Can I just ask something real quick? Nothing too serious, really. It's about reviews.
I understand some stories will get more reviews than others. They're better written, they're better composed, they're in categories that are better known. But you'd at least think that every story would at least get some form of acknowledgement.
This probably sounds whiny and pretentious, and I agree. It's jealous panhandling. But hear me out.
I find it really disheartening when stories get tons of reviews per chapter and I'm not even able to scrounge up one. (No offense to you, Zahrok Korobase. You are a gentleman and a scholar.)
It's not that I wish my story would be more known. I'm fine with the exposure I have. Is it too much to ask, though, to have people comment on and criticize it?
Storywriting is a team effort, honestly, and no team effort is complete without input from both sides. Most of the time it feels like I'm doing this all myself. And that makes me sad.
I would really, really appreciate getting some feedback on Toa Titans. Proofreading, flaming, even baseless praise if it comes to it. Just to reassure me that I'm justified in posting here. And hey, if you choose to ignore this and keep reading, that's fine too, so long as you tell me.
No hard feelings, readers. I love everyone who takes the time out to look at this shit. But I ask that you take the time out to review this shit too. Just saiyan'.
/endrant
TL;DR: I WANT SOME REVIEWS GOD DAMNIT
Now, back to the story...
"Mister Slade."
"Miss Fairsworth."
Two houses, once torn apart by strife, now reunited with a common goal. A goal that was heavily tilted in House Wilson's favour, true, but it would be trite to say that neither had any drive to kill the Teen Titans.
Wintergreen did not have to wait long before Slade appeared. He made his return dramatically, appearing in a haze of smoke and accompanied by a cache of robots. However, Deathstroke seemed to be all style and no substance; when he sat down to meet with the HIVE headmistress, he barely gave her a glare at all. And Lillian reacted the exact same way.
She clasped her hands and smiled falsely. "How go things?"
"Well," Slade intoned, putting his head down.
"Your sons? Daughter?"
"Well… as well."
"Ah. That's nice to hear." Fairsworth's gaze suddenly hardened, her smile dropping. "Alright, Mr. Slade. Wintergreen told me you had a job for the Top Graduates?"
"Yes."
"What does it entail? I know the basics, but I cannot trust that oaf for certain."
Wintergreen growled. "I am not an oaf."
"I am sure. Ms. Fairsworth, I regret to tell you that he's right… but not completely. I will tell you everything if I deem your agents up to snuff."
"As will I. A lot has changed since you left HIVE, Mr. Wilson," Lillian said, getting up.
Slade frowned. "Enough for me to not follow through on my contract?"
"I would hope not. Blood really misses you."
"Does he still hope to succeed me as Principal?"
Fairsworth shook her head. "I am afraid he has. He probably believes he can get more out of you, though. The Wilsons being successful and all that."
Wilson got out and followed the woman away, Wintergreen doddering behind.
"And he will," Slade finally said. "Wintergreen! Tell Ms. Fairsworth the coordinates to the warehouse. She will want to see it."
"You sure Lillian will mind the… construction, sir?"
"A part of me hopes not. A part of me hopes she assists us in finishing it."
The Headmistress raised an eyebrow. "And this something is…"
"Nothing you need to know for now." Slade said, lifting Wintergreen up to the coordinates panel. He smiled darkly. "However, if it works, you never will."
"Chromium?" she returned sharply.
"Clever. Yes, that's what I intend."
Wintergreen scowled as Slade entered the teleporter. "Don't you mean we?"
"Shush."
BZZT.
Fairsworth beamed. "You have made something of worth again, Slade."
"Yes. So I have."
Takanuva.
That was all Jaller Mahri could think about. Suffice to say, he did not know why he did. The golden-skinned being was his master, and that was that. Someone must have been messing with his psyche.
Well…
Not entirely.
He knew he wasn't really there, that he and the other Mahri had been reduced to pawns of this monster, but some part of him was resisting that. Insisting that he continue serving. And the Fire Toa didn't know why.
Takanuva.
Why couldn't he get that name out of his head?
The "Skakdi Fusion", as Jaller had personally nicknamed him, must have noticed his distress, for he turned to the Toa and began to growl.
"SERVANT!" he barked. "WHAT IS THE ISSUE?"
