Teen Titans
Adaptation
By Cyberwraith9
New Order: Titans Aux
Down below in the alley, two combatants circled one another in fervent battle. One, a gleaming knight dressed in mail and a crucifixed tunic, swung his long spear with expert confidence. With handsome features and a sparkling smile he laughed, and struck without mercy.
His foe was a demon most foul. Though the demon walked as men do, and wore black slacks that clung to its muscular legs, it was clearly not of this world. Jagged black wings were strung from its ribs to its arms. Stubby horns jutted from its forehead at the edge of flowing, ashen white hair. Hot coals glowed in its sockets, narrowed fiercely at the knight.
Their grunts and shouts scraped the old brick of the buildings that boxed them in. They scarred the masonry and punched holes in a weatherworn dumpster, which bled garbage onto their battlefield. As they fought, two sets of eyes judged them from the rooftops.
Bushido leaned over the rim of the building in fascination of the knight down below. The young boy—fourteen at most—shook the air with a cry of havoc and leapt across the alley with a long spear, his red tunic billowing behind him. The demon howled as the spear grazed its ribs, drawing a dribble of magma down its side. Such a leaping attack would be difficult unencumbered, Bushido knew, but in full chainmail? The feat impressed even the accomplished swordsman.
"This is your candidate?" Bushido asked.
Next to him, Tek nodded. She, too, watched the knight do battle with the red demon. Its short black horns scraped noisily against another near miss, causing it to yelp and leap back. Another cut from the knight's spear pulled a roar from the demon's glowing maw. "He's the next one. His name's Eddie Bloomberg. He's new at this, so I don't think anyone's tapped him yet."
"Good. I would hate to have a repeat of the Dakota Hills embarrassment," Bushido said idly. He rested his chin in his hand on the building edge and watched the pair struggle for life and death.
A groan rattled Tek's chest. "Look, I said I was sorry. If I knew Static and Gear were League, I would have skipped them. I thought it would be a twofer."
Bushido smirked. "Your encyclopedia needs updating," he teased.
Tek smirked back. "Well, maybe next time I'll just stand back and look tough with an oversized butter knife instead of doing all the work," she suggested.
"Indeed."
"Fine."
With a cry, the demon raked its claws across the young knight's chainmail. Deific conflict sparked in the blow, which the knight rolled with and rounded to return. Flecks of brimstone sprayed from the demon's mouth as the knight's gauntlet crossed its face. It spun to the ground and scampered back on all fours, terrified of the spear advancing on its throat, and of the somber knight behind it. Fire flared from the demon's mouth, chasing back the knight.
Tek brushed shaggy hair from her eyes and watched the demon clamber back to its feet. "Looks like he could use some help," she said.
Bushido watched the knight brush embers from his tunic. It didn't look like he needed help. Nevertheless, Bushido shrugged, and then tilted off the building's edge. Using the narrow walls of the alley, he bounced down and rolled onto the pavement, landing between the combatants without warning either. One smooth motion drew the blade at his hip while smashing the demon's jaw with its hilt, knocking the demon into a tangle of limbs and tail.
Sprawled on its back, the demon tried to rise, but was slammed back to the ground and gagged with Bushido's boot on its throat. Bushido loomed over the demon, the tip of his blade pressed up under its chin.
"Please forgive the intrusion," Bushido asked of the knight, smiling at him without moving his blade an inch. His boot kept the demon choked and still. "I would normally loathe interfering in the battle of another. But demons aren't deserving of honor such as ours."
The knight shouldered his long spear with a grin. "God bless you, kind stranger," he said. "Might I know the name of such a hero?"
Bushido had to stifle a snort at the word "hero." "I am known as Bushido," he said, and nodded in place of a bow to keep his blade at the demon's throat.
"Kid Crusader," the young knight replied. His mail jangled as he bowed deeply. He approached the swordsman and stepped within reach of the demon without fear. When Bushido turned back to the demon, Kid Crusader drew a long, crucifix-handled knife from beneath his tunic. Its glistening blade reflected his grin at the sight of the helpless demon. "You came along just in time to help me purify this poor creature."
The pavement rattled with Tek's landing. Her armored form dropped right behind Kid Crusader, startling the young knight into dropping his knife. He turned, and then spun into the air at Tek's enormous backhand. The blow slammed him into the dumpster and bounced him to the ground. He groaned and fell limp.
Both Bushido and the demon stared in amazement of the armored girl's surprise attack. "Sorry," she said tinnily to them both. "I guess I should have been more specific. 'That's' Eddie," she said, and pointed to the demon.
When Bushido lifted his foot, a string of guttural sounds emerged from the demon's glowing mouth. He thought it was speaking in tongues, until it grasped its neck and began to cough. "Dude, what the heck?" the demon choked. It—He climbed onto his bare, clawed feet and brushed the dirt from the bat-like wings under his arms. All the while, he stared scathingly at Bushido with his glowing eyes.
Bushido watched the demon uneasily. His sword remained unsheathed at his side. "This is the hero we came to recruit?" he asked Tek in confusion.
"Excuse me, Samurai Jackass. The name's Kid Devil. And if you guys are recruiters, I'd hate to see whatever nutso franchise you're working for," said the demon. He coughed, hacked, and spat up a phlegmmy wad of brimstone that sizzled on the ground. His glare quickly returned to the mismatched pair in white. "I suppose your secret handshake is punching each other in the throat. Man…"
A cry arose in the alley that made all three teens turn. "Heathens! Sinners!" bellowed Kid Crusader, who was back on his feet. He braced his spear beneath his arm and lowered himself to charge its deadly tip into Kid Devil's chest. "Let those who side against the word of our Lord be punished. Salvation is at hand!"
Kid Devil crouched with a grimace. He flexed his claws and readied himself for another tussle. But then Tek's broad, armored back slid between him and Kid Crusader. The mecha-clad girl stood idle as Kid Crusader's spear glanced off her chest without even scraping its white enamel. His follow-through made him run square into her. He may as well have chinned wall.
As Kid Crusader slumped off of Tek and into unconsciousness, her armor split open. The components disassembled in a ratcheting flurry and slid into a glowing portal in her back, which closed with a flash. Tek dropped to the ground and offered Kid Devil a lopsided smile. "Like I said, I'm really sorry about the mix-up. My name's Tek, and this is Bushido," she said.
Kid Devil forced his slacken jaw shut and shook her hand. "Uh, sure. No harm done, I guess. Sorry I got so pissed off. I was just on my way to Sunday service when Lord Jangle-Shirt the Pious here jumped me."
A blatant frown hung in Bushido's face as he sized up the demonic teen. Still, he sheathed his blade and offered Kid Devil a shallow bow. "Please forgive my misassumption, demon. I humbly apologize for attacking you."
Quirking his brow, Kid Devil drawled, "Yeah. And 'Eddie' will work fine now that I'm not on the clock. Sooo…you guys obviously know me, or you've heard of me. That's new. What brings you here? Animé convention in town?"
"We need your help," Tek said. "Bushido and I are looking for heroes like you. Like us. There's an emergency in Jump City, and we can't handle it alone."
