Gotham City Concerto
A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald
Opening Notes: Chapter on is here! I knew going into this story that the chapters would be shorter, and therefore the update times will get more frequent. This one is about half the size of the smaller Cantata chapters, so it should be a fun, easy read. Answers to your questions abound in this one, so read on, and review at the end, eh?
Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans, but I make a mean chocolate cream pie.
Chapter One - Brothers
Sunlight filtered in through the mini-blinds that covered the windows of the upstairs flat that Tim Drake was sleeping in. He moaned slightly as he sat up, still not used to sleeping on the futon that Dick had provided him with. Looking about the large room, he sighed and reflected on how he had come to be here.
Dick had come back to him, and covered both of them with his cape to protect them as best he could from the explosion. When the factory had blown up, they had both been lifted from their feet and literally hurled through the far wall. From there they had flown several yards until they landed past the fence, on the steep embankment behind the warehouse they had been in. A quick tumble down that, and they were floating in the Sprang River.
Tim found out all of this later of course, since he had been unconscious the whole time. He hadn't come to until Dick had fought the current of the river enough to swim them to shore, somewhere near New Town. After that, it had been Tim's turn to play hero.
Half dragging, half carrying Dick, he had pulled them all the way to Dr. Thompkin's clinic, where he had broken in the back and waited in one of the rooms until she showed up in the morning. He had done what he could before she got there to treat both of their wounds, and their hypothermia, but he knew they wouldn't have make it much longer if she hadn't gotten there when she did.
Half way through stitching up the cut in Dick's head where the Joker had smashed him with the crowbar, he woke up and ordered them not to tell Bruce where he was. Tim shuddered now, remembering the cold look in the recently unmasked man's eyes.
"Don't tell Bruce, or Starfire where I am." Robin's eyes were flat, cold, and dead, "I don't want to be found... not yet."
"But... Dick... come on man, you don't want to see Starfire?" Tim gaped at him.
"No... I..." Robin looked away, "I need to go away for awhile... I'm... going to quit. As of now... I'm not Robin any more."
"But... Dick..."
"No, Tim." he shook his head.
"At least let me tell Bruce you're alive." Leslie said.
"... Fine. But tell him... not to tell the others... I'm not going back to this... I just... don't think I can do it."
"And what about me, huh?" Tim shoved past Leslie and grabbed Robin roughly by the shoulder, making the other boy wince, "You promised to train me to be a Titan if we lived through all of that, and we did! You made a promise, Dick, and you can't just go back on your word now! You need to keep being Robin so I can learn to... to..." Tim loosened his grip and gasped as tears came to his eyes, "God, Dick... you can't just quit like this..."
"I'll train you." came Robin's soft reply, "But I'll train you as Dick Grayson... not as Robin."
Tim's hands fell off of Robin's shoulders, and he stumbled back and fell into a chair, "I'm not giving up." he mumbled, "You can't quit..."
Leslie looked back and forth between the two boys, sighed, and went back to work.
Tim looked down at the empty futon next to him and frowned. Dick was already up. Getting out of bed, he quickly pulled on some loose training cloths and dashed to the bathroom. Once he was done there, he jogged lightly up the steps from the large, open, second floor studio living area of the three story building they were living in, and into the upper floor, that contained all the training equipment.
As he had expected, Dick stood on a the matted floor in the center of the gym, going through a slow Tai-Chi routine. It was one Tim knew, having been learning it for over a month now, so he jogged over and fell into pace with Dick quickly.
"Morning." the former boy wonder said.
"Morning." Tim replied, "You really shouldn't be up doing this kind of stuff you know."
"As I've told you every morning for the past month, Tim, I'm fine. Bruised ribs and mild concussions are something I had to get used to."
"Still... if you're serious about quitting, then you need to start taking it easy."
"I am serious about quitting." Dick replied, "But I'm also serious about training you."
"Then why are you always up so early, in here, training yourself?"
"I was hoping that you'd take the hint and stop sleeping in so late." Dick replied with a half smile. Tim felt his face redden.
"Oh."
"I'll just kick you until you wake up from now on." Dick smirked again, "Foot forward another few inches. There you go."
Time passed quickly that morning, as Dick put Tim through his paces with flexibility training, conditioning, gymnastics, and aerobics. As lunch time approached, Tim flopped back into a large mat and gasped for breath.
"Hmm." Dick walked over and frowned down at him, "Your lung capacity is still a little limited. After combat training I want you to go out and run."
"How far?" Tim asked as he sat up.
