There is something truly beautiful about the starry night sky. When looking at those white dots shining through that eternally darkened background, one can stare out into the cosmos and truly find peace. However, this evening in Jump City, no such luxury could be received as the night sky was filled with dark thunderhead clouds with flashes of lightning illuminating their contours. Among the masses of condensed water vapor, a bulky silhouette stood and began swinging a pair of sticks against its surroundings; every time it brought them down, another strike and thunderclap sounded throughout the sky. In another patch of sky, where even more lightning crackled back and forth, a second silhouette, much thinner and with spiky upswept hair, stood and directed its hands from side to side, causing a new flash every time it did so.
As the silhouette continued, a flash of lightning cracked across the sky above the giant T in Jump City Bay, where things were beginning to get lively. Inside the main hallway, a green buffalo strained mightily at a rubber band looped over its horns, trying to catch it on a nearby hook. Once the band reached, the animal transformed to reveal Beast Boy with a mischievous smile stretched across his face.
"This is gonna be sweet!" The changeling chuckled wickedly as he held up a large, filled water balloon in his hands.
"What are you doing?" He heard a voice ask from behind him. Surprised by the words, he let go of the balloon and completely freaked out as he tried desperately to make a safe catch. Safely grabbing it with a sigh, Beast Boy turned around to see Raven standing behind him, "Please tell me this isn't another ridiculous prank." She stated evenly as she crossed her arms.
"Okay. It's not a ridiculous prank. It's a brilliant one!" The green teen laughed, only to be met with the mage rolling her eyes wearily at him. "All right, check it out. 'Member how Cyborg and Kylar put red dye in my shampoo and I turned brown for two days?" A thought balloon appeared above his head as he described the situation, showing the hapless victim-tinted brown, holding a scrub brush, in towel, shower cap, and slippers-standing while the other Titans scrolled past and laughed at him. "Well, sister, it's payback time." He said as he reached toward the ceiling and grabbed a string that was hanging, "I give you… the Beast Boy Insta-Lube 9000!"
As he said the name, he pulled the string, bringing down a blueprint with a diagram that showed the rubber band, which was part of a floor-mounted slingshot, held back by the hook and with the balloon loaded in. A tripwire in front of the rig ran through overhead pulleys and tied to a lever that was in turn connected to the hook.
"See, when Chrome-Dome and Mop-Top step around the corner, their feet tug the string." Beast Boy explained as he pointed to each portion of the blueprint, "The string trips the lever, the lever releases the mother of all rubber bands, which sends a balloon-load of motor oil flying right at them, and BOOSH!" He exclaimed as the blueprint rolled back up to the ceiling, "Pretty cleaver, huh?" He smirked as he loaded the balloon into the rubber band.
"You're a genius." Raven replied sarcastically as she shook her head.
"It's just a little good clean dirty fun." The changeling chuckled. The sound of a door sliding open caused his ears to perk up. "Here they come." He said as he ducked around the corner of the hall.
The mage was about to walk away from the green prankster, but a gray-gloved hand grabbed her cloak and whisked her behind the corner as well, "Whoa!" She cried as she was forced to duck around the corner, "I don't think-"
"Shhh!"
"But what if-"
"Shhh!" Beast Boy cut his teammate off again as he looked around the corner.
"Why are we hiding?" The two of them heard another voice whisper from behind.
"Shhh!" The green changeling shushed again. However, his eyes instantly went as wide as saucers upon realizing that Cyborg was hunched down behind both him and the mage. "Cyborg?! You can't be Cyborg!" He cried as he jumped up.
"I can't?" The metallic teen asked.
"No, no… It's ok." Beast Boy sighed, trying to calm himself, "Ky is still coming down the hall."
"Hey gang, I'm back with the sodas." The three Titans heard. They turned around to see their black-jacketed teammate walking through a sliding door with a smile on his face, holding two cases of soda and an extra bag of what looked to be machine parts, "What'd I miss?"
Beast Boy gaped at the sight of Kylar also not being anywhere near the drop zone for his prank, "If you guys are here, then who's…" He trailed off as he turned to look down the hall. Once he looked, he saw a violet boot step out from around the corner and step onto the tripwire. As a result, the string is pulled taut, moving the lever, and releasing the hook that held the rubber band in place. "NOOOOOOOO!" The failed prankster cried as he jumped at the balloon in a frantic attempt to stop it, the flow of time seemed to have slowed down as the projectile was propelled forward. Unfortunately, his efforts were for naught as the balloon left its base, scraping his fingertips and sailing through the air at Starfire as she rounded the corner.
"Eek!" The poor alien cried in complete surprise as the projectile collided with her face, splattering her with the viscous contents, and knocking her onto her back.
Time resumed its normal speed once the alien landed, "Starfire!" Beast Boy cried worriedly as he ran up to his orange-skinned teammate. Cyborg, Raven, and Kylar quickly rushed over to help their friend as well.
"You okay?" Cyborg asked as the oil-covered Titan propped herself up on her hands.
"This is punishment?" Starfire asked in a puzzled tone as she wiped some of the liquid from her eyes, "I did something wrong?"
"No, Star, you didn't." Kylar said offering the girl a hand, his teammate taking it and standing up with his help.
"He did." Raven finished, pointing to the guilty party standing behind them.
