Terra watched Devil Hand put a finish to his particular armored security officer with a hard kick that sent the man like a missile across the room. Lab equipment shattered and scattered everywhere, and sirens roared in the distance.
"Guys, isn't this a little… excessive? I mean all we really need to do is go to the zoo-"
Valentine snorted and let one of her long legs step on the edge of one of the large tables that dotted the room, "Don't be ridiculous, Achey Breaky! Breaking into a genetics lab is more fun! Plus, all the other guys would laugh at us if we actually did rob a zoo! Rob a zoo…"
The sorcerer disappeared into her own little tangent about the foolishness of zoo robbing, while Mr. Freeze flipped through a clipboard of folders, picking up where the former had begun.
"At any rate, I would prefer Devil Hand's Wish to have some level of productivity in our Foundation, and I suspect mere beasts will not do… the specimen holding cages are through this door. Let us proceed."
A hallway and a electronically locked – now frozen – door later, the four of them found themselves in facing a massive inky darkness.
"Soo…" Valentine drawled, "Anyone see a light?"
Devil Hand's finger flicked a tab, bringing blinking lights up to speed. Inky darkness was illuminated into a gigantic processing facility, not unlike Valentine's Factory. Barking beasts of all shapes and sizes, trapped in cages that were moved on automated conveyers, stored in rows across the room, carried through the air on mechanical claws. Tagged, analyzed, filed, cross-referenced.
There was a strange silence as they watched it all for a few seconds, then Mr. Freeze spoke up, "I am unsure of the estimated time of arrival of the local crime-prevention agency, factoring Valentine's products that are fortifying the perimeter of this laboratory. Devil Hand, go quickly and acquisition your… pet."
-
-
-
Lucky Clover-
-
-
Well, D', pick and choose, pick and choose…
D' muttered to himself as he ran alongside the cages, letting instinct carry him towards what he thought was best, and further and further away from the battle that was ripping apart the entrance area of the holding…room…whatever… Devil Hand didn't catch the fancy words that Boss had used to describe the place.
WAIT! D' SENSE! TINGLING!
Sliding to a halt, Devil Hand stopped in front of a break in the rows of cages. Instead of a wall, a giant armored blast door had sealed up the side in its place, large black bold stating "HIGH SECURITY SPECIMENS! AUTHORIZED ENTRANCE ONLY!"
Devil Hand shot his arms into the air in victory, "Sweet! VIP pets! Hmm… about this door…"
Five seconds later, the blast door was blown inwards into the room, an impression of a left-handed fist dented into the front. As the cowboy walked into yet another darkly-suspenseful room, a single light flooded down on a hexagonal cage that stood atop a pedestal.
"A VIP-VIP pet! Maybe this one shoots lasers out of its eyes…" Devil Hand began to ponder…
Then he found his head wrapped full of grappling line, a jerk sending him backwards to the ground with a surprised, "G-lrck!"
"Maybe you should quit while you're ahead, Devil Hand."
The man in question shot up, frowning at the snooty voice. Snooty voice! Turning around, Devil Hand sniffed at Robin, cabling still about his face. The copycat! Devil Hand was WAY older than this kid, so therefore he was the original guy to be the guy-in-the-team-to-wear-stuff-that-covered-the-eyes-and-wear-red-and-wear-really-good-boots.
Okay, maybe not the boots.
"Dude! That's not cool! I should punch you in the face for it!"
"What are you guys planning this time?"
"I dunno. Just… steal a pet for today. We're not really big on the whole Master Plan sort of thing the other guys do. Now are we gonna get to it or not?"
Robin replied physically, forcing Devil Hand to duck under a spread of red blades. Reaching out with halo of light in his left hand, D' reeled the Titan in with a blast of energy, before his other fist smashed into Robin's face, sending him back. Stumbling to a halt, Robin only managed to back away from a flying scissor kick and dodge out of the way of a follow-up thrusting wrist that mimicked Drunken Fist. As he spun around to the supernatural brawler's exposed behind, Robin planted a staff into the back of his head.
"O-ow! Since when did you have a weapon?"
Robin merely spun his rod about into a stance.