"I dunno." Dick shrugged, "Just leaved when we're done with training and be back by 10:00. Don't stop running."
"You just want me to run for four hours?"
"Yeah."
"Are you trying to kill me?"
"No, but some gang banger with a gun probably will be, and if you can't stay ahead of his bullets, you're going to be one dead vigilante. You run."
"What are you going to do?"
"I was thinking about catching a movie. I haven't been in a while."
"I hate you."
"Sure." Dick offered a hand and a smile, "Let's go get some grub."
Grand Valley, West Virginia was defiantly no Gotham City, but it had a down home kind of charm that Dick loved. With a population of only 12,000 people, it wasn't by any means a large city, but it was large enough to house two high schools that held a bitter football rivalry, and a single hospital that catered more to injuries sustained at the local paper mill and furniture manufacturer than it did to gun shot wounds.
As much as Dick loved it, Tim hated it. Nothing interesting ever really happened, and the highlight of the week was when most stores were open until 9:00 instead of 8:00. Of course his dislike of the town could have extended from the rigorous and endless training cycle that Dick had him on, but he chose to ignore that fact.
The fist floor of their building housed the Fitroli Family Eatery. Run by kindly old Mr. and Mrs. Fitroli, it was the best place in town for Italian food. Since all they had to do was walk down the steps to eat there, and they ate there for free, Dick and Tim found them selves eating a lot of pizza and ravioli.
The building it's self was owned by Halley Enterprises, and the restaurant space leased out to the Fitroli's at a rather extravagant discount. The space above had remained unoccupied until just a month and a half before when Dick and Tim had moved in.
Tim had been confused by all of it until Dick (laughing the whole time) had explained that he actually owned Halley Enterprises, and the building was just a safe house he'd bought even before he'd left Gotham. Since Bruce was aware that he was alive and simply seeking solitude, he felt okay using his line of credit provided by the billionaire to purchase the necessary equipment to conduct Tim's rigorous training.
Now they found themselves sitting in a window booth scarfing down spaghetti and slurping down soft drinks.
"You know," Tim said between bites, "if I'm training like this, I should probobly be eating better..."
"Feh." Dick waved it off, "You're a growing boy, and your metabolism is getting more rapid by the day. Anything you eat right now will give you energy."
"Whatever you say." Tim shrugged and took another huge bite.
"So you were telling me about this girl back home over lunch yesterday..." Dick said after a few silent minutes of stuffing their faces.
Tim blushed a little, "Oh, yeah. Well, Darla's great and all, but I don't think I'm quite ready for a girlfriend yet. I mean, I'm not quite fourteen yet, and... hey, when is your birthday?"
"First day of spring." Dick replied as he munched down more noodles.
"March 20th." Tim stared at him, "You didn't tell me."
"I could barely move." Dick pointed out, "And besides, eighteen isn't that big a deal-"
"You turned eighteen?" Tim looked flabbergasted, "That makes you legally an adult now! How is that not a big deal?"
"I've been driving motorcycles since I was twelve Tim, and dodging bullets just as long. I grew up a long time ago."
"I guess, but still... we could have given you a cake or something..."
"You can suprise me next year." Dick rolled his eyes, "You almost done? I want to see if we can teach you a little bit of Kallari today."
Tim looked at him blankly, "What the hell is that?"
"It's a style indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. Come on, I'll give you the history while we set up."
By 6:00 P.M. Tim was able to perform flawlessly ten of the twelve major attack routines of Kallari. Dick was impressed, as he always was, with the young man's progress. Tim had a fair amount of natural athleticism, but not nearly as much as he himself did. What set Tim apart was that he was a quick study, learning to execute the moves perfectly in just a few tries.
"So," Tim cracked his neck to both sides and rubbed the bruises on his back from where Dick and tossed him around like a rag doll, "running now?"
Dick smiled and nodded, "Running now. I'll see you back here by 10:00, okay? No later. We have a full day tomorrow."
"Right, right..." Tim rolled his eyes and they walked back down to the living area on the floor beneath the gym. Once there, Dick stripped off his shirt and headed for the shower, and Tim grabbed a water bottle from the small refrigerator and jogged off down the steps.
As he jogged out the back door of the building, he waved to Mrs. Fitroli as she cleaned some dishes. Taking off down the street, Tim let his mind wander as he jogged.
Dick seemed really serious about quitting. After many long talks with him about it, Tim had pieced together that the decision stemmed from his wish to cut himself off from any life that had anything to do with Batman.
