86. And Give to the Poor part 1
Twenty minutes later…
Squad cars and riot police had gathered in the street. Officers and shielded gunmen patrolled the nearby alleyways and abandoned apartment buildings, tear gas at ready. A representative of Decker was standing in front of the two officers who had faced the angry crowd. The couple were given first aid while they made their impromptu report.
The three…..four of us heroes stood off on the sidewalk. Speedy leaned lethargically against the entrance to a dark alleyway. He kicked at a few pebbles on the sidewalk while I stood a few feet off and observed a conversation blooming between Green Arrow and Black Canary, the latter of whom was our benevolent visitor. Well….mostly benevolent.
"What're you doing in such a nubile city as this?" Black Canary tossed some blonde hair aside and leaned a hand on her hip. "Gawd, Green Arrow. Are you still doing charity jobs?"
"I'm more of a nomad than anything. You should know that by now."
"Rumor has it that you're house sitting," the blonde martial artist smirked.
"Y-Yes….well…."
"For teenage crime fighting wannabes, no less."
I raised an eyebrow.
Green Arrow glanced at me, cleared his throat, and faced Black Canary. "R-Robin's team has been so kind to welcome my apprentice into their abode before."
"Ah!" Black Canary chuckled in a deep, womany fashion. "So this is a favor for little Red, huh?"
Speedy folded his arms and frowned at the ground. "My name is not 'Red'."
"Hey, if the shoe fits, cutie," Black Canary closed her eyes and smiled. She then looked out at the crime scene. "So…is this what happens when resident heroes go on vacation?"
"What are you doing here, Dinah?" Green Arrow asked.
She turned and smirked at him. "I just happened to drop by. I was tipped in by a hacker that there was a terrible drug ring afoot in this part of town and I thought I might go see some action! Butt kicking, not drug taking…of course."
"Too late, I'm afraid to say," Green Arrow scratched the back of his neck and simpered. "When Noir came back, the three of us tackled the crooks without much casualties. We got the job done pretty well."
"Then what's with all the gang stuff going on?"
"Beats me. Criminal underworld is upset at our cleaning house, most likely."
"Then I may be needed after all!"
"Er….f-for what?"
"For joining y'all and helping out!!!" Black Canary waved with her jacketed arms and grinned. "You boys could use with some excitement anyways! Can't be fun plucking your bows all by yourself without someone to run into the action and—"
"Done deal," Speedy interjected.
"……I beg your pardon?"
Speedy gestured at me. "One of the 'teen superheroes' came back. Noir, the Titan. He's helping us out."
I smiled and waved pleasantly.
"Hmmmmm," Black Canary sauntered over with a sway of her hips and gave me a thin-eyed look of gray blue flirtatiousness. "So this is the Wyldecarde I've heard about…."
Green Arrow and Speedy coughed at the same time.
The woman stopped in front of me and curled two fingers under my chin with a pursed-lip smile that made most men weak in the knees.
I wanted to throw up.
"Tell me…are you a bad boy half of the time or all of the time?"
I gave a sarcastic smirk, gently pushed her hand aside, and hand-signed something.
I'm not sure how I knew that she would understand sign language. I suppose it's because I detected in her skills that go beyond the average martial artists. I remembered how people like Batman and Nightwing used one hundred percent of their brains. In the field of action, they had to know every mathematical equation, every historical fact, every criminal detail, every language--
"So it's true!" Black Canary grinned. "You can't speak! And I thought that scar under your neck in the pictures was for show."
Speedy stepped up. "Give it a rest, will ya?"
"Awwww…am I stealing your friend, Red? Not my intention. I'm merely opening negotiations!"
"Negotiations?"
"Yes…ahem…allow me," Black Canary faced me and performed a flurry of sign language. She was proficient in it.
She was asking me if there were any places to stay in Town.
Instantly I knew what she meant.
I sighed, put on a brave smile, and halfway through my response—she twirled around and said:
"Well, how gentlemanly!"
"What'd he say?" Green Arrow asked.
"Why, he invited me under his roof! That's what!"
I blinked under my shades. I looked at Speedy. The red-headed archer had a palm over his eyemask and he was shaking his head.
"Um…..are you sure that's—"
"What?" Black Canary faced Green Arrow and smiled suggestively. "Afraid of sleeping under the same ceiling with me? After all, we've done it before!"
Green Arrow sweatdropped.
"Okaaaaaay!" Speedy remarked too joyfully for his own good. He put a hand around my shoulder and hurriedly guided me southward towards Titan's Tower. "I think we'd better get going!! Master, you coming?!"
"Hehehehe!! He still calls you 'Master'! Sooooo cuuuuuute!" She hooked an arm around Green Arrow's shoulder. "Well come on, Master! Let's get going before it rains on us or something, huh?!"
"Um…..well, if it's okay with Noir!" Green Arrow suddenly beamed.
I sighed.
Speedy looked at me as we walked on. "Are you willing to go through with this?"
I mouthed: 'With what'?
"You'll see."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Wooo!!! Wouldn't this make a great party crib?!" Black Canary remarked as she spun about and observed the interior of the Main Room. She looked out the huge stretch of windows from the high floor in the Tower and stared out at the cityscape under the setting Sun. "Why's it that kids these days get all the good stuff!"
"You were once a kid yourself, Black Canary," Green Arrow said from behind a couch.
"Ah….well….thank gawd that's over!" the blonde spun over and slumped down onto the furniture's cushions. "Childhood is so….so….limited," she gestured with a dainty hand before whipping out a cigarette and a lighter while sitting cross-legged with her fishnets. "At least now that I'm an adult I can kick people's butts without having to say I'm sorry."
She flicked the lighter once, twice, and finally produced a flame on the third flick. She leaned the flame in to light the cigarette in her mouth when she realized…there was no cigarette in her mouth.
