As a bonus, I have uploaded some other ideas I had for this episode onto my Tumblr page that I crossed out before settling on the shows used for the team.
Eric – Yeah, I wanted a combination of Scarecrows for my version. As for why he would side with the Bloods, I'll get to that later, but for an idea, I looked at what Raven id to Doctor Light in the TT show when he was absorbed into her cloak then released a second later. I think that was the episode with the guy who lives in one of her books and gets her to use dark magic.
Jwill – Yeah, I know. I wanted him to be bratty with a hint of snobbishness.
Black Victor Cachat - Back in Darkness Falls when Raven was living in a cemetery, she had a few books of her own. She brought them with her and carries them around from place to place. Besides her clothing, they were her only real possession until she moved into Titan Tower and gained a room of her own. They contain incantations she has learned, invented, and need to study the more powerful she gets. And yeah, more on this will be detailed.
Ben A – More on Scarecrow to come but your assumptions about him are correct, sir.
5.
Unknown Location
July 4
Unknown Time
With a loud, reverberating slam, Conner came crashing down on the mat of the ring he and a rather largely muscled wrestler were in. Those in the crowd cheered, jeered, ohhed, ahhed, and chanted in unison as the two of them had a war within the confines of the roped off squared circle. Never had the Kryptonian experienced what it was like to go into a fight without his powers to back him up, but somehow, he was doing just that. He could not fly, use his TTK, stand up to a punch the 'normal' man delivered without feeling some sort of pain. Things were not made much easier by the vest he wore, which felt confining to him, or the fact the portly man named Paul Heyman was outside the ring taunting him the entire time.
"Both men have been giving a great match up here tonight, ladies and gentlemen," one of the announcers said over his headset. "Still, one has to wonder when one will gain the upper hand in this feud."
Ducking a large shot meant to take is head off, Conner sidestepped and delivered a hard hook to the champion's ribs, causing him to stagger for a moment. Taking advantage, the Titan leader delivered a clothesline then a kneedrop once his opponent was down.
"Get up, Brock! He's nothing! Weak!" Slamming his hands on the mat, Paul Heyman was dishing out commands to his client who was now getting back up and had a look of upmost hatred overtake him.
With a roar, Brock Lesner charged Conner, succeeding in picking him up and slamming him into the turnbuckle back first. He then followed his attack up with a series of crosses and hooks until delivering an uppercut to the powerless Kryptonian's stomach. Taking a step back from the kneeling man the champion popped his neck before picking him up and hoisting him on his shoulders. Widening his stance, Brock squatted slightly before spinning Conner over his head and slamming him down on the mat for his finisher, the F-5.
The audience expressed their shared pain for the challenger as Brock fell on top of him for, not a pin attempt, but to lock in his dreaded Kimora hold. With his arm behind him, Conner felt as if it were about to be ripped off and tried his best to break the hold. As time ticked by, Conner could feel his arm wanting to dislocate, but his training was proving to be his saving grace.
Managing to sip his free arm under Brock's chin, Conner put all his strength in turning himself around just enough to reach out and grab the bottom rope for the hold to be broken. Releasing his foe, Brock grabbed Conner's legs and drug him back when he got a nasty surprise.
Just as he had finished bringing Conner to the middle of the mat, he received a hard kick to the face, which stunned him, and was followed up with a hard uppercut. The crowed cheered as the challenger put the champion in a stupor and got a little breathing room.
"You can't do that to the champion!" Paul yelled as he climbed on the edge of the ring. "You know who that is? That is BROCK LESNER, and he-"
"Shut it!" Delivering a hard elbow as he leaned on the ropes, Conner not only knocked Paul Heyman off the ring, but succeeded in knocking him out, much to the crowd's approval. "How can anyone fight in this thing?"
Reaching for the zipper, the Titan leader unzipped the tactical vest he wore and ripped it off, much to the excitement of the ladies in the audience. Throwing the garment on the mat, Conner took a step back as Brock got back to his feet and charged forward. Leaping into the air, the powerless Kryptonian cocked his fist back and delivered a hard, flying Superman Punch to Brock's face. The hit was hard enough to knock the champion down and send him to dream land.
