A Night as a Titan

The heels of his boots clacked against the yellow-colored linoleum that was the floor. With his speech to the troops complete, Immortus had to turn his attention to other matters. Yes, they were related, and it was to a uniformed assistant that he began to address these duties.

"Has he responded? Will he accept the contract?" the General demanded, leading the way down the hallway while his assistant trailed after him.

"We have received a reply," the assistant answered immediately. "He has declined our offer."

Immortus came to an abrupt halt. A stone-cold grimace marred his face and it took an effort of will to restrain his frustration. "Our terms are more than generous."

"All he said was that he had no interest," the assistant told him.

"It's a fortune. How could a hired killer resist?" It was baffling to receive such resistance, especially since they had purchased such services before with not even an objection. However, despite the power of H.I.V.E., there were some problems that not even their greatest minds could solve. To keep pushing the issue could damage a valuable working relationship. Unfortunately, that still left the original problem at hand.

His rhetorical question went unanswered. It was perhaps the healthiest decision this assistant had chosen to do. Once he had had a handle on his frustration, Immortus began his stalking march once more.

"Then we move on to the backup," the General stated. "The training we have placed him under, how does it progress?"

"According to the trainers, mediocre. A far cry from what we prefer," his assistant answered dutifully.

A disappointment then. Still, was there any other way to still gain from all the time and resources put into this failure? "Has a solution to correct this deficiency been found?"

"According to the lab, it's not the same formula, though it will imitate the majority of the effects." From beside him, a folder was held out, and without stopping or looking, Immortus took it and opened the file.

There had been multiple government programs out there that all sought a means to improve the performance of soldiers in the field. Militaries always desired the fabled supersoldier, and so turned to chemistry more often than other means. Chemicals, steroids, and all sorts of drugs were developed to achieve this ideal. Success varied depending on the program, and it was not uncommon to hear how one test subject brought an abrupt end to a program and the reason primarily was that they became something that the military did not bargain on.

One such program had caught his eye, and H.I.V.E. resources had been directed to recreate the formula developed. For some reason, they had been unable to duplicate the drug, only developing lesser grade versions. It was another frustration.

As he read through the file's contents, one paragraph caught his eye, and he read it at a minimum of twice to ensure that the contents were what he thought they were. It gave him some thought, and his assistant's words echoed back to him. Yes, their attempt to replicate a superior formula was wanting, but so was the potential test subject.

While perfection was the goal, maybe in this case the standard could be relaxed. Maybe, just maybe, this would grant that recruit the power he needed to be useful. And if he still could not produce results, then they had the perfect means to dispose of him.

Closing the folder, he held it out to be taken by his assistant. "Have our backup prepped for an infusion. It is far past time he begin to pull his weight."

"But General, sir!" his assistant protested. "He may not—"

"It is of no concern," Immortus interrupted. "If he truly had inherited strength, then this will bring it out. If he is a weakling, then he'll merely be weeded out of the gene pool. We're not here to babysit. Have him prepared for an infusion."

Protest aside, the assistant responded quickly with a, "Yes, sir!"

Immortus continued on his way, and at the next intersection hallway, his assistant departed, leaving the general to himself. The clacking of his boots were the only noise to be made, and their repetitious nature helped to focus him.

He would wait for the results of the infusion before moving forward. In the meantime, strike teams would be formed and set out. Lastly, an audit of inventory to ensure they had everything needed for the plan. They had the manpower to accomplish multiple goals at the same time, so why not do so?

Regardless, those Teen Titans needed to be eliminated first. Their interference would not be allowed to go unanswered.


Combing fingers through her hair, Cassie internally grumbled to herself as she cleared her eyes of the blonde strands. The sun was hovering over the horizon, which meant the day was coming to a close and the nightlife would be waking up.

Tonight she was not going to be out there. Call it a day off if you will, but she wasn't really feeling it today. At least, not after that little accident with Red, or Tim, or…wow, she was referring to him by that codename more often than not. It wasn't that she was traumatized or anything, but the rush of adrenaline had come way too early in the day, and let's not forget that she had really gotten into that spar with Kori earlier…

So had the guys, for some reason.

