The Trouble with Villains and Heroes
 Written by Her Royal Highness Princess Kiela S., and the infamous Pirate Crisis Haylo.

Note from Kiela: The Disclaimer can be found in the Prologue. Any questions? No? Right, then. Here we go with the second Chapter.

Note from Crisis: Like Kiela said, the disclaimer is on the Prologue. I hope you smart people have noticed it and read it. Unlike some, er, . . . . anyway I hope you enjoy!

The Trouble with Villains and Heroes:
Chapter 2, "Disguises and Whatnot"

It was quiet. Surprisingly so, considering the fact that there were seven teenagers gathered within a relatively small space, all of whom had at least one thing in common: they fought crime. That was actually why they were all there; they had a mission. A mission that was undoubtedly important, but six out of the seven people in the room hadn't the slightest idea what it was, and the seventh didn't seem to be in the mood to share any time soon, judging by the expression on his face.

There were many covert glances at each other out of the corners of their eyes, and the situation became increasingly tense as time wore on. Starfire, ever the peacekeeper, opened her mouth several times to try and break the silence, only to close it again, looking slightly disappointed as she couldn't think of anything to say. After about five minutes or so of awkwardness, Cyborg spoke up.

"Okay," he said, "I just have to ask what that thing is." This was accompanied by a gesture at the machine in question, which was shoved into on of the more difficult to get to areas of the Abandoned Gas Station: Gear's work area. This section of the room basically consisted of the corner farthest from the door, thereby reducing the risk that Static would trip over anything important that happened to be left laying around while the other resident superhero was lost in an inventing frenzy. The helmeted genius sat forward, beginning to describe the complexities of his creation.

"Well, it's a–" The explanation was cut short, as the inventor's mouth was suddenly covered by his partner's dark hand, and then the teen himself was dragged backwards off of the edge of his chair, resulting in him being seated firmly on the floor only seconds later. The Titans blinked at Static, surprised by his actions, and the way he calmly ignored Gear's indignant protests ("Ack! Hey! Not cool, V!").

"So, Robin. . . . You ever gonna tell us what this mission of yours is all about?" The caped crime fighter looked up from where he had been slouched in his chair, brooding, and nodded.

"At first glance it doesn't seem to be difficult at all, but it really is considering the final objective: capture the Joker. He recently escaped from an isolated prison that, as far as the rest of the word is concerned, doesn't exist. This is proof of just how crafty he can be when pressed to do so, and according to the information that Batman gave to me, he's already forming new ties with those in the underworld. It's going to be our job to find out what those connections are, and to sever them before anything else happens. Then we're bringing him down."

Sometime during Robin's explanation, Static had jumped slightly, as if surprised, and his expression had done something rather interesting. When the Boy Wonder had had finished talking, the African American teen pushed his chair back just the tiniest bit, and glanced underneath the table with a small frown. "What are you doing?" he asked Gear, who was now lying on the floor, with his hands curled around the dark skinned teen's ankles. The blond grinned up at him.

"Wishing you had shoelaces, so I could get you back for pushing me off my chair." Static rolled his eyes, but made no move to remove his partner's hands from his legs. The Titans sat there silently, confused at the way the two Dakotans interacted- with the exception of Raven, who was more perceptive than most gave her credit for– until finally something pertaining to the mission was asked:

"And just how are we going to do that?" The question came from Gear, who had just rolled out from under the table, and was now sliding back into his seat. "We don't exactly blend in."

"You're right," replied Robin, grateful to be back on familiar ground, subject wise. "The only way that I can think of is for us to go undercover. Out of costume, so we won't be recognized."

"Hey, man, this will be the second time this year we've had to go undercover," Cyborg said, as he crossed his arms. "If we keep having to disguise ourselves so often, I think that the villains will start to catch on to us."

"I know, Cyborg. That's why not all of us are going out in our disguises at the same time. We'll split into groups, and take shifts searching through the areas that Joker will most likely show up."

They eventually decided on who was going to be in which group, and when to meet the next day, Friday, which was going to be difficult for Static and Gear because it was a school day. As they were assigning areas for the groups to search, Backpack sat up and gave off a bell like alarm. Upon hearing it, Static jumped to his feet, looking more than just a little bit panicked.

"Oh, man! I'm gonna be late for dinner! My pops is gonna kill me!" he blurted, as he dashed towards the back room of the Gas Station. Gear quirked and eyebrow, and skated after him.

