Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Teen Titans: Future Storm ❯ Root ( Chapter 5 )

 

“Teen Titans: Future Storm”

Arc 1: “Ravaged”

Chapter 5: “Root”

Disclaimer: The concept of Teen Titans does not belong to me. Nightstar, Ravager, and Mercury do not belong to me; the first two belong solely to DC Comics and the last one is jointly owned by Marvel and DC. Everyone and everything else belongs to me, except for anyone you might recognize from the comics or show that I haven't mentioned for fear of spoiling this chapter.

Author's note: This might be the last chapter of this arc, assuming I don't have enough material for a sixth chapter. The ramifications of Nightstar's actions will be seen in this chapter and you'll see the syndicate that has hired Ravager revealed. You might even see a few familiar faces.

Now on with the story.

The Ravager stood in the shadowy lair of the syndicate that had hired her.

“Ravager,” the young woman with the cultured voice spoke. “Why haven't you killed the Titans yet?”

“Relax,” Ravager answered. “I'll kill them when I'm good and ready. No sooner.”

“You knew that Rubyhawk and Nightstar were one and the same,” the one whose “face” was enshrouded in lurid flames hissed. “Why didn't you take the opportunity to kill her?”

“Wait . . . you've been watching me?” Ravager asked in an offended tone.

“Yes,” the cultured young woman replied. “We like to keep an eye on our investments and we've invested a lot in you.”

“Not that it matters now,” the one with the crackling voice added. “Thanks to you, we have an estimate of the Titans' abilities. We no longer need you.”

“So I'm not going to get paid,” Ravager concluded. “Furthermore, you six intend to kill me, don't you?”

“What a clever girl,” a silky, arrogant feminine voice remarked.

Lights snapped on, not quite eliminating the shadows, but allowing Ravager to see those that had hired her.

The most notable person she saw, and the leader according to her stance, was a blonde young woman with a light coat of black fur covering her body. Her eyes were a catlike gold and a black panther's tail protruded from her backside. Oddly enough, a pink latex tube top and pants contrasted against the black. Black feline ears poked out from the top of her blonde head and her nails were claws.

The next person she noticed was a male figure clad in red lightning-adorned black motorcycle leathers with spikes on the wrists and shoulders and a chain slung around his shoulder. His “face” was actually a fanged skull lit by an unholy flame. That same unholy flame emanated from his hands, which were nothing but bone.

The third was a girl who had her pink hair styled in what looked like messy pom-poms. Her eyes were a matching color and her cream-skinned face had pink blush on her cheeks. She wore a black corset with purple designs over a dark purple shirt stained black at the open ends of the sleeves and tight dark purple pants stained black at the open ends of the legs. Black platform boots adorned her feet.

The fourth was a girl whose black hair was styled in a cute bob. She wore a black bustier over a black mesh shirt, black gloves, and black vinyl pants and boots. The most notable thing about her was her cold blue eyes.

The fifth was a tanned young man who wore a white lab coat over a black-and-red shirt and loose black pants with flame designs on the legs. The look in his eyes suggested a capacity for destruction that could rival most infernos.

The sixth was a man who appeared to have an affection for grunge, which was the only way The Ravager could account for his torn clothes and shaggy dirty blond hair.

“Allow us to introduce ourselves,” the black cat-girl stated. “I am Panther. My five associates are Hex” - she gestured toward the pink-haired girl - “Speed Demon” - she gestured toward the fiery-skulled being in the lightning-adorned motorcycle leathers - “Gemini” - she gestured toward the mesh-and-vinyl-clad girl - “Dr. Blaze” - she gestured toward the lab-coated man - “and Sorrow” - she gestured toward the grungy young man. “We are Tartarus.”

“Tartarus,” Ravager echoed. She chuckled. “After the realm in which the Titans of Greek and Roman myth were imprisoned.”

“Yes,” Speed Demon hissed. “Only we will imprison these Teen Titans in the depths of hell.”

“You intend to kill me,” Ravager stated, drawing her quarterstaff from her belt and extending it to its full length. “Bring it.”

Suddenly, a fiery blur attacked Ravager. She attempted to fight back, but even with her abilities, the blur - which turned out to be Speed Demon - was too fast for her.

“Surprised?” Speed Demon asked. “I'm no weak human speedster, and I've had a thousand years to master my power.” He vibrated his hand so quickly that it turned intangible and he pushed it into Ravager's staff, causing it to shatter once he pulled it away.

Ravager jumped back and threw her darts at the demonic speedster, only to see him blur almost out of existence due to the speed with which he moved. A wave of pink energy struck the masked assassin and knocked her against a wall. Fireballs flew at her and she dodged them as well as she could. Despite that, one of them grazed her exposed cheek, turning the skin there an angry red. Finally, Gemini extended her fingers, pinning Ravager to the wall by impaling her forearms.

The Ravager struggled fiercely against her bonds.

“Struggle all you like, Rose Wilson,” Gemini hissed. “It won't do you any good.”

“How do you know my name?” Ravager asked.

“Please,” Gemini scoffed. “Like it was that hard to figure out. You dress just like your father.”

