I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!
Sorry...my saying 'unless something weird happens' caused something weird to happen...I won't go into detail, that would be futile...and I'll try and get that bonus chapter up soon, too. As for now...read and enjoy this chapter!
...well, not yet...I have to correct a mistake...last chapter, I had Raven say her name as 'Raven Roth' when it should now be 'Raven Logan.' Except, you know, she may simply not have bothered to change it, or didn't take on Beast Boy's last name, or didn't change it on the computer for security reasons...so, yeah, it was a mistake, but an easily explainable one, plot-wise. Thanks go to Teen Tyrant for spotting this"error"...NOW let's start the chapter!
"Oooh..." Beast Boy moaned, slowly sitting up. "Where am I?" He looked around.-The sick bay...- he thought.-I must have fallen unconscious...not that I blame me, I am hurting...- He looked up at the clock. 9:04 AM. He then got out of the bed, slowly walking towards the door. -Where is everybody?- he thought. He saw a note on the door, and therefore picked it up and read it.
Beast Boy,
If you're reading this, you've regained consciousness without us. Sorry we couldn't be there to welcome you back, but several villains have escaped and we need to catch them. Feel free to do...whatever it is you like to do, play video games or whatever. Just leave the bed as little as possible, and don't strain yourself. If you need us, just call us on the communicator...on second thought, call Nightwing's cell, he'll have it on vibrate so you don't tip off any of the bad guys.
Sincerely, Raven.
"Huh..." said Beast Boy. "Looks like I'm on my own..." and he frowned a little. "Too bad...I always like catching criminals...well, I guess the others can handle it, and I'm not exactly in a position to go with them..." He sat back down on the bed. "Still, I wonder what they're doing right now..."
0 0 0
"What they were doing right now" was patrolling the city. They had no idea where the escapees could be at, but they knew they were all in the city because of the guards who radioed back to headquarters, requesting help.
Nightwing raised up his communicator. "Has anyone found anything yet?"
"Nope, nothing..." said Cyborg, driving along in the T-Car. "At least, not so far..."
"Not a thing," chimed in Starfire.
"Still nothing on my end of town," said Raven.
"Keep searching," said Nightwing. "They could be anywhere, doing anything...and that simply isn't good."
"What are you going to do?" asked Starfire.
Nightwing stopped his jet-black motorcycle outside one of the...shadier spots in town. "I'm going to interrogate a few people."
"Don't get carried away," said Raven.
"I won't," said Nightwing. "Over and out." And he flipped shut the communicator and looked up. -Bill's Bar...- he thought. -Legendary for being one of the worst places in town...and one of Johnny Rancid's favorite hangouts.-
And, on that note, he walked inside.
0 0 0
Meanwhile, Cyborg had just pulled up to Killer Moth's deceivingly suburban home. "Okay, Cyborg..." he mumbled to himself. "There's nothing to be afraid of...just because you can't tell anything about his house with your sensors..." And he began to walk up to the door. "And just because, for all you know, Killer Moth could have an army of mutant moth-things waiting for you as soon as you open the door..." And he reached said door and put his hand on the knob. "And just because you're all alone..none of that's any reason to be afraid."
He didn't open the door,
"C'mon, Cyborg..." he said. "You can do this..."
He slowly twisted the knob...
0 0 0
Meanwhile again, Beast Boy was at the tower, looking for something to do.
"No..." he said, flipping the channel. "No..." he flipped it again. "Oh, c'mon! Isn't there anything on today?"
"It slices! It dices! It cleans your carpet! Just make sure you don't mix up the buttons!"
Silence.
"That'd be a probable 'no'..." mumbled Beast Boy, flipping to the last channel before he would have to go through them all again.
"And today in the local news," said the reporter on the screen, toupee slipping off his head. "Supervillains Johnny Rancid, Killer Moth, Professor Chang, and Kitten have all escaped from the van transporting them out of the city during today's crisis situation. The Titans are working towards tracking them down, but no definite leads have been found so far, although Nightwing commented in a brief moving interview that he 'had a few hunches' as to where they could be."
"Wow..." said Beast Boy. "That can't be good...then again, Kitten isn't exactly what I'd call a 'fighter'... although she does scare me a little..." and here he shivered. He sighed, and flopped back down on the bed.
"And, on a related note," continued the reporter. "Rumors continue to abound that the Titans are looking for a few more people to join the team. While the Titans themselves have done nothing to either confirm or deny these rumors, with the amount of criminal activity going on as of late, it would not surprise this reporter if this rumor was true."
"...huh," said Beast Boy, now looking up. "Wonder how that one got started..." He knew the Titans' unwritten policy. Never seek out heroes, but if you find them, so much the better. Although this policy was broken a bit during the war with the Brotherhood of Evil...still, far as Beast Boy knew, nothing like that was going on at the moment. But, then again, he didn't have memory of the past two years, supposedly.
Beast Boy sat up straight in bed "THAT'S IT!" he shouted, then jumped out of said bed-
Shooting pain.
Beast Boy fell over.
0 0 0
Nightwing opened the door of the bar. Forcefully.
The usual types were all sitting there, and the unusual ones were too. Some were both usual and unusual. Nightwing didn't flinch at any of it, though a few flinched at the site of him. After all, not everyone in the bar was exactly "legal".
The bartender, affectionately called "Bill" after the bar he had inherited (few knew his real name), was the only person there who not only didn't flinch at Nightwing's coming in, but actually smiled. "Nightwing!" he said. "How has it been going?"
"Not too bad," Nightwing said, walking up and sitting on the barstool. "How've you been?"
"Oh, can't complain, can't complain..." Bill murmured, wiping the inside of a glass with a rag. He suddenly put the glass down, cupped his hand to his mouth, leaned to Nightwing, and said in a stage whisper: "After all, if I complained, someone would probably beat me up!" Nightwing chuckled, and the owner went back to polishing glasses. "Seriously, though, I'm doing great. Always been my dream to be a bartender...sure, this place ain't exactly one to talk about, but plenty of people come to bartenders for advice, and, well..." and the corners of his mouth and his mustache turned up. "These guys need advice, let's put it that way."
Nightwing chuckled again. "Glad to hear you're enjoying life," he said.
"Yep. Nothin' better than helpin' people, that's what my grandpappy always said," said Bill, a little nostalgically. "And after twenty years of givin' out advice, I've gotta say grandpappy knew what he was talkin' 'bout..."
Nightwing smiled. "Yeah, definitely. But, as much as I'd love to chat..."
"You got a villain to track down, right?" asked Bill, setting down his glass.
"How'd you know?" Nightwing asked, feigning surprise.
Bill fake-sniffled. "Only reason you ever come here...never come just to talk to old Bill..." he sobbed, the epitome of sorrowful acting...at least, around here. Nightwing chuckled once more. "Serious, now, though...who you need info on?"
