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I hate to do this, I really do, but I have been reading the guideline thingy, and I realize technically responding to reviewers like I do is on the borderline, so I can't do it anymore, I can't lose this story, so I will now give special thanks to all the readers and a even more special thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter:
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Thanks again reviewers and hope the support continuesfor the rest of the story!
PRESS CONFERENCE
DAY AFTER JULIE'S ASSAULT
CITY HALL
JUMP CITY
"Members of the press, I am here to answer all questions relating to the events of the past fourteen hours," Mayor Hartwell told the members of Jump City's press who had gathered to ask questions. "You, what's your question?" Hartwell pointed to a reporter who looked up a little surprised at being picked.
With a shaky voice the reporter asked, "Was the death of the police chief related to the death of the killer known as the Specialist and his two men?" the man said this as he looked back at the mayor in fear, not knowing how the mayor would react or if he would live to publish any article. Reporters were the first group to be persecuted after Hartwell took over. If one asked too many questions or the wrong question, then he or she may show up dead a few days latter after having a car accident or getting mugged and then killed or in some cases worse things would happen.
"No, his death was not related to our dear chief of police who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, his death had nothing to do with the Specialist's death," Hartwell answered with a smile. "You, what's your question?" Hartwell said pointing at a female reporter who also was kind of scared, but not as scared as the last man.
"What do you think motivated the Guardian to kill the Specialist and thugs, do you know what was so special about this girl?" she asked.
Hartwell looked seriously at the assembled press but smiled inside, he had bribed the reporter to ask that specific question. "From what I have heard from the police department, from what I have read about the murdered girl and Guardian and from what they do, we are speculating that the girl might have been a prostitute and Guardian might have been her main customer. However, after she became pregnant, Guardian may have felt guilty and continued to give her money but for the baby not for his own pleasure, we have been tracking Guardian's meetings with this girl ever since he joined the Titans and noticed he gave her money for baby food and diapers. The baby is three months old and the mother of the murdered girl says the child was taken away to be given to somebody's porch or house, so we can't find the baby. So that is what we think lead to Guardian snapping like he did and killing those people, to avenge his girl," Hartwell said somberly. However inside he was jumping up and down with happiness, he was destroying Guardian's reputation. The reporters eagerly wrote down his statement and by three in the afternoon everyone in Jump City would think Julie had been a whore and Guardian was a hustler.
TITAN'S TOWER
Their was dead silence in the room when they watched the press conference. All four Titans were on the couch watching TV, it was ten in the morning, everyone had a long night and woke up at nine. By ten they sat down to watch some TV before preparing for their first battle when the news conference came on.
"The bastard," Darkness said to break the silence, anger in her voice.
"He has no regard, no respect for a dead woman, twisting the past, I think we flex some of our muscles," Robin said quietly as he stood up.
"What do you mean?" Fireteen asked, she too was upset and wanted to get back at the evil mayor who continued to attack Guardian.
Guardian had yet to speak, he really didn't know what to say or even do, "Damn, he can't track the child, can he?" Guardian thought, two hours earlier he had given the baby to his family for safe keeping. "The suburbs are safe, out of his reach even if he could find her," Guardian told himself.
Robin walked in the room with a very advanced laptop and a small video camera; he sat it down on the table, so it faced all the Titans. He then pushed a button and a microphone came out, Robin closed the blinds, so the bright sun couldn't come in and the automatic lights came on, only dimmed in a way to make the room look almost sinister.
"What are you doing?" Guardian asked Robin who continued pushing buttons and setting up the room to make it look even darker, he was speaking for the two girls who also looked at him in surprise and curiosity at what he was doing.
"Since the war has finally begun, Hartwell has fired his first shot, so now we fire our own and flex our own muscles," Robin explained.
"What muscles?" Darkness asked.
Robin smiled and said, "When we get on air let me do the talking and trust me," he told his teammates.
"What channel?" Guardian asked, trusting Robin completely.
