Jump City

(MaxStokes PMed me that he'd be away on vacation of a few days so I will be controlling his character until he returns.)

The brutish boy had stopped, much to Melanie's relief. She could feel her energy draining as she stood there and knew that if the fight didn't end soon she'd be in serious trouble. He cocked his head slightly to the side, looking confused, but at least he wasn't fuming. He blinked once then shouted something, translated to:

"ME WHITE! YOU NAME?"

Melanie tried to say her name in his tongue but it came out as, "MELON" as it seemed the nonunciation of her name didn't work with his language. That was okay though, she could stand being Melon instead of Melanie. Shrugging it off she now braced herself, prepared to deliever the bad news.

"WHITE MUST GO." she explained, trying not cause offense. White's gaze hardened.

"WHITE KING OF METAL FOREST AND TWO LEGS." he said firmly, but Melanie gently shook her head.

"TWO LEGS NO LIKE; SCARED. TWO LEGS HURT WHITE IF WHITE STAY."

White looked stunned, then appeared to be thinking hard.

"WHITE NO HAVE LAND HIS OWN. IF WHITE NO LIVE HERE, WHERE WHITE GO?"

Melanie was caught off guard by this. It made sense now; he was a nomad looking for his own territory. But it couldn't be here. She gave a sympathetic shrug.

"MELON NO KNOW WHERE WHITE GO. BUT WHITE NO STAY HERE." she said, gesturing to the city around her. "TWO LEGS FEAR AND HURT WHITE. DANGER. WHITE NEED PLACE FAR FROM TWO LEGS HERE."

White seemed about to fight her about it for a moment but then thought better of it, realizing the truth of her words. It probably helped that she was speaking his language. Finally he gave a sigh of resignation.

"WHITE NO LIVE HERE. MELON LIVE HERE?"

Melanie held back a similar sigh of relief, glad the fight was over.

"NO, MELON NO LIVE HERE. TWO LEGS NO LIKE MELON MUCH. MELON LIVE CLOSE. MELON HELP TWO LEGS IN TROUBLE."

White now seemed thoughtful. "WHITE HELP? WHITE LIKE TWO-LEG RED FOOD." he exclaimed, earnestly holding up a chuck of meat he'd take from the resturant, earning a small smile from Melanie. Maybe he could help...

She pointed to the droids, probably numbering to 20 (though it was more like 17 since she herself had take out two of them and there were various peices scattered onto the road). "THEY BAD. WANT HURT WHITE, WANT HURT TWO LEGS. SMASH HELP."

White gave a grin, turned to the three who were closest and obliged, charging them with a gutteral yell. Melanie switched speakers again and turned to face Livewire. "There's been a change of plans. That guy, White by name, is going to look for another territory after he helps us destroy these freaky robots who were sent by somebody to capture White and kill anyone in the way." Melanie said directly, no sugar-coating in her explaination just straight to the point. She didn't see any reason to avoid it anyways. "So now, I guess, our enemy are these guys."

Melanie was just about to surge foreward to fight the droids when she took a moment to glance around. Having a direct, computer mindset she had a tendency to focus on one task and be unaware of everything else. Stopping and smelling the roses was very hard, but in this case it was forturnate that she did so because the sight she was greeted with... well, it was a strange one.

First off there was a girl with green streaked hair who was weilding a quarter with great ferocity, robot parts scattered near her as she threatened the approaching bots. The next one she noticed was a young man, also facing a small group of robots, with what seemed to be his own team of tech. WHO THINKS THEY CAN BEST ME? YE ARTIFICIAL DOGS!" he yelled, a perfect imitation of a pirate, but was hit by one such bot and knocked to the side before destroying it to. Lastly she noticed the girl who he walked up to, "Hey lass, mind givin' me a hand here?" he said politely.

Melanie was genuinly suprised by all of this. She had thought she'd have to fight them all herself, but had never expected to receive help. Gratitude probably would have brought tears to her eyes if she had been a human with working tear ducts. Quickly deciding she would thank then later, she instead focused on the two robots who were approaching her. A small smirk graced her face as she ran towards then, thinking 'Well, I do need to recharge my battery...'

Aura was deep in thought. She has the habit of just shutting out the world for a few minutes, in an attempt to recollect what was going on. Her eyes seemed to be glazed over as her brain worked a mile a minute, when something was coming at her. Just as she snapped out of her thinking mode, someone had stopped the machine and was tussling with it on the ground. Her 'savoir' had just escaped it, and asked, "Hey lass, mind givin' me a hand here?"