“Good,” Panther purred as she walked toward Ravager. “Now hold her while I tear her throat out.”

“No way I'm letting you tear my throat out,” Ravager snarled.

“Rosie, you're as helpless as a newborn,” Panther sneered. “What makes you think you can stop me?”

“The fact that that bomb I slipped in here is going to go off now,” Ravager replied.

A millisecond later, the room exploded in burning sound and fury, distracting Gemini long enough for Ravager to break free of her grip. Immediately, she felt the bloody holes in her arms begin to close. Sensing she'd be doomed if she remained, she made a break for it. As she ran, she thought, I hate running from a fight, but I know when I'm outmatched. If I'm going to kick their asses, I'm going to need some serious help.

“I'll bring her sorry carcass back here!” Speed Demon roared.

“No,” Panther contradicted. “Let her run. It's not as though she can stop us.”

“So what do we do now?” Gemini asked as she licked the blood off her leather gloves.

“We plan,” Panther replied. “Now that Ravager has shown us how the Titans function as a unit, we will be ready for them. And the schism between them that has resulted from Nightstar's deception will make it even easier for us to prevail.”

There was trouble in the proverbial paradise of Titans Tower. Of course, there'd been trouble ever since Nightstar was revealed as Rubyhawk. The other Titans avoided her like she was diseased and command decisions had been left to Bladefire, as none of the other Titans trusted her to lead them into battle. Nightstar was never without a fellow Titan to partner with - or watch over her - when it came to patrol assignments.

The wound Ravager had given Nightstar had healed, but without Samara's healing powers to accelerate the process, it had left a scar. Nightstar made no attempt to hide it, seeing it as the evidence of her sin and she wanted to keep it, to punish herself.

One night, Nightstar was walking past the Titans' common room when she noticed that her six teammates were gathered together and discussing something intently. She hung by the door and listened to their discussion.

“Should we kick her out?” Bladefire asked.

“Why the hell not?” Samara asked icily. “She betrayed us. She did so without any compunction whatsoever. A leader capable of lying to her team with a straight face has no business being a leader.”

“Sammy,” Beast Girl spoke softly. “She's our friend. We can't just throw her out.”

“First, don't ever call me Sammy,” Samara growled. “Second, why not? She's no friend of ours if she's willing to cast us aside to pursue her objective.”

“Didn't you read her soul, Samara?” Raziel asked. “Or are you so consumed with rage that you can't sense any other's emotions besides yours?”

“So what are you saying?” Inferno asked.

“I'm saying that I've been sensing intense feelings of guilt from Mar'i for the past several days,” Raziel replied. “It's not as though she has no remorse whatsoever.”

“I don't care how sorry she feels,” Samara spat. “She made Ravager her obsession, her personal vendetta. A leader willing to endanger her team because of a vendetta doesn't deserve that position.”

“So demote her!” Inferno shouted. “You don't have to kick her out!”

Unable to bear hearing anymore, Nightstar ran up to her room and packed a duffle bag full of clothes and equipment. She zipped up the bag and slung it over her shoulder, proceeding to fly out of the Tower so quickly that all most people could see was a blackish-purple trail. She flew east, but where exactly could she go? She wasn't going to Bludhaven, not when her father would surely censure her for her actions.

The distraught half-Tamaranean girl found herself in Gotham City, the home of the legendary Dark Knight. She perched on a rooftop and finally let her tears flow.

They hate me, Nightstar thought as she wept bitterly. They all hate me.

“Nightstar,” a deep, hissing growl of a voice called.

Nightstar looked up and saw a man with most of his body covered by a dark, scalloped cape and his face completely concealed by a pointy-eared mask.

“Batman,” she uttered, rising to her feet.

“Nightstar, what are you doing here?” Batman asked.

“They hate me,” Nightstar replied. “The other Titans hate me . . . and I can't blame them. Not after what I did to them.”

“Is that why you kept the scar?” Batman asked. “Why you didn't ask Samara to heal it for you?”

“She hates me the most,” Nightstar replied. “And why wouldn't she? She doesn't give out her trust easy and I just went and stomped all over it.

“I'm aware of what you did,” Batman stated. “Your father . . . he knows. Bladefire told him. He wanted to confront you, but I told him you'd be better off hearing it from me.”

“Hearing what?” Nightstar asked, hostility creeping into her voice.

“The truth,” Batman replied, “that you may very well never regain their trust. That it'll take you a long time to win their forgiveness even if they do let you stay on the team and lead them. Most importantly, I want you to answer this question: Do you think you deserve to be forgiven? Can you look at yourself and see something other than a betrayer? If you can answer that, you can go home. Until then, you're going to stay with me and I'll show you how we do things in Gotham.”

The Dark Knight leaped off the rooftop and his cape spread out like wings, going rigid so that it could carry its wearer on the air currents. Nightstar flew after him, the two patrolling the city of Gotham from the dark skies.

Soon enough, the two spotted a mugging. “I'll handle it,” Batman whispered. “You stay up here as lookout.”

“Sure,” Nightstar replied.