Pluck!
I materialized from where I had teleported across half the Main Room in smoke form and had retrieved the cigarette from her lips. When she looked up at me, I smiled, waved a finger, pointed at her, motioned 'walking' with my digits, and pointed up through the ceiling.
"Hmmm," Black Canary smiled. "But of course." She winked as she snaked her way up to her feet and extended a hand.
I spun the cigarette a few times in my fingers and tossed it into her palm.
She mocked curtsied.
I mocked bowed.
"I swear…such a gentleman," she walked swayingly towards the elevator doors. "Puritanical…but gentlemanly. You coming, G. A.?"
"Uhm….sure…might as well keep an eye out on you."
"For heavens sake! I'm not like someone's runaway pet or something! I promise, I'll use the sandbox!"
"Now don't be that way—"
"Why not? It makes you laugh!"
"Heheheh…well, that's true I guess…"
The elevator doors closed behind them and they ascended to the ceiling. The Main Room was quiet.
My smile left as I exhaled deeply through my nostrils. I glanced over across the interior.
Speedy stood in front of the stretch of windows with his arms folded. His nose was barely inches away from the glass. He stared through his eyemask at the glint of the Sun off the buildingsides and barely moved.
I slowly sauntered over and stared at his profile. Patient. Waiting…
After half a minute, he took a breath and uttered: "She…..annoys me….."
I raised an eyebrow from behind my shades.
He frowned out the window. "She thinks she's so hot and kickass…"
I scratched my head. I looked towards the elevator doors.
Black Canary was hot and kickass…
"I swear…I don't know what he sees in her."
I glanced at him curiously.
He looked at me with a furrowed brow. "Do yourself a favor. Give Robin a ring. Make sure it's okay with him to have….another vigilante spending the night here. A vigilante like her…"
That bluntly said, he turned about and walked off. Hurriedly. He was gone down the stairwell before I could so much as take another breath.
Silence.
I leaned a hand on my hip and sighed.
A beat.
I glanced over at the computer console.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Speedy couldn't help himself.
He wandered out of the top door of the stairwell and out onto the rooftop to the Tower. An amber sky graced him from above. All around, the waters glittered with the setting sun. He squinted through his eyemask and glanced around. He saw the green figure of his master standing by the edge of the rooftop.
He smiled.
He was about to walk over when--
"I was just thinking of something, Ollie…," Black Canary's voice uttered, followed by her figure trotting over by the Green Arrow's side and hooking her arm with his. "…what if you and I….I dunno…went out tonight? Take a good look at the place? See the sights that this silly City has to offer?"
Speedy's face fell. He quickly snuck over around the hidden side of the stairwell extension and held his breath. Listening…
"Oh, Dinah…I dunno. Speedy and I just got through tackling an entire gang with Noir—"
"Hey! I was there too! I hard a part in that fight too, right?"
"Well, yes. You did come in the end. You saved Speedy's neck. I gotta hand it to you there."
Speedy frowned and exhaled.
"So…like…don't I deserve a break? Lord knows you do. Pulling double-duty!"
"Double-duty?!"
"Looking after these kids 'house' and Red, of course!"
"My apprentice can take care of himself. He's not a chore to me."
Speedy smirked at that.
"But admit it," Black Canary cooed. "You're happy to see me."
"……"
Silence.
Speedy bit his lip.
"Chyaaaaa! Ha ha ha! I'm always happy to see ya, Dinah!"
"Hehehe! I knew you'd give in sometime, Ollie."
"Who's giving in? I just want you to stop squeezing me that way! It's unprofessional!"
"Take some time for us to get out and get loose, and maybe we can still stay on a comfortable page. Be it professional or not."
"I'll think about it."
"Hmmm…those are the exact same words you said last time I made that proposal to you."
"What proposal?"
"Don't play stupid, Ollie! Of course you remember!"
"…….."
"About us teaming up!"
"Ah…that."
Speedy's eyemask widened. He gulped.
"You HAVE thought about that, haven't you?"
"Yesssss, Dinah. Don't pressure me about it."
"But what's so complicated about it?! We get along just fine! We'd kick butt magnificently alongside each other!"
"I thought you already had found a partner for yourself!"
"Uh uh! Whatever gave you that idea?"
"I thought you had this 'hacker' person that you kept e-mailing with. Haven't the two of you met yet?"
"Oh….beats me who that person is. Never shows her face."
"How do you know it's a she?"
"I don't. I just use common pronouns differently. Misogynist English language! I swear!"
"Heheheheheh…I gotta admit. I've missed having you around, Dinah."
"That makes the two of us, champ. Now….give me a light."
Speedy was already trudging his depressed way down the stairwell…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Snkkkkkk!!!
The signal was weak.
I squinted my black eyes under my shades and adjusted the frequency on the computer's comms program.
Snkkkkkkkkk-tssssshhh!!
"Beast Boy! You're sitting on the T-Car's radio speaker!!"
"Dude, I am not—oh wait. Maybe I am."
"Give it to me!"
"Okay, Mr. Grouch Wonder!"
"H-H-Hello?? Noir? Green Arrow? Speedy? ………………Batman?"
I smirked. I attached a wire to hidden slot in my metal prosthetic and started clicking two fingers together, transferring a morse code signal.
Robin's voice responded:
"Yesterday?? Darn, you're fast! You must have been in a real hurry to get going!"
Beast Boy's Voice: "When you gotta go, you gotta go!"
Raven's Voice: "That's not even remotely funny."
Beast Boy's Voice: "Just because YOU had to make us stop three times in the last two hours of driving for bathroom breaks doesn't mean—"
Cyborg's Voice: "Man! Don't tell Noir that! We were gonna save it for an anecdote, remember?!"
