Hello, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there. Remember to wear masks and social distance.
This will be my final chapter before going on hiatus as my plan for this story has run stale and I have lost interest at the moment.
Eris – I'm glad you like the idea, it seems so obvious, but no one seems to have realised it. The fewer number of stories is what inspired me to write this story in the first place, and with so few out there it means that there are more ideas to play around with. I like the idea's you've suggested, and I do have stories in the works that take some of those elements. It kind of reminds me of the story "Fissure" by Menamebephil. The true extent of Beast Boys powers will be either touched on or described/explained or both in later stories. I have lots of big plans just waiting to be let loose. Please fell free to send me more story ideas if you come up with any, and I hope others can too. I'd be happy to include characters inspired by you in the stories as an homage.
Derekctomlinson – If you are waiting for a story with a jealous Raven as a part of the plot, I will say that while I wont have one out in the near future, I do have one planned and will keep your comments in mind.
Results for the poll will be at the end of the chapter. To anyone who wants to participate leave your vote in the reviews and best of luck.
Disclaimer: As per usual I do not own Teen Titans, nor the characters, nor the songs. I'm not nearly that awesome.
Anyway, lets on with the story…
Chapter 4: Titans vs The Hive (Round 2)
On a less trafficked street in downtown Jump City the few civilians went about their day without a care in the world. People where making their way back home from work or walking their pets or simply taking amongst their friends.
Then without warning a bright flash of light went off above the street before receding and leaving a swirling blue vortex of energy crackling in midair, scaring many of the nearby pedestrians. Those who hadn't run off initially watched as three figures fell out of the vortex right before it disappeared.
The three figures groaned in discomfort as they began to pick themselves up. Now revealing themselves to be three of Jump City's most notorious teen supervillains.
"Ugh… wha-what happened? Where are we?" The largest of them said.
"There was a bright light, and we fell. Now we're-" The second, southern man was then cut off by what could only be described as an angry little girl who had just gotten her favorite toy broken.
"GOD DAMNIT YOU STUPID FUCKING MORONS!"
Mammoth and Billy Numerous turned to see the third member of their little trio fiddling with his backpack as the tesla-coil like device on the back sparked fizzled. Pieces of it were falling off, all the rings on it were either cracked or missing big chunks and the metal body was warped and jutting out at odd angles.
"What's wrong little buddy? What in blue blazes happened?" Billy asked.
"I had to use my experimental new invention to save your sorry asses! But since this was only a prototype and I hadn't perfected it for multiple travelers yet the whole things fried!"
"What the hell even is that stupid thing!?" Mammoth demanded the bit sized brainiac.
"This 'stupid thing' you dunce is a personal teleporter I designed based on zeta tube schematics that I 'borrowed' from some S.T.A.R Labs that utilizes quantum teleportation to open a portal from its current location to a pre-determined destination." Gizmo responded as he tried desperately to repair it only for it to shock him instead.
"Uh… you mind dumbing it down for us a bit bud?" Billy asked with a confused look that Mammoth shared.
"Simpletons." Gizmo mumbles "It's a teleporter snot brains! But it was still a prototype and not yet configured for multiple people. Now until I can get home and fix it its totally useless.
"Oh, so its just like you pipsqueak." Mammoth said as he crossed his arms.
Billy didn't even have time to slap his forehead before the tiny techie villain smashed the larger one away with one of his mechanical legs.
"YOU WANT TO RUN THAT FAT MOUTH OF YOURS, THEN EAT THIS!" He said as he retracted the broken teleporter and took to the skies while blasting Mammoth. The brute lifted his arms to block the blasts before throwing random nearby objects at his squat teammate.
Billy Numerous opened his mouth to say something in a half-hearted effort to stop the two from hurting each other worse than they already were when the two were suddenly encased in large eye shaped spheres and two of their other teammates floated down in their own.
"Guys, what the hell are you two doing?" See-More said as he retracted his own bubble, but left Gizmo and Mammoth contained and separated.
