Jump City Symphony

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening notes: This is the shortest chapter I've written in this entire series. There just wasn't enough material to make it any longer, sorry. Making up for that is the other updates I've put out for the other stories I'm working on now.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

Wonder Girls

Kylee stood in the gym of Titans Tower, moving and flexing in her new outfit, getting a feel for the way it rested on her body. She hadn't realized it was so much work to put it on.

First came her specialized undergarments. Both the bra and the underwear were lined with various devices that monitored her vital stats, as well as a GPS transmitter that would turn on when any of those stats fell below a certain level.

Next was the under-suit. It was a black body suit that covered her arms down to just below her elbows, and her legs down to just below her knees. Over that she put on a black vest that held the ballistics stopping layers of her costume, as well as a mesh weave that would stop knife and arrow impacts up to eight hundred pounds.

Over the top of the rest of the outfit went her white tunic with the blue and gold angel design on the front of it, and the loose white pants. Both of those were wired throughout with a single use high voltage tazer charge that would blast anyone holding her if she squeezed her hand in the right way and hit the button on her right glove.

Last was the skirt with the wide slits to allow her legs to move about, the utility belt Nightwing had personally stocked for her, and the dagger she wore at her back. The final touch was her fingerless gloves with the golden half orbs on them. The orbs had a few functions, including flashlights, EMP generators and hard surfaces to make her back handed strikes much more effective.

All in all, it took almost fifteen minutes to don the whole thing. As she finished getting a feel for the weight though, she grinned, knowing it was all worth it.

"So where do we start?" she asked Nightwing as he entered the gym.

"Just where we should. You've got a feel for the weight, right? Then let's get you a feel for your balance. Up on the beam." he pointed to a balance beam, and she jogged over to it. As she jumped up, he continued, "With all the layers you're going to be a little restricted in your movements. Start with something simple and work up to harder things. Handstand."

Kylee complied, and her skirt fell down over her eyes, "Damn." she muttered.

"A style flaw, but not a big one." Nightwing shook his head, "You probably wont have to hold a handstand for very long out in the field. Back down. Try a back handspring."

Kylee lowered herself to her feet and executed the move perfectly. Coming back up she nodded, "I see what you mean. The weight does throws me off a little, but the outfit doesn't flex like my workout clothes do."

"Right. Jump down and head to the sparring mats. Let's get you a feel for fighting."

"Alright." Kylee jumped off the beam and glided across the room to the sparing mats. Nightwing followed her, shaking his head and chuckling.

"You really enjoy flying, don't you?"

"If you could... Dick you would do it every chance you got."

"I guess. Ready?"

"Yes." Kylee took up a stance.

"Then attack. I'll defend until you get a good feel for the equipment."

Kylee nodded, and came at him in a flurry of blows. Nightwing blocked and dodged all of them with ease, and after a few minutes, he stepped back, "Enough. How's it feel?"

"Stiff, like you said. I feel slower with all the extra weight."

"From now on when we spar, I want you wearing all your gear. You need to know how to fight in it before you're ready to do any combat in the field. Since we wont be doing any tonight, we wont postpone anything."

Kylee nodded, "So are we good to go?"

"Sure." Nightwing nodded, then knelt down and looked her in the eye, "Just remember one thing, Kylee." he was suddenly very serious, and the white orbs of his mask made his gaze depthless, "When we go out there tonight... things can happen. Dangerous things. No matter how well you've been trained so far, it's not enough. No matter how simple the fight seems, you're not ready. No matter how badly I may need help... you wait for another Titan to arrive. Do not... and I mean it... do not under any circumstances, try to help me until I say a fight is over. Do you understand?"

Kylee frowned, "I wont let you get killed, Dick."
Nightwing frowned back, then reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Kylee... if it comes to that... run away. As fast as you can. Anything that I can't handle on my own, we still wont be able to handle together. Promise me you'll look out for yourself first."

"I can't. I promised myself that I'd never stand down if I had to fight, and-"

"Kylee." Nightwing pulled her forward and hugged her. She was surprised at first. She'd never seen him touch anyone in such an intimate manner, other than Starfire. After a moment, she relaxed and hugged him back.

"Dick?" she whispered.