"Johnny Rancid escaped this morning." Nightwing explained. "Has he been by?"
"Oh, Johnny!" Bill said, scratching his chin. "Yep...he was here, 'bout forty-five minutes ago...all excited about some plan he'd concocted...least-a-ways, he said he made it up."
"A plan?" said Nightwing. "Interesting...do tell."
Before Bill could begin, an overly-make-upped blond in a slinky red cocktail dress sat down next to Nightwing. "Yo, Bill...gimme the usual."
"One nice and frosty, comin' up..." Bill said, grabbing a nearby mug and filling it to the rim. He sat it down in front of the girl, leaned forward on the bar, and pushed his glasses. "Now, let's see...how did Johnny describe this plan again...oh, yeah, he called it a 'Red-Hot Moth Rally" or some nonsense like that..."
0 0 0
"FREEZE!" shouted Cyborg, raising his sonic cannon into the air as he slammed the door to Killer Moth's home open.
Every inanimate object in the room froze.
"Hello?" said Cyborg, slowly beginning to lower his sonic cannon. He gulped. "I probably could've handled Killer Moth jumpin' at me, or some kind of trap, but...this is just creepy!" He flipped open his new-and-improved searchlight and began lurking around. As the light fell on objects, it lit up several light-blue hand prints. The lighter the color, the more recent they were. The light fell on a large writing desk absolutely covered with hand prints. "Ah ha!" said Cyborg. "What do we have here?" And as he said that, the computer, detecting he had shone the light on those hand prints for several seconds, analyzed them.
"Analysis complete," said the words on the screen on his arm. "Approximate time of most recent hand prints' making: 55 minutes ago."
"Coincides with the time they would've gotten back into the city perfectly..." mumbled Cyborg. He walked towards the desk and sat his hand on it, searching for some kind of door.
That's when the booby traps went off.
0 0 0
Raven slowly sank out of the sky. She landed, gently, on the observatory, Professor Chang's old haunt. She stood on the edge, slowly leaning over to look inside. There was no one there, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be forever.
As she stood and waited, she thought about life...and how hers was going downhill fast.
-Seriously!- she thought.-What could be worse than being married to Beast Boy? He's insensitive to my wants, he's obnoxious, he's annoying beyond all reason, and he makes me angry, knowing what he's doing would probably make me angry, on a REGULAR BASIS.-
There was a bit of silence in her head before Wisdom spoke up. "Yes, and you forgot these flaws as well: he is brave, willing to sacrifice his health to protect others, willing to fess up to his own mistakes, funny, though admittedly only when he is not really trying to be, and also very calm about this whole situation when you still are steaming about what that girl DARED to do to YOU and so very clearly NOT to Beast Boy."
-You've been taking sarcasm lessons from Rude, haven't you?- asked Raven.
"Did it work?" asked Wisdom.
Raven sighed. -Maybe you're right...- she thought to Wisdom.-Maybe I am being too hard on him...I mean, it's not like it's his fault we're in this mess...-
"All he wants is to talk to you," said Wisdom. "And I am sure he wants to get out of this mess just as much as you do..."
-I know,- said Raven. -I just...don't know what to do, is all...-
"Then, perhaps we should call another council later?" Wisdom asked.
-Agreed,- said Raven.
And she sat there. Watching and waiting. Waiting and watching. Bored.
She suddenly realized something, and then slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, duh!" she said. "How could I write that? I'm such an idiot..."
0 0 0
Back at Killer Moth's house, several hatches in the walls opened up to reveal several laser cannons.
"Uh oh..." said Cyborg, turning to see about a dozen barrels of laser death pointed straight at his head. They fired simultaneously, and Cyborg dodged forwards. They all hit the desk. "Aw, man..." said Cyborg...he'd set off the trap and didn't even get a look at the evidence...
The lasers fired again. Cyborg "yipe"d and, frantically dodging, ran for the door. "Almost there, almost there, almost there..." he mumbled to himself. He reached for the knob...
A laser grid of blue energy suddenly popped up in front of the door.
Cyborg stopped in his tracks. "What the-" he began, but didn't have time to finish as a laser hit him in the back. "YEOWCH!" he cried, falling to the floor, and then rolling out of the path of fire. "I have had ENOUGH of this!" he shouted, standing and readying his sonic cannon.
After several shots, the last of the laser cannons was destroyed. Cyborg stood for a couple seconds, ready for whatever might happen next, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew..." And he walked towards the door, which had lost its laser grid. "I don't know what I was worried about..." he said to himself as he reached for the doorknob. "That was a piece of-"
As he twisted the doorknob, the floor opened up, revealing another blue laser grid below.
"CAAAAAAAKE!" Cyborg shouted as he fell. Readying his right hand, he shot it up into the air. Reaching frantically for anything, it finally grabbed onto the doorknob. Cyborg stopped just an inch from the lasers, which probably would have cut him to pieces if he had fallen. He sighed with relief again. "Alright, time to reel myself in..."
The door creaked.
"...or not..." Cyborg said, a little scaredly. He pulled out his communicator. "Calling any Titan within the immediate area...HELP ME!"
0 0 0
"Red-Hot Moth Rally?" said Nightwing.
"Yep," said Bill. "Apparently, he, ahem, "devised" a plan to attach exoskeletons to some of Killer Moth's larvae and turn 'em into, once again, ahem, 'Red-Hot Moths'."
"So Johnny and Killer Moth are working together?" Nightwing murmured, half to himself.
"Yep," said Bill. "Them and the Professor...though Johnny didn't seem too happy about that...still, he told me all about where he was planning to meet up with the other two, in just about a half hour from now..."
"Where is it?" asked Nightwing.
Bill was silent for a bit. "You know," he said finally, "Johnny ain't exactly a genius, but he is street smart...there ain't no way he would be tellin' me this plan of his unless he wanted people to know...people like you. So I'm guessin' that he and his gang have set up some kind of trap..." and Bill scratched the back of his head. "Either that or he had more than the one drink I gave him in him..."
Nightwing didn't chuckle this time, but only because this was serious business. "I don't care if it is a trap," he said. "Johnny Rancid, Killer Moth, and Professor Chang are all dangerous criminals, and that means the Titans have to bring them all down."
Bill nodded. "Right brave of you...at any rate, he and the other two will be meeting at the old abandoned power plant...and when two scientists and a biker punk meet up at a power plant, nothin' good ever happens."
"Thanks," said Nightwing. "Anything else you can tell me?"
"Only one other thing, and that is this..." and Bill pushed up his glasses and picked up another glass and started to clean it before continuing. "...be careful. I know you could take pretty much anybody on earth and send 'em to the mat, but...we all make mistakes, and sometimes I just worry that one of yours will be your last..." Bill looked up. "I know it don't always seem like it, but a lot of people are gonna miss ya once you're gone. They want you stickin' round on this here planet for a while, alright?"
