right up the steep bump and off it before he could properly correct his run, flying into the air…

Where white strands of power grabbed him and wrapped him up tighter then a mummy.

"Off the ground, I'm afraid it's hard to feel the need for speed." Savior said, as he brought Dash down. The young teen was fighting like mad, but Savior's grip was a lot tighter then Beast Boy's, and he'd set up a Shimmer structure to lock Dash's neck so he couldn't bend down and bite the energy again. So Dash just yelled and spat.

"…Well, that certainly made US look bad." Beast Boy commented at Savior's setup.

"Quite frankly I'm just glad it's over." Cyborg said, as he approached Savior and his squirming bundle.

The flock of bats flew together and formed into a human form, a chubby female form. Sophie still looked rather flustered. One moment she was quietly doing some paperwork and the next Savior was bursting into her office and dragging her out and yelling about speed kids and how she needed to use her bats and she'd been rather disconcerted but she'd still managed to follow Savior's request, which was good.

"Are you ok?" Scalpel asked he approached Sophie. Sophie looked at her alien love…and then realized her lip was bleeding. Any injury her bats took transferred to her, and while she'd managed to avoid a majority of said injuries…apparently not well enough. She wiped at her lip, as Scalpel looked unhappy.

"…I have enough blood. You don't need to kill him."

"Oh no I won't kill him. I'll just maim him some." Scalpel said as he turned and stalked toward the grouped Titans, Sophie scurrying after him in case he was serious.

"Kid! Calm down!" Savior was saying, but Dash was having none of it, as he continued to scream and scream…

"Ok then. Drastic times…" Savior said, and carefully inserted twin Shimmer strands into each of Dash's ears.

Dash snarled once more…and then his eyes glazed over and his head went limp.

"Was that necessary?" Terra asked.

"For more then one reason. Jesus, this kid's head is a mess." Savior said, as he linked up to Dash's brain and nervous system. "Whatever that portal was, it crossed so many wires it's amazing this poor kid's not brain dead."

"Can you fix the damage?"

"Already on it. Poor kid didn't have the faintest clue what he was doing…I'll be damned if he's going to be stuck like this if outside forces caused it…" Savior said, as he closed his eyes. Some of them watched him while others checked on each other to see if they were all right.

"…Ok. I think I managed to fix it." Savior said three minutes later. "But he still needs medical care. Nigel, go get your stuff fired up. Hopefully he didn't cripple himself in his little Terry Fox from hell performance."

"What about the portal he came from?" Batgirl asked.

"Oh, as soon as he's up and in stable condition, I'm going to get some answers. Count on it." Savior said, as he adjusted his Shimmer bindings into a stretcher and headed back to the tower with his team.

"Uh Noel…you do remember we don't have to run that last lap right?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes yes Gar."

"WHOO-HOO!"

---

While the problems of the Titans might have ended for the time, another group of teens was just about to start having a problem of their own, a big one.

Let us pan away from Titans Tower, as the Titans take their new guest for medical care, and off across the Atlantic Ocean, on and on, watching the land eventually vanish from the distance, and on some more, to a large bank of clouds…

And into the clouds that formed a clump several square miles in diameter. As you might have guessed, these weren't entirely natural, as we go through the clouds…

And come to it.

In another comic universe, an organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D, a global defense force, made its main headquarters in a massive floating airborne juggernaut known as a helicarrier. Part stronghold, part military base, part weapons platform, and part aircraft hanger, the gigantic flying machine was truly a sight to behold and deadly to the extreme.

And it appeared that someone in this universe had recently been similarly inspired, as we come to the gargantuan floating platform nestled in the clouds. The vehicle/ base was set up in similar design to an aircraft carrier, albeit much larger, a bit rounder and with more protrusions. Towers and bridges branched through the structure, while a myriad of weapon platforms guarded the huge ship zealously. It was mammoth, nearly six times the size of the Roman Coliseum in its heyday and over three times as tall as the now fallen World Trade Center towers. Massive fusion powered jet engines as well as a myriad of immensely powerful anti-grav devices kept the huge base in the air. Done up in the traditional yellow and black honeycomb patterns of the HIVE, there was no doubt whose base this was.