Knowing what else to do, since he would watch this kind of entertainment every so often, Conner placed a booted foot on Brock's chest and waited for the referee to make the three count.
"Ladies and gentlemen," an attractive woman said as she held a microphone to her lips, "the winner and new WWE Heavyweight Champion-"
Whatever name she said was not heard by Conner who was being awarded the title belt and looking around for any sign of his friends. A moment after the referee handed him his championship, a purple vortex opened up behind him and drew him into it.
Unknown Location
July 4
Unknown Time
"Wally, you got that remote fixed yet?"
"Almost there. I think I found Conner and getting him here's taking a lot of energy."
"Well hurry up, I don't think Kaldur can last much longer."
Looking out from behind a wall, Dick saw Kaldur dive out of the way of a battering ram seeking to turn him into a pancake on the wall behind him. Bouncing back to his feet, the Atlantean had to restrain himself from attacking with his weapons as he did not want to hurt his long time friend. Instead, he vaulted up the stairs just as a line of spears came hurtling at him.
The group, who were used to fighting enemies with unbelievable powers, were having a hard time with a girl with a remote and their scantily clad friend. Still in her human disguise, M'gann was now garbed in a pair of sheer pink leg coverings and a matching top with her stomach exposed. A small red, sleeveless half jacket covered what little top she had and her auburn hair was done in an up-do with golden charms adorning it.
"M'gann!" Artemis screamed from the kitchen of the house they were in. "Just stop, alright? Fight it!" Loading a blunted bolt in the crossbow she still possessed, the blonde archer quickly took aim and fired from the wall the was pinned behind.
"I can't! I don't have control over what I do!" Crossing her arms, the still human disguised Martian blinked her eyes and had the refrigerator in front of her friend open and bombard her with ice cold wind.
"GAH! M'GANN!"
"I'm sorry Artemis!" Putting a stop to the arctic wind, M'gann turned to Control freak who was lounging on the couch with a bowl of Cheetos and a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew. "Oooh, I'm going to-"
"Dew nothing. Get it? 'Dew' as in 'Mountain Dew' and not 'do' as in the correct form of the word to be used in this instance?" Licking her fingers, Control Freak stood from the sofa and let out a loud burp. "You know the rules, you have to abide by the rules in the TV show you're in. And in this case, she who holds the bottle, makes the rules. Now you'll do what I say and only what I say without question, hesitation, or second guessing. And never attack me." She then stuck her tongue out in a childish manner.
Reaching into her coat, Control freak withdrew a bottle made of purple and pink glass. "And I wish for you to chain up Flaming C and remove his powers."
Feeling herself being forced to face where her friends were, M'gann let out a grunt as she crossed her arms against her will and blinked her eyes. Instantly, Wally found himself shackled to a rock wall without his powers.
"W, Flaming C, I'm so sorry." M'gann said.
"I AM NOT FLAMING C!" the ginger yelled as he struggled against his bonds.
"RAGH!" Attacking from the stairs, Kaldur came close to slicing the remote and bottle Control Freak held.
Falling back, the greasy haired girl rapidly crawled away from the Atlantean as he sought to take either the remote or bottle away from her. The two ran around the room, leaping over chairs, toppling over tables, and nearly slipping on the frozen floor from the cold wind striking Artemis, who was now frozen in place in the kitchen.
"Stay back! I know how to use this." Holding a bronze statue over her head, Control Freak waited for the dark skinned man to act first. "You're move, creep."
Seeing Kaldur advance, she cocked her arm back and threw it as hard as she could, missing her target by a mile. In fact, the statue landed hard on the floor beside Kaldur's feet. "Man, my trowing arm sucks."
Taking the distraction, Kaldur gave chase again with Control Freak letting out a frightened 'Yipe' when he came close to catching her. He almost succeeded in doing so when he flung one of his water bearer whips out to catch her only for him to miss as she dove out of the way and a line of ceramic statues on the fireplace mantle shattered.
"SNOWFLAKE!" Letting out a shrill scream, Control Freak froze in place once she saw a broken ceramic snowman laying on the ground. She then looked up at a surprised Kaldur and pointed at him. "Not...cool."