She deserved a break, a day off, whatever. She was working hard in ways that a couple years ago she would have laughed at. This was a far cry from a good ol' breaking and entering. This was before Red decided to rain on her parade. Some people would say she had really turned things around, but she didn't like people so who cared what they had to say about her.

Somehow, Red and the others had managed to find a nice, small, soft spot in her, and it was hard sometimes leaving the tower and going back home. Sometimes it felt like the tower itself was home, which, you know, was ridiculous. Her mom was back, but thanks to this internship, she was barely seeing her.

And Cassie was missing her mom a bit, okay? Don't tell anybody.

Well, Red and the rest already knew that they'd be out on patrol without her. You know, what the heck was up with all the nighttime patrols anyway? Didn't crime know no time or something? Couldn't it happen in the daylight too? It's not like she did her old breaking and entering routine during the night—oh yeah, she had. Damn, argument blown.

But really, just deciding on taking the night off had been a bit of a struggle. Was she really getting drawn into the life Red lived, and whatever for? It was such a pain sometimes to be the goody-goody.

Yet, at the end of a patrol, when their good deeds were done, and everybody was settling back at the tower, staying up way later than needed, some laughing, others telling the stories of what they did that night, hell, she even participated herself. They came from all sorts of backgrounds, and not everyone had an ideal life. Here they were, still finding a way to live it up.

And she liked it. Really, she did.

With a group as big as they were, you had people clumping together. The guys tended to share more interests than the girls, but the girls were calming to an extent. The wildest one you could say was Terra who tended to follow the guys' lead more often than not. Kori was Kori, always trying to learn and keep up, which was admirable when you knew of everything she had to deal with. Raven was…well, what could you say about Raven? The girl could be alone in an ocean of people if she wanted to be. Still, compared to the days on that yacht, she was at least leaving her room more.

The less said about the guys, the better. Sometimes, the trio of Victor, Garfield, and Bart shared one brain. They were loud, the latter two more than the former, they got rowdy, there were more explosions involved, but hey, one of them built a car from the ground up. That left Red to be the mature one of the people with a y chromosome. He was also the one guy she tolerated the most.

Before, that sense of duty of his, trying to be way too serious and all, was annoying as all hell. It didn't help he made a bad impression on her the first time they met. But when he wasn't in that stupid outfit or wearing that dumb mask, he was not that bad to be around. Really cute…

Cassie let out a groan. She seriously couldn't believe that she even had that thought.

It was a cliche, damn it. Two people who didn't get along at first finding a way to coexist and then nambly pambly feelings get involved. This wasn't some dumb Hollywood movie for Christ's sake!

Hell, she hated rom coms for how predictable they were. Don't even get her started on her mother's soaps. Why did it feel like she was walking straight into one?

Speaking of, this was her street. Sure, she could have dropped herself off right next to her house, but hey, neighbors were a thing and second she wanted the time to get some fresh air. Why had she been thinking about how things had changed so quickly?

Maybe it was all to do with that business with New Tamaran. Just north and up the coast, you could find a brand new island that was under alien occupation and a lot of people were having a problem with that. She happened to have a problem with it, but that was because it was on behalf of Kori. There was a black-haired bitch over there whom she really wanted to make best friends with her fists, but first she needed to beat Kori fair and square so that she knew she had the skills to at least handle the royal bitch.

That would have to be a dream for now. No matter how hard she tried, Kori was still holding her off, and didn't look like she was breaking a sweat. Both of them had the physical strength, and while Kori was taller, that just meant the skill area needed to be crossed. It was slow going, especially since Cassie liked brawling more, while Kori really had a finesse about her. It was awe inspiring, really.

Taking another breath and exhaling, the thoughtful blonde came to a stop in her stroll, staring down at the sidewalk that she was using. All of her thoughts were about the team now. Damn, so much had changed.

It was thanks to Red. He was to blame, though holding it against him was so much harder now. It was easier to do in the early days, though she still enjoyed yanking his chain. Someone had to knock him down a peg every once in a while. Seeing as how he was devoting a lot more time lately to the Titans, her unique set of peg knocking skills might be needed more than ever.

He really took things too seriously. What was she going to do with him?


"It's just going to be the seven of us tonight. Three teams, two, two, and three. We have a lot of ground to cover tonight."