Nightwing smiled in spite of himself. "Thanks again...that means a lot." Suddenly, he became serious. "Though there is one thing I want to say to her..." he mumbled, turning to the girl who had sat back next to him after coming back from the bathroom. She lifted the mug to her lips. "Don't drink that!" Nightwing said.
The girl put the mug down. "Excuse me?" she asked.
"It's been drugged," Nightwing whispered. "While you were in the bathroom."
"WHAT?" shouted the girl, standing up. Nightwing stood as well, but walked past her and towards a man sitting at the end of the bar. Improperly spiked hair, bad mustache and all, he was definitely a phony player.
"Excuse me, sir?" Nightwing said. The man tensed as he looked up, but relaxed when he saw that Nightwing was smiling. "My communicator doesn't seem to be working. Could I borrow your cell phone?"
"Oh, sure!" said the guy, digging into his pocket. 'Hold on just a sec-OOMPH!"
The 'oomph' came from the fact that Nightwing had grabbed the guy's arm and pulled it around behind his back. Nightwing's smile was gone as he used his other hand to show the guy the vial he'd swiped. "Okay, buddy," he said in his 'angry' voice. "Why did you put this is that girl's drink?"
"W-what...I didn't do nothin'!" the guy said.
"I saw you," said Nightwing, pushing the guy away. He fell on the floor, and looked up just in time to get kicked by a high-heeled red shoe.
"You little..." said the woman, moving towards the guy, who had just barely managed to get up
"Hey, I'm just...just doin' what comes naturally, y-you know babe?"
The woman was not entirely silent: she cracked her knuckles.
0 0 0
25 seconds later
0 0 0
The "playah" was now a disheveled mess on the floor. His hair was mussed, he had been beaten and bruised, and the very alcohol he'd tried to drug had been poured onto his head.
"Hell hath no wrath..." Nightwing mumbled, not at all feeling sorry for the guy on the floor below him. He stepped over him on the way out, and as he left, he heard:
"Sorry about the mess..." the woman said, half-meaning it.
"S'okay," said Bill. "I got people to take care of messes like this...I call them police. Once they're done with the mess, I can clean up the beer." He then heard the woman chuckle, and smiled.
0 0 0
Raven, meanwhile, continued to sit at the observatory, watching and waiting for any sign of activity.
-Okay, I'm starting to get impatient,- she thought. -Is anyone going to come here today?-
She was interrupted by the opening and closing of a door. She leaned back over to her regular position, making sure she was mostly out of sight.
Professor Chang looked the same as two years ago...maybe a bit skinnier? Hard to tell with that suit...Johnny, on the other hand, had gotten very muscular, and had exchanged his black muscle shirt for a black t-shirt jean jacket combo. He also held a cigarette between two fingers. Upon closer inspection, Raven noticed a scar on his cheek that looked vaguely like a scratch from a house cat. "Alright, pops," Johnny said, "Where's this brand-spankin' new armor of yours? I wanna test these babies out!"
"In time," said Professor Chang. "A very short time..."
"Sweet..." said Johnny. "I can't wait to take those Titans down!" Something hit him. "Hey, how'd you get this stuff ready so fast, anyway?"
"I've actually been working on it for months," said the Professor. "Killer Moth paid me to."
"Huh. Cool," And Johnny took a drag on his cigarette. "So how soon is soon, anyway?"
"Everything's all ready," said Professor Chang. "All that's left is for us to attach the skeleton to the larva."
-Larva?- thought Raven.-Ew...but it makes sense...Killer Moth and all that...-
Johnny took another breath of not-so-fresh air. "Alright, so now what do we do?"
"We meet up as planned," said Professor Chang. "Did you make sure to leak the info I told you to?"
"Yep," said Johnny. "They say bad news travels fast...let's see if that's true."
Professor Chang gave off an evil grin, Johnny stuck the cigarette in his mouth, and they both walked out.
-What are they up to?- Raven thought inside her head.
Then her communicator rang.
0 0 0
It had been some time since Cyborg's call for help, and his grip was slipping...wait, those were the door hinges. At any rate, another couple minutes and he would be fried...his sweat being converted to steam upon contact with the grid served as evidence of that.
"Man, I hope somebody gets here soon," said Cyborg. "I can't take much more of this..."
The door creaked again.
"And, of course, my communicator's barely giving off a signal..." Cyborg murmured, pulling it out and looking at it angrily. He sighed, his free hand slumping. "Figures. I get to be the world's first superhero to be done in by a security system...for a geek who lives in his basement." He chuckled. "Man, I'm gonna miss your jokes, BB...even if they never were all that funny..." He sighed again. "I guess this is just how it's gonna go down...I can accept that. I'll take it like a man."
The door bent on its hinges.
"AIIIIIIE!" Cyborg screamed. There was a short pause before he said "You know...starting now..."
"Cyborg?" shouted a voice. Cyborg started, then smiled, a tear forming in his eye.
"Starfire!" shouted Cyborg. "In here!" He heard the sound of running feet. "D-don't open the door, just...bust the window or the wall or GET IN HERE!"
"But, Cyborg," came Starfire's faint reply, "Though Killer Moth is indeed a mean criminal, this is indeed his property, and-"
"Starfire!" interrupted Cyborg as the door creaked again. "If you don't get in here some way besides the door QUICK then I'm a goner!" There was a loud WHAM almost immediately after this sentence, followed by Starfire flying in and grabbing Cyborg. He let go of the doorknob, still smiling, and began saying: "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" over and over again.
Finally, Starfire flew outside and set Cyborg down on the soft green grass. He kissed the ground over and over, tears rolling down the sides of his cheeks. Starfire let him do this for a while before inquiring. "So...where is the girl?"
"Girl?" asked Cyborg, looking up.
"Yes," explained Starfire, "I heard a very feminine scream coming from this house...it sounded vaguely like an 'aiiiiiiie'."
"Um...that was...just the TV!" said Cyborg. "Yeah, some glitch or something, turned itself on and off real quick..."
"Oh...yes, that would explain things," said Starfire, thinking it over. Suddenly, her and Cyborg's communicators rang.
"Titans," said Nightwing, now broadcasting to Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire. "I know the location of all the villains...except Kitten, but we can worry about her later! Meet me at the old abandoned power plant in fifteen minutes...tops! Be as stealthy as possible until we know exactly what is going on!"
The Titans all nodded, murmuring their consent. Nightwing closed his communicator and continued to drive his motorcycle.
Cyborg and Starfire put their communicators away as well. Cyborg looked at Starfire and said: "Need a lift?" Thus, in just a couple minutes, they were off, driving in the T-Car.