Charging forward, Kaldur had the second of his water bearers transform into a whip and snagged the girl's bottle holding arm. He was just about to have his first whip wrap around her feet when she yelled out to M'gann.
"I wish he were a kitty!"
Reaching out, Control Freak caught a transformed Kaldur as he became a small calico kitten.
"Kaldur!" M'gann yelled as she saw the girl lift her former humanoid friend by the neck skin. "Let him go!"
"Aww, he's so cute. I will name him George and I will love him, and pet him, and squeeze him, and OW!" Dropping the Kaldur kitten, Control Freak winced in pain as she snapped her arm back and found she had been scratched. "Stupid cat! Why I'll teach you to- Wha!"
Feeling the ground shake beneath her, the acne faced girl feel to her knees as the entire house shook. Nick knacks fell form the shelves, pictures fell from the walls, and the furniture rattled as they moved around until the ceiling began to crumble.
"Jeanie girl, what did you do?!" Control Freak yelled as se fumbled for her remote.
"Nothing, I-" Turning at the sight of something out of the corner of her eye, M'gann saw a purple vortex fade away with Conner and Dick standing beside it. "Conner!"
Squatting down, Conner, still in his wrestling gear with the title belt hanging from his waist, was using his Tactile Telekinesis to shake the house down to the foundation. The only way to use his TTK was to touch the object he wishes to move, in this case, it was the entire house.
"Crap, time to boogie." Pressing another button on her remote, Control Freak summoned another portal to escape through with the idea of bringing M'gann with her as she still held onto the bottle.
Inside the kitchen, Artemis was chipping away at the ice holding her down with a bundle of crossbow bolts. With a few more whacks, she freed her ankle and quickly loaded one of the projectiles into her weapon. Popping around the corner, the blonde woman aimed and shot the bottle from the coat wearing girl's hand, causing it to shatter on the floor and freeing M'gann.
"Crap in a hat!" Diving through the portal, Control Freak vanished as the house continued to fall around her.
"Hurry, follow her!" Dick yelled as he finished freeing Wally by picking his shackles.
Grabbing the Kaldur kitten, Conner and M'gann were the next ones trough the portal with Dick, Wally, and Artemis following after just as the house came crashing down.
Titans Tower
July 4
21: 24
"This is insane!" Throwing down an empty bag of M&M's, Cissie tuned and kicked a Jimmy-rigged trap made of a stick, rope, and a hamper.
"You honestly think that would have worked?" Terra asked as she stared at the makeshift trap for Isis.
"You got a better idea? It's all we could come up with once we figured out Isis has super speed. Relatively speaking."
Ever since coming up with the classic trap she once heard her best friend's sister's, cousin's, roommate's, brother's step sister's, uncle twice removed said he used one like it during the war, which war that was she did not know, say it worked, Cissie went right to work on getting it done after calling her friend. The result was having to lay a tube of Pringles, followed by a bag of Doritos, then a giant size bag of M&M's on the ground in an effort to attract the infant speedster. All three failed as she evidently came running in and cleaned up what was just laid out for her.
"How can such little feet move so fast?" Leaning against the wall, Cissie placed her face in her hands.
"I think the more important question is, where does she take it all," Terra said while looking the area over and finding no trace of the fast running child.
"Hey guys," Kyle said form the living area entrance. "We're just about to start, come on."
Admitting defeat, Cissie and Terra abandoned their trap to join the others in the living area. Temporarily dropping his wall construct, Kyle let the last two in as Raven took a cross legged seat in front of the circle she drew. Resting her hands on her knees, the Goth girl announced she was about to begin and for someone to begin looking for the TV trapped group by flipping channels.
Sitting on the couch with his elbows on his knees and hands supporting his head, Garfield ran through all of the places within the tower they as a group searched with the device allowing them to understand Sphere by his side. Hearing him mutter something to himself, Raven took a glance back and saw how much he was worried about not finding Carter and Isis. Looking at the floor for a moment, she was about to say something to him when she saw Terra slide up next to him.
"It's okay, Gar," the blonde teen told him as she took hold of the remote. "Once they get here, Meg can do her mind thingy and find him in no time."