It wasn't that Dick hated Bruce, but he hated the concept of forever being seen as Batman's side kick, or as a second rate hero, always being compared to the man that came before him. He had said it best himself when he had pointed out over dinner just three nights ago, "I'm not Robin any more. Not in the sense that I quit, but in the sense that that's jut not who I am any more. I've grown into someone different... and I need some time to figure out who that is without my friends and family pressuring me into another roll I don't want to fill."
Which was why Starfire and the rest of the former Titans hadn't been informed of his survival. He had promised Leslie that he would stay 'dead' for a few months at the most, but Tim was starting to get the impression that Dick thought the only way to truly distance himself from his former identity would be to start over entirely.
He was torn from his deep thoughts by a shout coming from down an ally way. Stopping and jogging in place, he looked down into the gloom and squinted. There were sounds of a struggle coming from the darkness beyond a large dumpster.
Tim looked both ways up the street, and seeing that it was deserted, stopped jogging and started to creep down the ally in a silent manner. As he neared the dumpster, he sped up, dashed around it and came out on the other side with his hands up in a defensive posture.
His mouth fell open when he found himself staring down the edge of a wicked looking switch blade, "Hey there, kid. Saw ya' comin' and thought we might call you down here for a little chat about who kind of valuables you might have on you..." the man speaking had far too many facial piercings for his own good, and a green mo-hawk. He wore tight blue jeans that looked like they were covered with chicken grease, cowboy boots, and a filthy flannel vest with no shirt under it. His breath smelled vaguely of rotting blood.
Tim was aware then of another thug coming up behind him, this one toting a baseball bat. Swallowing hard, he starting running down a list of options in his head.
Dick stepped out into the semi-cool evening air with a sigh and started walking. Training Tim wasn't exactly hard work for him, since the young man was such a quick learner, but it did suck up a lot of the time he had wanted to be alone and to think about what he was going to do with his life.
He couldn't be Robin any more, that much he was sure of. There was no sense in him continuing to do that kind of work if he was going to forever be in Bruce's shadow. He was growing up, fighting the more difficult fights, and coming across harder challanges. He wasn't just a kid out busting gang banger head's any more. He had become a real super hero, on par with Batman, not below him. The time he'd spent in Gotham had shown him just how wrong he was about so many things.
He thought he'd moved past all of it, but every where he turned, people and events kept reminding him that he was just Batman's side kick. No criminals feared him because he was him, they feared him for what Batman would do to them if they hurt his little buddy.
He couldn't hide behind Batman's cape forever, and now... after he had shown just how badly he could screw things up with the whole fight with the Joker, he wasn't sure he wasn't sure he deserved to come out of hiding.
"It's probably better this way..." he mumbled as he walked into a small coffee shop. He'd been coming here a lot lately, with and without Tim. It was a good place to sit, drink an iced mocha, and stare at a wall while you thought about your life. As he motioned for the collage aged girl behind the counter to bring him out his usual order, he sat down at his favorite table and stretched a little.
He was feeling restless today. Not in the mood to stare at any walls, he reached over and grabbed a discarded US Weekly from the table next to him. He immediately flipped through it to the Super Hero section. The dawn of the age of Superman had brought with it many things, including the Justice League, which had brought a level of super stardom to the super heroes. Spottings and scandals appeared frequently in the papers, and there were even some tabloids devoted entirely to tracking down and taking pictures of JLA members in embarrassing situations.
Flipping past the 'Stars! They're just like US!' section he came to a part that looked like a special spread. The heading read, 'Super Heroes! They're just like US!' and featured several pictures. One was of Wonder Woman slurping on a Shamrock Shake from McDonalds, and the one next to it was Green Arrow bending down to tie his shoe. The picture next to that one however, made his eyes stick to the page.
It was a picture of Raven and Speedy, walking through the Art District park in Jump City, one on either side of a young girl, holding her hands. They were out of uniform (not surprising since the Titan's had been disbanded) and all three of them were laughing. Dick's eyes flew down to the caption.
'Raven, formerly of the now disbanded Teen Titans, and her hunky boyfriend Jason, take an evening stroll through the park with their foster daughter, Kylee Rodgers.'
Dick's eyes bulged. Speedy's real name had been used, but they didn't mention anything about him being a former Titan, so they probably didn't know who he was. The real shock came from the little girl. Raven and Jason had adopted?
No, the caption said they were just foster parents. They were taking care of a little girl though? Definitely not like Raven. Or Jason for that matter. She was far too serious and he was far too... crude. Jason hadn't stopped chasing skirts since he turned sixteen.
