AN: Really hope you like the villain in this one. I changed them up a little but they're still the same essentially. Also, I have my Tumblr page up and running again with the last of the Titans uploaded so swing by and take a look. I'll be uploading more art and story ideas as time goes on with the next most likely Carter Kent and Isis (Iris) West.
jwill - Damian may be annoying, but don't forget he's stuck up and full of himself, like from the Son of Batman movie.
veritas 1995 - Yeah, I think the only ships Dick isn't behind are the ones involving him. He is a dog, you know.
Eric - And don't forget Greg's favorite response when dealing with this mythology, 'spoiler, no comment'. Get's on my nerves. On a side note, I was going to use Livewire in the future story I had people vote on, always liked her. No, Batman doesn't have a new Tumbler, it's just a Humvee he let the first gen team borrow. As for your idea of what will happen with the Titans being alone? Dude, I think you're going to like this.
Seychelles - I have not heard of him before but he does sound like a good addition somewhere. He could be really creepy if handled right.
ChaotixController - Yep, Rose will be in here, I'm just looking for the right place and time to introduce her. But that's a no on Duela Dent. She would be better used in a future story with a new generation of super kiddoes to me.
2.
Titans Tower
July 04
18:14 UTC
"The pies...are...here!" Entering the tower, Kyle Rayner had a glowing green construct around seven pizza boxes and carried a bag of soft drinks. He was still in his civvies and had opted to enter through the large window In the living area facing the city.
"Finally, we've only been starving for, like, ever." Jumping over the back of the couch, Cissie rushed over to the Green Lantern and took the bag from him. "With the adults gone, we eat and watch TV while ignoring the dining table."
"Just as God intended."
Ever since Conner and M'gann left to meet up with the others, the team of Titans made the living area their own. Gone were the training schedules, indicating they were supposed to be sparring at the current time and not eating pizza until at least another half hour. It was indeed the saying, 'when the cat is away, the mice will play'.
"Okay, who had the Dr. Pepper?" Cissie asked as she pulled the first bottle out.
"Me!" Garfield shouted from his position in font of the TV where he was getting a movie ready. He then caught the bottle as it was tossed to him.
"Grape?"
"Here." Using her powers, Raven had the bottle float over to her.
With the team of four congregating around the food and drinks, Damian and Cassandra stood on the opposite side of the room. Both watched as paper plates were passed and the boxes were open to free the hot pizzas inside. Cheese stretched as the slices were picked up with ranch dressing being poured over the Italian dish pieces. If they were honest, the food did smell good and it looked as if the others were enjoying themselves.
"Hey, Cassandra, Damian," Cissie said once she plopped two slices of pizza on a pair of plates, "come on over and help yourself."
Shooting something of a glare of annoyance and anger, Damian rolled his eyes. "No."
"Oh, come on." Bringing the two plates with her, the archer brought the food over to them. "Don't be like that. Here, Damian, try pepperoni, and Cassandra, have a slice of Canadian bacon."
Looking at the plate, Cassandra glanced at Damian for a moment before reaching out and taking it. Annoyed she would do such a thing without so much as a second rejection, he took the other and poked at it.
"What are you doing?" Raven asked. "It's not like it's going to come alive and eat you."
Glaring at the girl, Damian reluctantly picked his slice up and took a bite as Terra came running back in the room. "Alright, pizza! You remember my Fanta?"
"Right here," Garfiled told her as he gave his cheese pizza slice a healthy coating of parmesan cheese. He then sat next to Raven on the main couch and bit into his food. "Like your pizza, Raven?"
Looking at him from the corner of her eye, the Goth girl gave a short nod.
"I put in the movie you wanted to see, Wicked Scary, right?"
"Aren't you afraid of scary movies?"
"Well, uh, no, not really."
"Are you going to sit beside me the whole way through?"
"Just in case you get scared."
Taking a swig of her drink, Raven had the bottle float back to the table in front of her. "I told you, I don't do fear."
"Move over, Beast Boy." Jumping over the back of the couch, Terra expertly balanced her plate of pizza and drink without spilling anything. "So what're we gonna see?"