"You don't understand," Garfield all but yelled. "This was something I needed to do. I should have taken better care of Carter. Sis has done so much for me and the one time I could really pay her back, I screwed up. She's gonna hate me for this."
Placing her hand on his back, Terra gave him a gentle pat. "No she won't. She'll understand. Everyone makes mistakes. We'll just tell her Carter crawled away while we were watching a movie. It was dark and we were all, like, captivated with it or something. Tell them the truth."
"It's still not good enough." Leaning back in the couch, he let out a long sigh. "Never wanted to let her down."
Taking his hand, Terra gave him a smile. "It'll work out."
Turning back around, Raven let out a quiet breath from what she just saw then concentrated on the task at hand. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back and focused her energy on the magical force she came across as she began chanting. While doing so, her eyes turned completely white as she fully tapped into her power.
"Found them," Terra said once she stopped on the 'Classic TV' channel.
"Where are they?" Kyle asked as Cassandra and Cissie gave the TV their upmost attention.
Seeing what they were looking at, Garfield's jaw dropped as he saw the setting of the show. It was a house with a stair case in plain view. The two story house was one he was very familiar with. It's yellow walls were like home to the green teen, one he had not seen in a while, with a very familiar face.
Shaking his head, Garfield let out a groan once he saw the show on the channel. "Why this one?"
Unknown Location
July 4
Unknown Time
"Wh...where are we?" Getting up from a crouched position, Kaldur froze at the sound of his voice. "I, I am not a cat?"
"Guess that little freak's spells or whatever she does only lasts until we change locations." Loading another bolt in her crossbow, Artemis was ready to shoot whatever part of Control Freak she should see. "Oh, uh, not talking about you, M'gann. M'gann?"
Looking around, the Jeanie dressed Martian instantly recognized their new setting. She had it memorized after all. Everything from the color of the walls, the position of the furniture, even the framed pictures, she knew everything about the house.
"Why did she choose this house," M'gann angrily said.
"Because you have no powers here, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh." Sliding down the banister, Control Freak hopped off at the first turn and placed a hand on her hip with her remote in her other hand. "Now, since you have my damaged remote and my battery belt, I'll wager you must be low on power. I myself am low on power as well. But unlike you six, I know what will happen if you don't have the energy to power the remote."
Standing in a defensive position, the team of heroes were ready for Control Freak to make the first move as she tossed her remote in her hand.
"Well?" Wally asked.
"Well what?" Control Freak responded.
"What happens?"
"What happens, what?"
"What happens if the remote doesn't have power?" the ginger speedster yelled.
"Oh, well, um, my uncle says you'll be trapped in TV limbo forever, or something like that."
"And who precisely is your uncle?" Kaldur asked.
"Who cares?!" Artemis and Conner said at the same time as they sprang into action first.
Titans Tower
"Better hurry up, they're literally tearing the house down." Sanding just behind Raven, Kyle watched as the six powerless team members fought the trench coat wearing girl.
Things would be going a lot easier if they had their powers since it was obvious the girl had none of her own except for her remote. All six members were kept at bay as Control Freak fired lasers, electrical discharges, had electronic devices come to life and attack them, and even had the air conditioner vents spew snow.
"Jeez, who is this girl?" Cissie asked. "And why doesn't M'gann just mind whammy her?"
"Pay attention," Damian told her. "Your so called teammates are not using their powers because it's evident they do not have them." Shaking his head, Damian could not help but add, "And they call themselves trained."
"That sucks. And they are trained." Bending down so she was eye level with the boy, Cissie looked at him square in the eye. "And if you don't shut up with your snide remarks, we'll make sure everyone sees your little freak out, elf boy."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me."
With her charge and the Titan's archer having a stare down, Cassandra crossed her arms and took a step back. No sooner had her foot touched the ground when she heard a crunch. Looking down, she saw a broken Dorito chip and a trail of crumbs leading out of the room.
Back in the TV, Wally and Kaldur had just dove behind one of the couches as a beam of searing light sailed across the room from a gooseneck desk lamp. The couch instantly caught fire with both men pinned behind it. Across from them, Conner was just thrown back from a point blank laser shot. Using a silver tray as a shield, he avoided being inured but landed hard at the bottom of the stairs.
