Dark Titans – Arc 7 – Atlantis - Act 1 - Descent

Chapter 1

So, it's been awhile. I have been working away in the background for awhile now. While Covid really let me crank out that last arc, everything going back to normal kind of put a damper on that. I have been trying to get into a more regular writing schedule, so I've managed to put a bit of a buffer together. I figured I'd drop this and look at a monthly schedule for now, see if I can keep up. Got enough to last most of a year anyway, so lets see if anyone is still in the Ranma section to read it!

Hope everyone has been making it through all the chaos lately! Maybe, if I'm lucky, this will put a smile on someone's face.

I don't own Ranma or Teen Titans.

Enjoy if you Will, Tolerate if you won't.

A cool breeze caressing her cheek coaxed the young woman back to wakefulness. Letting out a sleepy murmur, her mental faculties struggled to reboot from her dreamless slumber. Even in this drowsy state, a lifetime of paranoia forced her to piece together her situation.

Warm.

Well, that was a good start. Considering how cold the air felt on her skin, being comfortable and warm was bliss. Her body felt a bit stiff, like she'd been sleeping in an awkward position, but whatever she was sprawled across was pleasantly warm. Deciding to risk it, she cracked an eye open.

Too bright!

Her eye snapped closed. Wincing petulantly, she gave it a few seconds, then tried again. It was still bright, but the curtain of silken pink hair falling before her eyes helped to block out the worst of the morning sun. It also hindered her ability to figure out what the heck was going on. With a bit of effort, she levered an arm out and flipped her long hair away from her face.

Aww, cute!

A smile bloomed on her lips as her current mattress was revealed. Ryouga Hibiki looked dead to the world, wedged into the corner of the couch with his head resting on the back cushion and his feet planted carelessly on the floor. His communicator was in his hand, bonelessly draped across the armrest of the couch, like he'd fallen asleep talking to someone.

But who?

She was currently resting on his chest as he laid back into the couch. Letting out a contented sigh, she spared a few moments to study her unconscious companion. He wasn't snoring, but he was letting out the odd groan. She had no doubt the hardy martial artist was going to be waking up with one hell of a headache. More importantly, though-

Nnh… gotta pee!

Damn, she was in the perfect trap! Cuddled up to her guy, tucked in all nice and warm, and with the chilly fall air just outside their little pocket of comfort. A great battle was about to be waged between her brain, craving comfort, and her bladder, craving relief!

"..."

Deciding not to be so melodramatic, Jinx began to carefully extricate herself from her Lost Boy-

Huh… wazzat?

There was… something holding her down. She twisted her head around to see the source. Oh, make that someone was holding her down. A pool of unfamiliar golden hair was sprawling across her back and shoulders, and beyond that blonde splendor, was a heavy blanket covering both her presumptuous new companion as well as herself.

Well, that explained why she was so warm, considering the gaping hole in the front of the building and the fall weather coming home to roost. She tried to puzzle out who was currently cuddling up to her so vehemently, and whether they needed to die. Her question was answered quickly, as her struggles to get up jostled her mystery friend.

Shimmering blonde hair lifted and parted, revealing a single, sleepy blue eye that looked at her plaintively. She felt narrow arms tighten around her waist, adding pressure to an already besieged bladder.

"S'cold!"

Not even sure why, Jinx found herself smiling as she looked over her shoulder at Terra. There was something familiar in those shimmering blue eyes, and she was cute as a cinnamon roll! Was this what Ryouga saw when he looked at Terra?

She guessed she'd have to let the skinny little kid live, for now. Her own fault for staking claim on half of the terrible Titan, she supposed. Still, experiencing new bonds did nothing to alleviate biological functions, and she began to squirm in the middle of this unorthodox hero sandwich.

"Yeah, well," she whispered, "Unless you want me peeing on you, you're gonna have to let me up. Just keep it quiet, so you don't wake Ryouga."

Terra giggled and smiled, before fighting against the monolithic weight of the blanket currently pinning them down-

"I'm… not asleep... "

Both girls stopped instantly, turning to stare at Hibiki. Letting his communicator drop to the floor, the young man lifted his arm to drape his hand across his eyes and groaned loudly.

"Feels like… when Lime killed me for a minute… only no Grandparents to welcome me this time…"

Glancing at the chair they were using as a table, Jinx noted the bottle of Sake that Mousse had given her; leaning precariously against the white box that contained Mousse's gag gift for the Lost Boy. She remembered having about three shots before she was off her ass, and she was pretty sure they fed one drink to Terra, just for the fun factor.

The bottle was three quarters empty!

Jinx and Terra both stared at the martial artist incredulously.

"How are you not dead?" Terra asked, clearly concerned. The slip of a girl had gone beet red after her first sip. Drinking that much would have increased Terra's meager weight by a statistically significant amount.

"Wish I was… Never gonna drink again…"

Jinx could only shake her head, bemused. That was the problem with these 'enhanced constitution' guys. Enough to drop a normal guy on his ass could barely faze them but trying to find the middle ground between 'fun drunk' and 'acute alcohol poisoning' was something of a learning process. She'd seen Mammoth go through that phase back at the Academy, and it hadn't been pretty there, either.

"Yeah, well, the line for the bathroom starts after me," Jinx declared, finally pushing herself up from her human comforter. Terra scooted back to the far end of the couch, wrapping the blanket firmly around her, still smirking and giggling as she watched her master suffer.

Hmm, a bit of a vindictive streak there. Jinx could work with that!

Brrr, cold!

Bereft of both blanket and boyfriend to keep her warm, the sorceress was unprepared for the assault of the sadly sub-optimal temperatures blowing in from outside. Even worse, the sudden jolt of cold felt like someone slammed a clamp on her bladder! Clutching her stomach, she made her way quickly to the washroom.

A few minutes later, and feeling so much better, she made her way back to the main room. She'd managed to fix her hair and wash off the rest of her smudged-up makeup, so she felt a bit more presentable.

As she came back into the room, she noted a few things. First, was that the room was a total write off. Like a bomb had gone off was more literal than metaphor, what with Ryouga's explosive victory. She made a mental note to be out shopping when the Titans got home; even if most of it hadn't been caused by her, she was pretty sure the fallout from Robin's tantrum was going to fall wide once those elevator doors opened.