Maybe Raven was just a really good influence on him. Looking back to the magazine, he checked out the next picture and almost laughed. It showed Beast Boy and Cyborg walking down the street, obviously arguing over something. They both had friendly grins on their faces though, so it didn't really seem like they were mad. The caption for it read;
Also formerly of the Teen Titans, Beast Boy and Cyborg have a friendly argument as they walk to Blockbuster to rent kung-fu movies.
Yep, that sounded like Beast Boy and Cyborg alright. Robin sat back with a grin and looked to the next picture.
His mouth went dry and his hands gripped the page tightly. Smiling back at him from the magazine, was Terra. She wore a blue shirt with the Block Buster logo on it, and was handing some DVD's across a countertop to someone with suspiciously recognizable green hands. With shaking hands, Dick read the caption.
Terra, the rock wielding blond bombshell of the Titans, was recently returned from a petrified state by fellow team member Jinx. She now works a regular job just like the rest of her team mates, and enjoys handing out discounted rentals to her room mate Beast Boy.
Terra wasn't dead. And Jinx had brought her back?
"Way to go Jinx!" he said to no one in particular.
"Someone you know?"
Dick yelped and almost fell out of his chair as his head spun around to see who had just spoken in his ear. What he got for his effort was someone slapping a news paper clipping in his face.
"The hell?" Dick looked through the two small holes that had been cut in the paper and stared at the collage age looking African American man standing before him. He wore a black t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, the remains of his paper in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. He was also grinning like mad.
"I knew it." he said pointing, "You're Robin aren't you?"
Dick ripped the news paper off of his face and looked down at it. It had been cut into roughly the shape of his old mask. Looking back up, he narrowed his eyes, "What is it you want?"
"Nothing! Nothing!" the young man walked around the table and sat down opposite Dick, "I was just walking past when I saw that you were freaking out about the Titans. You looked familiar so I decided to see what you'd look like with a mask on. Low and behold, Robin, the Boy Wonder."
"Yeah, well, I'm supposed to be dead, so don't go spreading that around, okay?" Dick sighed. Civilians figuring out his identity was starting to become a habit of his, "What's your name?" he took his iced mocha from the young lady who was minding the counter as she walked over with it and handed it to him.
"Josh." he replied simply with a shrug, "And I know you're supposed to be dead. I run a news site in my spare time that keeps up on all the latest Super Hero gossip." he shook his head and frowned, "The Titans breaking up is just about the worst thing that ever happened to the younger fan base."
There was a beat of silence and Dick frowned as well, "Yeah, not to mention the thousands of people that'll probably die now that they have no protection..."
"Yeah, that too..." Josh smiled at the raven haired young man's sarcasm, "So if you're not really dead, what are you doing here?"
"Training a friend. I'm quitting."
"Ah, okay. Why?"
"Look man, I'm sure you have purely noble intentions and everything, but my life really isn't public domain. I don't need you posting this on your website and having everyone in the world find out that I'm not really dead."
"Dude, you're in hiding. Why would I blow your cover?"
"Because it'd get you a world exclusive story?" Dick arched an eyebrow.
"Naw, man. I'm not that cold."
Dick sighed and slouched back, rubbing his eyes, "I don't feel like... I'm actually Robin any more. I'm just a guy wearing the outfit of Batman's side kick."
"You moved out to Jump a while ago." Josh said, staring off into space, "Tried to get out from under Batman's shadow and be your own hero. Problem with that was, that Robin has become so closely associated with Batman, that it was impossible. Like it or not, he trained you, he raised you, and he taught you everything you know. You're not you because you made yourself Robin, you're you because he made you Robin."
Dick just stared. He knew that an outside opinion helped to see things in a different light sometimes, but this guy seemed to know way too much. Still, he listened.
"What you need," Josh continued, "is a whole new you. You can't be Robin anymore if you want to be your own man. You can't hide in Batman's cape any more."
"Wait..." Dick thought back to a case the Titan's had worked almost two years back, "A whole new me, huh?"
"Yeah." Josh smiled at him, and shook his head, "I'm rambling. Well, it was nice meeting you, but you obviously have some serious brooding to do, so I'll leave you alone. Later."
"Yeah, see ya around." Dick waved as Josh got up and walked to the door. Maybe what he needed... was to go see Starfire.
"Yeah..." mumbled, "She'll be able to-"
"Hey!" he was jolted out of his musings by the girl behind the coffee bar, "That guy didn't pay for his drink!"
