The two girls slowly opened their eyes. They were shocked to find they were no longer surrounded by bars. A glance around told them they were on the Titans Tower's roof...Right where they wanted to be.
"How'd we get here?" wondered Jenna.
"Who cares? We're safe...for now anyway..."
At that moment, a wind began to stir up. The girls struggled to hold their hair out of the way to see the visitors of Titans Tower. Not surprisingly, they saw the East T-Ship coming in for a landing.
"Seems we made it just in time for the start of the 'For Real' episode." Chelsey commented, standing behind her now older and taller friend.
Jenna nodded mutely, then the two stepped back. A hatch opened to admit the East T-Ship, which the two girls quickly slipped in afterwards. This action did not go unnoticed. Hardly before the two girls settled in the room, a red and white blur came their way. Instinctively, both girls flinched, but the blur stopped in front of them, materializing into Más and Menos. They blinked in confusion, looking at Jenna, then noticing the five year old at her feet.
"Hola!"
Quickly turning, they called over to the other members of Titans East.
"¡Tenemos visitantes!"
"Visitors?" Bumblebee turned back and spotted Jenna. It would take a moment for the others to notice the five year old at her feet.
"Who is this girl?"
Aqualad and Speedy both came over.
"I'm Jenna, and this is Chelsey." Jenna nodded down towards the suddenly shy girl.
Each Titans looked at her, which earned a jolt of panic from the five year old.
"And how'd you get in here?"
"Walked." came the sarcastic reply from Chelsey.
"I think they mean how we ended up on the roof." Jenna replied.
"Why ya askin' me? We were stuck at the Brotherhood base, and don't ask us where it is because we were knocked out when they brought us in, and we were scared, especially me, and then we just ended up here."
"Maybe that glow on your hands has something to do with it." suggested Bumblebee.
"Glow?"
Chelsey looked at her tiny hands, which held a faint glow of dark green. Her stomach did a somersault and she staggered a bit due to shock. After a moment, the glow vanished completely, but the five year old, still in a bit of panic, took to her heels and ran straight for the door leading to the inside of the tower. However, she was stopped by the red and white blur that was Más and Menos when touching. They had stopped right in front of her and she crashed right into them, knocking them over. All three lay sprawled out on the floor. Chelsey turned her head towards them.
"Sorry, but I'm just a nervous wreak right now."
"Calma abajo." said Más.
"That might take a bit of time there, mi amigo."
"¿Ni uno ni otro de usted es malos individuos?" asked Menos.
"No. We aren't villains."
Her hands began to glow dark green again. Out of the blue, the trash can in the room glowed green, then vanished. Six pairs of surprised eyes stared at the five year old. Now Jenna knew how they had escaped; Chelsey had unwittedly teleported them out. The girl blushed.
"I didn't do it on purpose."
"We're wasting enough time in here. Come on. You two also come."
Más and Menos got to their feet and headed towards the door, Chelsey right behind them. The other Titans East members and Jenna followed right behind them. When they entered the main room of the tower, Jenna and Chelsey, although they had seen both Titans Tower and the tower that belonged to Titans East plenty of times, it was still a shock to be standing in it.
"¡Esto es increíble!" said Menos in awe.
The two new comers watched Speedy hustle about, looking at the computer consoles near the window screen. After a moment's pause, he moved away. The two girls looked towards the flat-panel computer displays, knowing from seeing the episode that's where he'd stop next, then make a comment. Sure enough.
"Man, they've even got flat-panel computer displays. How come we don't have flat-panel computer displays?"
"Greetings, Titans!"
Dispite the fact that Jenna and Chelsey knew Control Freak would appear behind them, the two were blown off their feet just like the other titans. And like them, they all hide behind Bumblebee, who stood frozen in place while Control Freak continued.