Next, she was able to confirm that they were alone in the Main Room. No other bodies were strewn about, struggling to stay warm as they were. She had no idea when the last guests had left, but she did vaguely recall getting drowsy around the one A.M. mark; pretty early for her, what with her near nocturnal schedule with Happi. Unfortunately, Nabiki and her boys kept strict business hours, and she was still adjusting.

She could only assume that Kasumi and Speedy had retreated to their rooms… probably alone.

Finally, she noted that her companions had yet to move. Terra looked comfortable and happy in her little cocoon, keeping an eye on her master. Ryouga had his entire arm over his eyes trying to block out the sun. Honestly, how much had the poor Lost Boy drank?

She studied the near empty bottle again, then the martial artist.

"How do you not need to go to the washroom?"

Terra burst into giggles at the earnest question. Ryouga, for his part, just let out another agonized groan.

"I think my bladder exploded a few hours back... when Terra pounced on us for warmth."

"Hey! I didn't pounce! And don't be gross, Ryouga!"

Jinx laughed, shaking her head. "Did you get any sleep, or have you just been writhing in agony, pinned to the couch by breathtaking beauty?"

The young blonde laughed but looked strangely interested in whatever response he might give.

"Think I passed out…" His throat hitched for a moment, not a good sign in Jinx's experience. "When I was talkin' to… Ranma…"

Well, that was one question answered. She could guess one of those topics, at least.

Sighing loudly, Jinx went over to the kitchen and started going through the cabinets. A few moments later, she was rewarded with a large stainless-steel cooking pot. Normally, she'd toss it over to the Lost Boy, but in his current condition he'd likely end up catching it with his face.

Instead, she walked over, carefully set it in his lap and rested his free hand on the rim.

"Alright, if you gotta throw up, do it in there. But I am not holding your hair for you."

One of Ryouga's eyes flickered open and swiveled about in her direction. She could just see the 'What the hell are you talking about?' sentiment in his eye that he would never actually say. Leaning forward, she planted an affectionate kiss on his forehead. He was on the warm side, but not feverish. Impressive, considering he only had her for a comforter the entire night. The guy had good thermal regulation if nothing else.

Moving to the other end of the couch, she grinned down at Terra and gave a quick gesture with her hand. "Open up, Tiny T. It's too cold out here!"

Giggling now, Terra accommodated, swinging out her arm and lifting open the heavy blanket. Without a moment's hesitation, Jinx climbed in and pulled the blanket back around them.

Ahhh, so much better!

The only thing better would be having Ryouga in here with them, but she really didn't want to risk it at the moment. Terra let out an adorable squeak as Jinx leaned heavily into her side, pinning the slight girl against the arm of the couch. She wrapped her arms around Terra's narrow waist for good measure.

"Mine now!" she sing-songed as she grinned wickedly at the wriggling Terra.

"He-ey! I'm not a squeeze toy! Ryouga, help!"

Ryouga responded with a non-committal groan, then proceeded to pull himself to his feet, wobbling unsteadily for a moment. Both girls stared at him expectantly, impressed by his herculean accomplishment, only for the Lost Boy to mutter something that vaguely sounded like 'washroom', before he staggered off towards one of the many exits from the Main Room.

Terra let out a betrayed mewl as Jinx cackled and pressed her cheek up against Terra's, selfishly stealing body heat after walking around in the cold.

"Ha! Who's your Master now?"

"Gah! You're like an ice cube!" Terra struggled vainly to dislodge her, but the girl was obviously too early in her training for any serious physical conditioning.

Finally taking pity on her time-share student and satisfied that she'd purloined as much warmth as she could, Jinx leaned back, still giggling shamelessly. Terra furiously rubbed her cheek for a moment before looking back at her, confusion clearly written on her face.

"Did… did you actually mean what you said last night? That you want to train me… with Ryouga?"

Jinx spent a moment studying her new ward more carefully. Just from the look Terra was giving her, Jinx felt like she was signing on to be Mom, more than Master. It was an odd thought, especially since she probably wasn't more than three, maybe four years older than the blonde girl.

Still, she recognized the look of someone that had been on their own for a long time. And someone that was haunted by her past. She'd seen both in the mirror often enough.

Sighing, she leaned back and adopted a stern expression.

"Alright, let's just put everything out there, then." She pinned the younger girl with a pointed stare. "You're not… interested in Ryouga, right? Cuz I have enough romantic rivalry as it is, and I'm tired of that shit."

Terra shook her head furiously, blushing like the setting sun. "No, of course not! I mean, he is kinda handsome… and buff…" she trailed off as Jinx's smile dipped down into a frown," But he's - he's my teacher - my master, you know?"

Jinx tilted her head, expecting a bit more in the way of explanation. Sure, she had zero attraction to her own master, but there was a world of reasons for that before you got within a mile of 'mutual respect'. Terra fretted for a moment, looking like she was fighting to find the right words.

"No one has ever gone so far to help me before. Not just because it was convenient, or because they wanted to use me…" Terra's words grew heated for a moment, and it didn't take Jinx too much to guess who she might be talking about. The young blonde glanced down, nibbling on the tip of her thumb for a moment. "But just because he wanted to help, because it was kind, because… he understood me."

The sorceress felt a smile grow on her lips once more. She certainly seemed to be serious about this mentor-mentee relationship. Jinx could understand that; why, she could actually tolerate Happi these days, which was more than anyone else on the planet could say.

Still, there seemed to be an odd sense of urgency that didn't quite match her rather limited explanation.

"So, the Titans introduced you to Ryouga, and he volunteered to train you. How did that come about, anyway? It seems like Raven would make more sense with your power set."

Terra rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Why do people keep saying that? Honestly, would you want to train with Raven?"

She couldn't help but laugh at that idea. "Alright, point taken, but it doesn't answer my question."

Her companion grinned and held up her communicator. "You really need to follow Cyborg's blog more closely, you know? You'd be way more up to speed if you did."