"Star! It was… you weren't supposed to… I didn't…" He tried saying something else, but disapproving stares from Cyborg, Raven, and Kylar stopped him in his tracks. "Just remember to change that oil every three thousand miles." The changeling chuckled sheepishly, only for it to die on his lips shortly after.
"On my planet, we have a name for those who do such terrible things." The normally calm and soft-spoken Titan said with steadily building rage as she leaned over her shorter teammate. "You are a… a… CLORBAG VARBLERNELK!" She shouted as her head grew many times its normal size, causing the oil to disappear from her face on the last two words. After her head shrunk back to normal, she walked away in a huff, leaving the three Titans who weren't yelled at to look on with worry.
"I'm a what-bag?" Beast Boy asked scratching the back of his head,
"You heard the lady." Cyborg stated.
"You are such a clorbag." Raven said as she shook her head.
"You really screwed up, B." Kylar sighed, rustling the shorter Titans hair as he walked by him.
"Come on, you guys. Can't anybody take a joke?" A flash of lightning cracked across the sky, interrupting Beast Boys' fumbling attempt to defend himself.
"Titans!" The teens heard from down the hall. They turned to face the speaker and saw Robin silhouetted against the glare of the flash. "Trouble!"
0-0
It was evening. The overcast from the clouds blocked out the light of the moon making the sky darker than it normally would be. Thunder rumbling among the storm clouds created an ominous sound as lightning flashed across the sky. On a bridge across Jump City Bay, multiple cars drove along, trying to get to their destination before the apparent torrential downpour came. In another brilliant flash, a bolt of lightning came down from the heavens and struck the roadway in the path of a large semi truck. With a surprised yell, the driver of said truck slammed on his brakes as he turned his wheel sharply to the right. As a result, the truck managed to stop just short of the smoking crater caused by the lightning, but blocked the flow of traffic, creating an instant traffic jam.
As the smoke cleared from the crater, two silhouettes became visible from within, one bulky, one skinny. The last wisps evaporated to give a fully detailed view of both; they wore outfits that looked something like samurai armor, but without the upper body protection. The bulky one had blue skin and black clothing trimmed with blue along with a samurai-style helmet on his head. A thundercloud was emblazoned on his chest, and he had long black sideburns. His thinner cohort, on the other hand, had light yellow skin and hair, and his outfit was red and yellow, with a lightning bolt on his chest. A headband kept his upswept hair out of the way and a guard plate stretched down both sides his face to cover his cheeks. Both wore armbands and wrist and shin guards that accompanied their body armor.
"May we have fun here, brother?" The larger blue one asked with a smile.
"Of course!" The yellow one answered gleefully as he created a bolt between his hands, "We are Thunder and Lightning. We may do whatever we please!" He threw the bolt upwards at one of the bridges' columns, where the suspension cables were connected. Once the projectile connected, sparks flew everywhere. "Look brother! I command the sparks to dance!" He laughed as the sparks floated down around them.
"Amusing." The blue one said with a smile, "Now listen as I make music!" Clapping his hands together, the Edo-era blue being created an intense shock wave that slowly resonated outward. The bridge cables were jarred loose as a result and began to whipsaw back and forth.
The yellow one laughed as he traced a lightning bolt into the side of the semi that blocked the road, "Let all who pass this way know-Lightning was here!"
"And Thunder too!" The blue one exclaimed as he banged his fists together, knuckle to knuckle, and created an earthquake that set the stopped cars and their drivers trembling, setting off all the car alarms in the process.
"Most amusing." The yellow one, now dubbed Lightning, chuckled as he patted his brother's shoulder.
"Hate to break it to you…" A voice said, catching Thunder and Lightning by surprise as they turned and faced the truck to see the Titans standing on top of it, "…but you guys have a lousy sense of humor! This ends-now!"
"No one gives orders to Thunder and Lightning!" The yellow being yelled, shaking his fists at the six Titans, "Taste my power!" He shouted as he threw a bolt at the truck, causing the Titans to scramble in six different directions. The bolt blew through the trailer, leaving a large hole that wiped out the graffiti from earlier. Starfire did a U-turn and flew down towards him, unleashing a barrage of starbolts at the yellow elemental. Both jumped onto a line of stopped cars and ran parallel to each other as they traded shots. The firefight continued for several dozen yards before the yellow being got in a lucky hit that knocked the Tamaranean down.
His brother, meanwhile, was mixing it up with Cyborg. As he came down on the bionic Titan with a double axe handle, Cyborg dove to the right before leaping back at him with a right hook. Dodging the punch, Thunder began a counter attack with punches of his own, leaving both bobbing and weaving through the attacks. In a last ditch effort; Cyborg grabbed the blue elementals' shoulders while his opponent did the same. Thunder pulled back his left fist and readied it for a powerful attack as the metallic teen brought his right fist back and reconfigured it into the sonic cannon. Both fists swung down and connected with each other, resulting in a shock wave that threw both fighters down the bridge in opposite directions. Cyborg landed on his back, but Thunder brought a small cloud to himself and hopped onto it to float upward.
Robin found the big blue hooligan bearing down on him and quickly leapt onto a guardrail to avoid getting hit by a thunderclap. With another leap, the masked Titan dodged a second blast that destroyed the section of rail he was crouched on. A result of the clap broke a support cable on the bridge and Robin grabbed the swinging free end that carried him away before Thunder obliterated the rest of the railing. Timing his next move carefully as the cable carried him high into the air, Robin hurled himself over the blue being. Avoiding a punch and grabbing his foe's shoulders, the spiky-haired teen threw the blue bulk off his cloud and across the pavement.