"Your number one ne-"
The cut off cued the two girls to pop up along with the other Titans East members. Jenna popped up from behind Speedy while Chelsey popped up from between Bumblebee's hair puffs. She looked at Más and Menos a moment, then stifled a giggle. Even in real life, it's still as funny as it was on the TV screen.
"Hey! You're not the Teen Titans!" Control Freak cried out, sounding rather disappointed.
The other titans shook off their shock, and the two new comers stepped away.
"We're Titans East!"
They proceeded to introduce themselves.
"Aqualad!"
"Speedy!"
"Más…"
"…y Menos!"
"And Bumblebee!"
Control Freak, not looking impressed, turned towards Jenna and Chelsey.
"And you are?"
"We prefer to remain anonymous." Jenna replied.
Control Freak shrugged, not really bothered by this act, then turned his attention back on Titans East, who were waiting for a responce.
"Never heard of you."
Needless to say, this didn't get a good responce from Titans East.
"Never heard of us? Who is this guy?"
Unlike Chelsey and Jenna, who now went to sit on the couch and remain uninvolved with the fight that would soon occur, Control Freak seemed just slightly eager to introduce himself, although not all may have been able to tell.
"Who am I?"
He pulled out the weapon that some fans were familiar with, being the lightsaber that had four blades.
"I am Control Freak! Master of mass media! Ruler of reality! And I escaped from prison to defeat my arch-nemesii, the Titans!"
All the while that four-bladed lightsaber was being swung around.
"The real Titans!" he added.
It was then that he proceeded to name them. Chelsey and Jenna both shut their eyes, the images from the episode flashing through their minds as Control Freak named them.
"Robin-teen wonder!"
A pause.
"Raven-mistress of magic."
Second pause.
"Beast Boy-shape-shifter supreme!"
During the next pause, Jenna found herself wishing she could turn into animals.
"Cyborg-half man, half robot!"
The image of Silkie popping out of Control Freak's cannon flashed to mind.
"And Starfire-alien powerhouse."
That was the scariest moment of all in the episode, seeing Control Freak wearing Starfire's clothes. It was weird enough seeing him in the other costumes, but the two girls had voted once they both saw the episode that the Starfire get-up was the weirdest. Control Freak continued, snapping them back to reality and causing them to open their eyes.
"She's too good for Robin. He'll never appreciate her."
"Si." agreed Más and Menos.
The other Titans East members were crashed on the sofa along with the two new comers who beat them to the draw, food nearby. They were all listening in rapt attention. Finally, Aqualad broke the silence.
"You sound more like a fanboy than a nemesis."
Control Freak stuttered in responce to this. As he struggled to get a few words out, Speedy pulled out the long list of villains to search for Control Freak's name. Chelsey found herself interested in it as well. She simply wanted to find some of the Hive members, Jinx in particular. But she knew Control Freak would grab it first. Speaking of which...
"A great villain always studies his adversaries, okay?"
"Well, if you're such a bad dude, then why aren't you on their bad-guy list?"
Jenna leaned over and whispered quietly, "He's a villain, but can be dealt with easily."
Just as the words left Jenna's lips, the list was yanked away, whereafter Control Freak read aloud.
"List of Notorious Villains. Plasmus...Overload...Johnny Rancid...the Puppet King?"
Chelsey and Jenna stifled a giggle as Control Freak rounded on them.
"They only fought him once! I'm a recurring villain!"
Now he turned to Speedy, whom Jenna was sitting next to. Control Freak moved a bit closer.
"So, are you, like, the Robin of the group?"
His question was answered when Bumblebee grabbed hold and yanked him off his feet.
"No, I'm the leader of the team! And we're done talking. We're taking you back to jail."
She started to fly off, him in tow. However, he wasn't going without a fight. Slapping her hand, which caused her to drop him, he bounced like a beach ball and landed on his feet a short distance from them.
"Not so fast! I came here to enact the Ultimate Titan Challenge, and I'm not leaving until I fight the Titans!"
