10. Sleeping Heroes
"Achoo!" Robin sneezed and rubbed his nose. "Ugh….Starfire, I said I'm allright!"
"You are not all right!" Starfire stomped, and then resumed applying a washcloth to Robin's forehead as he lay on the length of the couch in the main room. "The trip back all but drained you of health! I do believe you have what earth people call a 'frigid'."
"'Cold'!" Robin coughed, sniffed, and moaned.
"I fear it is all my fault," Starfire whimpered, drawing a blanket over him. "Had I not been so brash as to try to remove the harmful mutation from your body with my powers, then perhaps you would have been more properly attired as the evening winds kicked in."
"I dunno," Beast Boy mused, sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter a few feet off and swinging his legs. "Raven's cloak is actually kinda fitting around Robin."
"He can keep it….," Raven said dryly, sitting off a ways and wearing a spare. She dug her nose into a book and flipped a page before adding, "Let's just hope the local Tamaranian doesn't burn more costumes from now on. I only have so many 'cloaks' to lend."
Starfire blushed and scratched the back of her head with a sweatdrop.
"And you, Raven," Beast Boy smiled. "We hardly ever see you fighting crime without that cloak of yours. Walking inside the Tower with you today sure was different. Until now, I had no idea you were so thin!"
"Under extreme circumstances, I assure you," Raven said. A pause. She glared up at Beast Boy. "What do you mean 'until now'?!"
Beast Boy gulped. "N-Nothing."
Raven stood up and leaned into him. "Explain. Now."
BB leaned back. "I—I—I—WHOAH!"
He fell back over the counter and onto the kitchen unit's floor.
"Not a good idea to ruffle a Raven's feathers too much as it is, pal," Cyborg smirked, helping the dizzy changeling up.
"DEFINITELY not a good idea," Raven swung her cloak around and sat again to her book. "Last time I do a nice deed for a naked crime fighter…," she mumbled.
"That makes the two of us," Robin moaned…coughed…and rolled over. Starfire sat by his side.
I looked at them. At Raven. At Cyborg and Beast Boy. Then stood up from where I was sitting.
"Going out, Noir?" Cyborg asked.
I nodded with a soft smile. Night was slowly falling, a few hours after Control Freak was imprisoned and Robin was safe and sound in the Tower. Indeed, he had the slight case of sniffles, and Starfire wouldn't leave his side if her life depended on her. It was an act filled with its unique sense of guilt…as well as other, truer emotions.
A wind had picked up and was cooling the seaside so much, I had to go out and experience it. So I had replaced my combat threads with the usual jeans, black t-shirt, and dark gray jacket. I was waiting for the opportune moment to be alone. So I waved at everyone, adjusted my dark shades, and headed out into the night.
"Take it easy, man," Cyborg waved.
"Hey…if you see any girls who remotely resemble goddesses in blonde form…," Beast Boy remarked, "….give them my number?"
"Which number would that be, Beast Boy?" Starfire inquired.
"…………never mind."
Raven huffed. Robin groaned.
I left.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
For once in three full days, I took my time in heading into tower. I took the land bridge leading from the Tower at a leisurely pace, my feet kicking lazily at pebbles on the road so that they tumbled off into the surrounding waters of the Bay. A fresh wind dove down in the thin gaze of dying sunlight. I lifted my face into it, closed my eyes, and breathed in life. Long strands of black hair kicked over my ears and fell after a brief spite of excitement.
Light waves of the Bay lapped up on the edges of the bridge on either side of me. A few strong lines of water broke through and sprayed my ankles through my pantlegs. Then another breeze of wind would come and bring coolness to the heated, summer air.
Sometimes I miss being alone.
A half hour later, I strolled onto the mainland and headed east towards the Bay Side Plaza. The Tower was erected on the relatively clean side of town, but I did see my fair share of run-down buildings and junkyards every other block. I took the ugly with the beautiful in this City. It was the same philosophy for just about anywhere I trekked. I always had a love for urban environments; for how people create a landscape of their own. Human beings are just as capable of sculpting mountains, deserts, and lakes as God. Only, they use a different sort of paintbrush; one that speaks of history and lives and blood put on the line over multiple decades, centuries, eons.