He scoffed. "California? Yeah, um, 'no.' I used to live in L.A. Did the whole 'Cali' thing. That's why I'm here now, and not there. But hey, you're in luck. Jump's where the Titans live. I bet they'd love to help out a kung fu jerk and some kind of mini-Gundam. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get this asshole to jail, and then go explain to a pissed-off priest why I missed service. And believe me, he's already grouchy with me about the whole…y'know." He waved his hand vaguely over his body. Then he gathered the scruff of Kid Crusader's chainmail to drag his would-be savior to the nearest precinct.
Tek stepped to block him from the mouth of the alley. She pulled a yellow device from her belt and showed its embossed cover to him. "That's just it. We 'are' the Titans," she said.
Kid Devil stopped. He stared at the communicator's engraved 'T' and scratched his head. "Okay. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go with 'Huh?' on this one. If you're the Teen Titans, you're about two thousand miles' worth of confused right now."
"Jump City is in serious trouble, and so are the Titans." Tek said. She traded glances with Bushido, and then said, "That's why they sent me, I mean us, to recruit new members. For help."
"And your first stop is to pick me? Not that I'm not flattered, but are you stupid? I'm pretty new to this. I'm a nobody," Kid Devil said.
Tek opened her communicator. She thumbed a button on its side, and said, "You're not a nobody, Eddie. And you're not the first."
A trumpeting blast split the air in a very literal sense. From a billowing fissure grew a portal that chased Kid Devil back with surprise. A sulfurous gasp escaped his lips at four distinct figures emerging from the hole in the air.
First came a young woman with black and yellow stripes poured over her shapely frame. Her hair bounced in twin tufts pulled high on her head. Curved blasters clacked from a holster on the curve of her hip. Dark skin broke for a sparkling white smile. Dark eyes flashed at the demonic teen as she scoffed, and said, "Y'all finally found the fool?"
She was followed by another girl who was younger and shorter than she. At first he thought the next girl looked impossibly pale, an impression exacerbated by her black hair flared with red dye. But as Kid Devil watched her move, he realized that her skin wasn't white, but instead a powdery metallic color, almost reflectively so. She had squeezed herself into a black corset, a frayed red skirt, and fishnet stockings that would one day look flattering. Long leather gloves covered her to her elbows. "About bloody time," she grumbled in a thick Cockney accent. "Let's just leave us to scour the whole country, why don't you. Not like we have anything better to do."
Next emerged a boy younger even than Kid Devil. Blond hair curled around his scalp, framing a perpetual smile and haunting green eyes whose whites weren't white at all, but inky black. He wore jeans and a cheerful purple vest, and gave Kid Devil a wave. In his long years of hero worship and brief but heroic career, Kid Devil had never seen a less likely hero than this boy. If not for the blackness of his eyes and the thin scar across his neck, the boy wouldn't ever warrant a second glance.
Finally came the source of the reality-rending note: a tall, strong teen dressed in a blue tunic and a bluer cloak. He towered over the rest of them. He twirled a horn on his finger as he stepped out of the portal, which pinched shut behind him. An earnest smile shone from his rich complexion. Saluting with his horn, he asked, "That him? The red guy?"
Tek shrugged at Kid Devil, who gaped at the group in awe. "Is there maybe a place we could go to talk? Maybe grab a bite to eat? I don't know about you, but I'm famished."
The strangest table of patrons ever assembled at a local coffee house at Kid Devil's recommendation. Its owners knew and were friendly with the demonic teen after he had foiled a simple smash-and-grab there a few months back. They tolerated his noticeable "differences," well enough, but they and the other patrons couldn't help but stare at the six colorful teenagers squeezed into a single booth that was abuzz with introduction.
"So this skinny little white girl shows up to my club in Lincoln Park right as I'm taking a break between sets," the horn blower, Herald, recounted with a laugh. "She's dressed in that fetish bodysuit, and she's got an honest-to-God Karate Kid in tow. Almost blows my secret identity right then and there. I almost blasted her into dimensional limbo!"
Laughter rang around the table, loudest from Argent, the silvery girl in gothic rags. "At least they had you by the time they came for me. When I heard the report of a UFO crash landing in the Thames, I thought someone had gone stark raving. Imagine my surprise when an alien robot comes walking up onto the bank with two drowned rats!"
Bumblebee's laughter bobbed her hair tufts. "Y'all wanna talk about funny? Tek wore that iron lung of hers almost the whole time they were in Atlanta. Only time I saw her take it off, I thought she was gonna sweat herself into a mummy. The damn thing's air conditioned!"
They laughed again, Kid Devil, uneasily so. He looked around the table uncertainly. Glancing back, he saw Tek waiting at the counter for their orders. She was well out of earshot, especially with the curious murmurs of the coffee house's other patrons. He leaned in and asked, "So is this for real? That girl's really a Titan, and she's recruiting you all?"
Bushido nodded. He sat as far away from Kid Devil as the booth would allow. His sword was propped next to him against the table. "Correct. In light of the emergency gripping Jump City, the Titans have seen fit to expand their numbers through additional honorary memberships. I was the first, after Tek, of course."
"Hasn't been much on the news, what with all the ruckus between the Justice League and the UltiMen," noted Herald, "but from the looks of it, some new group of super villains has moved in, and the regular Titans are AWOL."
Kid Devil shifted uncomfortably. He had never fought against true super power apart from the minor holy items Kid Crusader employed against him. "And you guys are all on board with this? Just up and leaving to help some girl you don't know?" He glanced over at Tek again, who noticed his attention, and waved cheerily.
"Figure I'd come along and see the sights," Argent said. She sat next to Kid Devil, and glanced his way only when she thought he wouldn't notice.
Herald joined Kid Devil in examining Tek. Her large order had been filled. Now she fumbled with seven cups, trying to arrange them in her arms. The battle wasn't going well for her. "She needs a lot of help," Herald noted.
"S'why she's been bummin' rides with you for the last two weeks, picking up anybody who'll buy into her 'big emergency' speech," Bumblebee said to him.
Her airy tone lifted Bushido's eyebrow. "You doubt the danger of the villains in Jump City?" he asked testily.
Bumblebee leaned back and laced her hands behind her tufts. "Hey, don't get your sword in a twist, Bushy-Do. This gig ain't permanent. I'm just hopping along to pitch in. Besides, this could be my ticket to the big time. Once I'm a Titan, the League's bound to notice me. That's the majors, baby."
Bushido smiled thinly and stood up. "Well, we shall endeavor to expedite your journey to bigger and better things. Excuse me," he said.
Tek wavered with six cups balanced in her arms. The seventh slid from her fingertips and plummeted. Before she could finish her yelp, Bushido's deft hand swept the cup out of the air and to his lips. He took a sip, and said, "Would you care for some help?"
"Thanks," she said, abashed. The rest of her waxed paper cups settled back onto the counter. As they divided up the load, Tek looked past Bushido to watch her table of laughing recruits. A small smile of her own wormed into her features. "They're a good bunch," she said to no one in particular.
Bushido appraised the tableful over the rim of his cup, and said, "They certainly are an interesting group. But I imagine they will perform admirably enough against this 'Red X' and his hooligans. When do you plan on leaving for the city? Later today?"