"Wicked scary," Garfield told her.
"Aren't you afraid of scary movies?"
"I'm not that afraid!" the green teen shouted.
"Don't worry," Terra said with a laugh, "You can feel free to jump in my arms anytime if you want."
Blushing with a half hidden grin, Garfield went back to eating his pizza with Terra giggling at his red cheeks. From her spot, Raven watched as the blonde girl scooted just a little closer to him. Letting out a quiet sigh, the Gothic teen moved her eyes from the boy beside her and to the floor before taking another bite of her pizza.
"Movie time!" Kyle shouted from the floor in front of the coffee table. "Let's get this thing started."
"A movie?" Damian asked. "And to what purpose would watching a movie do? I thought you all were told to be in the training room, not watching useless television."
"Oh get the stick out of your butt," Cissie told him as she grabbed the remote. "Just grab another slice and take a seat. And try not to get scared."
"Nothing scares me." Sitting on the smaller of the couches, the son of Batman declined in getting another slice of pizza, no matter how good it was, and waited for the movie to begin.
Taking a seat on the floor, with two additional slices of Canadian bacon pizza slices, Cassandra sat next to Kyle who, as nonchalantly as he could, straightened himself once he noticed she was right next to him. It took him a moment to find something to ask her but the completely wrong words came out. "Do you want me to switch on the captions?"
He mentally kicked himself for that one but was surprised when she was not offended like he thought she would be. Instead of being rude like Damian, she shook her head and signed, 'I'm only mute. I can hear normally'. Since his ring instantly translates just abut any language for him, he instantly understood what she said.
"Oh, right. My bad. Want more pizza?"
Shaking her head, 'no, Cassandra motioned a, 'thanks' then turned her attention back to the TV as the movie began.
Recognized, Martian Manhunter, Zero Seven
Freezing where they were, the Titans and three guests panicked once they heard the arrival of one of the Justice League's heavy hitters and veteran members. There was no time to hide the mess they had already made when the Martian entered the living area from the Zeta Tubes with Carter in his arms and Wolf by his side.
"Now you're going to get it," Damian smugly said.
"Um, hi, J'onn," Garfield said though a mouthful of cheese pizza. "What're, (gulp), What are you doing...here?"
Taking stock of the semi-empty pizza boxes, half finished drinks, and number of teenagers not doing what they were supposed to be doing, training until seven, Martian Manhunter sighed momentarily with a shake of his head. "Garfield, I came by here to ask a favor of you. I have been called away on an emergency mission for the League and will not be able to watch over Carter like I had promised. I was hoping you could keep an eye on him while I go take care of this matter."
"Um, yeah, sure. We can do that. Nnnnnoooooo problem." Morphing into a monkey, Garfield scampered over the back of the couch and over to Martian Manhunter. He then changed back into his human self and took the infant when something hit the floor next to his feet.
Looking down, the green teen saw a ziploc bag of Oreos resting between his feet. It had been a known fact Martians tend to have an addiction, in J'onn J'onns' case, it was the cream filled chocolate cookies he had been feeding his nephew a steady supply of from the moment he could eat solid foods, which was pretty quick for how fast Martian children develop and grow teeth. It was also a fact M'gann did not want her son eating the cookies until later on as she wanted him to have more heathy food to start out with.
Looking from the cookies to the towering Martian, Garfield looked at him suspiciously. "Did you-"
"Garfield, I won't tell if you won't."
With a guilty look on his face, Garfield knew he was only talking about the mess in the living area and skipping of training. "Deal," he said carefully.
"Deal."
As Martian Manhunter turned to leave, Garfield lightly bounced a giggling Carter as he turned back to the others, picking up the dropped bag of cookies with his prehensile tail, when he saw Wolf eating one of the half finished pizzas. "You could have at least waited until I asked if you wanted any."
Looking up from the box he was feasting in, Wolf licked his lips clean of some sauce then went right back to eating.
"Hope you like scary movies, Carter." Looking down at the Martian/Kryptonian infant, he gave him another Oreo then made his way back to the couch.
Jump City
July 4
19:27 UTC
"That...that was good." Leaning back in his seat, Dick patted his stomach after finishing the steak dinner before him.