Devil Hand sniffed indignantly again, "…Man, I never liked those silent, serious types. Can't enjoy anything-"
In an instant, Devil Hand had already shot forward, sending a flaming ankle into the ground where Robin had just disappeared, sending bits of flooring everywhere from the gouge he just made. Ducking under another swing, Devil Hand spun about, his burning backhand directed at Robin's head, which jerked back from the attack. After that, Boy Wonder lunged back forward, slicing away with his rod while Devil Hand managed to twist out of and block each attack, sometimes managing a single retaliation amongst the dozens of steel returns from Robin. Barely managing to catch a thrust at his collar, D' twisted his fingers about the end of the staff, turning the catch into a vice-grip which Robin was unable to pull his weapon away from. Before he could do anything, Devil Hand was already charging up his left arm in another vertical slash.
"Game! Set-"
And before Devil Hand could do anything, there was an explosion, and he caught a face full of Terra, Freeze, and Valentine that conveniently hurtled into him, carrying him away from his current match, and tossing the entire Foundation across the "VIP pets" room and into the back wall.
Miraculously, it was only now that the cage on the pedestal fell off, making whatever inside yelp as it bounced on the ground.
As the other Titans rushed towards the side chamber, Valentine managed to pull herself out from under Terra's body, pouting, "This sucks! This should only happen in kiddy cartoons. Or really dumb stories!"
D' shoved Freeze's head out of his face, snarling, "Dude! I was on a roll! Why did you have to do that!"
"Enough." Mr. Freeze sternly commanded as he finally crawled out of the pile, the body heat about him irritating his skin, "Devil Hand. Have you completed your objective yet?"
Devil Hand looked at the cage in front of him for a few seconds before scrambling and snatching it up, "Got it!"
Mr. Freeze gave a blank sort of look of disdain at random snatching up, but turned his attention to the Titans that were beginning to pile into an already cramped room.
"Valentine, can you secure our escape?"
"Freezie, look at this room! Does it look big enough to hold a bus in?"
"Too close for comfort, Valentine?" Raven mocked from her group. The one in question merely jutted out her hip and sneered back.
"Just between a rock and a Rae-Rae-chan! But guess which one moves real easy?"
Wink, Wink. Nudge, Nudge. Terra slapped her goggles on double quick, "Let's find out!"
Fists blazing like the sun, Terra exerted her will into the room about her, which, despite the steel about her, was still settled on the foundation that was mother earth. The facility shook, and creatures in their cages shrieked in fear, but nothing budged, despite the Goekinetic's breathes beginning to hitch in exhaustion.
Mr. Freeze remained placid at the situation shaking up about him, "Terra. I advise the cessation of your action. It might be permanently adverse to your physiology."
"I can do it Freeze!" Terra shouted back.
"I am afraid of what it would cost."
Robin was already on top of the situation. Seeing the pause in the enemy activity, he shouted to his comrades, "Come on! We have to get them now!" and at that, rushed towards the four at the end of the fairly cramped room.
Terra narrowed her eyes at the oncoming, "Get away!"
Redirecting a glowing fist at the Titans, she willed and screamed, and the world was rent in two. In a blink of an eye the room was ripped in two even halves, the entire building ripped in two between the Titans and the Foundation, a deep crevice disappearing into the dark at Terra's feet, while the heroes barely managed to skid to a halt in front of the cleft.
Terra gasped for breath, here eyes rolling upwards into unconsciousness, before taking a dive into the depths of her element.
Beast Boy's eyes widened and tried to reach for the falling girl, "Terra!"
The shape shifter was knocked back by a flying spine of a book to the face, which quickly retreated back into orbit around a cackling Valentine, "Really! Achey-Breaky takes a plunge before I even suggest my idea! What a genius!"
Freeze seemed to share the same thoughts as the other Founder, as he turned to her, "After you, Valentine."
Devil Hand shifted his animal cargo uneasily at the apathy of his teammates at Terra's falling demise, "Guys! Ter's gonna die!"
Valentine grinned, "Well! We're going to have to fix that, aren't we?"
And promptly slammed her foot into Devil Hand's back, knocking him yelping into the chasm. The Sorceress gave a two-fingered salute to her enemies as well, "In Japanese… Abayo!" before throwing herself down as well. Mr. Freeze also dropped without much ado.
Beast Boy's face stretched in disbelief, "Dude! Are they crazy?"
Robin only frowned for a second, before a realization hit him. Before anybody else could protest, Boy Wonder ran to the edge.
Terra's burst of power was enormous. The rift extended past the basement and downwards for what felt like miles into an indefinable darkness. The moment Robin's steel boot touched the edge of the crevice; Valentine's transdimensional bus burst upwards, just missing the Titan's nose by inches as the vehicle raced up into the air for a few seconds before disappearing altogether, Foundation faces laughing through the windows.