"They've been goin at it like two gators over a dead possum. Wait, how'd y'all know where to find us?"
What are you talking about soldier? This is the rendezvous point." Private HIVE responded.
"What? How'd that doohickey know to drop us here?" Billy questioned as he looked to Gizmo, who finally retracted his gadgets and was now standing in the bubble.
"Firstly it's a teleporter; and secondly, I told you that it takes you to a pre-determined meeting spot which I made be the rendezvous. And before you say anything, I said it was experimental and only used it as a last resort, so no I couldn't have just brought us here. He said as Billy opened then closed his mouth.
In an alleyway close to the rendezvous point a black portal opened and Jinx and Kyd Wykkyd stepped out.
"Thanks Kyd, you can go meet up with the others, I'm going to walk the rest of the way." Jinx said to the dark teleporter.
Normally he would have been confused at his leaders decision, but he already knew from before they left this morning that the sorceress had a duel purpose for todays heists. She wanted to test how well the team could do separated and without her constant supervision. It was a good idea to see who was more capable, who was ready for more responsibility and who needed more training and discipline. After all, a team is only as strong a its weakest members.
Jinx handed him an earpiece so that she could tell him when her test was complete. "Stick to the plan and wait for my signal." The silent villain responded with a quick nod before he opened up a portal and stepped through to meet up with the others.
'Since we made sure that Herald saw where we were going the Titans should arrive any moment. It's the finals boys, lets see how you do.' The pink villain thought to herself as she got comfortable and watched Kyd Wykkyd pop up next to the others.
Kyd Wykkyd rose up from the ground, startling the other villains as See-More finally released the now calmed Mammoth and Gizmo.
"Jeepers Kyd, do we need to git ya a bell or sum'n?" Billy asked his silent friend.
Gizmo ignored the red clad teen's attempt at a joke and began questioning the teleporter himself. "Where's Jinx? Shouldn't our great leader be here too?"
"Something didn't happen to her did it?" See-More asked, his voice laced with an undertone of concern for his not-so-secret crush.
Kyd Wykkyd simply raised his hand to silence their questioning before pointing to the ground and gesturing for them to stay put.
"Why do we have to stay here? Those damn Titans will be here any second. What is that crazy witch planning? Gizmo demanded, growing increasingly frustrated with every passing second.
The black clad villain again gestured for them to stay at the rendezvous, but with a more serious attitude that made it clear that he wasn't budging.
"Screw this, I'm out of here!" Gizmo yelled as he tried to leave, only to be picked up by his backpack by Private HIVE.
"Look here soldier. If the boss lady isn't with here with Wykkyd then she probably has a good reason, and I'm guessing that him telling us to wait here is a direct order from Jinx herself. Am I right?" He asked looking to Kid Wykkyd who silently nodded in return. "So if our leader is ordering us to wait here, then we are damn well going to wait here until otherwise told or we have no choice but to leave. Everybody got that?" He asked the others who agreed.
With that all said the soldier boy put Gizmo down and went to lean on a nearby lamppost.
The next five minutes that passed by felt like hours to the villains with all of them felling it differently. Gizmo was annoyed and frustrated, wanting to have just gone home and their patience was starting to wane. Mammoth was also getting annoyed and impatient at the lack of action, which showed as he punched the ground before sitting on a bench and folding his arms while grumbling to himself. Billy Numerous was pacing nervously, not sure what to do but hoping that whatever was going to happen would work out. See-More was similar to Billy, but he had a bit more faith in what Jinx had planned. Plus he was hoping for a chance to impress her. Private HIVE hadn't moved from position by the lamppost, he remained calm and collected while surveying the surrounding area, ready for action if need be. He had full faith in his leader and knew that whatever happened had to be for a reason. Kyd Wykkyd, already knowing about what was happening, was indifferent and prepared for what was to come. Even had he been unaware he already had great respect for Jinx and would have had faith in her regardless.
Gizmo and Mammoth had finally reached their wit's end and simultaneously stood up ready to give up and leave when Private HIVE called out to the team. "Heads up, Titans incoming from the north."