The question erased Tek's smile. "No way," she said, and resumed her fumbling with the cups. "We don't have nearly enough yet. Lemmie take a look at the map, and we'll see where I ping next. We should get back to recruiting as soon as we can."
When she bent to lift the cups clutched to her chest, Bushido rested his hand on their lids, keeping her there. "Tek, we are running out of time," he told her. "We have been away too long as it is. There is no telling what havoc your villains have wrought in our absence. It is time to return."
"We're not ready. We need more…" Tek stammered.
With a gesture to the table, Bushido said, "Our numbers are already equal to those of the Titans at their fullest. We were ready before we stopped for the demon today. We are more than ready now. Why do you delay?"
She squirmed, pinned by his piercing gaze. "Because…because I've faced off against this gang, and I know what we're up against. I'll say when we're ready, and I saw we're not."
His eyebrow rose. "We? Or just you?"
Tek struggled to argue. She was saved when a nine-note tune played from her belt. Her hopes soared as she tore her communicator open, only to be dashed when she saw an automated alert instead of the call she had been waiting two weeks for. "It's an APB on the local police band. Cyborg must have designed these things to listen to local police scanners. It's a…"
Their argument paused, but not forgotten, Bushido leaned around to see. "A what?" he asked.
She couldn't believe it. "It's a special crimes alert. There's a daylight bank heist in progress. The perp's been identified as…Doctor Light. Doctor Light!" Shades of her smile returned.
"Doctor Light?" Bushido echoed.
Tek snapped her communicator shut and squealed, "This is perfect! Just what we needed." At Bushido's confused look, she explained, "Doctor Light is like a living litmus test for Titans. He's one of the first ones the Titans faced, and one of the first ones I faced too. He's just the thing to test ourselves against!"
His lips twisted. "But 'we' aren't ready, you may recall."
"I'll make you a deal, Mister Snarky Sword. If we can take down ol' Bulb Head without too much trouble, I'll think about us going back to Jump City."
"You 'will' go back," he amended.
"If we're ready," she countered.
It was the best deal he would get, and he knew it. He stuck out his hand, and they shook on it.
Forgetting the coffee, Tek marched toward their table and belted out, "Titans!" Everyone in the coffee house looked around in confusion, most of all her band of recruits. "There's trouble downtown, just the kind of trouble we handle. I think this'll be a good team-builder," she said.
When she rattled off the intersection listed with the APB, Kid Devil nodded. "Sure. That's Wolfram and Soto. I have a savings account with them. Got a free sweatshirt out of the deal," the bare-chested demon said.
"Then lead the way. I'll give you details on the perp on the way there." She hesitated a moment, frozen by their quizzical faces. Then her chest exploded with a cry of, "Titans, go!"
The booth squeaked as the five young heroes scooted out and ran from the shop, piling through the jangling door. Bushido tossed a wad of bills onto the table before bolting after them. Tek watched them flash past the front window. It felt exhilarating, like she was watching a new chapter in hero history being written. The New Teen Titans…
Then, as they disappeared from sight, Tek remembered that she was supposed to be leading them. She rushed to the door, bounced off it, and then pulled it open, rubbing her nose. She raced after her team with a head full of excited strategy to use against their very first villain. "Titans, wait!" she called.
The interior of a highly-polished bank lobby glistened with the reflection of dozens of hard-light cages that contained the frightened patrons of Wolfram and Soto, the city's oldest and largest bank. Wrought-iron bars, a throwback to the Depression Era kept for sentimental reasons, had been torn from the teller windows by enormous hands composed of solidified photons. Tellers behind their now-exposed counter worked feverishly to fill sacks made of still more light with as much cash as they could.
A lone man conducted the luminous robbery with lazy gestures. His sneer seemed to be a permanent fixture of his face. Black and silver armor framed his wiry body. It whirred faintly of technology, and was adorned with depictions of light bulbs. His bushy brows knit into one as one teller, a frightened young man, spilled wads of bills from his shimmering bag.
Deadly light pulsed in the armored man's glove, which he thrust menacingly at the teller. "Careful with that cash, or your future won't look so bright," he snarled. The teller yelped and heaped more money into the sack.
In moments, Doctor Light's sacks were filled to bursting. He smiled as he commanded the bulging bubbles of light to him, and merged them together into one grand retirement fund that floated above him. To the huddled prisoners in his cages, and the one elderly guard he kept pinned to the wall, he tipped his helmet, and said, "Thank you all for your contributions. You're all truly shining examples of generosity. But I really must be going, so…"
As he crossed the glimmering tile, the bank's glass double doors burst inward. He stumbled back, startled by seven gawky figures all squeezing through as each attempted to be first into the lobby. One, the thin brunette in a blue bodysuit, popped through as thought the pressure had shot her from her comrades. She stumbled, and then caught herself against a marble pillar. Her tiny chest puffed at the baffled bank robber.
"It's time for lights out, loser!" Tek announced with a vicious stab of her finger.
The colorful door-jam behind her exploded into six separate heroes that sprawled onto the floor. Bumblebee landed furthest, knocking into Tek's legs and making her collapse onto older girl. "What was that?" Bumblebee asked of the unarmored girl lying on top of her.
"It's, uh, banter," Tek said. "Don't you banter with your villains?"
"Yeah, but I guess I'm just better at it," Bumblebee said.
Deadly radiance surrounded Doctor Light. He culled his weapons from the cages holding his prisoners. As the bars around them dissipated, they screamed and ran to the far edges of the room. For every cage he dismantled, Light grew stronger, rising into the air upon a swirling, silent maelstrom of his namesake. "I don't know who you are, but you're obviously not very bright," he announced.
The tangle of teenagers sorted itself out and rose from the floor. Glances were exchanged and grumbles were curbed as they set their sights on the man glowing in the air above them. Once more thrust to center stage, Tek stepped forward. Her hair stirred at the edge of Light's maelstrom, which bathed her skin in warning warmth. Now faced with a real threat, this dry run didn't seem as good an idea to her as it had in theory. Any confidence she mustered was purely for show. "You're done now, Doc. You better surrender, or the Teen Titans are gonna, um, beat you up!"
Doctor Light's confusion flourished. He glanced from the red-faced demon to the disdainful swordsman to the curly-haired blond in purple. "Are they on their way?" he asked.
"We're the Titans!" Argent shot testily.
"So give up now, or…well, just give up now," added Kid Devil.
Blue light joined the golden storm swirling in the lobby as Tek's back opened and swallowed her in a swarm of white components. Metal meshed into hulking, powerful armor around her body. She clanged her enormous fist into her palm in a menacing gesture, feeling anything but menacing. "So," she added, her voice resonating from the grille beneath her visor, "are you coming quietly…?"
"…or in pieces?" asked Herald.
Light's eyes narrowed on the robotic armor below. Recognition deepened his sneer. "You, I remember," he said. "You may have defeated me last time, but I assure you, I'm far more powerful than you or any number of brats could ever hope to overcome."
His hands flared.
"Titans, go!" Tek bellowed.
…and was knocked clean aside as Kid Devil bounced past her with a roar. His white hair ribboned behind him in a spectacular leap that carried him up at Light's feet. Were he to reach Light, his claws would have cut open Light's armor like so much tin foil. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen Bumblebee.
