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Downtown Steel City, in the middle of the afternoon.
In a nearby construction area, the workers were taking their afternoon break. A bunch of men were hanging out in different areas across the vast grounds. Some had lunch boxes and were munching on sandwiches while chatting with friends. Other's were just walking around or lounging under some shade.
The area was pretty barren since the only work going on was the laying of the foundation of the structure to be. That structure to be would be a new mall that would come up in about three years. For the moment there was no sign of any building. Just lots of soil, dirt and a few patches of completed cemented areas here and there. Pretty boring from any perspective.
But there was plenty of excitement to come…in about three seconds.
"Rrrrggghhh!"
The outer fence that surrounded the construction area broke off on one side leaving a moderately sized gap in the fence. Broken pieces of the fence flew high into the air like confetti. Among those flying pieces of debris, Speedy was flailing around in mid-air trying to reorient himself. He failed to do so and fell hard to the ground, yelping in pain.
"Ngn!"
Around the fallen hero, construction workers began walking towards him in curiosity. At that moment, Steamroller broke right through the gap made by Speedy, breaking off more pieces and widening the gap even more. At the sight of the villain, the construction workers stopped in their tracks and ran away in a fear induced panic.
Speedy got up, not that badly hurt but still a little sore. He looked up and saw steamroller eyeing him threateningly. Steamroller wasted no time and charged towards Speedy's vulnerable figure with a drum hand swinging down on the boy. Speedy went bug-eyed and quickly jumped out of the way as the impact made a crater on the ground.
Speedy back flipped a good distance away from Steamroller to avoid being flattened into a pancake. He got up at the same time as Steamroller. Speedy, living up to his namesake, drew three arrows, slung them to his bow and launched them all simultaneously. The arrows impacted Steamroller before he could react. The arrow heads clamped onto Steamroller then released about ten thousand volts of electricity.
"Aaaarrrgggghhh!" Steamroller screamed.
Speedy grinned but it was short-lived. Steamroller seemed barely affected by the attack and swiped the shock arrows off of his chest. Steamroller charged at Speedy again. Speedy jumped backwards as Steamroller constantly attempted to smash Speedy into the ground with his massive drum hands. This chase continued a good distance until they were under one of the cranes that had a bunch of steel beams on its hook.
The other Titans made their move then. Aqualad came into the scene. He summoned a stream of water from a nearby pipe and quickly formed it into a ball. He telekinetically threw the ball at the rampaging Steamroller's feet. A puddle of water suddenly formed below Steamroller causing him to slip and fall flat on his back. Speedy got a break then.
Then from above: "Heads up, Speedy!"
Speedy looked up and saw Bumble Bee hovering near the cable that was carrying the bundled up steel beams. Bumble Bee aimed her stinger on the wire and zapped it with a strong electrical bolt. The wire snapped and the bundled steel beams fell. Speedy ran out of the way towards a safe distance, Steamroller wasn't as lucky. The steel beams fell right on top of him burying him in debris and dust.
Speedy, Aqualad, and Bumble Bee gathered in front of the mess. They stood there for while when nothing happened.
"Man, I don't remember this guy being so tough the last time," said Speedy.
"Well, he didn't have his free will the last time," replied Aqualad, "Now that he can think for himself, he is a much bigger threat now than when he was controlled."
"Uh-oh, watch it guys!" said Bumble Bee.
A rumbling came from the pile of fallen steel beams. Suddenly, the pile of steel beams blew upwards and The Titans instinctively took a quick step backwards. Steamroller stood tall and strong over the heroes.
"That the best you got?" he screamed at them.
He retracted his drum arms and revealed his normal hands. He grabbed one of the fallen steel beams He swung it like a bat towards the Titans.
"Duck!" yelled out Aqualad.