On the other side of the bridge, Kylar and Lightning were trading punches as they flew across the sky. As the brunette brought his arm around for a right hook, the yellow brother threw up his arms to block. With an electrified fist, Lightning swung his left arm in an uppercut to hit his opponent, but the black-jacketed Titan flew back before it could connect. Suddenly, Raven came from behind Kylar with a flying kick, which the supernatural barely dodged. As the blue-clad Titan continued her flurry of kicks, Kylar flew up to add a barrage of punches, causing the yellow entity to quickly back away from the two Titans. As he got clear, he shot off a bolt of lightning from both hands at the mage.
Before the attack could hit, Kylar pushed his teammate out of the way and took the full force of the shock, effectively blasting him out of the sky, off the bridge, and toward the bay underneath. "Kylar!" Raven cried out as she quickly flew after him, trying to save him from the landing.
"Ha!" The yellow brother laughed as he touched down on the ground after the mage and brunette no longer posed a threat to him. As soon as they were gone, though, a giant, green, black-spotted panda lumbered up behind him and caught the entity in a bear hug. Struggling for a moment, Lightning electrified his entire body and gave the shape-shifting Titan a few hundred thousand volts that coursed through his veins. The shock forced the poor changeling back into human form as he released his opponent, falling to the ground like a sack of rocks. "Your powers are strong, but mine are stronger!" The elemental laughed as he flew off across the bridge.
With a groan, Beast Boy sat up and rubbed his head for several seconds. However, he was caught by surprise as the shadow of the sound entity's shadow fell over him.
"Your power of the animals is impressive, green one." Thunder complimented as he summoned a blue sphere over his fists, "Rise so we may do battle."
"Why are you doing this?" The changeling asked as he stood up to face the big blue elemental.
"Because it is not sporting to attack an unready opponent." Thunder answered.
"No." Beast Boy returned, "Why are you wrecking everything?"
The supernatural sound manipulator did not seem to expect this question as he gave the green teen a very puzzled look, "Uh… because it is amusing." Was all he was able to garner as a response.
"Do they look amused?" Beast Boy asked gesturing to a group of scared motorists huddled behind damaged and overturned cars.
The sight brought an attack of conscience to the blue brother as he relaxed the power in his fists, "I-"
"This isn't funny! It's wrong!" The shape-shifting Titan yelled angrily before Thunder could defend himself.
Before Beast Boy could say anything more, a lightning bolt blasted him away and its shooter jumped down next to his brother, "Ah, the thrill of victory." Lightning sighed happily as he put his arm around his blue brother's shoulders, "Come, Thunder. We shall seek more amusement." With a nod, the brothers take to the air, leaving the defeated team by themselves.
After the elemental duo left, Beast Boy sat up from a pile of rubble: dazed, disheveled, and drooling a bit. He shook his head to clear it and found Starfire floating behind him as she clutched her forearm. "Well, that was a shock." The green teen said jokingly as he caught up to the Tamaranean.
"Hmph!" She replied as she turned up her nose and floated on.
"So… I'm guessing you're still mad?" He asked: only to receive silence as an answer as they regrouped with the rest of the team.
As they approached Robin and Cyborg, they saw Raven and Kylar flying down to the team as well, the latter trying to fix his hair since the electric blast caused it to stand straight in every direction.
"Okay, team." Robin began as Starfire and Beast Boy arrived, "We have to find those guys before they do any more damage. Cyborg, search the west side. Raven, Kylar, the east. I'll take downtown." He explained, giving each Titan their orders and receiving a nod in return, "Beast Boy, you and Star scan from the skies."
The final order caused Beast Boy to look uneasily up at the partner who had just been assigned to him. She turned her back and crossed her arms when he tried looking at her, "Um… maybe Cyborg should come with me instead." The nervous green Titan offered.
Robin and Cyborg shot each other confused looks before facing the changeling again, "Cyborg can't fly." The masked teen stated.
"Oh. Yeah." Beast Boy said nervously. "But what about-"
"No." Kylar and Raven answered flatly before their green teammate could finish his sentence.
As a big drop of sweat rolled down Beast Boys' head, Cyborg approached him, "Have a nice flight, my little clorbag." The metallic Titan teased as he pinched the shorter Titans' cheek. With a groan, Beast Boy saw the rest of his team leave to their designated areas as he was left with the one person he didn't want to be with at the moment.
0-0
In an open courtyard in front of the Jump City Museum, the troublemaking brothers wasted no time in finding something else that they could have fun with as they approached a row of vertical concrete slabs where a large metal globe was mounted at the end.
"Magnificent!" The skinnier of the two cheered as he created two lightning bolts in his hands, "We can make much mischief here!" Releasing the energy from his hands, he struck the globe, causing it to roll away from its post towards one row of slabs. As it collided into the end slab, it toppled over into the next, which toppled into the next, and so on like a row of falling dominoes. "Brother! Did you see what I…" Lightning noticed his brothers' expression was one of trepidation, "Something troubles you?"
Turning to face his brother, Thunder replied, "The green one's words. He says our fun is… wrong." The blue one said with a bit of sadness in his voice.