"Any body got a plan?" Artemis yelled as she loaded her final bolt. "Getting real tired of this chick and her mojo."
Changing her batteries on the fly, Control Freak kept up the chaos within the home, not noticing a certain masked man getting into position just under the staircase she occupied with a Bird-A-Rang in hand.
"Whoo Hoo! Let's make this party really fun!" Clicking a set of numbers on her remote, Control Freak had parts of the ground begin to explode as the water pipes burst. One such explosion caught Conner as he tried to dodge an incoming flying ceiling fan and was flipped onto his back.
"They're under the ground!" the maniacal remote wielder yelled. "They're under, the ground!"
"Stop with all the catch phrases!" Flinging a bronze plate, Wally narrowly missed striking the girl's leg as she leapt to the first floor.
"Ha! Your throw is no match for my kung fu."
"Then try this one!" Throwing his Bird-A-Rang, Dick succeeded in knocking the remote from her hands.
Acting fast, Kaldur leapt over the charred couch and smashed the remote under his foot. Instantly, everything came to a standstill a moment before the house began to repair itself. Each member of the original team, excluding Dick and Artemis, was surrounded in a yellow light. Their powers were now restored and within a few moments, it was like nothing had happened to begin with.
"NOOOOOOOO! You monsters! You evil, evil monsters!" Falling to her knees, Control Freak pathetically picked up the broken bits of her remote. "Does anyone have any superglue? Or maybe I can go the redneck route and duct tape it back together! Psy does it all the time! I think."
Picking her up by the collar, Artemis brought the girl extremely close to her face. "I should make you suffer slow for what you just did to us. You now how stupid this was?"
"You made me dance on camera in front of the world," Dick told her as she stood to the girl's right.
"And made me wreak a radio made of coconuts," Kaldur added. "However impossible one might be."
"Plus, she made me take Sheldon's spot. No one takes Sheldon's spot." Looking at the others, Wally shrugged. "What? It's true."
"Wally, she had me almost killed and eaten by zombies," Artemis told him.
"And almost had me beaten senseless." Stomping up to the group, Conner flexed his muscles as he was ready to make the girl pay himself.
Looking at the five nervously, Control freak grinded her teeth and hoped what they had planned would not hurt too much. "I just came out tonight for a good time, and I honestly-"
"NAH-AH!" Artemis said angrily. "Say one more catch phrase, quote, meme, or anything of the sort, and I will make you suffer in away that is truly demented."
With the girl captured, the group could finally catch their breaths when Conner noticed M'gann was missing. He did not have time to say anything when a white light appeared in front of the far wall marking off the kitchen like a rip in the air. As it grew in size, the light separated into two sides with a blue portal between them. Inside, they could see the living area of Titans Tower and the group of teens within.
"Better hurry up!" Raven yelled. "I don't know how long I can keep the portal open!"
"We will deal with Control Freak once we are back in the real world," Kaldur told the group. "For now, let us get back to the tower."
"Wait, I can't find M'gann." Breaking off from the rest, Conner went searching for his wife when he stopped and concentrated on trying to feel her.
Since they were married on Mars, both had gone into a complete mind meld and could feel the other no matter where they were. In this instance, he knew she was not far from them and after a bit more concentration, he zeroed in on the front door.
"Conner, hurry up!" Dick yelled as Artemis stepped through the portal first.
Opening the door, the Kryptonian came face to face with his wife and two other people he was just as familiar with, an auburn haired teen girl and a dark haired teen boy.
"Is it okay?" the girl asked. "Is it over?"
Looking at her husband, M'gann saw the questioning look on his face. "Yeah," she told the girl. "It's over."
It was unbelievable, the resemblance they shared. Then again, the Martian did copy her Earth appearance from the girl.
"M'gann," Conner told her softly. "We have to go."
"In a moment." Looking at the teen girl, M'gann sniffed as she walked up close to her. "He's okay. I, I'm taking good care of him."
The girl looked at her puzzled.
"He's learning so much so fast. And has grown so much too. He misses you. I know he makes you proud because he makes me proud. And I'll always be there for him. We miss you so much, Marie."
"Who, who's Marie?" the girl asked. "I'm Megan."