"I set the alarm back ten minutes, man, so chill! We've got plenty of time!" the helmeted inventor was saying, as he and his partner vanished through the door leading to their storage area. The Titans barely had time to blink, and exchange confused glances, before Static was walking back into the main room, a backpack slung over one shoulder, buttoning a red and orange-yellow long sleeved shirt as he walked. The electric powered teen still had his mask on, which looked strange when matched with his brightly colored two-piece outfit and brown-yellow hiking boots.

"Sorry to cut the meeting short," he told the five other crime fighters, as he pulled off his face covering, "but my pops still expects me home for dinner, and ever since he found out about all this" – meaning his being a superhero– "he nearly has a heart attack if I'm not back in time."

"Which doesn't make all that much sense, if you think about it," said Gear as he skated back in from the other room. His helmet was presumably in the backpack that he was carrying, as he now had his round-framed glasses on, but the only other thing that he had changed about his appearance was to put on a pair of baggy grey-brown pants. As Static shrugged in response to his statement, the genius metahuman slid his backpack to the side, and reached into it, pulling out a wad of orange and cream colored material. The book bag was then dropped to the floor, as the blond pulled the hooded sweater over his head, effectively hiding the rest of his crime fighting costume.

Static turned back to the titans, and said, "If you don't have anywhere to stay, you can chill here. That thing over there is a 'fridge, and it's pretty well stocked. Just tell it what you want, and if it has any, it'll bring it out for ya." Then he was gone, disappearing out the main door of the building. Gear sighed; his partner had forgotten the most important thing to tell the Titans in his rush to get home.

"Backpack," he called, and the scouting robot unfolded its legs, jumped off of the table it usually occupied while Gear was just 'hanging out' in the Gas Station, and began spidering its way over to the Bang Baby teen that had built it. Even though he didn't even remotely need to say Backpack's commands anymore, it seemed to make people nervous if he didn't speak them aloud, so Gear had long ago trained himself to give verbal orders to his creation when there were others around– this, of course, excluded Static, who didn't care one way or the other.

As the mobile machine crawled its way up his back, and under his sweater, the genius pointed at the five other superheroes in a way that was uncharacteristically commanding. "Do not," he told them firmly, "touch anything in that corner of the room." He gestured vaguely at his work area, and said, "If you do, there's an eighty-nine percent chance that you'll blow yourself up. Or, at the very least, something else over there, and that would basically be the end of everything, anyway." Static stuck his head back through the door, looking impatient.

"Rich, you coming or not?"

"Yeah, V."

"Move it, then. We're going to be late!" Gear suppressed an amused smile, knowing that it was just the other boy's way to worry like that. With a general wave to the others, Gear headed towards the door, his skates shifting into what appeared to be a normal pair of tennis shoes mid step, the black coloring fading into white and the silver being replaced with even more green. Then the two metahumans were on their way, and the once the sound of their friendly banter faded, the Titans looked at each other blankly for a moment. Beast Boy was the first to break the silence.

"So. . . . What now?"

"You're late, Virgil." Upon reaching their destination, the two Bang Babies were greeted by an angry looking nineteen-year-old mocha skinned woman. Her dark hair was tied back into two pigtails, slightly off to the sides of her head, and she was wearing one of the dashiki that she had bought during the family's vacation to Africa. She had her arms crossed, and she was holding the spatula in her right hand as if it were a weapon, rather than a cooking utensil.

Virgil Hawkins, a.k.a. Static, glared at his blond haired friend, and said sullenly, "See, Richie, I told you!"

"But I had my alarm set back ten minutes!" Richie Foley, a.k.a. Gear, replied, in his own defense, and the spatula-wielding girl made an angry 'humph' sound.

"Well, you're thirty minutes late!" she snapped, as she waved her left index finger at the two of them threateningly.

"Now wait just a minute, Sharon! Thirty minutes late? Now, that's just ridiculous!" Virgil argued, as was in his job description when it came to dealing with his older sister.

"Oh, no it isn't, baby bro. Especially when you knew Trina was coming over for dinner tonight!" Virgil blinked.

"Since when?" Sharon made an exasperated noise.

"I told you this morning at breakfast!" Trina walked into the room, smiling at the way the girl was punctuating her words with a few shakes of the spatula in her hand.

"Don't be so hard on them, Sharon. They're boys, after all. They can't help it." Richie muttered something under his breath about irrational logic, and Virgil had to fight back a grin. Just then the doorbell rang, and the four gathered in the kitchen turned to look in the direction of the front door with perplexed frowns.

