Avenging Justice 2:

Caught Between an Ultron and a Doomsday

Part XVII

Earth, California, San Diego

That was when the brightly colored young man came in with two metallic bars, that seemed to be emitting a high electrical charge. He hit her captor so quickly that she nearly didn't see the hits, and for his trouble, he was rewarded with her captor's squeals of pain. Even more interesting was her captor tried to hit her new friend, but couldn't seem to land a single blow.

While the alien was responding to his stun batons, Robin wasn't sure he was doing much more than angering the visitor. Still, he was okay with that. After seeing how the orange skinned woman had protected the cops, he figured she deserved a chance to explain how she'd ended up in cuffs.

His opponent was getting smarter, Robin decided to change from his single hand stun batons, to a weapon with a longer reach. Pulling a smoke bomb from his belt, he used it to obscure the alien's vision, and connected his stun batons together with connector, making a staff weapon. He then leapt back onto the alien, and the other being quickly went on the defensive.

The alien too decided to change tactics and brought out some type of firearm like weapon. Robin immediately formulated three different ways to get out of the way of the weapon, but that was unneeded. A black energy surrounded the alien and sent it blasting off towards the ocean. He turned, and found a floating teen girl speaking in an arcane language he didn't understand.

"Thanks for the assist, I'm Robin and you are?" he asked the floating teen girl, his eyes also checking on the position of the bound alien.

Raven touched down gently, "An ally, you can call me, Raven."

"Robin," he said gently and began walking towards the other alien. As he did, he chose to put away his staff, and hold up his hands. "I don't think you threw that one too far away, so let's see what we walked into."

Raven gave him a curious look, "She is their prisoner, how do you know she isn't dangerous, and worthy of those shackles?"

"She took blows for those cops there," Robin explained. "She could have just let them get hurt, but she interceded. That tells me a lot about her character."

Raven shrugged, "Interesting."

Starfire looked at the colorful young man, and he gave her a smile. She liked this, remembering how she'd done that a lot, before the dark times. Holding up his hands, he motioned for hers, and she quizzically put them out. He took them, and looked them over, touching a control on his gauntlet several times. Then he pulled out two metal spring like objects from his belt, and started to apply them to her cuffs. Before she knew it, she felt her bindings fall away and she could flex her hands properly.

He said something again, but she didn't understand it. However, there was a way to remedy this. Her people had the ability to learn languages through physical contact. The ritual used for this was sealed with pressing her lips to his, taking the language from his mouth to hers. She did this and felt him stiffen, before relaxing and returning the kiss. That is what these Humans called it, a kiss.

"You okay there wonder boy?" the teen in dark clothing laughed.

Robin smiled, "Well that is a first for me."

Starfire returned that smile, "Thank you for sharing your language with me. I am Korriand'r, though I guess you can call me Starfire."

"So, who are those guys after you?" Raven asked.

Starfire's eyes burned green fire, "Bad people, they came and hurt my people. They kept me locked up and I escaped them."

"Well, it looks like they are coming back," Robin said as he turned to face the second of her captors approaching, while the first was emerging from the sea.

To their surprise, a green falcon dive bombed the first and changed to a young man beside them. The second of Starfire's captors was blasted to the ground, as Victor Stone came up behind them, very, very upset with the alien for the original blast. Seeing the four others, he decided to join them, as they seemed to be fighting against these aliens. He figured his enemy's enemy, was a good choice for a friend.

"Someone tell me why these alien things dropped in on my vacation and wrecked my cabin?" Victor asked as he came over.

Starfire spoke, "I apologize, they are after me. They are bad people. I did not mean for you all to be drug into this."

"Well, this is going to sound strange, but I was drawn here looking for warriors," Raven explained. "It seems I wasn't misled."

Robin held up his hand, "Not now, later. Right now we need to organize a plan and neutralize the threat before someone really gets hurt."

"Whoa, who put you in charge?" Beast Boy asked, not so much challenging Robin, but curious.