Speedy and Aqualad dropped to the ground to avoid being beheaded while Bumble Bee took off into the air. Bumble Bee flew backwards and started to fire a volley of electric bolts with her stingers at Steamroller. The villain barely registered the hits as they caused him little pain. He counter-attacked by tossing the steel beam towards Bumble Bee.
Bumble Bee yelped out surprise. "Whoa!"
Bumble Bee shrunk herself just in time to avoid the large steel beam that came at her. The steel beam flew a distance and crashed into an equipment shed causing a huge mess. Meanwhile, Steamroller grabbed another steel beam from the ground and raised it up over the two downed Titans on the ground. Speedy and Aqualad looked up just as Steamroller brought the beam down like a hammer.
Thinking quickly, Aqualad kicked Speedy out of the way and at the same time propelling himself back so that they both avoid the steel beam that came down upon them. The beam created a crater on the ground as it made impact. It actually went deep enough into the soil so that it became stuck. Steamroller tried to pull out the beam as best he can. He was distracted then by it. Aqualad quickly got up and hopped onto the diagonally positioned beam. The Atlantean ran up the beam towards the surprised Steamroller. He perched for a moment at the tip in front of Steamroller.
"My foot, your face," said Aqualad, "it's a date!"
Aqualad gave a good hard kick to his face. In slow motion Steamroller stumbled back and at the same time the beam was loose from the soil and flipped backwards as Aqualad dropped to the ground. Aqualad then reached above him and managed to grab the end of the steel beam. Using his Atlantean strength and the steel beam's momentum, he swung down the beam towards Steamroller like a bat.
"Homerun!" he yelled.
The impact swatted away Steamrolled back towards a partially completed area of the construction site where there was already a partial steel frame ready to be built on. Steamroller fell back and was dizzy from the impact and could not think coherently at the moment. It was then that Más and Menos finally made it to the scene. Bumble Bee flew down again in her normal size. They saw the bewildered Steamroller and formulated a plan.
" Ahora nuestra oportunidad de atacar," they said to each other, "¡Ámosnos!"
"A'ight, c'mon little guys, let's go!" said Bumble Bee.
The twins held their hands together and blazed a streaking red and white trail. The twins ran towards the broken equipment shed with a large steel beam sticking out of the side. They grabbed a long role of steel cable then ran towards the sot where Steamroller stood drunkenly. Bumble Bee flew in from above.
The twins blurred across Steamroller's position with the steel cable in tow. In a blur of red and white, the twin speedsters wrapped the cable around Steamroller's prone figure. The gigantic villain had barely anytime to react. At that same time, Bumble Bee swooped in and flew around the steel beams and shot steady streams of concentrated bolts of electricity on certain spots with her stingers. She effectively welded the cable to the steel frame and even a bit to Steamroller's body.
"¡Eso te envuelve!" said the twins.
When Steamroller finally recovered his cognitive thought patterns, he tried to move but found that he couldn't to a large degree. He finally noticed the intricate cables wrapping around his body and holding him in place. He struggled a bit but found that he could not break his bonds easily. The twins along with Bumble Bee stood a few feet in front of the bound Steamroller.
" ¿Cómo le gusta eso?" said the twins.
"You think this will hold me!" asked Steamroller.
Steamroller twisted and flexed his limbs as strong as he can. He ground his teeth together as he struggled with an extra amount of effort. Eventually, wires start snapping and steel beams actually started to bend and buckle. Bumble Bee and the twins slowly steeped back, growing nervous.
"Nnnnggggaaa!"
With one last outburst, Steamroller broke through his entanglements. Pieces of broken cable and even some pieces of broken off steel beams flew forward towards Bumble Bee and the twins.
"Evade!" shouted Bumble Bee.
The Titans reacted just in time to avoid being hit by any flying debris. Bumble Bee flew up into the air and the twins dashed to the side.
Steamroller charged out of the mess and shook off any hanging wires from his body. Bumble Bee swooped back down and hovered just a few feet in front of Steamroller and began unleashing a volley of powerful electric blasts from her twin stingers. The bolts didn't do much damage to Steamroller's armor but they somehow significantly hurt him when they did hit his face.