The cat-eyed witch could only stare at the blonde incredulously. "That giant metal dork has a blog? And people read it? Like, actual people with functioning brain stems and everything?"

She let out a yelp as surprisingly powerful fingers pinched her arm. Scooting back a bit, and rubbing said arm, she glared at her blanket buddy, only to note Terra glaring back at her.

"I read his blog, thank you very much!" Terra held her glare a moment longer, until Jinx offered up a defeated grin and shrug in apology. Taking her contrition at face value, the slight girl let out a weary sigh. "But if you must know. I've… always had trouble controlling my powers. The Titans wanted to help, but I was an idiot and bailed on them."

Terra squeezed her eyes shut, her chin dipping into the blanket cocoon. "Slade helped me fake it for a bit, but he didn't actually do anything to help me, just used me like a literal puppet. Ryouga was the first person to really help me; the first person I didn't push away and screw over, anyway."

Well, that Jinx could sympathize with. She had spent her own childhood alone, with strange powers she had no idea how to use. The Headmistress had helped, but she'd been more interested in shaping her into a better criminal, than understanding and mastering her power for her own good. Happosai had been the first person to ever treat her like an actual person when it came to training her abilities.

"That's good enough for me, then," Jinx finally replied.

Maybe it helped that they'd met under good circumstances, having fun at a party, instead of the usual hassle of having to beat the crap out of each other first. Maybe not having to worry about always looking over her shoulder for another knife in the back made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Whatever it was, Jinx felt that she just might be able to make this work out, for a change.

Terra looked up at her, a bit confused at her sudden declaration and drawn out pause, so Jinx rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, kid, you and Ryouga aren't the only people that were dealt a crap hand in life. You and I might have more in common than you think." She grinned wickedly. "Also, I'm kind of doing my own redemption arc, so I think jumping on your little bandwagon might help me catch up."

Reaching out, she ruffled the younger girl's vibrant blonde hair, twisting and turning her from head from side to side to get a better look. "Besides, just look at you. You are definitely Ryouga's pupil. You seriously need a woman's touch!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jinx prepared a mental list to share-

"Ahem!"

Both residents of the blanket fortress paused, slowly turning to look behind the couch...

To see Kasumi standing over them, a young Hibiki held in her arms (even tiny, he looked heavy!), his head resting on her shoulder and clearly out like a light. Kasumi stared imperiously down on them as she gently swayed side to side.

"It's seven A.M. Do you know where your children are?"

Jinx had to clamp a hand over her mouth to stop from bursting out into laughter, even as Terra let out an earth shattering 'Awwwwww!' at the adorableness on display. Moving around the couch, Kasumi gently laid the pre-tween Ryouga up against the far armrest. His hair was damp, as was the front of his shirt.

"It looks like he forgot to use warm water to wash his face," Kasumi answered their unasked question, "I think as soon as he changed, the alcohol just hit his younger self all at once."

Kasumi frowned slightly, looking off with a thousand-mile stare. "I think I may need a hose to clean the sink…"

This time, Jinx did burst into laughter, even as Terra yelled "Gross!"

Sighing, Kasumi moved to the kitchen and started to run the sink until steam wafted up. "I just wanted to get him up here before I changed him back, so I didn't have to deal with the smell."

Jinx giggled, before leaning over towards her shrunken beau, dragging the cocooned Terra with her. She cooed in delight at the tiny, adorable drunk. At least it looked like Kasumi gave him a basic rinse off, as there was no stink or obvious mess clinging to him.

Kasumi returned with a dripping wet dish towel which she then draped across Ryouga's forehead. An instant later Ryouga snapped awake, gasping for air with his adult sized lungs. The martial artist looked back and forth quickly before letting out a sigh of relief and leaning back into the couch.

"Man… I feel like I just got run through a juicer, but it's a huge improvement to how I was feeling before!"

Kasumi giggled politely, even as Jinx groaned in frustration. "Oh, so you get a magical hangover cure? And you have the audacity to call that a curse? Do you know how many people would kill for something like that?"

Ryouga had the good grace to look abashed as he grinned. Smiling pleasantly, Kasumi leaned forward and picked up the discarded dish towel, before handing it back to Ryouga. "Why don't you clean up a bit more, then we can look at doing something for breakfast."

"Sure thing," he agreed easily, taking the proffered towel.

While Kasumi made her way back to the kitchen, Ryouga did as ordered, and spent a few moments running the damp towel across his face and neck. She had to admit that he did look much improved now. She could only guess how it worked. He did lose half his mass when he changed, maybe that meant half the alcohol vanished at the same time, and it just stayed gone when he changed back?

One could only guess, but she could guarantee that future experimentation would be hilarious.

"So, feeling better then?" Jinx asked with a teasing grin.

Taking a moment to press the towel down over his whole face before tossing it onto the nearby chair, Ryouga gave a contented sigh and nod.

"Way better. Now it just feels like Ranma kicked me in the head."

The couch bound girls both giggled at his response, before Jinx held out her arm, opening the blanket invitingly. "Well, then get your butt in here! We need a heater in our little Fortress of Snuggletude!"

Shaking his head, Ryouga obediently got to his feet, shuffled over, and lazily fell back into the couch, mostly between them. Jinx let out a shriek as the bulk of the martial artist dropped on her leg and then sank into the couch, starting to drag her down into the depths.

"Oh god! He weighs more than you, Jinx!"

She glared across the shamelessly grinning Hibiki to where Terra was being similarly crushed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

The sounds of their futile struggles were interrupted by Kasumi's familiar, harmonious giggles. The graceful older woman was carrying a tray of various cheese cubes with her.

Taking a second to move the sake bottle to the floor, and a moment to read the card on Mousse's gift - muttering a quick, "Oh my, how nice." - she placed the snack tray onto the chair before seating herself in the spot recently vacated by Ryouga. The eldest Tendo sister smiled fondly as she looked at the three of them tangled helplessly together in the blanket.

"I must say, I am delighted to see you and Terra getting along so well, Jinx."

With one last grunt of effort, Jinx finally managed to pull her leg out from beneath the shamelessly unhelpful lump that was Ryouga. Giving him a good punch in the shoulder, she then turned to Kasumi and smiled.

