Chapter Twelve
"Yo, Rob… Er… Nightwing…" Terra shouted, walking up to Nightwing, who turned around to look at her.
"What's up?" Nightwing asked. Terra rubbed her arm nervously.
"This… Guide… Says that I… Have control over magnetism…"
"Yes… It seemed to make sense."
"Why? I've never had power over magnetism before. The closest I've ever come to anything magnetic is my control over the iron in people's blood… I can't control huge amounts of metal… Just tiny amounts… Maybe iron sand at the most."
"What does Earth's core create?"
"Mm… Geography was never my strong suit… I know, weird, right? Given my abilities…"
"The rotation of the Earth creates a magnetic field that protects the planet from stellar radiation and other external threats. Your main ability is to tap into Earth's own magnetic field… I'd advise against using that particular ability too much unless you want to damage the magnetic field. But used judiciously, it can be quite useful." Nightwing said.
"You can create EMPs, throw off armored opponents' attacks, take opponents' metal weapons… Etcetera…" Nightwing said. Terra nodded. She would need to practice with her new powers.
"You're getting stronger. That belt and those wristbands and ankle bangles are actually weights aren't they?" Nightwing asked, seeming to sense the answer even before she spoke.
"Um… Y-yeah… D'you want me to make some for you as well? The belt doesn't have any significant weight on it yet. I'm still putting together the metal to compress into the weights for it, but soon."
"It's alright. I can make biomass weights. How heavy did you want them to be?"
"What? No! I can't ask you to waste your biomass on weights for my belt."
"Okay… Well, try focusing on trace amounts of metal in almost everything. There's some in the soil, in the pavement, the water, almost everywhere. Tiny amounts can be attracted with magnetism and your ferrokinesis. The training program in the basement accounts for all of our individual powers, and leaves a way for us all to utilize them. You should try using your ferrokinesis in the training program."
"There's metallic stuff down there?"
"Minute quantities in the air and on the ground, yes. But take into account the metal on your wrists and ankles, and even around your waits. You can break it down into tiny pieces anytime and re-solidify it later, right?" Nightwing asked. Terra nodded.
"I hadn't thought of that. That's actually a really good idea. I hadn't thought of it. What are those in your hands?" Terra asked. She hadn't seen them a minute ago.
"Weights. These two are for your ankles, these two are for your wrists. This one is for your waist. They increase in weight as you become ready for more weight so you're always at a challenging level of weight. Right now, they're each at 100 pounds, though they'll modify based on your current ability.
"I made a set for each of us. If we're really going to have to face Raven's father again, we'd better be more prepared than we were last time."
"But what about your former master, Batman? Didn't he always have a plan to defeat opponents, even those significantly more powerful than him?"
"Actually, that's a common misconception. If he had time to prepare, he definitely had a plan. But if not, his 'plan' was in judicious use of the contents of his utility belt and the mantra 'just punch it until it stops getting up. I'm Batman.' He usually had a general idea of what to do for most enemies. But not always."
"Mm… Are you sure you should be badmouthing my dad… And your former master?" Damian asked, striding in, seeming just as cocky as ever.
"Come here, Damian… I have two things for you." Nightwing said. Damian walked over skeptically. As soon as he got there, Nightwing grabbed Damian by the wrist, enhancing his strength further. As he had proven his superiority to Damian, he was fairly comfortable enhancing him further. If the time came when that proved a mistake, he could rescind the gift remotely by transmuting the muscle in Damian's body to fat. It would be an immediate effect that would cripple Damian's fighting ability.
"Second are these." Nightwing said, handing Damian five strips. "This one is a belt. It adjusts its weight based on your ability. These two are for your wrists. These two are for your ankles. At the moment, they weigh 100 pounds, but as they gauge your physical ability, they'll either increase or decrease in weight."
"Mm… An elegant idea… Do we take them off in actual combat?"
"No. In combat, you speak a command word that you decide on for yourself, and the weight in them converts to increased strength and ability for the duration of the battle. Once it senses your vital signs decreasing, it will convert back to weight on your arms, legs and waist. Same for you, Terra… Here you go, Raven… Starfire… Cyborg… Jason… Beast Boy… They're specifically fitted to your bodies and will adjust in weight as your abilities increase.
"In training, they'll act as a slight drain on your psychic or magical abilities. This will force you to work harder to use them, and when you speak the command word, all the energy you expended as a result of them will be returned to your bodies and magical or psychic pools for the remainder of the battle. When they sense your vital signs decreasing again after the battle, they'll begin draining again and return to the weight that they were beforehand. Everyone understand?" Nightwing asked.