And, just behind them, a couple of paparazzi who had stumbled on the scene radioed to their partners in near-crime that something big was going down at the power plant.
0 0 0
"Sigh..." sighed Beast Boy. "I am soooo bored...and I can't think up any new verses!" He sighed, wishing for something, anything to happen...
...well, nothing did.
"Aw, man!" said Beast Boy, pounding the nearby table. A soft thump registered to his sensitive animal ears. He blinked, then looked under the table to see what his pounding had caused to shift, although only slightly. It was a book. "Huh..." said Beast Boy, reading the title.
Azarathian Sorcerecs.
"Must be Raven's spellbook she lost two years and two weeks ago..." Beast Boy mumbled. He opened the book. Although the spells and their descriptions were in Azarathian, there was a brief, simple drawing on each page that allowed you to guess what the spell did...and a couple of the spells had notes, written in English, by Raven.
"Cool!" said Beast Boy. "I could be a sorcerer!"
The universe would have cried out in pain could it have.
"Let's see, this spell looks kinda like a healing spell..." Beast Boy said, referring to the spell called Kerokiak Mandibla. The picture showed a simple figure glowing with green energy. Beast Boy licked his lips in concentration, then put his index finger on the spell. "Let's see...Memor? Is that what it says?"
And then something occurred to him. Something major, as in...well, you see, although Beast Boy himself admits he doesn't use his brain much, he does use it...and he had just realized that if he mispronounced even a single syllable, or even if he simply had the wrong spell, he could blow up the Tower...or worse!
Beast Boy shut the book. "I probably shouldn't mess with this kind of stuff..." he mumbled.
A few seconds passed.
Beast Boy opened the book again. "Okay," he said to himself. "Look for something Raven has taken notes on...something not too big, and easy to pronounce...aha!" The 'aha' meant that Beast Boy had found exactly what he was looking for: a spell to heal small cuts and bruises (according to Raven) and was easy to pronounce. Skraw Sal Vay.
"Cool!" said Beast Boy. "Now, just to say the magic words and..."
He couldn't say them.
Well, by that, I mean, he didn't even try to say them. He was nervous. REALLY nervous. He closed the book again, afraid to take a risk.
"Maybe I should just leave the magic to Raven..." he mumbled. Then he thought of something: "Well...what if I pronounce a syllable or two?" he said. He chuckled. "I mean, come on! What's the worst that could happen?"
0 0 0
"The Earth...is...mine! AGAIN!"
0 0 0
Beast Boy's eye twitched involuntarily at the thought of what could happen. He threw the book over his shoulder, trying to calm himself down. It didn't work, as the arm motion sent shooting pain up through his arm into his chest.
"GAH!" he said, lying back on the bed. He sighed again. "Could this day get any worse?" His eyes suddenly widened before he slapped himself on the forehead with his unhurting arm. "I can't believe I just said that..."
And, yes, Beast Boy's day would get worse...though, perhaps, not immediately.
0 0 0
"Alright, Titans..." said Nightwing, crouched at a vantage point similar to that which Raven had assumed not twenty minutes ago. "For all we know, this is one big trap, so we have to-"
"Play it safe and not rush into things," interrupted Cyborg.
"And then, when we do act, act with caution," continued Starfire.
"And above all, stay safe," finished Raven.
Nightwing looked stunned. "How did you guys know I was going to say that?"
"Dearest boyfriend, though you may not realize it," said Starfire, "You have given us this talk before."
"Yeah, like seventeen times in the past few minutes," said Cyborg.
"You gave Beast Boy and I similar advice when we started dating," said Raven, hoping her hood would hide the blush on her cheeks.
Nightwing coughed, turning back towards the plant window. "At any rate, I think I hear someone coming..." And he was right. A door opened at the same time a light came on, and in walked Professor Chang and Johnny Rancid. The latter twirled the keys to his motorcycle a few times before putting them in his pocket. A shadow suddenly passed over them. They looked up, slightly startled, to see Killer Moth fly down and land gently at their feet.
"What took you two so long?" Killer Moth asked angrily, pointing like an evil overlord to his henchmen...so he hoped.
"Took us so long?" asked Johnny incredulously. "We're ten minutes early!"
"Um..." Killer Moth hesitated, before resuming finger-pointing pose. "That's right! And any GOOD villain would have been here TWENTY minutes early!"
"Drop all this fake evil dictator stuff and hand over the money," Professor Chang said.
Killer Moth stared at the Professor. "You show me the exoskeletons, and then we'll talk payment."
A few moments of silence before Professor Chang snorted. "Fine," he said, "But I expect payment immediately afterwards!" And, that said, he walked over to a large generator-looking machine and pulled a switch.
More overhead lights came on, illuminating a formerly-dark corner of the room. In that corner...a very large corner...sat a machine, a large conveyor belt of some sort with various arms and odds and ends. Upon the treadmill, and also in a pile of (hopefully) compost at the far end of said treadmill, were...
"Ew..." said Johnny, walking over with the other two. "They look like...giant maggots..."
"They are giant maggots," said Killer Moth.
"Oh, GROSS!" said Johnny, dropping his new cigarette on one of the maggots.
Killer Moth gasped, then grabbed the squirming larva. "Don't you dare get that crud on my kids!" he said angrily, wiping off cigarette ash.
"Okay, that's just creepy..." said Johnny, backing up slightly. As he did so, Professor Chang moved forward and pressed a button on the machine.
After a few seconds of charging, the conveyor belt moved just enough forward that one larva could pass through all the arms and odds and end, getting pieces of metal attached gently but securely onto various places on the maggot. Most of the process was obscured, but once the larva reached the end of the line, it had gained armor in various places, glowing with energy on its back end, and with metallic wings, jets just below them. A mask, shaped like a skull, had also been attached to the front end of the maggot, two antennae poking out.
Killer Moth walked over and examined the creature. "Excellent..." he said, almost cooing.
"Yet still disturbingly gross..." said Johnny.
Professor Chang walked over to Killer Moth, smiling. "Well, then, I assume that it is everything you specified for in the plans?"
"Everything and more..." Killer Moth murmured.
"Good," said Professor Chang. "Now, about the matter of payment..."
A sudden burst of sound energy suddenly ripped through the machine, the compost pile, and several maggots. Professor Chang and Killer Moth were sent spiraling by the shockwave, but Johnny was far away enough that he was unaffected.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Killer Moth," said Nightwing as the person he was speaking to gathered his bearings. Professor Chang got up too, but a lot more slowly. "But I'm afraid that the neighbors have just installed a brand-new bug zapper in their yard...I don't think they like your moths."
With that, the Titans jumped down, ready for battle.