"Hey, it's only natural. Terra is the only person I know that has managed to kick Raven's ass, one on one. Of course, I'm going to get on her good side!"

"Wait, is that why you want to train me?" Terra asked, still vainly trying to free herself from her master's steely buttocks.

Ryouga shrugged. "That's why I'm training you. Frankly, all of you girls are too powerful for my peace of mind."

Jinx snickered. "Raven O-P, please nerf!"

Everyone stared at her blankly. Huffing loudly, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Does no one here play Warcraft? Pack of newbs."

Still smiling, Kasumi began rubbing her arms as she visibly shivered. "Brrr! It's so chilly. Maybe we should go out for breakfast, instead?"

Jinx wasn't sure if Terra's cheers were for the idea of going out, or because she finally extricated herself from under Ryouga, but she echoed the sentiment.

"Well, someone better go wake up Speedy, then," said Ryouga.

Well, there was only one response for that.

"Not it!"

The low buzz of the alarm clock was like a jackhammer going off in Speedy's skull, dragging him painfully from his restless slumber. Rolling his tongue over his teeth, his mouth tasted like he'd eaten a pack of cotton balls - something he could not rule out after last night – even as the alternating hammer strikes rang against his temples.

Oh God, what did I do last night?

Sitting up gingerly, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, just so he could rest his elbows on his knees and cradle his face properly. He vaguely remembered the arm wrestling match, and then most of the higher tier heroes heading out for… something. He also remembered getting laughed out of the drinking competition Ryouga, Baran and Wildebeest had started.

When did I even get to my room?

What was the last thing he remembered? He was talking… and laughing with some girls. Yeah, not too bad. He remembered brown hair, brown hair and - and blonde? Racking his brain a bit harder, he was able to attach faces to the hair colors.

Oh, right! He'd been gossiping with Nabiki, Kasumi and… Artemis. How in the world had they gotten to that point? Despite being an evil villain intent on his humiliation, Red X, sorry, Nabiki, was pretty fun and flirty once she loosened up a bit. Kasumi was, of course, Kasumi, and thus too good for this world. Artemis, though, hated him like cats hate dogs.

Some other disjointed images flashed through his mind; brilliant blonde, deep green, warm breath on his neck. Nabiki was cheering someone on, and Kasumi was… was holding a camera? Where was Artemis again? The blonde hair filled his vision, like it was close to him, arms around his neck, someone sitting in his lap…

Dread began to suffuse his being. He remembered snippets of being pulled down a hallway by a shapely green blur, golden ponytail bouncing playfully. And he had woken up in his own room.

Ice spreading through his stomach, Speedy slowly turned around, terrified at what he knew was awaiting him on the other side of the bed.

Oh God, Ollie is gonna murder me!

Only to let out an explosive sigh of relief as it was revealed that the bed was empty, except for himself. Clutching his chest, he took several long, calming breaths before he could think clearly again.

It was then that he noticed the small, folded piece of paper resting on the second pillow. Cringing, he picked up the slip of paper and reluctantly opened it. It was covered in graceful script.

'Not even in your wildest dreams, Red

Don't worry, getting a ride with Pantha

Nabiki wanted to tattoo you, you owe me

Luv

Artemis'

Shaking his head ruefully, Speedy carefully folded the note once more and dropped it on the nightstand. Artemis, actually helping him? Man, she must have been drunker than he was! The idea of owing her one made him feel dirty, inside and out, but it was infinitely better than what he would have been feeling if… well… best not to think about that.

Well, as crap as he was feeling, he needed to do a headcount; see if there were any stragglers from last night. He was pretty sure Kasumi had been prepared to offer free rooms to any that needed them, and cab tokens to any that wanted to hit the road. He could only hope that anyone left felt at least half as bad as he did; misery loves company, after all.

Tossing off his wrinkled and sweaty shirt, he quickly dug another out of the closet and began to wrestle it on.

Which was precisely when the exquisitely loud Intruder Alarm began blaring at decibels unholy. Shirt still wrapped around his ginger topped head, Speedy collapsed to the floor in agony as the sirens blasted pain directly into his brain.

"Oh God, why!?"

Terra waited anxiously as the elevator rocketed towards the ground floor. Kasumi had silenced the alarm somehow - so at least they weren't being deafened anymore - but it didn't make her any less nervous. Was someone attacking them?

"What do you think?" Ryouga asked Jinx, looking far less concerned than Terra felt.

The slender woman shrugged carelessly. "Probably some lush forgot her purse last night and is too drunk to call ahead."

Ryouga snickered, helping alleviate some of the dread hanging over Terra. "I'm hoping it's a proper bad guy. I could use a good workout to clear my head."

Annnnd, there was the dread right back again.

"Shush, Ryouga. You're making Terra nervous," chided a prim looking Kasumi. The older woman then leaned to the side and shot her a mischievous wink.

Before she could think of any reply, the elevator doors slid open revealing the cavernous lobby. A second later, a calamitous clong echoed through the chamber as something slammed into the door. The impact was so heavy that Terra felt the vibrations through the soles of her feet before she even stepped out of the elevator.

Ryouga froze up suddenly, a look of fear creeping onto his face.

"What - what if it's Donna, back to finish me off?"

"I hope it is!" Jinx replied with a grin as she skipped out of the elevator. "I owe that Amazon skank! Amazon skanks in general, even!"

Gesturing for Kasumi to hang back by the elevator, Ryouga followed Jinx's lead as the pair moved rapidly towards the door. Terra held back as well, not exactly the expert pugilist that her mentors, new and old, were.

She felt an odd twinge in her gut as she watched the pair lope forward in tandem; it just looked so natural for them to act together. They were running practically shoulder to shoulder, with no room between them for… anything...

Before they cleared even half the distance, another sharp impact caused the entire door to shudder violently. A moment later, the ear-wrenching squeal of twisting steel nearly dropped Terra to her knees. She could only clap her hands over her ears and watch in amazement as the welded door began to warp and buckle to some unseen force from beyond.