Bumblebee had shrunk to miniscule proportions, almost to that of her namesake. Gossamer wings sprouted from her back, carrying her in a buzz. She drew her bee blasters, the curved weapons on her belt, and let loose with twin stings guaranteed to knock Light's face and body into different voting districts. But mutual zeal had put Kid Devil in line of her snap shots. Her yellow blasts caught the small of his back and threw him through the teller counter on the far side of the lobby. He disappeared in a blast of heavy oak and tile.
The vortex from Argent's aerial charge blew Bumblebee aside. Argent powered through the air at Light with sparkling silver eyes. That same silver energy pooled in her open hand. When she gripped it, the energy sprang into an impossibly long staff. Her weapon swung as if weightless, but it was still substantial. Jericho discovered that when Argent's backswing cracked his head and flung him into unconsciousness, and then into the wall.
A portal appeared by Light with a trumpeting shout. Herald leapt from the portal, his foot sailing ahead of him in a kick that would relieve Light of his teeth. Instead, Herald caught the other end of Argent's swing and suffered the same fate as Jericho. He flew under Light and smashed a heavy desk that exploded with brochures.
Before Argent could manifest a new weapon, the air around her crackled with flame. Light's aura hardened against the fiery onslaught pouring up from the floor. He even seemed to draw strength from the flames' brightness. Somewhat more vulnerable, Argent yelped and drew a bubble of silver around her. Her concentration broke, and she fell to the floor, where her shield cratered the tile.
The source of the fire stemmed and emerged from the hole in the tellers' counter. Kid Devil licked the last of the flames from his lips. Then he heaved a groan at the unshaken Doctor Light. "Seriously? Nothing?" he groused.
Two more stings flashed from Bumblebee's blasters. Their brightness fed the maelstrom around Light. Their impact curved around him, guided by luminous forces, and fell toward the tellers' counter. Kid Devil caught the stings in his chest this time and crashed back out of sight. In the meantime, the power added to the maelstrom made it swell. The swirling light swept tiny Bumblebee aside and tossed her into one of the lobby's tall, cheery windows, where she struck hard and stuck to the glass.
Doctor Light looked around. His confusion had faded into curiosity as he saw five of these self-acclaimed Titans struck down by their own attacks. He had yet to move. Tek and Bushido hadn't even had time to join the fray. He stared down at the pair and shrugged.
Biting back her groan, Tek scooped up Bushido in her massive hands. "Bushido, alley-oop!" she told him.
Bushido tried to ask, "What are you doing?" and got half a syllable out before he found himself hurtling straight at Light. Yelping, he swept his arm out on instinct. Shuriken spilled from his sleeve. Light acknowledged the attack by vaporizing the wave of metal stars with a flick of his hand. Then he drew a thick whip out of his aura and lashed into Bushido. Helpless in the air, Bushido felt the thick whip bludgeon his stomach like a pipe. He sailed back and plunged into the far wall. It was only pure fortune that sank him into drywall instead of a stud, leaving him dazed and alive.
Staccato bolts of plasma hammered Light's shields from the guns in Tek's forearms. She barreled forward, breaking tile with each step, and pummeled Light with her gunfire. Light could absorb the bolts' brightness but their heat and force chipped away at his protection. Slowly but surely, she drove him higher, consuming his strength in increments.
With a snarl, Light drew upon every lumen in the lobby. Money precipitated the room as the grand bag above him dissolved into its base element and flowed into him. Light gathered his namesake into a writhing mass that blocked Tek's gunfire. He shaped the mass into a claw, which shot down and swallowed Tek in its grasp.
Warning lights filled Tek's HUD. Klaxons rang in her helmet. She didn't need either to know the danger around her. The comforting support of the armor's interior became squeezing, then suffocating, as metal groaned all around her under intense pressure. She whimpered and gasped, unable to draw breath. Her ribs creaked noisier than the collapse of her armor. As her heart raced with panic, she felt her monster stir beneath her skin, hungry for control in the desperate moment.
Light hovered over her, cackling as the luminous claw mimicked his clenching fist. Sparks jetted from Tek's armored joints. Her visor cracked like a gunshot, fracturing into a webbed scowl. "Feeling a bit lightheaded, my dear? But you seemed so sunny a moment ago," he jeered.
Three tiny orbs flew into Light's chin. His aura stopped the orbs from striking him, leaving them to detonate inches from his face. The air swam with acrid black smoke that scraped Light's lungs. He coughed, losing his concentration. His gigantic light claw dissolved. Tek fell to the floor, broken and immobile, shattering the tile with her heavy impact.
Bushido drew another handful of smoke pellets and hurled them at Light. Even with the stirring Jericho slung over his shoulder, his aim was impeccable. "Bumblebee, grab the demon. Argent, you must lift Tek, no one else can. Herald, we need an escape," he called through the thickening air.
Argent clumsily entombed Tek's armor in silver from the confines of her own crater. Behind her, Bumblebee grew into a staggering young woman who dug Kid Devil from the counter's wreckage.
As Bushido hobbled forward, he saw Herald rise out of a pile of brochures. Blood trickled from a bruise at his temple. His eyes were glazed. "I don't know if I—"
Bushido saw the smoke overhead being chopped apart by blades of light. Bumblebee coughed her way through the smog, dragging Kid Devil by his pointed tail. Next to her came Argent, whose face contorted as she hefted an enormous silver coffin. He broke the strap of Herald's horn and shoved the proper end into his mouth. "Quickly, please," Bushido said.
With a shaky breath, Herald pointed his horn straight down. A garbled note broke the ground into a portal that spread beneath them. Those teens still conscious cried out as they fell into a swirling nexus. Their screams vanished behind the closing portal.
Blinking away smoky tears, Doctor Light watched his erstwhile foes disappear into the floor. He hacked. Then he grinned. To the few huddled victims who still hadn't run under cover of chaos, he crowed, "And let it be known that all fools who dare oppose Doctor Light will suffer the same fate! Now, help me collect my money…or suffer the same fate!"
The patrons wailed in fear and began heaping the strewn money into shimmering sacks as fast as Light could manifest them.
Another portal spat the pile of heroes onto the rooftop of an apartment complex some eight blocks away. They fell into a clothesline draped in clean sheets and became a singular tangle of limbs and linen. Gradually, they sorted their body parts from the tangle and separated into seven distinct teenagers of varying degrees of ire.
Bumblebee threw a sheet from her face, revealing a scowl beneath her frazzled hair. "Well, that was just great. Nice job, y'all."
"Us?" Herald's pained face lost its jaw to shock. "You're the one who went nuts and blasted Kid Satan!"
"Kid Devil," the beleaguered demon groaned.
A leather glove swept a pile of sheets aside to reveal angry, sparkling gothic features. "Well, you weren't much of a boon either, Little Boy Blue. You must be loony, jumping into my line of fire like that!" snapped Argent.
Jericho clapped and pointed heatedly at Argent. He scowled and rubbed the lump buried in his curls.
"Your line of…you are some piece of work, Limey," Herald grunted.