"Wrong?" His yellow brother laughed as he threw his arm across Thunder's shoulders, "He speaks nonsense, brother! How could such amusement be wrong? The fun is only beginning." He led his brother away from the ruined courtyard to continue their fun elsewhere.
0-0
High above Jump City, Starfire was scanning the city below intently as Beast Boy, as a hawk, glided next to her. They notice the damaged courtyard of the museum as they pass overhead and quickly dove down to inspect the smashed slabs.
Having returned to his human form, Beast Boy was the first to comment on the debris, "Well, either they were just here, or this is the ugliest modern art I've ever seen." He joked, trying to lighten the alien Titans' mood.
"You are not funny. You are a clorbag varblernelk." The Tamaranean stated evenly as she walked past him.
"Come on, Star." The green teen groaned as he caught up to his upset teammate, "You can't stay mad forever. What? Do I have to do the face?" He asked with a smile as he jumped in front of her and continued walking backwards, "You know you can't resist the face." In no time flat, he transformed into a small kitten with huge, shining eyes. He meowed as endearingly as he could, trying to break the cold exterior Starfire placed over herself.
After looking down at him for a long moment, the orange-skinned teen turned her nose up at the cute feline, "Hmph!" She pouted as she continued walking.
"She resisted the face!" Beast Boy gasped when he returned to human form. "Just talk to me, Star!" He cried as he ran to catch up with the girl again, "Come on, this is no fun!" He said, kneeling on the ground behind her as they reached the point where the globe was anchored.
"Wrong again, green one!" A cocky voice called out from behind them. The two Titans turned to see Thunder float down on his cloud and throw a large steel beam towards them. They also saw an equally jubilant Lightning shoot bolts of electricity at them. Reacting quickly, Starfire ran down one side of the courtyard and managed to keep just ahead of Thunder, who had jumped from his cloud and hotfooted it after her. When she reached the end of her path, she ran straight up the wall and performed a long, high backflip to come down behind him. When she landed, she threw a starbolt at the bulky blue brute.
"Ha!" The thin yellow samurai shouted as he flung a bolt at Beast Boy, only for the Titan to change into a rabbit and hop away. Lightning chased him towards the ruins of the slabs and fired again. Startled, the green rabbit transformed into a crane and flew into the sky, barely dodging the continued flurry of electricity from his opponent. Finally catching on to the pattern of attacks, Beast Boy dropped to the ground as a mouse and ran towards the electricity master, the projectiles were very easy for him to evade at that point. "Your animal forms cannot protect you forever!" The elemental laughed before getting caught by surprise by a bighorn sheep that barreled into him and sent him flying.
Nearby, Starfire flipped and leapt her way to the end of the courtyard as Thunder closed in on her. He projected a beam of energy towards her as the Titan countered with a mighty starbolt, which connected and canceled out. Soon after the beams connected, Thunder found that his opponents' energy was quickly overwhelming his.
"Huh?" The blue samurai was completely puzzled at the outcome as the green energy beam reached him and knocked him across the open expanse, landing squarely on the spot where the globe originally stood.
Beast Boy, now a giant bear, moved in on him, and Lightning took his fallen brother's place against Starfire. The ursine Titan got to his hind legs and plowed into Thunder when he stood up, driving him into the courtyard wall.
As the blue elemental slumped to the ground, the changeling transformed into his human form before running up and grabbing his collar, "I don't want to hurt you. And I don't think you want to hurt me." Beast Boy said.
"Pain does not amuse us." Thunder returned evenly.
"Could've fooled me." The green Titan said as he released his opponent's collar, "Keep playing rough, and innocent people will get hurt."
The young teens words made the big blue fellow think as he glanced over to the destroyed beams that laid about the courtyard.
In a sudden puff of smoke, a tall figure wearing long red traveling robes and a broad, flat-crowned hat appeared near a fence that separated the concrete of the courtyard from the museum lawn. The figure lowered an arm from its face, revealing long white hair blowing about an old but strong male face. Overall, the impression was vaguely Oriental, and was reinforced by a thin mustache and beard on his face. Under the shadows of his hat, only his left eye could be seen, and under the red robes, he wore black clothes. As the mysterious stranger watched the fighting, he pulled out an old wooden box on a tripod that had a hand crank on its side, very much like an old-style movie camera. With an evil smile, the sorcerer began turning the crank, which caused the cover on the camera to fall away and expose a camera lens that glowed red, then white.
"Huh?" Beast Boy and Thunder uttered as they felt the ground tremble beneath them. Before they could figure out what was happening, a broad energy beam shot past them from the camera and smashed cleanly through the intact row of concrete slabs.
The attack barely missed Starfire and Lightning, who had broken from their duel to avoid the beam. As the debris from the destroyed slabs came crashing down, the yellow entity sidestepped quickly out of harms way, but the Tamaranean was not so lucky as a shower of ruined stonework came straight down toward her.
"Star!" The changeling cried as he ran over to the pile of debris, only for more stones to crumble, burying him underneath as well.
0-0
Thunder and Lightning, two brothers who had come from the heavens to bask in the merriment that could be had on Earth had come to realize fear as they backed away from the piles of destruction the newcomer had just brought about.
"Your gifts are you own." The two elemental entities heard an elderly, yet calm, voice echo through the air, "Who are they to tell you how to use them?"