Starfire's Voice: "What is there to find humorous in the repetitive application of Raven's bladder?"
Raven's Voice: "Grrrrrrrrr!!"
Robin's Voice: "Everyone! Cut it out! I'm trying to correspond with Noir!"
Cyborg's Voice: "Correspond away, man!!"
"Noir…," Robin began. "How's the City holding up with you and the archers?"
I finished sweatdropping just in time to click forth a response back to him in code.
Robin's Voice: "Really now……"
Beast Boy's Voice: "What's he saying?! What's he saying?!?!"
Robin's Voice: "Two drug busts and a riot quieting in a matter of two days!"
Cyborg's Voice: "Well, allright!"
Raven's Voice: "He certainly seems to enjoy……not-vacationing."
Starfire's Voice: "Is he undamaged?"
Robin's Voice: "Hang on…lemme ask him."
Beast Boy's Voice: "Hoo boy…heheh…this is rich."
Robin's Voice: "Noir, are you 'undamaged'."
I smirked and clicked a response back at him.
Robin's Voice: "He's allright."
Raven's Voice: "Okay………what now?"
Robin's Voice: "Um…what'd you call us for, Noir?"
I took a deep breath and clicked the situation forth.
Cyborg must have overheard and translated the morse code in his head.
Cyborg's Voice: "Black Canary?! No way!!"
Starfire's Voice: "Fascinating!"
Beast Boy's Voice: "Dude! No fair! I'm telling you, all the chicks follow him around! Now it's gonna be a stale trip the rest of the way!"
Robin's Voice: "What………what is Black Canary doing in the City??"
Beast Boy's Voice: "Cy! Turn this car around this instant! We're going where the chicks are!"
Cyborg's Voice: "Uh uh! No we're not, little man!"
Starfire's Voice: "Where is the poultry?!"
Robin's Voice: "Shhh!! Everyone, please! Noir, can you respond?"
I was already clicking.
Robin's Voice: "Ah…I see. Well, she did save Speedy, so it appears. I suppose we owe her the favor."
Raven's Voice: "What are you insinuating?"
Robin's Voice: "Black Canary's a respectable crime fighter. She's had her run ins with Batman and Nightwing before, from what I hear. Good experiences in crime fighting, those were. It's an honor to have her staying at our place."
Beast Boy's Voice: "Dude! Now we REALLY have to go back!"
Cyborg's Voice: "No doing, man!"
Raven's Voice: "Isn't that a little bit………l-like letting a stranger in through our doors, though?"
I clicked an interjection in code.
Robin's Voice: "Noir's just made a good point. He and Green Arrow and Speedy are all there. They have their eye on the place. If need be, they have their eye on her. I mean…it's not like she's done anything to be suspicious. Right, Noir?"
I took a moment. I thought to myself, scratching my chin. I thought of Speedy's frown. The look of distaste in his expression.
A beat.
I shrugged it off.
I clicked a reply.
Robin's Voice: "Then it's settled. Everything's looking good! Thanks for keeping in touch, Noir. Give us another call if anything should come up. But I expect the four of you to have things under control."
Beast Boy's Voice: "Hehehehe! Or if Supergirl visits, under covers!!"
Raven's Voice: "Bleah……"
Cyborg's Voice: "Man…that was desperate!"
Beast Boy's Voice: "Hehehehehe!! Wasn't it?!"
Robin's Voice: "Allright. Screw it. Snkkkk—"
Beast Boy's Voice: "Yeep!! Okay, Robin! I take it back! I won't pick on another teammember like that again—HEY! THOSE ARE MY POINTY EARS—SNKKKKKT!!!"
The comms went dead.
I chuckled breathily to myself and sighed. I leaned back in the computer chair with my hands behind my neck.
I felt like I could sleep well that evening after all…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"So they're okay with her hanging out here and all?" Speedy spoke. He was dressed outside of his outfit and instead wore a training uniform. He ran on a treadmill across the gym from where I sat on a bench and sharpened Myrkblade. "Robin doesn't mind in the least if Black Canary hangs out and stuff?"
I slowly shook my head and continued looking over my sword.
"I guess that makes sense coming from the Boy Wonder and all…," Speedy said while running. Sweating. His eyemasking tensing. "But, he's never….never…..ya know…."
I glanced up at Speedy. I raised an eyebrow from under my shades.
"Been around her."
I smiled.
Speedy glanced at me amidst huffing/puffing. "What? She doesn't disturb you at all? That blonde slice of flirt and recklessness?"
Truthfully…most of the anxiety concerning Black Canary was solely coming from Speedy's words. The little traits I had seen in the woman—the slight social ineptness, the voluptuous attitude—it was all forgiveable. As if there was anything there worth to forgive. Vigilantes are geniuses all in their own right. And what's a genius without a level of eccentricity?
I held a hand out and twisted it side-to-side to suggest a marginal attitude.
Speedy panted. He seemed to be wearing thin with his jogging a lot sooner than I had anticipated coming out of the agile archer.
"I…. c-can… remember….. th-the day….. I first….. impressed Green Arrow…… and joined……… his……. side….." the redhead said. "We…. met at…. an archery…… competition….. and I…… so w-wanted…… to impress him…."
I leaned my head to the side curiously while listening.
"But…. I-I was…… off target with…… my volleys…. and I felt…… so bad. But later…. Green Arrow….. admitted to…. knowing that the arrowheads…. I had… at th-the competition… were magnetized… and thus I didn't….. really miss…. the bull's eye…. because of bad aim."
Beep!