Dick blinked once, looked at the empty mug of coffee on the table across from him, and groaned. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a few bills, "I got it..." he called to her.
It only took Tim five seconds to evaluate his options and decide on a course of action.
"You guys are going down." he grinned at the knife wielding thug and feinted to the left.
The guy made the stab to stop Tim's forward movement, but suddenly he wasn't there. Tim moved quickly to the right and put his back to the thug, wrapping his right arm around the guys knife arm. He jerked the guy to the side as the mugger with the bat swung a vicious downward chop at his head.
The bat connected solidly with the knife thugs head, causing him to drop the blade. It fell right into Tim's waiting hand, as he lashed out with a high kick, catching the bat thug in the chin and sending him reeling. Shoving backwards, Tim pushed the knife thug into the wall and stabbed the blade through one of his large ear rings and into a crack in the mortar of the building the dumpster was shoved against. Turning away from the now trapped mugger, Tim charged the other one, who was still dazed from the kick.
Jumping high, he delivered two swift kicks, one with each foot, to the thug's left ear, sending him back again with a howl of pain. Landing, he threw several light punches into key pressure points, knocking the guy down to his knees. With a final powerful follow up kick to the man's face, he put him down for the count.
Breathing heavily, Tim turned back to the man he had pinned to the wall and grinned, "Now, are you going to try to mug any more kids out for a run?"
"N-no!" the thug was desperately tugging at the knife, trying to free himself, "We'll go back to school and everything! I promise!"
"Good." Tim nodded and walked back to the mouth of the ally amid the thug's cries for help.
"Come on, man! You can't just leave me like this! You can't be that cold, dude! DUDE!"
Tim looked both ways down the street, and started jogging in place. Leaning down, he picked up the water bottle he'd discarded before heading down the ally. Taking a quick sip, he turned right and continued his jog.
Dick walked along the main drag of down town Grand Valley, hands in his pockets to ward of the chill, and shoulders hunched against the light wind. His black leather jacket didn't seem to be offering much protection tonight.
As he walked, he thought about what Josh had said. Could he really reinvent himself so quickly? He had been Robin for so long... could he do the job as someone else? It already felt weird enough not having his mask on. He'd have to get another one. And where was that damn ringing coming from?
Looking up he saw that he was just across the street from a bank. The alarm was going off. Glancing left and right, he noted that there didn't seem to be any police cars roaring up the street.
A split second decision was made, and Dick walked purposefully across the street. As he neared the pickup parked outside the bank on the street, three men hustled out the front doors. They were all wearing black ski masks, and each one held a sack full of what he was guessing was cash.
As the fist man wrenched open the passenger side door and clambered in, the second ran around to the driver side. The third jumped into the bed and, tossing down his sack of money, picked up a sub machine gun.
The driver had yanked open his door and started to climb in Dick grabbed his shoulders. A quick knee to the kidney sent the robber to the ground, gasping for breath. The thug in the passenger side looked on with wide eyes, barely able to shout out a warning before Dick had grabbed the top of the doorframe and swung both his legs through the cab, slamming his feet into the man.
As the passenger smashed through the window of the truck and out on to the side walk in front of the bank, the third robber turned and started blowing bullets through the rear window of the cab. Dick flattened himself across the seat, avoiding he bullets by inches. As the gun man stopped firing and pointed the barrel down inside the cab to get a better shot at him, Dick reached out and grabbed the weapon. Yanking down on it, he slammed the thug's face into the top of the truck three times before he left go of the gun and fell back.
Quickly pulling himself out of the truck, Dick lashed out with his left foot, catching the driver across the face where he was standing up in the street. Using the momentum from his roundhouse kick, he swung himself up into the bed of the truck and crouched as the gun man stood up. As soon as the man was fully to his feet, Dick lunged forward and slugged him hard enough to send him flying off the truck and into the gutter.
Jumping from the back of the truck, Dick landed on the side walk and looked down at the thug trying to pick himself up from where he'd been kicked through the passenger side window. The raven haired teen offered him a mercy blow, and slugged him in the back of the head, sending him into unconsciousness as well.
Looking around at a job well done, Dick quickly disappeared into the shadows of the ally way next to the bank. As people started coming out, they all gasped and started asking each other who could have done something like take out three armed robbers.
Dick listened from the roof of the bank, smiling to himself.
It was 10:30 by the time Tim got back to the apartment. Dick was just unlocking the back door when he jogged up, grinning.
"Hey," Tim said as he pointed to Dick's face, what happened to you?"