The Titans East members stand ready. Chelsey and Jenna remain on the couch. They know they have powers, as they can feel them. The problem is, neither have yet figured out how to work them. So they plan to just sit this one out. Speedy spoke first.
"We want to fight the titans? You got it."
"I've brought the ultimate weapons, made specifically for the real Titans. You Titan-wannabes don't stand a chance."
His weird weapon now brought out, he smiles.
"Victory will be mine."
The two bystanders tense up. It was strange to not see the game boy-like graphics pop up. The first thing Control Freak did was fire missiles. The two girls dove and took cover behind the couch. When they peeked feverishly from behind their hiding spot, they saw a hole where the titans, save Bumblebee, fell. Bumblebee had just thrown a punch and drew back. Control Freak responded by pressing one of the buttons. One of the cannon heads launched forward. Neither girl had time to yell out a warning before it split and the red sphere came out. Upon making impact with the titan, said titan found herself on the floor and stuck fast. She gave it a quick kick. No dice.
"Your efforts are futile! This atomic resistor capsule was built to defeat Starfire."
The responce to this was Bumblebbe taking out one of her stingers and she began to blast her way out.
"That woulda worked on Starfire!" complained Control Freak.
"Well, she's not Starfire."
Control Freak paused as he turned to the voice, belonging to the older girl. Once they made eye contact, both girls quickly disappeared behind the couch. He quickly ran from the room. A few seconds later, Bumblebee was free from the trap made for Starfire. She headed towards the doors, but stopped a moment to look at the two guests.
"Stay here."
"Don't worry about it. We don't plan on going anywhere."
She nodded and flew off. Once she was gone,the two girls sat in silence, at least until Jenna was lifted off her feet.
"Ahh!"
"Jenna, you're flying!"
"I am?"
She looked down. Sure enough, she was floating, her feet dangling a short distance from the ground.
"Try flying around the room."
Dispite the fact that this was her first time flying like this, Jenna felt as if she knew how to fly all along. After a moment, she landed expertly. The door suddenly opened and Control Freak came running in, followed by Aqualad. Both girls spooked. Jenna dove over the couch a second time to hide while Chelsey, in a predicament due to her now small size, ran over to the other side of the couch.
The two girls listened as shots were heard. There was a small silence, broken by a rumbling coming from the kitchen sink. The next noise was that of Control Freak screaming as water knocked him off his feet. Among all the noise, they could just barely hear the door opening to admit the other titans. They sat up as Control Freak spoke sullenly.
"I brought this cool magnetic propeller for Cyborg, but who cares? All these woulda worked on the real Titans. It's just, your powers are…stupid!"
Remote in hand, he pointed it towards himself and clicked it. He reappeared in the window, exactly where the viewers see him at the very beginning of the episode.
"I don't want to fight you anymore."
Jenna and her five year old compaion have to stifle a snicker at the next bit, which is Control Freak sticking out his tounge and making a silly face before disappearing. They now turn to look at the Titans East, who looked very puzzled...
Shortly after Control Freak's not-so-dramtic exit, the titans got to work fixing the place back up. Más and Menos were busily drying the floor while Aqualad fixed the sink. Speedy and Bumblebee were near the computers, the latter searching for Control Freak's whereabouts. Chelsey and Jenna sat on the couch, which was moved so Más and Menos could do their work. Both girls looked down at one of the cushions, as well as Más and Menos, having stopped with their work. The source of all the fuss was Silkie, who peeked fretfully out from his hiding spot.
Chelsey and Jenna made room as the twins hurried over to see the big larva. They reached in, and Menos wound up with Silkie in his arms.
"It's okay, Mr. Silkie."
"Papi's here."
Silkie cooed at this, seemingly happy. Jenna turned towards Bumblebee and Speedy. She spotted the list of villains being printed out again. Chelsey spotted it too. Over she went, taking hold of the top of the list. Grinning, she looked over it, searching for Jinx's name. At last, she found it, along with other Hive members, including Gizmo, Mammoth and See-More. Before she could look for other members, though, she was caught.