"N… nothing, master."
The fusion narrowed his eyes. "NONSENSE. I SEE YOU THINKING ABOUT OTHER THINGS. THEY ARE NOT HEALTHY."
"Master…"
Takanuva.
"DISREGARD. YOU WILL NOW GET BACK TO WORK."
With what little power he could scrounge back, Jaller looked to his friends sadly. Being under the influence of the golden-skinned being, their gazes were hardened, focused only on work; however, if he squinted, he could just make out a tinge of sympathy behind them. A glimmer of hope.
Takanuva.
Jaller Mahri was finally able to squint today.
TAKUA!
VROOM!
"BACK OFF, BASTICHES!"
SSSSSSSSSSSSS
(A school crest appeared on a TV. The field was a hexagonal tessellation, black and white checkers surrounded by a golden border. In its middle, a large gold H had been superimposed- on the bottom, a white banner with the acronym H.A.E.Y.P. A square corridor with golden walls, ceiling, and floor, all done up in a honeycomb pattern, appeared behind it. A calm, smooth female voice, slightly hardened by stress- Fairsworth's- began narrating.)
The HIVE Academy for Extraordinary Young People is proud to introduce…
(In front of the crest, a platform rose up. Three teenagers standing on it blocked the whole thing entirely.)
This year's Top Graduates.
(The trio deftly jumped off the platform, two standing out of the way and leaving a third to fend for himself.)
Gizmo- the boy genius whose intellect can conquer any problem with an inventive solution.
(Gizmo was a short, bald boy looking very much like Doctor Octopus, right down to the mechanical legs, highly controllable jumpsuit, and goggles that the good doctor so frequently wore.
He reached down to a panel on the front of the leg controls, pressed a button, and grinned evilly as two metal wings shot out. Taking control of two handlebars that appeared on the panel, Gizmo flew away as lasers began shooting at him. They aimed well, but the mad scientist was faster- he was able to avoid them all, pressing another button which brought up a small missile launcher to destroy the guns completely. Gizmo finally landed on the original platform and glided away as two giant robots emerged from portals.)
Jinx- the enchanting sorceress whose powerful hexes mean bad luck for her enemies.
(Jinx was a slim girl who had a figure that revealed much less than it should have, in more ways than one. She wore a draping black dress that hung off her shoulder, blue ruffles, black and blue-striped stockings, black combat boots with blue soles, and pendant helping to accentuate her outfit. Jinx wore her lavender hair in a strange upturned hairdo that also reminded one of a fictional character, in this case Satan. Catlike purple eyes, a nose ring, and earrings contrasted greatly with her brown skin.
Jinx extended her arms out and twirled a few times, releasing a stream of hot pink energy not unlike Raven's into two walls and causing them to break apart. She flipped off the platform as they crashed into the heads of the robots Gizmo had lured as well as two more who had emerged. Jinx smirked at her handiwork and backflipped down the corridor.)
And Mammoth- the genetically enhanced giant whose unstoppable strength really speaks for itself.
(Mammoth… well… the name says it all. He was a tall, stocky fellow with a long mop of ragged brown hair and a smaller but similarly composed beard. A black wifebeater and tight stretch pants illustrated his massive muscles, studded gold wristbands and ankle bands on their ends. Completing the ensemble were more golden bands that crossed his chest and wrapped around his shoulders. If one were to make fun of him for being a person of colour, they would probably find themselves being torn in half.
Three large laser cannons popped out of the floor and began shooting at Mammoth, but he simply bended their barrels as if he was a "mindfreak" bending a spoon. Mammoth roared, tore them all from their moorings, and threw them away like a discus. The cannons skidded across the rubber floor for a bit before exploding. The massive man smiled at his handiwork before a robot came up to him and suddenly trapped his muscles in its similarly sized grasp. Gizmo quickly responded by jumping onto the robot's back, attaching a small box to the metal, and flying off and watching as it burrowed into the chassis and sparked, sending off a huge puff of smoke. He had hotwired it out of commission.)
Well organized, highly trained, and combat-equipped…
(Tired of the robot's nagging, Mammoth took hold of the robot and threw it off, causing the chassis to collapse. Gizmo landed in a crouch beside him and ran off, while Jinx ran to Mammoth, acrobatically jumped onto his behemoth hand, and was caught by the foot and boosted into a quick series of backflips that lasted the full length of the corridor.)