Steamroller covered his face with one of his drum hands to protect it and began rushing forward towards Bumble Bee. The Titan leader stayed where she was until Steamroller was just in front of her. Steamroller took a swing blindly and missed as Bumble Bee flew straight up into the air.
Steamroller took his hand away from his face to regain his vision. He looked up towards Bumble Bee who was preparing her stingers again. Steamroller gathered his strength to his legs and leapt into the air. Bumble Bee was completely caught off guard and tried to block in the last second. It was too small a defense effort as Steamroller managed to get her with one of his drum hands.
"Argh!"
Bumble Bee fell to the ground. She landed with a thud. She groveled in pain as she tried top get up. Steamroller landed a few feet in front of her and prepared to bring down both drum hands on the vulnerable Bumble Bee. He got distracted as an explosive arrow impacted and blew-up in his face.
"Hey bolts-for-brains!"
Steamroller stumbled sideways and away from Bumble Bee. Steamroller looked in the direction of the arrow that struck him. Speedy was already firing more explosive arrows at the giant villain in rapid succession. Steamroller found it almost impossible to counter the barrage of explosive projectiles and continues to stumble back. Before he knew it, Steamroller had his back to the bottom part of a crane.
"Aqualad!" Speedy called out, "Give im' a large drink. I got an idea!"
Aqualad who came from the side got the idea and summoned water from a nearby water pipe that was broken when a flying piece of debris hit it. Aqualad gathered the water into a large ball above his head. He through the ball towards Steamroller. When the immense ball of water reached its target, it didn't explode like one would suspect. Instead it kept its shape submerged Steamroller and part of the crane.
"Now, Speedy!" shouted out Aqualad.
Speedy nodded and pulled out another arrow and slung it to his bow. As he drew back the arrow, he took the time to check the label on the tip to make sure it was the right arrow. The label on the tip read: 'freeze'. Yup, it was the right arrow.
"Chill out, buddy…" said Speedy as he let the arrow loose.
The arrow impacted with the water and instantly flash froze the whole thing. A cloud of frost covered the general area for a while. In those moments, a recovered Bumble Bee and the twins pulled along side Speedy and Aqualad as they tried to gaze into the cloud. The cloud eventually disappeared. It was clear enough now to see. What they saw was the stiff figure of Steamroller incased in solid ice. Steamroller looked like he actually tried to block the incoming arrow but did not know of the true function of the projectile.
"Nice going, Speedy," commented Bumble Bee.
"¡Eso era excelente!" said the twins.
"Thanks, good thing Robin and I exchange note on our weapons technology," replied Speedy.
"So now what?" inquired Aqualad.
"The police should arrive with the special capture unit any minute now," said Bumble Bee, "we'll just have to hold down the fort until they get here---"
Their attention was suddenly turned to the encased Steamroller. The ice around him formed a crack. A moment later, another crack formed on another spot. Then another crack. Then more came soon after. The ice even started dripping as it was spontaneously melting away. Eventually the whole thing exploded outward. Steam filled the air as the Titans flew backwards from the intense pressure from the shockwave.
The clouds cleared away and Steamroller stood there in his place, smoke and steam pumping out of open vents around his body. He was panting slightly as he looked down on the Titans a little ways from his position. He frowned down upon them and they stared back nervously from the ground.
"Now it's my turn!" yelled out Steamroller.
Steamroller suddenly turned around and faced the crane. He began banging on the sides of the crane. The cranes bottom metal from began to buckle and the whole thing started to shake wildly. Soon enough, the frame started to creak loudly and buckle on its own. The entire crane started to tip over as Steamroller stepped aside.
The crane took a full ten seconds before it finally hit the ground which gave enough time for the Titans to just get out of major harm's way. The managed to avoid a direct impact from the tall piece of machinery as it made a deafening crash on the ground.
