AN: Okay, the name of this ep should give you a good idea as to the ones making up the bulk of this next part. Also, I've been teasing it, but here's the intro of wee baby Carter. I'm also thinking of changing the updates to more than once a week to get this story moving along faster so there may be one to two chapters posted a week from time to time, haven't decided yet.
Eric – Wanna know how you get nightmares from Connect 4? Three words, Wally and Dick. The Volleyball Net is up, and UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time, successor to Greenwich Mean Time. It goes by the 24hr time. I'm not that knoligible about it, but I take it as going by my local time, which is Central America. I think wherever you are, you can adjust it to equal 00:00 to midnight, 06:00 to 6:00 AM, 12:00 to 12:00 PM, 18:00 to 6:00 PM, then back to 00:00 to midnight. I thought putting the times like that would be easier for the readers than putting EST or WST. Hope that made sense and hope I got it right.
Riley 000 – Yeah, I watch Bleach and wanted to put that Ichiruki vs Ichihime war thing going on with fans. I'm with the latter.
Seychelles – No prob
Supernuclear – I can go ahead and say Zachary won't be in this one. And Klarion was only demaged greatly and sent back to his own dimension.
2. Spittin' Fire
1.
Titan Tower
April, 28
09:00 UTC
"Good morning, Jump City. This is your man with the plan, the host with the most, the DJ of...well I can't think of anything to rhyme with DJ besides PJ or TJ but that doesn't mean I'm not the one supplying you with all the tunes you need to get up and moving on this bright and sunny Sunday morning. First on the list is the new single by my favorite bombshell, Cassidy. But first, I have to mention the traffic to the west of the city has severely been slowed down due to a jackknifed big rig so expect a delay of up to forty five minutes. Also, you might want to bring a fork as nothing but bacon is covering the road and don't forget the eggs-"
Reaching out from under the covers, Conner switched off the radio next to him and uncovered his head and chest but didn't bother getting up just yet. He instantly knew M'gann was not beside him as she was used to getting up earlier and he could always tell where she was as a result from their continuous mind link; however, there was another mind entering his thoughts at the moment.
At the foot of the bed, a thin, spidery, white arm hooked onto the covers. Three fingers held a small body in place as another arm gripped the blankets a moment after. It was a struggle for the small bat-like form, but it eventually climbed up over the edge and lay on its belly as it looked the leader to the Titans over. Red eyes reflected the incoming sunlight from the window behind the head of the bed as a tiny mouth opened to let out a near silent sound. After looking over the large form of Conner, it then began to move forward in a slow crawl.
As delicate as it looked, the white, boney body of the small creature was incredibly strong, stronger than a human infant its age. It was a splitting image of its mother with some minute traces of more human qualities such as how the head and facial features were shaped. Where its mouth was were no lips, only a clear view of its triangular teeth, which was something a human infant would not have at this age yet.
Arriving at Conner's chest, the small alien creature looked at the Kryptonian as it rode his slowly rising and falling chest while making another sound like the first one it made. It's skin changed from a pale white to a more tanned human-like tone, matching the man's exactly. Just as it crawled slightly forward, Conner opened his eyes and gave a small 'boo', startling the creature slightly as its eyes grew wide. It then let out something of a laugh as the arms of the muscular human wrapped around it and received a smile back.
As usual, it was quiet in the room as he and the small creature, his son, had a mental conversation. Normally, he would simply speak his thoughts to whomever was in the mental link with him, but that was not the case for the Martian/Kryptonian hybrid in his arms, who by default always had a mental link up. It was still an infant and as such, made communicating with it requiring picturing images instead of using a particular language.
Sitting up, Conner had a mental image filled conversation with his son, which was filled with pictures of M'gann lifting him out of his crib, eating a bowl of grapes, seeing the Martian woman cooking breakfast, watching a singing orange dinosaur on TV while a canine Garfield and Wolf played tug of war with a piece of rope, and crawling to the bedroom where Conner was still sleeping.
"Busy morning." Getting out of bed, Conner grabbed his shirt from last night and draped it over his shoulder. He then sent the mental pictures of Wally, Artemis, and their daughter to his son who understood what he implied and maneuvered to wrap his arms around his father's neck for a piggyback ride.