Batman dove from the sky and descended on the muggers like an avenging angel with great black wings. Fists protected by steel-knuckled black gloves impacted against faces while feet encased in steel-toed boots buried themselves in stomachs. The one mugger who hadn't yet been beaten into submission attempted to run, only to be ensnared by bolas.

“Holy crap,” the would-be mugging victim uttered in shock. “You-you're Batman!”

“Yes,” Batman confirmed.

“Man, if only I had a pen and paper!” the mystified man exclaimed. As he reached into his pocket, Batman took it as an opportunity to shoot his grapnel gun and swing away, releasing the line when he was high enough to glide on the air currents.

Batman and Nightstar continued patrolling the streets for criminals, both small and large. They finally found themselves in the rafters of a seedy underworld tavern, watching a man with thinning brown hair with particular interest.

“Who's he?” Nightstar whispered.

“That's Flask,” Batman replied. “One of the Devil's Head's managers.”

“I thought the Head was just messing around in Bludhaven,” Nightstar whispered.

“He also has holdings in Gotham,” Batman answered.

“Hey,” a man with a buzz cut said, “what the hell is that?”

“That's the goddamn Batman!” another man yelled.

“The hell does he want?” the man with the buzz cut asked.

Batman answered that question by pulling his un-extended bo staff out and throwing it at Flask, striking him in the throat. The other patrons of the tavern pulled out their guns and began shooting at Batman, who along with Nightstar, jumped out of the rafters. The Dark Knight retrieved his bo staff and extended it to its full length, using it to knock a patron's legs out from under him. Beside him, Nightstar lashed out with her energy whip, slicing through a number of the patrons' guns and leaving them barehanded. They just charged at her, anyway, figuring they'd overwhelm her by sheer force of numbers. They subsequently discovered that they were wrong to think that when they found themselves tossed around like rag dolls.

Batman acrobatically kicked off a corner of the tavern and his foot smashed into the teeth of a patron, knocking a few out. He spun while still airborne and smacked another patron with his cape, landing gracefully on his feet and delivering a backhanded smack to a patron that had attempted a sneak attack. He used his staff to pole-vault into a kick that knocked a fourth patron over the counter.

The wiser patrons chose to flee through the backdoor. That was just fine with Batman, as he didn't want them. He wanted Flask . . . and he hoped he hadn't blended in with the fleeing patrons. Unfortunately, a scan of the tavern revealed that he had. Swearing under his breath, the Dark Knight made his way out the backdoor, ready to hunt down Flask if it took him the rest of the night.

He discovered he didn't have to search that long, as Flask was lying flat on the ground and had a red energy staff held at his throat. The person holding that staff was a teenage girl, not much older than Nightstar, dressed in a red armored tunic and skirt over a black suit made of modern chain mail. Her eyes were concealed by red goggle-glasses and a red R was emblazoned on the top of the left sleeve.

“Robin,” Batman greeted.

“Hey, Bats,” Robin greeted back slightly more energetically. “Just holding down this guy for you.”

“Thanks,” Batman answered.

“You're welcome,” Robin spoke with a grin.

At that moment, Nightstar came out. “Hey,” she greeted.

“Hi, Nightstar,” Robin greeted. “What brings you to Gotham?”

“Just . . . taking some time away from the Titans,” Nightstar replied.

“You get in a fight with them?” Robin surmised.

“Something like that,” Nightstar answered guiltily. “I should go.”

“Why?” Robin asked.

“I can't run from them forever,” Nightstar replied. “What's the saying? Sometimes you gotta face the music. This is one of those times.” She rose into the air and flew away in a streak of dark purple.

At Titans Tower, Raziel stood before Nightstar's door, simply gazing at it.

Goddamn, you are such a lovelorn bastard, Memnoch taunted in his head.

I'm surprised you even know what that word means, you mad dog, Uriel sneered.

Will you two stop? a girl's voice asked plaintively. The psycho killer and the embodiment of cold reason turned in Raziel's mindscape to face the source of the voice, a persona that appeared to be a feminine version of Raziel. It hurts. It hurts without her.

Quit your friggin' whining, Gabrielle, Memnoch growled.

Damn you, Memnoch, do you have no compassion? a persona dressed in a martial arts gi and hakama asked. She's in pain. We all are.

Well, Mr. Zen Warrior, what the hell do you propose we do about it? Memnoch asked. Go off and beg her to come back?

Begging will not work, Uriel stated. Mar'i is too strong-minded to succumb to another's pleas if it is something she does not truly wish to do. She may not wish to return to us and why should she? After all, we discussed kicking her off the team, separating her from people she has known since childhood because of one bad act.

“Raziel? Raziel? Hey, snap out of it!” the psychic martial artist heard Mercury shouting. He pulled himself away from his mindscape and into the real world.

“What is it, Peter?” Raziel asked.

“You've been staring at that door for thirty minutes,” Mercury replied. “I know you're in love with her, man, but that's kind of pathetic.”

“I am not in love with Mar'i,” Raziel contradicted. With a pointed gaze at Mercury, he added, “Just like you're not in love with Terri.”

“Whatever,” Mercury spoke. Just then, he heard the door chime. “I'll get it!” He sped to the door in a blue-and-white blur, finding Nightstar on the other side.

“Hi,” Nightstar greeted quietly.

