A/N: I like where this is headed, and the ideas I have laid out ahead, I just hope you do too.
Disclaimer: I'd say something funny, but whoever owns the Teen Titans probably has a copyright on comedy too, needless to say, I have neither.
Men willingly believe what they wish.
-Julius Caesar
"And the last attack only shows how weak the Sheppard Administration is: soft on crime, weak on drugs, and weak on defense. Don't you agree?" A slick looking man in a dark suit with a white shirt and red tie turned from the camera towards Robin, who was sitting beside him; dressed in his uniform, with the unmistakable look of a teenager on a political punditry show who was in way over his head.
"Well…"
"Yes, it's unmistakable." The commentator pressed on, not even giving Robin a chance to respond. "Do you see the failure of Sheppard's security policies in that, you, had to stop the terrorists, or in the fact that they were already in the country at all?"
Robin was becoming very frustrated and it was starting to show. He was by no stretch a bad public speaker, and he could more than hold his own in even the most erudite conversations with Raven and even with Bruce; however, this man's job was to be as loud and outspoken as possible, make his guests uncomfortable, then talk in circles until he got them to say something in agreement with his point. And now he was going around Robin.
"I think I was just in the right place, at the right time, and I have every confidence that the law enforcement agencies in the area would have stopped them before they could have done any harm." Robin said coolly, trying to regain some ground from the pushy commentator.
"But don't you think that it is at least possible that the attacks these freedom hating terrorists could have been carried out had you not stopped them."
"Well, I...suppose, it's possible…" Robin regretted the words just as soon as he said them.
"Just like I said, and now because you saved America once again, and in an even more critical time, you are an even bigger and better known hero."
"I…um, yeah I guess." The "compliment" had caught Robin slightly off guard, just as it was supposed to.
"Given a choice between a free, safe, America, and one ruled by liberal anarchists who would welcome terrorists in through the front door, which would you pick?"
"Well obviously the first one…" Robin started but the pundit cut him off again.
"Of course that's what you want, and don't you think that America needs a strong, god-fearing, freedom loving American to lead it; America First?"
"Yes, without a doubt." For about the 30th time that night, Robin regretted the words that had just come out of his mouth 'America First!' that was a campaign slogan…Robin put his face in his hands as the man turned back towards the camera.
"There you have it, straight from the mouth of America's own defender, Robin, leader of the Teen Titans has officially given his team's unequivocal support to Senator Fletcher and his campaign."
He kept going, and Robin wondered if the man ever actually had to breathe.
"That's all for tonight on The O'Hare Dynamic, join us tomorrow night when Ann Coulter tells us in her new book how the separation of powers is a myth created by liberal activist judges."
"And…we're out…" the set director said as the extra spotlights overhead went dark.
Sam O'Hare turned his chair back to face Robin "You were great kid, you did better than half the brain-dead liberals I have on this show." He laughed very loud and hard at his own joke. Robin forced a small chuckle and tried his best to smile somewhat.
"Thanks" he said through gritted teeth. Robin quickly rose from his seat next to the pundit, and, without another word, made his way to the stage door. He could hear the low rumble of swiftly falling rain as he approached the exit door. As he opened the door it was caught by the fiercely blowing wind and driven against the side of the building, Robin moved to the other side of it, bracing himself against the door and forcing it closed.
The pounding rain, driven even faster by the relentless wind, stinging every square inch of Robin's exposed skin was only made worse by the fact that it was also quite cold. And Robin merely managed to compound his problem with the weather when he hopped on his motorcycle and headed back towards the tower.
"…liberal activist judges." A remote control pointed at the TV and it shut off. A man in a black suit sat at the end of a large conference table, he turned from the TV back to the table, lined on both sides with men and a few women, all dressed in very formal business attire. They all had smiles on their faces, and the looks of a person who had found out they had the winning lotto ticket the day before the drawing.
The man in the black suit stood up from his chair "Ladies, Gentlemen…Senator" he added, gesturing with his arm to a gruff, stoic, coarse, mean, looking man at the opposite end of the table from him, eliciting a laugh from everyone "this may just be the nail in the coffin of the Sheppard campaign…"
"Thank God." One man interjected, producing even more laughs.
"Agreed, Jerry. A roundabout endorsement from the Teen Titans' leader, only Sam could have pulled that one off, good call on getting him hired at FOX instead of with us, Amy." He nodded at a women a few seats down from him on his left. "But I digress…as chairman of Fletcher for America I say with every confidence..." he turned towards Senator Fletcher at the opposite end of the table "…to all of you, that we are going to take total control of the federal government."
He paused as the dozen people all cheered and applauded, he motioned for them to quiet down and when they had complied, he continued "We're ahead in most of the Senate races taking place, and we expect to increase our majority in the house by at least 40 seats…"
"God bless gerrymandering!" One woman shouted, eliciting laughs from everyone at the table.