Entering the living area with connected kitchen, the two were quickly approached by Wolf as the back riding alien infant squealed with delight.
"Aw, and I was just winning." Joining the three, Garfield pet Wolf's head as the infant took on the same coloring as his skin. "Looks like Carter wants to come with me."
The image of the animal shifting teen flashed in Conner's mind who maneuvered his son to hand him over. "See?" Garfield laughed. "He loves to hang with the party animal."
As the small alien creature settled into Garfield's arms, he changed his appearance to his human one. Unlike full blooded Martians, Carter had a set human appearance. His skin, although it was green at the moment, matched his father's perfectly along with the black as coal hair. His face was reminiscent of M'gann's as were his eyes, which were the only thing he appeared not able to change as they stayed their true Martian red.
"M'gann still in the kitchen?" Conner asked.
"Yup, sis's just finishing breakfast. She's making plenty since Wally and Irey's coming." Forming his prehensile tail, the teen boy had the end grow long hairs to wave in front of the infant who tried to grab at it. "I think I'll teach Carter about lizards today. Maybe show him a gecko or a horned frog while playing hide and seek in front of the TV."
"Sounds good," Conner said with a yawn as he slipped his shirt on. "You going patrolling with me tonight?"
"You bet. And Raven's coming along to. Zatanna called and said she's coming over with her later."
As Garfield carried his nephew into the living area, Conner ventured over to the refrigerator and grabbed the juice. Forgoing a glass, he began to drink straight from the jug when the liquid stopped flowing and the plastic container floated away from him. It then flew over to the counter several steps behind him beside an annoyed looking Martian.
"Why do you always drink from the jug?" M'gann asked him.
"Why do you keep taking it away from me when I do?"
"It's a bad habit and I don't want Carter or Garfield to get any ideas."
"Everything I do's a bad habit."
"Quit your pouting," M'gann said as she lightly flicked his nose and moved to set a tray of biscuits on the counter. "Better eat before you know who gets here and-"
Putting an end to her words, Conner reached out and brought her in for a kiss. "Morning."
Smiling back, his Martian wife wrapped her arms around his neck. "Morning." She then met him in another kiss.
"OH GOD, MY EYES!"
Separating with a slight jump, the couple looked for the cause of the outburst with their faces taking on a light red coloring.
"Gar?!" M'gann said as she fixed her hair and Conner stood straight up after leaning against the counter.
"Just kidding, sis." Beside the green teen, an emerald skinned Carter giggled.
Recognized guest, Wally West. Recognized guest, Artemis West. Recognized guest, Isis West.
"Oh, they're here," M'gann pipped. "Let's get the table set and enjoy a nice, country style breakfast."
Leaving the kitchen for the dining table, M'gann used her telekinesis to bring everything she had prepared as she greeted her friends. As for Conner, he turned to Garfield who smiled back at him.
"Just wait until I see you near Raven again. That will be fun."
With his face turning red and his smile fading to a grin, Garfield slowly sank behind the couch. He often forgot Conner would rib him about his crush on the Goth girl and questioned himself as to why he ever got the broodish version of Superman to loosen up after meeting him. Then again, he always saw him as a big brother and was one of the only people to not be intimidated by him in the least.
As Garfield disappeared, Carter looked from the sinking teen to his father and let out a giggle as he went to join his uncle.
Happy Harbor
April 28
10:47 UTC
"No, no, no, no, you have to stay lose, amigo. Stay relaxed and move to the beat."
"I just don't think I'll get this by next week."
"It's easy once you get the hang of it. Now, take my hand and remember, tell me how to move with your body. As the dude, you lead and as the chick, she'll follow."
Standing in the middle of the training area, Francisco and Jaime took each other by the hands. Music filled the area as the newer recruit attempted to teach the Scarab wearing teen how to dance with a partner. The two had been at it for the past three days and so far, Jaime had shown a slight improvement but still needed a great deal of work. As time went by though, he seemed to be taking a step back with every two he took forward, figuratively speaking that is.
"Ow, feet," Francisco said as Jaime stepped on his outside toe. "Ow, you hurt lil' dude."
"Urgh! This sucks! I'll never get this down by next friday!" Jaime yelled.