All the villains turned to see Robin riding towards them on his R-cycle; to his right was the T-car with Cyborg behind the wheel and Herald and Beast Boy in the passenger and rear seats; to his left was Kid Flash running along side him; and flying above them were Raven and Starfire.
While the rest of the villains got into ready stances, Gizmo noticed a flashing red device on Private HIVE's foot. "You idiot! The traffic light planted a tracker on you, you led them right too us!" He screamed. Private HIVE noticed that and pulled it off his boot before crushing it. "We'll worry about that later, lets just take care of the Titans first. He responded before focusing his attention back to the approaching heroes. Gizmo was about to burst from anger. First, Mr. Loyal Soldier led the Titans right to them, then they waited around for their worthless leader and gave their enemies a chance to catch up to them.
The heroes got into a typical heroic team pose before Robin gave an equally typical statement to the villains. "End of the line HIVE, this has gone far enough. Surrender now." But Beast Boy immediately noticed the fact that the opposing team was short one of one pink haired villainess he had faced earlier that day.
"Hey, where's Jinx?"
The mention of their missing leader brought a palpable tension amongst the villains, something that confused the heroes. Kid Flash however seemed to be quite relieved. 'That's a relief.'
"Lets just skip the stupid questions and FIGHT ALREADY!" Mammoth bellowed as he charged wildly at the heroes, followed shortly after by Gizmo on a jetpack. Kyd Wykkyd and Private HIVE simultaneously smacked their foreheads before they and the rest of the villains joined the fray, with See-More and Billy Numerous rights behind them. The Titans outnumbering them would be an issue if not for Billy, who duplicated himself and then split up to take on Herald and Raven.
"Change partners everyone, I'll take See-More. Titans GO!" Robin said as the rest of the Titans charged at their respective opponents.
Back in the alley Jinx watched as the two teams clashed. She was taking mental notes on the performance of each of her teammates while studying the movements of each of the Titans to get a better understanding of how to face them later.
Mammoth was currently in a battle of strength against Cyborg. The thought of her short time crush briefly brought a small scowl to her face.
She shook her head, not wasting her time thinking about "Stone", especially since there was no real feelings left for the cybernetic man. Although she did get a small smirk of satisfaction when Mammoth broke the tug of war and smashed his fist into Cyborg's face. The two continued to exchange blows with Cyborg blasting his sonic cannon or Mammoth throwing chunks of debris every now and then.
Turning her attention to Gizmo who was facing off against Starfire, she watched as he sent a volley of rockets at the alien girl while dodging her starbolts. She blasted a few out of the sky and dodged the rest before turning to face the little bundle of misery, unaware that the missiles she dodged had followed her. Jinx winced slightly as they made contact and sent the hero into the pavement. As she picked herself up, she was hit by laser blasts courtesy of Gizmo. The alien princess hurled a starbolt at him only for it to pass through what she now knew was a hologram. Starfire floated up into the air as many more Gizmo's flew in a circle around her while taunting her. Jinx was admittedly a bit satisfied as she saw the alien heroine release a large wave of green energy all around her, thus erasing all the holograms and sending the real Gizmo sputtering to the ground as he cursed.
With the end of that fight Jinx turned her head to the first Billy Numerous… The original?... lets just call him Billy #1. He was facing off against little miss darkness herself, Raven. Billy #1 split into five clones who all charged foolhardily at the dark sorceress only to be thrown back with ease. The clones picked themselves up just in time to dodge the various items that were being thrown at them by Raven before splitting themselves again and each picking up nearby stoned and bits of debris to throw at their opponent. They managed to stop her assault and put the heroine on the defensive, but only momentarily as once she grew bored of the fight, she spoke her iconic incantation and disoriented the minds of the clones. With the opening she created a dark aura around herself and shot tendrils in all directions, knocking out all the clones at once.