The martial artist and the metahuman nearly reached the door by the time the massive, thirty-foot-tall barrier folded nearly completely inwards, finally revealing their attacker. Instantly, everyone froze, as a lean and muscular young man was revealed; he wore a dark blue and black diving suit, and long, glistening black hair framed his face.

Terra felt her cheeks start to burn just looking at that handsome, chiseled face. Not even the expression of pain and confusion could mar his boy-band, pretty-boy looks.

"Why…" the superhuman model asked while gasping for breath, "Is your door… so… big?"

Only to collapse, sprawling insensate over the warped and bent metal of the door. Compassion quickly outstripped concern, and Terra ran forward. By the time she got there, - Kasumi passing her on the way - Ryouga and Jinx were already examining the unconscious hottie.

"Look, he's injured. Almost looks like he was shot," Ryouga stated as he pointed to the slowly growing pool of blood spreading from the blackened, oozing wound on the young man's abdomen.

Jinx nodded, kneeling next to the stranger. "He's still breathing; for now, anyway. Any idea who this guy is?"

Ryouga shook his head, still looking a little suspicious.

"It doesn't matter," Kasumi cut in quickly. Immediately, a new Tendo emerged that Terra had yet to meet. She gestured first to Ryouga, then to Jinx. "Ryouga, you and I will take him to Medical. Jinx, go find Speedy and let him know we have wounded."

Kasumi's stern gaze then turned her way. "Terra, can you check the database and see if you can find out who this is?"

Her chest swelled up, suddenly feeling useful again. She nodded eagerly; how hard could it be to find information on someone that looked like that?

"Don't bother," a new voice cut in. Everyone spun to see another person joining them.

Person might have been an overstatement, as Speedy looked like a soufflé someone had taken out of the oven a half an hour too early. Even Ryouga had looked better than the archer did now, and that was before his Jusenkyo hangover cure.

Running a hand through a nasty case of bedhead, Speedy nodded in the direction of the downed teen heart-throb. "That's Aqualad. He's an old friend of the Titans. Good call, though, Kasumi, we better get him up to the Med Bay."

Aqualad? Terra vaguely knew the name, more importantly, she knew the name it was associated with. Yet another legacy hero, but this one missed the party by a few hours, and was more than a little worse for wear.

Nodding sharply, Ryouga gently picked the insensate hero up in a bridal carry and followed Kasumi as she moved briskly towards the elevator. Jinx moved to stand next to Terra, and they both turned to look at the crimson archer expectantly.

"What do you think happened to him?" Terra asked, fearing the worst.

Speedy could only shrug. "We'll have to ask him when he wakes up. I'll put money on it being trouble for us."

"I'll take that action," Jinx replied with a grin. She then jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards the door. "I'll go take a quick jog around the Tower, make sure he doesn't have any manic stalkers hunting him down. Who could blame them? The guy's butt looks like it was sculpted!"

Letting out a disgusted grunt, Speedy waved her off dismissively. "Knock yourself out. We can discuss your chronically bad taste later."

Terra couldn't help but join Jinx, bursting into laughter before the older woman turned and bounded through the demolished door like a Halloween themed gazelle. She considered following for a moment, she'd be more useful outside than in here, but figured Jinx could handle herself.

That, and it was cold outside. So, instead she turned back to Speedy, waiting expectantly.

The masked vigilante seemed to be lost in thought, and it took him a moment before he noticed her still standing there. Starting, he gave his head a good shake before nodding to her. "Come on, kid, let's go check on the Import Heroes upstairs."

Giggling at the new title for Ryouga and Kasumi, Terra nodded. One thing did catch her, though, as she moved to follow the senior Titan.

"Hey! Who are you calling a kid?"

The first thing that Aqualad noticed as consciousness returned to him was that he wasn't breathing water, as the gods had intended. It was always just a touch disconcerting waking up to lungs full of air, but he was getting used to it after so long operating near the surface world.

The next thing he noticed was that his breathing wasn't as ragged or shallow as it was before he'd passed out. Also, the burning pain in his side was reduced to a dull ache, though his head did feel like it was floating. Likely some kind of painkiller in his system. Sadly, he was getting used to that as well after getting into the hero business.

Some days he regretted not staying at the Conservatory with Tula and Kaldur…

His memory was a little fuzzy from the drugs and blood loss, but he remembered making it through the front doors. He vaguely recalled seeing some people inside, but it was all a blur at that point.

Thank Poseidon, he'd made it to the Titans. With their help, they might save Atlantis yet.

"It looks like he's coming around." The voice startled him, calm and feminine, but completely unfamiliar. It didn't belong to any Titan that he knew.

An unsettling feeling began creeping up his spine as he opened his eyes. The first person he saw was a Japanese woman - oh, he had opinions about Japan, alright - with long chestnut hair tied in a ponytail. Glancing past her he noted an unfamiliar guy, also Japanese for some reason. Standing shoulder to shoulder to him was a visually distinctive girl with neon pink hair and cat-like eyes.

Was… was he in the right place? He could have sworn that he tore open the front door of a giant 'T' shaped building. How many of those could there possibly be on the surface?

"W-where am I?"

"You're at Titans Tower, buddy. You're safe now." This voice was familiar. Turning quickly, he noticed two more people, one a small blonde girl perched on the edge of the hospital bed beside his own. The other, leaning against the same bed, was the iconic crimson archer himself.

"Speedy! What are you doing here?"

His old friend shrugged his shoulders. "Looking after the place while the Titans are out of town. The bigger question is, what are you doing here?"

Aqualad let out a relieved sigh. He was in the right place. He hadn't doomed his home by getting lost. But, what did he mean by 'out of town'? If there were no Titans here, they may be doomed regardless.

"Where are Robin and the others?" he asked, panic bubbling up within, "I desperately need their help! The fate of all of Atlantis hangs in the balance!"

On the other side, the Japanese male leaned towards his colorfully haired companion and whispered, "Atlantis? What's that?"

She replied in a hushed tone, "Big, stupid underwater city. Keeps trying to wipe out the surface."

Hey! They had only done that once!

"Underwater city? You mean like Ryūgū-jō?"

"Like I would know that, dummy."