Bushido knelt next to Tek's still armor. He rapped her cracked visor, trying to peer past it. "Perhaps now is not the best time…" he said.
Shoving Argent aside, Bumblebee marched forward and thrust her face into Jericho's pointing finger. "Oh, don't y'all even start! I didn't see you do anything besides faint. Why are you even here, Goldilocks? You supposed to be our caddy, or something? Nobody's seen you do anything so far!"
Jericho stood at once. His bouncing curls only came up to Bumblebee's nose, but he thrust his chin at her with defiance enough for two Bumblebees, and lifted his arms as if to box her. His black and green eyes shimmered.
Sneering, Bumblebee rolled up the sleeves of her leather uniform. "Okay, let's go. I'm gonna put a sting so far up your ass, you'll think you're a goddamn honeycomb!"
"Hey!" barked Kid Devil, as he waved off Argent's helping hand. "Watch the blasphemy!"
A snort escaped Bushido. "A charming notion, considering its source," he muttered.
"Lay off him, Ninja Rick!" snapped Argent. "I didn't see your big knife and footie pajamas save the day!"
He rose from Tek's side in a single smooth motion. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword. Terrible danger lurked in his placid face. "Never call me 'ninja,'" he said.
The rooftop devolved into angry shouts and pointed fingers so vehement that it masked Tek's awakening. Sparks fizzled from her joints as her armor separated into components. Metal scraped the rooftop as the armor struggled into the aperture on her back. When it closed, Tek found herself staring up at the flapping end of a broken clothesline. Five voices shouted all around her. A single voice shouted louder inside her. It fed off her lingering fear, and it gobbled the angry words flying overhead. She felt her monster surge, and she staggered to her feet as if to run.
Her recruits still hadn't noticed her. Bumblebee folded her arms in the face of Argent's latest accusation. "Look, the Titan chick said to go, so I 'go'ed,' okay? I can't help it if you assholes get in my way," she said.
"Yeah, you're a right genius at 'goading,' I can tell," Argent spat.
Bushido stepped between them, separating them with swishing sleeves. "Enough of this. We have not yet heard from our leader," he said.
The rooftop quieted at once. With their argument stilled, the six teens heard the whisper of the wind, and the flap of the sheets, and above all, a rattling noise emanating from Tek's clasped hands. She looked up in surprise, yelping and fumbling. A small brown bottle fell and opened at her feet, spilling over with round white pills.
A communal gape worked its way through Tek's recruits. Bushido found his voice first, and asked, "Tek, what is…what are those?"
She fell to her knees, raking the pills back into the bottle. "It's nothing," she stammered. "These…they keep me calm, is all."
Bumblebee threw her hands in the air. "That's great. That's just frikkin' great. I bust my butt to help out the Kiddy League, and the second stringer they send me winds up being a junkie. Good call, Karen. Why not run some errands for a local bookie while you're at it?"
"Are…are those drugs?" Kid Devil asked.
"Real quick, Satanator," muttered Herald.
Bushido grasped Tek's hand, preventing her from hiding the bottle back in her belt. He forced her eyes to his, checking her pupils. "Is this why the Titans fired you? he demanded.
"What?" exploded Bumblebee.
Jericho clutched his hair and stared agog at the paling Tek.
Argent pulled her communicator from its hook on her skirt and thrust it at Tek. "Are you telling me that this whole mission of yours is a load of piss? You're not even a real Titan?" she demanded. Silver ire crackled from her eyes.
"I ran away to help you!" wailed Herald. "Do you have any idea how angry Mother Superior is gonna be when I get back? Why did I even agree to this in the first place? I must be out of my mind!"
Bumblebee again pushed up the sleeves of her uniform. "That's it. Warm up that horn of yours, Blue Boy. I'm gonna beat her until I feel better, and then you're sending me home."
Bushido stood in her way with outstretched arms. "No. You cannot leave. Regardless of her deception, the danger Tek described in Jump City is real, and your help is still required," he said.
Narrowing her eyes, Bumblebee growled, "You saying you were in on this, Bushy-Do?"
"What danger?" shouted Kid Devil. "I've been on this stupid team for forty minutes, and nobody will tell me anything!"
A flash erupted between distant downtown buildings. Rumbling followed the flash, making the building beneath them quake. As more flashes came, the teens heard sirens sing in the distance. Tek stared into the light from around her hand shielding her eyes. She watched the shadows around them jump with the spillover of the distant battle. Her monster yowled through her, rattling her to the core.
"SHUT UP!" Tek screamed.
The dumbstruck heroes rounded on Tek with fresh astonishment. She shoved them aside and marched to the edge of the building, where she peered over in search of something. Her eyes burned furiously, and her brow knit deep. None of her new comrades had ever seen the slip of a girl like this.
"Tek, what are you doing?" Bushido asked tentatively.
Tek continued to scour each side of the building. "Everyone go home," she grunted.
"Um…what?" Herald asked, blinking.
"Go home," Tek shot. "Get out of here, all of you."
Bumblebee cocked her fists on her hips. "You can't be serious. You're firing us?" she shot.
It was the wrong thing to say. Tek whirled around and stomped at Bumblebee with an upraised finger and a face teeming with rage. Both bigger and stronger, Bumblebee nevertheless faltered at Tek's timid face twisted so furiously. "You know what? Screw you all! The Titans aren't some stepping stone, or some charity case, or a sightseeing tour, or a clubhouse," she said, weighing four of her five newer recruits' gazes with shame. "In fact, none of you have any idea what they're about. This was a stupid idea. No one here is good enough to be a Titan, including me."
Bushido began, "You—"
"Shut up!" Tek screamed in his face, threatening to crack his placid expression. "I am so sick of your know-it-all crap! And I'm sick of running around pretending to be what I'm not. I'm done with this, and I'm done with these—"
She hurled her bottle of pills over the edge of the building. The bottle vanished into the alley below, landing with a plunk of plastic on concrete.
"—and I'm done with you!" she spat at her recruits. "I've had enough. I'm going to end this once and for all. Thanks for nothing, all of you!"
Panting, red-faced, Tek stormed from the group to the one edge of the building she hadn't checked. She found what she'd been looking for there, a fire escape clinging to the building side. Without a single look back, she hopped down and out of sight, clamoring down metal stairs.
One by one, her recruits pulled out their communicators. They tore their eyes from the spot she had disappeared and looked down. Each communicator glinted in the distant flash of Doctor Light's attack. The 'T' emblazoned on each device reflected their downcast expressions.
"I know she's kind of a bitch," Herald muttered, "but does anyone else get the feeling that we messed up? Just a little bit?"
"You guys do kinda suck," Kid Devil drawled.
Jericho nodded.
The silence dragged on a moment longer. Then Argent quietly asked, "So what are we gonna do about it?"
Laughter rang through the street as Doctor Light upended his third police blockade. Police cruisers flipped high over the heads of the officers formerly crouched behind them. Higher above the arcing cars, Light cackled. "Flee, pathetic specks! Flee! Light now spills over your city. Let those who cannot bear my radiance be burned away!"