"And who are you that commands such power? Show yourself!" Lightning demanded as the dust from the destruction of the concrete slabs started clearing.
"As you wish." The voice echoed as the haze parted to reveal the old sorcerer standing within. "I am but a humble old man-" He said as he placed the camera he used to fire the energy beam in his cloak, "-whose power is drawn from nature, like your own. Come with me, and sow as much destruction as you please." The mysterious man turned away from the two brothers after beckoning them to follow.
"Yes! More fun!" The yellow being cheered as he rushed to follow the old man; however, a larger blue hand on his shoulder stopped his advancements. He glanced back to see Thunder was restraining him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Will we harm anyone?" The bulky blue giant asked worriedly.
"What?" Lightning asked with a puzzled look on his face, "The green one has poisoned your mind."
"This destruction…" Thunder began in a dejected tone, "…will we harm the innocent?"
"Would it matter if you did?" The sorcerer asked evenly, "You are unique. Gifted. Better. Why should anything interfere with your enjoyment?" He turned to leave the courtyard, "I am going. Follow, if you wish."
As the mysterious old man left the area, the yellow prankster soon followed, "Come, brother, and leave your foolish thoughts behind." He called back to his blue brother before fully departing.
Thunder took a few steps after them, but stopped to look back at the pile of crumbled stone. After a moment, he turned back around and ran to catch up with the other two.
0-0
At the surface of the wreckage of one of the piles, a small green spider scuttled out of a hole in the pile and jumped to the ground. Once it landed, the spider transformed to reveal Beast Boy, back in his human form.
"Star? Starfire? Where are you?" The changeling called out in a worried tone as he approached the pile again, "Come on! Gimme a sign here!" He quickly began digging through the pile by tossing pieces of debris away. "You have to be all right, okay? 'Cause I-it was just a joke, you know? Back at the Tower, and I'm sorry. I never said it, but I'm really, really sorry. It was supposed to be funny. And you could've been hurt, and…" He stopped his apology for a second as he strained to lift a good-sized fragment before finally getting it clear of the pile, "…I'm a total clorbag." He admitted softly as he slumped to the ground.
As he moped, a tall shadow fell over him, catching his attention, "Huh?" He muttered as he turned around to see the source of the shadow. Behind him, he saw the Tamaranean teen completely unscathed and giving him a warm, forgiving smile that instantly perked him up. "Starfire!" He cheered happily as he transformed into a kitten again and jumped into her outstretched hands, cuddling her chest as he meowed happily.
"I am glad you are unharmed as well." She laughed as the green Titan retook his human form and knelt before her.
"I am so sorry. You gotta forgive me." He pleaded as he placed his head on the ground.
"I already have." The auburn-haired Titan replied as she helped him off the ground, "Now those evil brothers must be made to apologize."
"I don't think they are evil." Beast Boy said as he stood up, "I think they're just like me." With a nod, Starfire and the shorter teen pulled out their communicators and contacted their teammates.
0-0
Far outside the city in a clearing in the mountains, a few scarecrow-like dummies stood in seemingly a random fashion around the area, consisting of two crossed tree limbs with a blanket wrapped around them with odd designs painted on the cloth. Among these dummies, the sorcerer stood, waiting for his guests of honor to arrive.
"Sticks and leaves?" The old man heard a voice say contemptuously. He turned around to see the two brothers enter the clearing. "Is this a joke? There is no fun in blasting such frail targets!" Lightning shouted in an annoyed tone.
"Are you certain, young master?" The mysterious elder inquired, "Try. You may like what you see." He motioned for the yellow elemental to attack one of the dummies.
The young master in question groaned as he threw a bolt at one of the dummies. Once it connected, the target caught fire and immediately made the yellow one rethink his opinion of the whole exercise.
"Dance light! Pleasing." He remarked with a smile.
"Let Thunder try his hand." The blue brother said as he stepped towards a target. Once he threw a blast of his own that connected with a target, said dummy disappeared in a small explosion accompanied by a great clap of sound. "Wondrous noise!" He said happily as the remains of the scarecrow fluttered towards the ground.
"See, brother? There is no harm in our fun." Lightning said as he placed a hand on his brothers' shoulder.
"And there is so much fun to be had." The old one added as he approached the two, gesturing to the rest of the targets placed throughout the clearing.
At the old mans words, the two thrill-seekers grinned at each other. The yellow brother flew across the clearing, blasting one target after another, while the blue brother leapt high and slammed a fist against the ground to open a furrow. A target at the end of said furrow lit up; followed by several others when he redirected his efforts. Both worked in tandem and turned one target after another into blazing torches. When the final dummy was set on fire, the dynamic duo stopped their assault and returned to the sorcerer.
"More targets, old one!" Lightning eagerly demanded.
"Yes, please, give us more." Thunder added with controlled excitement.
"That won't be necessary." The mysterious old man chuckled, "You've done quite enough." He reached into his robes and produced a metal disc from underneath; it bore a character, Chinese in appearance, which looked something like a stylized letter S. He scaled the object over the clearing as the elemental siblings watched, with looks of complete confusion on their faces. The object stopped high in the sky and spun in place; electricity crackled around it as it picked up speed, culminating in a mighty orange flash. Rays of light shot down and struck each and every burning target as the metal disc continued to suspend itself high above the ground. From a bird's eye view, one could see the shots traced out a large, rough humanoid shape in the clearing, with a final wide beam from above touching the heart area. When the light show stopped, the outline started burning intensely. "Rise." The sorcerer ordered as he held up a staff topped with the same character that was on the disc he threw.