If I had my way, I'd spend my whole mortal life walking the world's cities. Diving into their hearts and seeing what makes them tick or groan or both. But I knew that I existed for the sake of maintaining the balance of those very cities themselves…for protecting them. That's why—no matter how much I wandered—I had to stay tethered to one location. Stay tethered to the Tower.
Not tonight. I earned this. We all did.
Lights and sounds came slowly at me from the dry side of the coast. I walked along asphalt and surf till I came to the Bay Side Plaza. The cool breeze shook with passing cars; many of them convertibles full of nightgoing youngsters. It was summer vacation, and the entire setting—with its arcades and diners and shops and movie theatre—was flocking with people my age and younger. A few scant adults here and there preserved order, as well as a police officer or two on patrol. As a whole, it was a picture perfect scene. Our City in all its levity.
I sauntered on through this crowd completely unnoticed, like the shadow that I was. Flashing neon lights glared off my shades from a local rave scene. Bodies and giggles and chatter floated past me in flocks. A few eyes met me, but not much more. I wondered to myself how long this would last. Sure, I was a Titan. But I was still the wildcard. Or so I hoped.
My hope won out. Nobody so much as stopped to remark upon my presence…or existence. I leisurely made my way over to an empty bench at the center of the Plaza and sat down, my arms crossed. From there I watched the scene…the mass of pedestrians…the innocence and the decadence all the same. Pretty faces, sour faces, and no faces at all.
It all became a hum of noise and lights that vibrated in through my shades, my dark eyes, and my brain. I saw faces and faces and eyes and blue eyes and blonde hair and short and platinum and wandering like molasses through the crowd and glancing at me through the moving bodies and breeze and running a hand through her ear and smiling the moon and disappearing into the melting away of the world….
Before I knew it, was going under.
"Titans! Stop Cinderblock!! He's not gonna stop running otherwise!!"
"Dude, where's he going?!"
"When you gotta go, you gotta go."
"This isn't funny! I have no idea where he wants to go, but I do know where his path is taking him!"
"Oh no! The elementary school! The poor Earth children!!"
"So far he's made a straight line and smashed everything in his way. I seriously doubt he's gonna just walk *around* the school up ahead! We've got to beat him back…and now!"
"Roger that, Robin! Beast Boy! Follow me!"
"On your six, Cy!"
"Raven, Starfire, distract him till we join you two for full firepower!"
"Didn't even need to ask…"
All five Titans sprung into action. They soared by levitation, green feathers, T-Car, and cycle. Having survived a prior scuffle with the huge, obstinate golem, the heroes traced his trail of destruction through crushed shopping plazas, torn down trees, and squashed gas stations. Potholes formed in the street where his gigantic feet had tread. Over in the distance was a stomping sound that increased more and more with ferocity as the teens gained on his juggernaut momentum.
Starfire and Raven circled Cinderblock in a perfect orbit, assaulting him with their combined powers. Starbolts, coupled with black telekinetic energy, merged over Cinderblock's hulking torso and exploded with intensity. The huge thug stumbled once…twice…but regained his stomping momentum.
Raven picked up a nearby lamppost, flexed it with obsidian energy, and wrapped it tightly around Cinderblock's legs. The creature shook, stirred, and finally popped the lamppost apart with a SNAP! before continuing yet again.
Beast Boy flew down in the form of a falcon before switching in midair to a Pterodactyl. The green creature shrieked at Starfire, who nodded. Then both Titans swooped down and grabbed a shoulder of Cinderblock's each. The Pterodactyl gripped with its thick talons while Starfire used her alien strength.
It was a hard, groaning struggled for both team members, but they did manage to get the golem's legs off the ground.
"N-Now…..R-Raven….," Starfire sweat.
Raven floated down and gathered scoops of earth, bricks, sidewalk, car aluminum, and roofing tile from the ruined street around her. She started layering Cinderblock's body from the heels up: soon forming a cocoon of debris around him and encasing it in black energy.