“Hey,” Mercury greeted back. “Come in.”

“So how did you vote?” Nightstar asked once she'd entered. “Am I out?”

“No,” Raziel replied. “You're still in. And you're still our leader.”

“But - after what I did, I was sure -” Nightstar started to say but Raziel cut her off.

“Bladefire excused himself from the final decision,” he said. “He said he was too close to the situation on account of being your brother to vote with a clear head. I broke the tie in your favor.”

“Why?” Nightstar asked.

“Because we're friends,” Raziel answered firmly. “And friends deserve second chances.”

“Now that's really touching,” a familiar voice taunted. “I'm almost tempted to shed a tear.”

“Ravager!” Nightstar yelled. “How did you get in here?”

The Ravager leaped out of a shadow and landed agilely on the ground. Mercury sounded the alarm, summoning all the Titans together.

“Ravager,” Samara growled. “How did you get in here?”

“That's the same question Nightstar just asked me,” Ravager replied with a smirk. “If you must know, I simply downloaded the blueprints for your Tower and slipped in through a weak spot in your security.”

“How did you get those blueprints?” Inferno asked.

“Once I cut through all those firewalls and encryption, it was quite easy,” Ravager replied.

“What do you want?” Beast Girl asked.

“Your help,” Ravager replied.

“Any reason why we should give it?” Beast Girl asked.

“Because the people who hired me to kill you have decided that I am no longer needed,” Ravager explained. “I was never meant to kill you, just to test you, just a method for them to gauge your abilities before taking you on themselves.”

“So who are these people that hired you?” Bladefire asked.

“They call themselves Tartarus,” Ravager replied. “If they made you take Greek and Roman myth as an elective, you might know that Tartarus was the realm in which the gods that you named yourselves after were imprisoned.”

“Who's in Tartarus?” Nightstar asked.

“I've been doing research on them,” Ravager answered as she walked to the Titans Tower mainframe and began accessing it. “Panther's their leader. Started out as the spoiled princess brat of a loser criminal named Killer Moth, who later became a demonic moth called Charaxes thanks to a deal he made with a demon. Panther spliced her DNA with that of a panther and she became a panther-woman, with all the abilities of that particular feline.”

“Who are the others?” Raziel asked.

“Mercury, I'm sure you know this one well,” Ravager spoke. “Speed Demon. Gale Force of Hell. Fastest demon around.”

“Him,” Mercury confirmed with a slight shudder.

“There's a pink-haired witch named Hex, formerly of the H.I.V.E. Academy and due to her looks, it's common knowledge that she's Jinx's daughter,” Ravager continued. “Then you have Gemini, a.k.a. the resident twisted shifter. Claims to be the daughter of Madame Rouge, but nobody knows for certain. You've also got a pyrokinetic lunatic in a lab coat and a really creepy guy who's a little too attached to grunge for his own good.”

“That would be Dr. Blaze, but who's the other guy?” Inferno asked.

“Panther called him Sorrow,” Ravager replied.

“So how do we fight them?” Mercury asked.

“I'll tell you that in the morning,” Ravager answered. “Right now, it's quite late and I'm sure you all could use some rest. You don't want to have to fight off sleep in class tomorrow, now do you?”

“Don't patronize us,” Nightstar hissed. “You're not our mother.”

“You have a serious mother fixation,” Ravager commented. “You know that, don't you?”

Nightstar growled, calmed only by Bladefire's hand on her arm. “She does have a point,” he conceded. “We won't be able to do anything without some rest.”

“What about Ravager?” Samara asked. “We can't leave her unattended.”

“I'll escort her to a guest room,” Bladefire replied. “Then I'll lock down the room so that she can't sneak out and mess with the Tower.”

“Sounds good to me,” Nightstar stated.

So it was that Bladefire found himself escorting The Ravager to the guest room.

“All right, here's the room,” he said. “Good night, Ravager.” He turned to walk away, only to feel a gloved hand closing around his wrist. “Huh?” was all he had time to say before he found himself pinned against the wall with Ravager's lips pressed against his. To his shock, he found himself kissing her back. He managed to push her away a little, just enough to get his mouth free so he could ask, “What the hell do you think you're doing?”

“You want me, you know you do,” Ravager purred. “It's ok . . . I want you, too. Be mine, if only for this night.”

“I can't,” Bladefire uttered. “You're a criminal, a killer. How could I . . .” He paused. “Let me see your face. I need to look into your eyes. I want to see if you mean what you're saying.”

“As you wish,” Ravager whispered before pulling off her mask. Silver hair tumbled free of the mask, falling over her left eye but leaving her blue right eye exposed.

“Rose?” Bladefire uttered in hushed shock. “You're The Ravager.”

“Not tonight,” Rose whispered. “Tonight, I'm Rose.” She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again as he pressed the code that would allow entrance into the guest room. The two tumbled into the guest room, falling onto the plain bed. Rose reached up and undid Bladefire's ponytail, letting his crimson hair fall over his shoulders.

The next morning, Bladefire woke up to discover that he was alone in the bed. His indigo eyes snapped open in fear that Ravager had sneaked out of the room while he was sleeping and had killed the other Titans.