"Yes, yes, and, with…that" the Senator had stood up, he gathered a stack of papers and placed them in a briefcase he produced from underneath the table "we'll end this meeting." The others at the table had risen and were preparing to leave as well "Let's go out there tomorrow and win this thing. Oh, and…don't forget to vote."
"The Fletcher campaign, down nearly 20 in the polls only two weeks ago, has now become a veritable juggernaut, with many large donors switching their party support, and the small grass-roots movement in favor of Senator Fletcher has gained tens of thousands of new activists. With many high-profile commentators and celebrities of all sorts, the most recent being the saviors of Jump City—the Teen Titans—Michael Fletcher is now showing a 27 point lead over the reelection campaign of President Sheppard and his party, and is poised to not only sweep into the White House, but also both houses of Congress, and many state legislatures, with a mandate not seen since Franklin D. Roosevelt 74 years ago."
Cyborg and Raven were both watching the television, with him on the couch and her floating a few feet off the ground near the windows, a book open in her hands, somewhat attempting to look as though she were reading it, though the rain and the newscast had long ago distracted her. Starfire too, was watching it, but with only half-hearted interest as she played with silky on the floor nearby. Beast Boy however, was totally oblivious to it all as he worked away in the kitchen, preparing some sort of tofu dish for himself.
The large steel doors on the elevator slid aside to reveal a rain-soaked Robin, who looked none to pleased.
All the Titans looked at him, Cyborg muted the TV and for a moment, it was quite enough to hear the drops of water falling off of Robin and splash into the puddle quickly growing beneath his feet. Robin slowly began walking from the elevator towards the main hallway. Cyborg was the first to say anything.
"Hey…Robin, when did we, uh, when did the Titans start endorsing political candidates?"
"It shouldn't have happened." Was Robin's only reply; he was almost to the first door in the hallway, which lead to one of the training rooms, when Cyborg stepped in front of the door.
"This is pretty bad man, we can't be seen in favor or supporting anyone running for office, it's unethical for us to use our positions to do that." He said, his arms folded.
"God damnit, Cyborg!" Robin slammed his fist against the wall. "Don't you think I know that?" Robin sighed in frustration, "I know…just, get out of my way." Cyborg stepped aside; he knew not to get in Robin's way when the Boy Wonder wanted to blow off some steam. He quickly entered the training room and the door shut just as fast behind him.
"He's not angry at me, he's angry at himself, he lost control of the situation, and it cost him, cost us." Cyborg explained to the stunned looking Titans.
"I don't get it" Beast Boy looked up at Cyborg from the training room door "why dose that really affect us?"
"Because, Beast Boy" Cyborg started, "we have to be neutral in these kinds of things, otherwise it's unfair to whatever side we don't support, we do have a sort of influence in our own way, and we have to treat that power just like our physical ones, and use restraint."
"On top of that, our legal status is…is kind of in a gray area, and stepping outside our understood duties of fighting crime and saving the world and such, calls attention to it, especially if we get into politics, because they make the laws, and the last thing we need are laws making us the criminals." Raven offered, hoping to clear that blank look off of Beast Boy's face, indicating he didn't understand what had been said.
Still seeing his puzzled expression, Cyborg tried again "Think of it this way, BB. It's like if the Pope told people in Italy who they should vote for…" he finished.
"Wait, I thought the Pope lived in the Vatican…" Beast Boy said, scratching his head as the other Titans nearly fell to the floor.
"I should never have done that damn interview." Robin mumbled angrily to himself as he punched the cylindrical bag hanging from one piece of the workout equipment. Not satisfied with his own attacks he switched to kicking the bag "I let that asshole get me off balance and that was it." Robin stopped for a moment to catch his breath, sweat beaded on the already soaked Boy Wonder and quickly dropped to the floor. "Bruce always said 'Stay away from the media,'" he picked up his attacks again as he beat ferociously upon the bag "'they'll only cause you trouble…' he said." "Why the hell didn't I listen to him? I can't believe I listened to those sniveling worms, telling me how great the publicity for us would be. Damnit!"
With an exasperated yell Robin launched another series of attacks on his inanimate foe, Robin could hear the strain on the metal holding the bag as he pounded away but he ignored it, continuing to pummel it until the chain connecting it to the metal bar overhead snapped and the bag fell to the ground in the middle of Robin's swing.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" He cried out in frustration, kicking the bag, sending it rolling across the room. He may have broken the punching bag, but he wasn't done working off his aggression.
Robin moved to the middle of the room, where the sparing ring was painted on the floor. He took the small, collapsed version of the staff he had taken from Slade, it had the same kind of activation switch on it which he pressed, the staff almost instantly sprang out, expanding to full size. It was almost identical to Robin's own staffs apart from its length, at least six inches longer than his, which could be attributed to Slade's height, it was black, but what Robin noticed most, was that it was no more than half the weight of the staffs he used.