-
-
-
It was the dead of night and somewhere close to the birth of morning, and Terra grumbled into a cup of coffee as she sat in the Observatory's out of place couch, while her leader looked on indifferently. "Come on, Freeze. What use am I if you're not going to let me try?"
"Even if you share the same name as your… predecessor, it does not necessarily mean your level of ability is the same, Terra. You're body is still weak since your awakening. Whatever potential you might have, your body is not ready for it yet."
"Well, excuse me if I'm not satisfied with just making things pop out of the ground or shaking the earth a little."
"It will come in time."
Valentine just then decided to dump her upper body onto Terra's back from behind, shocking the latter while the former grinned, "Until then, wanna see what evil beast D' scrounged up?"
The three of them discussed the issue as they headed down the elevator to Devil Hand's part of Olympus, near the bottom.
"I still find it highly irregular that for all the things one could desire for a Wish, Devil Hand merely requested assistance acquiring a pet." Mr. Freeze breathed out in one fume of white.
"Don't be such a bureaucrat, Freezie!" Valentine elbowed, "Not everybody works with efficiency and cold-bloodedness!"
"How much trouble the world would be saved if it were."
Terra brushed the whole conversation off as she slammed a fist against the bolt metal door, "D'! You in there? We want to see the pet!"
A muffled, "Door's open!" came from the other side.
Devil Hand's room seemed something strangely akin to some person's college dorm. One without windows, but that was besides the point. A bunk bed was shoved into the corner of the room, the lower bed removed to make way for a built in desk and other peripherals. Posters were taped to the wall, drawers and other wood furniture taking up space as well. In fact, it looked disturbingly normal for a villain's lair, given Valentine's Factory and Mr. Freeze's Spartan icebox of a room that were only a figurative step down the hall.
The three found themselves facing D's back, as he sat on the ground cooing in a fairly frightening manner at whatever creature he obtained, obscured by the size of the pugilist's body.
Terra leaned forward slightly, inquisitive, "Well, what is it?"
Devil Hand swiveled around, raising up the peculiar beast up to the others' view, "Guys, say hello to LUCKY CLOVER!"
It was purple. It was some sort of purple… four-legged… minute thing, which managed to have its entire torso wrapped by Devil Hand's namesake appendages. Then again, D' was the oldest and largest of the three… still, this panting… bug-eyed, short-furred… PURPLE and white-stomached thing, which had some peculiar green shape on its hind flanks in the shape of a particular plant…
Valentine twitched, "What… is that?"
Mr. Freeze gave a cool look on the indifferently panting beast, "I believe it is usually referred to as the Chihuahua of the Canis genus."
"D' got a WHAT?"
"I got myself a Lucky Clover! Ain't the cutest thing ever?"
"Its eyes are bulging out and it's PURPLE!" Valentine countered vehemently. Terra wasn't so opposed to the dog though, as she crouched down to pet its head, which gave back an appreciative growl, "You have to admit, Val' it is kind of cute."
"What! How come everybody is calling me Val' now? I didn't give any one of you permission!"
"I still refer to you by your full name, Valentine."
"Yeah, well you're not everybody, Freezie."
Devil Hand raised stretched Lucky Clover to the Sorcerer, continuing to prod, "C'mon Val'! Just a pet! Just one stroke of the head!"
Valentine scrunched her face, but complied anyways. Mr. Freeze shortly thereafter found his entire organization crouching about the minute creature, gushing and awing at the cuteness of the bug-eyed critter.
"Disturbing."
Freeze decided that something had to be done about it.
Easily walking over to the trio, Freeze simply plucked up the dog by the scruff of its neck, holding it above everybody's complaining reach.
"Boss!"
"Freeze!"
"Oswald…"
"The three of you. Stop fawning over this creature immediately. If I were anybody else, I would find your display insulting to the Foundation-"
That was when Lucky Clover managed to twist its neck around to sink its small but very, very sharp teeth into the arm that unjustly gripped the dog's neck. Freeze gave a strange noise that emanated between his chest and neck to recognize his reaction to the attack and dropped the dog in shock, leaving the dog to skitter out of the room at full pelt.
"Boss! Look what you did! You scared Lucky Clover!"