Robin threw two exploding charges, kicking up sand, and temporarily blinding the attackers. He then reached around, and withdrew his electrified staff. As the first captor coughed, his weapon hand was outstretched and quickly lost its weapon. The second took a step back, but was watched Robin warily.

"Never mind," Beast Boy said. "What do you need from me Oh Fearless Leader."

"Can you do more than change into a bird?" Robin asked. Beast Boy nodded, so Robin continued, "In that case, go large and see if you can keep them from the civilians." To Raven, "Can you use that power of yours to knock them around a bit? Keep them guessing where we are at." Moving his staff towards Starfire, "Keep them distracted by chasing you and us. If they start to get away, bring them back." Then to Victor, "You're a cyborg, I'm guessing you're a bit stronger than most and I know you have weapons. So, the only mystery is what to call you."

Victor took a breath, might as well embrace his curse, "Call me Cyborg, or whatever you like. Once I'm done here, I'm done. I have other things I need to be focusing on."

"Well, Cyborg," Robin gave him a knowing look. "You're our big guns, wait till you have a clean shot and stun them if you can."

Cyborg rolled his eyes, "You know this isn't Star Trek right?" Then thinking a moment, "I guess I could make a modified cannon that shoots an electrical charge. Alright, we'll try it your way."

Robin threw two more smoke bombs, "Let's go!"

Beast Boy transformed into a massive Asian Elephant, trunk trumpeting as he charged forward. The captors fell back, and nearly got blasted by Starfire's blasts. Intending to get some ground, they fled apart. Only for one to find dark infused objects pelting them, while the other found themselves receiving a full electrical charge to the face. Meanwhile Robin came in with his staff, instantly hitting both with savage blows.

The first captor threw a trinket from his belt, and Beast Boy's elephant form screamed as he reverted back to his regular form. The second set out a trap, and Raven barely escaped as the jaws snapped around her. Another trap, came at Robin, but too many years training with Batman, allowed him to easily escape. Cyborg found himself facing both, till Robin leapt back in and kept the other two off guard.

This left Starfire time to blast both from behind and the captors fell to the beach, before going completely limp. Fried circuitry and inorganic liquids seeped out of their ruined husks. After a few seconds they both burst into flames, reduced to atoms within a few breaths. Leaving the collected teen heroes in their first combined success.

"Booyah!" Cyborg yelled. "That's what you get for crashing a man's cabin."

Starfire floated down, looking very sullen, "I'm sorry it came down to violence, but not escaping you."

Beast Boy groaned as he limped back over, "Let's not do that again. I think I can feel my hair."

"We did good," Robin grinned wildly. "Though I admit I'm not used to fighting so early in the day."

It was Raven, that was quiet, her thoughts roaming over what had brought her here. She had come here looking for allies, and it appeared she had found them. Was it enough to stop Trigon? Maybe or maybe not, but she had been drawn to them. There was something to them.

"I have something I would like to talk to you all about," she said solemnly. "I think we are meant for more."

Back in the studio, Lilac was talking into her into her camera, "Well my viewers, aliens landed on Earth, lookin' for a fight. Luckily my personal friend, Beast Boy, and several other young heroes put the hurt on them. They stood tall like those ancient Titans of the primordial planet, and rocked their worlds." Taking a breath, as if struck by inspiration, "I've got it, these heroes, these Teen Titans stood tall today. I look forward to seeing what they do next. Till next time my loyal viewers, and be kind to one another out there."

Across the nation that night, the story ran of the heroics of those young people. They were the talk of many shows, running the gambit of the political spectrum. Some, saw them as a bright light for the next generation, a hope. Others saw them as another symbol of oppressiveness, ones that would further abuses with their power. One of those was a little closer to the truth than the other.

However, with nobody listening, or even reacting to what actually happened, it was moot. Still a very finely worded report in the Daily Planet, gave the most factual answer, and Lois Lane couldn't have been prouder of her story. A copy found itself printed out inside of Wayne Manor, with a very proud Alfred looking at it as he went about his duties.