“Relax, Blade,” Ravager spoke as she walked into the room, dressed in nothing but a short bathrobe and wearing a towel wrapped around her head. With her hair concealed under the towel, Bladefire could see that she wore an eye-patch over her left eye.

“What happened to that eye?” Bladefire asked.

“A mission,” Ravager replied. “That's what happened to that eye.”

“Why do you do it?” Bladefire asked.

“Do what?” Ravager asked.

“Kill people for money,” Bladefire clarified.

“The money, of course,” Ravager replied.

“If you just wanted money, I'm sure there are other ways of using your talents to get it,” Bladefire suggested.

“Yes, but this is most lucrative,” Ravager stated. “I don't intend to do this forever. This is just a steppingstone to something greater, but I'm going to need a lot of funds, which is why I do what I do.”

“And what is this something greater?” Bladefire inquired, his eyes narrowing.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with right now,” Ravager answered. She smirked, changing the subject. “You have a very sexy mouth, you know that?”

Bladefire blushed, remembering what he had done to the silver-haired young woman with that mouth. Finding his voice, he grinned. “So do you.”

“Ah, thank you,” Ravager responded.

Just then, the two heard Nightstar's voice over the intercom. “Titans, Ravager, report to the common room in ten minutes. If you're not there by then, I'm coming for you and I won't care if you're naked!”

“You'd better get up, Blade,” Ravager admonished in a singsong voice. “You don't want Nightstar seeing you naked, do you?”

“She already saw me naked,” Bladefire replied as he got out of bed and began walking in the direction of the shower.

“Yeah, but that was when you were little children,” Ravager remarked.

Bladefire heard the snap of a wet towel and felt a slight sting on his backside. “Rose . . .”

Ravager just put on her best innocent face.

Resisting the urge to throw her down on the bed and stage a repeat of last night's events, Bladefire rushed to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Once it was over, he rushed to his room and dressed in his uniform. After that, he joined the other Titans and a costumed Ravager in the common room.

“So what's the plan, Ravager?” Nightstar asked.

“The plan is this: Nightstar, you and I will take on Panther,” Ravager replied. “Speed Demon's a speedster, so Mercury handles him. Inferno, ever heard the phrase `fight fire with fire'? Samara, your powers will be best suited for dealing with Hex, as you're both sorceresses. Beast Girl, Gemini's yours. Bladefire, Raziel, you two deal with Sorrow.”

“Do you even know what Sorrow is capable of?” Raziel asked.

“Not really,” Ravager admitted. “I didn't see him fight or use any metahuman or supernatural ability.”

“So in other words, we're the only ones who'll be going in with no idea of what our opponent is capable of,” Raziel concluded with a hint of bitterness.

“Wouldn't have assigned you two to him if I didn't trust your abilities,” Ravager answered. “And don't you seven have to go to school?”

“Yeah, but we're not leaving you in our tower all by yourself,” Beast Girl declared.

“Why, Beast Girl, if I didn't know better, I'd swear you thought I'd be lonely here,” Ravager purred.

“No, we just don't want you sabotaging the Tower or learning our secrets,” Beast Girl amended.

“We don't have to worry about school today,” Nightstar replied. “I called us out, told them we had a mission to train for. Considering that we do defend this city, they understood.”

“So what do we do all day?” Mercury asked.

“We train,” Nightstar replied. “Then at sundown, Ravager takes us to Tartarus' hideout and we kick their asses.”

“Sounds good to me,” Inferno said.

That night, Ravager led the Teen Titans to Tartarus' hideout. Ravager rode Inferno's motorcycle, while Inferno joined Nightstar, Bladefire, Beast Girl, and Samara in the air. Raziel rode his own motorcycle beside Ravager and Mercury ran beside them.

They arrived at Tartarus' headquarters, which turned out to be hidden in the catacombs of the city.

“Ah, if it isn't the little Rose,” Panther sneered.

“Don't call me little,” Ravager snarled.

“And I see you brought the Teen Titans with you,” Panther added. “Perfect. I get to kill them all, starting with the daughter of that bitch!”

“Are you still mad that my father married my mother instead of you?” Nightstar asked. “How pathetic, Kitten.”

“Don't call me that!” Panther yelled. “I am Panther!” With that declaration, she lunged at Nightstar and slashed her with her claws, moving so quickly that even Nightstar was taken by surprise. Five bloody scratches marked her shoulder and chest.

“You'll pay for that,” Raziel growled softly. He was about to take on Panther, but Ravager blocked him.

“No,” she hissed. “Sorrow is yours to deal with. Nightstar and I will handle Catbitch.” With that statement made, she drew her repaired katana and slashed at Panther, who jumped up and balanced herself on the flat of Ravager's blade. She performed an acrobatic motion somewhere between a flip and a cartwheel and kicked Ravager in the chest.

Meanwhile, Mercury and Speed Demon stared each other down.

“Ready to die, speed brat?” Speed Demon asked.

“I beat you before,” Mercury answered.