The crane's front mast, where the cable hung from, hit a stack of barrels on the other end of the yard. They were filled with something flammable. The impact caused a major explosion and several barrels shot into the air like rockets, landing and exploding in other random spots around the yard, soon a fire was starting.
The Titans were sprawled all over the floor of the yard at varying distances from each other, struggling to get back up. Speedy got on one knee. He shook off the initial shock from the crane's impact and was just getting his senses back. Steamroller suddenly appeared in front of him. Speedy looked up. Steamroller was grinning slightly and raised a hand to bring it down on Speedy.
"Aww, dang…" said Speedy.
Steamroller brought down his drum hand on top of Speedy who managed to slide out of the way at the last second. Steamroller's hand created a huge crater on the ground. Speedy quickly rushed to a safer distance and prepared another arrow. As Steamroller was getting up, Speedy started firing. The explosive arrow did little except to annoy Steamroller. The villain charged towards Speedy.
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Titans Tower : East.
Terra was in the main room. She was uneasy. Not because of the lack of company she had there. Not because of old and painful memories as well. Her concerns lie on the present and it is with her new friends. She was sitting in front of the main computer, listening in concern. She could only listen since there was no video to watch. Even if there were, she wasn't that sure she'd like to see it.
With just a few program commands she has managed to activate the remote microphones from the Titans' communicators. It was a simple task, she was used to the computer in the original Titans Tower. This system seemed to be much of the same which allow her to operate it at ease. Plus Bumble Bee already gave her full access to it already.
She came here and activated the remote microphones in their communicators just as the Titans were leaving. She had been listening in on their ongoing battle with the alleged villain they called Steamroller. She didn't like what she was hearing.
"Guys, a little help here!" Speedy's voice said.
A lot of stomping and yelling from the monstrous villain could be heard. A crash then more stomping. Another explosion followed by another crash. Then a loud roar.
"I got you, man!" said Aqualad's voice.
A really nasty splashing sound followed by a gurgling outburst of curses. Metal meets metal in a loud gong-like crash.
"Move it you two!" yelled Bumble Bee's voice.
An explosion ripped through the speakers, so loud it caused a feed back. More crashes in tha background as the fight went on.
"¡Mi cabeza es ardiendo¡Ayuda!" either Más or Menos's voice, she couldn't tell accurately enough.
The audio suddenly stopped. Terra's finger rested on one of the buttons on the keyboard. She manually stopped the feed because she couldn't handle listening to it anymore. She at back on her chair. She didn't have to hear anymore to determine what was happening. The Team was losing.
At least for the moment, they were. Steamroller truly outclasses them in so many aspects that the advantages they hold over the villain is not amounting to much. Still she knew they were strong enough to win, somehow. They've beaten really serious threats before, but at what cost. Sure they might win but she knew that if that were the case, they'd likely come home with half their limbs in casts.
She couldn't bare to think of that. They were her new friends who have been so kind to her. Could she just let them fight a lousy battle like this? Granted there is lots of risk, particularly regarding herself. The Titans have been clear on why she should remain hidden for the mean time.
But no she wouldn't accept that. People who cared for her are in trouble. If she was anything of the hero she thought she once was or hope to be again, she would not stand by idle like this and wait for her friends to come back in crippled states. She made her decision.
She got up from her chair and rushed out the door.
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Back downtown, a few minutes later.
Steamroller had a hold on Speedy with his normal hand. The large villain held Speedy by the arms and torso and was steadily choking him a few feet above the ground. Speedy struggled as best he can but to no avail. Around them, the other Titans were sprawled all over the ground trying desperately trying to get back up again. Aqualad was the first to get up. Aqualad rushed towards Speedy and Steamroller.