"Every TV channel and radio station in Jump City, no one will be able to not hear this, you see, ever since I found out, all last night, I have been preparing for this first attack, and the mayor has worked right into our hands," Robin said to the group.
"How?" Fireteen asked, still not understanding exactly.
"Don't worry, just let me talk and I will make it right, alright, let's set up. Fireteen stand directly behind the leather couch and make a fire aura around yourself, you know what I am talking about right?" Robin asked. Fireteen nodded and her back, shoulders, arms, and hair looked like they grew fire, but of course it didn't hurt Fireteen. "Alright, Guardian, stand next to me with your arms crossed and just look like you usually do, that's intimidating enough, and Darkness stand to my left and also cross your arm and make a black aura around yourself, got it guys?" Robin said. Everyone nodded an affirmative. "Alright then, get in position," Robin said as he grabbed the computer and walked to the leather chair. He set up the camera on the table, had it face the group, got them in position, had the camera focused and set up a twenty second countdown so the team saw when they would be on air.
The twenty seconds passed with silence and when they were on every TV set in Jump City and could be heard on every radio in the city, Robin began by saying darkly, "Hello Jump City. My name is Robin, I am the leader of the New Teen Titans, the soon to be saviors of this city. Many of you have no doubt heard about the preposterous declaration by that bastard Hartwell that our Guardian hires prostitutes and that girl was a prostitute. The fact is Hartwell wants to ruin our reputation because he knows the Titans can and will clean this city from evil. For instance, the reporter who asked the question was bribed," Robin pushed a button and two voices were heard on the telephone, the voices were clearly the mayor's and the reporter's and they were discussing the terms for asking that question. "So the mayor wanted that question for a good reason, to ruin my teammate's reputation and the reputation of a brave young woman who gave so much to her daughter and worked hard despite having such disadvantages of being a teenager and living with a terrible mother in the North Side. Now Hartwell hasn't given up trying to prevent my team from becoming active in the field, he tried to arrest a Titan for nothing. Four hours ago, a JCPD boat with three officers came demanding we hand over Guardian so he could be educated on the wrongs of his ways, a.k.a they wanted to brainwash him and break my team before we could begin our battles for freedom. However, I have bad news for the mayor and his puppet police officers, Titans Tower is not part of the United States or Jump City, it was, twenty years ago but not today. You see, after the first group of Titans disbanded, the government gave complete ownership to the surviving original Titans, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Cyborg. They decided to give ownership of the island to the Justice League, so if the mayor wishes to raid or shut down this Tower, he needs the Justice League's permission. So Hartwell, my message to you, stop your damn lies and propaganda, stop destroying the name of a brave young woman just to strengthen your falling position as king of Jump City, and never attack my teammates with false allegations ever again or else I will talk to Jump City again. I will say this, if Mayor Hartwell or any of the crime lords wants a war we will give him a war, and I will announce that our first war will be in the North Side, we have found out the brave young woman was found and killed because of the crime lords and gangsters over there, so we will teach them a lesson and justice will be served. Thank you again Jump City, and don't worry, the Titans are coming," Robin said with a faint smile as the connection was broken off.
"Damn that was powerful," Fireteen thought as she turned off the aura and smiled at Robin. The other Titans also smiled at Robin and congratulated him on his success.
"Thanks guys, now we get to business, Guardian, look for possible North Side allies, and Fireteen, scout the area to see if you notice any gang build ups in that section of the city. I have to check something with Darkness then we will get to work too," Robin explained.
Everyone nodded in agreement as they went their separate ways.
INFIRMARY
TITAN'S TOWER
Robin's hands shook as he held the freshly printed paper in his hand.
"So this has the name?" Darkness asked.
"Yes it does," Robin said quietly as he held it, not looking at the name in the folded paper. He handed Darkness the paper and said, "You should read it."
Darkness slowly took the paper, unfolded it, and then dropped it on the floor. "WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she actually began crying.