This city filled Light with a feathery tingle of exhilaration. Its police weren't equipped to deal with someone of his magnitude. No self-proclaimed do-gooders could stand against him and stop him from taking what was his by right of power. The closest he had come to such an annoyance was that asinine encounter with those children claiming to be Titans. So long as he stayed off the League's radar, his new armor's power would let him do as he pleased.
And look at the people run! He watched gleefully as his roiling tendrils of light smashed buildings, crushed cars, and rained terror upon the pitiful citizenry caught on the street. He threw back his head for a hearty laugh.
A flash against his radiance opened his eyes and closed his guffaw. An empty aluminum can bounced off his aura, stopped inches from his face. Light's scowl tracked the can's trajectory back to its source. His sneer refreshed at once. "You," he said.
Tek hefted a glass bottle she had commandeered from a nearby garbage can. Panicked people buffeted her as they fled away. She dug in her heels and remained, keeping her glare aimed high while the human sea rushed around her. She was certain that Light could see her hysterical heart beating against the thin material of her bodysuit, even from so high up. But she made her voice brave anyway. "Me," she shouted back over the din of the stampede.
The last of the crowd herded away as Light lowered himself to the street. By the time his feet touched ground, it was just he and Tek, squared off a dozen paces from each other in the empty street. Noonday sunlight poured straight down, feeding Light's aura, making Tek sweat. As she grew stickier, he grew stronger.
"Child, you must be terribly dim to challenge me again. And without your friends?" he said.
The bottle spun absently in her hand. "You know, I was gonna come up with something witty to say, but you're not worth it. You suck, Light," she snapped at him. She heaved the bottle with a grunt.
Light didn't even blink when the bottle shattered against the aura over his face. Her insult filled his smirk as the bright day filled his hands. Brighter and brighter, his palms welled with hot, white power. The buildup shook his hands as he brought it before him. Tek squinted into the killing blow he cupped. Only his vile expression remained visible above the impossible radiance.
"Titans, glow," he called mockingly.
Tek clenched her fist at her sides. She lifted her chin and shut her eyes, feeling tears squirm from beneath her lids. Her monster thundered in her legs, demanding that she run, that she charge Light and tear him to pieces. Her whole body quaked with the effort of restraining its raw, throbbing hate. She refused to move. She refused to even look. "C'mon," she whispered. "Do it."
A bellowing note rang the instant before Light hurled his killing stroke. The stream of light burned into a purple portal that blossomed between the two foes. Both Tek and Light staggered back in surprise as the portal swallowed his attack.
Light began to bellow a question. He never finished, because a hammer composed of pure silver energy flew past Tek and struck his aura. The blow unseated him from the ground and threw him into the air, where yellow bolts and a stream of fire blasted him high and far.
When Tek turned, she felt her eyes well with relief. Argent stood in front of another portal, freeing her hands from her dissipating hammer. Herald leaned against the portal's shimmering edge, his blue tunic ruffled in its swirling edge, his face smug. As Argent emerged, the portal closed, revealing four more faces waiting behind it.
"Need a hand, love?" quipped Argent.
"What are you guys doing here?" Tek cried delightedly. Remembering herself, she wiped her eyes and cleared her throat, and coolly added, "Um, didn't I fire you? Kinda meanly?"
"You did. From your crappy team," Bumblebee said, and cocked her hips.
"But we decided we still might wanna be our own team," added Kid Devil.
With a playful spin of his horn, Herald noted, "Thing is, we're not very good at it."
Argent crossed her arms. "We figured we could use someone who could give us a few pointers on the subject."
Jericho grinned.
Stepping around the pack, Bushido clasped his hands and bowed. His eyes twinkled through the dark hair spilling into his face. "Would you happen to know of anyone available?" he asked impishly.
Tek had to wipe her eyes again. A light feeling flooded her chest, silencing even the bitter voice of her monster. She returned Bushido's bow and doubled his smile on her face. "I'm glad you guys came back," she said.
Snorting, Bumblebee slapped her bare back, knocking her halfway over. "Like we'd let you get away with saying all that?"
A howl preceded a flash down the block. Doctor Light had found his footing again, and now brought his namesake to bear against the assembled teens. Luminous wind swept the street with blinding heat. Windows broke in waves. Car alarms squalled as vehicles around them buckled and crashed. The very pavement grew stick and melted beneath their feet.
Argent swept a silver screen in front of them to buffer the light wave. In the momentary shelter, Tek saw six pairs of eyes turn to her, each set edged with expectation. Fear lumped in her throat, shoved there by her monster, who demanded control with a furious yowl that rattled her brain. She swallowed both lump and monster, and ignored the churning in her stomach.
"Okay," she said to steady herself. "This is gonna be tough. Last time I faced Light, it was dark outside. I guess he's more powerful in the daytime. That makes sense. I guess I should have figured that out. Plus, he's got new armor—"
"I nailed him back there. Pretty sure I can do it again," Argent growled through gritted teeth. Sweat beaded on her brow as she clutched her silver dome, separating them all from the luminous storm that tore apart the street outside. The closer Light drew to them, the deeper her scowl became, and the louder her breath whistled from her nose.
Bumblebee snorted. "Please. This sucker needs a dose of Vitamin Bee," she said, drawing her blasters.
"Or, we could hit him with something that'll actually hurt," Kid Devil suggested. "How about hellfire?"
Herald scoffed. "Clear some room, and I'll send this guy packing into another dimension."
Tek's gaze traveled her recruits, ignoring their eager banter. She stopped on smiling Jericho, who was half-hidden behind the others. Her strategy solidified at once. "Jericho, you're our lead on this one. Think you can take him out?"
Loud disbelief worked through the rest of the group, loudest of all from Bumblebee. "What? Goldilocks? He doesn't even have a power!"
"You would be surprised how little that matters," Bushido said softly.
Tek kept her gaze focused on Jericho. She felt her innards tingle as he stared back for a long second. He nodded at her.
The light storm around them intensified. Argent sank to her knees, feeding everything she had into the translucent silver encapsulating them. Paint lines peeled from the road around them. Pavement began to bubble beneath Light's approach. "Spin it on, please," she hissed.
The chatter in the bubble quieted at Tek's gesture. She glanced around at their uncertain faces and bit her lip. "Guys, you need to trust me. I know I've messed up, and I sorta lied to you about some stuff. And I'm not exactly the ideal—"
"Skip it," Herald said.
With a half-second of hesitation, Bumblebee said, "Yeah. If you think Goldilocks is the one for this job, then let's do it. We've got your backs."
"What she said," Kid Devil said.
Bushido locked eyes with Tek. He nodded once. "We're with you."
Gasps wheezed in and out Argent's mouth. Light was only a few feet away now. His sneer pierced their bubble. He raised his hands, which flared brilliantly. "Will you bloody just do it already?" snapped Argent.
Tek nodded. She pulled herself upright, staring down the mad doctor through Argent's waning dome. Sparks spilled around her as she summoned her damaged armor to her skin. "Remember, we do this together. Go!" she shouted.
Argent's dome swirled and expanded. The silver energy dissipated into a wave that pushed Light back through the melting street. Twin furrows trailed behind his feet as he slid to a halt, lowering his arms to reveal his scowl. When he looked again, he did not find the hapless prey he had been stalking just a second ago.