It should have been the pride and joy of Brother Blood: after breaking out of prison, the rebuilding of his school had been his top priority, and he'd had plenty of time in jail to stew over his defeat and how it wouldn't happen again. And though it had taken a lot of work, eventually he'd had the first step in his grand revenge done. His new HIVE Base and school was truly a sight to behold, and would assist him in grand conquest…

If not for a certain problems: gigantic airborne bases bristling with weapons didn't exactly grow on trees.

Blood had been determined to have it though: his previous experiences with Cyborg and his blasted Titans had shown him that. A land based headquarters and an underwater headquarters both had the problem of being stationary: even if he beat the Titans other heroes could follow after them. With an air fortress though, he could move around…which helped in more ways then one. But the destruction of his last two schools had considerably taxed Blood's resources, not to mention building them had involved considerably less costs then a floating one. With the Hive Air Fortress (unofficially known by most of the students as the Sathanas, after a gigantic spaceship from some computer game Blood didn't have the time or caring to find out about), Blood had had to call in every single favor he had, not to mention ask for a lot himself, and while the "Hiveathnas" may have been completed, Blood was still deeply in debt. And a lot of his debtors were not very nice people. So Blood, instead of going for glory and revenge, was forced to make his first mission paying back all his creditors. At least rebuilding his actual organization had been easier, and it was now tirelessly at work, it's minions and drones going around the world to steal money or significant collateral, or doing favors on behalf of other clients. How Blood did this and also kept his masterful supervillain training school running at the same time, he didn't know. All he knew was that he had worked his ass off, and he wasn't going to be tripped up at this late stage of the game.

And that meant that when his students failed in their missions, missions that would have helped make a dent in the massive debt Blood owed, he wasn't exactly happy.

"YOU IDIOTIC BRAIN-DEAD SNOT-NOSED INCOMPETENT USELESS CHILDREN!" Blood roared at the six Hive members gathered before him, light flashing off the red crystal side of his head that he had acquired when he had transformed himself into a cyborg. "I waste my time, give you my knowledge, my experience, my plans, go to all the trouble of training you, declaring you new graduates, and what do you do? YOU FAIL ON YOUR VERY FIRST MISSION! YOU INCOMPETENTS SOMEHOW MANAGED TO BOTCH A MILK RUN LIKE A BANK ROBBERY! THIS IS A TREND I AM BEGINNING TO SEE AND LOATH EVEN MORE!"

The Troika all had the same looks of nervousness on their faces: when Blood was unhappy he sometimes used his mental telepathy and mind controlling powers to inflict terrible punishments, though the HIVE members could never remember exactly what those punishments were as Blood erased the memories afterward, claiming they were 'bad for morale'. Juryrig also looked nervous, though he was trying to put on a brave front, and Floral was literally cowering behind the black teen, terrified. Only Platinum Blonde seemed unconcerned: indeed, instead of listening she was examining her face in her compact again.

At least until Blood slapped it out of her hand.

"PAY ATTENTION YOU BUBBLE HEADED BIMBO! YOU'RE A PART OF THIS FIASCO AS WELL!" Blood roared in the metal teen's face.

"I think not!" Platinum Blonde protested in the haughty way the French can do so well. "I spent most of the mission stuck in a car! None of my so-called HIVE teammates bothered to help! How can I be of assistance when…"

"YOU WERE STUPID ENOUGH TO GET STUCK IN THE CAR IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU BUNGLING SLUT!"

"In all due faith sir, our mission was a simple robbery…" Juryrig began.

"EXACTLY! ROBBERIES ARE SIMPLE! EVEN THE RIDDLER CAN PULL OFF BANK ROBBERIES!"

"Sir it was a bank robbery. It wasn't a match against the Titans..." Juryrig tried to defend his team with.

"DID YOU ASSUME THE TITANS WERE JUST GOING TO SIT AROUND AND LET YOU ROB THEIR BANK? DID YOU?" Blood counter-bellowed. Juryrig did his best, but he still shrank back an inch. "YOU WERE THE HEAD OF THE NEW GRADUATES! NOW I THINK THAT REASON IS BECAUSE THE MOST RECENT GRADUATING CLASS WAS SO SMALL! MAYBE THE REASON YOU CAN MANIPULATE JUNK IS BECAUSE YOUR HEAD IS CLEARLY COMPOSED OF NOTHING BUT!"

"But sir…"

"SILENCE!" Blood screamed. "And you…" He said, turning to Floral, who cowered even more. "STOP SIMPERING! YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE ELITE HIVE, ACT LIKE IT!"