These new HAEYP agents are the perfect fighting force.
(Being phonetically inclined, the narrator pronounced this like "hype". It is not immediately noticeable here, so whatever.
A battalion of laser guns emerged from the corridor walls, shooting wildly at a still flipping Jinx. She smiled, concentrated, and watched as each side blew the other to bits. Landing with her back to the cameraman, the enchantress surveyed her handiwork. Gizmo and Mammoth lined up on either side of her. The HIVE Trio then posed as a team, because shit just got real.)
And for the right price, this ideal team could be yours.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
The video ended, static soon fading into the HIVE crest overlaid on a black field. Fairsworth, now sporting a severely dark dress with a golden honeycomb emblem on one sleeve, stepped forward again. She beamed.
"Well, Mister Slade?"
Slade leaned on a railing which itself was on an elevated platform a few meters away, obscured by shadows. Wisps of smoke rose to cover him more. That was the beauty of the Tanghal Industrial Complex.
The assassin smiled, although you couldn't see it. "Impressive. Truly." Then he frowned. "However, robots and obstacle courses can only prove so much."
The monitor the two had been watching was one of many in a row, installed over an overhanging platform on which the Headmistress stood. Slade gestured to her, leading his prospective commission away from it towards the clockwork machinery.
"My plans demand operatives who can function in the real world," Slade said as they walked, stepping onto a catwalk. "If your students are going to serve me…"
Slade and Fairsworth finally reached a greatly darkened area, lit only by a couple of spotlights. While the Top Graduates stood in one, the woman took another. She looked at Wilson, who remained in the void, with a pleading smile on her face.
"They'll have to pass one final exam." He gestured to- "Wintergreen. Help them destroy the Teen Titans, and then we'll talk."
The butler stepped into the spotlight. "Y-yes. Right away, sir…"
The spotlights suddenly dimmed, Ms. Fairsworth bowing before hers was extinguished. Slade's armour, reflecting the moonlight on his eye, was eerily the last thing visible, and soon it too was shut off.
"Right away."
In the library, Robin, Starfire, and Windflyer perused a few books the Titans, mainly Raven, had purchased.
"I'm bored," Windflyer groaned.
"You don't enjoy any of these?"
"They're okay… but I'd rather go out and wind-fly or something."
Starfire gasped in shock, floating into the air. "How could you say that? Reading is a joyous and glorious action!" She clasped her hands and sighed dreamily. "I would never have expected books to take you to such wondrous places."
"I know," the Toa admitted, "and I agree. Honestly, though… if you'll allow me to use tree-speak… large-time spent-read. Prefer-much part-take in some-other."
The Titans gaped at the strange tongue. Robin shrugged. "If you prefer. I'm gonna stay here and keep at it. Least until it gets a bit cooler."
"I must agree with friend Robin, Windflyer," Starfire said.
Windflyer sighed. "Then I guess I'll stay too. Just let me… I've been wondering about Spherus Magna, actually," he mused.
"Your home planet? What of it?"
"If I could get back there."
Starfire suddenly shot up. "If I may… recently I recalled the concept of space travel. It is a bit… complicated to master, but if Cyborg could build a ship properly-"
"Oh, man, that's so cool!" Robin grinned. "Batman always talked about traveling up there when I was a kid, to fight baddies in the stars- wait, am I interrupting?"
"Not at all! I find your enjoyment of the interstellar quite adorable! But yes, I suppose you are." She coughed. "Allow me to explain. Most vehicles cannot travel in space, due to the lack of air and oxygen. Their engines require combustion and that will not happen without such. However, if one were to use noncombustible propulsion, such as blasters-"
"BEAST BOY!"
The three paled.
"WHERE THE HECK IS THE REMOTE?"
"That doesn't sound good," Windflyer noted.
"Yeah. I don't expect much of it, but… I'm actually feeling kinda hungry. Sorry for cutting off your speech, Star."
"No worries, friend Robin!" Starfire said, beaming. "I shall accompany you to the centre of operations. Might you want to come to, Windflyer?"