Robin had never seen her like this before, picked up the paper and he too was dumbfounded, all it said was ROBIN. "Which Robin? It said this happened 20 years ago, it could be the first Robin, or even my dad!" Robin thought. (Damn it's hard to write about three Robins)
He went to her and made her bury her head on his chest and cry, he whispered for her to pull herself together and said, "We will figure this out, but right now we have work to do, we will find out what happened but please lets deal with Hartwell first," he said quietly to her.
"Don't tell anyone else about this," Darkness said, not knowing how low Guardian would think of her or how much Fireteen would bother her about it.
"Don't worry, we have to find out together, no one else," Robin said quietly as he wiped some tears off her face.
"Thank you," she murmured as she followed him out of the infirmary.
NORTH SIDE
RICH NEIGHBORHOOD
The North Side was unique because half of it was considered the slums, the poorest place in the city, yet the second half, was where the richest citizens lived, they were constantly seeing each other but never getting close. Simply because the slums were poor and their rich neighbors didn't want to "degrade themselves" by talking or loving a "slum girl" or "slum boy."
James Carter, was one of those few people who fell for a "slum girl," he fought the system, in secret, and lost in the end, or so he thought. "Why did she leave me? What happened to our love? Doesn't she remember those nights? Doesn't she remember how I made her scream and how she made me moan? What happened to our love," those thoughts haunted the young man as the days went on. He hadn't seen her for eleven months and it killed him, he was cut off from the world, from everything, he just did his work and read a book, never reading the newspaper and rarely watching TV. He was out getting groceries for his mother when Guardian came to his house.
Guardian knew he couldn't risk going through the front door, he snuck into the house and met James's mother in the kitchen, she was startled by the man dressed in black. "Sorry to startle you, my name is Guardian and I am a Teen Titan doing an investigation.
"Yes, yes, I heard your comments, bless you really, that Hartwell is an evil man who needs to be beaten," the mother said, ignoring the investigation part of Guardian's brief introduction.
"Thank you very much, but I need some help for an investigation," Guardian said kindly.
"Of course, but how can I help you?" James's mother asked the superhero.
"Have you noticed any change in your son's behavior over the past year?" Guardian asked.
James's mother stood their, silent as she remembered and she said, "Why yes I did. You see my boy, James for a period of five or six months was just out of this world, he was dancing around, smiling, using poetry, very optimistic, just very jolly. I suspected it was a girl, because his father acted the same when we went out, however he never told me who. However, out of the blue, he just became the opposite, for the past ten months he has been down, pessimistic, no longer outgoing, he is losing friends and just writes and reads in his room. He doesn't even know what's happening in the world! He doesn't watch the news or even look at a newspaper!" James's mother explained.
"Fascinating," Guardian responded as he made mental notes. Guardian felt very bad now, "He will be devastated when he finds out," Guardian thought. "When will he be back, I need to ask him questions too," Guardian asked.
"He should be here any minute now," as if on cue the front door opened and James walked in with grocery bags. He put them down quickly and stared at Guardian in awe and surprise at what he was doing at his house. James was the same age as Julie, long, sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and a boyish face. He wasn't that physically built and seemed to be very pale.
"Who is this?" he asked his mother politely.
"Ah, this is the new Teen Titan Guardian, he is investigating something and wanted to ask you questions," his mother explained to him in a kind voice. "You know Guardian, you could just knock," she said.
"You see, I could be watched and I don't want you to get hurt, so please for your own safety you mustn't tell anyone I was here," Guardian warned the son and mother.
They nodded in agreement, "Good, now lets go to this room and talk alone James," Guardian said as he lead Jams into a sitting room. Guardian closed the door and told James to sit down. James did just that.
"What are you investigating?" James asked Guardian.
"You, I am investigating you," Guardian told him.
"What did I do?" James asked scared.