"But if I act like that you'll just get mad that I'm not terrified of your yelling…" Floral protested.

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME! WHY DIDN'T YOU THINK OF SENDING SOME OF YOUR PRECIOUS PLANTS TO GET SOME MONEY WHILE THE TITANS WERE AWAY, HENCE MAKING THIS A MESS INSTEAD OF THE UTTER COCKUP IT TURNED OUT TO BE!"

"I…didn't think…"

"NO YOU DIDN'T! YOU DON'T THINK! NONE OF YOU THINK! YOU…" Blood roared as he prepared to launch into another litany of insults.

He was interrupted as a door suddenly opened and a nameless Hive lackey ran in, breathing heavily. Blood's head swiveled to look at the interruption.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?"

"Sir…we…I…" The Hive lackey gasped.

"I have given strict orders not to be disturbed when I am punishing failures!"

"But sir…it's Scorcher…she heard and she's not happy…"

"What do I care what she thinks?"

"Sir…she wants to speak to you…"

"Later!"

"No sir, she's heading thi…"

"BLOOD!" Came a sudden female voice, and then the door the lackey had run through suddenly blew off its hinges in a blast of fire. The lackey gasped and ran away, as the six Hive members recoiled at the sudden violence. Only Blood remained unperturbed, as he looked at the wreckage of the door.

An elder teenage girl quickly walked in, dressed in a somewhat curious outfit. She wore a white shirt under a red and white corset, which wrapped around a large dark red open front dress that showed she was wearing baggy orangish red trousers, her feet covered with combat boots. Her eyes were a dark reddish brown color, and her hair could be described as fiery red considering it WAS fire, flowing down off her head like natural hair would. She was a pretty attractive girl, though she had some rings under her eyes that looked recent. She strode with the natural confidence of a leader, heading right for Blood. She did not look happy.

Though the fire girl looked strange, the two figures following her made her look almost normal. They were both girls as well. The first was notable for two things. One was her absolutely ridiculous hair. It actually looked like someone had somehow taken the stereotypical drawing of a lightning bolt, turned it upside down, and attached it to the woman's head as her hair, and yet somehow the hair worked instead of falling apart (static electricity manipulation, perhaps?). The second were her legs. They were very long, and INCREDIBLY toned. Due to the fact that she wore black biking shorts and a yellow T-Shirt with a black lightning bolt circling around the front and back for her costume, you could see every detail of the almost grotesquely developed muscles, her feet clad in special shoes that most likely helped with running. She was also fairly attractive in a cute way, with her crazy hair golden blonde and her eyes an exotic dark yellow, though she seemed both a bit nervous at Fire girl's anger and uncomfortable at…something, a vague factor that one couldn't immediately put a finger on.

And the other girl wasn't really a girl at all, as her body was made of rock. She towered over the two other girls, the feminine features slight but observable. She had straight long hair, or the closest thing to hair rock could form, glowing white eyes, and no discernable mouth. She followed Fire Girl with considerable more tranquility then Leg Girl was showing, as Fire Girl strode up and stopped right in front of Blood.

"Scorcher." Blood said, his anger still there but mostly replaced with exasperation. "Why do you continue to insist to try and undermine my authority?"

"What's this I hear about you yellin' at Rose?" Scorcher snapped back, a clear Southern accent in her voice.

"Her team failed, and she…"

"FAILED SCHMAILED! This was a bank robbery, not a combat mission!"

"That shouldn't matter!" Blood snapped back, getting angry again. "I have taken you Elementals in, I have made you a fair deal in exchange for your services, I have even given you a very generous teaching position and tolerated your outbursts with far more patience then I would allow anyone else, BUT I AM REACHING THE END OF MY ROPE!" Blood yelled.

Scorcher didn't blink, as her fire hair blazed up even more.

"Y'all lumping Rose and Antoinette in tha same boat?"

"YES!"

"You Yankie moron! Who are tha new grad-u-ates? Who ain't done any trainin' outside of combat rooms? Who are tha ones who ne'er fought tha Titans before?" Scorcher snapped, pointing at the three new Hive graduates, though she only really cared for Floral and Platinum Blonde: Juryrig just happened to be there with them.

"The Titans are at reduced strength! They should have at least escaped with SOME money if there are three less Titans then usual!"