The boy in blue narrowed his eyes while he rubbed his wound through his coat, "You dog has assaulted me. Some disciplinary measures will have to be enacted to ensure no further breaches will occur on your pet's part. But that will be saved for a latter time of this day, seeing I require my sleep. Dismissed for now."
Freeze spun about and marched out of D's room, much to the confusion of the others.
"We were in a meeting?" Terra muttered in confusion.
"That's ole Freezie for you." Valentine shrugged, before dashing after her old friend, "Freezie! You want someone to give you a kiss on the wittle' boo-boo…?"
Terra got up as well, stretching her back and arms, "Well, I guess I'm off as well. Be sure to find Clover, 'kay D'?"
"Ah, don't be worryin' 'bout him, Ter'. I've got a feeling, being found in a lab n' all, he's smarter than he looks. Who knows what else Lucky Clover can do?"
-
-
-
When everybody woke up in the deep-seated afternoon save their illustrious leader, Devil Hand proceeded to scour the entirety of the Olympus Height in search of his little doggie. One can never be too sure where a Chihuahua was capable of stuffing itself.
In fact the only place Devil Hand didn't check yet was Freeze's room, but that was a given anyways, since hardly anything other than the boy himself or anything in a super-duper parka could survive in the room.
"Oi, D'. You see Freezie anywhere? He's usually the first up, but I don't see him anywhere!" Valentine asked and mused to a momentarily defeated Devil Hand, who seated himself on the Observatory couch.
"I wouldn't know. I've been looking for Lucky Clover all day. You see my dog anywhere?"
"Our dog, and no I haven't seen the Chihuahua anywhere."
"Well, that sure jiffs it, don't it?"
"D', you sure the checked everywhere?"
"Well, 'cept Boss' room. But nothing survives in there anyways, so there's no point looking."
"Why's there no point. For all you know, the dog might have accidentally slipped inside. Just because it's unlivable doesn't mean things don't get it."
"… AGH! DON'T WORRY LUCKY CLOVER! D'S COMING!"
Valentine was left to make her acquaintance with Devil Hand's dust. Seeing nothing better to do, Valentine followed after Devil Hand to Mr. Freeze's room.
Might as well check up and see what's with Freezie, right? I don't think Freezie could be sick, right? He's always got a chill, right?
As Lucky Clover's concerned owner slid to a halt in front of the sliding steel door, he could hear faint scratching of paws on the otherside.
"DON'T WORRY! D'S ALL HERE! NYYYARRGH!"
Slamming his flaming Left Hand into the steel door, the slab crumpled inward like so much aluminum. As the mechanism sailed across the room and smashed Freeze's furniture, a Chihuahua sat on the floor placidly.
"CLOVER! YOU'RE ALRIGHT!"
Devil Hand reached downwards to happily embrace the pet-
Valentine raised an eyebrow, "Wait a minute, where's Freezie? He's not here either-"
-And promptly received a good helping of chill on his arms, while the dog yelped out of his grasp, steaming in pain.
Devil Hand and Valentine's eyes bulged like a Chihuahua's.
Come to think of it… it was oddly familiar, what with the deep blue coat instead of purple, its deadpan gaze of blue, enough to stare your forehead through…
Devil Hand and Valentine leapt back, shrieking.
"AGH! FREEZIE TURNED INTO A CHIAPET!"
Terra stumbled into the screaming contest not long after, mumbling in half-sleep, "What's with all the screaming…?"
After she was informed, she joined the chorus as well.
Mr. Freeze the Chihuahua sneezed in disgust.
-
-
-
"The dog turned Mr. Freeze into a Chihuahua! Dude! It's like something out of really bad parody of a horror movie! A Poison Chihuahua!"
"This is your fault, D'! You turned Freezie into a dog!"
"How would I know Lucky Clover turned people into Chihuahuas by biting them?"
Terra interjected, reverting the shouting match back to the emergency meeting about the sofa, "Guys! This isn't the time right now! We should be thinking of a way to fix Freeze!"
The dog barked his agreement.
"Well, what do you suggest then, Achey-Breaky?"
"You're the supposed other co-founder of this team, that should make you the other leader, right?"
"I guess so… in any case, we might as well try and find Clover. I bet that mutt's got some way to cure Freezie."
"Hey, now don't be burnin' Lucky Clover just because he got superpowers like the rest of you."
"But what are we going to do with Freeze in the meantime, Valentine?"