"Yeah, sure. Let's get there before Raven busts a gasket."
"That implies Raven even has a gasket to blow," Robin laughed as he exited the library.
"Wait. I am puzzled. Do you mean to imply that humans have said gaskets somewhere on their bodies…"
"Aw, MAN! Come on!"
Chores obviously hadn't been done in a while. The kitchen sink and counter had been piled up with terrifyingly dirty dishes, and the floor around it was strewn with mounds of garbage. It was not a stretch to say the rooms weren't too much better.
"It's gotta be around here somewhere!"
An emerald bloodhound trotted up to a mound and sniffed at it, recoiling in disgust. Suddenly, he heard someone groan. Turning to the source, the bloodhound found a metallic man dancing around the utterly ruined room, picking up pieces of furniture and shaking them violently. He mentally shrugged and went back to sniffing. No skin off his nose. Nearby, a girl in a robe sat on a stool and read a book.
"I don't BELIEVE this, Beast Boy!" Cyborg growled. "How could you lose the remote?"
"What makes you so sure I lost it?" Beast Boy mockingly returned, becoming a human again and rummaging through the trash.
The man leaned into his face and raised an eyebrow. "Uh… 'cause you're you?"
"Hey! Just because I lost that video game-"
Cyborg reddened, almost steaming, and began counting off on his fingers. "And the toothpaste… and my football, and the waffle iron…"
"Things disappear," Beast Boy said. "How am I supposed to know where they go?"
Raven, who had been calmly perusing a new book by the kitchen counter, suddenly lowered it and glared at the duo. Her head throbbed in annoyance. She had put up with their arguing many, MANY times before, but now it was getting to be too much.
"Well, how am I supposed to watch TV without a remote?"
"Simple," she said icily, getting up and slamming her book shut. "You just get up and change the channel."
The squabbling males suddenly turned to her, puzzled, miffed, and slightly unnerved at the witch's comment.
"Don't even joke like that," Cyborg said softly.
"I wasn't joking."
"Good, because it wasn't funny! Now, either help us look for the remote, or go back to your nasty old book and-"
Raven flushed, grimacing angrily. "This is a pointless argument over a useless device." She began walking away. "You are wasting my energy and disrupting my concentration, what little of it I have."
"I'm telling you, I didn't lose it!" Beast Boy yelled. "You were the one watching TV last-"
"And that is the secret to traveling faster than light," Starfire said as the side door opened.
"So if you want to blame someone- look in the mirror, buddy!"
Starfire gasped, while Robin and Windflyer, who had entered the Ops Centre with her, just stared at him blankly.
"Whoa! Take it easy, Titans! Combat practice is this afternoon!"
The alien smiled and began floating towards the kitchen. "We must mend your dispute with the sharing of unhealthy junk foods. I shall fetch them!"
"That's okay," Windflyer said, pulling her down. "I can do it. You stay here and tell me how in Karzahni I'm supposed to replicate that."
"But you would not know where I have kept the remains of the Supreme Ultra Glorg Extreme-"
"I don't need food!"
"Yeah, you do! Because you never seem to stop complaining about MY lifestyle choices!"
"Quiet! Both of you! If we're not careful this team could be severely damaged…"
To the sound of further arguing, Windflyer walked over to the minifridge and bent down to open it. He overheard quite a few remarks about Cyborg and Beast Boy's uncouthness and he was pretty sure there was a jab about him somewhere in the mix as well. Robin's right, the Toa thought. We're never gonna be able to keep ourselves together.
Windflyer opened the fridge, eliciting a slight squeak on its part, and peered inside. There were a few leftovers from last night's "dinner", a jug of milk, a wheel of cheese, and-
MOULD!
At least, he was pretty sure it was mould!
A thick, thick layer of blue mould moved over everything in sight. Even the bottle of soda that he picked up. And it screeched at him. How was that even possible? Had the fridge really not been cleaned in that long?
Recoiling in disgust, Windflyer shrieked and threw a mini cyclone at it.
SPSLOOSH!
The fridge was blown up, the eerie creation saved by the shielding properties of the Toa's attack. The others were not so lucky. As soon as the cyclone dissipated, it tore apart from the force and landed on them in little pieces. The entire Ops Centre was covered in blue alien parts. Robin, the most distraught of the Titans, swept some goo out of his head and sighed.