"If I be re-collectin' right, it took just ONE of them thar Titans to take you down." Scorcher snarked. Blood's eyes narrowed, as they started to glow slightly.

"You sorely try my patience Miss Foster…" Blood growled, as he instinctively went with his brainwashing abilities, which had brought him to the dance…and then was immediately reminded of the reason he couldn't use them on Scorcher, which was not surprisingly the same reason he hadn't replaced her boldness with subservience a long time ago. Scorcher was a pyrokinetic, a fire controller, and a very strong one at that. But such strength had a cost: when Blood had first tried to control her mind, he had discovered that she needed to exert a lot of control to keep said strong fire powers in check. She had trained herself enough so that such control came naturally to her, but if her normal mental state was interrupted, say, if it was subverted by another's mind…that control vanished. And things got a lot hotter for anyone in the immediate vicinity.

So Scorcher was left with free will, and so by proxy were the other Elementals because Scorcher flipped out if Blood tried to command them. She said it wasn't necessary: she listened to him and they listened to her. Nonetheless, it pissed Blood off, but he lived with it. He might not be able to mentally command her, but there was more then one way to make a puppet dance.

"Perhaps I shall simply have the Lazarus location firebombed so no one can use it…" Blood said.

Scorcher's eyes narrowed, even as Leg Girl's eyes widened.

"No! Youcan'tdothatyoujustcan't!" She said, speaking so rapidly that it was amazing all her words didn't clump together into one mass of gibberish.

"A deal is a deal. If I'm not getting my side…why honor it?" Blood said, and chuckled nastily.

Scorcher's hair flamed up even more for a bit, and then grew subdued, as sadness briefly passed over Scorcher's eyes and then hardened into a look of disgusted resignation.

"…All right….fine….HEADMASTER BLOOD." Scorcher said, with a bit more sarcasm in her voice then Blood liked. "But I still say that you shouldn't be yelling at the newbies when the great Troika were there and they were just as useless, if not more."

"HEY! Watch your mouth you snot sniffing Sizzle wannabe!" Gizmo yelled. He hated the Elementals, always had, and he still couldn't believe that Blood allowed them to work with them. They weren't even true villains. They had once been on the other side of the fence, protecting a small metropolis known as Beach Shine City in California. They were called the Elementals because their name corresponded to their powers: each controlled an element. Back then there had been six of them, four females and two males. Floral and Platinum Blonde had been on the team, controlling plants and being metal. The girl with the incredibly muscular legs had the oh so cute name of Zippy, and she had been a non Speed Force using runner, sprinting with the power of lightning (hence her legs), at higher speeds actually becoming charged with electricity until she hit the speed of lightning, a thousand feet per second, at which point she could actually transform into a lightning bolt (it also was why she talked so fast: it was just the way she was). The female rock golem had once been a male geokinetic with the oh so original name of Rocko (creative names didn't seem to be a staple of the Elementals), until an accident had transferred his mind into a rock form that was somehow female (Gizmo didn't know the details, though he knew Rocko didn't much care for his/her transformation). And then there had been the leaders, Scorcher, a pyrokinetic…and her fiancée, a water controlling meta by the name of H-Duo.

Who had died in the same accident that had caused Rocko's current form to be.

And whose death had driven Scorcher to distraction, as she abandoned Beach Shine City, who she blamed for H-Duo's demise, and had taken the Elementals across the United States. Fate had brought them to the makeshift HIVE Academy Blood had been using while the air base was still being constructed, as Scorcher had heard that Blood might have some knowledge on the nigh impossible but doable task of reviving the dead. And to get that information, Scorcher and the Elementals had been willing to do anything, as they ripped a hole right through the academy. It had taken the combined forces of the Troika, a group of Hive graduates known as the Five (who no one spoke of any more, for various reasons), and Blood himself to beat them. But Blood hadn't killed them, oh no. Instead he saw a chance for a new group to be enslaved under his command, even if (and in a way, especially since) he couldn't mind control Scorcher due to her need to keep her fire powers in check.

Scorcher wanted a way to bring back H-Duo, and Blood knew of a way. And for her services, and the services of the Elementals, he would eventually tell her. Until then, she and her group would work under him.