“Yes, but only because Kid Flash lent you her speed,” Speed Demon brought up. “Without her, all you can do is lose.” He dashed at Mercury and punched him, sending him flying. As the platinum-haired speedster flew, the flame-skulled demon charged and continued punching him rapidly. Mercury finally caught his fist and whirled at super-speed, using the extra force to throw him into a wall.

The two moved and fought so quickly that they appeared to be colliding blurs to anyone observing. As they fought, Mercury felt his movements growing more and more sluggish.

“You, you're stealing my speed!” Mercury exclaimed.

“Yes,” Speed Demon confirmed before pummeling the young speedster with small hyper-fast spheres of demonic energy.

“What the hell are these, speed bullets?” Mercury asked.

“Nice name,” Speed Demon replied before charging up his fist with hyperkinetic energy and punching Mercury so hard that the he was propelled into a wall.

Samara and Hex were throwing bolts of mystical force at each other, Samara's colored black and Hex's colored pink. Neither one could actually land a hit on the other, although Samara's bad luck hitting Hex was due more to Hex's insane reflexes.

“How do you move like that in a corset?” Samara asked.

“Practice,” Hex replied as she flipped out of the way of another bolt of black energy. “As for your fashion sense, I like the skirt of belts. Very Lulu-esque.”

“You played Final Fantasy X?” Samara asked.

“Yeah,” Hex replied. “Great game. Loved Lulu's fashion sense. Wished she would have ended up with Rikku instead of Wakka.”

If Samara were a character in an animé, she would have sweat-dropped right then and there. However, she wasn't, so she settled for the telekinetic equivalent of a so-called “bitch slap.”

Inferno and Dr. Blaze shot fireballs at each other and evaded each other's flame attacks.

“Will you stay still and die?” Dr. Blaze asked.

“No,” Inferno replied as he spun on his hands with his legs in a split, performing a move he called “Spiral Inferno Kick.” Dr. Blaze blocked the attack as well as he could, but the persistent battering of his forearm by Inferno's kicks was taking a toll on him.

Inferno jumped up and shot flame darts at Dr. Blaze, who generated a shield to block them. He proceeded to turn that shield into a giant fireball that he launched at Inferno, who sliced through it with a burning chop.

Gemini rapidly extended her fingers toward Beast Girl's throat, intending to puncture it. However, the blonde shape-shifter turned into a fly and avoided the strike, re-forming herself as an elephant and plummeting toward Gemini, who stretched out of the way. She proceeded to literally wrap herself around Beast Girl as the other girl shifted back to human form.

“Let go!” Beast Girl exclaimed.

“Why should I?” Gemini asked. “I rather like it like this. . . .” As she spoke, Beast Girl felt herself sinking into Gemini's body.

“What are you doing?” Beast Girl asked in fright.

“I want you inside me,” Gemini purred as she began to absorb Beast Girl, a mad light entering her normally cold blue eyes. “I want you trapped in me forever!”

Beast Girl writhed and struggled fiercely, but Gemini continued pulling her into her mass. The rather disturbing thing about it all was Gemini's expression, which appeared to be that of a girl who was being carnally gratified. Finally, Gemini succeeded in absorbing Beast Girl, only to get an unpleasant surprise when Beast Girl ripped her way out of her, her claws glowing with golden light.

“How did you do that?” Gemini asked, surprised.

“A trick I learned from my mom's side of the family,” Beast Girl replied. “Just like you learned how to be so twisted from your mom!”

“Don't talk about my mother,” Gemini hissed. “Your father is the reason she's dead!”

“Boo freaking hoo,” Beast Girl spat as she tore a section of earth from the ground and rode it into Gemini's face.

Meanwhile, Bladefire and Raziel were throwing energy knives and psychic bullets made from marbles at Sorrow, who was simply contorting in ways thought to be unimaginable, not to mention ways that kept him out of the way of the two Titans' projectiles.

“How the hell is he doing that?” Bladefire asked.

“Contortionist,” Raziel replied. “He'll be difficult.”

Bladefire summoned his energy sword and Raziel sheathed his index and middle fingers in sharpened psychic energy. The two charged at Sorrow and slashed quickly at him. Sorrow twisted his way out of each and every attack.

“Will you stop dodging and fight?” Bladefire asked.

“No,” Sorrow replied, his voice sending a dark chill down his opponents' spines. “It's fun feeling your rage, your frustration. It's like a drug . . . but you know my favorite emotion?”

“What?” Bladefire asked, despite his dread of the answer.

“Fear. Dread. Terror,” Sorrow replied. “Whatever you want to call it, it pleases me like no other.” He twisted again, this time striking Bladefire and Raziel.

“Where did that come from?” Bladefire asked.

“Like your silver-haired friend said, I'm a contortionist,” Sorrow replied. “Some people are lucky enough to be triple-jointed. I, on the other hand, am quadruple-jointed, so I can do all kinds of things that normal people can't.”

“You're a meta,” Raziel deduced. “And your power, aside from empathy, is extreme flexibility.”

“Correct,” Sorrow confirmed as he contorted himself into a ball and ricocheted into an attack that knocked Bladefire and Raziel onto the ground.

Nightstar and Ravager continued fighting Panther, who was dodging their whip and sword strikes and lacerating them repeatedly. Ravager's wounds quickly sealed themselves, but Nightstar was still bloody from the scratches.

