Chapter VIII: Napalm Production
December 4th, 2018
Day 5, Status: Outbreak
Infected: 3,115
Dead: 1,877
Jump City Slums
12:30PM
The napalm site was close by. The Titans can see smoke from the railways above them. "Looks like we should be in the right direction. That smoke stream may be small, but it's leading us to the source: that napalm production site Lau told us about." Robin was confident that he was leading his subordinates the right way to the site.
A few minutes later, the site was in full view of the Titans. The Titans were mixed in emotions of awe at the size of the napalm plant and horrified that people are utilizing it for the wrong reasons. They would'nt let it stand. "Hang on, everyone, I'll scout for any cleaners guarding the entrance." Beast Boy turned into a mosquito and flew ahead. Moments later, he returned and reverted back to his original form. "Ok, there's more than one entrance to that plant, each one guarded by at least one cleaner." Cyborg then activated his zoom vision to look closely at the entrances. "I see three at the middle entrance... and two on the other two entrances each. Any idea on how we should approach?" "Leave the middle entrance to me." Raven chanted her usual incantation to open a portal beneath the cleaners guarding the middle entrance, which they fell through. "Better those murderers than us." Starfire commented on Raven's attack. "Come on, team. Let's go shut this plant down!" The Titans then entered through the middle entrance.
When the Titans entered the plant, there was suprisingly no one at all in the main hall of the plant. The Titans paused for a few moments, then proceeded onward. All of a sudden, a voice on the intercom echoed through the hall. "Now!" At that moment, nine groups of at least fifteen cleaners came out of hiding, their weapons pointing at the Titans. It was an ambush. "Why did I not see that coming?" Robin said, disgruntled at the ambush. "Not even I could sense these guys hiding. They must be wearing some sort of suit that cloaks them from me sensing them." Raven was as disbelieved as the other Titans. The voice on the intercom started speaking again. "Well well... look at that. It's the Teen Titans, here to "protect the innocent." Bleh. I know who you guys are, so I had my people embed their suits with special technology to combat each of your superpowers." The voice laughed. "I even know that you're with those lying government guys and their Division." "You listen here..." Robin tried to intimidate whoever was on the intercom, but was quickly interrupted. "No, YOU listen here! The government said they would help us, but did anyone came in Jump City to help or evacuate us? Nooooo. They wouldn't even send us food and water. They do that every month, but only once a month. No more than that. And even so, not enough to feed what's left of this city right now. That's total bullshit." The Titans were disbelieved that the dollar flu would cause so much suffering that it would drive a person to arson after blowing their fate in the government away. "Surely we can talk about this." Starfire was hoping for peace, but to no avail. "Sorry, the time for peace has long passed. You five are going to die right here, by fire. But first let me tell you a little story. In New York City, there was a man who had it with the government lying to the people of the city. So he decided to form us cleaners. Now, those Division agents killed him, and left us leaderless. They even cut our napalm supply short there. His name was Joe Ferro." The Titans were puzzled that the cleaners were still running, even though their leader was killed. "Doesn't a group disband usually after their leader dies?" Cyborg asked. "Some of us has to burn the virus away in Jump City. But enough talk! Time to burn! Everyone, on my mark burn these super assholes to a crisp!" The cleaners got ready to fire their flamethrowers at the Titans. "Well, looks like this is it." Beast Boy knew this would be it for him and his buddies. "It's a good think Lau is taking care of Silkie as we speak." Starfire knew that her beloved pet will be in company of Division agents. "We had a good life, Titans. We did what we could to stop these cleaners." The person on the end of the intercom got ready to signal the cleaners in the hall to fire at will, but all of a sudden, a sniper shot hit a tank on one of them, setting it on fire. After a bit, it exploded, knocking over the cleaners surrounding it. Their tanks too caught on fire and exploded. Three whole groups of cleaners were wiped out.
"What the fuck was that all about? Were those Division agents? Find whoever fired their gun and scorch them!" Just then, Robin and his subordinates made a serious offensive against the remaining cleaners in the hall. They were then tied up with their tanks stripped from them. Starfire thought about who made that shot that saved her life and those of her close friends. "I wonder who made that shot?" "Whoever did has our gratitude." Robin assured Starfire. The voice on the intercom grew agitated and worried. "This is not happening. Fine, My suit was specially made by Ferro himself. It can combat anything supernatural. I'm coming for you guys! And when I'm done, I'll find whoever fired that shot." Just then, a woman in a suit that is a mix of a hazmat suit and military hardware appeared before the Titans. "Go around her, Titans! There should be a weak point somewhere in her armor. I'll deal with her up front." Robin gave his command to fight the heavy cleaner from behind. They snuck from the sides and approached her from behind. Robin threw one of his boomerangs at the heavy, but the explosion when it hit her only grazed her, causing little damage to her. Raven fired a massive bolt of dark magic which hit the heavy from behind, very hard. Beast Boy then turned into a rhinoceros and barged at her. She only had little time to react, but not enough as Beast Boy hit her with his horn, sending her flying, giving Robin an opportunity to crane kick her face, causing her to backflip four times before landing on the floor. The heavy cleaner spoke her last words. "No... the cleaners will not die like this so easily..." Her Head then fell to the floor, her entire body now motionless. Robin but two of his fingers on her neck to check her life signs. It was slightly warm. Just then, another womanly voice sounded on the intercom. "Nice Job. I knew you would beat her and kill those cleaners. There may still be stragglers yet, but they will be dealt with." The Titans were caught by surprise. They didn't know if the woman on the intercom was friend or foe. "Don't worry, I'm friendly. We can meet in person another time though. Right now, you five need to get out of here. Some friends of mine placed bombs on this facility and they will go off In about five minutes. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, you'd best bail. Ciao." The Titans were shocked that someone planted bombs on the facility. Who planted them? They knew it didn't matter right now. Now they needed to run first, ask questions later. "Come on, Titans, let's get out of here before this place blows sky high." Robin said. "We're right behind you!" Said Starfire as they ran to the exit in which they entered.