"Ah, that's simple! Stick him in his freezer room 'til we get back! They way he is now, there's no way he could last a second outside, what with his without his jacket and cylinders."
Devil Hand tipped the brim of his hat upwards at the comment, noting his confusion, "What's so special about them stuff, Val'?"
"Is it something to do with his body temperature?" Terra also asked.
Valentine leaned conspiratorially close to the Freeze-dog, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she murmured, "Should I tell them Freezie?"
Arf.
"Well, I guess that's yes enough! Put simply, Freezie's got a really low temperature, and he's gotta stay that way or he'll just cook up and die! Luckily for him, he so happened to find me before he did, and I made him his snazzy jacket and made him all his special stuff!"
"Even the cylinders?"
"Even those! The jacket's made to preserve the cold in his body and keep out the heat. But even then, his internal body temperature has to be maintained. Of course, in normal cases, I bet the best you can do is stick his head in some fishbowl that's constantly being pumped some cold stuff. But for Freezie, he's just gotta smoke those tubes. It's made of solidified coolant I make. He just breathes in the icy fumes into his lungs, and he stays chilly on the inside."
D' hummed, "Never heard of a time when smoking actually keeps a person alive for longer."
"Yeah, well I figure Freezie's like an inside out person… or something."
"Well, I guess that means Freeze is going to have to stay here, then. But how are we going to find D's dog?" Terra asked.
"Yeah! I looked everywhere in the place, and I haven't seen Lucky Clover anywhere!" Devil Hand complained.
"Then the dog's outside!"
"What?"
"Observe." Valentine instructed as she reached for the television set, switching to the news channel.
"And now for an update on the news headline, the mysterious outbreak of various civilians suddenly transforming into small dogs has seems to have halted since the initial reports, though no explanation has been given yet. Families are advised to stay indoors, while the local authorities investigate this mysterious situation."
"Apparently, there's really nobody in the city who knows how to treat a Chihuahua properly."
"Dude! I have the most awesome dog in the world! He's already acting like a bad guy, and I didn't even have to train him!"
-
-
-
The bus lumbered about the corner, honking repeatedly to get the various Chihuahuas away from the street they were littering with their presence.
"See anything yet, D'? Terra?" Valentine called out behind her as she concentrated on driving.
The other two peered over the creatures, but nothing particularly stood out as purple. Blues, blacks, whites, and other shirt colors, but no purple.
"This is gonna take forever!" Valentine complained as she made her rounds across the street, "The dog could be anywhere!"
Devil Hand dove through the window in a triumphant shatter of glass, "LUCKY CLOVER! I FOUND YOU!"
The bus managed to slide to a halt, amidst Valentine's incessant neurotic twitches at the sight of the utterly smashed window on her bus. As the two girls exited their transport to follow Devil Hand, they found him nuzzling a purple Chihuahua, who seemed rather surprised.
"Lucky Clover! I bet you were all scared n' stuff while D' was all gone n' stuff! Don't worry! D's here!"
Terra frowned, "Are you sure that's the same dog? I mean it's purple, but…"
Devil Hand did a second take. It was purple. But it was also with a healthy dose of orange and some red about the head. And it's green-green eyes, whereas Devil Hand's pet was just a simpler dark eyed beauty.
"Well… it ain't my dog, but you have to admit… this fella's a little familiar…"
Devil Hand thus proceeded to catch a face full of laser beam, before the dog escaped by flying away.
Valentine's jaw dropped, while her finger rose, "Holy carp! That weird flying girl from those heroes got turned into a Chihuahua!"
Starfire-dog went 'arf' in a righteously furious way, and proceeded to unleash more eyeball lasers at the trio, who were too shocked to do anything more than escape to their bus, which was thankfully warded against concussive forces and extreme heat. Valentine planned ahead like that.
As the bus rocked from the force of an angry flying dog, the three inside yelped in total confusion.
"When the heck did those heroes get bit by your dog, D'?" Valentine yelled above the din of eyeball lasers hitting steel.
"I dunno! But that lass out there sure ain't happy to see us! I bet she thinks we were behind this whole Chihuahua thing!"
"Well, we kind of are, technically." Terra offered. Valentine choked.
"Wait! That means those guys are out to find Clover as well!"
"They can't take my dog! It's my dog!"
"Our dog! And we need it to cure Freezie!"
"Valentine! I should have known you and the others were behind this!" A particularly familiar Boy Wonder's voice accused from outside.