“It's not a good idea to expose so much skin,” Panther sneered at Nightstar. “But you must take after your slut of a mother.”

Nightstar's eyes glowed a shocking violet and they unleashed a wave of optic force that slammed Panther into a wall.

“Don't call my mother a slut!” she yelled, flying at Panther and viciously thrashing her. By the time she was done, the panther-woman was a mangled mess of black fur. The slow rise and fall of her chest was the only thing that proved she was still alive.

Ravager whistled. “I knew you had it in you,” she remarked. She looked at the blood still oozing from Nightstar's wounds and licked her lips.

“What are you thinking, Ravager?” Nightstar asked.

“Nothing,” Ravager replied innocently, holding her hands behind her back and smiling sweetly.

“You'd have pulled that look off a lot better if you weren't in that outfit,” Nightstar commented. She looked at the fighting continuing all around her and Ravager. “I'll help Bladefire and Raziel. You help Inferno.”

The two young women split off, Nightstar landing on Sorrow with a flying kick and Ravager throwing a flame-retardant capsule at Dr. Blaze. The capsule exploded from the heat Dr. Blaze was giving off and entrapped him in a sticky substance that prevented him from using his fire powers.

“Ah, the leader,” Sorrow purred. “So much rage I feel coming from you, and at the same time, so much . . . sorrow.”

“What do you care?” Nightstar asked as she lashed at Sorrow with her energy whip.

“I care because it feeds me,” Sorrow replied. “The negative emotions of humanity are like a drug to me.”

“I'm not human,” Nightstar snarled.

“Not entirely,” Sorrow acknowledged, “but you were raised among humans and their emotions are the same as yours. I wonder, where did all this anger and pain come from? Was it because your mother abandoned you and your brother for the sake of her people? Was it because your father beat you two half to death to teach you how to fight so you wouldn't end up dead like her? Was it because he married another woman?”

“Shut up!” Nightstar yelled as she blasted Sorrow with her optic force beam. Sorrow just got up with a twisted grin on his face.

“So beautiful . . .” he uttered with an awestruck expression. “Never before have I felt such pain, such rage. It's divine!”

“I said shut up!” Nightstar yelled, blasting him again,

“Stop it, Nightstar!” Raziel shouted. “You're just feeding him!”

“The boy is correct,” Sorrow confirmed. “The more you feel, the more you rage, the stronger I become.”

“Fortunately, I do not feel,” Uriel stated coldly, having taken over Raziel's body. “So you will not be able to feed off me.”

Sorrow and Uriel locked eyes . . . and Sorrow passed out.

“What happened?” Bladefire asked.

“He could not feed off me because I am not affected by emotion,” Uriel replied. “He felt absolutely nothing from me . . . and it terrified him so much that he passed out.”

Gemini extended both arms, her nails impaling the wall on either side of Beast Girl. She used her arms to slingshot herself into a flying kick that knocked the younger shape-shifter into the wall. The mesh-and-latex clad shifter removed her nails from the wall and flipped into a fighting stance.

“Come on, little girl, is that all you have?” she asked.

“You haven't seen what I have,” Beast Girl snarled in response and lunged at Gemini as a lioness, slashing the older girl with her claws. The vile shape-changer merely morphed her wounds out of existence before repeatedly punching Beast Girl with fists on rapidly stretching arms. Beast Girl reverted to human form and attempted to block Gemini's fists, but the force the other shape-changer gained from the momentum of her rapidly extending fists nearly broke her arms.

Gemini's hands enlarged and her fingers intertwined into a cage-like lattice that she attempted to use to trap Beast Girl, but the blonde simply transformed into a flea and slipped out of the lattice, coming at her as a wolf. Gemini launched her foot into a stretching kick, pinning Beast Girl to the wall by her throat. Beast Girl reverted to human form again and attempted to squirm out of Gemini's grasp. Unfortunately, Gemini's foot on her throat was cutting off her air supply.

“I wonder how your father will feel when I present your corpse to him,” the black-haired shape-shifter sneered, smiling in pleasure from watching the green-skinned changeling's attempts to hold on to her life.

Beast Girl's response was to bring up her glowing hands and shoot a blast of earth energy at Gemini, blowing a hole in her chest. Unfortunately, that didn't do so much damage, as Gemini merely sealed the hole.

“I'm going to enjoy the look on your father's face when he sees your corpse!” Gemini yelled. As she ranted about all the ways she would torture Gar Logan before finally sending him to join his daughter, Beast Girl felt the other shape-changer's foot loosen on her throat. Seizing the opportunity, she shifted into a fly and flew into the air, re-forming into a rhinoceros and dropping on Gemini, literally flattening the other girl.

Beast Girl assumed human form once again and got off Gemini, who had been knocked unconscious by the impact of Beast Girl's rhino body.

“Not so tough after all,” she muttered.

Mercury and Speed Demon continued to battle each other. Finally, Mercury stopped.

“I'm tired of fighting you,” he said. “All right, I acknowledge that I'm utterly inferior to you and that you should suck the speed from me right now. Not like I ever put it to good use.”