Cyborg drove by in the T-Car, leaned out the window, and fired with a heat ray. The ray melted the debris around him just as Raven added an added layer of steel from a construction site.
Then Robin road up on his cycle, leapt off, and tossed a coolant grenade at the body.
Starfire and Beast Boy flew up as the grenade made impact. The melted metal 'cocoon' was solidified in an instant. Cinderblock's statue of a body fell to the ground with a huge metal RING!!!
Beast Boy landed around the T-Car and gathering Titans. He switched to Elf form, looked at Cinderblock, looked behind him at the elementary school two blocks away, and looked back down at the villain and grinned. "Guess that's a late call for Snow Day. Heheheh."
SMASH!!!!!!
"UGHHH!!!" the Teen Titans fell back every which way. One edge of the T-Car lifted up and fell back down again. Jolted, Cyborg shook out of it and took a close look. He gasped as Cinderblock stood up out of the newly shattered cocoon and slowly resumed his previous path.
Robin stood up, rubbing his head and gritting his teeth. "Beast Boy!" he cried out. "Fly off to the school and tell them to evacuate!"
"What?! Don't you need me to stop him?!"
"We're not going to stop him…," Robin said grimly.
Beast Boy's face sink. He swiftly saluted and flew off into a bat towards the school ahead of the fray.
"Titans! Delay him the best you can!" Robin shouted to the rest and ran after Cinderblock.
Cyborg growled and put the T-Car into gear. "Rrrrrrrgh….I didn't want to do this to you baby, but this punk leaves me no choice. YAAAAAH!!" he yelled for good measure as he swung the car around and drove it directly at Cinderblock's front at full force. He pressed a button and erected a battering shield at the last second.
But Cinderblock was ready. It merely knelt and grabbed the hood of the T-Car, lifting the front-wheel drive tires effortlessly and tossing the rest of the car behind its hulking backside.
"Whoaaaaaaaaah!!!" Cyborg hollered.
Through the windshield, he saw the earth fly up towards him.
He winced.
YANK!!!
Before he could strike pavement, the car stopped in mid air. He looked in the rear view mirror and saw a straining Starfire using her alien strength in the nick of time to hold the haphazard car up by its rear bumper.
"Thanks, Star!" Cyborg waved out the window. "Almost lost her!"
"Do not mention it," Starfire weakly smiled.
SMACK!!!
Cinderblock reached behind and struck her across the street.
"!!!" Cyborg braced himself as the T-Car fell the last few feet and slammed hard onto its backside, causing the airbag to deploy explosively in the android's face.
"Ughhh," he saw swirls.
"Starfire!!" Robin called after the fallen alien across the street.
"Love you too, Robin," Cyborg wheezed and began to crawl out of the car.
Robin growled and ran angrily at Cinderblock's backside. The creature was just one block away from the school. The sounds of kids playing recess barely broke the chaotic ambiance and chilled the Boy Wonder to the bone. He caught sight of a telephone pole and got a desperate plan. He whipped out a grappling hook and shot it around Cinderblock's right leg. He then wrapped his end of the cord firmly around the telephone pole. The structure bent and shook with Cinderblock's taunt leg-yanking. But no sooner was the villain stalled that Robin whipped out two bolos with explosions strapped to the ends and flung them at Cinderblock's shoulders. They wrapped fast around his arms, beeped two times, and exploded in fiery glory.
A wave of smoke fell before Robin. The Titan shielded himself for a moment and then squinted ahead through his eyemask to see the damage done. Suddenly, the grappling cord yanked viciously from inside the fiery cloud, and the telephone pole snapped out of its concrete foundation and slammed Robin across the back. The leader fell down hard.
Raven, up above, gasped and fought anger as she floated over above Cinderblock—who was a mere building length away—and aimed at a nearby billboard with her powers. She encased the huge, multi-ton sign with black energy. Struggling, her eyes turned a bright white and she let forth: "Azzarath…Metrion…ZINTHOS!!" Her hands lifted and the sign's based snapped in two. The rest of the structure leaned over and slammed hard down over Cinderblock's body, totally covering him in wreckage.