Speedy pressed a button on the treadmill that made the machine stop altogether. He leaned against the framework of the apparatus, breathing desperately for air. He gulped and said amidst a curtain of sweat: "Green Arrow didn't tell me about the magnets in my arrowhead. I don't even know if he was responsible for them or not. He can do practical jokes like that. Really cruel on the surface but…….—as it turns out, he had me join his side because I could draw arrows faster than him. I may have had a lot of improvement to make on my crime fighting as a whole. But I was certainly speedy enough for his liking. Heh….hence the beginning of a pathetic legend."
I didn't know whether or not to smile at that.
He stumbled off the treadmill, reached for a towel, and wiped the sweat away. "Well….I'm beat for the evening….about time I get the heck out of here and get the heck into bed…" He stumbled limply away towards the exit of the gym.
I thinned my black eyes. I had never seen the redheaded archer so….beat before. So utterly exhausted and tired from a little exercise.
He leaned on the doorframe to the exit and paused for a moment. He uttered without looking: "It's great to know people like you, Noir. It's great to know I still have some friends left."
I leaned my head to the side in curiosity.
But he was gone.
I sighed, sheathed Myrkblade, and stood up.
I wasn't in the mood to exercise…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The next morning, I lay in bed like a rock.
At some point, my ears twitched.
I turned in bed, exhaling in discomfort as I winced.
My ears twitched again.
Staring into the utter blackness of my eyelids, I thought of something cute and funny: Starfire smiling and pleasantly uttering a "WREE!! WREE!! WREE!!" Sound.
A beat.
Starfire kept wailing in my head.
My black eyes popped open.
More blackness.
I stood up in a flash and whipped my sleeping mask off.
The one synthetic light in the corner—the Titans' alarm—was flashing. The Tower's siren accompanied it.
I jumped out of bed and flurried to get my outfit on and my sword ready…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SCHLUNK!!!
The elevator doors slid open.
I dashed out and skidded to a stop.
Green Arrow was already there in front of a computer screen.
"Bank robbery," he uttered above the alarms without looking at me. "Downtown. In the thick of morning traffic too."
I winced.
He seemed to see my reaction in the computer monitor's reflection. "Yeah. I know. This won't be an easy one."
Black Canary sauntered in out of nowhere. "Bank Robbers in the middle of a busy part of the day?! What were they thinking?!"
"Harder for the cops to get there, I suppose. How'd you sleep, Canary?"
"Sexily. How else?"
"………….right." A beat. Green Arrow spun around. "We got to go intervene!"
I nodded.
"Where's Red??" Black Canary remarked with a shrug. "Shouldn't he be here right now?"
Green Arrow looked towards the elevator. He looked back at the woman. "We can't wait too long for him. We must make action!"
I bit my lip.
"Noir? Think you can guide us to Twenty-Eighth Street? We're still a little rusty…"
"Speak for yourself!"
I nodded. I motioned along and dashed towards the elevator.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWOOOOSH!!!!
I blurred to a stop on a rooftop under the gray haze of an overcast morning. It was drizzling rain on and off that day. One of the lesser beauties of the Summer.
Green Arrow swung in while Black Canary somehow vaulted up onto the roof from the edge of the building. The three of us looked over the edge of the building at a street jam packed with morning traffic. Vehicles were almost at a standstill. And—frighteningly—a line of half a dozen masked gunmen were rushing down the center lanes of cars with money bags in possession. They aimed their weapons at every motorist they passed, keeping the people in their driver seats and allowing themselves a police squad car-free escape towards the dark alleyways in the distance.
"Well…they certainly seem to be enjoying themselves," Black Canary leaned a hand to her hip and smirked.
I scanned the scene with my eyes. I looked at a line of flagpoles on the building sides opposite of us. I eyed the distance left for the crooks to cross before they'd be free criminals.
"We must think of a plan of action…," Green Arrow muttered.
I waved for their attention. Especially Black Canary's.
I hand-signed. I pointed at Green Arrow. I hand-signed some more. I motioned a 'swing'. I pointed at Black Canary. I hand-signed. I pointed myself. I gestured towards the flagpoles. I hand-signed a last time.
Green Arrow blinked under his eyemask. He looked over at Black Canary.
She smirked. "Got it."
"Good. Care to fill me in?"
"All you need to know is that you're gonna shoot one of those cord arrows across the way then swing the two of us down towards the first three crooks. Noir will take out the rest."
"Okay then!" Green Arrow pulled out an arrow and drew it. "As long as we all know what we're doing…..somewhat."
I nodded. CHIIING!! Myrkblade was out.
There was a plopping sound of someone's weight against the gravel rooftop behind us. Then the sound of Speedy's haggard voice. "S-Sorry! I'm so sorry! I-I came here as fast as I could! Damn, I'm so sorry I wasn't here earlier—"
"It's allright, apprentice. At least you got here, that's what matters," Green Arrow glanced back. He did a double-take. "Jeez, Speedy! You look like hell!"
Speedy winced. "Didn't have time to….to…."
"Never mind. Provide cover fire for us. Will that work out fine, Noir?"
I nodded.
"Good." Green Arrow aimed a corded projectile towards the buildingsides across from the street below us.
I took a good look over at Speedy from under my shades. He looked like he hadn't shaved in two and a half days. A shadow hug his chin. His red hair was unkempt. The short-sleeved outfit he was adorned in was positively 'tossed on'. I think the quiver of arrows on his back was crooked and….was that skin falling off his arm?
I shook my head and snapped out of it as Green Arrow launched his volley.
PTWING!!!!
Cord trailed outward as the arrow struck the brick wall opposite of us.
CLANK!
He pulled the cord taunt from across the way. Black Canary was already snaking up to him for the two to grip each other.
"Does legend speak of Maid Marian wearing fishnet stockings?"
The emerald archer smiled. "History can change!"
Speedy grumbled.
I cleared my throat.
"Ready for your signal, good lad!" Green Arrow said.