Tiny Bumblebee darted through the air, putting herself between Light and Argent, who had collapsed against Tek in exhaustion. Bumblebee's blasters spat golden stings that fizzled against Light's aura. Whatever force her stings carried could not over come the luminescence flowing around Light. But she flew anyway, buzzing around him, blasting him with everything she had. "Let's light it up, Doc!" she yelled.
A glowing net sprang from Light's hand. Bumblebee screamed as the net enveloped her and swung her into the street. The impact made her grow again. Wingless and helpless, she crouched beneath the net on the smoking street and watched Light step down from the air.
Brilliance pooled in his hand. "Poor little bug," he said with a sneer.
She grinned back at him through the gaps in his net. "You're not too bright," she said.
Kid Devil rose up behind Light, his wings spread beneath his arms, his eyes and mouth ablaze. "This'll brighten things up!" he said, and grasped either side of Light's aura. The villain yowled at the flaming shout Kid Devil poured over his head. Fire consumed them both, severing the net that held Bumblebee. She yelped and scampered from the pillar of fire.
Light fortified his aura and clapped a hand over Kid Devil's mouth. The steam of fire squirted between his fingers. It stopped as Light forced his jaw shut. Kid Devil yanked on Light's arm, but the villain had too much power. A long, muffled curse trickled through Light's fingers while his other hand formed a blade out of his golden maelstrom.
His grin returned, and then fled just as quickly at the glimmer of silver he saw past Kid Devil's billowing hair. Argent was back on her feet and cupping a pile driver's worth of energy. "Here's a light bulb to clue you in, bud," she cried, and unleashed a column of silver.
Argent's smirk fell into panic as Light swung Kid Devil around, forcibly interposing the demon with her silver lance. Kid Devil's eyes flared at the silver energy careening at his head, which Argent yanked too late to try and redirect. He shut his eyes and tensed against the impending impact.
A long, pure note's blare made him look again. The tail end of Argent's energy vanished into a wavering portal that pinched itself shut right in front of Kid Devil's face. He sighed in relief, and then wrapped his tail around Light's leg.
Anger twisted Light's face. His sneer split to curse the horn blower perched atop the hood of a nearby car. A grunt came out instead when a second portal opened next to him and unleashed the rogue silver blast meant for him. Light staggered at the blow, and then flipped when Kid Devil leapt away, yanking the villain's leg with his tail.
"Thanks," Argent and Kid Devil called together. Herald tossed them both a smile.
As Light stumbled, momentarily stunned, a white shape zigzagged behind him. When it rounded to face him, the shape coalesced into Bushido, who brought his katana across Light's eyes. No blade could hope to pierce the luminous swirl surrounding Light, but the villain had to flinch at the flash the blade drew form his aura.
Light spun away, wiping the spots from his vision while Bushido dropped into a crouch and sheathed his blade. "Is it beginning to dawn on you, Light?" he called after Light.
The last of the spots faded from Light's eyes. He opened them, and saw Tek barreling at him. Pavement sprayed behind her steps as she ran into a leap that knocked her and Light into the air. Her hulking armor wrapped around Light and his aura, bending the light around him with impossible strength. Their combined weight threw Light off balance and, together, he and his five hundred pound metal leach spun into the sky.
"Didn't I already tell you? It's time for lights out!" Tek shouted, pressing her grille into his face.
The swirling aura beneath her crept around Tek. Her armor creaked as Light fought pressure with pressure. Her shout became a groan that was lost in the shrieking collapse of the alloy around her. Sparks and fluids sprayed from her joints as Light pulled away, holding her in the air with tendrils of his aura.
"Enough playing, fool!" Light snarled. "Now you pay for this indignity!"
"N-no," Tek grunted, fighting her hyperventilating urges as her armor entombed her. "Now Jericho does his thing."
Before Light could ask, a blond head of curls popped around Tek's shoulder. Jericho had been clinging out of sight on Tek's back the entire time. Now he wrapped his arms around Tek's neck. When Light glanced at him, he met the villain's eye. His smile grew sly.
Contact.
Jericho's entire body dissolved into flesh-colored smoke that swirled over Tek and poured into Light's eyes. Light reeled back with a scream. Mashing his eyes shut did nothing. The smoke poured between his lids until all of it disappeared into him. He blinked hard and clawed at his face, panting with panic. Tek fell out of his aura's grasp. She plummeted through the street while he felt at his face for the bizarre smoke.
He felt fine. Whatever the boy had done to him, it hadn't worked. He was rattled, but otherwise unharmed, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that—"
Doctor Light's aura disappeared in a flash, dissipating into the air. He wobbled, and then dove toward the street. His scream cut the air as he tucked his arms to his sides to streamline his descent. He made no attempt to catch himself with his powers, even while he watched the street rush up at boggling speed.
"What's happening? NO!" Light screamed.
Bushido sprinted with his sword swept behind him and his eyes narrowed upon the falling Light. He vaulted off the cratered heap of armor Tek had become upon landing and met Light in the air. Twisting in midair, Bushido swung his heel in a full circle that ended after Light's jaw, combining forces to launch Light sideways into the side of a parked car. Light vanished through the door with a metallic crunch and a spray of broken glass.
The street echoed with that final blow, and then fell into uneasy silence. One at a time, the recruits joined Bushido outside of the puckered sedan. They stared into the car, tensed, their powers and weapons poised. Even the air hardly stirred.
Gradually the young swordsman relaxed. He glanced to the others and shared in their shrugging. "It is just as well. I was out of jokes," he said.
"You guys call those train wrecks 'jokes?' I've heard better stuff from comedy club janitors," a shaky voice called from inside the car. The recruits brought their idioms to bear on the battered villain wriggling out of the hole he had punched in the car. He slumped onto the ground with a grunt. Five distinct flavors of danger hovered above him. A nervous grin split his goatee. "Um, guys, it's me. Jericho," Light stammered.
The sparking pile of armor in the street scraped into a blue flash. The unencumbered Tek stood up in her own crater and cried, "Don't smush him! It is Jericho." Then she swayed and clutched her head. The world around her doubled and spun. "Woo boy," she muttered.
Herald squinted at Light. The villain dragged himself upright against the car and clutched his head. His grin looked too familiar to belong to the villain. But even for a jazz musician who traversed dimensional borders, this seemed too bizarre to be real. "You're kidding me. This bozo was smacking us around not two seconds ago," he snapped.
Light brushed pieces of car from his armor. He snorted and straightened his dented helmet. "Believe me, if I could figure out how his powers worked… I think they're all in the armor. What a goofball." He glanced down at Argent, whose silver retaliation roiled in her palms. "Hey, cutie, c'mon. Give the light show a rest. He's knocked out right now. I'm in the driver's seat."
Glancing over to Kid Devil, Argent muttered, "Can we blast him anyway?" The demonic boy snickered, and both of them lowered their guard.
The fleshy smoke erupted from Light's eyes. He twitched and fell as the smoke congealed an instant later into the slight boy it had been originally. Jericho regained his shape just as Tek staggered up to join the rest of her team. She nearly fell, but Bushido's deft hand kept her upright.
"Would you care for some help?" he asked her.