And they did, but grudgingly. Hence Scorcher's outburst at Blood yelling at Floral, who Scorcher had a strong maternal bond with. Scorcher was a teacher at the academy due to her incredible power (her manipulation of flame was strong indeed), and hence couldn't accompany Floral on the mission, otherwise she would have, and now Blood was mad at her, which was a good thing as far as Gizmo was concerned as it meant he wasn't busy being mad at them…

"Despite ALL of you failing, she has a point…" Blood said.

Oh crud.

Blood was suddenly in the Troika's faces, as they recoiled away from him. Scorcher joined her two teammates, and Juryrig, having nothing against the Elementals like Gizmo did, decided he'd just continue standing among them and take advantage of the fact that Blood's focus was on the Troika now and hope it stayed that way.

"Failing is one thing, but you three HAVE MADE AN ART OUT OF IT FROM DAY ONE!" Blood bellowed. "EVERY CHANCE I GIVE, EVERY ENCOUNTER YOU HAVE WITH THE TITANS, YOU ALWAYS, ALWAYS, FAIL! IT MAKES ME WONDER WHY I LET YOU STAY HERE, WHY I LET YOU LEAD, WHY I LET YOU REMAIN BREATHING!"

"But Master Blood…" Jinx began.

"SILENCE! I AM SICK OF FAILURES, AND MOST OF ALL I AM SICK OF YOUR FAILURES! IF YOU INGRATES WEREN'T SO BLINDLY OBEDIENT, I'D KILL ALL OF YOU IN YOUR SLEEP! IN FACT, I JUST MIGHT DO IT ANYWAY! YOU'RE SO TERRIBLE, I THINK YOU GAVE ME CANCER! YES, I THINK IT IS TIME…!"

And then, suddenly…clapping.

That was not expected, even less so then Scorcher blowing the door down, as Blood, and indeed all the HIVE members, whirled at the sound of the clapping…and saw the figure leaning in the shattered doorway, a figure that glanced up from the ground and at the group as he continued to clap.

"Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous. I guess when the memo went out that a mastermind is often only as good as he treats his subordinates, you were in the can." The Jackal said, as he pushed off the wall and stepped fully into the room.

"What the…who the hell are you? How the hell did you get past security?" Blood sputtered: he did not like being caught off guard.

Jackal snorted.

"You call that security? I call that 26 seconds of my life I'll never get back." Jackal said derisively, as he slowly approached the cyborg commander of the Hive.

"Master Blood, you want me to…" Juryrig said, raising an arm to prepare to attack. The Troika was similarly getting ready for combat at the sight of the strange man who had appeared from nowhere.

"Hold it." Blood said, raising a hand. "So, you make it past security…and yet the very first thing you do is find me. That was not a smart choice, stranger."

"Intelligence is in the eye of the beholder. And speaking of beholding…" The Jackal said, as he walked a few more steps and stopped. Blood finally got a look at the intricate tattoos on the Jackal's face, and despite himself he shuddered, just a tiny bit. He may have had half his head removed, but even he didn't care for the idea of having a needle jabbed into his face so many times.

"Nice place. Well defended, massive attack capacity, fully stocked with nameless fodder and minions. I'll take it." Jackal said, as if he was discussing the weather.

"…What? You think…you can just…take my school?" Blood said, part angry and part incredulous.

"I'd prefer if you just hand it over. Save us all some time." Jackal replied.

Blood chuckled.

"Oh it's time for something, but not what you EXPECT!" Blood said, and his eyes suddenly glowed bright red. A glow that was almost immediately reflected in the Jackal's eyes.

"Man, making it past security just to become Blood's new shoeshine boy. That's rough." Mammoth said.

"Maybe if we're lucky Blood will work out his anger on him and dismiss us." Juryrig said, as the Hive students all grouped together so that if a fight broke out (though that now appeared unlikely), they wouldn't crash into each other as they all tried to get out of the way.

Brother Blood chuckled again. It had been so long since he had been able to bend someone new to his will he'd almost forgotten how good it felt.

"Now…let us properly define your role. I am your master." Blood told the Jackal.

"You are my master." Jackal replied in a monotone.

"Your only reason for living is to serve my will."

"My only reason for living is to serve your will."

"If I command you to die, you will do so immediately!"

"If I am commanded to die, I will do so immediately. Do you wish my death master?"

"Oh, no no no. I have a better idea. Bow at my feet, and then lick my boots clean."

"Yes master…" Jackal said, and got to one knee.

Blood grinned wickedly.

"And by the way, I really didn't think mind controllers talked that way. Congratulations on being a walking cliché." Jackal said.