Aura blinked as her golden gaze swept over the robot. It had recovered quick enough, and was beginning to strike. It seemed she was only going to take a step forwards when she was launched a full ten feet, and was in front of the boy. As she was in the air, a perfect upper cut had planted itself on the robot. A loud clang resounded and Aura could feel her teeth chattering for a moment. The machine was stunned, and was sent reeling. Aura, blinked a few seconds, before yelling, "OW?!" and shaking her hand up and down as her knuckles turned red. Ok, brute force won't get you out of this one. Just if metal was softer... hmm... Its a good idea but I have to be cautious. If I over exert myself... Aura shuddered slightly. She hated the feeling of her eyes rolling back in her head, then she wakes up in some strange place. Aura clenched her fists and jaw at the same time, eyes squeezed shut. Get angry... anything... a gun shot sounded in her head as her eyes snapped open again, and her irises are a dark, bloody red. Opening her hands, a flame ignited in her palm, and spread until it consumed her entire upper arm.

A droid made the mistake of charging her. Lifting her fist, it connected with it's middle, and the metal seemed to bend with her fist. She pushed forward until her fist went through the robot. It sparked and collapsed. Aura was breathing heavy already though her hands remained ignited. She looked over at the male from before, and you could see the flames flickering in her eyes. "Don't call me lass." She turned and continued to kick so robo-ass.

Abaddon watched as these young heroes destroyed his drones. He then bangs on his throne as he looks at the multiple computer screens. He watched from every security camera in the city and from the drone's eyes. "These young heroes are strong, and the ape is poisoned by them. He wants to be king of the metal city hmm? This might be a bit of fun. If he wants to be king, he will be king..." said Abaddon. He then looked at one of the many rooms in his new lair. In the room a window was on the door which, if looked through closely, revealed a woman inside a statis tank of sorts. He then stares at this door to the statis tank from his throne. "But first, these corruptions must be dealt with...".

Alice

hidden behind a door was the darkest secret Slade had ever kept from the Titans had they known everything would have been different to some degree. Deep inside Abaddons home a single room has remained untouched by his redecorating of his old mentor’s base, this room held a secret.

The room was dim only lighted by the soft glow of the liquid that kept its prisoner from ever waking or so Slade had hoped. In the center of this room was a large circular tank, it was held together in the middle by the same substance its base was made up of, titanium. Every now and then a bubble would form but then pop before it ever reaches the surface, the liquid inside the stasis tank was of a bluish color, runes were placed around the glass to keep her from breaking out but they were 10 years too old.

The main attraction was the person within the cell but you could only tell it was a woman by her scarred body or what skin you could see. She wore a body suit just like before when she had been awake, her hair had grown considerably over the ten years but she didn’t look like she aged past 18 at all. The expression on her face was calm and one would have thought she was merely sleeping. if they had been paying better attention they would have noticed the shadows were going haywire within the room but ten years have passed since the accident they were almost done with the healing process almost but not quite maybe a day or two possible tonight would be the day she woke up.

Suddenly in ten years she moved, it was a simple twitch of the finger, and then an arm moved then both. Her palms were pressed against the glass making the runes glow, but she didn’t open her eyes. She was only responding to what her shadows felt from afar someone disturbed them after ten years of her being asleep. Then her lips moved creating more bubbles but she was fine, her ability to breathe underwater gave her the edge in underwater fights and such.

But anyone would have been quite curious as to what she said a name perhaps or could it have just been gibberish. No one would ever know because at that moment her eyes slowly opened revealing an eye that was completely black save for its yellow iris the other was perfectly fine, a green hue. But that wouldn’t matter for Alice had finally begun to stir and it was time Abaddon woke her up.

The girl had just threw her hand right through the robots abdomen, that was hot. Not only because her arm was on fire, but because such mystical and martial prowess was, well. He was glad that he could get a good look at her when she turned to him.
"Don't call me lass."
She turned ahead, a drone in her path. He was not going to be deterred so easily however. He sealed a didge across his back, and hooked the other two inside the mouthpieces with his fingers. Running towards her, he threw them in front of him, one after the other, planting them into the ground. Releasing the third, Rénard lifted himself onto the first. As his foot left it, the horn followed him, and stuck to his back. He leaped off of the second, and in mid-jump, he grabbed a didge off of his back, flipped, and slammed the drone right on its head. It crumpled, sparks flying from its now misshapen head.
Getting up, he spun on his left heel, about a half-foot away from that girl who probably could have taken care of herself. As another Drone approached them, he manipulated a didge right through a drones chest with a simple flick of the hand. He twisted his wrist, and the the didge began to spin, tearing up the internal wiring. As he dropped his hand, the horn flew back to the others, securely sticking itself onto him. His eyes were trained on her the entire time though, mesmerized by her abilities.
"Well then miss, what am I supposed to call you then?"