Red Robin was trying to command the room, and Raven watched from her seat on the couch. The holographic display lit up a map of the city, and their designated team leader by default was doing his best to try and set them all up for success.

The vigilante from Gotham was nothing like the man most associated with that city. He didn't have the same commanding presence, or even the gravitas to pull it off. He was trying, and it was so obvious to her.

She may have had the fortunate, or unfortunate, opportunity to spend time under the Dark Knight's leadership, and the differences were still so stark.

"First team will be myself, Starfire, and Kid Flash. We'll start north, heading through commercial districts," Red Robin continued, the holographic display zooming in on that area of the projected Jump City. "We'll start from the east, make our way west. Second team will be Cyborg and Raven. You'll go through the center and downtown." The map scrolled down to show the central parts of the city. "Cyborg, run scans on all frequencies and keep a particular look out for tech companies. Head west and try not to deviate too much. Last team will be Terra and Beast Boy. You two will go south, going east to west." Now the map focused on the south side. It was nice how different districts were color coordinated. "Much of that is going to border the residential districts. Try to skirt them, but if you see anything suspicious, check it out."

With impressively deft movements, Red Robin zoomed out of the close up so that the whole city was being displayed. A marker on the west side of Jump glowed with a constant red. "This is where we'll rendezvous. Keep your eyes and ears and extrasensory perceptions on the look out for anything that might be big. This includes underground operations, heists, or some metahuman activity that is anything but family friendly. Any questions?"

A green hand encased in a red and white fingerless glove raised up. "Mind if we pick up something to eat along the way?"

"On the way back, maybe, but not during patrol. Anyone else?" Red Robin looked over the assembled group.

Raven kept herself schooled, her thoughts to herself. It was a straightforward plan, but it was so general without anything specific outside of those last comments. Red Robin really needed to work on setting clearer objectives, otherwise he was sending out three unequal teams to just run across rooftops for a night.

Kid Flash was looking left and right, then spoke up without raising his hand. "Hey, where's Wonder Girl? Is she coming along?"

To his credit, Red Robin kept a straight face. "She took the night off." Bad choice of words.

"Dude, so does that mean any of us can take nights off? There's a movie marathon coming up in a few days and I so don't want to miss it." Take a wild guess who threw that one out. So immature, that shapeshifter.

However, it was providing a nice test for their intrepid leader. How would he respond? Would he disappoint or exceed all expectation?

There was a tug at the corner of the masked teen's mouth, but he held his composure. "Talk to me after we get back. Or you get food. I'm not making promises, because knowing our luck, we might find out about some scheme and it all comes to a head that night."

"Then we'll just have to make sure we take care of it the night before, no biggie," Terra spoke up, putting a gloved hand on the shapeshifter's shoulder. "Like you said before, with the Tamaraneans. Something big goes down, everyone covers their heads for a day or two."

It seemed like someone was being rubbed on, but as for Red Robin's response, it could be better. He was still trying to negotiate and be the good guy. There was still so much work he needed to do. This team was going to need the kind of leadership that you found at the Justice League level if it were to make something of itself.

Not that she was invested in that, but she was not one to do things half-assed. Either you went in one hundred percent or not at all.

And since she would be residing here for the indeterminable future, it would be best if she started to step up with her efforts. This Teen Titans thing could not be half-assed, especially if there was any hope for growth.

It wasn't just them, after all. There was a whole planet out there, and there were so many others who could benefit from a place like this. Don't think for a second that she was a bleeding heart; this was being pragmatic. Teenagers with superpowers, be they spontaneous or accident originating, that was just a stupid thing to ignore.

Her eyes narrowed. This way of thinking was a stretch, even for her. Before, she could have cared less and would have gone with the flow. That was before Dr. Fate showed up, and reminded her of…everything. Glancing at the others who were getting ready to head out, a question occurred to her.

Why was she coming down harder on Red Robin? Why all the insistence on strong leadership? What was she trying to accomplish here?

Was she trying to create a defense? One to protect her? Or, was this a contingency plan in case everything went to hell? If everything failed and the worst came to pass?

These questions had no answers, not right now at any rate. She hadn't even begun to try and answer them herself.