I nodded. I stood at the edge. I held Myrkblade in my right hand and in my left hand I held up three metal fingers….two….one….
I blurred over the edge.
SWOOOOOOOSH!!!!
I streaked down the building side, Myrkblade trailing behind me. When I reached the sidewalk, I vaulted, landed upright, and started blurring over cars. Speedy's arrows sailed down and knocked out the guns in the grasps of two thugs, disorienting them. I timed my charge just right—hopping from car top to car top—so that the instant I came upon the fleeing bank robbers, Green Arrow and Black Canary had swung in onto the point men.
Green Arrow let go of Black Canary.
The blonde fighter flipped out of his grasp, sailed down, and split-kicked two crooks' chins at once. She landed in a cat-like crouch and launched herself up with a flip that planted her against the side of a van behind the two men. She tensed her legs and dove directly into the crooks, flattening them to the ground.
As Green Arrow himself landed, another of Speedy's arrows came down and knocked the gun out of the hands of the third front man. The emerald archer whipped out his bow, spun low to the ground, and swept the man's legs out from under him.
Before the three in the back could react, I was upon them. I skidded to a stop, twirled Myrkblade, and jabbed it straight towards' a man's shoulders. The wooden blade slid easily between the man's skin and shirt collar, pinning him into the metal body of a pickuptruck honking its horn in dead traffic beside us. The other two men charged me. I ducked and dodged their attacks. Free of Myrkblade, I blurred straight at them with a pulse of smoke energy. My arms stretched out and hooked around their chests. They gasped as I throttled the three of us over car tops, towards the long stretch of building sides, up the walls, to the base of the flagpoles five stories up. I vaulted off the side of the building—causing the thugs to scream in terror—and expertly slung them by their jackets over the edges of the poles so that they dangled dozens of feet above the ground. I sailed to the asphalt below, effortlessly cushioned my fall with a fountain of murk, and dashed towards the man pinned to the truck with Myrkblade. I yanked the sword out, causing him to tumble forward. I spun and kicked him hard in the chest. He lost his breath and tumbled over.
In the meantime, Black Canary was pummeling a crook with a flurry of karate chops and two handed shoves. Another thug jumped up from behind her. As she grounded the man in front, she performed a blind-rear-kick that landed in the crook's face. The man stumbled back as she spun around, smiled, and agilely kicked him so hard in the stomach that he flew into a van at full force, denting its side.
Green Arrow—in the meantime—was knocking his thug around with the sides of his bow. He shoved the crook back at one point, spun about, drew an arrow, and let it fly. PTWING!!! SWIIIIISH-SLUMP! The arrow pinned the man by his clothes to the side of the dented van. Green Arrow smiled and drove the end of his bow into the thug's stomach. Knocking him unconscious.
And the flight of escape was cancelled.
People started getting up out of their cars and applauding….cheering.
I smirked and sheathed Myrkblade. CHIIIING!!!
"Great thinking…," Black Canary winked at me. She leaned a hand on her hip. "The kid knows how to draw a crowd too. I like it here!"
"Well, there's still work to do," the Green Archer said above the noise. 'We have to round these men up so that the police can handle them. That means checking on your dangling flies, Mr. Noir."
I nodded and glanced up—amused—at the thugs struggling to remain in the air high above. Their screams of terror were faint.
"Speedy!!" Green Arrow shouted up towards the building tops. "Apprentice! Come down here and give us a hand, will you??"
No response.
"Ward?!?!"
Still none.
I glanced up through my shades.
Speedy was nowhere to be seen.
I blinked.
"Well…," Black Canary chuckled as she grabbed handcuffs from Green Arrow and put them around a thug's hands. "Aren't we bashful?"
"Something tells me we may be needing your help after all," Green Arrow said.
"We'll just see about that."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Three days passed by. An intermittently eventful three days. With Green Arrow, Speedy, and Black Canary by my side, we protected the City from the inevitable rise of crime and violence following the backlash of Dagger's and Slade's dying regimes.
A smuggling incident in the shipyards of the Bay gave us a handful. Black Canary showed off her agility in jumping from moored speedboat to speedboat in pursuing rogue drug traffickers. Green Arrow blocked the escape route with his projectiles while Speedy and I dove in to take on the last of the thugs one on one while Black Canary converged on the rear to sandwich the crooks.
Then another evening, there was a hostage situation on a skyrise not too far away from Kobayashi Tower. Three criminals held the daughter of one of the city delegates at gunpoint. Black Canary and I dove in at the precise moment while Green Arrow and Speedy provided cover. In such, we managed to hold off the assailants long enough for Green Arrow to safely swing off with the daughter in his grasp. The rest of us eventually grounded the other criminals.
Finally there was a bomb threat at a train station. An explosive was being planted by a mad pyrotechnic fiend in the Western District of the City. A layer of guards surrounded the place. Black Canary had the crazy idea of barreling us in on an old, beat up locomotive that smashed through the enemy's barriers and gave us the spring we needed to jump in and clean house. Somehow we managed the feat without sparking off the explosive. Decker was a bit riled—but happy with our efforts in the end.
During all three major battles—and the subsequent robber clobbering in between—I noticed two things happening in opposite relations to each other. 1) Green Arrow and Black Canary were getting along more and more. The greater the length of time in their reunion, the more they remembered how much they had in common and soon—by the third day—there was no moment in which they were either not talking or not laughing or not having a good time in some fashion or another. 2) Speedy was getting more and more….sloppy. His arrows were gradually becoming off target. What's more, his balance was off. He was getting beaten up by thugs in the heat of battle more. And on top of all that, his appearance was becoming more and more haggard. As if he gave up entirely on looking like the princely, young archer that I always knew him as.