The sorcerer in question stuck her head out to look through a window, and saw the assembled Titans, "Well… yeah! But this wasn't in our itinerary! Honest! D' just wanted a pet-"
"Titans! Go!"
Valentine snarled as more forces impacted the bus, while she stumbled her way to the wheel, "This is stupid! D'! Terra, you find Clover yourself! I'm going to blow up the bridge!"
"Dude… we're inside the bus!"
"Don't question me! Obey the Queen! Menvius, Trasium, Paral, Duex!"
And so Devil Hand and Terra suddenly found themselves outside the bus, watching the Teen Titans chase the bus that was speeding away down the road into the distance.
"You don't think she'll actually blow up the bridge, D'?" Terra asked. The brawler just shrugged.
"Well, she's just acting as distraction, but I don't think that'll actually stop her from going out with it."
"Well, come on. Let's look for your dog, D'."
A sudden screech of reversing tires caught their attention. Heading back down the road was Robin on his little bike, a green hawk on his tail. Apparently Valentine's feint wasn't completely successful.
"Terra! Split! I'll meet you back home!" Devil Hand shouted quickly to his remaining party, before hurling a shockwave of amber at the R-Cycle, forcing its riding to leap away before the vehicle exploded.
If there's any luck, that'll have the kid go after me. I'd hate to see him go crazy on Ter'.
Having entrusted his teammate to herself, Devil Hand raced down the streets, keeping an eye on the Chihuahuas, Robin close behind. The chase ran them into a familiar part of Jump City's China Town.
A familiar bark caught D's attention as he slid to a stop. Amidst the confused creatures everywhere, a particular purple one was scampering towards him, recognizing his master that he accidentally abandoned in his haste to escape.
"Lucky CLOVER! You're alive!"
As the Chihuahua leapt into Devil Hand's arms, the two shared a tender embrace.
"Don't worry, Lucky Clover! I'll never leave you again! And my mean boss will never do that to you, ever!"
Of course, Devil Hand had to cut his touching moment short when an array of birdarangs clove their way into the building wall beside him. The startled pugilist shrieked for a second before running off, dog in his arms. An amazing bound had Devil Hand landing onto one of the low tile roofs of China Town, where he kept on running. Out of nowhere, though, Robin leapt out and blindsided him across the roofs. Managing to cushion his precious pet, Devil Hand managed to roll into a slide into a halt, where he put the dog down.
"Lucky Clover? Sit… Stay."
The purple Chihuahua barked his compliance.
Man! I got the coolest dog in the world! I didn't even have to train 'im!
"Devil Hand! What are you guys planning?" Robin shouted with a shaking fist.
"Er… plan?"
"Don't play stupid! You ransack the lab last night, and then this! What are you planning to do with that dog?"
"My dog! And we ain't planning anything particularly. It was an accident, all of it, I swear!"
"Really."
For some reason, Devil Hand was getting vibes that Boy Wonder didn't believe him.
"Look man, can I just take Lucky Clover home, and we'll be leaving you alone? We ain't planning anything!"
"The dog isn't going anywhere with you."
"Yeah, great minds think alike, right? Wantin' to cure the city and stuff? Or is it the little flying lady on your team? You have to admit, she looks pretty cute as a Chihuahua-"
A flying, roaring, sidekick took Devil Hand down and across the tiled roof.
"Dude! That was a compliment to the little lady… and we're really going to get into a fight, huh?" Devil Hand coughed and drawled as he got to his feet again, arms raised.
"Well, it's only fair I warn you, I've trained with the best." Robin declared, falling into a stance of his own.
"Yeah, well then it's fair to say I AM the best."
With that, Devil Hand charged forwards, his arms outstretched on either side of him with clawed fingers. Before Robin could react, D' was already in front of him with two quick strikes to the chest, knocking him back. Robin managed to block the next kick, but as soon as the move connected false, the fore limb instantly jerked away and smashed downwards powerfully into the tiles below the two of them, kicking up ceramic that forced the Titans to cover his face, lest he catch the sharp pottery in the face. Thus, Robin was completely unprepared for the flaming roundhouse that tossed him away from Devil Hand and onto his back.
As Robin leapt back to his feet, he found the red figure not his own, racing down the roofs again, purple dog in hand. Boy Wonder was in pursuit immediately.