It felt like so much of a cliche, yet there was an advantage to looking down that could not be ignored. Sure, Terra could say that she felt using rooftops as a means for patrol was overdone and overblown, and it was, no doubt. She had taken the time to doing things on the street level, but then, you know, buildings blocked a lot more of your sight than you could believe. You didn't see as far down the street because there were cars and streetlamps and people, and other things that got in the way.

So looking down from a rooftop had its advantages. When she had first started out with the Titans, and was starting patrol, the thing blonde had thought to use the earth to her advantage, like a radar system in her head to try and keep track of everything. That extra sense, as it turned out, was not sensitive enough for that and second, pavement and concrete tended to jam the sense up. Yeah, she could break through asphalt just fine, but sensing through it was a whole different thing.

At the very least, she didn't want for company. In fact, she had the best she could ever hope to have. Sure, he was a bird right now doing a fly over, but whenever he showed back up, then it was a fun time.

They had come a long way, hadn't they. It felt like another lifetime, and maybe it was, when the two of them were Ravagers, forced to live under Brother Blood's control, and acting as up and coming assassins to lay down his foes and all.

Gar hadn't been cut out for the life, even with the mind control and all. Herself on the other hand…she didn't like to think about it. So it was another lifetime, and one that was long gone. Spit on it and look to the future.

From behind a brown-colored domino mask, Terra glanced away from the streets below, and sought out anything moving fast and small in size. No signs of the green shapeshifter, not yet at any rate. There was little traffic in the earpiece she was wearing, so no emergencies yet.

Then it started from within, and quickly flowed up into her mouth. Unable to stop the inevitable, her mouth opened and a yawn tore out of her, her jaw stretching to let it out. Blinking her eyelids rapidly, she almost smacked her lips. Huh, she must be a bit more tired than she normally was. Maybe it would be better to, you know, call it a night early.

Except she wouldn't because she would be staying up late anyway. It's what teens did and none of the ones living in the tower were any different. It would be video games, something on TV, the game—whichever it was right now—or just talking the night away. You know, when was the last time any of them went out. Like out out. Like going to a club, or a party, and having fun?

That was an interesting thought. One she had never really had before. Again, life as a Ravager was so much more stressful, but as a Titan, it was relaxing. There weren't the same expectations. It was preventing death and not causing it. It was a nice different, and one she was coming to really value.

The rapid flapping was all the warning she got. While a little hard to pinpoint, she was able to spot Beast Boy as he shifted back into his human form. It was hard to describe what she saw as the changes were so quick, it almost made him a blur that grew in size, only a few avian features prominent until they vanished.

"Bupkiss!" the shapeshifter announced. "We'll need to move on to the next street and see if we pick up on anything. Man, it's a slow night."

"Maybe everyone else is busy as we get the easy route," the blonde shrugged her shoulders as she waved a hand. Nearly a large, flat top rock began to levitate. Moving towards her, she gave a little jump and settled her feet on top of it.

"But it's so boring," Beast Boy grumbled as he crossed his arms. Was he…yep, he was. Pouting. No action was making him a little stir crazy without being trapped inside. Then again, it was all about the excitement, the rush of adrenaline, and everything else that came with action.

There was a reason why they were teamed up. Now, it was only suspicions, but Red Robin was pairing the two of them together for a reason. Was it because they could work with one another easier than with the others? They did have the history. There was some training, though you could guess what that entailed. They did tend to stick close to each other.

Or maybe this was random chance.

Speaking of, they weren't going to find any random action standing around here. Beast Boy's scowling eyes were giving away his impatience, so she was going to get to it. This meant giving the younger guy something to do.

"How about you become a dog and try to sniff something out?" she suggested as her floating rock began to carry her off the building she was keeping vigil on and taking her to the next one. "Unless you want to be an owl all night."

"At least owls can turn their heads around. Fine, time to do my best McGruff impression." The shapeshifter was assuming another bird form, but the logic behind that was that dogs didn't fly. That didn't stop them from trying, but the results tended to either be tragic or hilarious. He would need to be on the ground before shifting into whatever canine he felt like being.

Meanwhile, Terra would keep to the high ground, all by herself.