I own nothing but Junior, The Teen Titans and everything else rightfully belong to DC
The Titan of Jump
Chapter 2
Things were starting to finally look up for Junior after the last few weeks of absolute madness, up to and including the subsequent double beatdown of the Teen Titans after they...well mainly Robin decided that an ex-criminal was still indeed a criminal and that Junior was no doubt up to something nasty. No one was expecting what actually happened though, not even him!
It all started when he once again left the peace and quiet of his apartment in order to run some errands, he was going to go and procure a means of transportation in the form of a cruiser, preferably an Indian Scout if he could get his hands on one. The number of people coming up to bother him had lessened over time and he was much more agreeable with their friendly waves and happy good mornings. He didn't get far into the journey only making it to the bank before something happened once again to just piss all over his good mood because today of all days had to be the day that these imbeciles decided to rob a bank. And not just any bank, oh no that just wouldn't do, it just had to be the bank that he was currently withdrawing money from.
"Everybody! Hands in the air!" One of the masked men roared as he pumped his shotgun to emphasize that he meant business, and Junior having just made it to the counter could only sigh and raise his hands.
There was a minor panic before some form of tense order was established with the robbers huddling everyone into a group in the corner as his companions went about ordering the clerks to fill the duffel bags with money. Junior was fine to go along with this, knowing that the sooner they got their money the sooner they could leave so that he could get his. But even that couldn't go right...the baby just had to start crying, and one of the robbers just had to be a psychopath.
"Shut that kid up!" he yelled pointing his gun at the mother who hurriedly tried to placate the small child. The masked man wasn't very patient though and soon dragged the mother away from the group and in front of him.
"Shut the kid up before I do" he growled aiming the gun at the weeping infant, and Junior...well Junior could only sigh as he once again knew he was going to interfere.
The mother covered her child with her body screaming for him not to do it but he just started counting down, even going so far as to grin the lower he managed to get. He was stopped at three when his shotgun was ripped from his grip, he turned as the sound of bending metal reached his ears and watched in shock as his weapon was turned into a ball of metal and dropped at his feet.
"I'm gonna hurt you now" was the last thing he and his fellow robbers heard for a long while.
The Titans were late again, but this time Robin wasn't as shocked and was, in fact, ready for action when they saw the group of masked men and the pile of balled up guns laid out in front of the bank as his eyes zeroed in on Junior sitting casually on the bank steps.
"Mutilar!" was all the warning Junior got before he had to jump from his seat to avoid the array of batarangs coming his way, he could only smile at the familiar feeling of once again avoiding those annoying projectiles.
"So you do remember me," he said easily as Robin rushed him with his staff at the ready, Junior wasn't very worried however because if the boy wonder could damage him with just a staff, well then how he got this far in his life would have to come into question.
The rest of The Titans were shocked by Robin's savagery but only for a moment as they too had learned of the various things Junior did in Gotham, and though their hearts weren't in it they decided to back up their leader. Except for Raven who as odd as it was, wasn't actually sure what to do about the current situation. It was idiotic on multiple levels, pointless on others but most of all, she just didn't have it in her to attempt to harm the teen currently squaring off with her team, because she knew what it was like to have a father that everyone viewed as a villain, and she knew what it was like to want an escape from your past...and most of all, she really didn't want to be on the receiving end of what Junior was currently dishing out.
"This is not good," she said tonelessly as she watched Beast Boy currently being used as a whip, his anaconda form having backfired immensely as Junior whipped him back and forth forcing the other Titans to back off for the moment.
"Hold on BB!" Cyborg yelled as he and Starfire got a clear shot at Junior, while the sonic wave and the star bolts jolted the teen it did nothing to him other than loosen his grip on the large green snake who took the opportunity to transform into something smaller to get away.
Robin rushed close during the confusion hoping to capitalize on Junior's distraction, this proved to be a mistake as Junior was not one to get distracted during a fight, something Robin found out quickly as his staff was caught in one hand and he was subsequently swung around and flung at Cyborg who luckily caught him. The stumble was all Junior needed, however, to close in and score a brain rocking right hook to Cyborgs's chin before sweeping his legs out from under him letting him and the Boy Wonder crash to the floor while Junior turned to deal with Starfire.
