Chapter Ten
When they came to the foothills north of Jump City, the Titans and the Doctor rested.
"Good thing I kept in shape throughout the years!" Changeling remarked.
"And good thing I was fully charged before I left." Cyborg added. "All this running is bound to wreak havoc with my joints!"
"You know, I just realized something." the Doctor said.
"What?" asked Nightwing.
"Slade says he has the power to regenerate. I'm willing to bet the Dalek he met absorbed his biomass and gained that power. Humph! No wonder it was able to repair itself."
Raven scoffed. "We need a way to stop these invaders, and you're concerned with a trivial fact of the past?"
"Unlike most humans, I can work at more than one problem quite efficiently, thank you!"
"Yeah, but it takes you forever." Changeling muttered.
"Run that by me again?" the Doctor said, indignantly.
"I think you've have more than enough time to plan out how to defeat our guests. Yet, you haven't come up with a single idea yet. Something tells me you're not as good as you make yourself out to be!"
"Look!" the Doctor exclaimed. "I have come up with ideas, and I've run them through my head! And you know what? They don't work! I know that because I know the Daleks! I know what they are capable of! I have centuries of experience!"
"That doesn't make you God's gift to the Earth." Cyborg said in a sour tone. "You're acting like you're the only one with a clue on the planet."
"Most of the time, I am!" yelled the Time Lord. "I have put up with you stupid apes for a good portion of my life! It's a wonder you all haven't destroyed yourselves with your nuclear arsenals! You have had people killing each other over religions and resources! Sometimes, you've killed each other over trivial things, like race or nationality! And you know what's crazier? You have idiots that can't accept that the moon landings happened back in the Sixties! A similar group of nutters blames the US government for the attacks of September 11th because they don't know shit about physics! Some even doubt the Holocaust took place! What kind of insanity does it take to doubt your own history?"
He sighed. "There are races I've met that would gladly let humanity vanish into obscurity, due to your acts of violence, and overall ineptitude. But I won't, and do you know why? Because I know your race is capable of so much more. And also because now, more than ever, I don't want to see another race fall in the same manner that mine did, okay?"
Starfire approached him. "Doctor, I know you feel that you are trying to do good for the Earth. However, it seems that you might need help."
"Help? From whom? There are no resources I can really use against the enemy! And I'm the only one on the planet with any appreciable experience!"
"Then share your experience!" she told him. "My friends and I have fought impossible odds because we operated as a team! Please, Doctor, be part of the team!"
He considered her words. "You're right." he said after a minute's pause. "I've become so obsessed with being the great expert that I just didn't think to ask you and your friends for help."
He heaved a sigh. "Alright then, I'll share with you the main points. So, listen up to battle tactics one-oh-one!"
The Doctor explained whatever weaknesses he knew of both the Cybermen and the Daleks. The Titans listened intently for the next ten minutes.
"So," he told them, "There you have it. Now, do you know of anything that's in town or around the area that can be used to our advantage?"
The Titan's considered their answers.
"You mentioned the Cybermen have a weakness to gold, right?" Raven said.
"Yes. Like I told you, it interferes with their systems. Not compatible for some reason."
"I seem to recall a jewelry shop somewhere in town. I believe they have gold there."
"Very nice, but what of the Daleks?"
Nightwing snapped his fingers. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "We can incapacitate some of the Cybermen and take their rifles! Then, we can use those against the Daleks! What do you think, Doctor?"
He considered it. "Damn clever of you! Wish I thought of it. Goes to show I'm not really a fighting man!"
He smiled.
"So you think it'll work?" asked Cyborg.
"I should think so, yes. Hopefully, the stores are still open."
"Now," said Changeling, "The question is how do we get to a store?"
"Same way we through yesterday." Raven replied. "Underground."
Reluctantly, the heroes made their way for the city.
Once in the suburbs, the group went down a manhole. Despite the relative cleanliness compared to years past, the tunnels still had a detectable putrid smell.
"I might be able to guide us to the jewelry store." said Cyborg.
"I can help." added the Doctor as he took out his sonic screwdriver. "I can use this to detect gold."
The team wondered in the darkness, guided by both Cyborg and the Doctor. Fifteen minutes had passed since they began their search.
"We must be getting close." the Doctor said. "I'm getting a stronger reading."
After some confusion, and several wrong turns, they arrived at the source. They exited the tunnels through the manhole nearest to the source.
On the surface, they found themselves in front of a small pawn shop.
"Sure we've got the right place?" asked Changeling.
"Yep." quipped the Doctor. "We've hit the mother lode."
Using his tool, the Time Lord opened the door. The place was abandoned.
"Grab all the gold you can!" he told the Titans.
They did so, but with reservation.
"Feels like I'm a thief!" muttered Nightwing.
The came out to the streets not a moment too soon; a group of about thirty Cybermen approached from the next block.
"Alright guys, this is it!" Nightwing announced. His team was prone, ready for anything.
The mechanical army stood before them, with weapons at the ready.
"Eradicate them!" the leader of the group said.
"Titans, go!" Nightwing yelled.
Starfire took to the air, slinging her starbolts at the menace. Raven joined her in the assault from the opposite direction, letting loose her energies on the enemy.
On the ground, Cyborg took shots with his sonic cannon, while Nightwing flung his arsenal of explosives at the enemy. Changeling became a triceratops and charged at the foe. The Doctor merely took shelter behind an alley, checking around the corner.
The Cybermen withstood the assaults and kept firing. However, the Titans could see they did make noticeable damage. The Doctor noticed this too.
"Alright, lay on the gold!" he commanded.
Raven used her powers to propel her gold jewelry at the 'wounds' of the machines, while the other Titans simply flung or stuffed their items into the fiends.
The Doctor was ready to make his move, but he stopped when he noticed something odd about the Cybermen. Rather than falling to the ground in agony, as he expected, the Cybermen merely plucked the gold out of their damaged parts with little effort.
"Starfire!" he said. "Vaporize some gold and fling it in their face!"
She nodded and did as the Doctor asked. Again, nothing happened.
The Titans regrouped with the Doctor.
"I thought you said they couldn't stand gold!" Changeling growled.
"We are now immune to the effects of gold!" said the nearest Cyberman. "It was a much heralded upgrade for our species! Now, you will die!"
The Titans readied themselves for combat, when a cry came from behind them.
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"