Jinx's gaze shifted over to Billy #2 who was facing off against Herald. Honestly, she couldn't help but chuckle. Billy was winning at the moment, but the whole thing looked like a human version of whac-a-mole. Herald would periodically appear somewhere in the mob of clones before being set upon since his trumpet was like a warning bell that he was going to appear. The one-sided fight didn't stay that way for long though as once Herald became frustrated, he opened up a much larger portal above the clones and sucked them into another dimension. After a few seconds, the portal opened back up and dropped Herald and Billy #2 who looked to be in rough shape. Billy #2 threw a laughably weak punch at Herald who easily caught it and delivered a solid punch square to Billy #2's face, knocking him out.
The next battle that was taking place was her friend Kyd Wykkyd facing off against that pathetic lover boy Kid Flash. She knew that the speedster was still suffering from the time he attacked their base, or was attacked at their base, and she couldn't be more pleased.
As if she was some lonely schoolgirl that was begging for someone to just waltz in and sweep her off her feet. She didn't need some arrogant speed freak to tell her who she was. She knew exactly who she was.
Things may not have worked out with Madame Rouge, but that was her choice. She saw what was happening and where the Brotherhood had made critical errors in their plan. She made the decision to jump ship before it was too late and as a result the Hive managed to survive unscathed with virtually no competition from other rival villains.
Jinx retained her smile as she watched Kyd Wykkyd phase out of the way of a super speed punch before reappearing and striking Kid Flash in the face. Every time the hero threw a punch Wykkyd phased out of the way before counterattacking. After a few minutes KF was covered in scratches and bruises, his uniform had tears here and there, and he was panting for breath. Wykkyd on the other hand was just fine. No trace of sweat of fatigue, and even a small smirk on his face. KF growled in frustration and dashed towards the villain who phased away just like before. But this time when he reappeared, he was met with a blast of electricity from Kid Flash. As he was about to teleport away, he was body slammed and brought to his knee's by more electricity. The speedy hero began walking towards him while vibrating his fists causing them to spark with electricity. Before he could throw a punch though, a tiny pink bolt hit the ground in front of him. When he looked up his eyes widened. In the alley, staring at him with an evil grin, was none other than the pink sorceress herself, Jinx. He trembled and his stance faltered as he stumbled back in fear. He began to hyperventilate and sweat profusely as his vision became blurry. He was finally given relief when a hard punch from behind knocked him out cold.
Jinx smiled and nodded to Kyd Wykkyd as he stood over his fallen foe, retrieving a discreet nod on return.
With that fight concluded Jinx looked towards another fight that she was rather looking forward to, though for very different reasons. Her tiresome, not-so-secret admirer See-More facing off against the Titan's leader Robin. She wasn't going to lie, it was going to be very enjoyable to see the traffic light hero beat down that annoying, pompous pest. He had been annoying before, but at least he was tolerable. But after she rejected him it was on a whole new level. He acted like one of those grumpy, snot-nosed rich brats who got the wrong-colored Porsche for their birthday.
Robin charged at the Cyclops who shot at him with a powerful laser blast. He slid under it and threw a trio of birdarangs, forcing the villain to roll out of the way and coincidently right into a strike from Robin's Bo staff. He picked himself up from the ground and barely managed to leap out of the way of a downward strike. With an opening, See-More shot a barrage of eyeballs towards Robin who twirled his staff and blocked them easily. He tried again, this time blasting much larger eyes that his opponent was forced to dodge. See-More then quite foolishly ran up to the hero and tried to throw a punch at him. Jinx could only sigh and rub her temples in frustration as his arm was caught and he was flipped over Robin's shoulder and slammed into the ground before being gripped in a chokehold and dragged into unconsciousness.
Finally, Jinx turned her attention to the last fight with Private Hive who was facing off against… Beast Boy. Her gaze stopped momentarily on the green teen as certain memories began to arise. Realising what was happening Jinx shook her head and cleared her mind until later.