Aura was tiring. You could tell. Her fire was shrinking, until you could see it faltering. Her breathing was heavy already. Though she tried not to show it. One of the main reasons she was so tired was that she was using extra power without noticing. Every time she took down a bot, it seemed to sink into the ground, as if the earth was actually quick sand. It disappeared under that surface as if it never existed. Under ground, the metal dissolved and mixed with the soil. Even if you were to dig up the ground, you wouldn't find a trace of the metal machines. When she was about to take down another, the boy from before dashed in front of her and took it down in a rather impressive manor. Then, he was six inches from her. "Well then miss, what am I supposed to call you then?" Aura' s chest rose and fell rather unevenly, showing how bad her condition was getting. "You can call me... Aura..." The words barely escaped her lips before her knees buckled and her head landed on his chest as her eyes closed.

(Super short but it's almost eleven. Currently half asleep right now.)

Melanie locked onto her target, running toward the wretched humaniod machine at speeds a professial runner would have envied. Lunging, she grabbed hold of his head and dug her fingers in through the metal and into the circits, absorbing the electricity and feeling bit by bit stronger. Normally she would have grabbed him and plugged herself into him (usually by plunging her hand into his head or where the master chip was), thus absorbing the power and all data he contained. But that took time and it would reviel to the others in this vicinity what she was; something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

So instead she plucked the chip out with her fingers and stashing it in a small compartment disceretly, planning on reviewing it later. Then she yanked her hand from the now shutdown bot's forehead and let him collapse. His companion attempted to do a roundhouse kick but Melanie stopped him with her hand, flipping the poor, misguided machine into the pavement. Then she dug her hand through the metal that made up the back of his head and did the same thing.

Meanwhile White was running around, leaping from bot to bot, crushing them with his bare fists or smashing them against the concrete sidewalks. He'd already taken out two and was on his third, grabbing it by the arm and twisting the metal until the arm came off. Using the arm as a club he smashed the remained of the robot's metal body until the screws fell out. Then suddenly there was a sharp twing of pain in his calf and he looked down to he a dart with brightly colored feathers on one end. A robot a few meters away was pointing directly at his calf and a small whisp of smoke rose from it's finger.

White pondered this for an instant, wondering what such a small humming bird could do to him, not feeling even the slightest bit woozy. The robot seemed to realize this for it pointed with it's other finger at his chest. It never go the chance to fire though because White plucked the dart from his leg and threw it with amazing accuracy on could only get from hunting at the robot. The dart jammed up the bot's finger and stopped the second projectile from flying, giving the robot a moment's pause. In that moment White managed to charge him and headbutt him hard enough it sent him flying into a tree where broke into four seperate peices. A new personal record.

Melanie had just polished off her forth bot and noticed that her opponents were looking a little scarce, only one or two more of them lingering at the scene. They must not ahve been programed well because, though it was clear which side was winning, they still hadn't fled. Either they had a faulty processor... or they were disposable. This idea cause a rush of anger to be directed towards the one they all refered to in their memory files as 'Leader'. Yes they were machines, but reguardless of what they were, life or artifical life, they should not be used and then tossed away like trash.

Speaking of the importance of life, Melanie saw out of the corner of her eye the girl who'd the pirate adressed say something and then collapse against him. Hearing the sounds of metal on metal (probably the girl with the quarter) as well as the sounds of White and Livewire fighting, Melanie figured she could afford to check on the girl and make sure she was okay. Quite concerned now, she hurried over to see the girl limp in the pirate's arms.

"What happened? Was she injured?" Gently she pressed two fingers against the side of the girl's neck. Her sensors indicated that she was alive, only unconscience. Melanie breathed a soft sigh of relief. "She's alive but she's fainted. Probably from exhaustion." she said, then added under her breath, "Thank goodness..." Glancing to the pirate man she remembered her manners. "Oh, by the way, I'm Melanie."

She was somewhat surprised, as Rachel didn't actually expect the kid to apologize so quickly. Crossing her arms as she watched him dismantle one of the droids in front of them, followed with a challenge. But before she could respond, he had seemed to run off to who knows where.