"Kylee," he muttered into her hair, "As strong as you are... I wont let you die just because you feel you have to fight evil. That's my job... yours is just to grow up into an amazing and wonderful woman... don't throw that away just because of some silly oath."

"Silly?" she struggled in his arms, but he didn't let go of her, "Dick, what the hell are you-"

"It's one thing to say you'd die for justice," Nightwing said in a strong voice, still holding her tightly, "but it's another to say you'll live to always uphold it."

Kylee stopped squirming, and stood there. A moment later, she threw her arms back around his neck and squeezed him, "Oh Dick!" her eyes felt wet, "Okay... I promise I'll leave things to you... but I'm going to stay close in case you need healing after a fight."

"That's a compromise I can deal with." Nightwing stepped back from her and smiled down on her rosy face, "Dry your eyes then, and let's hit the pavement."

"What are we checking out tonight?" Kylee asked as the two of them walked through the garage of Titans Tower. Nightwing stopped in front of his new bike (he'd let Raven keep the re-painted R-Cycle) and picked up a helmet. Turning to the young girl, he took on a serious expression.

"We're checking out a few disturbances and thefts that I suspect have an arcane nature to them. Even at the simple level of magic you know right now, you're still light years ahead of me in that department, so I'll be relying on you to pick up anything I don't."

"So this is like, a real case?" Kylee's grin widened.

"Yes, it is." Nightwing frowned down at her, "It's also a very important one, so I expect you to stay sharp and keep up with the pace of the investigation."

Kylee became somber, "Yes Sir."

"Good girl." Nightwing handed her a helmet and straddled his bike. As Kylee climbed up behind him, he turned and looked down at her, "Now remember… when we're outside these walls, out there on the street, I'm Nightwing. Don't call me anything else. Likewise, I'll be calling you Seraph, so learn to respond to that name quickly."

"Right." Kylee nodded, and Nightwing turned back around. Kicking the bike over, he revved it once, then twice, then peeled out of the garage, hitting eighty miles per hour before they were at the end of the drive that led to the land bridge.

Kylee squealed with delight the whole time.

It was a half hour later when they stopped and dismounted the bike. The two of them were in the parking lot of a run down strip mall on the outskirts of town, near a section of suburbs that had fallen into disrepair and were quickly becoming a slum. The lot was marked off with crime scene tape.

Seraph looked around herself, checking for any trace signatures of magical activity. She frowned, "I don't sense that any magic was performed here, Nightwing. Of course, it has to be fairly powerful to leave behind a trace that I can detect, so weaker spells or powers could have been used."

"I don't think we're looking for anything too advanced." Nightwing replied, "This is the site of a rather brutal murder… no witnesses, happened in the middle of the night, and made a huge mess." He stopped and looked down, indicating the ground with one hand.

Seraph looked down at her feet and gasped. They were standing in the middle of a chalk outline that had a dark brown stain spreading from it in all directions for almost four feet. She felt sick suddenly, and swayed.

Nightwing's hand held her steady, "He was sliced up so badly they couldn't even identify him without his dental records. Fingers were all gone, so printing was out, eyes were gouged out, and his heart and liver had been removed."

"That sounds… black." Seraph looked up at him so she wouldn't stare at the blood stains anymore, "I don't know any black magic… it hurts me."

"I know." Nightwing nodded, "What I'm hoping you do know is what this rune is." He pointed to the ground again, and she looked down reluctantly. Etched into the pavement of the parking lot was an arcane rune, partially chipped away. A quick look around confirmed that whoever had tried to dispose of it had gotten sloppy; there were five other runes that had been completely chipped away.

Bending down and holding out a hand, Seraph flexed her glove, activating the lamp in the orb on the back of it. Soft golden light spilled around the two Titans, and she squinted at the rune. After a moment she shook her head, "It's incomplete."

"Yeah, it's been ruined, probably in an effort to erase evidence of a ritual." Nightwing nodded, "Can you give me a good guess?"

"One of two runes I can think of." Seraph sat back on her heels and looked around again as she spoke, "The rune for summoning something dark, or a rune for protection from a demon. With the right application and combination of other runes, those two can be combined into the same one. Kind of a magical shortcut."