Dick looked over and him and poked at the light cut on his face that he'd incurred when the glass from the rear window of the truck and been blown out, "Bank robbery." he reached out and caught Tim's hand. Pulling it up, he inspected the bruises on the younger teen's knuckles, "What happened to you?"
Tim grinned, "Mugging."
After a moment, they both busted up laughing and Dick opened the door, "After you..." he smiled.
"Thanks." Tim nodded and stepped in. Five minutes later, they were both lounging in the living area of the apartment.
"So," Tim arched an eyebrow, "Bank robbery, huh?"
"They were easy to surprise, unprepared for a vigilante, and poorly armed. It was easy." he arched his own eyebrow and nodded at Tim, "Mugging?"
"Two thugs tricked me into walking down an ally. They only had a knife and a bat, so they went down pretty quick."
"I see..." Dick eyed him critically, "You're doing better than I thought... your bravery certainly doesn't need any work... maybe we should start grappler training next week."
"Sure!" Tim looked excited, "That's be great!"
"Alright." Dick nodded, "I'm going to... uh... be gone for the weekend, so you'll be on your own for a little while. I expect you to be better when I come back."
"Gone?" Tim blinked, "Where are you going?"
"Gotham." Dick replied with a grim smile, "I need to see my girlfriend about what she saw in the future."
"Whoa kay..." Tim looked at Dick like his head was on backwards, "Did this bank robbery knock some sense into you finally?"
"Naw. Josh did." Dick grinned at Tim's even more confused look and laughed. Walking over, he ruffled the younger boys hair and slugged his shoulder, "Don't sweat it, Little Brother."
"Little?" Tim looked up from the couch he was on with a grin, "I'm only, what? Four inches shorter than you?"
"Six." Dick replied with his own grin, "And you're still twig thin, so don't think I'll be letting up on you any time so- hey!"
Tim had jumped off the couch and tackled Dick to the ground. Laughing, they wrestled and rough housed.
"Enough!" Dick cried after Tim started tickling, "Stop it, idiot!" he elbowed Tim off of him and got to his feet, brushing himself off, "I know I'm a good looking guy, Tim, but damn... I mean I've got a girlfriend and everything!"
"You were asking for it," Tim smiled up at him from the floor, "Big Brother."
Closing notes: Well, that was fun! I really like the pickup truck fight. I've had that one in my head for weeks.
Reviewers rock!
StarryRavenFire - Next chapter has more Raven/Jason/Kylee goodness. And no, Terra will not be a huge pyscho bitch in this series... I think she has a lot to repent for, and a lot to live for too. Jinx will be a big influence on her. Oh, and I agree with you whole heartedly on something else... poor, poor Gar. No booty for him.
Mint Pizza Queen - The Titans are still infor their share of grief in this story, so don't think it's going to be all warm fuzzies the whole way through. I'm evil, remember? Sorry I made you cry... I didn't really mean to, but I guess ifI'm inspiering such strong emotion, thenit's okay, right:)
Stolen Valkyrie - Since they're not super heroes any more, I'll be using the Titan's real names all through this story. I thought it was a neat little way toshow the difference in setting and mood.Kylee is actually based on a character from an anime called Mezzo. I can't remember the girls name off hand, but she's this cute, shy little girl that starts hanging out with this group of mercs after they save her durring a mission. Look for TONS of great little Kylee moments in upcoming chapters. I've got big plans for the little girl.
WHOCARES?- Appoligy accepted. :) Seriously though, did you really think I'd off Robin?Dick is like,the bestDCU hero out there!
seattleitegirl- Answers to your questions abound! Dick is alive! Tim is alive! They're training to be super heroes again! Yay! Sorry about not replying to you in the JCC epilouge, but I looked back through and you didn't have a Chapter 11 review! I just look back through my reviews to the first review of the previous chapter when I'm writing these responses, so I missed your chapter 10 review. Sorry again, and I promise I'll make an effort to get you in from now on!
cameron- Jump City Symphonywill be the final installment of this series. Sosad, I know, but I haveGCC here slated for a BUNCH ofchapters (not sure how many yet... let me think... um... at least 12 to 15 more.)mostly because they'll be shorter than the previous stories chapters were.As for the rest of your review... you should know by now that I don't give TOO many hints in the chapter previews... that'd take the fun out of reading them!
That's it for now, kids, so hit that review button after you read THIS!
Nexttime: Chapter Two - HomeLife
In which we peer into the life and times of the retiered Titans.