0 0 0
A van screeched through the left-open security gates and swerved out of vision's range. A news reporter and his cameraman leapt out of the van, and an antennae emerged from the top of the vehicle.
"Is everything ready, Carl?" asked the reporter, brushing the lint off his bargain-brand suit. The cameraman, apparently named Carl, smiled and nodded. The reporter smiled back. "Great..."
With that, they slowly tiptoed forward, peeking around the side of the building. There were the Titans, looking like they were getting ready for battle.
The cameraman turned, holding up five fingers. He mouthed the words "Five...four...three...two..."
0 0 0
"Hold on," said the anchorman, "I have just received a news bulletin!" Beast Boy looked up, hoping for something interesting. "Apparently the Titans have found the escaped criminals and are confronting them as we speak. We now go live with ace reporter Arnold Treebend at the abandoned power plant downtown to watch events as they unfold."
"WHAT?" said Beast Boy, sitting straight up. He was definitely surprised that some news reporters had gotten the jump on the Titans.
On TV, the 'ace reporter' smiled largely. "Thanks, Chet! Well, it appears that we have here some sort of villainous plot unfolding in a very un-villainous way: working together. It would appear that escaped criminals Johnny Rancid, Professor Chang, and Killer Moth are working together to try and take down the Titans, but our heroes are onto their plans!"
As if on cue, Cyborg fired into the plant, and all the Titans revealed their hiding spaces. Nightwing said something inaudible to everyone, and then the Titan's jumped into the plant.
"Come on! I want a closeup!" said the reporter, running to the window.
0 0 0
The Titans landed, half facing towards Johnny and half towards the other two. "Alright," said Nightwing. "This little party of yours is over!" Secretly, though, he was still waiting for the trap to be employed.
He didn't have to wait long, as all three villains smirked, and slowly started chuckling. Their chuckles increased in mirth, until finally they were all roaring with laughter.
"Someone mind letting me in on the joke?" asked Cyborg.
Johnny managed to gain his composure for a couple seconds. "Oh, man!" he said, lighting up a cigarette, "I can't believe you nimrods fell for it!"
Professor Chang stopped laughing as well. "Yes...we've been planning this little charade for months!"
"If we had not gotten so lucky as to escape ahead of time," said Killer Moth, "We had planned a revolt in the prison to create a distraction so we could, but luckily that wasn't required..."
"Yeah!" said Johnny, taking a drag on his cigarette before he continued, smoke spilling from his mouth. "And now you guys are smack dab in the middle of our REAL plan!"
"What real plan?" asked Nightwing, eyes narrowing.
Killer Moth smirked. "Kitten! Now!" The Titans looked around, ready for anything to happen...but nothing did. "That's your cue, sweetie-kins!"
"Yes, well, ahem..." Professor Chang murmured slightly..guiltily? Killer Moth turned, still confused. "Well, Kitten was...getting in the way of the progress of the plan, so we, um...there comes a time when-"
"Your kid got annoying, so we dropped her off at the police station on the way," interrupted Johnny. "Cops took care of her nice and easy."
Killer Moth's eyes widened. "You turned my DAUGHTER over to the POLICE?" he yelled. The Titans could only stand (or float) there, slightly uncomfortable.
"Ah, you can bust her out again later," said Johnny. "As for now..." and he took a drag of his cig before pulling out a remote control and pressing the button ."Let the Red-Hot Moth Rally BEGIN!"
As Johnny pressed the button, thousands of hatches in the walls opened up to reveal thousands of maggots, armored like the one before. The skull mask's "eyes" lit up as they began to take flight, buzzing around and around the place as the Titans looked on in horror.
"Oh, tarmoff..." murmured Starfire.
"Whatever that word means, I agree..." said Raven.
"Now, what was that one Spanish word I always wanted to say?" fake-mused Johnny, rubbing his chin. "Oh yeah!" and he threw his cigarette to the ground, stomping on it nice and symbolic-like. "Sayanora!"
And so the bugs swooped in, their antennae glowing red, energy passing between said antennae and firing as laser beams. The Titans dodged several blasts before Cyborg managed to get a clear enough shot to take one down.
"Alright!" said Cyborg, before he was suddenly slammed into by Killer Moth, who followed up by flying after Cyborg, scratching him several times as he flew, and kicking him into the ceiling. Several moths finished this up by zapping Cyborg with their lasers...well, Raven's shield stopped them from connecting, and then destroyed them all, but they tried.
Cyborg fell somewhat helplessly (I say somewhat because he did managed to zap a few moths) before Starfire caught him, managing to zap a few moths as well with her eye lasers. As soon as she set Cyborg down on the ground, Killer Moth struck again, sending Starfire flying. Cyborg tried to punch Killer Moth a few times, but the criminal dodged and his moths attacked for him.
Nightwing leapt for Killer Moth, who simply flew to the roof, taking the majority of his moths with him. He landed, pointing towards the city. "Fly, my pets! Feed and grow strong!" And upon his command, the moths flew towards the city, Killer Moth leading them.
Meanwhile, below, the Titans had just finished off the last of the moths and rushed out, ready to pursue after the main faction. Cyborg was lifted by Raven's powers, a flying disk in form. Starfire, of course, flew, and Nightwing would have gone with her, but...
"Go on," he said. "Someone has to take care of Johnny and the Professor."
Starfire nodded and followed her teammates towards the city. Nightwing, in turn, narrowed his eyes and headed back inside, suspecting that if Johnny Rancid and Professor Chang weren't following, they were doing something else.
He was right.
0 0 0
"Oh, boy..." said Beast Boy, as the camera flipped from nearby the power plant towards the city, then changed to a different camera entirely. "This can't end well..." He watched on screen as the Titans began their fight with the moths anew...and there were a lot of moths.
0 0 0
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouted, encompassing a large amount of moths with black energy and then exploding them all. In response, several moths shot their lasers at her, which she dodged, only to be slammed into by another moth or six.
Cyborg let off a few more blasts with his sonic cannon, then was hit in the back with a laser. "GAH!" he said, then turned and blasted the blaster. "I am SICK and TIRED of getting hit by lasers!"
"I understand what you mean!" said Starfire, rubbing her singed arm before throwing another volley of Starbolts. "But take hope in this: surely the Killer Moth does not have an infinite amount of these creatures!"
"No," said Killer Moth, flying up behind them, "But I have enough to finish you!" and he flew forward, foot first, hitting Cyborg straight off Raven's disk.
"Cyborg!" said Starfire, flying down to catch him. But she was intercepted by another group of moths, whose laser blasts sent her back towards Killer Moth. She turned just in time to get punched, straight in the jaw, by said Moth.
Raven caught the screaming Cyborg just a couple inches off the ground, then floated up behind Killer Moth. "Don't you know that you should never hit a girl?" she said.
