Secret
Ok, this storyline is based on Young Justice, or at least the start is, but I'm twisting into a TT story. OK?
Just so no-one's gonna try and get me for not having said this, here it goes: (In Monotone Voice) I do not own Teen Titans or Young Justice, nor shall I ever own them.
Strangely enough, Starfire answered it, much to their annoyance.
The call came as Starfire was absent-mindedly looking through a cookbook she had found in the cupboard under the sink, lightly wondering how it was so different from her own cooking. She glanced up in slight surprise at the icon of a telephone on the big screen. It was early Sunday morning, so she was still in her pyjamas. She put the book beside her on the couch and stood up, lightly rubbing her eye as a small yawn escaped her.
"Yes, may I assist you?" she asked, pressing the button on the console to accept the call. The icon was replaced by an image of a serious looking man in'Agent-Smith' attire, with two serious parting on either sides of his hair.
"Teen Ti-" He started, but, looking over Starfire, stopped, a puzzled look crossing his face. He turned his head to bark angrily at someone off screen, and then turned back to her patiently waiting face. "Is this Titans Tower?"
"Indeed it is." She nodded, smiling up at the hard-faced man.
"Are you sure? You don't look like a Titan." He said bluntly, looking her up and down as if inspecting her, taking in the pink floral pyjamas. Starfire frowned slightly, feeling insulted, but didn't let it show as she said,
"Forgive my lack of formal clothing, but it is unusual to receive messages of urgency at this time of day. What is it that you wish to discuss?"
"No offence," he said with a tone meaning the exact opposite. "But I'd rather talk with the leader of the Titans."
"Speaking." Starfire turned round to face the door as Robin walked in, thankfully, the officer thought, in full uniform.
"Right then." He said, obviously warming up to a big speech. "I represent an organisation called D.E.O, the-"
"The Department of Extranormal Operations, I've heard of you." Interrupted Robin, traversing round the couch to stand directly in front of the screen. (Starfire had resumed her cookbook reading, curled up in the niche of the sofa cushions.)
"Erm, Right…" He blinked, thrown off track by this. "And, well, to put it simply… We need your help." His eye twitched invisibly, except to Robin's highly trained eyes.
"Eeeeeeeeuagh…" A long yawn echoed from the back of the room. The three present glanced round to see a dishevelled Beast-boy, sloppily dressed in his nightwear, consisting of yellow boxers and a vest, leaning slightly on the open doorway and rubbing his eyes with a free hand. "What's…? What's goin' on?" He asked, opening his bleary eyes wide, trying to get them to focus. He growled to himself, closing and rubbing his eyes with a forefinger and thumb, muttering "(I hate it when…)" He re-opened his eyes and clearly saw the confused and slightly disgusted face on the view screen.
"Another one of your team?" The major (for that was what he was.) said, squinting slightly at the changeling, who made a beeline for the fridge. Literally.
"Yes…" Robin said, slightly embarrassed at this situation. He turned back to the screen as Beast Boy buzzed noisily. "You were saying?"
"Yes." He continued. "The D.E.O regrets to inform you that your city is in serious danger."
"(What, again?)" Beast-boy muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes by the fridge where he leant sipping a bottle of water, but paying attention all the same.
"From what?" Robin asked.
"Unfortunately, the danger is from one of our own lab test subjects. We have been containing it for the past sixteen years, in an airtight containment unit, trying to study it, to learn about it, but, just recently, it's…" He looked away slightly, seemingly embarrassed.
"Escaped?" Robin suggested, nodding his head slightly.
"(Beast-boy,)" Whispered Starfire, motioning for him to come over. "(Could you perchance help me in deciphering these instructions?)"
"(Sure thing.)" He said, glancing at the major and walking over to her.
"The subject is made of a gaseous substance, and can take on any form, altering its toxicity at will." The major explained. "When it escaped, it took three of our scientists' lives."
"So, what do you want us to do?" Robin asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. ("When it says 'eggs', what species is the book referring to? Look…") "Capture? Destroy? Distract?"