Naturally, I had my concerns. But greater concerns—the welfare of the City—overlapped them. I left Speedy to his own devices and kept an eye on Black Canary all the same.
Something was afoot. I didn't know quite 'what', exactly. But Speedy's words of anxiety filtered back through my mind and I couldn't help but wonder…
What was happening to him?
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Hey Noir!"
One night. A Saturday night.
I looked up from a lonely game of solitaire in the Main Room, still dressed in my sweaty outfit from a grueling crime-fighting session a mere hour and a half before.
"I said, Hey Noir!" Speedy beamed as he walked up to me. He was dressed in an undershirt and boxers, presently in the process of slipping on a snazzy shirt of some sort over it. Dressing for an occasion. "What say you and I hit the town??"
I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah! That's right! Just you and me! Soto's dance club! I hear that place is really hopping tonight!"
I blinked under my shades. I thought about talking with the Messenger that one night. I helplessly chuckled.
"What's so funny? It's an honest proposition!"
I suddenly realized something. Speedy was ungodly cheerful. I glanced at him and realized he was the best looking I had seen the archer in days. Heck, he was probably the best looking I'd seen the archer ever. He had shaved back the shadow, greased his red hair, and put on the most honest looking smile anyone could imagine. He looked ready to kill a few ladies….with looks, of course.
Of course…
But me?
I hand-signed something he possibly couldn't understand.
Instead he walked over and nudged me in the side while buttoning his sleeves. "Come on! Don't you think we deserve it? We've been kicking so much butt over the past few days, and all of it has been thanks to you!"
I made a whistling sound.
His eyes rolled under his eyemask. "Black Canary, Flak Ptooie! It's you who puts the heart and spirit in this team! You're the resident Titan after all!"
I leaned my head to the side.
That was rather flattering…
"So what do you think?! You don't have to dance or anything!"
I was about to say……
"Just hang out! See the sights! Become the sights! Heheh!"
There was something utterly ecstatic and easy-going about Speedy all of the sudden. It was like a lightbulb had been turned on inside his chest cavity and was frying its way through an eager, bright smile. Positively glowing. It was contagious.
I gave in.
I smirked, pocketed the deck of cards and stood up. Gesturing for where to go(?).
"Uh uh," he shook a finger and walked off towards a stairwell that would take him to his guest room. "You better go downstairs, shower up, and put on some decent threads!"
I mouthed: 'Decent threads?'
"Yup!"
I nodded. I headed towards the elevato--
"And none of that denim crap!"
I winced, sweatdropping and freezing in place.
"Something they won't throw you out for waiting! Something rave club worthy! Something sexy!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Black.
Black and….more black.
It was really just a jacket away from being what I wore to the funeral following Viper's rampage through the City. In effect, I had on black slacks, a black longsleeved shirt, and a black belt. Couple with my dark shades, black shoes, and dark hair smoothed back into a ponytail….
Damn…I was noir alright.
Thankfully, Speedy's pants had some reflective material on them so that when the two of us walked across the street to the front of the Soto warehouse/dance club, nobody ran over me over the asphalt. I was a long way from Myrkblade.
This wasn't one of those high profile clubs. It was open to most of the high school scene. Nevertheless, they did have someone whom you could simply define as a 'bouncer'. He took one look at us…noticed our unmistakably trademark shades and eyemasks of heroism….and instantly let us walk by and through the entrance like we were Jupiter-sized comets.
"See?" Speedy smirked. His eyemask reflected flashing lights as the doors parted and we entered in. "We'll be like kings!"
I shrugged.
"Allright….princes!"
I smirked.
The flattering thought of our looming popularity in a place like this amused me until I suddenly saw the result of our looming popularity in this place. Dancers and wallflowers parted. Youngsters gasped. Guys pointed and made exclamations. A few girls….well, you know.
I bit my lip, simpered, and waved.
And then the crowding around began. More or less. Utterances above the beat and noise of: "Titans!" "Speedy and Noir!" "Wow!" "Is it really you?!" "Hey there!" "Man, you guys kick ass!" "Word up!"
I sweatdropped and was about to zoom towards the far, darkest corners of the warehouse when Speedy stopped me with one arm and waved his hand to everyone with the other. "Yo, everyone!! Who wants to see heroes get down?!"
Claps. Whoops. Cheers.
"Then let's see you all get down first and we'll follow your lead!"
More cheers. The group more or less reassembled in dancing squadrons. But eyes were still trained on us. Guy whisperings and girl gigglings and overall curious utterings.
"Come on, friend," Speedy winked under his mask and patted me on the back. "Mingle along!"
I happily mingled my way into the far side of the warehouse. I was happy to see everyone enjoying themselves. These citizens of the City. Fans or not. But I would have been happier seeing them without suffocating. But no matter where I went, a crowd gradually gathered. And I began to realize that I was no longer the 'wildcard' of the Titans. That—finally—I had broken free as superhero with my own, special identity. That not only was I a Teen Titan, but I was also a legend just like the rest of the five of them. I could no longer slip through a crowded place like this unnoticed to speak to someone on the rooftop like the Messenger. Not in this Town anymore, at least. And I wondered…if Slade and the 'Wyldecarde' trial was or was not the ultimate catalyst for my notoriety.
Speedy…bless his heart. He danced away. It was like the somber archer I knew for the last few days was nothing but a coiled spring of anxiety. And now he was getting everything out of his system. Relaxing by not relaxing. Just moving and dancing and sweating. A few girls innocently (supposedly) danced their way into a cluster around him and joined him in his rhythmic jumps and steps and…what have you. I'm not a dance expert.