After hearing some girl behind her ask herself how something ever happened, albeit in a yelling manner, Rachel turned around, her eyes settling on a strange girl, not much younger than herself, in a weird position against a tree, however that didn't last long.

She noticed that the same boy that tried to kiss her was next to that other girl, the two fighting off another set of drones. There was a moment where a couple of the drones had the upper hand against the duo, before they were overtaken by the two teens.

Turning around to the others, Rachel noticed that the fighting between the blonde girl and that... man-ape had ceased, and she had let out a slight smile as those two were communicating, even though their words were enough to give R'hul a mental aneurysm.

There were more drones to pass around for those two, until she noticed that self-righteous guy that spoke to her before having some stranger trying to kiss her. Rachel made a quick glance at their surroundings, counting roughly 15 drones, not counting the couple that the blonde girl had just taken down herself.

Before long, the number of drones quickly dwindled between the blonde girl and the man-ape, and Rachel had simply flapped her arms, as if having nothing to do. Looking down at her quarter, she thought to herself, and to R'hul. Heads, help them clean up the park. Tails, leave the scene.

R'hul didn't object with his usual smartass remarks about the suggestion, as he was content for helping those people, even though they had only taken down one drone with a spoon. Rachel flipped the quarter into the air, catching it with her empty hand, the coin landing with tails facing up.

Tails it is, she stated mentally, before heading out into the darkness and out of the park. Whoever they were, they didn't seem to need her help, as they had a quite a few interesting individuals among them. Though it was likely that Rachel would see them again, she didn't want to, preferring to work alone with R'hul.

"There's been a change of plans. That guy, White by name, is going to look for another territory after he helps us destroy these freaky robots who were sent by somebody to capture White and kill anyone in the way."

Sprouse glanced to White, then back at Mel, then sighed unconvincingly. "You know, this is beginning to sound like some plot to a cheesy action movie, but I'll go along with it." with those few words, he turned his attention on some free droids which had made their hostility towards himself very apparent in the form of a berserk attack at him. He, quicker than your average bear with the help of his electromastery - a power which he unknowingly shared with a green-headed female. Many would see maybe a spark for just a brief moment before his body reappeared some feet away, allowing him to effortlessly launch a bolt to the back of the droids who, oeverloaded by the volts, collapsed and then detonated for added badassness.

Upon further surveillance of the park, he noticed that he was tied with White in drones destroyed, which did put a bit of a competitive spin on saving the day. After all, Sprouse never really cared for losing, and beating someone made winning all-the-more appetizing a treat. Allowing himself to be bested by a brute like this wouldn't bode well for his reputation, which of course, he had to uphold. Ladies love a guy with reputation.

Among the other things he did notice was that the man from before had apparently wanted to be a pirate when he grew up. This fact made very apparent by his pirate tone and accent. Normally, he would have laughed, but for some odd reason, he felt that this was not an act, but the man was actually talking like this.

...wat

Somewhere along the lines, Sprouse had noticed the emerald-headed woman from before began to leave. It pained him in the sense that he didn't get to show off to the loud-mouthed woman - which to him, wasn't a bad trait at all. But he figured she would soon enough drool over him.

They all did.

Okay, maybe not. But he liked to pretend they did. It was a big boost in confidence that he so desperately needed. Attention was always a nice thing to have when your only friend is the streets. Positive or negative, though preferably positive. People tend to hunt you down and try to kill you with negative attention. Like crimelords when you steal stuff from them. But that turned out just swell, didn't it?

God, are these things just that boring that I'm thinking about everything else but fighting them? Ah, lets just end this!

"What happened? Was she injured?" Hell if he knew, he had just caught her, and was struggling to keep her up. He threw her
arm over his shoulder, and picked up her legs in his free arm. The three didges floated behind him to form a low triangular pattern. "She's alive but she's fainted. Probably from exhaustion,Oh, by the way, I'm Melanie."

"Thanks Miss Melanie, I'm a bit tired, but I should be able to protect the both of us fer now. If I was physically able, i'd return yer manners, but for now, I've got me hands full." He shuffled Aura tighter into his grip, hoping she wouldn't fall out of his arms. "Not that I be complainin' or anything. The name's Pulse, since I am a tried and true Super, Hero." He paused between the two words for an emphasizing effect, hopefully not misleading her for a short while to believe that he was a bad guy.

"There's been a change of plans. That guy, White by name, is going to look for another territory after he helps us destroy these freaky robots who were sent by somebody to capture White and kill anyone in the way." That edgy guy was busy blowing up drones with what appeared to be electricity, though it could probably be Plasma, or liquid fun. He was going to put his bets on Liquid Fun, the best Rum in the Galaxy.