Starfire looked at Nightwing.
"What is the command word we must speak?"
"You choose it for yourself. Set it by saying 'set command word' and then say the command word and it will be set. You can change it later if you want. The default command word is 'Titans, Go."
"I see… So these are parasites we're putting on ourselves?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not really. More like symbiotes. They drain power now, and will return it later if it's necessary." Nightwing corrected. The rest of the Titans seemed to like the idea, and put the belts, bracelets and anklets on. They immediately began to feel the drain as they seemed to disappear and simply look like normal pieces of clothing.
Terra had to admit that it was a lot less cumbersome than the huge metal weights she had been wearing. They were even a little bit trendy, and went well with their respective costumes. Her legs felt a lot heavier. She lifted up one of her legs with difficulty and felt the weight. Suddenly, a number came up on it. 175 pounds. Were her legs really that strong? She looked at her arms, tapping the bracelet. 100 pounds. Then her waist. 250 pounds. That was 800 pounds altogether on her body.
"I'm gonna go running. Anyone wanna come with me?" Terra said cheerfully. Beast Boy and several others nodded, getting on their running shoes and heading out of the tower.
When they got to the street, Beast Boy laughed.
"Hey! Let's have a race! First one to the end of the city line wins!" He said cheerfully.
"But we all have to keep our weights on, right?" Cyborg added. Beast Boy nodded. "Of course! It wouldn't be fun, otherwise! Alright, on your mark! Get set!" He said, shifting into a Peregrine Falcon.
"Hey! Land animals only!" Terra protested. This is a running race!"
"Oh, sure, just suck all the fun out of it!" Beast Boy complained, turning into a cheetah instead.
"Go!" Jason shouted. And the Titans were off. Even with all that weight on her, Terra found that she was running faster than ever. She found herself falling far behind Cyborg, who, despite the extreme weight on him, was pulling far ahead of the rest of the Titans.
By the end of the race, Cyborg was neck and neck with Starfire, who, despite being more suited for flying in a race, had pulled up with Cyborg within the first minute, and stayed right next to him the whole time. Cyborg tried to pull ahead, but Starfire was keeping pace with him perfectly, and after a few more seconds, she pulled slightly ahead and hit the city line first.
"I have achieved 'the victory'!" Starfire shouted elatedly, laughing with pleasure. She usually didn't run. Flying was more efficient, since it used less energy and she could usually fly faster than she could run. But there was a certain thrill that she felt in winning a race on foot.
"Way to go, Star… Were you holding back the entire race just to pull ahead at the end?"
"No! You gave me 'the run for my money'… It was most challenging. The last time I had such a challenge, I was racing my brother."
"You have a brother?" Cyborg asked. Starfire nodded cheerfully.
"Oh, yes! Darkfire is how you would call my brother in your language."
"Is he… As evil as Blackfire?"
"Oh, no! Darkfire is a good man! He is younger than I, and, with the imprisonment of Blackfire, is next in line to be king of Tamaran!" Starfire said excitedly. In fact, Darkfire was probably going to take the crown soon." Starfire exclaimed. She did need to go to the crowning ceremony when the time came.
By this time, the rest of the Titans had caught up. Beast Boy couldn't believe that Cyborg had been so far ahead. He had been in his Cheetah form, running at over 150 mph. Most Cheetahs couldn't run that fast, but with his enhancements, he could do so with relative ease. That meant that Cyborg and Starfire must have been running at over 175 to 200 mph to outstrip him so easily. Of course, Cyborg and Starfire had always had incredible physical abilities.
Beast Boy wasn't even Peak-Human Level. He worked out significantly, but his main skill was in animal transformations. He had been wondering lately… Nightwing had told him that he needed to restrict the number of insects that he transformed into based on his current weight. But he could turn into a 500 ton dragon if he wanted to. Why should he not be able to extend that weight increase to his transformation into insects?
Was it because in transforming into multiple creatures, he split his body and as a result, there was a danger of irreversible damage if he overextended his ability? He would need to talk to Nightwing about that, since if his math was correct, he could potentially turn into huge swarms of insects in the tens of billions if he went by the weight of the largest animal he could turn into.
Beast Boy had seen dragons, and read about them, and they could grow to incredible sizes in the thousands of tons and hundreds of feet tall. The fact that they could still fly so adeptly was a testament to the size of their wings. He had just run almost two miles, though. That was a pretty good run for him. He was better at short distance sprinting, though he could run longer distances if he needed to. It just wasn't what he was best at.
As the team headed back to the tower, they were alerted by Nightwing that there was a crime in progress. The location flashed on their Titan communicators and they headed there immediately.