"Nothing, I am investigating if you can fit a role I want you to have, I know about you and Julie," Guardian decided to drop the bombshell right their.
"Have you seen her?" James asked excitedly.
"I used to see and help her," Guardian responded, hating himself for toying with him although he didn't want to.
"Where, let's get her and discuss this!" James said as he jumped up.
Guardian pushed him back down and went to his knee and said, barely holding back tears, "I am so sorry to say this, but Julie was murdered last night," James fell limp in shock.
"Dead, no, we were supposed to be together forever, my Juliet can't be dead!" James thought as anger rose in him. "No, no, she can't be dead," James said in disbelief.
"I swear she is dead, I saw her die and I avenged her death myself, with my own hands," Guardian said as he showed his hands to James.
"Why did they kill her?" James asked still upset and numb.
"They thought killing her would weaken me to the point of killing me," Guardian said.
"Why is that?" James asked.
"I used to help her," Guardian responded.
"How? What happened to her?" James asked, he wanted answers before he cried the night away.
"Do you know why she broke up with you and abruptly ended your relationship," Guardian asked.
James suspected what Guardian was going to say, but he told himself it couldn't be true, "No, I don't know," he answered the question.
"She was pregnant with your daughter, the daughter was born and is now under my care, as she instructed me before she died," Guardian explained.
"Why didn't she tell me?" James said as he stood up and stared out the window.
"She wanted you to get a job, go to college and then she hoped you would come back and get her and then take her to a bright future, but she knew if you were burdened with a child at your age, your reputation and aspirations would be lost. If it became known you were in love and impregnated a "scum girl" then you could have kissed college good bye," Guardian explained.
"Damn it, why is she dead!" he said as he fell into tears.
Guardian comforted him until the tears stopped and then he said, "If it makes you feel better, tell me about her, tell me about your time with her," Guardian said to James.
James sat down, reflected, and began, "She was a punk who never took advice from anyone. One of my friends's tried asking her out, but she messed with him so much he went out on a vacation for a week just to forget her, since she let him on and just slapped him in the end. I then tried and we fell in love, we had great times but now I think we made mistakes. I thought I knew everything, but look at me now Guardian, I am full of guilt and am crying on the floor, yet I feel I cannot be held responsible, because she fell in love first and I followed. I still can't remember why the hell we thought we were wise and never surrender our love. I never thought back then she or even I would die from those sins we committed, not religious sins, but terrible social sins that, if they came out would destroy us completely. How can I weep, God damn it, I shouldn't weep, she fell for me first, it was her, and I followed suite. She told me to wash my hands clean of her, she told me never to talk about her again, and I did and it has been destroying my social and family life. Damn it, don't make me responsible for this Guardian, she was the one who fell in love, I can't raise a child on my own, I can't my mother, bless her soul would be devastated if she found out," James said quietly as he reflected at his present predicament and how he would solve it.
Guardian put an arm on James's shoulder and said, "I have no idea what must be tearing you apart right now, I can't even imagine what you must be going through, but don't worry about the baby, she has a family and I am offering you a chance to be part of this family.
"How?" James asked his daughter was all was left of his love; he had to be with her to keep his sanity and keep his will to live.
"You can't be the child's father, because that important role has been given to me, but I would like you to be the baby's uncle, her main uncle, her best friend and mentor," Guardian explained.
"I can do that," James said, "Where does she live and what's her name?" James asked.
Guardian gave the info and said, "Her name is Maryam," and James nodded thoughtfully.
"I like the name a lot, means Mary in Arabic right?" he asked.
"Yeah, it does," Guardian said smiling at James who smiled back.
"Well I guess you're my brother now," James said as he shook Guardian's hand firmly.
"I guess so, I guess so," he said with a smile.
"For your own safety and your mothers don't tell anyone I was here," Guardian said as he snuck out slowly. He had to attend the first ever Titans War Council at the main room in the Tower…
This was a setup chapter, more action next chapter, which will be called: Crazy Game of Poker