"I hear that." Slumping in his seat, Wally looked over the stack of plates in front of him. Each had a large steak, backed potato, and large corn cob, that was until they were served to the ginger speedster. Even the five baskets of rolls were devoured by him, leaving nothing but crumbs.
"Sure you're full, Wally?" M'gann, in her Megan form, asked. She then took a sip of her tea. "You only ate seven porter houses."
"And a supreme pizza before we left the house," Artemis added.
"What? I have-"
"A high metabolism," the group all said in unison.
"Well, I do."
"Thank you for suggesting this restaurant," Kaldur told Conner. "The food was as good as you and M'gann said."
"No problem," Conner said as he put his drink down. "It's one of the first ones we went to with the team."
"And how is your position with them going? I heard you and M'gann have been stepping up their training and taking them on nightly patrols."
"Yeah. We've been switching the teams up weekly. We think they're just about ready to go on their own for a night."
"Trying to make sure they can handle themselves better than we could in the beginning?"
"Exactly. We've had several missions but we just feel they would benefit with more training before going out without us watching over them. Any more on the cult you and the others investigated!"
"Hey," Wally said once he caught on to what the two were doing. "No business talk, remember? We've been having a good time reminiscing and talking about how legendary we are. Why ruin that with office conversation?"
"Oh shut up, and order yourself dessert," Artemis told him. "Now Kaldur, aside from what you've been up to with that cult, how are things with you and Lilith?"
"Yeah, Kaldur, I heard you two spend a lot of time together." Moving in her seat to get comfortable, M'gann leaned in on the table and nibbled on a left over baked pretzel stick.
"I am sorry if you think things are happening between us," Kaldur began, "but I spend so much time with her in order to find out more about the cult she was held captive by. By comparing notes with what Terra has told us, we now understand they are looking for only certain people for their rituals. We know Eddie was one of the ones they were looking for, or Blue Devil. Which ever one they got a hold of, they were going to sacrifice them. We just do not know which one of the five he was or who the others may be."
"We'll find out. You stopped the cult by the sound of it," Dick told him. "Now all we have to find is that skeleton banshee woman these two ran into months ago."
"For all we know, she's back in Ireland." Grabbing a roll, one Wally had missed, Artemis tore it in two and dipped it into her leftover butter for her lobster. "On a side note, didn't you help Lilith with finding an apartment in Happy Harbor?"
"And you two spend a lot of time there," Dick pointed out.
"Anything you want to tell us,?" M'gann grinned.
A slight blush developed on the Atlantean's cheeks.
"Just go ahead and tell them," Conner said. "They won't stop until you do. Especially this one." He then pointed to is wife who playfully nudged him with her shoulder.
"Well, Lilith...she's-"
Ending Kaldur's words, a TV in the corner of the restaurant they were in switched over to the news with a live report of someone attacking a downtown convention center. The customers all went silent as the people on the screen were flooding out of the convention hall with a large banner above the doors reading, 'Jump City Sci-Fi Con'. Police were trying to run into the building but were literally being thrown out by some unseen force.
"What the heck?" Dick asked as he turned in his seat.
"Looks like trouble," Artemis said.
"And when there's trouble, someone will be calling someone," M'gann added.
"Well," Conner said as he looked over at Kaldur, "you're the leader tonight."
Grinning, the Atlantean nodded. "It looks like we have a job to do. For old time's sake."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Wally asked. "Let's show them what happens when you mess with real heroes. Ain't no school like the old school."
Titans Tower
July 4
19:28 UTC
"I was not scared!" Sitting with his arms crossed on the chair to the left of the TV, Damian scowled at every one present as they laughed.
It was during the third part of the movie they were watching when the creature appeared from behind a young woman as she turned to leave her bathroom. Everyone thought she would see the creature in the mirror as she looked up from washing her ebony face but it was not until she opened the door when the horror being came out of the shadows of the cupboards behind her and twisted her body as it pulled her into the darkness. That scene was what made Damian jump and scream high enough, Terra had to pop her ears.
"You were so scared," Cissie said through her laughter. "You even screamed like a girl!"