"We're not expecting anyone else. . . ." said Sharon, and the boys exchanged a wary look; they hadn't told the Titans not to come to either of their houses.

"We'll get it!" they chorused, and were out of the room before either of the women could respond. They, too, shared a look, and followed. Richie had just gotten the door open, as they came into the entryway, and so they were able to hear what the purple wearing, redheaded girl standing on the doorstep was saying quite clearly.

"New friends Static and Gear, I am regretful to say that the station of gas has become crowded. Also, the others have become physically ill, because something in friend Gear's building corner exploded, and now the entire building smells like the backside of a Betar-Raff."

There was a moment of silence following this statement, and then Sharon opened her mouth to ask what, exactly, this slightly. . . . different looking girl was talking about. She didn't get the chance; just then Robert Hawkins came walking down the stairs, asking, "Who's that at the door?"

As he was talking, the shadows on the wall, opposite the banister, that the stairs were built against began to darken. The blackness stretched, and grew, and then slid silkily down the steps to a spot just behind the two panicked and frozen teen boys standing in front of the open doorway. When the darker than dark shadow reached its destination, its shape changed into that of a raven with two glowing white, slanted eyes. The bird's wings spread, and it gave out a silent screech, head stretching upward, and then it vanished, leaving a pale grey skinned girl in its place.

She had short, dark blue-purple hair, which was cut at a sharp angle on either side of her face so that the ends of her 'bangs' slanted down from the back of her neck towards her shoulders. She was wearing a cloak, a long sleeved leotard, and a pair of boots all of the same midnight blue, and had a diamond shaped gem of the same color centered on her forehead.

Robert stumbled backwards a step, from the surprise, and the others all turned to see what the commotion was about. Both Sharon and Trina gasped, taking in the sight of Raven, who was brushing a fine, white powder off of her clothes. "Sulfur," she said, by way of greeting, "The whole place stinks of sulfur." Sharon stood for a moment, gaping, silent, and unmoving, before rounding on Virgil. Her face was stormy, and her knuckles were clenched so tightly around the handle of her spatula that the tendons in her arm stood out sharply.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. "I knew you were– are– Static!"

"Uh. . . ." Understandably the boy couldn't think up a suitable response, and simply ended up with, "I can explain. . . ."

It was at about this time that Beast Boy and Robin showed up, the former coughing in a way that suggested he couldn't get rid of a bad smell, and the latter brushing his hair clean of the white dust that was the cause of all this trouble to begin with. The two new arrivals blinked at the scene before them in open confusion: Virgil was trying to keep the couch between himself and Sharon, and, failing that, using Richie as a human shield to keep himself safe from the sharp rap of his sister's spatula.

"Stop protecting him, Richie! If you don't move, I'm going to blame you, too!" Sharon ordered, her tone exasperated, as her quarry's long-time friend once again shielded him.

"Sorry, Sharon," the blond told her with a grin, as he was once again maneuvered around so that he stayed between the quarreling siblings, "but V's got a sub-clause in his will that states that if he gets killed, and I didn't do anything to help, then I don't get his Gamestation." After seeing the young woman's skeptical expression he added, "Besides, he won't let me."

Because Richie had pointed it out, the white-purple sparks of electricity coating Virgil's hands suddenly became noticeable; the dark skinned boy was clutching at his friend's sweater, and was using his 'Static Cling' to drag the other boy along in front of him. Sharon made an angry sound, as Virgil stuck his tongue out at her over Richie's shoulder, and, true to her word, moved to strike. The two metahumans jumped apart, diving in opposite directions. Virgil went to the right, ending up behind Robin, while Richie went to the left, hiding shamelessly behind Trina.

Sharon looked between them, and then once again went after her brother, spatula raised threateningly. Robin's eyes widened comically, and he dodged the approaching swing with long practiced ease. Deprived of any cover once again, Virgil dived behind Raven, who glanced down at him calmly. "Beast Boy did it," she told him flatly, and then drifted sideways, out of Sharon's way, her cloak's hem swishing softly as she went. The electric powered teen hid behind Beast Boy this time, though now he wanted some answers in addition to protection.

"Why'd you touch anything when Gear specifically told you not to?" he hissed, as he gave the green furred boy a few gentle shakes.

"It wasn't my fault, dude!" Beast Boy protested, as he and Virgil jumped away from Sharon. "I only went under the table to stop Silkie from eating one its legs! I sat up too soon on my way out, and bumped the edge!" Robin's eye twitched.

