Well guys, you've been patient, and now it's time for it to pay off. Here it is, the debut of the New Teen Titans in battle. It's a long one, so read, review and enjoy!

Chap. 20

The New Titans

20 minutes ago…..

The group of heroes sped through the skies, trying to reach the city as quickly as possible. "You guys alright back there?" Terra yelled from her rock platform. Since Kestrel and Metallix were unable to fly, Terra had created a separate platform for them, which she carried along with her as she flew. "We'd be a lot better if this thing wasn't pushing 90!" Metallix yelled back. Indeed, the speed of travel had forced the two passengers flat on their stomachs, holding on as best they could. "Sorry, we're in a hurry here." Terra replied. "Just hang on!" "Oh great." The steel teen muttered, as the rock continued to speed forth. Kestrel however, was having a discernibly different reaction to the ride. Though she was gripping onto the rock as tightly as Metallix was, Kestrel's eyes were alight with excitement. "This is awesome!" she yelled out over the winds. "Hey, can this thing do a loop?" "Do you want me to vomit all over you?" Metallix snapped back. "Hey it's not my fault I can handle a little fun." She said back. "We're barely holding onto a huge flying rock that's speeding across the bay at almost 100 miles an hour. This is what you call fun!" "Yeah, what do you call it?" "I call it suicide!" Metallix yelled back. "Why did I agree to do this?" he began to moan as the platform continued to speed.

But luckily for the steel teen, the platform began to rapidly slow. "Oh thank God." He murmured aloud as the platform slowly came to a halt over a midtown rooftop. As it landed behind the large billboard in the front, Terra and Kestrel hopped off, but Metallix stayed, hoping for recovery time. However, he didn't have much time to recover before something suddenly pulled him off in a heap. "Do you mind?" he snarled up at Kestrel. "Actually no. Would you like a barf bag?" the masked Titan asked. "Quiet." Nightstalker said, as he and most of the others landed down, behind the shadow of the billboard. "Do you want them to hear you?" "I thought that was what we're here for." Manimal asked. "Not just yet." The bat replied, as he carefully took a peak at the streets in front of them. Just as he'd thought, Mumbo was there gloating over the failed efforts of the police. "Idiot." 'Stalker muttered. Turning back to the others, he said, "OK Mumbo thinks he's got a clean getaway. Let's prove him wrong." "All right!" Kestrel said, as she moved to go past the billboard.

But Lightweaver just reached over and pulled her back. "What are you doing?" Kestrel protested. "You will get your chance, but first we need to put a little fear into him." "What are you talking about?" At that, Groundquake took over. "Simple. Mumbo has no idea who you are. He hasn't heard the Titans name in years. But if the first thing he sees is a bunch of kids in different costumes, he'll think it's a joke." "OK, and your point is?" Manimal asked, eager to have his first real battle. "What he's saying," Terra interjected. "is seeing his old enemies come back, and then, a new team that they know about, he'll realize that you've had someone showing you the ropes; that you do know what you're doing. He'll probably wet himself, old as he is now." At that, Owl, Manimal, and Sunblaze nodded, seeing the wisdom and drama of the idea. Metallix didn't really seem to care, but Kestrel still wanted the direct approach. "That's stupid. Why don't we just jump down and beat the hell out of him?" "Because he'll be more scared of the Teen Titans then a bunch of super-powered kids. And besides, we do not 'beat the crap' out of anyone, unless we have to. You'd do well to remember that." Nightstalker said.

Suddenly there was commotion from the crowd behind them. Nightstalker quickly looked over again to see Mumbo beginning to bound away from the crowd. "We have to move fast." He said. "I'll go first, and the other Elementals will follow, one at a time. When Terra says 'warm-up act' that's when you come out." With that, the bat unfurled his wings and flew out to intercept Mumbo, while the others waited for the plan to unfold. "I still say this is stupid." Kestrel muttered. "Jeez, do you have any concern for drama?" 'Weaver asked. " Brucie would be shamed." "Who are you talking about?" Kestrel snapped back. "Nothing." Weaver answered, but as she turned back to the crowd, she muttered, "They told you nothing."