For the most part, Speedy and I were parted from each other. And I almost felt sorry for the enthusiastic archer who himself had invited me along to this occasion which we weren't sharing together. But perhaps it was for the best. I didn't know how old and rickety that converted warehouse was. It was probably safest that we remained apart so that the clustering fans and populace around us wouldn't jointly crush the weight of the structure's foundation from underneath.
I saw Speedy's dance moves in between the heads and arms of gathering young citizens as I sat on a wooden crate and held them at bay with a card trick from my deck. Guys and girls alike formed a halo as I flipped cards around in my grasp, held individual ones for the lot to see, then flicked them in and out of smoking existence with my powers. Many clapped. The estrogen bearing ones giggled and blushed. I cleared my throat and did whatever I could to distract them. I enjoyed having my hands full of a task more than I ever did dancing. So it was a fine evening for me. Flattering, even. Heh.
I looked Speedy's way again nearly an hour into this hazy thunder of an evening and saw him sitting on a wooden crate against the far wall of the Soto warehouse, talking to a few energetically charged young men. I somehow broke myself away from the gathering crowd of fans, pocketed my deck of cards, and cloaked myself into stealth mode. The others around me gasped as I disappeared and invisibly made my way through the jumping, writhing crowd of dancers. I must admit…I had it easy.
When I reached Speedy's side and materialized before I could startle anyone, I could hear him engaged in a speech.
"And so there I was….mere inches away from disaster! I was flattened on the ground, my leg pinned down by the automatic door! My bone felt like it was splitting in two! The alien trans-dimensional monster of Gotham Labs was bearing down on me! My quiver and bow were barely out of reach!"
"Dude…that's harsh, man!"
"What did you do?"
Speedy beamed. He gestured with his hands as he said, "So I stretched my leg up till I nearly tore every ligament in the god damn thing and slipped my boot off! I then used the tip of the boot to catch onto my quiver! I dragged it over, drew an arrow with my bow, and launched a plasma head that obliterated the son of a—" he looked at me "…er…gun! Man, that thing died faster than death can die!"
"Have you no remorse?"
"Nope!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"Dude!"
"Awesome!"
Speedy grinned and leaned back against the crate. "Yup…dancing is one thing. But there's nothing greater than the thrill of being a superhero."
"Hey, think you'll kick Robin's ass someday?" one guy asked.
Speedy winked under his eyemask. "I'm working on that, pal."
I smirked and shook my head, humored.
Chuckles. Claps.
Then…
"He ain't beating anyone up…," came someone's lousy voice from the corner.
Everyone froze in horror and slowly looked over his way.
Speedy's grin locked into a thin, glass curve of pursed and dry lips. His eyesight zeroed in on the person in question. So did mine.
A thin-haired, nearly bald organism in a tight shirt and baggy slacks laughed scornfully at the redheaded archer. He stood, flanked by two chump friends. With arms folded, he uttered: "He's a lackey! A right hand man! A backseat driver!"
I bit my lip.
Speedy smiled and took a deep breath. "My dear good heckler….what the hell are you getting at?"
"The hell that you're just a sidekick! Pfft! Speedy! God, whoever heard of a superhero name like that?! You sound like a retired McDonald's mascot! Ha ha ha!!"
He and his buddies laughed.
Speedy scratched his chin and pretended to be casual about it as he uttered: "And just what makes you think I'm incapable of kicking ass?"
"Pfft! You're gay! You're like some fruity elf who runs around plucking bowstrings everyday and doing the bidding of a macho bearded guy in green! Tell me, Mr. Speedy…how many favors does that man make you do for him??"
"Oooooooh!!"
"I bet he enjoys it too!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"Loser!"
The 'fans' around Speedy seemed suddenly embarrassed or ashamed. They kicked at the floor and tried to hide in their little universes.
I looked at the archer. And for a split second, the haggard ghost of the past few days resurfaced under a curtain of cold sweat and furrowed brow. But then the plastic dancer returned. And under the strobes of Christmas light and thunder he stood up from the side of Soto, cracked his neck, smiled, and practically dove fist first into the heckler.
SMACK!!!!
I gasped.
WHUMP!! WHAM!!!
The heroic 'role model' was becoming the model of a demon as he beat the living tar of the now wheezing and hacking skinhead. The 'buddies' rushed in to grab Speedy, but the archer was fast as ever in tripping them and knocking their skulls flat. He then returned unleashing his furious punishment on the one troublemaker. His skin was sheen with sweat underneath the flashy shirt and pants. Bumps of an unnatural sort formed on his neck as the muscles flexed in a massive grimace. Eyelids and unseen cornea twitched and fluttered under his white mask. Like a shark's eyes rolling back in its kill.
Naturally, I ran in to break up the fight, but one of Speedy's retracting fists knocked me back. When I blurred to attempt another dive, a huge cluster of raving and cheering onlookers gathered around the fight. The fight itself morphed into the Soto forest of dancing and writhing bodies. And I was sweating cold while trying to find out who was who among the who's and non-who's in the chaos. As naturally as the fight began, it sunk into an osmosis that blended it with the rest of the clubhouse. And I couldn't see either Speedy or the poor sap he was ruthlessly pummeling. I wandered about the noise and thunder and flashing lights for a few minutes of oblivion. I gradually found myself sauntering over towards the entrance. I met one of the 'bouncers'. He looked at me as I approached him. I gestured eyemasks over my shades with my fingers forming diamond openings.
Somehow….he understood. Regardless, I finalized it with a mock 'drawing of a bow and arrow' with my hands. He had seen Speedy and I walked out. Surely he would know if….
"Yeah…he went," the man said. There was a sound of disappointment in his voice.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Do me a favor next time you come in, Mr. Titan," the bouncer grumbled. "Bring a REAL superhero. Not just some chump friend of yours posing as Speedy. Cuz surely that bloodthirsty maniac wasn't the emerald archer's counterpart! Pfft! Freakin' mimics! I swear to God!"