"Just capture, not destroy, as it can still be tested back at our facility. We will be handing over to you a portable container unit, in which you should be able to contain the creature." The major replied, motioning with a free hand to someone off-screen. ("Where? Oh yeah… Well, it usually means chicken eggs, or something like it. Nothing too rare or you'd have loads of laws comin' down on ya'. As long as you don't put them anywhere near my mouth, I'm fine.") Another person, a private, handed the major a transparent cylinder, at least two litres in volume with steel caps on either end.
Robin lowered his head slightly, weighing up the odds and the strength of his team. Starfire (his first priority) seemed invulnerable to Earth toxins and such, Cyborg could easily filter the toxins from his systems, he doubted whether the demon side of Raven would allow for death, and Beast-boy was… He was jokingly going to think expendable, but, thinking about it, he could most likely transform to escape if worst came to worst. After all, Plasmus himself was walking toxic waste…
"Alright then." He nodded slightly, glancing at the pair behind him. ("Ah, I thought as much. I did plan on using Silkie's eggs if-")
"Dude!" Beast-boy grimaced, stepping sharply away from Starfire. "That's just wrong-!" He cut himself off, and then glanced towards Robin and the major, who held equally confused looks. "He-heh…" He laughed nervously, tugging at the collar of his vest. "Sorry, different topic…" Starfire giggled slightly at the awkwardness of the situation.
"So let me just clear things up:" Cyborg said as they drove down the main road of the city in the T-car, looking for any signs of the creature. "First of all, we've got to find a creature that could be anywhere, or invisible, take it on, despite the fact we could do little to no damage to it, and capture the whole changing mass of it in that teeny-tiny tube?" He jabbed his thumb at a large contraption Cyborg had rigged up, in which the canister was sitting.
"Yep." Robin replied, glancing out of the passenger side window.
"Alrighty. Just wanted to know where I stand." He added cheerfully, checking the side mirrors before taking a corner. They had all agreed to go in the T-car as it was airtight, and they didn't want to risk anyone by exposing them to it prematurely.
"Dude, how can you be so calm?" Beast boy asked from the back, feeling slightly awkward at being trapped between the two girls in the small space. "Even some of my strongest changes can't stand up to toxic air! Like my gorilla- watch!" Before anyone could protest, he shape-shifted into a gorilla. A full-grown green gorilla. This resulted in four things: 1. Starfire and Raven were crushed against the windows of the car, 2. Beast boy smashed his head into the roof of the car, denting the metal, 3. Cyborg and Robin's seats were forced forward, pinning them, and 4. The car's suspension gave out, collapsing to a halt in the middle of the road.
A beat.
"BEAST BOY!" Four angry, yet muffled voices yelled.
"Oops…" he laughed when as he changed back, shrinking down in his seat. However, just before the reprimanding could begin;
HNRRROAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!
The coffee shop they had passed moments before exploded outwards in a cloud of glass, steel and concrete shrapnel. Their quarrel forgotten in an instant, they piled out of the car and assumed tactical formation, battle ready. A large shape loomed out of the dust cloud…
No…
The large shape was the dust cloud! Two huge hands, each with three glass-sharp claws thrust themselves away from each side of the main cloud as a gaping tear ripped itself open in the middle of the cloud, each razor edged and dripping with condensation. Two thin slits opened above this, glowing a brilliant ruby as a long, slick tongue whipped out from its gaping mouth as it bellowed ferociously at the team.
"…Ok, seriously? Ew!" Beast Boy summed up, shuddering slightly.
"Everyone confirmed about the plan?" Robin asked quickly. The others nodded sharply, focused on the task at hand. "Alright. Titans, Go!"
They ran at the creature as one until it shot out a clawed hand, forcing them to separate as it's fist smashed into the ground, shattering the concrete.
"Remember, you can't touch it's main body!" Robin yelled, un-clipping some freeze disks and hurling them at the creature. It spared them a passing glance as it lashed out at Raven, fully focusing on collapsing her telekinetic shield she'd conjured. The disks sailed straight through it without damage, instead colliding on the side of the building opposite. It roared as it's face absorbed into the main body and re-appeared to whip it's tongue around Cyborg's leg behind it, dragging him upside-down into the air.