"I'm the bad guy, remember?" asked Killer Moth, his pets floating menacingly behind him.
"I'm not saying that for Starfire's sake," said Raven.
As if on a cue, a massive flurry of Starbolts wiped out a few dozen of Killer Moth's moths. "What the-" he started, before a blur slammed into him, sending him flying a good hundred feet before he regained his balance. He flew back forward, shouting a one-syllable battle cry: "YAAAAAH!"
"He is...quite resilient!" said Starfire.
"Yeah, but we've got energy blasts," said Cyborg, raising his sonic cannon. He fired.
Killer Moth dodged to the left, very quickly, and then managed to dodge all Starfire's bolts. Raven also took a shot, but that too was almost effortlessly dodged.
"Wow..." said Raven. "Is it just me, or is he moving faster than usual?"
And as if on cue, Killer Moth suddenly rushed forward, hands raised, and...
...disappeared?
The Titans were stunned, until suddenly a "Whoosh" was heard and Killer Moth appeared behind Cyborg, bringing his hand down. Cyborg was knocked, face first, to the floor of Raven's second disk. Before the Titans could react, the villain disappeared again, reappearing behind Raven and slamming her down into Cyborg and breaking the disk along with Raven's concentration. He disappeared again, and not a split second later, delivered a kick to Starfire that sent her flying after her teammates, who had just regained their momentum.
There was a short wait.
"Why isn't he attacking?" mumbled Cyborg.
"Surely with his teleportation skills, he feels that he is more than a match for us?" Starfire asked, slightly confused. Raven squinted, then suddenly gasped.
"He's distracting us!" Raven shouted. "The moths are headed for the main part of town!" And sure enough, there they were on the horizon, lasers firing occasionally.
The Titans swooped down into the buildings below, going as fast as possible towards the real fight. Killer Moth followed, teleporting occasionally, but never managed to land a hit, though it was all the Titans could do to dodge.
0 0 0
Back at the power plant, Nightwing had just stealthily entered the "secret" passageway that Professor Chang and Johnny had claimed as their own...and it was the hallway to the boss's room. So obvious.
Nightwing squinted in the darkness, peeking around the corner to see Johnny, now shirtless, in some kind of test tube or something, and Professor Chang there at a nearby console. "Well, now that the Titans have been distracted by our real plan," said Professor Chang, "We can get started with our REAL real plan!"
"Yeah, sweet!" said Johnny. "This, uh...isn't gonna hurt, is it?"
"Um...sure. Let's go with that..." said the Professor nervously as he pressed a button.
With that, there was a large humming as some kind of gas filled the test tube. Johnny coughed a few times, and then started hacking, and wheezing, and...mutating?
No, wait, armor was just being attached to his body. My bad.
"Finally, I get to use my designs for the ultimate super suit...you shall be the perfect soldier to test it on, Johnny!" Professor Chang gloated. Johnny didn't reply, as he was still choking. "I told you those cigarettes weren't good for your health, but you wouldn't listen to me..."
"But you know what's even more hazardous to your health?" asked Nightwing, one liner in tow as usual as he walked into the room. "Me."
"Nightwi-GAH!" Professor Chang started to say before he was punched across the console and into the test tube, shattering it. He lay there, moaning and pretty much unconscious.
"Alright, Johnny," said Nightwing. "Come along quietly and no one will get hurt,"
As soon as Nightwing finished his sentence, Johnny suddenly flewout of the tube, giving Nightwing a solid punch to the jaw. Nightwing was sent into the far wall, neck first. He groaned with pain as he slowly slid down, but looked up as soon as he had recovered, which was remarkably quickly.
Johnny was floating there by means of rocket boots. Thick armor had been attached to every conceivable part of his body, red and black being, as usual, the color scheme. His head was uncovered, except for a pair of sunglasses, tinted red, that hung in front of his eyes. The parts that hung on the ear curved around and into his ear, and formed what looked to Nightwing like hearing enhancers...which, you know, they were.
"Well, well, well..." said Johnny, slowly floating forward. "Looks like the Bird Man doesn't know how to fly yet!" He smirked. "But I do, and I think it's time that you learned how!"
And with that, he gave Nightwing a solid uppercut that sent him through the ceiling and onto the second floor, which was filled with dangerous-looking machinery. Nightwing stood up and readied his bo staff.
A couple seconds passed.
Johnny suddenly flew up through the hole he'd made, a chain in his hands. He twirled one end, which crackled with purple energy, and then tossed it, whipping it as it went. Nightwing barely managed to duck underneath it, but the machine behind him wasn't so lucky, being sliced trough like butter by the chain.
"Like it?" asked Johnny. "It's the latest thing...and don't try and steal it from me, cause these glove's I'm wearing are made of the only material that can touch this energy without getting hurt...and don't think I'm gonna tell you what it is, Bird Man!"
"I may be a bird man, Johnny..." said Nightwing. "But you're going back to Alcatraz!"
And with this taunt, Johnny decided to drop the formalities, and just flew forward, stretching the chain taut before him. Nightwing dodged under, then swung his bo staff roundhouse style. Johnny blocked with his right glove, then punched with his left, which still held the chain.
Nightwing dodged to the side, then kicked Johnny in his chest. Johnny was sent flying back, but was left unharmed thanks to his armor. He flew back down, whipping as he went. Nightwing did a back-flip, dodging the chain, which drew a nice pattern in the ground as it slid along and through it. He then pulled out one of his exploding disks and tossed it. Johnny dodged, and the disk hit the wall.
"Speed, sight, hearing, awesomeness..." said Johnny, "They've all been enhanced!"
"Good," said Nightwing, "You could use a bit more of all of those things."
Johnny growled, then whipped again. Nightwing back-flipped again, this time straight out of a glass-less window. He landed effortlessly on the ground below, and was pursued by Rancid, who kept whipping while Nightwing dodged over and over.
0 0 0
People ran, screaming from the moths now attacking the main hub of the city. Lasers flew back and forth. Cars exploded. A building was shot through. One of the moths looked around, then spotted a little kid who had happened to trip as he was running away. His mom ran over to him, picking him up, but was too slow, as the moth charged its laser and...
...was destroyed by a sudden burst of green energy. The kid cheered and the mom sighed with relief as the Titans flew in and began blasting and tossing moths left and right. Then, they screamed when Killer Moth suddenly appeared a couple feet in front of them and punched Cyborg in the jaw...which seemed to be happening a lot lately.
"Pathetic!" said Killer Moth. "My bugs still number in the thousands! They're making fools out your precious city, and its inhabitants! They're-" And he was suddenly picked up by dark energy and thrown into one of his own moths, creating an explosion that wiped out a few more.
"As annoying as he is, he's right," said Raven. "We need some kind of plan."