Aqualad jumped kicked Steamroller but failed as the villain swatted him away with his free hand without even looking. The Atlantean fell to the ground with a thud. Steamroller grinned as he squeezed the life out of Speedy. Speedy's predicament looked very bleak at that point and it seemed like a hopeless situation.
"Puny human," said Steamroller, "It was your mistake to think you could ever match me!"
Steamroller smiled a very big smile. Bumble Bee, who had just recovered, saw an opportunity in that smile. She aimed one of her stingers very carefully at her intended target. She fired. The bolt of energy hit squarely Steamroller's pearly white teeth. The outcome was obvious.
The shock from the blast rattled the nerve endings in each and every one of Steamrollers teeth. It was the most unpleasant thing he ever experienced. He was forced to let go of Speedy to clutch his jaws with both his normal hands. Speedy dropped to the ground and soon was back on his two feet. Steamroller was swinging his head around, stomping his feet, and screaming in agony.
The rest of the Titans got back up on their feet. Steamroller finally shook off the pain in his jaws. He stared down on the Titans East with lots of anger. He attacked the closest heroes to him, which were Más and Menos. The twins gasped as they saw Steamroller heading towards them. The quickly grabbed each other's hand and sped away and out of danger. Steamroller's fist hits nothing but dirt.
Más and Menos reached a small pile of gravel set aside for making concrete. Keeping contact with each other, they started throwing pieces of gravel towards Steamroller rapidly. The gravel pieces flew like machinegun rounds, pelting Steamroller unmercifully. The villain used one of is oversized drum hands to block the onslaught of rocks.
Veracious as the twins were in their attack, it was their own speed that caused them to halt in their offense. Soon enough, they through the gravel at Steamroller so fast that they actually ran out of the stuff in less then half a minute. The twins looked at each other worriedly .
All around Steamroller the other Titans were readying attacks of their own. Steamroller never gave them the chance however as he stomped hard on the ground. The resulting shockwave swept all of the Titans from their feet. Everyone except for Aqualad fell on their butts. Aqualad rushed towards Steamroller on a stream of water under his feet.
Aqualad commanded the stream of water to whip him into the air. He flew like a bullet towards Steamroller. Steamroller looked too late as Aqualad's fist met his chest. Steamroller stumbled back as Aqualad dropped to the ground. Aqualad came up again with a fist to the stomach. Steamroller bent over. Aqualad jumped into the air and did a spinning kick to Steamroller's face.
Steamroller spun around from Aqualad's kick and did a complete three-sixty. However, when Steamroller came back around he countered the Atlantean's attacks by swinging out his drum hands. Aqualad saw it too late and couldn't react. Steamroller's drum hands impacted Aqualad sending him flying down hard into the ground along with the other Titans.
"Aaargh!"
Steamroller cried out mockingly at them. "Rrrrrggghh!"
A voice comes from out of nowhere. "Hey you, with the butt-ugly mug!"
Steamroller swung his head around and looked to the source of the new voice. He saw a girl with long flowing blonde hair, dressed in a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans. The girl was unusual to Steamroller since he doesn't recognize her. Even more unusual to Steamroller was the fact that this girl was standing on a floating piece of concrete some ten feet off the ground.
"Since you looked, I guess you admit it," said Terra.
Terra threw her glowing hand forward. From behind her, a large slab of concrete suddenly lifted off of the ground and flew at Steamroller on its side. Steamroller went wide-eyed as the slab of concrete's wide end smacked his entire body and propelled him into the far side of the construction yard and crashing into a maintenance shed turning it into a pile of debris. Terra gently floated down towards the rest of the team that were struggling to get up.
"Are you guys alright," she asked.
"I've been better," said Speedy.
"Wait a minute," said Aqualad while clutching his ribs, "Terra, what are you doing here?"
"Helping out guys out."
"But we told you to stay in the tower," said Bumble Bee, "I think we were already clear on how big a risk it is that you be seen in public."
"Sí, tú estás en el gran peligro cuando tú estás fuera," said the twins.