"You brought Silkie?" he asked angrily, his teeth grinding together audibly.

"If I left him at the Tower, he'd get lonely and start eating. It'd be worse than the last time!" Beast Boy replied defensively, causing the other Titans to pause and remember the state of their home after 'the last time' in way that was almost a visible flashback. Richie, who was still behind Trina, looked like he wanted to ask about what had happened, and just what this 'Silkie' was, exactly, but he never got the chance; at that moment, Cyborg slipped into the house, having had to wait until he was sure he could do so unnoticed, and closed the door behind him. Hearing it shut, all assembled turned to see who else had arrived.

The cybernetic teen rubbed the back of his head nervously, and, as a greeting, said, "Something smells good! Who's cooking?" Everyone blinked at him for a moment, as the luggage in their trains of thought had to be transferred from baggage car to baggage car frantically, until everyone was as caught up as they could be, given the situation. If a few things were lost during the switch, no one could really be blamed, and so it was that Sharon fell back on the one thing that still made sense at the moment: dinner. Beaming, she turned her attention to Cyborg.

"I am. Thank you for the compliment." She shot a scowl at her brother, and added as an aside to him, "At least someone appreciates a hard cooked meal!" Realizing the danger had passed, for the moment– Sharon was, after all, a ticking time bomb when pressed to her stress limit, and it seemed that she had reached it a while ago– Virgil slunk out from behind Beast Boy. Richie, too, came out of hiding, and he and his long time friend and more recent partner met in the center of the room.

"He's only saying that 'cause he's never had to eat it," the latter of the boys muttered, only loud enough that the first could hear it; Richie struggled to keep a strait face. Sharon frowned at them, no longer angry enough to go after them for having a bit off innocent, and, quite frankly, expected, fun. Even though it was at her expense. She still wanted to tell them off for. . . . something, after everything they had, and definitely were going to, put her through that night. Her eyes narrowed suddenly, and the spatula in her hand flew up once again to point directly into Richie's understandably startled face.

"You! First of all, I'm as angry with you as I am with Virgil! I had to find out that the two of you are superheroes through someone else! But then, I should have known you–" here she gestured at Virgil, "– really were Static the first time I saw him–" this wave of her free hand went towards Richie, who was warily watching the violently waving spatula, "–dressed as Gear! He's the only person dorky enough to hang out with you!"

"Hey!" exclaimed the genius, looking insulted, "I resent tha– wait. . . ." He turned to Virgil, now looking perplexed, though that could have been an act. "Is that an insult, or a compliment?" He was answered with a blank look, and a shrug, so he simply made a musing sound, and looked innocently back at Sharon. She sighed in exasperation, and went back into the kitchen, muttering something under her breath that went along the lines of 'little brothers are such a pain!'

"Wow," said Beast Boy, "I'm glad I don't have to live with her."

"I heard that!" came the irritated shout from the other room, and the green furred boy made a frightened noise somewhere between a gasp and a squeak, and hid behind Raven for good measure. Virgil grinned at him knowingly.

"You're lucky that you don't have to suffer through her wrath every day. This time I think she's angry enough to try and kill me in my sleep!"

"Try?" Sharon yelled at him, from the kitchen. "Ha! I'll do more than just try, little bro!" The brother in question made a face that was trying to be a cringe, but somehow came off as more of a wince that decided to change into a grimace before it was even halfway completed, and ran a hand through his dreadlocks. Richie hooked an arm around Virgil's shoulders, with the casual ease of long practice, and managed to make it a gesture that was both comforting and supportive.

"I don't know if you know this or not, V," the blond said teasingly, "but there's a wonderful little invention known as a lock, and it's conveniently installed in the handles of most bedroom and bathroom doors." Virgil rolled his eyes, though there was a small smile trying to grow on his face as he did so.

"So that's what those things are for!" he replied dryly, and Raven raised a suspiciously knowledgeable eyebrow at their antics. Starfire's expression, however, turned to one of surprised confusion.

"You did no know what the locks were for?" she asked Virgil, a frown on her face.

"They were being sarcastic, Starfire," said Robin, and the alien girl made a sound of comprehension, her confusion falling away.

"Oh, yes. I know of the sarcasm. It is a type of dry, sometimes foul humor that humans often like to use," Starfire responded cheerfully, her right hand and index finger raised in the pointing gesture she liked to use when explaining something, or when answering a question. There was a brief silence after she made her point, but it didn't last that long, as her teammates were mostly used to her antics.