Cyborg thought a second, then snapped his fingers. While he did this, Starfire shot a starbolt at a group of moths threatening to blow up a grocery store. They all exploded, for the blast was quite large. "I've got it!" said Cyborg. "Johnny's remote! If it started up the bugs..."
"Then it can end them as well! Brilliant!" said Starfire enthusiastically.
"But Johnny's back at the power plant," said Raven, tossing a group of bugs away. "Nightwing is most likely fighting him as we speak...it could take a while."
"Guess we'll have to hold these things off until then," Cyborg said, raising his sonic cannon. Killer Moth teleported behind him, and raised his fist-
Starfire intercepted, driving Killer Moth into a nearby building. "Order your moths to stop attacking the city!" she shouted.
"Or what?" asked Killer Moth, struggling against the alien girl's strength.
"Or else we shall...um..." she turned around, hearing a familiar buzzing noise.
Moths. Several moths. All looking very angry.
"...eep..." Starfire squeaked softly.
"HA HA HA!" said Killer Moth. "I would suggest you release me...or you might not like what happens!"
Raven and Cyborg jumped in front of Starfire, readying themselves. The moths charged their lasers, and Raven and Cyborg fired back, but no matter how much they attacked, more moths seemed to take the place of destroyed ones. Finally, the moths all charged all the way, and at least a hundred prepared to fire...
...suddenly, a flurry of thin, blue lasers took out every single moth threatening the Titans, who gaped along with Killer Moth.
"Mission: Protect the Titans, accomplished," said a voice through some kind of speaker. The Titans (and Killer Moth) looked to see one of Jump City's policemen speaking into his headset. Several other policemen were standing behind him, laser guns raised to fire. "Move on to mission: Protect the City." He looked up to the smiling Titans. "We figured that you guys have protected us so many times that it was time to return the favor."
Suddenly, several hundred more moths flew up from who knows where. The Titans got in battle positions, and so did the officers. "Fine!" said Killer Moth. "If it is a war Jump City wants, it is a war Jump City will get!"
Everyone looked at Killer Moth for a few seconds before Cyborg punched him in the jaw. Killer Moth fell unconscious. "And that's for the booby traps," Cyborg confirmed before everyone moved out.
0 0 0
Back at the Tower, Beast Boy watched events unfold rather nervously.-Well, at least I'm not bored anymore...- he thought as he stared intently at the screen, wishing he could help out in some way or another. -Come on, Beast Boy!- he thought as he watched Cyborg blast moths while Johnny and Nightwing dueled just outside the power plant. -Think! There's gotta be something you can do!-
0 0 0
"Gah!" Nightwing shouted as one of the whip's blows grazed him, cutting into his shoulder...coincidentally, the same place Psykinesis had scratched him before.
"Ha ha ha!" said Johnny, twirling his chain. "What's the matter? Did poor little Birdy get a boo-boo?"
Nightwing refused to respond, instead tossing a disk at Johnny, who dodged as expected, then swung his chain again. Nightwing dodged underneath, then threw an exploding disk straight up at Johnny. It contacted. "GWWOOAH!" Johnny shouted, being thrown back. He shook the blow off, then looked around. Nightwing had disappeared. "Alright, Bird Man, where are you?"
And as Johnny flew around, looking for Nightwing, it never occurred to him to look inside the power plant...which was where Nightwing was. In fact, Nightwing had just barely made it inside and shut the door, catching his breath and trying to think up a plan.
And the TV cameras got it all.
0 0 0
"Oh, man..." said Beast Boy. "It's only a matter of time before Johnny looks inside the building...I wish there was something, anything I could do to help...the guys really need me out there!" Suddenly, his brain made a connection between his needing them and them needing him. No, this wasn't something psychological, it was a reminder or something he had read earlier that day. He smiled. "Hey! Maybe I can help!"
0 0 0
-Alright, Nightwing...- said the superhero in question, -Think...what is Johnny's weak point...his head! It isn't covered...but how to get to it? How to distract Johnny? Gah, why can't I think of anything?-
Suddenly, he felt a sudden movement in the pocket of his costume. He pulled out his cell phone and opened it to see a text message. -What, Beast Boy chooses NOW to need us?!- And he read the message:
Dude, ur on tv. I knw wht 2 do. Toss ur comm.
Nightwing blinked a couple times, then smiled. He jumped up to one of the windows, then threw his communicator out, aiming for just behind a pile of rocks. A couple seconds passed.
Doot, doo doo doo, doot doo doo doot doo
"Aha!" said Johnny, turning in his flight. He landed on the ground and walked over. "Alrighty, Bird Man, are you done hiding from big bad Johnny, or do I need to force you to come...what the?" he said as he looked behind the rocks, finding only a communicator where he expected Nightwing to be.
CLUNK!
Johnny's eyes bugged out and his sunglasses flew off, his mouth majorly grimacing. He stayed in that humorous position for a couple seconds before falling, face first, onto the rocks a foot below him. Nightwing stood behind him, metal of his bo staff still quivering. "You really should have gotten armor for your head, too, Johnny..." he said, smiling a little. He picked up the communicator, still ringing, and opened it. "Thanks, Beast Boy."
"No problem, dude!" the green changeling replied.
0 0 0
Back in the city, the Titans and the police were all fighting the moths. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!" warned Cyborg, blasting another group.
"We must!" said Starfire, firing with her powers as well. "If we do not, the city will be destroyed!"
"But no pressure or anything," mumbled Raven. Her communicator suddenly rang. She pulled it out, simultaneously waving a nearby car into a group of low-flying moths and dodging some laser blasts from another group. "Yes, Nightwing?"
"I've got Johnny and Professor Chang in custody," said Nightwing. "How are you guys doing?"
"We could use some help over here!" shouted Cyborg. "YIPES!" he shouted even louder as a laser blast hit the ground near his foot. A policeman's shot destroyed the moth that did this.
"Have you obtained Johnny's remote?" asked Starfire.
"I have it right here," said Nightwing. "I assume you guys want me to shut off the moths?"
"Please and thanks!" responded Starfire, tossing a starbolt over her shoulder. Another moth down.
"I'll be there as soon as possible," said Nightwing, shutting off communications directly afterward.
With that, the Titans turned and continued to do battle. Cyborg punched down a low-flying moth, then tossed the debris at another pair. One dodged while the other exploded, and then the surviving one stopped surviving due to sonic cannon.
"Hah!" said Cyborg. "How do you like me now?" And, in response, three moths shot in attached themselves to Cyborg. "Hey, I don't want you to like me that much...OW!" and their antennae shocked him.
Raven was having similar troubles...the moths had found a strategy that worked. "This is absolutely disgusting," she said.