"I see." Nightwing was taking notes on a small notepad that he pulled from his utility belt, "What are you looking for?"

"A reflective surface to summon through. Usually a minor demon can be summoned through a mirror or a particularly reflective sheet of glass." She stood and nodded towards the tinted windows of a former tanning salon that had gone out of business.

"Evaluation?" Nightwing asked as he continued to scribble in his notebook.

"Summoning mirror available, summoning runes present, six runes in total, and a human sacrifice?" Seraph frowned, "I think someone was trying to summon demonic powers, if not outright summoning a demon."

"Huh." Nightwing frowned and tucked away his note pad.

"So… we have a demonoligist on our hands?" Seraph frowned deeper.

"Don't look so dour." The older Titan nudged her, "Your foster mother is a demon."

"Half a demon." Seraph corrected, "And Raven is different. This just seems… someone was trying to do something very bad, Nightwing." She shivered, "Something very, very bad."

"That's what the Titans are here for, Seraph." Nightwing smiled down at her, and she smiled back.

A bleeping came through the com, and both of them pulled out their T-Comps. Flipping them open, Nightwing spoke first, "Go ahead Operator."

"I've got a fire call coming out of the East End for a Metehuman attack in progress." She sounded rushed.

Nightwing scowled, "We're non-combatants tonight, Operator, give it to Terra."

"No good." The Operator replied, "It looks kinda' nasty and you're way closer." She took on a cross tone, "Dock raid's going down any second now, so I'm gonna be busy. Blackfire is helping Roy with something, so you two are on your own for a while. Operator out."

There was a click as she signed off, and Nightwing growled, "Damnit… ignoring my orders… I… she…" he composed himself after a minute, then let out a breath. Turning to Seraph, he took on a leadership tone, "Call Terra and follow me from the sky. Stay back from whatever we're going to be fighting, but keep a sharp eye out."

"Can I-"

"No, you can't help if I need it. Wait for Terra."

"Okay." Seraph nodded, and felt butterflies in her stomach. This would be her first real battle situation as a Titan. She was determined to make it through without freaking out or disobeying orders. This was important. Peoples lives were at stake…

"I'm gonna' choke so bad…" Seraph's face fell, and Nightwing grinned.

"You'll do fine. Let's go."

They arrived on the scene to find several flaming wrecks of cars and quite a few holes in the surrounding buildings. This was fortunetly a condemned residential area, so there were no civilians to be injured. As Seraph landed on the ground next to Nightwing, he scratched his head.

"Where's this metahuman assilent?" he asked.

"I don't see anyone…" Seraph looked around, then stretched her awarness out. Turning her eyes towards a large hole in one of the buildings to her left, she pointed, "There's someone in there."

"I'll take a look. Stay here." Nightwing started to take a step forward, but even as he did, a small form came flying out of the hole with a shrike. The dark haired Titan stopped and blinked. "Uh… our metahuman attacker screams like a girl?"

Seraph blinked as well, then her eyes grew wide as a huge, hulking man charged out of the hole with a war cry.

"Holy shit!" Nightwing grabbed Seraph and jumped out of the way as the nine foot tall meta slammed past them. He landed on his back with her clutched to his chest and slid a few feet. They both looked over at the first figure to fly from the hole and saw that it was a young girl, no older than fourteen, who was getting to her feet and scowling at the meta. As he made it up to her, he hauled back a fist and let a punch fly that would flatten her.

The girl stuck out both hands and caught the punch, stopping it dead. She grit her teeth, "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" she asked in an irritated manner, then flew up into the air and hurled him down into the street, where he landed with a solid thud.

Seraph looked up at the girl with wide eyes, then back down at Nightwing, "Who's that?"

"I don't know." He narrowed his eyes, "Seraph?"

"Yeah?"

"Get off of me."

"Oh!" Seraph blushed beet red and jumped up off of him, "Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry!"

He chuckled as he stood, then looked up as the girl flew down and landed in front of them. She grinned as she spoke, "Hey! The Titans show up at last!"

Nightwing scowled down at her and barked, "Who the hell are you, and what the hell are you doing in Jump?"