"Always so mean," he replied, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer, "You're lucky you're cute,"

She leaned in, brushing her nose against his, "No, you're lucky I'm cute!"

Aqualad could only stare incredulously at the pair, even as the Japanese brunette sighed dreamily.

He cleared his throat, loudly, and the couple nearly jumped, apparently having forgotten that they weren't alone for a moment. The Atlantean continued to stare at them balefully for another second.

"Excuse us. Literal life and death situation over here." He shook his head in disbelief; while the guy looked embarrassed, the girl just stuck her tongue out at him defiantly.

Bewildered, he turned back to Speedy. "What about the Titans? Is there no way to contact them?"

Speedy shook his head. "They're off-planet. Completely out of contact. But what's this about? I know how advanced you folks are down there. If there's anything dangerous enough to threaten all of Atlantis, then what the heck are the Titans supposed to do about it?"

The Atlantean gave his head a good shake, the kelp wrapping his brain from the medication still distracting him. "Y-You're right, of course. I need to get a message to the League. All communication from Poseidonis has been cut off."

"The League has their hands full," the male sporting an usually long set of fangs stated, "They're evacuating a volcanic island. I have no clue how long something like that takes."

"But what about all our guests that just left?" the tall brunette added, tapping a finger to her chin as she considered the idea, "Maybe that nice Oracle lady could help us contact them?"

"Good idea," Speedy agreed readily. He then turned back to the bedridden Atlantean. "The League might be delayed a bit, but we should be able to get a force assembled to help. But what are we talking, here? Someone release the Kraken?"

Aqualad rolled his eyes, he needed to impress the urgency of his mission on this strange, rag-tag group. "An invasion. An entire army of villains are laying siege to Poseidonis, even as we speak. They are holding out, but I, as well as a number of others, were sent out to gather whatever help we can."

He lowered his head, shaking it sadly. "I can only guess if anyone else made it… I nearly didn't."

Firming his resolve, he spent a moment to focus a determined look at each person present. "I've already wasted too much time as it is. I can explain the rest on the way back, but we need to start preparing, now."

Speedy nodded once again. "Fair enough. I'll contact Oracle straight away, then we'll head out with you. Hopefully anyone else we get a hold of will have undersea transport available."

"Whoa, hold up a second there, Red Arrow."

Everyone turned to look at the darkly dressed young woman who was looking at them skeptically. The cat-eyed girl gestured to herself and her cohort.

"What's with all this 'we' stuff? I don't recall signing up to fight evil armies at the bottom of the ocean."

Even as Aqualad stared incredulously at her, and Speedy began to bark a response, the fanged teen cut him off, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not thrilled at the idea of an undersea voyage myself. In case you've forgotten, I have a serious issue with any amount of water, let alone the entire ocean."

Aqualad felt his mouth drop open in shock. He quickly turned to Speedy, who was looking confused himself. Before he could say anything else, the young blonde hopped off the bed and planted her hands on her hips. "I'm an earth girl. I have no idea how my powers would even work that far under water."

Speedy held up his hand imploringly. "What? But, guys, we have to help. That's what heroes do!"

The pale, goth looking girl rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You are barking up the wrong tree with that weak sauce. I mean, I got no problem with sending a message and all that, but running off halfcocked into a war?"

Her boyfriend nodded sharply. "How would we even get down there? The Titans took their ship."

That, at least, was a valid question. Aqualad cut back into the conversation. "I can manipulate water-" He noted the strange look that the guy gave him. Apprehension? "- I can generate an air bubble for us to travel in, if there isn't a ship available."

"I could make a platform to carry us!" The young blonde piped up, only for her excitement to fade as she looked at the duo across from her. Slowly, her hand lowered. "I mean… if we were gonna go."

To his one side, Speedy began to argue his point, while on the other, the odd couple only grew more entrenched in their stubbornness. He didn't even know who these people were; how could he convince them to help him?

A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and he looked up, surprised to see the Japanese woman smiling down at him. Even as everyone else continued to bicker, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"All you need to do is ask."

He looked at her strangely. Her only response was to glance at the stone-faced teen wearing the spotted bandanna. He was clearly backing the pink haired girl to the hilt; shooting down every argument Speedy fired their way. It couldn't possibly work. And yet-

"Please." The simple word cut through the heated debate, and silence fell over the room. Looking down at the blanket covering his knees, Aqualad dug his fingers into the fabric. He could feel tears burning in his eyes. "Please, I need your help."

He turned to the fanged stranger, midnight black eyes imploring umber brown. The young man stared back at him impassively for a moment, his arms crossed over his chest.

"My friends, my family, my people… They're relying on me to bring help. I can't fail them. I can't lose them..."

A pall hung over the room as everyone turned to regard the bandanna clad man. His face screwed up with unknown emotion, only for his shoulders to slump in defeat as his gaze fell to the floor.

"Well crap," muttered the pink haired girl beside him, throwing her hands into the air in frustration. "Now I gotta find something to wear to the beach. I hope Raven has a nice sarong I can borrow, because I am nowhere near beach body ready."

Her partner looked up at her with a grin. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything…"

Instantly, she wrapped a small fist into his collar and tugged him down. "Damn right you weren't. And I suggest you continue not saying anything, lest you suffer a series of unfortunate events, get me?"

He nodded fiercely, though the smile never left his face. Her piece said, she began to drag her man towards the door. "Come on, let's see what we can scrounge up from Raven's room before we head out."

"Hey! If you're rooting through Raven's closet, I wanna come, too!" Immediately, the slim blonde chased after the pair of older teens.

"Ha! With her big ol' booty, I bet we can both fit into one of her bikini bottoms!" cackled the pinkette as they left the room and vanished from sight. Their laughter trailed on for a few seconds longer.

Aqualad stared for a few seconds after that, before giving his head another good shake. Slowly, he turned to look up at the brunette.

"How… did you know that would work?"

She shrugged, her smile so warm and kind that he didn't feel the need for a blanket anymore.

"Those two are as proud and stubborn as anyone I know," she replied, glancing at the door herself, "But he isn't the type to turn his back on someone that needs help. All you had to do was show him you were sincere."