"Hey, Kiddo. We need that, ya know? Hey, Jenna. Keep your friend here under control."
The five year old stared. What did Bumblebee think she was going to do with it? Rip it apart? Dropping the list sullenly, she walked back over towards the couch. As Bumblebbe folded the long list back the way it had been, Speedy again spoke.
"Who zaps out in the middle of a fight?"
"We'll find him-somehow."
At that moment, the window became static. A short pause, then Cyborg's face appeared. He was just as the two girls remembered him; scarf, thick coat, and knitted hat with a blizzard brewing behind him.
"The Tower's sensor detected weapons fired. Everything okay?"
All eyes were on him. Aqualad walked up, preparing to explain.
"We had to deal with Control-"
He was proptly cut off by Bumblebee, who now smiled widely.
"-controling Silkie."
She quickly shoved Aqualad away.
"He's eating everything. Must've eaten through one of the sensors."
Confused looks appeared on everyone's face, except Jenna and Chelsey. They simply sat back to enjoy the show. Bumblebbe leaned towards the twins, one of whom still had Silkie in his arms.
"Bad Silkie!"
Silkie looked crestfallen. What had he done? Cyborg again.
"Well, Starfire left plenty of food for him."
He glanced around the room, spotting the new comers on the couch. Before he could utter another word, though, an explosion sounded behind him.
"Uh-oh. I gotta go."
He signed off, allowing the window to go back to normal. Next came a bit of anger from Aqualad and Bumblebee. The two new comers from their seats once again found it strange seeing them argue normally. No cute chibi forms.
"Why'd you do that?" Aqualad demanded.
"They're trusting us to protect the city! Do you want them to think we're in over our heads with some second-rate bad guy who didn't even make the list?"
She held it up as she finished.
"We need to get more information on Control Freak."
No luck there. The alarm went off, the room now flashing red. Everyone, looking worried, stood up, including Jenna and Chelsey. Bumblebee saw what they were doing and shook her head.
"You girls stay here."
"Why can't we go with you?" Jenna asked.
"Well, um..."
Bumblebee seemed just slightly lost with words. Maybe what she wanted to say might hurt the two new comers feelings. Speedy rescued her.
"Look, we haven't got much time. Just stay here, okay?"
Jenna sighed and nodded, as did her friend still perched on the couch. With that, the Titans East hurried out, leaving them right where they were, Silkie now sitting on the floor.
Time passed, the Titans East still having not returned. The girls tried to move the couch back to its original place, but it proved too heavy, so they finally just sat on the floor, with the TV remote in hand and begin switching through channels. They were waiting for the new Ultimate Titans Challenge to come on. More time passed, and finally, the two spotted Control Freak on the screen, the Ultimate Titans Challenge logos scrolling away in the backround.
"Welcome to the New Ultimate Titans Challenge! We're gonna find out just how real the Titans East are. Each of our Titans wannabes will attempt a physical challenge designed specifically for him or for her."
The two girls scooted closer to the TV so as to not miss anything. As Control Freak named and give a little discription for each Titan, their pictures appeared on-screen.
"Bumblebee, the little bee who packs a big sting."
At the word 'sting', Chelsey shuddered, subconsciously rubbing a spot on her head where she had been stung a few years back.
"Speedy, whose fantastic arrows perform awesome feats."
Jenna smiled as they showed his picture.
"Aqualad, bold and daring marine marvel."
"And Más Y Menos, the tiny twins with amazing speed."
The pictures moved to both sides of the screen, allowing Control Freak a front view.
"Let's see how these Titans do when we challenge their superpowers."
The first one to appear on screen was Bumblebee.
"Bumblebee, your challenge. An explosive device has been attached to the bottom of the 12:02 express train. Unless you can stop the train before it gets to First Street, the device will go off."