Blood's eyes widened.

Jackal's backhand sent Blood flying across the room, where he crashed into the wall with an angry yell and a new dent in his chest.

"Funny thing about mind controllers…" Jackal said, as got up and started walking forward again. "Not many of them understand the science behind their power. They just think they're god, able to command others to do their bidding…never fully comprehending that their power is little more then a very refined and highly specific telepathy that allows them to manipulate the chemical and electrical signals in the human brain to induce the state of suggestiveness and loyalty needed for proper brainwashing and mind controlling. HOWEVER…such a power has drawbacks. Such as the fact that while controlling organic brains is one thing, controlling will itself is another. For example, controlling machines is a whole different ball game, which is probably why you stuck all that Terminator wannabe junk on you. And even if you get into that area…well, it's one thing to manipulate electrical signals and chemical functions. But…if what lies in someone's head is instead something akin to free-floating particles that still somehow maintain sentience…then control is a considerably thornier issue. And by thornier I mean impossible."

"INSOLENT CHILD!" Blood yelled as he got up, grabbing his robe and yanking it off as he prepared to fight.

"Blood, you want backup…" Scorcher said as fire exploded on her hands.

"NO! STAND DOWN! I will rip this arrogant punk limb from limb with my bare hands!" Blood yelled, as he sprinted at Jackal with great speed and thrust out a fist.

Jackal caught it.

"Been there, done that, bought the T-Shirt."

Blood roared and launched into a rapid-fire flurry of punches. His attacks could have caved in a steel wall.

Jackal dodged and blocked without any seeming affect, deflecting several blows before he grabbed both of Blood's arms and yanked them down to look him in the face.

"Are you trying to hit me, or are we just practicing for a dance?" Jackal asked.

Blood's cyborg eye glowed red and then a red bolt of power flew from it and struck Jackal in the forehead, causing him to stumble back…

Blood's hand plunged into Jackal's chest, a burst of blood coming from the wound as Blood slammed his hand right into Jackal's innards.

"A dance. Your last." Blood said, grinning again as Jackal seemed to weaken, his knees buckling…

And stopping.

"That's a bad place to put your hand."

Blood screamed as Jackal's entire torso shifted and, for a brief moment, actually became a mouth that chomped down on Blood's hand and ripped it off at the stump, even as the wound closed up and the Jackal looked up again.

"My turn to lead."

Jackal's fist transformed into a diamond club as he swung out and smashed a dent in the side of Blood's head, and then spun as his leg shifted and then jackhammered in a literal albeit crude jackhammer shape out with immense force, throwing Blood across the room again. He hit the ground and flipped over, and while he lay there for a bit Jackal approached, snapping his head back and forth, almost like he was preparing to cough something up…

Floral, Zippy, and Gizmo recoiled as Jackal's neck and jaw began to distend, distorting in a grotesque fashion. Oh yes, Jackal knew his science. And he knew how hard complicated rearranging of molecules were. It wasn't hard to shift matter from one pure state to another, but transforming one object into a completely different one was a whole different can of worms. It took a lot of training and effort to master…but when you did, the stuff you could do was truly…

Blood was up and charging again.

And Jackal reared back and spat what he had changed out like he was a cobra spitting venom. Once, it had been Blood's robot hand. But Jackal had taken the basic material and rearranged it, changing a little here, a little there, perfectly putting all the parts back together as he called it up through his body.

Hence, what Jackal spat at Blood was no longer his hand, but a small and very potent bomb. With a magnet.

It clamped on Blood's chest.

"What the hell…!"

The explosion knocked all the Hive members over even as it blew a screaming Blood out through the wall. The teens got up, coughing on the smoke and dust, barely regaining their vision to see Jackal casually following Blood out of the hole he had made.

"…I guess we should follow him?" Juryrig asked.

"Guess so." Mammoth replied.

As the Hive began their 'pursuit', an absolutely furious Blood was pushing his battered and burned but still together body up to his feet. He couldn't believe it. This was worse then that accursed Cyborg. At least he could attribute that defeat to an unexpected side effect of Blood stealing his tech and combining it with his telepathic powers, one he could have never foreseen. But this tattooed child, barely older then his students, just walking in and decimating him like he was a helpless old man rather then one of the most powerful beings on earth (though such an assessment existed mostly in Blood's mind)…such an action could not be tolerated, would NEVER be tolerated, as Blood raised his head, his eyes blazing as he looked across the outstretch of the wide outside area he had been propelled across at the Jackal, who lightly cracked his knuckles.