Now….

"You know, I think he might've been right." Sunblaze said, looking down on the crowd with disbelief in his eyes. From the second they had emerged from behind the billboard, people had begun to chant and speak as though gods were returning. Some were staring in awe, others were simply pointing. And Mumbo, well, he just looked terrified. "Guess you'll be staying around a bit longer then, huh?" Groundquake sneered from behind the evil magician. But upon hearing those words, Mumbo's sense of self-preservation once again overtook his fear. "So what? I took on the old Titans, I can take on these pretenders!" he said, as he pointed his wand over at the billboard behind the New Titans. Before any of them could do anything, the metal suddenly began to curve inwards, trying to wrap them up in itself. But it didn't get too far, as Metallix stepped to the front and putting his arms to the side, he stretched them out, until he was pressing against both sides of the collapsing billboard. As he strained against the pressure, the other Titans quickly took the chance and leapt to the streets to face Mumbo. Once the others were safely down, Metallix released his hold on the board and leapt down as it finished the job of collapsing on itself. He landed with a huge thud that shook the ground, and as the team stood in front of Mumbo, he said, "Hope you got better then that old man."

"Oh I'm just getting warmed up." Mumbo sneered, as he held up his wrists and pointed them at the group. Huge cards began to fly out at a whirlwind rate, coming towards the group like dual battering rams. But again, this proved a weak attempt. Kestrel and Sunblaze began to slash and burn through the cards respectively, while the others tried to get past them and attack Mumbo directly. However, if the Titans could adapt, so could Mumbo. The cards began to separate and reform themselves into card-fighter beings reminiscent of the brooms in Fantasia. "Well, this just gets better and better." Metallix said, as he looked out at the huge army of cards facing them. "I know, isn't it great?" Manimal said gleefully, as he morphed into a tiger and launched himself into the cards, biting and tearing all the while. Metallix just shook his head and said to Owl, "Does he have brain damage, or is he always like this?" "What do you think?" she replied, as she hovered into the air and eyes glowing, began to hurl cars and the like into the cards' midst, cutting huge numbers of them down in an instant. "Damn, I gotta stay on her good side." Metallix muttered, as he reshaped his hands into dual sonic cannons and began to add to the firefight.

Meanwhile, Sunblaze and Kestrel were attempting to force their way to Mumbo, but the cards were proving to be equal fighters. For every three that they were able to take down, two more took their place. "This isn't working! We need some help!" Sunblaze yelled as he took down two more cards. "Or we need to go after the head! You free the Knights, I'll go after Mumbo. I'll give you a distraction." "Like what?" Sunblaze asked, but then he saw his sister throw a card into the ranks. Of course, that card was somehow on fire. "How does she do that?" he wondered, as he flew off in the direction of the trapped Knights.

"This seems to be going well." Groundquake said, as Sunblaze came up to them. Pointing his finger down at the ground, Sunblaze fire a concentrated beam of energy around the captive Knight's feet. "Hey careful!" the dog yelled, as the energy ate away at the goo. "Oh don't be a baby." Sunblaze muttered as he maneuvered around the dog's foot. Finally, he finished and with a crack, 'Quake pulled himself free. "Nice job hothead." The dog replied. "Thanks. Now you think you can help them out?" he asked back, pointing at the struggling figures of Metallix, Manimal, and Owl. "No problem. Just hurry up." 'Quake replied as he drew his hammer and leapt into the fray.

It was one where he was needed too. The cards seemed to multiply as fast as the kids could cut them down. Powerful or not, they were starting to get tired from lack of stamina. "Doesn't this deck ever end?" Metallix swore, as he changed his hand into a scythe and slashed through another group of attacking cards. "They're just cards. It can't be that hard." Owl said, as she threw out another bolt of magic, blasting an attacking ace into a nearby building. "I think he begs to differ." The steel Titan said, pointing towards Manimal, now in the form of a stegosaurus. Even though the motion of his huge body was scattering the cards to the four winds, Manimal was finding himself surrounded. Panic gripped Owl's heart, as she watched the cards begin to force the massive dino down to the ground. The young empath quickly began to look around, trying to find something that she use against the cards before they completely covered her brother. Metallix tried to stretch over and help, but he was becoming trapped himself.