“I'm glad you finally accept your inferiority,” Speed Demon growled in triumph.

The two speedsters ran toward each other and once they passed each other, Mercury began lending Speed Demon his kinetic energy as the demonic speedster merrily drank the energy the young human gave him. Unfortunately, Speed Demon sensed that something was terribly wrong with the whole exchange. Namely . . .

“Stop!” Speed Demon exclaimed. “This is too much!”

“Why?” Mercury asked. “I thought you wanted to drain the speed from every human speedster!”

“You little brat!” Speed Demon cried out in agony. “You tricked me!”

“Yeah, I did,” Mercury confirmed smugly. “You wanna give back my speed or do you feel like being ripped to atoms?”

Speed Demon ran around frantically, trying to burn off the excessive kinetic energy. As he did, Mercury drained it from him and back into himself. Sensing that he would be completely drained of speed if this continued, Speed Demon fled.

Meanwhile, Samara and Hex continued to battle, bolts of altered probability and tendrils of living darkness clashing.

“So why do you wear that hood?” Hex asked. “Do you think it's cool to conceal your face or are you so ugly that you can't bear to let your face be seen by others?”

“You want to see my face?” Samara asked dangerously. She chuckled. “Fine.” She lowered her hood . . .

. . . revealing four burning red eyes.

“What are you?” Hex cried out in horror as black tentacles came at her. She managed to dodge a few of them, but they kept coming at her and two caught her by her legs. Two more caught her by her arms and the four tentacles began pulling her into the core of darkness barely concealed by Samara's cloak.

“Someone you don't want to meet in a dark alley,” Samara replied with a cruel smirk as she inhaled a black mist emanating from Hex. Once she finished, she released Hex, who stared at Samara vacantly before passing out.

The Titans regrouped. “What exactly happened to Hex?” Nightstar asked.

“She no longer had the will to fight me,” Samara replied simply.

“Where's Ravager?” Bladefire inquired.

“I don't sense her anywhere near us,” Samara answered.

“She must have slipped out while we were distracted,” Inferno deduced.

“You think she'll come after us again?” Mercury wondered.

“Not unless someone else hires her to take us out,” Raziel replied. “Besides, to her, we're too fun to kill.”

“That's kinda disturbing,” Beast Girl remarked. She smiled widely. “Now who's up for a marathon of slasher flicks?”

“Slasher flicks aren't real horror,” Samara drawled in response.

“Yes, they are, you snob!” Beast Girl retorted.

“No, they aren't,” Samara sneered back.

Mercury sped in between the two girls and wrapped an arm around each of them. “Ladies, I'm sure we can come to a peaceable compromise. Although that can wait until we're done dragging Tartarus to The Cage.”

“Uh-huh,” Nightstar agreed. “Now let's take care of that, and then we can debate the merit of slasher movies.”

End Notes: That's it for the first arc of Teen Titans: Future Storm. However, the series isn't over yet. There are a couple of one-shot stories I plan to do, the first one about Nightstar going to Star City and hanging out with her best friend Lian Harper, a.k.a. Red Hood. After the other one, which centers around Beast Girl, you'll see the second arc, which focuses more on the mysterious psychic martial artist Raziel.

Killer Moth becoming Charaxes, which I had Ravager mention in her description of Panther, was something that actually happened in the Batman comics. Yes, Killer Moth was actually a Batman villain and as much of a loser there as he is portrayed in the TT animated series.

Panther is Kitten, in case you're confused.

The Robin depicted in this chapter is Carrie Kelly from the Frank Miller-penned DC Elseworlds miniseries The Dark Knight Returns. God bless that man.

Speed Demon is also a character I've borrowed from Amalgam Comics and altered for use in this story. Whereas Speed Demon in Amalgam Comics was kind of a hero, the Speed Demon depicted in this story is a villain.

Back in 1996, Marvel and DC published a four-part crossover miniseries in which the Marvel and DC Universes were targeted for destruction and only one could be saved, which caused the Marvel and DC heroes to battle it out for their respective universes. In the end, the Marvel Universe won, as Spider-Man (Ben Reilly, not Peter Parker, long story there) owned Superboy and that was the deciding fight. However, the guardians of both universes chose to merge them into one universe to prevent them from being destroyed. The adventures of the amalgamated heroes were depicted in twelve comics published under the Amalgam Comics banner.

Mercury was the merger of Impulse (later known as Kid Flash) and Quicksilver (Marvel's resident speedster). Stylistically, he was basically Impulse with Quicksilver's colors (silver and blue).

Speed Demon was the merger of the Flash, Ghost Rider, and Etrigan.

Gemini was Madame Rouge's daughter (or rumored to be) in the actual Titans comics and had much of the same powers as her. She made her appearance in a Beast Boy limited series in which our lovable green changeling was framed for murder by her. Since this story is all about the next generation of heroes and villains, I thought it made sense to use her here.

Now you know what Ravager looks like under her mask, you know her real name, and you know she's Slade's daughter. Will she appear again? Yes, she will. Will the other Titans find out that she and Bladefire slept together? Maybe, maybe not.

You're free to let me know what you thought of this arc. See you next time.