"So his name is White then, pleasure to meet yo-" He stopped mid sentence as he watched White headbutt a drone. This day just got better and better. He spoke up a bit, trying to get that edgy fellows attention. "Let's reconsider this, how about we keep his Majesty and induct him into our crew."

As a drone approached him, the three didgeridoos sprung back, and locked it in place. As Rénard turned around to find it struggling to escape. He looked it straight in the Photo-receptors, watching the lights flash, vibrate, then display numbers counting down. "Best be backin up Miss, no idea how awesome this will be, oh," He grinned as he turned his head towards her. "It would be in very good interest to cover your ears." The three didges linked together, end to end, to create one very long Didgeridoo. He took a small breath. No need to strain himself. As the didgeridoo touched his mouth, he began his mantra of expelling air whilst breathing in, and as the few seconds it took him went on, it Progressively got louder in a steep climb. The final result was a fluxuation of pitch, no tone, just pitch. In a crescendo, it climbed to a near ear-piercing screech, then dropped to a Very low blare. The Drone seemingly vibrated itself apart, only leaving the bomb a few feet away. Pulse just managed to cover it with this now titan Didgeridoo, and watched as the blast was completely expelled out of the mouth piece.

"Now that," He announced calmly "Is going to taste terrible."

The Night Watcher watched the young girl he talked to as she returned to her home, following silently on the rooftops to avoid being detected, he was good at that. Just after she walked in her door the Night Watcher's phone began to vibrate, well it wasn't really a phone cause he had no one to call, but it was however a connection to his systems back in the observatory. He opened the phone noticing the alert, there were two big things he needed to take care of, and he could do them both. First he needed to go help a woman who was in the wrong part of town. He arrived at an alley in the worst part of town, there he saw a woman being backed up against the wall by three men, they were all laughing and yelling like they hadn't a care in the world. He calls down from the roof top he is on at them "Well hello there, are we planning on letting the young lady go? I really don't feel like finding out what will happen to you if you try anything", at the sudden appearance of a new voice they all look up at him "What the hell do you want?" one of them screamed, "Beat it! She's ours!" yet another responded, "Fine we'll do this the hard way." The night watcher responded monotonously. He jumps down and rushes the group before they know what happened one of them is kicked in the face and after falling he has a boot on his throat, the other two watch in horror "Well you guys have control of his life, if you leave, he'll be fine, if you decide you still want this young woman, I might hurt him when I run to stop you." They hesitate for a moment and then run out of the alley, the Night Watcher takes his foot of the mans neck and lets him run as well, when they got about half a block away the Night Watcher smiled as he focused himself, separating the carbon dioxide from the rest of the air and gathering enough to quickly suffocate the three men, he then sends the CO2 at the men forcing them to inhale it. They begin coughing and then shortly after they stop and their bodies go limp. "Bastards got what they deserved" he thought to himself as he turned back into the alley. The woman they were attempting to assault was still there, crying in the corner. "Are you alright?" He asked, "They can't hurt you anymore." he said as he reached out his hand to help her up. "Who...Who are you?" she asked frightened. "I am the Night Watcher, it is my duty to protect this city, to clean up the scum and save the innocent. Simply put I am here to help." he said to her as she took his hand and got up. She then smiled at him "Thank you" she said but he simply nodded his reply and climbed back up to the rooftops. He had something else to check on. The security and surveillance systems had detected massive fighting taking place not far from were he was. He made his way quickly on the rooftops and he spotted 5 people fighting drones of some kind, Well this is not normal he thought to himself as he watched the fight. He studied their movements and tactics learning what he could from how they fought I cannot take them all alone, I'm not strong enough. He determined as he left heading back to the observatory.

"Thanks Miss Melanie, I'm a bit tired, but I should be able to protect the both of us fer now. If I was physically able, I'd return yer manners, but for now, I've got me hands full. Not that I be complainin' or anything. The name's Pulse, since I am a tried and true Super, Hero." Pulse said, shifting the girl in his arms so that she wouldn't fall from his hands. His self-assigned title of 'super-hero' drew a small smile on Melanie's lips. Yeah, they were all kind of acting like super-heroes weren't they? Maybe after this fight was over that's what they could be... super-heroes.