Tek's smile threatened to split her face. "Thank you," she said. She looked to the rest of them, and said it again. "Thank you, all of you. You were great. And Jericho, you were amazing!"
"Who knew you had it in you?" Bumblebee said, and slapped Jericho hard on the back, nearly knocking him over. "Nice job, Goldilocks."
Jericho grinned, and slapped her back.
Troubled faces appeared in the storefronts and building windows at the battlefield's edge. The sudden stillness drew the city's citizenry to the street, where they stared in wonder like hesitant deer. They stared in wonder at the horrible threat lying fetal at the teenagers' feet. Tek stared back with twice their wonder and listened to the crowd's murmur burgeoning into excited shouts.
"Is that the Justice League?"
"I don't see a Javelin."
"No, they're too young."
"They don't look so young."
"Who are they?"
"Kid heroes…"
"Are those Titans?"
"The Titans are here?"
Tek asked herself that very question as the crowd began to cheer and clap. Thunderous applause struck her dumb. She reeled back, only to be caught by the rest of her team.
"Wow," Kid Devil said, waving tentatively at the cheering crowd. "People who don't yell and scream for bad reasons. I could get used to this."
"You'd better," Herald said, raising his horn in triumph as if to conduct the cheers around them. "Once we're honest-to-goodness Titans, we'll be hearing plenty of it."
Tek blinked and looked around. "You…you mean, you'll really come back with me? Even after I lied?" she asked.
"Don't make a big deal out of it. Besides, it's not like we had a choice after that big show you put on for us," Bumblebee said.
"Um…what?"
"Your grand display," Bushido said. "When you returned alone to face Light. You sought to inspire us to put aside our selfishness and follow, yes?"
She frowned, and then quickly adopted a smile that was just barely skin-deep. "Oh, yeah. Totally. After all, a good leader has to lead by example. Cyborg taught me that," she said.
Kid Devil looped an arm around her shoulders. "Well, the day is saved here, oh fearless leader. So where to next?"
Herald's portal deposited them onto hard, frozen tundra. Muddy white landscape stretched to all four corners of the horizon, featureless, save for the gleaming jet parked arbitrarily next to them. The portal steamed as cold air sapped its warmth.
"Lovely parking job," Argent grumbled when she stepped out of the portal. Icy wind whipped through her fishnet stockings. She trembled fiercely, clutching her arms to her corset. "Couldn't find a spot nearer to the shop?"
Tek followed Herald out, hopping over the closing portal's rim. She gazed up at the icicle-laden lines of the Icarus with a pang. The last, frozen relic of the old Teen Titans glared back at her, filling her with a secret shame. Her stomach churned and her knees quaked. Hopefully, the others would just think she was cold.
"It's not enough for you guys to just stay out of each other's way," Tek told her assembled, shivering teammates. "You guys have to work together. Believe me, I've seen these new guys in Jump City. If we can't work as a team, they'll take us apart faster than Light did in the bank.
"Y-yeah," Herald said through chattering teeth. "But wh-why here? I know we left the jet here, b-but I'd be happy to park us in w-warmer weather."
He'd raised his horn to his lips when Tek shook her head. "Nope. This place is perfect. It's isolated and it's desolate, which means we can't hurt anybody, and nobody can find us. And maybe the cold will encourage you guys to stick together. Let's grab some winter gear and some chow from the Icarus, and then get to work."
A click of Tek's communicator opened the Icarus's forward ramp. Its gears groaned in the cold. The end of the ramp sank into the snow as the freezing teens piled onto the ramp. Bumblebee shoved her way in first, trembling so hard that her holstered blasters clacked. "'Together' I can handle. But snow? Brrr!" she muttered.
"Don't know what you guys are complaining about," the shirtless Kid Devil said with a laugh. He lingered at the ramp's bottom, his bare feet melting into the permafrost. His mirth fell into disarray as Argent wrapped herself around his arm and pressed close to him. "Uhh…"
Argent cowed him with a blushing glare. "Don't go all tight in the trousers, Red. I'm just cold," she said.
Herald followed them up the ramp with a shivering chuckle. "Careful, KD. You know how those Continental girls can be."
As Bushido trailed behind, he noticed that Tek was not following him. He looked back and found her in front of the Icarus, locked in a staring contest with its angled view port. At Jericho's quizzical glance, he motioned for the boy to go ahead. "I will be up in a minute," he said.
His crunching footsteps made Tek break her gaze from the jet. She looked around the empty tundra, and then stammered, "Oh! Sorry, I was just…"
"That was very brave of you, facing Light alone," Bushido told her. His enigmatic, ever-present calm faded. His chin dipped. He stared into the snow, his brow creased with turmoil. "I was wrong to doubt you. I am…shamed, in that I did not follow you immediately."
"You came with the others. That counts for a lot," Tek said, squirming.
Bushido shook his head. "You returned to face impossible odds alone. I envy your courage, Tek."
Shame flooded her eyes. Her tears froze halfway down her cheek, making them impossible to hide from him. "Ryuko, I didn't go back to fight him," she confessed in a sob. "I just…I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take screwing up one more time, and letting everyone down, and it was getting so loud, so loud everywhere, all the time…" She cried and clutched her head, buckling with the weight in her head.
Realization swept Bushido's face. "You returned to Light because you wanted to…" He could not even finish the thought. He merely gaped at her, horrified at what she had attempted, and how wrong he had construed her intent.
"I just…I just couldn't take it anymore," she whimpered, weaving her fingers through her hair. "You can understand that, can't you? I'm tired, Ryuko. I'm so tired of being me." She sniffed, and added, "But I'm really glad you guys came back. I really am! I want to save Jump City. I do. And I can't do it without you."
Bushido stared at her for a long moment. The wind stirred his keikogi, but could not pierce his skin. He stood like a statue, his uniform fluttering on the icy gale that cut through the whole of her. Finally, in a low voice, he said, "I will not follow one who seeks death. I refuse. So I will ask you this once: do you wish to die?"
Tek's eyes trailed back to the Icarus. Inside, on the pilot's seat, sat the security box they had taken from Ops. She wanted so badly to fall off the face of the earth, to fall apart and let the snarling monster eat her from the inside out. But she wouldn't. Not yet. That box could hold the key to Jump City's salvation. Above all else, she knew she had to return it to Cyborg. The Titans, old and new, were counting on her for one last mission.
"Not right now," she answered honestly. She reached around her belt and drew a small, cracked plastic bottle.
Bushido goggled at her while she popped its top and palmed a pair of pills. "I thought you did not need those," he said.
Tek glanced up from the bottle. Apology shimmered in her eyes. "Yeah. Sometimes a good leader has to lie. I learned that from Robin," she murmured, and swallowed the pills.
Bushido shook his head as he followed Tek toward the ramp of the Icarus. "This is not at all how I imagined being a Titan would be," he said. "Are all of your endeavors burdened with such needless angst?"
An empty laugh steamed from Tek's mouth. She ascended the closing ramp with Bushido to join Jump City's last, best hope. Above the sound of the grinding gears, she answered, "Not always. Sometimes we do stupid stuff just for the fun of it."
To Be ContinuedNext week: Raven, alone and...dead?