I walked numbly out of Soto, more depressed than I had ever been in a long time…in as much that I wasn't depressed over my own issues for once those days.
That was the real Speedy. The Speedy I knew. Or at least…the Speedy I thought I knew.
I untucked my black shirt, found an open area free of traffic, and blurred my way to the Tower in a path that would eventually streak me over the waters of the bay itself. I wanted to get back in time to talk to Speedy. For I assumed he was going home too…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
I sighed.
I trudged up a stairwell and out onto the seventh floor of the Tower. Something told me that I would not be in the mood for what I was going to see in Speedy. I wasn't so much mad at him as I was shocked. He had exploded…utterly exploded. And punched a citizen's face in for one thing. Not only was it unbecoming of a hero…it was downright indecent. Inhumane. I had to get to the root of the problem. Before…before his master did. I cared for him too much to let him hurt himself before it was too late.
I was halfway down the cold metal hallway and to his room when an invisible wind suddenly kicked at my black hair.
I froze in my steps.
My black eyes widened under my shades.
Something was fluttering…blurring….rocketing towards the back of my head.
WOOOOSH!!!
I squatted to the floor, reached up, grabbed the fist, and tossed the attacker's body over me by use of the stranger's weight.
SWOOOSH!!!
A dark figure flipped in mid-air from my throw, crouched on the floor, and swept a leg that came up at the last second as a kick to my face.
I dodged, rolled to the side, somersaulted backwards, pulsed murk through my legs, vaulted upwards, made contact with my feet to the wall, and shoved off. I blurred like a rocket towards a well-built figure in the middle of the hall.
The figure crossed a pair of jacketed arms.
WHUMP!!!
I made contact with the arms.
The arms parted, knocking me back.
THWUMP!!
I landed on my feet.
One fist came.
SWISH!!!
I sidestepped.
A second fist came.
SWOOOSH!!
I sidestepped.
A leg flew up.
WOOOSH!!
I grabbed the ankle, gritted my teeth, lifted the lower body of the attacker up with a wave of murk and spun around with a karate kick into the horizontally airborn body's side.
WHUMP!!!
The figure went tumbling across the floor and into the wall, upon which she jumped up into a casual lean against the sides of the hallway and smiled at me.
Black Canary. My jaw dropped.
"Wow….you are good," she tossed her messed up blonde hair out of her face and grinned seductively. "For such a young pup!"
I blinked.
"Awwww…Dinah! Why did you have to do that to him?!" Green Arrow sauntered in from the shadows, rolling his eyes under his eyemask. "This is his and his friends' place after all!"
"A guy like him's gotta be prepared! What, you think I should just let him become a softy here on his own??"
My beating heart and panting lungs gradually subsided, but an increasing flow of confusion took their place.
"You're not his mother, Black Canary," Green Arrow chuckled. "I'm sure he trains himself all the day. You see him training every morning!"
"And how…," Black Canary meowed.
"Um…isn't he a little young for you?"
"What, you feeling too old?"
"Er…."
"Come on. I want to show you this new exercise of mine I'm working on. The gym's downstairs, right?"
"Right…."
"Let's go then!" she yanked Green Arrow along and marched off towards the distant stairwell with a grin on her face. She glanced at me and waved pleasantly. "You're not bad, kid! Next time, I hope you make me sweat! And sweat lots!"
"For crying out loud! There won't be a next time, Dinah!"
"You're not the boss of me!"
"I don't want to see you with your head chopped off!"
"He wouldn't do that! He's about as innocent as they get!"
"Now how do you know that?"
"I don't…that's the fun of assumption!"
"Jeez…"
The two—and their voices—were gone.
I took a long sigh of relief and speculated the necessity of putting that on my next report to Robin. I shrugged it off and decided to save it for a letter to Wonder Woman.
I walked down the rest of the hallway's length till I was at Speedy's door. I composed myself, relaxed my flesh and metal arms, and knocked on the door.
…
…
…
No response.
So I knocked again.
…
…
…
I sighed. Speedy was most likely resisting me.
So I overrode the computer console locking the automatic door and walked into the guestroom on my own. I walked into a room of dark. Pitch black dark. The windows had curtains blotting out the starlight of the night. The glittering of the bay waters could barely be seen through the thick, hanging material.
I coughed.
…
…
…
No response.
Nobody and nothing.
So…I took my shades off. With naked black eyes, everything became clear. The empty bed, unkempt. The open bathroom with no one inside. The couches and chairs dotted with various crime fighting equipment, abandoned.
Speedy wasn't there. But his possessions were. The clothes. The accessories. The laptop. The plate of white stuff… I did a double take.
My eyes zeroed in on what I thought I had seen…but hope I hadn't seen. Silence.
I quietly wandered back and closed and locked the door behind me.
A beat. I wandered across the room towards the bedside table. My black eyes narrowed on a reflective plate resting where no wanderer could see it. I sighed and came to a stop. My fingers clenched and a painful lump formed in my throat.
As if Speedy could see me, I nodded a somber affirmative into the night. For I had seen the stuff before. And in some awkward fashion, it suddenly made sense to me that he was taking heroin. But I couldn't help but wonder. For how long? And…furthermore….how did he get it into the Tower?
And…quite selfishly…I wondered in how many degrees Robin would beat me up when I became the first person to possibly tell him that illegal drugs somehow got into the Tower while he was gone.
Then my brain reverberated backwards and the numbness set in.
Speedy was a junky. Speedy was taking heroin. Speedy was sweating bullets and beating up ravers at random across my City.
What was going on here???
I didn't have time to form a hypothesis, for suddenly the door to the guestroom opened behind me and the tired, stretching silhouette of the redheaded archer appeared in the slit of blinding light.