"Indeed!" said Starfire, reaching to try and get one of the moths off her back. Finally she gave up and zapped it off with a starbolt. A familiar hum rang through the air as the moths swarmed, kamikaze tactics the new plan. Moths came from everywhere, attaching and trying to eat every-
TRYING TO EAT?
"Yo, man! I am not an appetizer! Or the main course!" shouted Cyborg, trying to pry one moth off his arm. The poor policemen were all in pain, and the Titans were hurting too, albeit significantly less.
"And I do not wish to be dessert!" said Starfire, suddenly surrounding herself with an aura of energy and blasting off the bugs. She smiled, and then six more latched onto her.
The Titans struggled like this for about a minute before the moths suddenly stopped eating, their "eyes" widening, and suddenly fell off onto the ground, motionless.
"Hey, guys!" shouted Nightwing, getting the others' attention. The criminals were tied to the back of his motorcycle and the remote was being bounced in his hand. "What'd I miss?"
0 0 0
"I've scanned the data from my built-in video camera," said Cyborg to the policeman. "Killer Moth wasn't teleporting, he was just moving REALLY fast...so keep his arms and legs securely cuffed...and his wings...and you should be fine." The policeman nodded, then radioed the information to his fellow officers. Meanwhile, two other policemen had just succeeded in removing all of Johnny's armor. "What should we do with this?" asked one.
"Give it to the government," said the other. "They could probably use if we have another war."
Professor Chang gasped. "My weapons...being used by the government?" And he sobbed.
"Ah, shut your trap..." said Johnny. "I can't believe I ever agreed to this plan!"
"I can't believe you turned my daughter over to the police!" said Killer Moth as said police escorted the criminals into the van.
"Call it revenge for having your big moth swallow me," said Johnny.
"THAT WAS FOUR YEARS AGO! GET OVER IT ALREADY!" shouted Killer Moth as the doors shut.
The van began to drive away, and as it did, you could vaguely make out the sounds of an argument.
"So...is it true, then?" asked Starfire of a nearby pair of policemen. "You really do have Kitten in custody?"
"Affirmative," said one. "Just came in on the headset."
"Really?" said the other. "I didn't hear anything..."
"Yours is broken, see?" said the first, flicking the...well, broken antennae.
"Ah, you're right...I'll have to fix that."
"And so," said Arnold Treebend, walking on camera, "The day is saved once again, thanks to the Titans! And remember, when you first saw this big story, it was on channel 7's live coverage of your city! Not channel 6's!"
"Um...dude?" said the cameraman. Arnold turned around, then looked very scared.
"Oh, um...hello, Titans!" he said. "Um...mind giving a word or two to channel 7? Heh heh heh..." The Titans looked no less angry
"Better than that, I'll give you seven..." said Nightwing. "Civilians aren't supposed to be around battles."
"But I'm not just a civilian...I'm ace reporter Arnold Treebend!" said Arnold Treebend.
"Raven?" asked Starfire, half-innocently. "Wasn't Arnold Treebend the one who presented all those fake videos of us in last month's Jump City Examiner?"
"Including that one that supposedly showed that me and Starfire were lovers, that Cyborg watched Care Bears on his arm-screen, and that when Beast Boy was away, you slept with a little doll of him in your arms?" asked Nightwing, also a lot less innocently than the question sounded by the tone of his voice.
"Why, yes, I believe he was," said Raven, now looking angry. Arnold started to sweat, and the camera zoomed in on him.
"Well, what do you guys think we should do about it?" asked Cyborg, leaning in towards Arnold menacingly. The others did the same. Arnold looked around, then looked straight into the camera and said, in a squeaky voice, "Well...that's all for today's news of the Titans...keep tuned in...for the Chef Bleuski marathon...coming up next..."
And then all the Titans attacked, a cloud of smoke and several appendages appearing where a TV reporter used to be. Back at the tower, Beast Boy laughed his head off. And then grimaced because of the pain.
0 0 0
Same Day, 9:03 PM
0 0 0
"Ah..." said the policeman, still in his uniform but not carrying his gun. The policeman walking next to him was doing the same. "Today has been a long day..."
"Tell me about it," said the other. "But at least we got all of those criminals arrested."
"Yep. Always feels good to put in a good day's work," said the first. "Ah, well, maybe tomorrow will be better."
"Yeah, and maybe the department won't charge you for the antennae you broke!" joked the second.
"Heh...got that right," agreed the first, a little remorsefully. "Well...good night, Ted."
"Good night, Sam," said Ted entering the door to his house. He stepped inside, not bothering to greet anybody, for a bachelor he was. He suddenly started...chuckling?
"Fools.." he said. "The plan may not have worked..." and here "he" pulled off his mask...
...it was Kitten. "But we managed to pull off one last trick!" And she gave off an evil laugh.
And that would be where the chapter ends. Notes!
"Nightwing stopped his jet-black motorcycle outside one of the...shadier spots in town."
I wanted Nightwing to have a new cycle, but couldn't think of a name for it...anyone have any suggestions? They'll get their name in the author's note of the first chapter I mention the name in if they give me a name I like!
"Before Bill could begin, an overly-make-upped blond in a slinky red cocktail dress sat down next to Nightwing. "Yo, Bill...gimme the usual."
Why did I put this girl in? It doesn't add anything to the plot! Well...two reasons...
To show off Nightwing's powers of observation.
To fill up space. I have a 30 page goal for each chapter.
"He also held a cigarette between two fingers."
Johnny seems like the type to do anything he wants no matter how badly it will hurt him and other people...even when he knows how badly it'll hurt.
"The Earth...is...mine! AGAIN!"
In case you didn't figure it out, I was referring to Trigon with this sentence. Very bad situation, that would be.
"Sayanora!"
Yes, I know this isn't Spanish, it's Japanese...but Johnny doesn't know that.
"And as if on cue, Killer Moth suddenly rushed forward, hands raised, and...disappeared?"
I wanted to emphasize the fact that the Titans aren't the only ones who have improved over the years...and shooting up Killer Moth's speed seemed appropriate, so meh.
"We figured that you guys have protected us so many times that it was time to return the favor."
Seriously, how many times have the police had their butts saved by the Titans? At any rate, I figured that they weren't going to stand by and take another moth invasion too lightly, plus this means the good guys can even the odds a bit.
"I assume you guys want me to shut off the moths?"
And just like the first large moth invasion, the remote is key to defeating the bad guy...I feel so unoriginal.
"My weapons...being used by the government?"
A little bit of Professor Chang's soviet heritage (see episode: Snowblind) still exists in the form of hatred for the U.S. government...at least, it does in my fic. And my hatred for the following grows...
DISCLAIMER: Teen Titans does not belong to me. It belongs to DC Comics and Glen Murakami. I think Teen Titans was actually the only property I mentioned in the chapter.
That said, ahem...
God bless you all!