Raven panted…panted…panted…and hovered lower to inspect--
WHAM!!!
Cinderblock's fist emerged from the rubble, knocking Raven away and into an awning of a local store. The monstrosity pulled itself out of the rubble and once again found its footing. In its grasp was a strange electronic device. All the time, it had been transporting that somewhere. And that somewhere now lay beyond the elementary school. Thoughtlessly, the monster trudged towards the schoolyards on a warpath.
Cyborg ran by Raven's side, and while helping her up he realized that the place had not been cleared in enough time. "Those kids are in danger!! Beast Boy couldn't possibly have spread word fast enough!!"
Robin and Starfire stumbled over.
"Oh no!" Starfire gasped, her hands around her mouth.
"Titans! Go!"
Robin ran ahead of the rest and soon they all converged on the beast; blasting, pushing, tossing birdarangs, throwing starbolts, swinging titanium, chanting dark energy. Cinderblock deflected them all like flies and took a step through the fence guarding the school's perimeter.
SMASH!!
Elementary kids and supervisors shrieked and ran desperately from the intrusion. There was too much chaos. Sooner than later, Cinderblock's leg was learing over a cowering group of kindergarteners. The struggling Teen Titans watched in horror.
And then, something breezed by Robin. He gasped as he was spun in mid-step by some unknown force. His spin stopped as he glanced at Cinderblock….who had stopped in mid step. The monster seemed puzzled. It looked at its right foot and blinked, surprised, as it suddenly fell clean off.
"Um…..what in the world?" Raven remarked.
"LOOK!" Starfire pointed.
Robin eyed a trail of smoke leading right past him, besides Cinderblock's sliced leg, across the street, and up a building side. No sooner had he seen it, the smoke cleared in that direction and there stood atop a building edge—nimbly—a thin, tall figure in loose combat attire and a flickering black sword in his grasp.
Robin squinted.
Sunlight glinted off the stranger's black shades.
Robin gasped.
SWOOOSH!!!
The figure blurred back.
"Let's get out of here!!" Cyborg hurried the kindergarteners along. "Go! Go!!"
The remaining titans dove out of the way as the black blur rushed to Cinderblock and blinked around him in various poses of swordplay. SLASH!! POW!! SCHIIING!! SLIIINK!!! SMACK!!!
An arm fell off of Cinderblock. Then a shoulder. A hip. A piece of the cranium.
Finally, the streaking figured bounced off his torso, flipped to a pose in front of him, charged up black energy in his sword, and jabbed it diagonally upward so that it skewered Cinderblock's body and split his chest open.
The creature twitched and squirmed from the laceration. Its hulking weight would have fell over onto the schoolyard hadn't the figure been holding it up by his blade with straining arms. Using great effort—Robin surmised—the stranger freed one hand and silently pointed at Starfire.
Starfire looked wide eyed….then understood and nodded. She charged up a handful of starbolt.
Without so much as a sound, the stranger struggled and then pointed at Cyborg.
Cyborg ran up, switched his arm into a laser rifle, and aimed. "All right, then!!"
Robin shrugged and whipped out three explosive birdarangs, grinning.
Raven hovered above and created a half-shield of black to shield the impending blast.
Just when the stranger could hold out no longer, he yanked out his blade—flexed his leg muscles in slow motion—and then shot his body up with a spiraling slice that lopped off Cinderblock's hand that held the device. On the way down the figure kicked the device over and at Robin's feet before landing, sheathing his blade, and rolling a rough distance of safety away.
Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg unleashed their fury at once—aiming for the huge crease in Cinderblock's chest.
FLASH!!!!!
BOOM!!!!!
Dust and debris exploded like a dome from Cinderblock's body. Raven extended her shield, gritting her teeth, and caught the destruction before it could sail its way over towards the schoolbuildings themselves.
When the chaos cleared, Cinderblock's body lay in two. The innards were sparkling computer chips…a betraying piece of handiwork.