The girl cowered away, then got an angry look on her face and stepped back up to him. She squared her shoulders and planted her feet, scowling.

Nightwing and Seraph got a good look at her for the first time. She wore sneakers and skating knee pads, along with tight red bicycling shorts. Her black leather jacket covered most of her black t-shirt, but they could see the twin W's printed on it in gold. Her long black hair spilled loosely around her shoulders, and the pair of goggles she wore masked her eye color.

"I," the girl stated in a proud voice, "am Wonder Girl."

Nightwing arched an eyebrow, "Kind of a long way from Gateway City, aren't you?"

"Uh…" Wondergirl fumbled for words suddenly, "Well, Diana… er… Wonder Woman sent me here to, um… well…"

"I didn't even know Diana had a side kick." Nightwing shook his head, "Hold on… I'll call her and ask…"

Wonder Girl paled, "You can call Wonder Woman?"

Seraph gaped at Nightwing as well, "Can you?"

"Sure." He shrugged, "I'll just patch into the Batcave, pick up the JLA com signal and ask her from there." Nightwing pulled out his T-Comp.

"Whoa! Wait a sec!" Wonder Girl waved her arms frantically, "She'll kill me! I'm not even supposed to be using my powers out here, and-" she stopped and looked at Nightwing for a second, then scowled again, "You tricked me into saying that."

"Which is why I'm a real super hero, and you're a side kick." He grinned, "Now why don't you tell me what you think you're doing here?"

"I'm… uh… patrolling. And I came across this guy looting this building here," she waved a hand at one of the mostly destroyed buildings, "so I stopped him."

"Wonder Girl," Nightwing rubbed his eyes through his mask, "go home. Go home, and listen to what Diana says. The Titans can handle Jump without you-"

A huge meaty hand reached out suddenly and grabbed Wonder Girl's head. She gave a muffled shrike though the clamped fingers as the meta suddenly stood up from behind her and hurled her bodily through the wall of the building to their right.

As he turned on the two Titans, he found only Seraph standing in front of him. Turing to look for Nightwing, he didn't see the dark form of the vigilantie suddenly jumping up from behind him. The dark haired Titan extended a staff and whipped it around the meta's neck, choking him and yanking back on his head, "Seraph!" Nightwing shouted, "Check on Wonder Girl, and call Terra! I need her now!"

"Alright!" Seraph scampered across the street to the new hole Wonder Girl had made.

Wonder Girl came to slowly, shaking her head and reaching up to brush some of the rubble off of her self. She found a glowing golden hand above her head, and winced at the light, "Turn that down a bit, will ya?"

"Sorry." Seraph said as she held the other girl down with her free hand, "I can't make it any less bright. Stay down for a minute while I finish healing you."

"What's wrong with me?"

"Minor head wound." Seraph replied, "Nothing I can't heal."

"Right." Wonder Girl sat back again, "Where's the brusier?"

"Nightwing is fighting him out side."

"By himself?"

"He can handle it." Seraph reached out her glowing hand, "This cut runs up under your hair line. Hold still." As she reached out to brush Wonder Girl's bangs up, the other teen swatted at her hand.

"No! I'm fine, I can-"

"You're not fine!" Kylee scowled, "Just let me heal you!"
"No!" Wonder Girl tried to ward her off again as Seraph came back at her, and a brief slapping match ensued. Finally, Seraph proved faster and her hand shot out, pushing up Wonder Girl's bangs.

And pushing her hair right off her head.

With a shrike, Seraph jumped back, "Holy crap! I didn't mean to…" she trailed off as she got a better look. A black wig was laying on the ground next to them, and Wonder Girl was clutching at her shoulder length blonde hair with a frown.

"Great." She muttered, "It takes forever to get that to stay in place properly."
"Uh…" Seraph frowned, "I know it makes you look more like Wonder Woman and all, but why do you wear a wig?"

"That's the only reason. I'm suppose to be like her daughter or something, aren't I?"

"Well, I'm not really like my foster mother or anything…" Seraph took in the other girl's blonde hair and blue eyes, and pretty face. Her own eyes grew wide suddenly, "Wait a second… Cassie?"

"Uh…" Wonder Girl blinked up at her, then sat up and gaped, "Kylee? I thought you said you didn't go out on missions yet!"