The roofs started coming to an end, as the district bordered along the train tracks that helped the public transport across the city. That didn't stop either of them. Devil Hand in particular gave a loud whoop as he flew off the roofs onto a nearby passing train, rolling to halt as he raced across the city.
Robin landed soon after.
"Not much for calling it a day, huh?" Devil Hand called over the din of rushing wind.
"Not until I put you guys where you belong!"
Calling for Lucky Clover to sit… stay, again. Devil Hand uneasily marched across the moving cars towards Robin.
"Come on man, can't you take a break. You're only what… fifteen or something? Sheesh, you ain't even out of high-school and your acting like a crotchety old fogey! And I'm even older than you, and I'm still fine!"
Robin lashed out with a foot, letting Devil Hand step away quickly, letting his hands deflect and parry Robin's furious techniques. A sudden thrust of a palm had Robin slipping backwards across the train car, creating more room between them.
"C'mon, man! Live a little! Ain't this sorta thing called unhealthy stress? You ain't gonna be having making's of Alexander if you keep stressin', and if you ain't Alexander, you ain't gonna win."
"You're not going to win, Devil Hand."
The two met again, fists and legs and staffs and God Hands.
Robin's sudden switch to tumbling maneuvers and an emphasis on agility to counteract the train's sudden movements piqued Devil Hand's interest.
"Hey-"
Devil Hand ducked under a tumbling donkey kick.
"-Ain't that Monkey style from that batty old chicky up in China or somethin'?"
This seemed to shock Robin, "How did you get her to train someone like her?"
"Me train under her? I trained her when she was spry little thing!"
"What are you talking about!"
"Yeah, sad ain't it! You're an old kid, and I'm a young ol' God Hand. Your Monkey needs a bit of work, too."
Devil Hand proved his point by toppling Robin's strategic tumbling with a single axe kick. As the Titan crashed onto his knees, he found his Foundation opponent above him with a knowing look, his left arm glowing.
"Second match, set-"
Before Devil Hand could make his second point he took a laser beam and a sonic wave to the chest, knocking him back with a surprised single syllable.
"Game's far from over, Devil Hand." Cyborg simply put it, Raven and Starfire-Chihuahua having also landed on the top of the train.
"Dude! Wasn't Val' supposed to be running interference."
"She did. For about five seconds."
"Dyagh! Again, our match is postponed, kiddo. Next time we meet, I'll make sure to make my victory official enough. Lucky Clover, here boy!"
Robin lunged for the dog, but the Chihuahua easily leapt through the air and into his master's arms, who tried to back away further down the train, but only got a few feet further to the front of the train.
As Devil Hand was about to grate his teeth for getting stuck in this situation, Valentine's bus decided to make itself known in space and time by appearing sideways on the tracks in front of the train, letting the high-speed vehicle push the smaller public transport forward in a malicious screeching noise.
Valentine and Terra stuck their heads through the windows.
"Get on!"
"Dude! They said you ran interference for only five seconds!"
"We'll talk about the nuances of making bomb threats while having none later! Get on!"
Thus D' dived through another and shattered a second window, much to Valentine's barely contained murderous chagrin, and by some miracle managed to drive off the train tracks and disappear before the Titans could react or smash into the ground below.
-
-
-
Valentine snarked. In fact everyone did.
Mr. Freeze looked on blandly, "I do apologize for the trouble I put you through earlier-"
"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CURED UNTIL I SAY SO!"
"My apologies again, Valentine, though I doubt my reversion of my previous, temporary condition is a matter of conscious decision."
"It doesn't have to! Just get bit by the dog again!"
"No."
Devil Hand pondered, "Wait, ain't that meaning that the rest of the city's all back to normal?"
"Most likely."
"We went out on a wild goose chase…" Terra whined.
"The majority of the world's endeavors consist of the chasing of geese, unfortunately. Devil Hand."
"Yes'm, Boss?"
"You're dog still need to be disciplined."
"Oh come on!"
Thereafter, as Devil Hand went through the process of setting up and caring after his dog's toiletries, he realized there were some things he could have done without by having no pet.
-
-
-
Episode 8: "A Christmas Carol For Mr. Freeze" – Winter has arrived in Jump City, and while there is a marked lack of snow, the festivities are still abounding in the air. Except for the Foundation, where their tyrannical Ebenezer leader is quite against such foolishness as good cheer and holidays. Even villains need Christmas. Can the other Foundation members help convince Freeze celebrate the holiday spirit?