"Maybe we should just go out for pizza," he said, shaking his head.
It was midday. The streets were crowded, this being a warm afternoon, and pedestrians filled the sidewalks and parks. However, many dark alleys were unfortunately exempt from this.
In one of said alleys, in a niche behind Kahn Street, HIVE TEAM Alpha and William Wintergreen got to work on their assignment.
Wintergreen donned an old army helmet, took a spiff, and began to pace back and forth. After a few rounds, he suddenly stopped and glared daggers at the HIVE agents.
"Atten-tion!"
Jinx winced and quickly rearranged herself into a neutral stance, giving off a salute in the process. Gizmo and Mammoth did nothing.
"I said," Wintergreen growled, "atten-TION!"
Gizmo chuckled, causing Mammoth to do so as well. "Why should we honey-eaters listen to you?"
"Yeah, you're a real riot," Mammoth roared.
"Because Slade asked you to come here, because the HIVE Headmistress asked you to come here, because I asked you to come here!" The butler glowered at them. "And if you can't do so much as follow one itty-bitty plan, then I might as well consider kicking you out!"
Gizmo and Mammoth were quick to join Jinx. Wintergreen smiled at this display of authority.
"Alright, rookies! Listen up!"
Jinx continued to salute. "Sir, yes, sir!" When Nerd Boy and Big Bones stayed at ready, she harshly edged them with her elbow. Gizmo stared at her incredulously before he realized whom he was talking to; soon, Mammoth did as well.
The newly minted general grinned evilly. "You all know why you are here."
"Not really," Mammoth mumbled.
"Well then, I'll tell you. This is a popular pizza parlour, one that many of the city's residents come to eat at."
Jinx looked outside the alley, to a large pizza-shaped building, and frowned. "Di… Dio's? What? Really?"
"Yes," Wintergreen replied. "What you will find is that the Titans like to come here often. It remains one of their favourites, for reasons I'm not bloody sure why."
"Huh."
Gizmo smiled. "You wonder why a bunch of dunder-heads ever go out for anything when half of the city is out for their skin."
"Well, they're the Teen Titans," Mammoth said. "Everyone loves them."
"I suppose. Listen up then, you lot. By Sl… my calculations, they should be coming by soon. I trust you have a plot to capture them when it happens?"
"No duh, Winterdork," Jinx scoffed. "Why do you think we graduated?"
"Lousy ungrateful little… Very well. Disregard it."
"WHAT?"
"Why?"
"Because the Titans are smart. They know someone is after them. Cinderblock and Plasmius mucked up badly enough to clue them in."
"At least give us the chance to try it out!" Mammoth growled, pulling the butler in by his shirt collar.
"You… will!" he wheezed. "Just… not now!"
Jinx raised an eyebrow. "When do you have in mind?"
"After my plan works."
"And that'll be…"
Wintergreen beamed. "When we trap them and bring Robin in to Slade for- er- safekeeping."
"'For safekeeping'," Gizmo said, laughing. "Riiight."
"Well, to be his apprentice, really. Not much of a difference."
"That's what we'd figured," Jinx said. "Look, mister, will you be so kind enough as to let us show you our plan?"
He nodded. The enchantress gestured to Mammoth, who picked Gizmo up and turned him over, shaking him to release a small scroll from his pack.
"We were going to ambush the sludge-eaters when they weren't looking," Gizmo said wearily, about to throw up. Mammoth thankfully noticed and let him go.
Wintergreen read the scroll and paled. "Ambush? Really? How did you say you graduated?"
"Listen up, pal," Jinx growled. "We went through a lot of effort to get here, so don't just up and disregard it because you think ambushing is a bad idea!"
"It isn't! Do you lot not realize that I was with Slade in Vietnam?"
The Graduates gaped a bit at this, but did not object. Wintergreen smiled inwardly.
"We were assigned to the… 65th Platoon, I think, which was asked to go into a Vietcong base and steal valuable information. Slade, who'd managed to become our leader in his time with the force, recommended we 'ambush the sludge-eaters when they weren't looking'. That… didn't go very well."
"What exactly happened?"