"Well, since I got suspended for beating up those kids… why are we talking about this?" They blinked at each other, "What the hell… you're Wonder Girl?"

"Uh… yeah."

"And… wait a minute…"

"Yeah… this is a little awkward… it's kind of why I didn't tell you… probably why Bart didn't tell you either…"

"Wait a second… Bart knew?"

"Crap… shouldn't have told you that…"

Just as Seraph was about to speak again, the one intact window in the ruined building smashed in and Nightwing rolled out of the fall he'd been thrown into. His head was cut and bleeding, and he was favoring his right leg a little. He turned a glare on the two girls, "If the two of you are done chatting, do you think you could call Terra in?"

"Oh! Shit!" Seraph yanked out her T-Comp and flipped it open, "Seraph to Terra! Where are you?"

"Cool name!" Wonder Girl grinned.

"Thanks!"

"Seraph…" Nightwing growled.

"I'm not getting any response!"

"I'm right above you, silly." Terra's voice crackled through the com, "Should I bring the hurt down on the big guy with the flaming car, Nightwing?"

"Flaming car?" Seraph and Wonder Girl both looked out the hole the blonde girl had made when she crashed through the wall and saw the huge meta just as he hurled the flaming wreck of a car at the building they were in.

As the car hit the wall outside, several things happened. First, the car exploded, sending a wall of fire and shrapnel at the three heroes inside. At the same time, Nightwing hurled himself at the two girls, covering them with his body, and taking the brunt of the explosion himself. Just two seconds later, a pile of rock landed on top of the meta, slamming him into the ground.

Silence fell, save the sound of crackling flame, and Wonder Girl pushed Nightwing up and off of them. She lay him back down gently, and Seraph was there in a heartbeat, checking him over.

"Nightwing?" she asked, turning his face towards hers, "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah… back's a little burned."

Seraph checked and winced, "A little. Try third degree burns. I'll heal the worst of it, but we need to get you back to the Tower."

Terra poked her head in around what was left of the car, "Hey! Everyone still alive in here?"

"Mostly!" Wonder Girl called back.

"Who the heck is she?" Terra jerked her head at the blonde teen.

"I'm Wonder Girl."

Seraph nodded, "She's Wonder Girl."

"Oh." Terra blinked.

The meta suddenly exploded out of the rock pile and charged the blonde Titan. Terra shouted in alarm as she was swatted aside.

"Terra!" Seraph stood up, then looked back down at the moaning Nightwing.

"Take care of him." Wonder Girl said, seeing the delima, "I'll handle the big guy."
"Are you sure?" Seraph sounded scared.

"Trust me, Kylee. I can take a lot of abuse."

"Okay…" Seraph nodded, "Be careful."
"Sure thing." Wonder Girl took to the air, and flew out the hole the car had just made much bigger.

Seraph turned back to Nightwing and summoned her healing powers. Holding out her hands, she started on his back.

Terra hurled herself to the side and avoided a massive punch, then rolled to her feet and waved a hand at the brute. Bricks started flying from around the devastated area and pelting into his head. If he felt it, he didn't show any signs of pain.

"Crap." Terra willed the ground around her to become a platform and she flew up out of the meta's reach just as he jumped for her again. She looked around for a sufficiently large hunk of something earthen to slam him with.

As she was looking, a blur shot from the building her friends were in and plowed into the meta. He slid along the ground on his back, even as Wonder Girl sat astride his chest, punching him repeatedly in the face, "You'd better stay down after this!" the blonde haired girl shouted, and continued to hammer at him.

Terra could tell the punches were hurting him, but not going to take him out. She summoned her powers and took hold of the barely standing top portion of the building that Nightwing and Seraph were still in. Pulling up, she wrenched it free and turned her burning golden gaze back to the fight below her.

Just as she'd predicted, the meta finally threw a punch, slamming Wonder Girl off of him. As the young woman tumbled to a stop and jumped back up, Terra shouted down at her, "Hey Wondy! Get clear!"

Wonder Girl looked up, and her eyes grew wide. She flew backwards, away from the fight, then ducked behind a car and covered her head.