"Yes you can. All you need to do is relax and just have fun," Francisco reassured him. "Cass doesn't seem like the kind of girl you should be so uptight around. Unless you're sparring with her, then you might as well run for the hills."
"Yeah, she does spare stiff sometimes."
"Sometimes? Nearly knocked me into next week with that left hook of hers."
"Just wait until she lands a kick, that will send you through a wall." Entering the training area, Mal Duncan joined the other two boys with a towel draped around his neck and his helmet in hand. Like the others, he was dressed in his combat gear. "Even with the armor, I could feel it clearly."
"Man up, Mal," Barbra said over the intercom. "You three are going to need to work together in a few moments and what I have planned will need you at your top game."
"Why does every woman tell me to 'man up'?" Mal asked as he put his helmet on and tossed his towel to the side. "Is it a joke or-"
"It's because whenever you complain, it always seems to involve a woman." Entering the training area from the other side of the room, Cassie, in her Wonder Girl uniform consisting of her usual red tack pants, black tank top with Wonder Woman symbol, and sneakers, finished slipping on her bracelets. She even greeted Jaime with a wink and wave. "So you just need to ma-"
"Alright, let's just get on with it," Mal interrupted her then turned his attention to Barbra in the observation room. "So what do you have in mind, Oracle?"
Bringing up her planned exercise, Barbra Gordon, or Oracle, brought up the list of participants scheduled to be there when the door opened and the last few team members entered the training area. "Good, now that you're all here, we will be dividing up into two teams once I get the specs loaded. Give me a moment or two."
Standing across from the others, Robin, Starfire, Bumblebee and Supergirl, all in their mission gear, waited for the session to begin.
"Glorious morning," Starfire announced to the others. "I hope you all had a wonderful sleep and scrumptious breakfast."
"Of course we did, Kori," Francisco answered. "How about you?"
"Oh yes. The dreams I had were most pleasant as were the unfertilized scrambled chicken fetuses with honey mustard on the side."
"Somehow, she makes scrambled eggs sound disgusting," Mal muttered next to Karen.
"As long as you never ask her to cook, you'll be fine," Karen muttered back.
Standing a few feet from the other, Robin and Jaime, now in his Beetle armor sans mask, tried to look anywhere but at each other. It was well known Tim and Cassie were a couple for a while before a mutual breakup where a few months later, Jaime gathered up enough courage to finally ask the demi-Amazon out. Working in the field wasn't a problem as there was work to be done, it was the down times they were together that were awkward.
"Are you still deciding on which team you'll be joining?" Karen asked Kara, Supergirl, as she made sure her sleeves were secure around her wrists. She still donned the same blue two tone uniform she acquired from the Fortress of Solitude with the ankle length, open skirt that acted as a waist mounted cape.
"Yeah, both black ops and League have expressed I would be suited on either one given my skills and lineage but I think I'll most likely wait until Koriander chooses," Kara explained.
"Why wait for her?"
"Because her power level would be on one team and I would be on the other. Tactical thinking would suggest that would be an intelligent way of dividing ourselves to secure the greatest advantage in battle."
"Always a warrior."
"Old habits."
"Alright guys," Oracle spoke over the intercom. "Todays session will be a throwback to our childhood but with real world outcomes. Should you get hit, you are considered KIA. Once one team is eliminated, the round is over, understood?"
All nodded or gave a thumbs up.
"Kori, Kara, don't worry if you don't know this game, it's easy to pick up and the basic object is even in the title, dodgeball."
The guys showed their enthusiasm by highfiving and grinning as they called out who were the captains and who they wanted for their teams.
"Just a minute, guys," Oracle interrupted. "I will be deciding the teams. The location of this skirmish will be the desert so you will have to combat anything from sandstorms, intense heat, freezing nights, or mirage imagery, whatever the computer decides as I have set it to random. And the teams I have chosen are...let's have girls versus guys."
Immediately quieting down, the four guys looked over at the four girls and grew extremely nervous. Each knew even a kid game could prove most painful, especially with the two newer alien females. Slowly reaching next to him, Francisco placed his hand on Mal's helmeted head and quickly pulled his covering off. He then practically slammed it on his own head and kept his hands over it.