"I know," M'gann told her. "You'll always be Megan. But to him...you're so much more."
Taking her by the hand, Conner leaned in close. "I'm sorry, but we have to go."
Giving his hand a squeeze, M'gann nodded and gave the girl a sad smile. "Goodbye, Megan." She then turned back into the house.
"What was that about?" the boy asked Megan.
"I don't know, Conner. But I think I might know her somehow."
"Well, she was dressed like Barbara Eden."
"Yeah. Yeah, that must be it."
Inside the living area of Titans Tower, Garfield and the others were waiting for the others to cross over. The green teen was beyond nervous as he saw his sister reenter the house with Conner and were making their way to the portal behind Kaldur and the captured Control Freak.
Running into the room, Cassandra rushed up to Garfield and tapped him on the shoulder rather quickly. She began to sign rapidly, then signaling for him to follow her. Looking back at the just arriving Wally, Garfield hurriedly left the room with Cassandra leading the way.
"You do know I don't know sign language, right?" Seeing the asian girl nod her understanding, he continued following her and soon wound up in his sister and Conner's bedroom.
Stopping in her tracks, Cassandra pointed across the room at the closet. The sliding door was partly open, giving him cause to take a peak inside. As he moved the door the rest of the way open, his jaw dropped straight to the floor.
Curled up on top of Conner's boots, with a severely gnawed one near his snout, Wolf was sleeping soundly. As if that was not enough of a surprise, Isis was laying within the large animal's warm fur with several pieces of candy in the palm of her hand. Sleeping next to her was the diaper wearing Carter with a bottle just out of reach of his lips. Both children were snuggled close together with their heads rising and falling with Wolf's gentle breathing.
Back in the living room, Kaldur was just about to step through the portal with Control Freak with Dick waiting for him to hand her off to him.
"Oh, woe is me," the acne faced criminal said. "Woe for Control Freak. Woe for the girl only looking out for the fans. Woe for the cutie patotie who only cares for fixing what the companies have royally screwed up. Woe for those whose favorite characters have been ruined by the so called professional writers and higher ups of those companies. Woe for-"
"Enough!" Kaldur was growing extremely annoyed at the girl's never ending banter.
"But I never got to taste Vitameatavegemin. It's supposed to taste like candy."
"Enjoy your freedom now. As soon as we are all home, you will be sent to jail for the trouble you have caused."
"Only if you can keep me that is. GOING NINJA!" Shifting her position, Control Freak fell to her knees then rolled away, leaving the Atlantean holding the phone chord they used to tie her hands up with. "That's something my uncle taught me, loser."
Reaching into her shirt, the greasy haired girl pulled out another remote. She let out a yell as the device was attached to her with a strip of duct tape. "Ow, that hurt. Anyways, never leave home without a backup for your backup, MUAH HA HA!"
"Hey," M'gann shouted as she charged forward.
"Grab her!" Conner yelled as he did the same.
Diving for the girl, Kaldur almost reached her just as she pushed another button and began to disappear. "And tell the blondie," she then lowered her vice a few octaves, "I'll be back."
"Can't hold the portal much longer!" With beads of sweat dripping from her brow, Raven was putting all of her energy into keeping the gateway open as the final three ran out of the TV world and came crashing into the real world. With a loud crack, the portal gave off a bright flash then shut closed, knocking everyone in the room back a few feet.
With various groans, the teens and members of the original team slowly got to a sitting position with some checking in on others.
"Awesome mojo, Raven," Kyle groaned as he sat up. "Really packed a punch."
"Yeah, as long as we don't have to do that again." Looking herself over, Cissie made sure nothing was broken.
"Could have been worse," Raven told them. "It could have backfired exponentially and taken out half of the city."
"What?"
"That, or rip your souls out of your body."
Looking at each other, the teen Lantern and archer had worried looks about them.
"Y, you're kidding. Right?" Kyle asked.
"Raven?" Cissie said as they watched the Goth girl get back to her feet and join the other recovering heroes. "Rae, Raven?"
"Dude, feels like I was flash frozen and thawed at the same time." Sitting up, Wally rubbed his head while his wife offered him a hand up.