If Blood had been thinking clearly, he would have contacted the weapons on his school and directed them to rain hell down on the Jackal. But he wasn't thinking clearly, due to his rage and the fact that Jackal had just smashed a large dent in the side of his head, so he did the next best thing, as his arm shifted and transformed. But this wasn't a sonic cannon, this was a high-bore plasma laser, a laser he aimed at the Jackal as he charged it up.

"You want to surrender yet?" Jackal asked.

"BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS!" Blood roared. I told you he wasn't thinking like himself, though that hadn't affected his aim, as he let loose with a powerful blast of red plasma.

Jackal dodged to the side, the explosion detonating to his right, and then he charged at Blood. Blood fired again, and again, and again, but wherever Jackal was pulling his new speed it was enough to avoid his shots, as he closed in on Blood…

Who wasn't done yet. As Jackal swooped in, Blood pressed a button on the side of his laser arm.

The Hive members had all emerged to watch just as Jackal swooped in to strike…and Blood slashed out his arm, firing not this time a burst shot but a focused, concentrated laser beam that swept over Jackal.

He stopped.

The Hive watched.

And then his head fell off.

His body swiftly followed.

"…Whoa." Juryrig said.

"I guess that's why he's the master of the Hive." Jinx commented, as Blood stood up over Jackal's body, a fierce grin on his face at his victory.

"So! You thought you could just walk in and take my school from me! You inferior punk! I am Brother Blood! I am as far beyond your feeble mind as a man is beyond an ant! You never stood a…!"

Jackal's fist buried itself in Brother Blood's gut, and Blood screamed, first in pain, and then again as Jackal's headless body got up, his other arm reaching out and seizing his fallen head by the hair.

"You know what they say…about assumption." The Jackal said as he placed his head back on his stump like it was the most casual thing in the world. Brother Blood looked at him in absolutely disbelief. Jackal smirked cruelly.

"You make an ass out of U and Umption"

Jackal's fist within Blood began to glow.

"…whoever the hell he is."

The explosion blew Blood high into the air, screaming all the way, but even as he flew up Jackal knelt down, power crackling on his legs, and then he leapt up after Blood, following him up, catching up in a second even as he fired off a powerful uppercut that caught Blood in the face and sent him even higher, even as whatever power the Jackal had used to propel himself upward continued to do so.

"Watch this trick!" Jackal said, even as he spun and smashed Blood with another uppercut. "Open part of my body, take the average beam of light, seal it in as I change my insides to a complex series of mirrors, carefully refract the beam over and over and over to increase power…" Jackal said, even as he kept knocking Blood higher and higher with blow after blow. "Add a few special tricks I know, and presto!"

Jackal gave himself a final boost to draw himself level with Blood, even as his chest began to shift.

"You know, if you'd just given me your school, I would have gladly made you a partner. But you had to be your own man. Well, enjoy your independence!" Jackal said, and lightly slapped Blood on the chest. "And your trip."

And the Jackal snapped open his chest, and the beam of light that he had been speaking off, carefully manipulated and changed, flew out, now a gigantic blast of heat and impact, which struck Blood and blew him off into the horizon, the cyborg screaming all the way.

And then the special chemical Jackal had left on Blood's chest via the slap detonated as well, as Blood's form vanished in an explosion off in the distance, the scream abruptly ending.

Jackal landed back on the Hiveathanas, his knees bending slightly at the impact, and then he looked up upon the Hive students, whose expressions ranged from surprised to shocked to impressed to amazed to horrified to various combinations of the five.

Jackal straightened himself, brushed his coat off, and brushed his hair out of his face, as he lifted an arm and gestured in the direction where the final explosion had been.

"Will anyone attempt to fill his shoes?"

Silence.

"Uh…what did you say your name was?" Gizmo asked.

Jackal smirked.

"I am the Jackal!" He declared.

"Uh…ok! All hail the Jackal! Jackal!" Gizmo chanted. Everyone looked at him oddly. "You want him to use us for fodder?"

"Oh yeah yay Jackal/Master Jackal/We love you/Hail The Jackal!"

Jackal chuckled to himself. He definitely liked this world.

To Be Continued