"I did not!" the preteen shouted. It was a major change from his snobbish behavior and he was finally acting like a kid.
'Ca...Cassandra," Kyle said, once he managed to calm down. "Did Damian jump or not?"
"Cassandra," the angered youth said to his bodyguard in a threatening tone.
Ignoring how he said her name, the asian teen nodded with a smile. Even she had never seen him jump from fright or act the way he was currently.
"Coward," Raven muttered from her seat.
"Aw, you know you jumped to," Terra said. "I saw you jump when the thing popped out of the guy's glovebox as he was driving down the deserted road."
"I don't do fear," Raven snapped.
"Whatever you say."
"Um, guys?" Coming back from the kitchen with a bag of marshmallows and a dinosaur sippy cup, Garfield had a puzzled look on his face.
"Yeah, Gar?" Terra asked.
"Who has Carter?"
"He's right here, remembe-" Looking next to her, the blonde girl only saw a few crumbs of Oreos. "Um, did he fall off again?"
"Not that I know of," Raven replied. She had been adjusting her seating position to where her right leg would be on the couch when she saw the Krypto-Martain baby lose his balance and rolled off the edge of the cushion when Garfield had his hands over his eyes. Quick thinking on her part was what saved him from landing on the floor by having a black form catch him in the air and Garfield begging her to not tell 'you know who'.
"Cissie?" the green teen asked the archer who shook her head.
"No, Garfield. I haven't seen him since you sat down with him."
"Kyle?" Now his voice had some worry in it.
"Nope," the Lantern answered. "I've been down here the whole time and haven't seen him at all. Cassandra?"
The asian girl shook her head then signed the question to Damian who gave a rude, 'no' in response. He was still mad about getting caught jumping during the movie.
At once, everyone, not including Damian or Cassandra who only stared at the other teens, got up and began to look around. Pizza boxes were tossed aside, empty bottles of sodas were thrown around, and every piece of furniture was lifted, including the chair Damian sat on with him still in it. When no one found any sign of the infant, they all looked at each other then at Garfield with wide, panicked eyes, including Raven who was always calm but knew this was a disaster, heavy on the 'dis'.
Dropping the sippy cup and marshmallow bag, and ignoring the apple juice and white treats spilling on his bare feet, Garfield felt as if all of his green coloring left his body, leaving him whiter than M'gann in her true Martian form.
"Oh...crap." His lips barely moved as he said what he felt may be his last words. "We lost the baby."
Jump City
July 4
19:39 UTC
"Alright, now who was the one responsible for the the death of the Doctor in season three of only the best show to ever come out of England?"
Standing on a replica of a prop from a show using a teleporting phone booth, a young woman in baggy cargo pants and a brown trench coat looked down at several quivering television writers, producers, and directors with her greasy strawberry blonde hair flying around every time she whipped her head around to make sure they were staying in place. Heavy thuds from her boots told her hostages she was slowly circling the top of the prop while she continued speaking. Clattering around her chest over a black, midriff bearing shirt, was a bullet belt modified to carry a wide number of batteries and what looked like a few replica props from various TV shows.
"He was, like, such a cutie, OH MY GOSH! The way he smiled with those dimples and the little curl in his bangs, such a sweetie pie! You had no right killing him off!"
When no one answered, she decided to go on with her rant.
"And what about only the greatest show to ever be seen by anyone alive or living? Living or dead? Yeah, living or dead. Titan Youths was SO GOOD! The way the episodes were written, the hot guys and oh so cute girls, the angst, ANGST! And the lovely, lovely ships! OH MY GOSH! Ultra-Alien and Fire-shot...only the best couples on the show and then you had to break the first ones up all through season two and killed off one of the ones from the other couple. Leniency for having Ultra-Alien getting back together in the last episode but instant vaporization to you who thought it would be a good idea to permanently end Fire-Shot! Those were my babies. MY BABIES!"
"Is this girl insane?" one of the hostages asked.
"Has to be," another answered.
"Who's more insane?" a third hostage asked. "Her for doing this over TV shows, or us for causing a fan to go through this?"