"Found out. Caught. Imprisoned. I only escaped because Slade helped me out." He shook his head. "Learned a valuable lesson that day, I bloody well did."
"And what does that have to do with us?" Jinx asked. She was getting pretty tired of this man and was only holding back because Slade offered connections.
"Don't attack them outright," Wintergreen finally said. "Wait a bit. See what they're up to. I recommend setting up a trap."
"I recommend destroying the dodo-heads," Gizmo countered. "You all agree?"
"Yeah!"
"Wait! Don't-"
Jinx smirked, eyes flaring. "Now if you don't mind, Mr. Wintergreen, I'll just go and beat those Titans and we can be on our- oof!"
THWACK!
The hex-using magician suddenly found herself being flung to the wall, courtesy of a well-placed kick. She groaned and looked up only to find Robin staring at her- wait, ROBIN!?
This couldn't be Robin. This was some dumb kid in a costume. Had to be.
Jinx couldn't help but laugh. The whole procedure seemed very funny to her. Then she glowered at the boy.
"Who the hell are you?"
The boy flinched in mock surprise. "I'm surprised you don't know," he said in a tinny, grating voice. "Ever heard of a guy named Robin?"
"Uh, DUH!" Jinx began glaring daggers. She really didn't like this kid. But he'd given himself up to her pretty easily, from the looks of things.
"Robin" flared his cape like his so-called mentor. "So… repent! You, strange grey-skinned girl, have just been dealt with a criminal smackdown, courtesy of the one, the only, Jaaaason-"
"Robin!"
Jason turned. "Y… yes?"
"Keep your secret identity to yourself."
He paled and began walking off. "Sure, B-man."
Everyone paled at this. Batman was right there at the end of the alleyway. Staring at them. How long had he BEEN there?
For a moment, nobody could move. Then Gizmo spoke up. "What's your problem, bat-lover?"
Batman narrowed his eyebrows.
"He ain't lyin', Bats," Mammoth growled. "Tell us why you're here!"
"Fighting crime, obviously."
"So why'd you have your lackey kick me down?"
Batman scoffed. "You were going to take the Teen Titans out. I can't allow that."
"Well of course you can't," Jinx grumbled. "But… okay, seriously, do you honestly expect me to believe this pint-size poser is Robin?" She barely held in a guffaw. "Sounds pretty fishy to me."
"He is."
"And the Robin in the T?"
"Part of the Batfamily too. You just haven't realized it yet."
Wintergreen butted in. "Very well then. So I can take your Robin to Slade and have everything be okay? Is that how you want it?"
"Don't even try," Batman hissed.
Then he said something that chilled the HIVE agents to the core.
"Stay out of this city and keep your hands off of both Robins, and I'll leave you alone. But if you so dare as touch them…"
"You'll kill us," Gizmo dismissed. "We get it."
"Make sure you remember."
Without so much as a sound, Batman and Robin then disappeared. Not before Robin gave Jinx a quick kiss on the cheek, though. She blushed a bit, unsure of the source of this contact, then steamed when she saw Mammoth and Gizmo laughing at her.
"QUIET DOWN!"
No sound now. She sighed.
"Okay. Good. We're ignoring Batman. Wintergreen actually gave me a good idea for once."
"What do you have in mind?" the tech whiz asked.
"I think we'll still ambush them…" Jinx paused to let this sink in, "but not yet. First we gotta wait until those Titan dorks settle down."
"When do you have in mind?"
The enchantress smiled at the reversal of roles and continued. "You have a good sense of time, Mammoth. Keep score for us. Gizmo, you're with me on fly duty. Winterdiot, stay here and make sure nobody spots us… oh wait, that won't do anything. Help us set up the traps."
"I don't know if this is a good idea," Wintergreen admitted.
"I took it from YOU! Be grateful!"
"At the moment, I'm not too thrilled. But all right." Suddenly, he was back in army mode. "Let's go, everyone! Move it, move it, MOVE IT!"
Maybe, just maybe, Bill Wintergreen would succeed for a change.