Beast Boy finally shook off his daze as Starfire attempted to keep her distance from the exceedingly fast Latino teen attempting to get his hands on her with a barrage of star bolts, seeing his teammate in trouble he quickly ran full tilt at Junior.
"Hey Bane Junior!" he yelled before leaping into the air and quickly morphing into a Kangaroo to deliver a double stomp into the now turned around Junior.
Junior didn't budge at all when Beast Boy made contact, it felt like he just dropkicked a brick wall, but this didn't stop Beast Boy as he rebounded and morphed into a Rhino as he landed and quickly charged at him, hoping that the increase in mass would finally budge the immovable object that was Junior.
He never saw the uppercut coming until it was too late, and then he knew nothing but darkness.
They were losing badly and Robin knew it, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why! Junior was nothing like he was back in Gotham, back then he was just a smaller version of Bane. While still absolutely dangerous to go against it was never like this, they could barely touch him, and when they did manage to do just that the damage was negligible at best!
As he watched Junior rock Beast Boy out of his Rhino form with an uppercut Robin finally realized why Batman never let him fight Junior alone. Because very much like his father Junior was not just a powerhouse, oh no you had to be more than just strong to be known as "The Man Who Broke The Bat". Bane was smart, one of the smartest opponents Batman could face when he wasn't overdosed on Venom.
It was this thought that brought Robin to his next question, how was Junior so strong without the super steroid? In fact, he couldn't remember a time he ever saw the Latino teen use the damned drug in the first place! Nothing was making sense and to top it all off, Raven who was more than likely their most powerful member was just standing there and watching! He took note of the growing crowd as well as the confusion they were emanating, and as he watched Junior shrug off another volley of his batarangs while he proceeded to wrap Starfire in a light pole before kicking Cyborg across the street, Robin knew the fight was lost.
Junior was slowly losing his temper, as he once again felt those annoying batarangs cut through his leather coat and bounce off his skin, his mama bought this coat! Not to mention the squirming orange girl he was currently wrapping up was still shooting her strange energy bolts at him...with her eyes!
He lifted the trapped girl with a growl before stalking over and dropping her next to the ever stoic Raven who merely glanced at her trapped teammate and sighed.
"Your teammates are not invited for tea," he said keeping the growl that wanted so badly to escape out of his tone while Raven for her part just shrugged.
"It's definitely quieter that way," she said easily as Beast Boy let out a groan but didn't wake from his forced sleep, Junior sighed with a slight smile before turning to face the boy wonder like so many times in his past.
Only, that was before Junior was sent to live with his mother for the last two years, so he could understand why Robin wasn't exactly up to date on his...growth. Robin despite knowing he couldn't win admirably fell back into his stance, his staff at the ready and very willing to continue this one-sided battle. That is until a very familiar stuffed bear impacted his face with a rather hilarious squeak, Junior, on the other hand, was staring rather confused down at a small head of blonde hair that was currently clutching his scorched jeans.
"You leave hero man alone!" the shrill voice of the little girl rang out across the silent street as Robin stared dumbfounded at the scene.
"Hero man?" Junior muttered in confusion as even more people began to stand in between him and the boy wonder.
He recognized quite a few of them as people he either greeted in the mornings, people who came up for his autograph, and people he inadvertently saved in his rather unfortunate dealings with the various villains milling about the city.
"Yeah leave him alone!" one said as the small crowd began raising their voices in his defense, rather unnecessarily if one were to ask the Latino teen.
"What are you doing!? You're protecting a criminal!" Robin roared at the crowd but a few people disagreed.
"That boy has done nothing but good since he showed up if he isn't saving people he's just walking around waving at em," one man said and the crowd agreed readily much to the two teens confusion.
Robin for all his positive traits wasn't able to comprehend the reason behind the people of Jump defending the teen behind them, and he had every right not to understand.