"And don't get me started on my comics because you do not erase twenty years of stories and end a marriage just cause someone in the company ended theirs! They belong together forever! And why kill him off and replace him with some useless character wannabe in the younger version of the series? At least you decided to bring him back but treating him and the regular counter part of him like that is just flat out wrong! You know what fans want? You want their real opinions? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THEIR OPINIONS!"
"Someone really needs to calm down."
Standing at the entrance to the convention hall, Wally, with a domino mask on, stood in front of the others as he struck a heroic pose and called out the girl on the phone booth prop.
Standing on her tip toes, and hopping a few times, the hostage taker tried to see who interrupted her rant. "Who the heck are you guys? Rejects from the circus?"
"See, I told you this was stupid," Conner complained as he glared at Wally. He had on an extra pair of Dick's sunglasses. "I hate how these are circles."
Cackling, Dick adjusted the glasses on his face. "Sorry, Supey, only extra ones I had. By the way, you ever think about shaving the sides of your head?"
"Thanks for the bandanna, Artemis," M'gann said with a red bandanna tied around her head with the eyes cut out. "But I could have formed one myself."
"Secret ID, remember, Megs?" Can't be morphing your clothes differently with other people around. And the sight of Mrs. Martian with a group of people might get others speculating on who we are." Wearing a green bandanna herself, Artemis had her crossbow at the ready with a bolt cocked and ready to fire.
"I still do not understand why I have to wear a disguise." Standing beside the speedster, Kaldur had his water bearers drawn with a Phantom of the Opera mask on.
"Just go with it, Kaldur," Wally told him then turned his attention back to the girl. "Now, you have a choice, come along quietly, or be taken down the hard way."
Staring at the Ginger, the girl had a look about her that screamed, 'Who are you?', with her eyebrow raised, mouth open, and eyes wide. "Hey, did you know you look just look the Flaming C?"
"Huh?"
"The Flaming C. You look just like him."
Embarrassed, offended, and a little shy suddenly, Wally nudged Kaldur with his elbow. "You take over, ol' fearless leader."
Sighing and shaking his head, Kaldur stepped forward. "You will not get out of here without being taken into custody. It is my opinion you surrender now," he then formed swords with his water bearers, "and let these people go, or we will use force."
Tapping something against her head, the trench coat wearing girl had her 'not impressed face' on with her bottom lip stuck out slightly. "No, I don't think so. You see, you have no idea who you are up against. I am the terror of the TV screen, the scourge of the sofas, the cute couch potato, the tricked out trivialist, the ruler of the remote control...I...am...CONTROL FREAK!"
As the girl shouted her name, she struck a dynamic pose with her legs spread, arms out, and body hunched. An evil grin was plastered on her face with a remote control in her left hand.
"Can we just take her down now?" Artemis asked. "I hate nerds."
"Hey!" Wally barked.
"Oh you know what I mean."
Taking the lead, Dick drew two Bird-a-rangs from his belt and flung them at Control Freak. The girl was fast as she aimed her remote at the flying objects and shot them both down with a laser from her remote, leaving the team surprised at what her seemingly harmless weapon just did.
"Oh yeah, I'm bad," Control Freak said as she blew imaginary smoke from her remote. "And if you think that's cool, try this." With the push of a button, the girl targeted a few electronic devices near the incoming group.
Forming a shield, Kaldur blocked a barrage of soda cans being shot out of two vending machines. The first few cans that struck him left his arm and side stinging from being hit. M'gann, who was in the air, extended her hands to lift the machines and slammed them together, freeing her friend from the onslaught when the sprinkler system came on, drenching her in water as more soda machines began to fire their cans at them.
"Ha! Give up, you losers!" Control Freak yelled then dropped her voice several notches. "Resistance is futile."
With a roar, Conner appeared from behind her with his fist cocked back. He then slammed his hand into the top of the phone booth where the girl was just a moment before. Rolling along the floor, Control Freak targeted several machines around the Kryptonian and had them shoot everything from paper, staples, candies, and small trinkets meant for the customers. Seeing as he was not stopping, she had the machines explode, creating a diversion to get away when she ran into Artemis.