"Hey…that wasn't Cinderblock!" Cyborg remarked, retracting his rifle back into a hand.
"Was it not as strong as Cinderblock?" Starfire questioned.
"Only one person I know can make a machine so much like Cinderblock that it could just as well be the real McCoy," Robin said, picking up the fallen device. "Slade. And looks like he was using his new toy to run an errand for him."
Cyborg looked at the device and did a double-take. "That's a smart device for a nuclear warhead!!!"
"Fancy that," Raven said, settling down. "Aren't we forgetting something?"
"!!!!" Starfire gasped and pointed. "Look!"
The Titans spun around and ran over towards the body of the fallen stranger. The proximity of Cinderblock's destruction apparently knocked him out.
A green parrot floated over and morphed into Beast Boy. "Sorry guys, I did the best they could. I guess the principal didn't know that when I say 'East Side of the School', I mean 'East Side of the School'. Looks like I missed quite a party here." He blinked at who the four were huddling around. "Say…who's this guy?"
Robin felt an arm for a pulse. "Right now….let's just hope he's alive."
Again, Starfire gasped.
Cyborg opened a computer panel on his arm and ran a health scan. He immediately looked at Robin. "Let's get him back to the Tower….NOW."
Robin understood his android friend's urgency and nodded. They employed Raven's aide in levitating him away from the scene and towards a place of proper care…
"………."
"Jordan??"
"Jordan………do you forget who I am?"
"I still love you, Jordan…"
I shot awake with a gasp. My face sweat. I looked around me.
Night was almost pitch black. The plaza was practically empty.
How long had I slept?
I stood up, stretched, and readjusted my shades. The wind was still cool. The night was still leisurely. The City still safe.
I really hate napping.
"Um…e-excuse me?"
I looked to my right. Before me was a brown-haired young woman, smiling bashfully with a slight wave. Behind her stood a man with black hair about a solid foot taller.
"Hi there, I hope we're not disturbing you or anything Mister," she said.
I shrugged.
"My name's Renee…and this is my husband, Daniel."
"Pleased to meet you," he extended a hand.
I looked at it, stepped forward, and gently shook it.
He replied with a firmer grip and smiled.
"Fancy meeting you out here tonight."
"???" I looked at them, confused.
"Don't you have a name?"
I smiled and gestured forth, as if they would understand.
"H-He can't talk…," 'Renee' thought aloud with a whisper.
"I see…well….can you tell us this at least?" the husband, 'Daniel', asked. "Are you him?"
I cocked my head to the side.
"You know….*him*!" He held out a newspaper.
I squinted through my shades and saw the unmistakable snapshot of the Teen Titans inside Kobayashi Tower. There were five of them, huddled in the corner. I saw Raven, I saw Beast Boy, I saw Cyborg, I saw Starfire, and I saw Robin—no wait. Robin was kidnapped. That had to have been--
Oh, I mouthed, then nodded with a sheepish grin and pointed to myself.
"Ha! I knew it!" Renee giggled.
So much for being a wildcard.
"I kept telling Danny that it was you. You're the newcomer, aren't you?! We saw you sitting here all alone. We couldn't tell if you were sleeping from the sunglasses or whatever that you're wearing. But it's you, it really is. You're the sixth Titan."
I shrugged, gestured—paused—then shrugged again.
"How do you manage to work along Robin and the other four if you can't talk—"
"Shhh!!! *Danny!*" Renee nudged her husband, cleared her throat, and looked at me. "Don't mind us, really. If you have somewhere to go, we won't bother you sir. It's just that….well….it's our anniversary today," she and her husband smilingly hooked arms together, "…and we of course heard all about the battle with Control Freak in Kobayashi Tower. When the News broadcasts came back online, they had nothing to talk about except what the Titans were doing to protect the City and whatnot….and when we saw you, we were glad…cuz that means not only did you throw that scum away, but you also came out alive…and just…."
"I think he's falling asleep, honey," Daniel mused.
"Shh!" she looked back up at me. "Would you….um…..like some coffee?"