"I know all that," said Terra, "But when I knew you guys were in trouble, I just had to do something to help!"
"We were handling the situation just fine, Terra," said Speedy.
"Didn't sound that way from the remote microphones."
"Huh? Wait, you activated the remote microphones on our communicators and have been listening in on us through out this whole time?" inquired Bumble Bee.
"Uh, yeah…" said Terra, "Sorry if I did that but I was just so worried about you guys."
At that moment Steamroller burst through the debris pile he created a while ago. The Titans looked towards Steamroller. Más and Menos held hands and got into a ready position. Bumble Bee aimed her stingers. Speedy took two arrows from his back and slung them both on his bow. Speedy was about to fire when Terra raised an arm in front of him, halting him.
"I got this!" said Terra.
"No way!" objected Speedy, "You can't match this guy! He'll pound you into the---"
"Speedy, don't worry, I've dealt with tougher guys before."
"But---"
"I won't let you guys get hurt, not anymore, so please…" Terra said with a little more authority. The Titans East slowly backed down away from her. Terra gave an appreciative nod to them. She looked towards Steamroller who was just shaking off his dizziness. She slowly walked towards the villain. Her hands glowed brightly as she did, Slabs of concrete started to lift off the ground around her. Behind her, the Titans East watched nervously.
"I won't let anyone hurt my friends again," she said to no-one in particular, "and this time I will keep that promise, no matter what…"
Steamroller charged Terra head-long. Terra stood her ground and raised her hands forward. The floating slabs of concrete shot towards Steamroller one by one. Steamroller blocked as the first slab impacted him. It was strong enough to actually stop him in his charge as it exploded into dust.
More slabs of concrete impacted Steamroller and exploded into smaller particles just like the first. Steamroller slid back a few feet with every impact, unable to counter the force of each hit or recover in between slabs. Steamroller came to a stop as Terra ran out of slabs to throw.
Steamroller was panting heavily. Terra spun her arms around over her head. The smaller broken pieces of the concrete slabs came together and formed into one giant ball of concrete right over Steamroller. Terra released her hold on the concrete ball and let gravity take over. The ball fell a good twenty feet down towards Steamroller.
The villain realizes the danger and is able to stop it just in time by raising his two normal hands to actually catch the ball as it almost flattened him into the earth. Amazingly enough, Steamroller held the sphere of concrete over his head for a good while using his massive strength. Terra looked a bit surprised.
"Nnnngggrrrrggghhh!"
Steamroller threw the giant concrete ball towards where Terra was standing. Terra stood her ground. She held both her arms forward then swung them out in opposite directions. The giant concrete sphere split right in half as she did this and the two half-spheres of concrete flew harmlessly onto the sides. After which, Terra saw Steam roller charging at her again.
Steamroller brought his two drum hands together into one large drum that he rolled on the ground as he came barging down on Terra with his head down. Terra launched a few more slabs of concrete but the were deflected by the large drum as Steamroller kept his charge unhindered. Terra narrowed her eyes and went with a new approach.
Terra crouched low to the ground then quickly swung one arm with a glowing hand up. A length of earth raised above the ground at an angle forming a ramp with the launching end just a few feet in front of Terra and about ten feet into the air. Steamroller couldn't see it with his head down. He rode right up the earth ramp and launched off the other end.
Steamroller was airborne before he knew it. He flailed his massive arms in the air which little to stabilize his flight. The flight was too short anyway as he soon crashed into the earth and went rolling down the dirt. Steam roller struggled to get up again.
He looked towards Terra. He saw another huge slab of concrete heading towards him. He couldn't react on time as the slab hit him squarely in the gut and pushed him back some distance. Steamroller grabbed onto the slab of concrete and used all his strength to toss it aside. He was panting heavily as he came to a stop from his slide. He looked up at Terra who looked poised for another attack. Steamroller thought about his options and it didn't take him long to decide.