She returned her gaze to the fight right as it began. Private HIVE charged towards the green elf and attempted to strike him in the face with the edge of his shield, but surprisingly, Beast Boy grabbed his arm and pushed the villain forward causing him to stumble and almost fall on his face. He ran back and tried to engage in hand-to-hand combat, but the hero was faster and more agile than he thought, countering every strike. "Dude, you've lost your mojo, this is too easy." The green teen taunted. Frustrated at the fact that the weakest member of the Titans was holding his own against him without even using his powers Private HIVE used a cheap move and threw a nearby bit of rubble into Beast Boys face. He fell back gripping his head in pain before glaring at the militaristic young man and shifting into a raptor and lunging at him. Private HIVE used his shield to block the swipes and bites, but still received a few scratches. Beast Boy then shifted into a lion and leaped onto the villain, pinning him to the ground and roaring in his face. Private HIVE punched him in the face and rolled to throw the big cat off him. Once free, he grabbed two black and yellow flashbangs from his belt and threw them at the charging feline, disorienting him and stopping him dead in his tracks. Beast Boy shifted into a grizzly bear and began shaking his head around seemingly randomly. Thinking that he now had the upper hand he approached his opponent from the side to get a better angle. Once he got close though he was smacked away with a powerful swipe of the bear's paw. As he sat back up, he was met with the toothy grin of the young hero. "Augh, how is that possible, you were blind and deaf!?" Private hive demanded. "Bears have the strongest sense of smell of all land animals. A grizzly can find an elk carcass even when it's underwater. With a nose like that who needs sight or hearing?" He responded before shifting into a donkey, turning around, and kicking the villain in the face, knocking him out cold.
The scene appears hectic, but despite a few upsets everything seems to be going relatively smooth all things considered.
After finishing up with Gizmo, Starfire moves to help Cyborg who is struggling to combat Mammoth, Raven is retrieving Kid Flash and taking him away from the action so that she can safely attempt to heal him, Kyd Wykkyd is distracting Herald, and Gizmo, Billy Numerous, Private HIVE are incapacitated.
With the rest of their respective teams occupied for the moment, See-More and Robin were uninterrupted as they continued their battle. Normally the one-eyed criminal wouldn't be too much of a challenge for the apprentice of Batman, but it seemed that the upgrades he made were more formidable than he thought.
Eventually See-More managed to capture Robin in an eye sphere when he flipped into the air in an attempt to strike him, temporarily trapping the traffic light hero. With the Titans leader now taken care of for the moment See-More looked around for another opponent before finally landing on Beast Boy, the only one not doing anything. He noticed that the green teen was looking at something with what appeared to be an almost starstruck look on his face, much to his confusion.
Following his gaze he sees none other than his leader Jinx in an alley across the way, eyes locked with Beast Boy's and a captivated look on her face. He is confused as to what is happening, then he notices a smile form on the green boy's face, not a regular smile or a cocky smile, but playful, and almost… flirty.
See-More felt his blood begin to boil. How dare that green elf, that glorified pet, make looks at his Jinx. He was the one she was supposed to be with, and he wouldn't stand for some green freak, piece of shit, hero even looking at what was his. An evil and malicious grin spread across his face as he switched to his laser eye and charged up for a powerful bast, his visor beginning to glow red as he did.
Time seemed to stand still right as See-More was about to fire. All sound around him faded away and his hand raised to the side of his helmet. His target was completely unaware as he took aim. Not one person seemed to notice what was about to happen, until it was too late.
Within a split second and a flash of red, everything changed. And the only thing that anyone could hear after the powerful red laser shot had been fired, was a blood curdling scream as Beast Boy, the green jokester of the Teen Titans, tried to stop the flow of blood as the charred remains of his left arm hit the pavement.
To Be Continued…
With that chapter finished I am officially putting Secret No More on hiatus. Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed the story and I hope to see you when it returns.
Current results for the poll:
Bumblebee – 2
Ravager – 1
The poll will be open for another 2 weeks, then I will begin posting the winning story.
I want to remind everyone that I will accept and encourage any and all criticism (Preferably if its constructive) and will respond to as many comments, both public and PM as I can, although PM's will be guaranteed to get a reply.
Thank you and I will see you next time Titans…