"It's so damn light." Robin though out loud. He figured it must be made of some sort of carbon fiber and metal composites. Real high-tech stuff, twice as light and probably five or ten times stronger than his own. "Well, I'll just have to put it to the test then, won't I?" He spun the staff around in his hands, switching it back and forth from hand to hand, he brought it around in a strike on an invisible target behind him, spinning around to meet the invisible threat, but stopped in the middle of his swing.
'God it's fast,' he thought, appraising the staff again 'no wonder Slade's always quicker than me…' he walked over to a small stand at the edge of the sparing ring, he typed a few commands into the computer console and hit a button, activating the training system.
A hole opened in the floor of the ring, and up through it, slowly rose a robot, it's size, shape, and configuration almost identical to the robot copies of himself that Slade had used to toy with Robin so many times before.
When the robot became level with the floor, it took a menacing fighting stance; its two red eyes began glowing threateningly. The robot simply held its stance with perfect precision, waiting for Robin to start the program. "Select difficulty level." A soft, female computerized voice prompted.
"Set Difficulty level seven." Robin said gruffly, his back to the robot as he walked to the other side of the ring, stowing the staff back in his utility belt.
"Begin match." The computer's voice stated and the robot lunged forward to attack Robin. He let the robot come straight at him, and when it began attacking him he simply dodged most of the blows it tried to land while only blocking a few. He did not even take so much as one step back from the attacking automaton before he grabbed an incoming punch and twisted the robot's wrist so it lost its balance and fell to its knees, where Robin kicked it in the chest, sending it sprawling several feet away.
"Raise difficulty, level ten" Robin commanded, to which the computer replied, "Level raised."
The robot almost instantly sprung to its feet and assumed another fighting stance, analyzing Robin for a moment, then launching into another series of attacks much more advanced than before.
Robin began to block the attacks, letting the android push him back, he then switched to blocking with only his left hand as he reached inside his belt and extracted his newly acquired staff, expanding it to its full length. But the robot proved quicker than Robin only fighting with one hand, as it moved next to him, throwing it's leg behind him and tripping him up. It pounced on the Boy Wonder, while Robin held it just off of himself with the staff.
The two struggled on the floor for a few moments before Robin was able to get a foot underneath the machine. He kicked the robot off with a yell, he sprung to his feet, then hurled his staff like a javelin, impaling the robot, and pinning it to the wall, where it twitched for a few seconds, attempting to remove the staff before it fell limp and the glow in its eyes faded away.
"End program." Robin said before extracting the staff from the wall and putting it back in his belt. He walked to the door and opened it, hearing the TV just a few yards down the hall he walked towards the living room.
"And you know, these reckless 'heroes' go around, beating up people and throwing them to the cops where they are put in prison, usually without a real trial. And now they are using their glorified place in society to unduly influence things in which they should have no say. These people are nothing more than feckless vigilantes who destroy citizen's civil rights day in and day out…"
"Please turn that off." Robin moaned to his teammates, who had taken a keen interest in the cable news broadcast. Cyborg shut the TV off and the team turned towards Robin, who was standing in the middle of the hallway, some 15 feet from the couch. "Guys, I just wanted to, to apologize, for what happened, I've put us all at risk in a way we can't simply fight our way out of. That's why, as of right now, I'm resigning my position as team leader, and from the Teen Titans." He finished, hanging his head.
"Like hell you are!" The four other Titans all cried out in unison. Robin lifted his head, taken aback at their force.
"You messed up, pretty bad, but we've all done stupid stuff before, and probably will again." Beast Boy offered.
"Plus," Cyborg continued "We've been looking into Fletcher, and when he gets elected, we're going to need you, the guys borderline crazy, there's no telling what laws he's gonna get passed."
"Also, now that Slade is back, you're going to need us." Raven picked up "Because we know you would just go right out and drive yourself to death looking for him."
"And we most certainly do not want that to happen." Starfire finished.
"Thanks for your confidence guys, but one thing…did you rehearse this before I came out of the training room?" The other Titan's looked away, and all whistled a different, predominantly off-key, tune. "That's just…weird." He sighed, shaking his head.
"Ok, guys" Cyborg said "it's pretty late now, and we all have to be up early, you three will be on patrol most of the early morning with out us because Robin and me have to vote."
"He's right," Robin interjected "the last thing we need is for something to happen on Election Day, so we'll follow the old Chicago adage 'vote early, vote often.' And then we'll guard the city until the polls close."
The Titans all said goodnight to each other and wend to their respective rooms. They would have been on heightened alert tomorrow anyway, but given the events of the past few weeks, they were going to take every precaution they could and prepare for the unexpected.
"Robin…" Cyborg called softly to his leader, as they were both at their doors, the met each other at the middle of the hallway. "What do you think is going to happen, man?"
"I don't really know Cy, but whatever does happen, things will change."
A/N: There's one more chapter after this before what I see as a logical break in the story, I may do a different story in between that and the 'sequel' as I have a few ideas kicking around, but I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.