"No problem." Bumblebee replied, seemingly ready for the challenge.
Too bad she didn't realize a nasty little surprise was in store for her. A beam that same from seemingly out of nowhere hit her, shrinking her to a very small size. Next came Control Freak's specially made collar.
"This collar will keep you from getting any big ideas. Let's see you stop a train..."
He gave pause as the train now roared over her. The girls seated in front of the Titans TV flinched, imagining how that noise might be hurting Bumblebee's ears.
"...when you're the size of a fly!"
As she scrambled to her feet and buzzed off in pursuit of the train, the screen changed over to where Aqualad now was. Again, they heard Control Freak giving directions for this challenge.
"Aqualad, on the other side of the reservoir is a tank filled with polluted water. I have diverted the flow of the water so the polluted water is headed straight for the reservoir. If you cannot shut off the main valve in time the city's water supply will be contaminated."
"Piece of cake!"
The Atlantean dove under the water, going through one of the pipes. As he stopped in surprise, the two girls in Titans Tower knew what was heading his way.
"While fighting a ferocious shark?" Control Freak asked, sounding like he was really far away.
"Did you forget? I can speak to animals."
From the tower, Jenna sighed.
"Telepathy won't help him here."
"Ditto, but remember he'll win in the end. Not only have we seen the episode, but good always prevails over evil, even if that evil is someone not scary like Control Freak."
They turned back just in time to get a good look at the shark.
"Get him, Glen!"
The screen cut to Más and Menos, standing the street and waiting for their directions. Control was only too happy to give them instructions.
"Más y Menos! For you, I have created an amazing race through the city. If you are able to push these two buttons located across town from each other...then you will stop my device."
"Okey-dokey!"
"We got it!"
A huge smile spread across Control Freak's face.
"But you have to touch both buttons at the same time, which means you can't be touching!"
He put his two index fingers together to empathize this, still grinning. Confusion registered on the twins' faces.
"How can we be in two places at once?"
The screen cut to the final titan, standing on the Bay bridge.
"Speedy, your challenge is to fend off my indomitable incoming missiles. If you cannot, the bay bridge will be annihilated."
Speedy said nothing. He simply reached for one of his many arrows.
"Ah-ah-ah. No arrows!"
The arrows disappeared. Speedy remained silent. He and the bystanders simply watched the missiles head their way. In the safety of the tower, the girls watched with rapt attention.
"Good luck, Titans East..." was all they whispered.
The screen cut back to Aqualad and Glen the mechanical shark, the latter of whom was charging forward, teeth exposed. Aqualad dodged the charge, but wound up getting temporarily pinned against the ceiling. A second's pause saw Aqualad forcing the tail down and swimming for his life, Glen right behind him, snapping away. Leaping like dolphins, Aqualad and Glen moved from tank to tank, racing against the polluted water heading for the reservoir.
The screen cut to the subway to check on Bumblebee's progress. She was right behind the train and closing in on the device attached to the bottom. Arming herself with both her stingers, she got down to work, firing at the baseplate. No dice getting it to budge. Next she tried going to the front of the train and trying to use brute force to stop it. Being so tiny at the time, her weight and strength didn't account for much. The train continued to somewhat careen towards First Street.
Another cut brought the viewers to Más and Menos. The twins zipped back and forth from one button to another, trying to figure out how to press them at the same time. Time ticked away while Control Freak simply laughed like a nut.
The screen now showed them Bay bridge. Speedy was still standing there, but now he was searching for something. His eyes rested on a tow truck and everything else clicked into place. The two truck, his path cleared of other cars, moved along holding a cable as well as Speedy. Once the truck could move forward no more, Speedy gave the signal to the driver, who released the catch. Off went Speedy, flying towards the on-coming missiles.