"Come on, Flaming C. Shrug it off." Helping her speedster up, Artemis saw the annoyed look he had at the use of that name and tried to suppress a grin.
"Great throw," Kaldur told Dick, who still had his glasses on.
"Nice moves," the former boy wonder told his former leader. "What happened back there? How did she get free?"
"I do not know. My guess is she may have experience in escape artistry. Her bonds were on tight."
While the others were busy making sure they were okay, Garfield and Cassandra re-entered the living area with the two infants and Wolf. With a look of guilt on his face, Garfield went through every possible punishment he could face once he told his sister and her husband on how he almost lost their son when he, and the others, got a good look at what they were wearing.
Surrounding the original six, the teens making up The Titans, along with Damian and Cassandra, were not only wanting to know what happened to them, but why only Wally and Dick were wearing regular clothing with Artemis wearing grungy, sweat stained clothing, M'gann was dressed like a harem girl, Conner was, once again, missing his shirt with a gold belt hanging around his waist, and why Kaldur was wearing an outfit suitable for going out on a nautical tour when the Zeta Tube announced the arrival of The Flash and Martian Manhunter. As both League members entered the room, they too came to a stop and stared at the six who were simply standing there.
"Okay," Flash said as he removed his mask, "I'm always looking for a good party, so I really want to know what happened here."
"Hold on," Cissie said as she made her way to the crimson speedster. "You have some explaining to do first."
With an eyebrow raised, Barry looked down at the girl as she stared at him angrily.
"You left us with Isis or Iris, or whatever we call her, and failed to mention she has super speed. And now, she's-"
"Right here," Garfield interrupted. "She's right here with Cassandra and Carter's right here with me, see? All safe and not somewhere we don't know." He then added a forced chuckle and grin.
"Oh. Well, then that's okay then. All...okay." Giving the Leaguer a wide, phony smile, Cissie backed up and rejoined the others.
"That's not it, they're-" Putting a stop to Damian's small outburst, Raven flashed her red eyes at the boy, making hm think twice before saying anything more. "They're, really, good, babysitters."
"And for reference, since we know she has super-speed, for a toddler at least, we got her an inhibiter bracelet." Taking her daughter from Cassandra, Artemis let the sleepy child rest on her shoulder as she checked the bracelet. "Huh, looks like it's out of power. Barry, did you remember to recharge it?"
"That's what I forgot," Barry said with a snap of his fingers. "For the life of me, I was thinking I forgot to do something once I joined J'onn but couldn't remember what that was."
As one, the Titan members groaned at the mention of an uncharged inhibiter bracelet.
It was not until later, when everyone had gone home for the night, when M'gann and Conner had finished washing up from their impromptu battle from earlier. Both were in their room relaxing with Carter in their bed, just wanting to forget everything that had happened. Conner was leaning against the head of the bed with M'gann's head resting on his thigh.
"I just had to do it," M'gann said quietly as she had her and Conner's son slowly rotate in the air. "Seeing where we were. I knew she was outside and wanted to protect her. Sorry I left the fight, but, once I saw her-"
"I get it. It was Marie." Watching the infant laugh, Conner couldn't help but smile at the contagious sound.
"No, it wasn't. But it was close enough." A sad smile spread across the green skinned woman's face. "It felt good to tell her that, though. It was like she's still alive, like nothing had happened to her."
Stroking his arm with a free hand, M'gann had the other one direct Carter to spin onto his back and sent a stuffed crocheted Martian Manhunter doll over to him. "By the way, did Wally keep the remote from Control Freak?"
"No, he gave it to Garfield to put in his trophy room. I told him to put that belt I got in there to."
Grinning, M'gann was just about to comment on Conner maintaining tradition by losing his shirt on a mission when he sent her a thought, causing her to blush fiercely. "Yes," she giggled, "I'll wear the Jeanie costume for you again."
Breaking their soft laughter, they heard a knock at their partly opened door a moment before Garfield came in.
"Hey, Gar," M'gann said as she used her telekinesis to have her son float slightly above them to play with him. "Anything you need?"
"Um, yeah." Looking nervous, the teenage boy did not look at either of them in the eye. "I, just wanted to say...I'm sorry."
"For what?" Sitting up, she lowered the Krypto/Martian into her arms as he squealed with joy from their play time.