For the moment though she gave a small laugh and tipped her head slightly in his direction. "That's alright, I understand. It's nice to fight beside you Pulse. If you think you can protect her-" Melanie gestured at the girl who was laying limp in Pulse's arms, "Then I'll leave her to you, but if you need help-"

Melanie needn't waste her breath as a couple of the droids approached Pulse and he noticed them and a wide grin spread over his face. "Best be backin up Miss, no idea how awesome this will be, oh, it would be in very good interest to cover your ears." He took a small breath in after his weapons (at least, that's what Melanie assumed they were) connected to eachother, forming a large instrament which he breathed into. It took but a few moments but the sound quickly reached an almost unearthly volume her sensors couldn't even pick up on. Were she human she would have heard it, but because she was not she could only feel the powerful virbrations. The robot almost seemed to vibrate itself apart, only leaving the bomb a few feet away. Pulse just managed to cover it with this now titan Didgeridoo, and watched as the blast was completely expelled out of the mouth piece.

"Now that," He announced with a slight smirk, "Is going to taste terrible." Melanie laughed at this. Pulse who have no problem handling himself and protecting the girl. White seemed to be enjoying himself. Sprouse, who'd seen White, had appearently started a competition with the latter, for it seemed every time White smashed a drone, Livewire would too. Well, Melanie had never thought that having a little fun on the battle field was a bad thing. The other thing she noticed which she hadn't picked up on were two unfamiliar heat signatures; one male one female, both leaving the area and going in opposite directions. She glanced around to identify them but they were both already hidden in the shadows which hindered her vision since White had managed to damage her night vision.

Speaking on damage, Melanie scanned the area. Two bots were left- okay, scratch that, one (White had accidently taken one out with a flying tree branch) but one would be enough. Leaping towards him he didn't even have enough time to duck before she'd drained his power and put it into her own reserves which she was tapping into now, as well as removing his microchip and storing it along with the two or three others. Now the park was bare besides the group of them and various robotic parts scattered everywhere. She'd likely come by and pick up some of the remaining pieces later when there were less... well, people.

Now that the robots had been destroyed and the fighting had ceased she looked between her companions. They'd done very well, fighting along side herself. Melanie knew she would have been unable to take on the droids in her condition without them. So she owed them her life at the least. Besides, Pulse had just crashed into earth (so it seemed) and he was holding a girl who'd blacked out durning the fight. White had no home and Melanie was apperently the only one who would understand him. Livewire, well, he'd been the first of the group to stand beside her... As her golden gaze slid from one person to the next she kept thinking out the favor she owed them all and oddly enough, found herself speaking.

"Um... Thanks you guys... I... I guess I couldn't really have won this without you." Melanie said, giving a small, sheepish grin. If she could blush, she'd be blushing hard core. "I really can't thank you enough. But-" Melanie hesitated, then spoke quickly, almost not being able to process her own words, "But would you like to help me? Fight crime, I mean. Like, as a group maybe...?" Part of Melanie wanted to run away and hide in the tower, the other part wanted them to be waiting there. Speaking to White she said, "WHITE NEED HOME? WHITE COME LIVE WITH MELON. MELON HAVE GOOD HOME. MELON SHARE AND WHITE HELP TWO LEGS. LOTS MORE RED FOOD." then turned to the others. "I-I have a nice little place, big enough to fit all of us. She could probably use medical care," Melanie gestured to the girl in Pulse's arms, "and everyone needs a place to call home, right? Come with me, and... we could be a Team!"

And so the fighting would soon die down with any of the drones that Sprouse had engaged left broken and useless on the ground due to his abilities. Admittedly, he had become bored with the fight. They provided not much of a challenge, but maybe if he was fighting them all alone he would have had one. Ah, yes, that's right... he wasn't alone, was he? No, no there was not just Livewire here, but Mel, White, Pirateman and others whom he hadn't really 'met' yet.

A party full of individuals with abilities that made them unique. And they all just happened across each other simultaneously. How strange, isn't it? Was it even a coincidence? The odds of that are highly unlikely, but such a thing happening could only be luck. No, no! But his mind told him something else. Something else entirely.

It ain't luck, it's destiny.

That's what it told him. That such a meeting between them was destined, that they were supposed to find each other, but why did he feel this? He was never into luck, fortune and he most certainly didn't believe in destiny. Destiny shouldn't kill your parents and ruin your chances at being a normal person. But... but this was destiny and he couldn't decline it.

Livewire turned and faced Mel, who began speaking. "Um... Thanks you guys... I... I guess I couldn't really have won this without you." she spoke, sporting an embarrassed smile. "I really can't thank you enough. But-" she hesitated. Sprouse raised an eyebrow. "But would you like to help me? Fight crime, I mean. Like, as a group maybe...?"