After the Titans got to a safe distance, the facility exploded with a large and loud explosion, leaving behind a humongous fire. As the Titans stood in relief knowing that the napalm plant's destruction saved the lives of many innocent people, healthy and sick. Faye Lau and a bunch of Division agents, as well as the homeless of the nearby shantytown all approached the Titans from behind. They too were relieved to see something horrid go. Hundreds of innocent lives have been saved, thanks to the Teen Titans.
3:00PM
Infected: 3,462
Dead: 2,344
Division Base of Operations, Jump City Docks
Lau and the Titans were standing outside the Base of Operations, discussing what happened back at the napalm plant. They kept talking until Dr. Kandel arrived. "That's all the homeless in those slums. I managed to draw a blood sample from every last one of them." Said Kandel. "Thank you, doctor. You should get to work making those vaccines." Lau replied. "Right. The sooner we develop those vaccines, the better." Kandel went back inside. "That was really intense, Titans. You five managed to single-handedly defeat a heavily armored cleaner." Robin complimented the teamwork within the team. "It was nothing. A team will work best when it's together." The other Titans agreed with Robin, some complimenting him back. "Although, there is one thing about what happened back there. If you're sure neither of you planted those bombs, who did?" Robin shrugged in confusion. "Beats me, but after we beat that heavy cleaner, there was another female voice on the intercom. Said she was friendly, and told us we should get out of there because she had friends who planted those bombs, most likely while we were dealing with the cleaner." Starfire had no idea who the friendly voice was. "There's no way we can hear a voice like that one again, Robin." The other three Titans agreed with Starfire.
Just then, the same friendly voice can be heard nearby. "Or maybe this voice could be next to you right now." The Titans were surprised the same voice who helped them was near the Base of Operations. Lau felt like she recognized the voice. "Titans, this is the voice you heard, right?" Beast boy answered Lau. "Yeah, that's the voice who told us to bail." Cyborg started to feel awkward not seeing who had that voice. "Ok, you should come out and show yourself, it's kinda awkward that you have to talk to us while you're hidden." "Whatever you say." Just then, an image of a standard poodle appeared in front of Fau and the Titans. I knew she sounded familiar, Lau thought to herself. The other Titans were completely shocked to hear that the voice belonged to a dog. Beast Boy then said something about it. "Dude, is it just me, or are we—" "Talking to a dog? You five should really keep up on current events." The poodle interrupted Beast Boy. Raven then knows what she is talking about. "I did read an article that Dogs have been able to talk for a long, long, long time, just not to humans, until a few years ago." The poodle caught onto what Raven said. "There, at least the half demon gets the news." Cyborg could not even compute what is going on here. "I have been half man, half robot for an entire decade, yet I could not even find a dog that could talk. Even Beast Boy couldn't talk in Animal form!" The poodle made suggestions. "Maybe some upgrades are in order. One of my friends is a rocket scientist. She can help you with that." She then turned her attention to Lau. "If it isn't Faye Lau. It's been a long time. Last I heard, you and your agents were activated when the dollar flu resurfaced and hit this city. We parted ways only two years ago, yet you haven't changed a bit." The Titans were a bit confused at how the poodle knew Lau. Lau then spoke to the poodle. "You haven't changed yourself, either. Good to see you again after two years... General Dolly." Starfire asked a question. "Lau, you know this poodle?" Dolly turned her attention back to the Titans. "You five really want to know how me and Lau met?" There was a brief silence between her, Lau, and the Teen Titans. "Ah, we can just talk about it over something to drink." Robin knew what she's talking about. "Good thing we restored drinking water supply to Jump City." "Then maybe a cup of chamomile tea, then?" Dolly told them. Raven spoke up to her. "Root beer for Beast Boy. I like chamomile tea myself, but Beast Boy is grossed out by it." Dolly chucked a bit. "Well, I don't blame your friend, we all have different tastes, no matter what species we are." She turned to Lau. "Mind telling me about these five? Heard they're a big help in taking back Jump City with you guys." "Sure, General. I'm sure there's another familiar face who would be more than happy to see you." Dolly had an idea of who that might be. "Dr. Kandel? Yeah, I'm sure she'll be happy to see me." The Seven of them walked into the Base of Operations. Old friends are about to reminisce. Old allies are about to unite so save the day once again. The Titans' chances of saving Jump City from the dollar flu are about to increase substancially. What will happen next? Time will tell.