The apparition obeyed as it lifted itself, akin to Frankenstein's Monster, with an unearthly screeching noise. One of the most notable characteristics of the monsters was the character engraved on its forehead that matched the symbol on the sorcerers' staff.
"Burn, Fire! Burn it all!" The old sorcerer called out to the monster with his arms raised.
The blazing behemoth looked down the mountainside toward the city proper and began walking towards it, only to stop its' advancement upon finding the Titans some distance away. It looked down to see the six heroes standing in its' path.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you?" Robin said as he pointed to the giant abomination, "Play with fire, you're going to get burned."
As a response, the beast swung a flaming forearm at the team, forcing them to scatter as a wall of flame flew towards them. Robin looked up from a duck-and-cover position he had assumed and saw the monster pushing trees aside and continued its warpath towards Jump City. Smoke and flames billowed in its wake as the behemoth continued its unflinching walk towards the metro section of the city.
"Good. Very good." The sorcerer grinned as he waved the fumes around with his staff.
The two supernatural brothers stared in complete shock as they could not believe what they had just had a hand in unleashing. "Brother, what have we done?" Thunder said to his brother in a horrified tone as they watched the… thing continue down the mountain.
0-0
As the fire beast kept making its way towards the city, the Titans ran or flew at equal speed to try and stop it from destroying their home.
"Titans! GO!" Robin shouted as he, Cyborg, and Beast Boy ran further down the mountain, while Raven, Kylar, and Starfire flew through the air in front of the monster.
In an attempt to stop the monster, the masked Titan pulled some grenades from his utility belt as he ran. Throwing them in front of the monster, the projectiles erupted in large clouds of smoke, blocking the monsters view of the city and forcing it to stop moving in its confusion.
As the fire rose, Raven waved smoke out of her way as she flew through it, "Fire can't spread if there's nothing to burn. Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She chanted as two obsidian beams of energy came from her hands and engulfed a few trees in the beasts path before getting pulled out of the ground.
"Good idea, Raven." Robin said as he continued sprinting down the mountain with Beast Boy running next to him and Starfire flying above, "Beast Boy, Starfire, help her out!" He called out to his other two teammates.
On his command, the green Titan quickly transformed into a green buffalo mid-stride and rammed his head at the bases of trees, causing them to topple over. High above the monster, the orange-skinned alien tossed a few starbolts that destroyed some trees as well, effectively preventing the fire from spreading anymore than it already had.
As the others continued with their objective, Cyborg and Kylar began running towards the monster. Turning to face each other as they ran and nodding, they both jumped into the air before slamming a fist into the ground on opposite sides of the monster. The metal member of the team transformed his hand into his sonic cannon while the aura manipulator engulfed his fist with purplish-black flames. When their fists connected with the ground, a blue beam from Cyborgs' hand and a purplish-black beam from Kylars' ran across the ground in front of the monster and met in the middle. When the beams crossed, a huge wave of dirt splashed over the monster, knocking it to the ground and hiding its body in smoke.
"Is he out?" Beast Boy asked as he approached the charred remains of the monster. Before he could take five steps, the blazing behemoth rose into view and released a mighty roar that surprised the team.
"You had to ask." The mage said evenly as the monster roared again, getting ready to walk towards the city again.
0-0
High on a cliff above the fire monster, the old sorcerer grinned evilly as he watched the Titans' attempt to stop the rampaging fire demon. The two elemental brothers stood behind him as they watched the events unfold as well.
"Go, young masters. Fire is your creation." The sorcerer said to the duo, "They have no right to destroy your fun."
"Yes! We must fight." Lightning said in agreement.
"But brother-"
"Do not annoy me with your foolish concerns." The yellow being interrupted, "Come!" With an unsure look, Thunder nodded before the two disappeared in a large pillar of lightning.
The old sorcerer watched as the two left him alone, "Heh." He chuckled as he turned to watch the monster fight again. However, Robin jumped at him with a jump kick, completely surprising him, and knocked his cane away from him.
Robin smiled as he landed, thinking he just burst the old mans' bubble, only to be surprised himself when said sorcerer managed to withdraw the staff back by having it fly back into his hand. "Robin, we meet at last." The sorcerer said with an unnerving smile.
"Who are you?" The masked Titan asked before the old man charged him.
"Hyaaaaaa!" The sorcerer cried as he raised his staff to attack the leader.
"Rrrrraaaaaa!" Robin growled as he ran towards the mysterious man to meet him in combat.
0-0
The other five Titans weren't faring too well as all their attempts at stopping the burning colossus met with failure.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven chanted as she shot two beams of obsidian magic from her hands at the monster. When the beams connected, the monster leaned backwards from the force of the attack, and the flames around it were extinguished.
"Nice job, Rae." Kylar said, giving her a 'thumbs up' as he flew up next to her. Unfortunately, the brunettes' celebration was cut short as the flames reignited on the monster, causing both the mage and the black-jacketed teen to gasp. Once the fire completely engulfed the giant again, it curled its body into a ball before extending itself again, unleashing a powerful blast that knocked all the Titans' back and destroyed every tree within a mile radius.