She turned and began intercourse-speak to White while Sprouse processed what she had proposed. A 'team'? That would mean that it might not be quiet, or.......

...

...

...

Did she just invite us to her place? Mother of God.... does she? No! My charms weren't aren't that good. Were they? And with other people?! She must be into some kinky stu--....

....

Okay, I'm thinking some bad thoughts, and although they prove to be most amusing and..... 'awesome' to think about, they're also shameless. Bad me. Lets calm down and think about what started. Umm.... she wants to forge a team.... She wants to form a team!

Being Mature - Status: Failed

Her exact words played over in his mind, disabling him for second.

"I-I have a nice little place, big enough to fit all of us."

.....GOD?! WHY CURSE ME WITH THIS DIRTY, DIRTY MIND?!

Spontaneously and violently, he shook his head. Noticing it was a weird action sure to draw attention if it went unexplained, he covered up with, "A-a team? I'm not entirely sure about that, but maybe I can stay a night or few over - to make you feel better. But I'm not so sure. After all, I work alone."

Okay, naughty thoughts begone!.....as well as this blush....

"Um... Thanks you guys... I... I guess I couldn't really have won this without you. I really can't thank you enough. But-but would you like to help me? Fight crime, I mean. Like, as a group maybe...?"
That sounded like a prime idea. Fight crime, get a group of comrades, and then later, take control of the world, then ship it to father for status. Sounded like a good plan, as long as he didn't tell anybody else about it. He doubted that anybody would be able to identify him, so he was safe for the most part.

"I-I have a nice little place, big enough to fit all of us."
That was good, it would mean that they would have an HQ for fighting crime, or hang out, or to not half to carry sleeping girls.
Actually, the pain was worth it, even if she was wearing a mask. The sound of grunting that she made while she talked to White, as it had yelled many a time, was so rugged and barbaric. It in itself was a beautiful language. Not as much could be said about english though, too loose, and the grammar seemed horrid.

Rénard swayed his gaze over to that edgy guy, for he had never caught his name. It would be a good idea to make a conversation with him as he was blushing, to help the guy out.
"Never caught yer name lad, mine's Pulse."

As White turned his head rapidly, looking for more of the metal creatures to crush he heard the very strange golden eyed two-walker named Melon called out to him again. It was still rough around the edges, but the dialect that she had been spouting was easy enough for him to understand. He easily caught that she was offering for him to come live with her, which was to White a strange consideration. However, the promise of more of the hearty meat bugs that inhabited this area easily swayed him to nod his rapidly in conformation.

"White will live with you and help his subjects." He confirmed back to her after she had finished making more delicate noises to the other strange two-walkers around her. He had concluded that this must be the two-walkers way of communication, though he still hadn't a clue as to how to interpreted the frilly speak.

White looked over the two walkers that were standing around Melon. They were the first two-walker that had shown up, the sickly looking second one who had, and a very colorful one that seemed to be passed out and was being carried by the sickly looking one. He still had no idea why they were continuing to stand around. Though he didn't have much time to consider this, as his stomach suddenly let out a loud and deep growl, telling him it was time to eat.

"Melon and White go now?" He asked Melon. "Find some meat-worms too?"

"Never caught yer name lad, mine's Pulse."

Sprouse's blush faded quite quickly when he noticed nobody was looking. That was good. Only the pirate had paid him any attention. "Sprouse." he said. Then added. "Or Livewire, as others call me. Guess that one might work better if I must be forced into a team, eh?" he chuckled a bit. However, he soon found White grabbing his attention.

Sprouse almost fully understood White just then. Not because he could comprehend what language the beast boy spoke, but because a rather loud growl was emitted from his stomach. Come to think of it, he too was hungry as well. "Hey, we ought to leave and get some grub or something, lest our white-headed brute here might try to make lunch out of one of us. Good thing I'm not bulky."

After watching the fight for a short while The Night Watcher left, the drones were pitiful and even these kids could handle it. He made his way back to his observatory. Upon arriving he checked his surveillance and security systems and found nothing unusual. After deciding everything was fine he recalled the footage his system had caught of the kid's battle. "Can't hurt to learn more about how they fight, I'm gonna have to teach them this is my city soon after all." he said to himself. He watched the battle taking note of how each member fought, he took particular interest in the one who rode in some kind of machine, "I wonder if I can use its exhaust with my powers." He thought and finally he decided it was time for his night to end, he had to be awake during the day tomorrow.