Thankfully, something else was able to act, as the speeding hammer blasted through the air and slammed most of the cards off. Then, with a howl echoing through the air, Groundquake leapt through the air, his body already lengthening itself with earth. The dog-Knight soon stood on long stone legs that let him tower over the form of Manimal. His hands, also lengthened, swiftly stretched down and began to pick the cards off. They began to swarm around his body, hoping to pull him down. But before the cards could even start, the ground below their feet suddenly rose up on either side and suddenly smashed together, trapping the cards inside. 'Quake looked over to see Terra, freed from the goo, eyes glowing as she brought the earth up to defend. "That's my girl!" 'Quake yelled happily, as he finished pulling the cards off of Manimal. Owl, throwing the last of the cards near her down, hovered back down to the ground, sighing in relief that her brother was safe.

But then again, relief does disappear fairly quickly. Suddenly, Owl felt something grab her ankle and pull her back. The empath fell to the ground, hitting hard. She pulled herself up, trying to see what was attacking. As the attacker entered her field of vision, she saw that it was a rogue king. The card was standing upright, which was bad enough, but it also had a large sword in its hand. "Owl!" Manimal screamed, as he and the others began to move towards her. But before they got anywhere, the remains of the fallen cards suddenly began to pull themselves together in some huge shape. Before any of them could do anything, the cards had become a massive wall, stretching the width of the street and preventing access. The king saw this, and as it turned back to Owl, its face twisted in an evil grin. As it raised its sword up, Owl tried to bring up a magic shield, but in her panic, her powers kept shorting out. For a second, Owl thought that her superhero career was over before it really began. However, there was suddenly a brief spark, and then the king was awash in green flame. It struggled backwards, trying to extinguish itself, but the flames did their work swiftly and the card turned to ash within a minute. As the wind swiftly blew the remains away, Owl got to her feet and wondered what had just happened.

"You ok?" a voice asked from behind her. The empath turned in a whirl, to see Sunblaze land in front of her. "That was you?" she asked, putting everything together. "Of course. I couldn't let that thing hurt you." Sunblaze answered back. "Huh? Oh um, really?" Owl nervously muttered out. Obliviously, the young boy continued. "Yeah, I don't let anyone hurt my friends, and we are friends, aren't we?" "Well, yeah, at least." Owl said, though her voice seemed a bit belated to say so. Sunblaze would've said more, but then there was a scream of rage from the other side of the wall. "Sounds like Kestrel's having fun. Come on." He said, as he took off over the wall. Owl followed, but as she flew, she muttered, "Friends. That's still all it is?"

Meanwhile, Kestrel had been swiftly making her way through the army of cards and getting closer to Mumbo(battle-lust does have that wonderful effect). "Don't you have any real tricks?" she yelled out as she sliced through the last of his cards. "Come and see little girl." Mumbo sneered. Eyes narrowing, Kestrel leapt into the air, trying to crash into Mumbo. But before she could, Mumbo suddenly whipped his hat off and pointing at her, blasted Fluffy out like a cannonball. Kestrel's eyes widened in horror and she tried to change her flight path, but it was too late. The huge rabbit collided into her and landed on the ground, pressing her down with his huge body. "Aww, did my little Fluffy hurt you?" Mumbo asked as he walked up to his pet. "Well, I guess this should teach you a lesson. Little girls shouldn't play with dangerous animals, or pretend to be real heroes."