Cyborg was caught in the blast and was knocked to the ground as a result. Kylar, Raven, and Starfire landed next to him. But before they could help him up, a large bolt of electricity blasted them, sending them to the ground. Kylar sat up and saw the elemental siblings float down, Lightnings' hands were smoking, signifying that he shot the attack.
With a grin, the yellow element charged his hands with more of his trademark power before approaching the downed heroes. His blue counterpart harnessed some of his energy in his hand, only to be met with a ferocious green tiger. "Stand aside, green one." Thunder ordered, only to be met with a roar from the animal.
Without another word, the bulky blue sound samurai charged the tiger, while the animal did the same. Once the two were close enough, a thick purple haze surrounded them.
0-0
Inside the smoke, nothing but the purple clouds could be seen as the two combatants faced each other in a dark nothingness.
Amid the haze, Thunder sat on one of the clouds with his leg crossed, looking down at the tiger. Shadows hid most of their bodies, highlighting the contours of their bodies, "I do not wish to harm you." His voice echoed throughout the void.
"But you wanna destroy homes and innocent lives?" Beast Boys' voice asked though he was still in the form of a tiger.
"No."
"Then what are you fighting for?"
"My brother and I- The old one says we are unique. Gifted. Better." The larger blue element replied.
"Gifts don't make you better, just different." The green one started, "It's how you use them that counts."
These words seemed to have struck a cord with the blue being as he had no words to say to the young hero.
0-0
Back in reality, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire were lying on the ground, defeated by the supernatural entity. Kylar, on the other hand, was facing off against him, flying through the air as he tried hitting the yellow being with blasts of his aura.
Lightning weaved around the shots and fired his own bolts at the teen. The brunette could dodge a few, but was hit by a lucky bolt and sent him crashing into the ground.
Coughing and struggling to get up, Lightning landed in front of the downed hero. Kylar tried to form more energy in his hand, but it dissipated as a surge of electricity coursed though his body. "Gck!" He grunted as he fell back to the ground.
"It seems your power has its limit." Lightning said as he formed more electricity in both hands, "Mine has none." He said as he raised both electricity-filled hands above his head, ready to unleash an attack on the weakened hero. Before he could release the blast, a strong blue beam struck the yellow entity in the side, knocking him away from the brunette. "Gah!" He cried as he landed against a tree. Kylar looked over to the source of the attack to see the blue entity walking past.
When Lightning stood up after being hit, he formed more electricity in his left hand, "You betray me?!" He asked in a rather angry yet surprised tone.
"We have done wrong, my brother." Thunder replied as he took another step forward, "Our fun must stop."
"No one commands Lightning!" The yellow one growled as he summoned electricity in both hands, "Not even Thunder!" He brought both hands together and shot a large beam at his blue brother.
"Gah!" The blue shogun cried as the blast sent him tumbling across the ground.
0-0
Away from the fighting elemental brothers, away from the weakened heroes, and away from the impending doom of the flaming monster, Robin was engaging the old sorcerer in combat. Being driven back by the swinging of the old mans' cane, the spiky-haired teen blocked the attacks with his gloved forearms, before getting pinned against a tree.
With a growl, the sorcerer brought his cane back and stabbed the head towards the masked Titan, only for him to barely dodge to the side. When the head of the cane came into contact with the tree Robin was against, a –hiss- sounded in his ear before he jumped to the side and readied himself for another assault.
0-0
Farther down the mountain, the remaining Titans stood and watched as the behemoth continued its march towards the city.
"Those houses go, the whole city could go. We gotta stop the fire!" The bionic Titan stated.
"How?" Raven asked as she floated behind him.
"Any way we can." Cyborg returned before taking off to catch the monster. The other Titans' followed suit, hoping they could stop the creature before it destroyed the suburban part of Jump.
0-0
Lightning flew at his brother at high speeds and released a beam of electricity from his hand. When the attack struck Thunder, it sent him flying back, causing him to collide with a boulder.
When the blue entity slid to the ground and landed in a slump, he looked up to see his yellow sibling approaching him, an angry frown on his face, a bolt of electricity in hand, and ready to strike. "Tell me, brother, are we still having fun?"
"No…" Lightning uttered weakly as he withdrew his attack.
"Observe," The blue brother said, pointing in the direction of the teenaged superheroes. When Lightning looked to the city, he saw the young heroes trying everything they could to stop the progression of the fire. Raven surrounded her hands with her black magic, levitating objects to throw at the monster; Beast Boy transformed into an elephant and shot water from his trunk; Starfire readied starbolts in her hands; Kylar threw orbs of aura at the giant in hopes of driving it back from the city; and Cyborg broke off the top of a fire hydrant and redirected the water spouting from it in the direction of the colossus.
"They also have gifts. But they use them for good, while we waste ours on dangerous fun." Thunder reached his hand out and grabbed his brothers' shoulder, "If we are so special, brother, let us act special. We must help."
Lightning looked down at the ground, dejectedly, "But how? Our gifts can only destroy."
"True." The blue being said, "But together we have another gift." He added as he looked to the clouded sky.
With a smile, the yellow entity looked to the sky as well, and in a bright flash of electricity, both brothers flew into the clouds.
0-0
The five Titans were on their last leg, as nothing seemed to work at stopping the rampaging behemoth. However, a crack of lightning flashed across the sky as the sound of thunder echoed overhead.