The Atlantean leaned back into the bed, sighing loudly. "They seem like good people."

"They're powerful, at least," Speedy muttered, an odd expression on his face, "This is going to be the first real test of whether they are good."

Aqualad narrowed his eyes as he studied his old friend. "What do you mean by that?"

To his other side, the tall woman sighed. "Speedy is just being overdramatic"

The brunette sent a rather pointed look Speedy's way. "What he is referring to, is the fact that... in one way or another, some of us have, unfortunately, been on the wrong side of the law."

The archer scoffed loudly. "That's one way of putting it." Rather than continue, though, he made his own way to the door. "Like you said, though, no time to waste. I'll go contact Oracle, while you guys get ready for the trip."

Aqualad watched as Speedy left the room, before turning back to his remaining companion. He looked at her a bit warily. Her friends, most notably that stubborn girl, seemed to be the rough sort, but the idea of the kind woman before him ever being a criminal, it seemed wrong.

"So, you four are ex-villains, working with the Titans now?"

She offered him an impish grin, holding a hand to her chest.

"Oh, I wouldn't call myself an ex-villain."

The Atlantean could only chuckle as he gingerly lifted himself out of bed.

There was much left to be done, after all.

He hadn't even gotten anyone's name yet!

Barbara Gordon, better known as the elusive and mysterious Oracle among the heroing community, sat in silence in her darkened sanctum. She'd gotten an earlier start than usual this morning; there was still a steady stream of information coming in from the Mt. Monokoa incident. There was little she could do about it at this point, she had already called in every favor she could think of to get more ships out that way, but she was an information broker, not a tourism agency.

Why was it that, whenever it would be ridiculously useful, the Justice League's vaunted teleporter technology always managed to find a way to screw up? In this case, the dirty storm clouds being emitted from the volcano were sending out enough electromagnetic interference that she could scarcely even get any radio signals from the island anymore. That meant a lot of slow boats coming in while all the Leaguers on hand did their best to keep the citizens alive long enough to be evacuated.

Beyond that it was quiet, not too surprising, though. Most criminals and villains were night owls, as she usually was. It was kind of considerate, the morning commute for most people was bad enough as is, without having to worry about giant robots blocking traffic on the way to work.

Her brief summation was proven wrong a moment later, as one of her phones suddenly rang.

Wheeling herself over, looking at the display with interest, she noted it was the number for Titans Tower. Feeling a tinge of excitement building within, she picked up the receiver, the voice filter kicking in automatically.

"Hey, is that you, Kasumi? Calling to let me know how your party went?"

"I think you mean how my party went," came the sharp reply.

Immediately, she let out a sigh of disappointment. She'd had such a pleasant time talking party-planning with Kasumi, that she'd kind of forgotten that Speedy was involved.

"I guess this is business, then. What's up?"

"Big situation. I need you to cast a wide net for me and get a message to the League."

She rolled her eyes. "League is busy with the volcano. What's the situation?"

"Get this," Speedy replied, sounding oddly excited, "Atlantis is being invaded! Classic evil army scenario. Aqualad washed up this morning, barely alive, just to get the word out."

Well… shit. Now that was a Justice League problem if ever she heard one.

"Wow, you aren't kidding this time," she muttered in disbelief, "I can contact J'onn and let him know, but pretty much everyone, and then some, are on the island."

"I know that, we lost half our guests last night." There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Wait, every Leaguer is on site? Even with a volcano, that seems like a lot of attention."

She shrugged, though he wouldn't know that. "All the League members left on Earth, anyway. Half the League is in deep space, has been for over a week. Batman, Wonder Woman and J'onn are running the show in the meantime."

Speedy chuckled. "Wait, Martian Manhunter is missing a space mission? Gotta be some kind of irony, there."

"Well, the gossip mongers among the baby leaguers did let something slip when I called them about your party," she admitted. "Apparently the planet was under attack by some kind of Living Flame creature."

"Ah, say no more. Still..." There was a low whistle from the other end of the line. "If it was anything but an intergalactic emergency and a natural disaster, I'd almost be suspicious at the timing of all this. But we kinda figured on that, too. So, we were hoping you could help us rope our party guests back in."

Oracle could only stare at the phone. "What? It's only nine in the morning and you already kicked everyone out? You guys are terrible hosts!"

"It's not my fault! Ryo blew out the front of the building! Got too cold to party pretty quick after that."

Hmm, that fit with what Kasumi had told her of the reclusive martial artist that had joined the Titans. Unpredictable, prone to property damage, but overall a decent sort if you could get past the first two items. Still, that was not good news.

"You do realize it took me like a week to track most of those people down, right? And now you want me to do it instantly, while they are all currently scattered to the wind and away from their usual support structures?"

"Yeah… pretty much." She could almost hear the cheeky grin on his face. "And, if it isn't too much of a bother, you need to hook people up with submersible transport to get them to Atlantis."

The plastic of the receiver creaked in her hand as she wished pain onto the archer on the other end of the line. "Oh, is that all? Do you also want me… to…"

Hmm there was one group that she had a direct line to, and they even had their own sub.

"Hold on a second. I think I know just the lady to talk to. She's got one of your cereal box Titan communicators and everything. I just hope she didn't get too lit up at your party last night."

Speedy finished chuckling, before responding.

"Who did you have in mind?"

She chuckled to herself. "This sounds like a job for Titans East."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Who the hell are the Titans East?"

"Uhhh! I can't believe we missed the entire party!"

Bumblebee rolled her eyes and turned away from the computer she was typing up her after action report on. Someone had to do them, and her teammates weren't inclined to proper incident documentation. Glancing over her shoulder, she shot a look at the moping Ukyou, sprawled across the length of the couch and her arm draped dramatically over her eyes.

"Hey, that's the job, Iron Chef. Stopping the bad guys comes first."

Ukyou lifted her arm just enough to stick out her tongue and fire a glare back at her. "It's Shining Spatula."

"The hell it is. I'll call you Zinc Saucier before I let that name go public!"

"Bite my shapely, slender ass, Bubble Butt."