I looked at them. I glanced across the waters southward to the Tower. I turned and glanced at them again. I smiled.
"Excellent!" Daniel gave a thumb's up. "We know just the place!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"…and so we moved here thinking it'd be a considerable bit safer than Gotham City. I mean, five superheroes is a lot better than having two. Our old town's all about bats, no matter how many birds it's had in the past. You know what I mean?"
I nodded and sipped from my mug. We were seated inside a Steak 'N Shake at the late hour. I sat on the booth at one side of the table. Renee and Daniel—the married couple—sat on the other side.
"And now that roster's climbed to six! I mean…we're very proud, Mister Titan. We really are. What you people do for the city…it's beyond words."
I leaned forward, curious.
The couple was suddenly silent, as if cornered. Renee leaned into her husband and looked away.
Daniel placed a comforting hand around her and looked directly at me. "I guess you should know, sir…the reason why we really asked you here tonight."
I nodded slowly.
He went on: "We owned the store that Fang robbed the other day."
I mouthed 'Ah'.
"It was such a scare. The hideous beast smashed our storefront, ransacked our products, and nearly made off with all our cash. In the process, I tried to stop him. He nearly beat me to death with his inhuman limbs. Renee was there the whole time and what she saw---well---it's not easy to talk about. The heaviest thing is that—that very afternoon—Renee found out she's carrying our first child."
I listened silently.
"And….I hope you never have to feel this someday, sir. But to know that you're a father….and just seconds afterward watch your family and future nearly get trashed by an utter monstrosity….well…," he cleared his throat to remain strong as he added, "…it was such, such a relief when the Titans arrived on time. Because of all of your heroics…Renee and I have an anniversary. We have a future. We can't thank you enough for that. Please…..please continue what you're doing."
Renee added with a quivering voice, "We believe in all of you."
I leaned back into the chair, paused, then lifted the mug up with a smile.
They chuckled the tension away and sank their coffee too.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
An hour and a half later, I was riding the elevator up the Tower into the Main Room. I exited the automatic doors and was heading towards the corridors that led to the showers and then my room when something I caught sight of made me pause. I walked quietly over to the center of the Main Room where I spotted Starfire sitting on the blanket covered couch. A cold-ridden but otherwise peacefully-sleeping Robin was lying along the length of the furniture with his head on her lap. He snored lightly as the Tamaranian girl softly caressed his face and head of hair.
I wondered if he even knew she was ministering to his slumber.
I turned around in hopes of leaving the sanctity of the scene before me, but just then Starfire softly spoke without even looking:
"The temperature of a human body is approximately twenty one degrees higher than a Tamaranian's." She stroked Robin's hair a bit more. "Compared to humans, I am practically cold blooded. I can stand greater extremes in temperature, and broader definitions of 'comfort'. From the very beginning of my time here on Earth, it never ceased to amaze me how living beings that generate so much warmth in and of themselves can spend their days obsessing over their own anxieties so much that they never get close to one another…"
She looked up and over at me with gentle, green eyes. "Robin is a warmth I never want to lose. I thank you all for helping rescue him to safety…"
I smiled and gestured a bit.
Though she didn't understand, she did understand. "Yes…I know…we are all a team. Through our dedication, we warm each other." She looked back down at Robin. "I just hope we never forget that….I hope we never grow distant and cold. For all I know, it may never feel like….like this again…"
Robin stirred a little, coughed, and was silent again.
I stared through my shades.
Starfire looked up again. "Do you think he is happy, Noir?"
I glanced, curious.
"Robin," she emphasized. "Do you believe he is happy?"
I nodded, slowly.
Starfire smiled. "Then I suppose our work today is done."
She said it.
I showered…then stumbled downstairs to the cellar and my room. I tossed my street clothes into the corner and donned nightly attire before slumping down into my bed with a soundless sigh.
For a dead minute or two in the waking darkness, I felt a comfort I never sensed before.
Tonight…I sleep, knowing that I'm a hero.
It became doubly dark.
Morning took its sweet time.