In the clouds, Thunder, silhouetted against the clouds, swung a pair of sticks against his surrounds. A thunderclap boomed throughout the sky each time a stick struck. On the other side of the clouds, Lightning, also silhouetted, threw his arms from side to side, electricity flashing across the sky each time he did so. In one final flash of lightning, a heavy rain started falling to the Earth.
Looking up in surprise, the fire monster released a blood-curling shriek as the rain came in contact with its body. As the downpour continued, smoke emitted from the giants' body before it collapsed into nothing but ashes on the ground outside of the suburb. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Kylar cheered while Raven smiled at the destruction of the abomination.
0-0
Higher on the mountain, the sorcerer got the upper hand on Robin and held the teen against a tree by the collar of his uniform, "Robin, is that the best you can do?" The old man asked before a bolt of lightning struck his cane, causing him to drop the Boy Wonder.
When the spiky-haired Titan landed, he looked up to see that the left half of the old man's face had crumbled away, revealing an orange mask underneath. Robin gasped at the sight before the sorcerer vanished in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was a disk with the same symbol that was on the head of the cane.
The Boy Wonder reached down to pick the object up and held it up to his face, analyzing it with great intensity. "Slade."
0-0
In the suburb, the young heroes were celebrating their victory in their own ways as the rain fell down on them.
Beast Boy looked back to see Thunder and Lightning approaching them and walked over to greet the two. "I am sorry for the trouble we have made." The bulky blue being apologized as he bowed, his brother crossed his arms in a pout.
Thunder forcefully nudged the yellow entity in the back, causing him to straighten up. "I am… also sorry." Lightning said as he bowed to the green teen.
"You have taught us much, green one." Thunder added as he shook Beast Boys' hand, "Thank you."
The changeling let the blue beings' hand go, "Don't thank me, thank the person who taught me." He said, gesturing to Starfire, who walked up and stood next to her shorter teammate. The siblings bowed to her when she approached.
"And thank you for helping to defeat the flame monster." The auburn-haired Titan said as she bowed in return. Cyborg, Raven, and Kylar walked up after and gave their thanks as well.
0-0
After the rain stopped, and the clouds dispersed, a bright and colorful rainbow arced from the sky over Jump City and landed in the bay. On the mountain, the six Titans stood gazing out and saw the rainbow end behind the Tower.
Robin handed the disk to Cyborg, who brought it up to his face to analyze it, "So, Slade wants to destroy the city. Question is: why?"
"I don't know," The masked teen said, "But I will find out. And he won't get away with it."
Beast Boy walked up to Starfire while Raven and Kylar continued enjoying the view of the city from the mountain. "So…" Beast Boy began, getting the alien Titans' attention, "Am I, you know, still a clorbag?" He asked with a hand behind his back and his other up to his chin.
"Mmm, no." Starfire replied, holding her right hand to her chin, "I believe you are more of a 'milnip wusserloop.'" She finished.
It took the young teen a second to process what she said before a huge, toothy grin came across his face, "Sweet!" He cheered as he lifted both arms over his head, "Go Beast Boy! I'm a milnip! Who's your wusserloop!" He chanted as he danced happily. He stopped at the sudden realization that he had no idea what that meant, "That is a good thing… Right, Star?" The orange-skinned alien only giggled at the question as she flew off down the mountain, followed by Raven and Kylar while Robin and Cyborg walked. "Star?" He called out again before running to catch up with the rest of his team.
Apologizing does not always mean that you are wrong and the other person is right. It just means that you value your relationship more than your ego.
-Unknown
Author's Notes:
Welcome back to another chapter of this fanfiction that I am currently writing. I want to apologize for the delay in updates, I haven't been able to update as much as I'd like to, even though I don't have a lot of chapters up right now. I want to at least get through season 1 before delaying updates, but even then I want to get these chapters out to you beautiful people as fast as I can.
I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this story. I know it's my first story I have submitted, but from the reviews and the amount of views it has been getting, I must be doing something right and I wouldn't be anything without all of you.
To those of you who read the author's notes at the ends of the chapters, thank you all so much for your love and support, I do this for you because I like ya a lot. But don't take that too seriously. As for those who don't read the author's notes, people who consume more pizza are actually decreasing their risks of cancer, so keep on eating those pizzas, even if your parents tell you no.
Fun Fact: Did you know, Thunder and Lightning were based on character designs from Osamu Tezuka's many mangas. For those who don't know, Osamu Tezuka is widely considered the father of manga with his creations of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, and Doctor Blackjack. Without him, we wouldn't have any of these mangas with such great "plot."
Another Fun Fact: Did you know that Osamu Tezuka got the inspiration for creating manga by reading Donald Duck Disney Comics? That's right. Donald Duck was the inspiration for creating Astro Boy and indirectly spawning thousands, if not millions, of mangas. Thank you Donald Duck.
I'm just rambling at this point. So to finish up, thank you all again for your support of the series and I hope to continue entertaining you all so you stick around for future chapters. Remember to like, comment, favorite, subscribe, whatever... Wait, this isn't YouTube...
Remember to write a review if you want to, or don't it's up to you. Either way, if you have any questions or suggestions, PM me if you want, I'd love to hear your thoughts and I promise to respond.
So until next time, See You Space Cowboys.