But as those words hung in the air, Mumbo realized that he might have made a mistake. Fluffy's monstrous form was beginning to bounce up and down on the ground, as Kestrel began to struggle harder. She began to pull her legs underneath the rabbits huge body, and then when they were finally under him, Kestrel suddenly shot them upwards with all her strength, pushing the monster into a backwards spin that ended with the creature on his back. Kestrel flipped back to her feet, and even thought most of her face was covered, Mumbo saw an anger in her eyes that made him feel more then a bit of fear. The young hero unsheathed her talons and with a wild battle cry, leapt towards the evil magician. Mumbo whipped off his hat, perhaps hoping to trap her inside, as he had once done to her parents. But a truly good trick only works once, and this was no exception. Before Mumbo could get the hat into position, Kestrel turned her run into a slide through his legs. As she came to a stop behind him, Mumbo turned and saw that she had had one taloned finger outstretched during the slide. Suddenly, the hat split in two in his hands. "Oh damn." He swore as he looked at his ruined hat.

But before he could do anything about it, a fist suddenly careened into his face knocking him back and breaking a few teeth. The attack didn't end there, as Kestrel pulled her foe back and drove her knee into his gut. Then as Mumbo fell to his knees clutching both stomach and jaw, Kestrel whirled around in the air and delivered a devastating spin-kick to his face, knocking him to the ground. As Mumbo hit, the impact jarred something from inside his jacket onto the ground. Mumbo tried to move his pain-wracked body to it, but before his hand could grasp it, a green-gloved one picked it up. "Looking for something Mumbo?" Kestrel sneered, as she held the magic wand in both hands. Mumbo weakly gestured for it, but Kestrel wrapped both hands around it and snapped it in half. Mumbo's swollen eyes began to weep, as his hat and Fluffy vanished, his blue skin returned to normal, and the bags of jewels returned from their magical hiding place.

"At least there's one good thing that you can do in jail." Kestrel said, as she pulled Mumbo in close. "You can spread the word that the Teen Titans are back." "Even if I can't talk.' Mumbo blubbered, gesturing to the bruises already forming on his face. "True, but I think it needs more." Kestrel said menacingly. "You know, when I was a kid, I always liked Zorro. Let's see if I can make a T on you." She said, as one taloned hand reached out towards the magician's terrified face. Kestrel's face gave every impression of going through with it, and she would have, if an armored hand had not grabbed her wrist. She looked over to see Nightstalker holding her arm and the others behind him. "This is not how we do things." The bat said angrily. "Well, it's how I do them." Kestrel snapped back, pulling her arm away. "I don't care. As long as you are on this team, you will work within our rules, whether you agree or not. And you will control your temper." "And how are you gonna make me do that?" Kestrel asked. That actually seemed to stump the bat. "We're going to have a long talk." Was all he said. Of course, the fact the police were approaching could have also had some to do with his silence. "Not a word of this." The bat whispered, as he grabbed Mumbo and turned to face the cops. "I think this belongs to you." He said, holding out Mumbo like a bundle of clothes. The cops nodded wordlessly, too in awe to say much. Taking Mumbo back, they handcuffed him and led him away.

"Well, at least they still appreciate the things we did back in the day." 'Stalker said to Lightweaver. "They're not the only ones." The fox replied, pointing to the crowd. The people were cheering the Titans as if they were returning rock gods. The applause was close to deafening. "Did our parents have to deal with this?" Owl wondered as she looked out at the crowd. "Not really, but we were here all the time. You guys are the first to wear the Titans brand in years. These is probably one of the best things these people will ever see." Terra said. The crowd was definitely acting like it was, but the question remained as to whether or not their heroes could handle it. Most of the Titans seemed to be shell-shocked by the applause. Even Metallix seemed to be amazed by the love of the crowd. Frankly, they probably would've stayed like that for the rest of the day, had not the Knights taken charge. Moving to the sides of the Titans, they took the stunned heroes' hands and raised them high in the air, in a gesture of victory and unity. The crowd roared louder then ever, and the Titans seemed to realize how much fun it was to be praised, as most of them began to smile. But no matter how many people cheered, Nightstalker didn't take his eyes off Kestrel.