Lewa's POV
I'll be frank. I like Beast Boy and Cyborg. They're really great people. Beast Boy may be an obnoxious pain sometimes, but he can be funny when he wants to; and honestly, when he drops the façade, I'm struck by how much the guy reminds me of… well… me. Cyborg is a bit bombastic and tends to put a little too much detail into things, although again if you ignore this he can be very helpful. They both have great banter and it's a happy-joy getting to fight with them. Pohatu and Onua would have a field day with these two.
But when it comes to heated issues, things thatthe duo'll butt heads on for insanely stupid reasons, THEY WON'T STOP FUCKING ARGUING.
Case in point: meat or veggies. More specifically, which of the two would work better on pizza. Some bizarre-strange earthly force has conspired to make sure we never get to order anything.
The other Titans and I were at DiDio's, attempting to buy said pizza. (As an aside, I have to agree with the masses. It really does look like a pizza.) We were sitting on the rooftop patio, enjoying the sun beating down on our faces, fueling Beast Boy's argument, watching traffic go by, fueling Cyborg's argument. By Raven's count, they had been at this for a good 45 minutes, and it didn't look like it was going to stop.
At least the staff was sympathetic. "Handsome" had been standing by me and watching this argument, and I'm pretty sure I'd seen another raven-haired boy with piercing ice-blue eyes gave me a knowing look. They'd had it rough too.
"Do they ever quit?" Handsome muttured, eyes narrowed in a steely gaze.
"So far as I know… nope."
Raven frowned. "You get used to it after a while."
"Lucky for you," Handsome said. "I've only seen you like three or four times and I'm already pissed off. Should I just get you a Cheese Lovers then?"
"That would be nice- oh, wait." The witch winced faintly. "I think they're quieting down. Can we pleasejust order something?"
"As long as it's vegetarian," Beast Boy replied, squatting on his stool.
"Come ON, man! How can you deny me the all-meet experience?"
"Who cares?" I said angrily. "Just let us order for a change. For all I know they'll put both on or something."
Beast Boy gasped. "Dude, I've been most of those animals!"
Why do I even try?
Thank goodness Starfire is always there to help. "I suggest a large pizza with pickles, bananas, and mint frosting." She beamed.
Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven were all disgusted by this, and Robin didn't seem too hot about it either. I didn't mind. What was the problem, really?
"Uh, Starfire?" Robin said, leaning over to her. "Not everything on the menu is a pizza topping."
I raised a mask ridge. "Really? You don't know if it'll be good or not."
"Believe me, I know."
"Really? Oh!" Starfire blushed at this. "Excuse me."
Cyborg grinned evilly. "What about… double pepperoni!"
Please. Just. Somebody kill me.
"Double pepperoni!"
"I'm not eating meat!"
"There's no meat in pepperoni!"
Gizmo sighed to himself. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the same old monkey-biters arguing over rotten shrimp-biscuits-
BEEP. BEEP.
Suddenly, red crosshairs appeared over everyone's head. Just like on The Punisher. It was Gizmo's time to shine now.
INITIATE MISSION.
"Gizmo to Jinx," he whispered into his radio.
"Yeah, I'm here. What now?"
"Begin… begin… Begin Phase One."
Thus begins Final Exam!
This episode looks to be a pretty simple one, so it shouldn't be any more than three parts. (I'm setting myself up for some repentance later, aren't I?)
Again, sorry about the rant. It was just a concern I had about the story. I'll try not to acknowledge it later on.
Don't forget. Danny's still here.
1. I'm not sure if the Wilsons and HIVE ever interacted in the comics outside NTT issue #2 (where Slade first appears,) but it seems like they would know each other really well. Plus it gives me a chance to shoehorn some backstory in later on. Plus Ravager.
2. No need to worry! The Mahri will have some story importance later on too. Muse willing.
3. What did you think of that video adaption? I'm trying to incorporate any narrators into the narration itself, and I'm wondering if my solution works.
4. I was considering putting Slade and Wintergreen in the Gulf War or War in Afghanistan, ala Marvel, but fuck that shit they're probably pretty damn old. How else is Slade able to kick ass like that?
5. Jason Todd! What a cutie. Unfortunate to say he won't be Robin for long, as in the comics, but he DOES get a new and very unexplainable role. (its not too hard to guess i basically gave you the answer already)
One last thing- switching to bold for author's notes. Just to distinguish between them and the story.
Read and (hopefully) review!