"Really? A remote that makes things go haywire?" the archer said with her crossbow aimed at the girl.
"Hey, whatever works, right?" Diving behind a nearby table, Control Freak gave a maniacal laugh with Artemis following close behind.
Rounding the area the girl dove into, Artemis was surprised to find no sign of her. The only things around were a long line of booths, shirts, memorabilia, and toy cars. Having enough of this ridiculous fight, she began the slow process of lifting the coverings of the tables one by one, not noticing the toy vehicles coming to life. Taking a step away from the fourth table she was at, Artemis caught something moving out of the corner of her eye when she saw the toys coming her way.
"What the-" Backing off, she fired a bolt at the lead car, taking it out, when the others increased in speed.
After managing in taking out several more with a few well placed shots, she stepped on a replica of a certain Delorian, and fell to the ground. After a quick shake of her head, from hitting it on the thin carpeting, she heard another incoming toy car and turned her head just in time to see a Turbo Intercepter a moment before it crashed into her face.
With the archer fuming at being hit by a toy, and destroying every one in her immediate area, Control Freak came out of hiding within an anime booth. She then turned to see the angered blonde stomping on the toys before standing tall.
"Hope you like my, Maximum Overdrive." In a single movement, the remote wielder placed her right hand over her lips before extending it with three fingers pointing skyward for a moment then ran off with a laugh.
Running for the emergency exit, Control Freak took a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure she was not being followed before grabbing two batteries from the belt stretching across her chest. Getting rid of the two in her remote, she quickly replaced them and watched as the red power indicator filled back up when she instantly straightened up and cried out in pain.
"AGH! SIDE STICH!" Leaning on a nearby table, the remote holding girl breathed heavily and sucked in air between her teeth as she rubbed her side. "You...you were right...Mister...Mister Eisenberg...car...cardio is important."
"And just where do you think your going?"
Looking up from where she was leaning, Control Freak saw the hoodie wearing young man in sunglasses blocking the only exit within sight. A Bird-a-rang was drawn and ready to be thrown at the slightest movement.
"Hostages are out," Running up behind the girl, Wally came to a stop and was ready to rush her when he saw the way she was standing. "Whoah, you're not having a heart attack, are you?"
"N...no," Control Freak answered weakly before gulping deeply. "But I really...really need to sign up for kickboxing classes at the 'Y'. My cardio...freaking sucks."
"Okay, where is she?!" Storming out from between two booths, Artemis cocked her cross bow with a new bolt in it as she looked around for the trench coat wearing girl with murderous eyes." She attacked me with toys, TOYS! What kind of freak uses toys to fight?"
"Toy Man," Wally answered.
"Shut up, Flaming C!"
Landing beside Dick, M'gann wiped off the remaining bit of water from her face and slicked her hair back. While not in any danger, it was annoying being caught in the unexpected downpour. Next was Kaldur who was hobbling from slipping on one of the soda cans followed by Conner whose jacket had bits of plastic, glass and staples in it.
Seeing she was surrounded, Control Freak let out a long sigh, partly from being so winded. "Is this...this the end of the mighty...Control Freak? Could she be going up the...creek instead of getting to the choppah? Will there be another Control time and Freak channel? Or...or should we all take the blue pill and journey down the rabbit hole and into the matrix together?"
"Matrix?" Kaldur asked.
"Oh give me a break!" Artemis shouted. "How stupid are you?"
"What are you talking about?" M'gann asked.
Raising her hand in front of her face with her fingers pressed together with an informative look, she sternly spoke, "One cannot simply explain the Matrix, one must experience it first hand to understand."
"Forget this!" Leaping in head first, Conner was intent on incapacitating the girl and breaking her remote.
With no time to waste, Control Freak, after a frightened shriek, held her remote above her head and pressed one of the buttons. Instantly, a purple swirl surrounded the seven of them with a crack of thunder shaking the building. Everything not bolted down to the floor was violently flung around in a tornado of television merchandise.
Once everything settled, and the purple swirl died down, the police finally busted in. They did not find a single soul inside.
So tell me, did ya'll like Control Freak as an insane fangirl?