Standing in front of the bed, Garfield scratched an arm and forced himself to look into his sister's eyes. "I, earlier, when you were out and we were supposed to be training, we kinda got pizza and watched a movie instead."
"We had a feeling you would skip training, no problem."
"But, when we were watching the movie, Uncle J'onn came by with Carter and asked me to watch him. We watched some more and we, kinda, lost, him."
Catching Conner's attention, the Kryptonan/human hybrid got to a more upright position on the bed. "You what?"
"It was really my fault," Garfield blurted out, mistaking Conner's genuine questioning for anger. "It was my responsibility to watch over him and we couldn't find him because he got out of his biosuit until Cassandra noticed a trail of crumbs and we found them sleeping with Wolf in your closet. I'm sorry and I know I messed up bad, but please don't take it out on the others."
"Garfield, relax." Getting out of bed, M'gann made her way over to him. "It's okay."
"But I messed up. Something could have happened to Carter and it would have been all my fault."
"Gar, look at me. Nothing happened to him. He's extremely durable being half Kryptonian. I appreciate you telling me the truth, but it's all right."
"You, you're not mad?"
"I'm more relived than angry, Gar. We understand things happen, and have taken measures in case he suddenly does something unexpected. I gave my parents a fright when I flew to the surface of Mars when I was first learning and nearly crashed into a camouflaged bioship. If that happens, we made it so he can't leave the tower. If something like this happens again, call us. I can tell you where he is. Just wait until he learns how to fly or go into camouflage mode." Hearing her son giggle, M'gann smiled and lightly bounced him. "He may look it, but he's not weak. No one we work with, live with, or love is weak. We're all strong here. And we know you'll do whatever you can to protect him like we will do anything we can to protect each other."
Tickling Carter slightly, Garfield watched as the child turned the same color green as him. "I'll make sure he's always safe, sis. We'll always have each other's backs no matter what."
Salem, Oregon
July 5
00:15 UTC
On the outskirts of Oregon's capitol, inside a loft located on the fourth floor of an old building surrounded by trash, abandoned cars, razor wire fences, and a few stray animals, the girl known as Control Freak, in a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top, was busy multi-tasking by playing a video game, cooking Jiffy Pop, downing a bottle of Red Bull, and talking on a cell phone with an overly cracked screen. Alternative rock music played in the background as she frantically pressed the buttons of her controller in an attempt in defeating a level's boss monster.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. No problemo. It was a pleasure to have so much fun, OW!"
Dropping her controller on her lap, the greasy haired girl tried to blow cool air on her toe.
"What? Oh no, I'm fine. I just burned my big piggy on a hot plate. I'm making Jiffy Pop."
Using her feet, the girl removed the foil pan from the heat, turned off the small device, and used her flexibility to bring it over to her. She then used her foot to retrieve the artificial butter toping and poured over half of the bottle on her snack once she grabbed it with her free hand.
"Um hum, Yeah. Day keft one off my remofs," she said with a mouthful of popcorn then swallowed. "Is there any chance I can get a replacement? I'm down to my last one. They kinda destroyed my second one and kept the first...Yeah, they kept one but I think it's back at their base or something."
Leaning over, she grabbed a fork from the crate-turned-table beside the couch she was sitting crosslegged on and used it to scratch her rear end. "Oh good, thank you, thankyouthankyouhnkyouthankyouthankyou. I was afraid since I didn't get them trapped in the TV, you'll cut me off like you did with Uncle Kadabra.
After a few moments of the person on the other end of the line speaking, the resting Control Freak leaned back and proceeded in using the fork to scratch her belly button. She then used the same fork to scoop a glob of butter then flicked it on her popcorn, letting it met a bit before grabbing another handful and stuffing it in her mouth.
"Sure, (swallow), sure thing, Mister, um, Light Guy. If you need anything else, I'll be here. Just can't wait to get my new remotes. Oh, and before I forget, will you manage to free my uncle from Belle Reve? Oh good, he was such a downer. Never let me play my games when I wanted to and never understood Galaxy Wars. He actually liked Jib Jab, the lame-o. Go ahead and keep him there as long as you want, no big."