Terra dropped the top two floors of the apartment building on top of the metahuman with an almighty crash.

As the dust cloud rose up around her, Terra spit down at the rubble, "And stay down, bitch."

An hour later, the doors to the medical wing of Titans Tower opened and Seraph walked through them. She was helping Nightwing to walk, as he was still limping badly on his right leg, and his weight was really pulling on her.

Making a mental note to increase her strength training, she deposited the older Titan on a bed and pushed his hair back from his bloodstained forehead.

"You shouldn't have taken that hit for me, Dick."

"It's my job to take hits for you." He winced and rolled to his side, "Back is still tender…"

"It will be for a day or two. I can only heal so much, you know."

"Yeah." He grinned at her, "You did pretty good."

"I hardly did anything." She frowned at him.

"You stayed back like I told you to, you called Terra in like I told you to, and you healed the wounded like you wanted to." He nodded at her, "Good job."

"You realize that two of those reasons were me following your orders right?"

Nightwing grinned, "I'd yell at the rest of the team a lot less if they did half of what you did tonight."

Just then, Terra entered the wing, pushing Wonder Girl along in front of her, "Come on, Hot-To-Trot-Tot, you're still bleeding."

"I wouldn't be bleeding if you hadn't dropped a freakin' building on top of that guy!" The younger girl had been hit by flying rubble and had several oozing wounds on her head and left arm. Seraph rolled her eyes and grabbed her friend's hand.

"Come over here, Cassie, and let me patch you up."

"Okay… look guys…" Wonder Girl pulled her hand back to herself and frowned around her, "I'm not a Titan, okay? I don't need your help, and I don't need-"

"Would you like to be?" Nightwing propped him self up on one arm and arched an eyebrow at the blonde haired girl.

"What?" she blinked at him.

"Would you like to be a Titan? Or a Teen Titan anyway."

"Uh…" Wonder Girl scratched her head, "What's the difference?"

"I'm a Teen Titan." Seraph replied, waving at her, "So are Bart and Robin."

"I thought he was Robin." Wonder Girl pointed at Nightwing.

"No, the new Robin. He works in Gotham." Terra pointed out, and shoved Wonder Girl forward another few steps, "At least let Kylee give you a few bandages."

"Fine, fine…" Wonder Girl hopped up on a bed, regarding Nightwing suspiciously, "Are you kidding with me?"

"Of course not. The younger generation of heroes needs to stick together. I know you probably think the sun rises and sets on Wonder Woman, but trust me…" he looked away from her, "The big guys up in the Watch Tower have their own share of problems and mistakes."

"Would I have to like… cut off all communication with Diana?"

"Of course not. Bart still trains with the Flash once a week, and I still talk to Batman… well, I talk at Batman and he scowls and grunts at me." Wonder Girl giggled, and Nightwing grinned, "The point is, while you would have a room here, you don't even need to stay here."

"Really? I could stay here? In the Tower?" She sounded excited.

"Uh… yeah, you could…" Nightwing frowned, "Why are you in Jump anyway?"

"Oh… my Mom is a historian and she's been doing some work here… we're slated to move to LA in a few months… where I'll change schools again." She scowled, "The longest we ever lived in a place was Gateway City. That's where I got my powers and met Diana."

"I see…" Nightwing stood up and waved off Seraph's insistence that he lay back down, "In that case, I'd like to offer you membership. You certainly proved you can fight… even if you do need a lot of training."

"Heh…" Wonder Girl blushed and rubbed the back of her head with her right hand as Seraph dabbed at a cut on her left shoulder.

"We'll set you up with a room, and pending the approval of your mother, we'll let you stay here on a permanent basis."

"Really?" Wonder Girl and Seraph both said at the same time, then looked at each other with wide grins. The blonde haired girl beamed at her friend and slapped her arm, "Kylee… this is gonna be great."

Terra stepped up next to Nightwing and nudged him. He winced. "You think that was a good idea?"

He looked sidelong at her and smiled, "I think it'll be just what Kylee needs."

Closing Notes: I told you… short. Anyway, rack up one more new Titan. Wonder Girl has arrived. No, Donna Troy will not be making an appearance in this story. Sorry.

Next Time: Dock Raid.