The pair of formidable ladies locked glares for a moment, before bursting out into laughter. Ukyou relented first, sighing loudly as she dropped back onto the couch.

"I haven't seen Ryouga in forever. And I just know that Shampoo got to go!" The hyper-specialized chef bemoaned fate itself. "Life's not fair! Why does that Amazon Bimbo get to have all the fun, while I'm stuck chasing low-grade perverts all night?"

Chuckling, Bumblebee shook her head.

"I wouldn't worry about your weird Girl Crush getting to have any fun last night." She tossed her open communicator to the couch, watching in amusement as her friend snagged it out of the air without even looking. "Didn't ya read the news feed? There was a volcanic eruption at a resort last night. All hands on deck for the League, no doubt. I doubt your 'rival' got any closer to the party than we did."

She didn't need to use the air quotes when she said rival, but she enjoyed the molten glare that resulted.

"That's even worse, BB! Ryouga was throwing a fun party, and Shampoo was out doing real hero work? While we were, and I want to emphasize this, chasing Billy all night!"

The bee themed heroine found herself nodding at the sentiment. If they had at least caught on to what Nabiki and her A-Team were up to, that would have been one thing. But having to deal with the red-neck villain's leers and comments as he ran away from them at every turn, it was…

A distraction?

Shit, what had Nabiki managed to get away with last night, while she'd kept them occupied? She was almost tempted to get Tatewaki to bait the snotty villainess into giving them some kind of hint, but she really didn't like just how chummy the swordsman could be with his annoyingly attractive childhood friend.

She'd seen enough anime to know the troubles that could lead to.

Well, a problem for another time, she supposed. More on topic. "You know you really need to get over this thing you have with Shampoo. She's literally in a different league than you, now. We are the newest of newb teams on the planet. Getting into a row with the Justice League would look real bad on us."

"Oh, please. Like I care about that," Ukyou replied, rolling her wrist dismissively. "And don't act like the fact that she somehow weaseled her way onto a bigger team suddenly means she got better than me."

Sitting up, Ukyou smiled. "We might be a smaller team, but here I'm like the CEO, and there, she's a coffee slinging intern! I totally outrank her!"

Bumblebee raised an eyebrow. "Who is the CEO again? I don't see you filling out any of these dang reports!"

Ukyou's smirk was almost as bad as one of Nabiki's. The lanky girl gestured lazily back to her. "Well, yeah. That's what I have my trusty secretary for. To do paperwork and look pretty."

A nasty grin spread across Bumblebee's lips, and she rose to her feet, fists clenching at her sides. It looked like her boss was looking for an introduction to the human resources department. "I think we need to-"

The sound of two communicators ringing, both resting on the floor next to Ukyou, cut off their civilized conversation. The Chef gave her an odd look, before reaching down and tossing one of the communicators her way. Snagging it out of the air, she opened it, not sure who to expect.

"Bumblebee, this is Oracle. Are you back from Speedy's party, yet?"

Oracle? Definitely the last person she was expecting to hear from. Getting the invite to the party had been the first time she'd ever heard from the mysterious information broker, and she hadn't been expecting any further calls after that.

Oh lord, she didn't get herself stuck on a mailing list now, had she?

"We never got to the party. Life got in the way, unfortunately," she grumbled in annoyance.

"That's good news," Oracle replied, sounding surprisingly excited. Was there something going on? "Tell me, is your submersible vehicle fully operational, yet?"

She nodded, though it was a purely audio feed. "Yeah, Sparky got it rated for air and sea. Don't know if we need to get the whole space thing going like they do, though."

"Perfect. Alright, Speedy has asked me to put out a request for assistance. His team is responding to a distress call from Atlantis. Details are still incoming, but yours is the only team I know that is in position and has the capability to back them up. Are you willing to render assistance?"

"Shit, what? Slow down, girl! That's a lot to process there." She looked over at the Chef, now sitting on the edge of the couch, looking at her own communicator. "First off, Speedy doesn't have a team. Second, freaking Atlantis? Thirdly, we're the only…"

Oh, right, the volcano. Crap, she didn't know any other teen heroes that had their own submarine, and all the big boys and girls were out in the middle of the wrong ocean.

Still Atlantis… No matter what it was, just that name alone made this big-league news.

Stepping on her pause, Oracle cut back in. "Speedy is taking in the new Titans, Ryouga, Terra, Jinx and Kasumi."

"Wait, Jinx?" "Wait, Kasumi?"

Bumblebee and Ukyou looked at each other, both wearing equally shocked expressions.

"They're already mobilizing to leave. Can I inform them that you'll back them up while we wait for the League to start freeing up members?"

"Alright, we're on our way. Shoot me the coordinates for where to meet up with Speedy. Just so you know, though, we're on the wrong coast. Even if we redline the Lady Binsense the entire way, we'll be hours behind them."

"The Lady Bins-"

"Never mind! We'll get ready to sortie. Shoot me over the details of what we're up against en route."

"Sure thing. And thanks for helping with this, Bumblebee."

With that, the line went dead, and the dark-haired heroine was left staring at her own reflection in the blank screen.

Slowly, Ukyou raised a hand. "Umm… what exactly is Atlan-"

The sound of rapid-fire footfalls hurriedly approaching their location cut off Ukyou's question. The pair of them turned to look at the side door expectantly.

A second later, Tatewaki came skidding into the room, breathing heavily and still wearing his training dress, or hakama, or whatever he called it. It still looked so cute on him. Wait, had he run all the way up from the training level?

"Doth mine ears deceive me? A mystical oracle calls upon my puissant skills to travel to the legendary land of Atlantis?"

Ukyou rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. "He would know something so lame."

Bumblebee also rolled her eyes. "Talk like a normal person, Tatie, you know, like we discussed?"

"Never, woman!" Kunou then drew his sword and held it aloft. "The gods themselves call upon me to rescue the humble people of this storied and forgotten land, poor souls lost to the mists of time! The tales of the Blue Thunder's many victories will be Legendary!"

Lightning flashed outside the window, followed dramatically by a crash of thunder that shook the room. Bumblebee looked from Tatewaki, to the window, and then back again. All she could do was mutter to herself-

"How does he do that?"