Steamroller turned tail and ran away. He busted right through another section of the fence surrounding the compound and came out on the streets once again. Terra was stumped. The other Titans knew what to say however.
"He's getting away!" pointed out Aqualad, "We have to---aarrgh!"
Aqualad collapsed on the ground, clutching his ribs with his arms and groaning in agony. The rest of the Team gathered around him. Bumble Bee supported him and had him sit on the ground.
"Dude, looks like you got hit harder than you thought," said Speedy.
"You're in no condition to keep fighting," pointed out Bumble Bee, "You stay here."
"¿Y nuestro enemigo que se está comportando violentamente down las calles cuando hablamos?" said Más and Menos.
"Yeah, we can't let Steamroller get away either," concurred Bumble Bee.
"I'll go after him," said Terra.
Everyone looked at the blonde geo-morph elemental. Terra stared back.
"Guys, please, I've beaten tougher monsters single-handedly," said Terra, "Aqualad needs you guys here. Let me do this."
Bumble Bee, being the leader, was forced to make a very hard decision. Terra might just be able to pull this off but she can't be that sure. There are still risks involving her if she is seen in public. But steamroller in a threat that cannot be ignored. They had to stop him but they also had to tend to a fallen Aqualad. Hard decision indeed. Bumble Bee eventually decided.
"Okay, here's how we'll do it," she said, "Terra can go after Steamroller but not alone. Speedy, you cover her back. Más, Menos, you guys help me with Aqualad here. We still need to get you somewhere safe. Everyone got that?"
They all gave their respective affirmations.
"Okay then, Titans Go!"
Terra summoned a slab of concrete towards her. She hopped onto it and was followed by Speedy. Together they both sped off to pursue the fleeing Steamroller. Bumble Bee and the twins continued to tend to Aqualad's injuries.
Meanwhile above in the heights of the tall skyscrapers, someone was watching the Titans. Not someone, more of something. On one particular rooftop near the scene, a bald man dressed in black and had a sheathed sword on his back looked down on the teenage heroes. His sight particularly followed the two teens speeding away on a hunk of concrete.
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Somewhere in a secrete facility.
Professor Chang was seated in a dimly lit control room of sorts. His chair was elevated on a platform overlooking four other chairs occupied by his white-suited henchmen. Each of the henchmen was seated in front of his own computer terminal working. Chang oversaw everything that was going on.
Suddenly, a blinking alarm appeared on one of the screens of one of the terminals. The henchman in charge was the only one who noticed and addressed it. The henchman looked closely at the data that was presented to him on his screen. He immediately knew that the data was important and needed his boss's attention.
"Professor," the henchman called out.
Chang turned his head towards the henchman, "Yes, what is it?"
"Mech-ranger unit four has just reported in. The target has been located."
Chang nearly jumped off his seat. "Really? Where is unit four now?"
"Currently in pursuit of the target, Professor."
"Show me the live video feed from unit four's sight. Put it on the main screen."
"Yes sir."
The henchman got to work, punching in a few commands on his terminal. Soon a large screen appeared in the forward wall. Everyone turned to watch the screen. It showed static for a while but gradually cleared up to show two teens, a blonde and an archer, speeding along the road on a flying piece of concrete.
Chang stared at the image intently, thought forming in his head. She is awake now. That in itself was an interesting turn of events. But he focused on one thing in particular. The fact that the two were on a flying slab of concrete told Chang something he really needed to know. Her powers are manifesting, which is good, very good.
That was one problem down. Now all he has to do is to capture her. He didn't worry about it much though, he was assured by his partner, Brother Blood, that when they did find her, which he did, they would have a guaranteed means to getting her back. Then the true plan can begin.
"Finally," said Professor Chang, "the wheels are starting to turn."
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Author's note: Still more action to come! Wait for the next update cause that's where the story really develops. Again: Comments? Suggestions? Violent Reactions? Send em' all!