"Uh. . . . yeah," Cyborg said, finally, as no one else seemed to be able to think of something to say to that.

Richie blinked, and turned to Robin, asking, "What planet is she from?" The caped teen blinked, wondering if the other boy was being sarcastic, but, after realizing there hadn't been any emphasis on the word 'she,' he decided that the genius was, indeed, genuinely curious.

"Tamaran," Robin answered. "It's in the Vega system." Trina had watched the earlier interactions with amusement, and had listened, as well as she could, at any rate, to the night's drama without intervening, but a thought had just occurred to her, so she spoke up, making her presence known once more.

"Robin," she called, to gain his attention. "Sorry for interrupting," the police officer continued, once he had turned toward, and moved closer to her, "but I was wondering how long you and the Titans will be staying here. After all, with so many superheroes in one place, the police force will be out of their jobs." Trina smiled as she spoke, obviously teasing, and Robin smirked slightly, amused by the woman's sense of humor.

"I'm not really sure on a definite time," the caped martial artist told her, with a shrug. "The only reason I'm here is to get these two," he indicated Richie, who had gone off to ask Starfire about her home planet, and Virgil, who was involved in a heated discussion with Beast Boy about some new video game that was about to be released, "to help me on a mission. The others followed me here against orders."

Hearing this, Robert snapped out of whatever state of shock he had fallen into upon the sudden appearance of the five strange superheroes, and continued descending the stairs. "Well, since you're here, you might as well stay for dinner. At least, if Sharon thinks there'll be enough food." Raven, who was now examining the books on the shelf against the corner wall that was formed by the stairs and the wall, which separated the kitchen from the family room, turned around to look at the man.

"I think that's what Cyborg was grabbed for," she told him, and everyone automatically scanned the room for the boy in question. He wasn't in the room, but, now that it was quiet, the cybernetic teen's voice could be heard in the kitchen, asking Sharon a question.

Her answer was to shout, "Virgil, get your scrawny behind in here right now, and set the table for ten!" The electric powered teen frowned at the wall for a moment, before reluctantly pulling himself away from his conversation with Beast Boy to go make peace, or at least a temporary one, with his sister. By the time he returned, the green furred boy had wandered off to ask Raven what it was that she had found to read, and so he went to see what Richie was up to.

The blond was completely immersed in his conversation with Starfire, and was now questioning her about her planet's government, so, upon seeing the alien girl's expression, Virgil couldn't help but say a variant on the 'inside joke' he had thought up shortly after the first time Static and Gear met the Justice League. "His brain requires all the information on your planet," he said, expression playful, "but don't worry– he won't blow it up when he's done." The Tamaranian was understandably confused, and looked it, but Richie reacted the way that he always did.

"Enough with the Brainiac cracks!' he said, putting on an affronted face, but there was a fond smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, showing that he wasn't really angry, despite his tone; the blond didn't need his downright shocking genius to know that it was Virgil's way of saying, without really saying, that he would always be there for him, no matter what happened. Richie didn't make a big deal about it, because the fact that the other boy kept bringing the subject up, even as a 'joke,' meant that the whole situation was still weighing heavily on his mind. The inventor's customary response to the 'joke' was his way of telling Virgil to let it go. Everything had worked out all right in the end, and if he kept worrying about what had happened, he would end up worrying himself right into an early grave.

When Virgil had first mentioned Brainiac, Robin turned from his conversation with Trina and Robert– explaining that he needed the help of Dakota's two home heroes for an unknown length of time– to listen. He frowned, and opened his mouth to ask what the two other boys were talking about, but Raven caught his eye and shook her head almost imperceptibly. Robin was confused, but let it go, trusting Raven to know when a subject was off limits.

Ending Note from Kiela: Well, I finally got Chapter 2 typed from our hard copy, and, despite the length of time it took, I feel rather proud of how quickly this went. If anyone wants to know why, just go look at my solo stuff, and check the time between their 'Updated' dates, and now. That's your answer: I'm a rather slow writer, because I edit things to pieces and back together again. My apologies to any anxious readers. Oh, and if anyone spots any mistakes, I'd like to know.

Ending Note from Crisis: Welp all I have to say is Kiela did most of the work, while I sat back and relaxed ! Eheh. That's because we're far away from each other now, plus she hogs the fic anyway. Enough rambling GO FEED THE REVIEW BOX S'IL VOUS PLAIT!