You see in Gotham, when you worked with Batman you were a shadow, the people either hated you, feared you, or admired you from afar because no one was truly able to get close enough to actually know you and this was both a good and a bad thing, an air of mystery helped wonders when it came down to striking fear into the hearts of those that would bring evil to your streets.
Even here, The Titans were seen more as celebrities as they stayed huddled in their giant tower across the water, and while this gave the general populace comfort knowing their heroes were so close by it still didn't change the fact that they were just a step above police in the eyes of the general populace.
Junior on the other hand, while he may not have the track record the Titans did having only stopped a little more than a handful of crimes in his relatively short time in Jump, was someone that people saw almost every day. He walked around outside, he played with some of the kids when asked, he greeted people and shopped alongside them, he was someone they could say they knew.
To them Junior wasn't just a superhero, he was a citizen of Jump who just so happened to stop crime, not the other way around. This is why they came to his defense, and why they just couldn't understand why The Teen Titans were fighting against someone they believed was good.
They didn't know the things that Robin did, and without that knowledge, they could only see a group of heroes ganging up on someone who didn't deserve it.
Raven knew this situation would only get worse the longer they stayed, so she took the initiative and let the darkness envelope Beast Boy, Starfire and herself teleporting them to the confines of the tower while Cyborg got himself together and grabbed Robin.
"Dude enough! We lost! I told you this was a bad idea, let's go" he said forcefully, pushing the wide-eyed and confused teen towards his bike while Cyborg himself hopped into the T car.
After they took off the police arrived moments later, Junior was a bit disgruntled at the idea of talking to the police about this whole mess but was saved when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over and saw the man that spoke up earlier whom he recognized to be the store clerk whose store he stopped from getting robbed by Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx.
"Go on son, don't think we don't notice how you always leave when the five-0 arrive, we got you covered," he said easily slapping Junior on the back and hiding a wince at just how sturdy the teen was. The clerk handed the little girl her bear as Junior nodded to him and with a pat to the girl's head and a smile at the crowd he began the trek back to his apartment, scowling when he noticed exactly how damaged his leather coat was.
"Maldicion"
Raven was far from happy as she flew over Jump with only one destination in mind, while she knew her inaction during the fight earlier wasn't going to do her any favors she wasn't expecting how far off the deep end Robin would go when he and Cyborg got back to the tower.
"What was that!" he roared when he spotted her sitting on the couch with her favorite tome open on her lap, the shout startled her as well as Cyborg who came in moments later.
"Dude what's your problem now?" he groaned coming up beside the smaller teen.
"You just stood there" Robin growled stalking up to her, the only thing keeping him out of her personal space being Cyborg who pressed a metal hand to his chest.
"Chill out!" he yelled pushing him back a step as Raven came to a stand, book long forgotten on the couch.
"I found no point in joining such a useless fight," she said lowly glaring up at the slightly taller Robin.
"Useless?" he growled completely baffled by her words.
"He's a criminal, and a powerful one at that!" he yelled but Raven shook her head.
"He's just a guy trying to live his life, in peace," she said easily but Robin wasn't trying to hear that.
"He doesn't deserve to live in peace, he deserves to be in jail for all the people he's hurt!" he shot back.
"And that sure went well" she sighed in remembrance of the absolute loss her team suffered at Junior's hands mere moments ago.
"Because someone decided to sit and watch as her team got beat" he growled, attempting to step forward but himself blocked once again by the stalwart form of Cyborg.
"I'm not going to listen to this" she muttered heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" he snapped causing her to whirl on him her patience wearing thin signified by the light above shattering.
"I am going to find a nice quiet place to meditate, and wait for you to calm down and actually think about what happened out there today" she growled her voice starting to gain a dark undertone.
"If he was so bad then how come the worst injury among us is a bruise on Beast Boy's chin? How about the fact that when you tried to continue to fight the people of the city were the ones to stop you?" she asked slowly starting to lose control of her anger at Robin's idiotic actions of late.