Reacting to the sudden disappearance of his helmet, Mal reached over to the shorter Hispanic teen known as Vibe and fought for is helmet. "Hey, what are you-?"
"Oh come on, Mal," Francisco protested. "You're covered in armor."
"And the helmet's part of my armor."
"Well that's more than what I have."
"Not my fault you look like Fonzy in those jeans and leather jacket."
"Just lend me your helmet."
"No, it's mine."
"Give it to me,"
"No, give it back."
"Come on, man."
"No."
"Don't be stingy."
"Hands off."
As the two argued over Mal's helmet, Robin and a fully armored Blue Beetle chanced a glance at each other then looked over at the girls who were either popping their knuckles, stretching their arms, or in the case of Cassie, had a devilish smile as she flexed her fingers.
"So, who do you think Cass will go after first?" Robin asked.
"You," Blue Beetle answered. "You're her ex."
"Yeah, but you forgot her birthday."
"You never took her dancing like she wanted."
"Neither did you."
"But I'm working on it."
With Guardian and Vibe fighting over who wears a helmet, the four girls smirked and quietly picked their targets as they huddled together.
"Match you for it?" Blue Beetle asked.
Sticking his hand out, Robin bounced his closed fist in the air three times as his partner did the same and threw scissors to the Beetle's paper. "Ha, scissors cut paper, you go against Cassie."
"No, your scissors are blunt, you face Cass."
"That's not how it works."
"I don't care, she hurts!"
Around them, a loud buzzer sounded as the training area shifted to mimic a desert environment with dunes, boulders, shrubs, and a blazing sun overhead. Several dozen, glowing blue orbs designed to temporarily paralyze whoever they struck appeared from the ground at Oracle's command. Even though they were an even distance from the two teams, the girls managed to get to them first, going on offense while the boys were forced on defense. At the realization of their current predicament, the four boys dove for cover.
Ten minutes later, it was all over with Bumblebee, Supergirl, Wonder Girl, and Starfire sweeping the guys three games to zero. They still had to spare with each other after that.
Palo Alto
April 28
20:07 UTC
Moving faster than the normal eye could see, a crimson blur raced through the streets and up the side of a building until it arrived on the roof. Coming to a stop, Wally West finished eating a corndog he picked up from a nearby street vender along with some candy bars he snagged from his stash at the house he and is wife came from. Tossing the stick aside, he grabbed the energy drink from his inside jacket pocket and popped the top.
"For someone who can break the sound barrier, you're still unbelievably slow." Coming out of the shadows, the former heroine known as Artemis and later Tigress made sure her gloves and forearm covers were tight. "I told you to be here as soon as I dropped Isis off at my mom's."
Since the invasion of Darkseid and his Apokolyptic forces was deterred, the couple formally retired from the hero life full time. Even though they were no longer on a team of crime fighters, they still went on patrol from time to time to make sure Palo Alto was a safe place for not only them but for others to raise a family.
"You know me and my metabolism, babe," Wally quipped as he zipped up his red leather jacket and shotgunned his energy drink. "So, you wanna see who gets the most trash off the streets again?"
"Actually, I was looking forward to keeping together." Taking her brown mask from her belt, Artemis slipped it over her face to become Tigress, her second alter-ego since becoming a crime fighter. Her brown and black leather costume was an homage to her mother with subtle differences to allow for the inclusion of a collapsible longbow holstered on her lower back.
"Anyone tell you, you look great in a skin tight tiger costume?"
"Keep it zipped up until we're done." She then made sure her husband's jacket was fully zipped then lowered is goggles in place. "How's the knee?"
"It'll hold. So where do you wanna start tonight?"
"There's some vandals causing trouble at the water processing center. Cops have never caught them so we could beat them to the punch and catch them in the act. That would be a good place to start."
"Lead the way, beautiful." Following the blonde, semi-retired heroine, Wally couldn't get rid of the smirk on his face. "Loving the view."
Shaking her head with a grin, Artemis drew a crossbow and fired a grappling arrow to the next building across the street. "There's more to see later."
A blur of wind sailed past her as Wally shot over to where she intended to swing to then yelled back at her. "And that's a sight I can't wait to see!"
Rolling her eyes, the Tigress dressed Artemis gripped her rope and swung out to join her speedster husband.