Another cut brought the audience back to the water tanks at the water treatment plant. Aqualad had just reached the main valve wheel and was struggling to turn it. Turn it did, but very slowing. And a quick glance saw the polluted water coming towards him fast. As the titan was about to turn it again, Glen shot towards him. A bite missed the Atlantean, but at the same time, it destroyed the wheel. Aqualad was now between Glen and the dirty water still shooting his way. As Glen came forward for the kill, Aqualad quickly dove out of the way. Thus Glen wound up stuck in the pipe filled with polluted water. The shark struggled a moment, but couldn't get free. Aqualad smiled.
The picture of Aqualad grew tiny as Control Freak's face once again took up most of the screen.
"Maybe Aqualad found a way around my mechanical shark, but there's no way Bumblebee's gonna stop the train in time!"
The camara showed the subway tunnel. Bumblebee was still in front of the train, struggling to force it to stop. Finally, she darted back under the train and hover just under the device. Once again armed with her stingers, Bumblebee took aim at the end of the device with the timer and fired. This caught Control Freak off guard.
"What is she doing?"
She stopped after a moment, finding no damage. At this point, she looked down and spotted the sparks coming from the rails. A big idea striking her, she reached down, scraping one stringer along the rail. After a moment, she open fires once again. Powered by the added voltage from the rail, she easily shuts it down.
"Next stop, First Street."
A moment's pause brought all the viewers of Jump City to watch Más and Menos. The two were struggling to figure out how to shut off the machine. 15 seconds left. 14 seconds. 13.
"We could build a slingshot!"
"We'll get a thousand clothespins and string them together!"
They thought long and hard. Finally, Más had the answer, however, there was no time to explain.
"I got it!"
In no time flat, the twins were on top of the device they were suppose to shut down, spinning like a tornado. After a few seconds, they released, flying off in opposite directions. Down they went and both landed firmly on the buttons. As the timer reached one, it shut itself off.
A final cut took the audience to Speedy, who was still in the air heading for the missiles. He landed on the nearest one and turned it clear around. It headed towards another missile. Speedy jumped off just before contact and landed on another one, doing the exact same thing. After a moment, all but one missile were destroyed. Speedy used the last to get back to the bridge, but before letting it go, directed it upward. It exploded far above their heads. The crowd on the bridge cheered.
From inside the tower, Chelsey and Jenna cheered wildly. They danced about, having known the whole time that they'd succeed, but that didn't stop them from celebrating. The two raided the fridge. When the Titans East eventually came back, they found the two on the couch, looking very content. Bumblebee was the first to speak.
"Hey, you two. There's someone who wants to speak to you."
Both girls looked up at her. The leader of Titans East walked over to the window and after a moment, both girls saw brief static and then, Cyborg's face. He looked down at the two girls a moment.
"So you're the two found on our roof?"
Mute nods were his only reply. He noted they were staring like all their dreams had come true at once.
"Listen, we could use your help. Jenna, was it?"
She nodded.
"Can you fly to Siberia? We could use a bit of help over here."
Jenna sprang to her feet.
"Certainly!"
She was in the air very quickly.
"Well, hold on. We gotta give you a communicator first. So you can find us. Bumblebee?"
"Way ahead of ya, Sparky."
She pulled out two of the very familiar communicators. She handed one to Jenna and the other to Chelsey. Now Cyborg turned his attention to the 5 year old.
"Chelsey, right?"
She nodded.
"Well, right now, we need you to just kinda stand by. Stay in Jump City for a while until we need ya, okay?"
The five year old looked just a bit disappointed, but she nodded. A few moments later, Jenna, carrying a few provisions and bundled up as best as she could, flew out the door and headed towards Siberia. Chelsey sat on the couch, watching her friend leave. She sighed. Their roles in this war against the villains had only just begun...
to be continued.
Finally! Sorry for the long wait. I had to pretty much rewrite some of the episode 'For Real' to get myself and Jenna in it. Next chapter will be a little different version of 'Snowblind' with Jenna in it. Thanks for bearing with me. R&R.
Mini-Marianne