"And people he's hurt? where's the evidence for that? Because so far all we know is that he's the son of Bane, been spotted hanging around while these crimes were being committed and fought you and Batman on some occasions, we have evidence that Banes hurt people but there's something you didn't tell us isn't there?" she asked
Robin stepped back as the shadows in the various corners of the room seemed to grow larger, like the sunlight was slowly getting pushed away to be replaced with darkness in the face of Raven's growing frustration with the boy wonder. Seeing the effect her magic was having she quickly shut it down, wiping any trace of emotion from her face as she flipped her hood back up.
"It felt like something was missing from the information you gave us, so I looked it up myself. And out of all the times Juniors been present during any crime, all eye witness reports state that he'd done nothing more than stand there, while that doesn't make him innocent, it doesn't make him the monster you seem to think he is" she finished tonelessly.
"I'll return once everything calms down, and I suggest you think about everything that happened today before you approach me again," she said tonelessly before exiting the Tower, leaving behind an angry Robin and a weary Cyborg.
Now she was heading to one of the few places she could find some peace to center herself, this place just so happened to be the apartment of the very person her team unjustly attacked earlier that day. The door was unlocked, as usual seeing as Junior never saw a reason to lock it as everyone in the complex knew who he was, and no one was going to rob him.
This was more out of respect for who he was more than fear over what he could do, which only solidified Raven's stance on how her leader was treating the Latino teen.
She found him sitting on the couch staring down at something on his lap intently as music rang quietly throughout the apartment, his emotions were calmer than she expected honestly surprised that the level of anger he felt was borderline nonexistent, instead, she felt peace and understanding coming from his large form.
Though it was quiet, it was far from relaxation music, Sabaton if Raven could recall correctly as one of the many bands he's introduced to her during her rather frequent visits.
"Bad mood?" he asked quietly as she sat down on the couch next to him, not too close but close enough to clearly see the familiar mask sitting in his lap. The music was the only noise in the apartment for a while as she nodded to his previous question before he spoke again.
"You know I haven't actually worn this mask in about two years?" he asked staring deeply into the red eyeholes of the black and white luchador mask, Raven just lowered her hood and looked at him waiting for him to continue.
"Dad suggested I not wear it while I was with my mother, he said I should find my own way in the world, my own mask to wear, something that represents Junior...instead of something that represents the son of Bane" he finished leaning back after placing the mask next to him.
"Sounds like a wise man," Raven said quietly as he rose to make some tea.
"Careful, wouldn't want anyone hearing you compliment a villain" he chuckled bringing a slight unseen smile to her face.
"I'm more curious about Bane the father," she said simply rising to take her usual seat at the table.
"Oh, he's a great father despite what many people would think, couldn't have asked for a more loving parent," he said as he fished the tea from the cabinet.
"Was this during or after the prison visits?" she asked with a raised brow.
"Cheeky, no little girl, surprisingly after he had me he spent a lot more time outside of prison I'll have you know" he chuckled as he set the kettle on the stove and took a seat across from her.
"Talk to me," he said easily watching her with an easy smile as she sighed.
This quickly became a theme whenever she found herself at his apartment, she would ask some questions about him learning small things like his favorite music and what he actually wanted to do in life before he would inevitably sit across from her and listen to her short descriptions of her day. It didn't bother him that she wasn't very much of a talker and much to her surprise he was able to glean quite a bit of information from her short statements.
"Batman wasn't the only one in Gotham with skills in detective work, Dad taught me a lot about putting small bits of information together to create the bigger picture," he said once when she pointed out this particular ability of his.
"Robin went off the deep end," she said lowly and he nodded.
"You didn't help them in that fight earlier...It wouldn't have bothered me if you did you know" he stated with a shrug but she shook her head.
"That fight was pointless, and all it did was make the Titans look like the bad guys, and I'm sure there are plenty of videos showing how easily you beat us as well," she said lowly to which Junior just nodded in understanding.
"The people didn't know the whole story, can't blame the Pajarito, caused him quite a bit of trouble back in Gotham," he said remembering those dark nights back in Gotham where Batman and Robin would swoop down and square off with him and his father.