"Hey-! I thought this thing wasn't solid!" He yelled, bending up and grabbing the tongue with his hands, then squeezing as hard as he could. It roared in pain, releasing immediately and sending him crashing to the floor as Starfire rained several starbolts at the creature from above. The majority of them passed straight through it, demolishing the road beneath, but one or two struck solid matter- the tongue and face- of it. She immediately flew aside as a large, open clawed hand slowly grew out and slashed at her.
"Gnngh-! It seems like it can be solid or not whenever it chooses!" Raven grunted, wincing at having to keep her shield up under the onslaught of the mindless limbs it still had punching at her.
"Guys!" Beast Boy yelled, standing away from the main battle. "Now?" Robin jumped aside and slashed through the wrist of an arm that had shot at him before turning towards Beast Boy.
"Alright, NOW!" he yelled, jumping back as it grew another clawed hand and slashed at him. Beast Boy quickly shifted into a pterodactyl, and, digging his claws into the cracked concrete, started flapping as hard as he could at the creature. As each burst of wind came, the creature's continuous growl increased in pitch and volume each time it's main body was partly dispersed and then re-assembled, turning it's face to roar at Beast-dactyl.
This was just what Raven needed for her part. She summoned a large part of the collapsed building wall, rolling it round into a funnel, wide end towards Beast-dactyl, so the air, which had been coming in bursts, turned into a steady stream, which slowly inched creature towards the awaiting Cyborg and the upgraded capsule. It roared in resistance, trying ferociously to get towards Beast-dactyl, but a few starbolts in it's face blinded it enough for the suction of the upgraded canister to take hold of it, dragging it, roaring, into the main body of it.
It sank it's claws into the road in a futile effort to resist, gouging long claw marks into the surface, but, after a few seconds, the last whisps of it were sucked into the machine.
"…whoa-yeah!" Beast Boy cheered after reverting to human, punching a fist into the air. "That was the fastest we've ever captured a bad-guy!"
"You're right…" Robin frowned, walking towards the canister, neatly slotted into a box-like machine with a long tube on the end. He squatted down beside it, narrowing his eyes at the glass of the canister, now full of swirling, off-white gas.
"So…" Raven asked, glancing up at Cyborg. "That thing isn't going to escape anytime soon…?"
"Not if I had anything to do with it!" Cyborg said proudly, putting a free fist on his hip and patting the top of the machine with his free hand. "I've double and triple checked the air-tightness of it- That thing's goin' nowhere!"
"Looks like the T-car's got some competition…" Beast Boy snickered, elbowing the nonplussed Raven in the side. Starfire grinned slightly at Cyborg's frown, and knelt down next to Robin to peer at the canister.
"Friend Robin, you seem troubled at the speed of our victory." She said, glancing between him and the gas. Robin sighed, putting a hand on his knee.
"Yeah, a bit… It's like… I dunno, it was holding back on us somehow… For example, when it was attacking Raven, it punched at her. What kind of monster punches when it has claws like- like… Star?" He asked her, as she was staring intently at the gas, a frown on her face. She turned back quickly, blushing slightly.
"Oh! Forgive me, but I was distracted by the shapes formed by the gas… It seemed to resemble…" She paused, looking away. "Never mind, it is foolish…"
"No, go on. It looked like…?"
"Well… It seemed to resemble… the face of a human female…" She said, pointing her index finger at the glass.
It took him a few seconds to realise what she had actually said.
"…pardon? What do you mean…? 'the face of a human female'…?"
"I… did say it was foolish…" She giggled nervously, her cheeks tinting slightly redder.
"What're you guys mumblin' about?" Beast Boy wondered aloud, leaning over the top of the canister to peer down on them from above.
"Star thought she saw a face in the gas." Robin said simply, not wishing to embarrass her further.
"Really? Cool! Hey, guys!" He called back to the other two, moving round and squatting between Robin and Starfire. "This thing's a living 'Magic-Eye' puzzle!"
He narrowed his eyes at it, humming under his breath as he stared at it.
He blinked when it stared back.
Ha! The evil ciffie! Does anyone recognise the plotline?