Disclaimer: I am making no money from this, just enjoying a sense of escapism from an ordinary life

Scene Five

The shrill tone of the Teen Titans' theme music sounded out in the giant T-shaped building in which the five heroes lived. Robin, as always wearing a black mask over his eyes and sporting gelled black hair and a yellow cape, attentively attacked the computer console that had made the alert. Pretty, green-eyed, red-haired alien Starfire peered over his shoulder looking vaguely confused in the nicest way possible. Raven, in her dark blue cape and bobbed haircut, looked up from where she was reading a spell book. Cyborg and Beastboy even paused their Game Station game to hear what Robin had to say.

"Its Slade," Robin stated pretty much needlessly. "He's up to no good again, in a place called Bayville…"

"Never heard of it," the giant bionic Cyborg pointed out.

"That's not the point Cy, Slade is our responsibility and we have to go head him off," Robin argued righteously.

"Cyborg never said he didn't want to go," Raven pointed out calmly, "Just that he'd never heard of this 'Bayville' place. Obviously we have to go and investigate."

"Obviously," green and furry miniature animorph Beastboy repeated sarcastically. "Thanks Raven, just 'cause you're not two rounds away from beating Cyborg for like the first time ever!"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Cyborg boasted with a cheesy grin, "You'll never beat me BB!"

"Perhaps now would be a good time for us to go to this Bayville?" Starfire asked Robin quietly, as in the background Beastboy took offence at Cyborg's attitude and leapt to attack his teammate whilst in the shape of a T-Rex.

"I think so Star," Their leader replied, smiling at his pretty counterpart, "Titans, roll out!"

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"Our first break-in together," Blaze whispered into the sub-darkness, "How sentimental."

"Yeah, I'm wellin' up," Gambit replied sarcastically, lifting a glowing playing card to light their way. Not to be outdone, Blaze shook her head, releasing a flurry of tiny fireballs like fairy lights to light up the massive subterranean cavern they were in.

"Which way?" Blaze asked, looking round at the broken scaffolding and torn electronics, leftovers of the Sentinel project. Gambit leant over a railing and looked down over the drop. It was a very long way down. Pocketing his card he looked round for any kind of way to cross the schism. There was none that he could see. Thoughtfully he took his staff weapon from his pocket, and attached a gadget to one end with a screw motion. Blaze watched, fascinated, as he scouted upwards to the roof of the chamber. He just hoped he had a long enough length of rope, or this expedition would be over very quickly.

Targeting what he hoped was a swelling in the ceiling of the chamber, Gambit let rip with the gas-propelled grappling hook and line. The hook punctured a way into the bedrock above and then opened out, locking securely in place. The staff part of his gadget made a handle in Gambit's grip. He climbed up onto the broken rail and swung his long legs over the other side. Only then did he look back to Blaze and ask if she was coming. To her credit, Blaze never even looked down or gave the rope a tug to see if it would hold both their weight. She just climbed over after him, and put her arms around his neck. Together they kicked off the gangway and swung out over the seemingly endless darkness beneath them.

Without warning they were abruptly pitched to land on another platform not unlike the one they had just left. The rope clicked and came away from Gambit's staff, and the two X-Men skidded across the grated floor to land in a heap together. Blaze's little firelights flickered out as her attention was dragged away from keeping them burning, plunging them both back into darkness.

"Um, Cherie?" Gambit inquired inquisitively, a disembodied voice in the pitch black.

"Sorry," Blaze replied, lifting her hands and creating more fae fires to light the way. They danced in her palms between the Cajun and the English girl. They were a tangle of limbs, faces so close together they were breathing the same air. The little lights made the situation cosy, maybe even romantic, and certainly not uncomfortable.

"You gettin' used to your Guardian-powers?" Remy asked, touching one of the little flames with a finger. It writhed as though he tickled it, but didn't burn him. Blaze dropped her eyes, thinking of Ilehana and the life she had sacrificed so seven X-Men could become more powerful than they had ever imagined. It somehow involved the rebirth of ancient entities called the Guardians of Destiny in the bodies of the X-Men Storm, Logan, Cyclops, Jean, Golan, Iceman and Blaze. They represented the Guardians of Air, Metal, Energy, Thought, Earth, Water and Fire respectively.

"Yes. Not that I want to," Blaze sighed. "It's like what happened when I got my powers in the first place. In order for me to have this amazing gift, people I care about have to suffer and die. It doesn't seem like a fair trade to me." She shook her head and got to her feet, leaving Gambit to follow her. Before he could offer her any words of consolation she spoke again, "Have we far to go?"

"Not far," Gambit pointed ahead to where a doorway loomed, its door hanging on to the frame by a single hinge. Yellow scene of crime tape was strewn across the opening. "Jus' in there, we'll find what we're lookin' for."