"That doesn't change the fact that all you've done since getting here was help people, everyone does bad things in their lives but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to live their lives in peace" she stated strongly and Junior took a moment to ponder her words.
"I will admit you have a point, but there's always a line...a point of no return," he said simply and she nodded.
"But I don't think you've crossed that line yet...I know how little you actually helped your father commit crimes" she said after a moment, the kettle whistled as Junior rose from his seat.
He was silent as he poured the tea, adding sugar and milk as needed, contemplating what she just told him before sighing.
"The really bad things didn't happen until after I left Gotham" he muttered but she heard it clear as day and all it did was bring up more questions about him, she thought about asking...but now just didn't seem like the time.
"All the same, this situation needs to be handled, if Robin is so obsessed with bringing me to justice then I suppose I owe him that chance," he said placing Raven's cup of tea before her.
"How are you going to do that?" she asked a hint of curiosity entering her usual monotone.
"Simple, I'm going to fight you guys," he said easily taking a sip of tea causing Raven's eyes to widen by a fraction in surprise.
"What?" she asked placing her tea down on the table.
"In one week, I'm going to show up on your little island and you guys are going to fight me, and if I win Robin leaves me alone unless I actually break the law, and if I lose Robin is more than welcome to turn me in with all the evidence of the things I've done in Gotham" he explained completely at ease.
"This sounds like a bad idea" she stated after a moment but he shrugged.
"It'll settle the grudge win or lose," he said taking a sip of Earl Grey with a sigh of satisfaction.
"Or it'll make him even more obsessed" she muttered drinking her own.
"If he has any honor he'll agree, especially with a week to prepare" he stated confidently, and if he didn't then his respect for the smaller teen would drop considerably.
"And you expect me to fight you with them," she said and he nodded.
"I'll feel insulted if you hold back," he said chuckling lightly, knowing that Raven's involvement would definitely make things more interesting.
Raven meanwhile was silent for a long moment staring at her now empty cup before sighing.
"I hope you know what you're doing," she said finally actually hoping that Junior was a lot stronger than what she's seen because fighting an incomplete team who with only a few members actually going all out was one thing, fighting the Teen Titans at full strength with time to prepare on top of that was a whole other can of worms.
"I think I have some idea" he said with a shrug grabbing her cup and depositing them in the sink.
"Oh, and don't worry, you're still welcome to come over during the week if you want, no reason to deprive you of my presence over a little argument with Boy Wonder," he said with a grin.
"Whatever" Raven said with a roll of her eyes, and this time the small smile she wore was in full sight of Junior who came to the conclusion that it suited her very well.
Long after Raven left his apartment we find Junior in his room staring down at his ruined leather jacket and the old mask he wore, he sighed loudly before turning to his open closet, he pulled a large box from the top shelf and set it on the bed before messing with the large lock keeping the box closed. It popped open after a moment and he threw back the lid.
"Well, I did tell them to bring their A-game, so I might as well look the part," he said quietly staring down at the large fur-lined coat folded neatly, and sitting gently atop the coat was a large metal mouthpiece.
While it was mainly used as a voice modulator, the various tubes across the mouth signified it's rebreathing and air purifying qualities. This was a mask he designed while he was with his mother, and was very helpful during the various training exercises he was sent on before his ultimate ex-communication for disobedience.
From the League of Shadows...
Translations below though my Spanish is a bit rusty
Mutilar: This was Junior's name when he worked with Bane and means Maim or Mutilate.
Maldicion: Meaning Damn or God Damn It if I remember correctly.
Okay so I'm starting to enjoy this story a lot more than I thought I would, I think it will be a nice and simple side project while I deal with the infinitely more complicated stories I'm currently working on. Yes, the mask and coat are from The Dark Knight Rises, though the middle strap is missing due to Junior having hair and it serving a completely different purpose than in the movie.
As always, Read, Review, Flame, it's all love in my book.
Alfred Signing Out.