The next day The Night Watcher sat at an intersection watching cars drive by. Eventually the light turned red and a single car stopped. The Night Watcher smiled as this was his chance, he focused and began collecting the car exhaust in a cloud at the tailpipe. After he felt he had enough he moved the cloud to the front of the car near the air intake. The car's engine began to inhale the noxious fumes it sputtered and coughed eventually stalling out all together. The Night Watcher smiled it does work. He returned to the observatory satisfied.

Melanie felt a small smile fell crookedly across her lips.

What had she gotten herself into this time? Looking between the group it struck her that they would all make a rather strange team. A musical pirate, a frost troll, Livewire, a girl who'd passed out mid-battle (if she decided to stay and be a part of the group), and a girl super computer. And now they were going to try and fight crime together? It almost sounded like a bad joke! Or... like the New Teen Titans...

Struck by this thought she was shocked by the comparison. Could this rag-tag, nice-to-meet'cha group of strangers really be as great as the famous crime-fighting heroes?

'Well, even they had to start somewhere,' Melanie thought, her small smile growing until it because a happy grin. Besides, it was too late to go back on her offer (since they all seemed to agree). Clapping her hands together Melanie turned to face them. "Well, I guess if everything's settled," she proclaimed, gesturing that they come along, "then follow me."

~TIME SKIP~

It was late at night when the young Titans had arrived at what would be their new home.

Melanie had given them each their own room (except White who'd insisted on sleeping outside and not entering the "metal tree cave" as he'd called it). She, being damaged and low on battery, gave up trying to convince him otherwise and instead of giving him a room indoors told him that he could claim the garage as his "cave" and showed him the button that opened and closed the garage door. Additionally, she gave him a collar, telling him it was a gift for a king like himself that would let him understand his two-legged subjects. Gladly he accepted, and Melanie got to stop busting her voice box with his language.

The girl who'd passed out hadn't awoken yet and Melanie had been worried, putting her in a vacant room and checking her vitals to make sure she was only unconcience and not in a coma or anything (thankfully, she was still okay). Pulse and Livewire got seperate rooms and she told them they were free to look around the tower, but if a door was locked respectfully let it remain locked as she had installed defense systems for the tower and their interworking were in there. They agreed and she bid them goodnight before heading to her own room.

The moment the door shut her systems took over. Her chip was removed from Mel's damaged, robotic body and placed into the mainframe. Immedeately she projected herself and began to work, having Mel repaired and activating the security systems. But while she checked to make sure everything was running fine she stumbled across something... troubling.

It was some security footage.

There was a dark figure in it, wearing a mask, speaking to himself. "It matters not anymore whether you are bright now, your darkness was revealed to me once. I will purge it. I will purge this corrupt city of both its law-keepers and law-breakers, only the innocent will survive. After that, they will have to grow strong." He reatched up and removed his mask, but his back was to the camera and she could not see his face. "Did you hear me?" He asked, addressing the camera that had recorded this eery encounter. "This is the last time I will visit your little tower as a neutral bystander. Now, I'm coming for you, little Titan. As a symbol of the City's corruption and dependence on useless heroes, you will be first." Then the stranger turned, the mask on and again hiding his face, which he lowered to stare into the camera's lense. "Prepare yourself, little Titan. My name is Krótos. Remember it. For what little time you have left will be haunted by it." With that his hand came up and the video turned to static. Melanie felt an unusual shiver of fear run down her spine as she stared at the screen for a moment before turning it off.

Krótos. The made a note and began a new file, one she made a reminder to revisit. It wasn't often she got chills. But then again, it wasn't often she got a death threat from an unwelcome guest, either. But she wasn't alone anymore, and she wasn't the only Titan now either (if that's what they were to be called). As she went into hibernate mode her last thought was, for the first time in a long time, the happy thought of 'I'm not the only one anymore...'

Krótos's eyes snapped open. He hadn't set his alarm, but from the sound of things outside it was still early in the morning. Krótos got up and stretched. "Today's the day." He said to himself. After stretching, Krótos reviewed his plans while he made breakfast. It was simple really. After Justice Ramirez adjourned court, for which he was signed up to be the bailiff, Krótos would knock him out, hold him hostage in the very room he served his perverted justice, and hold him for ransom along with the rest of the building. During the week, before his scheme was scheduled to take place, Krótos had visited the courthouse, placing small, powerful charges all along the main thoroughfare underneath the building. Each was wirelessly hooked up to a switch he had assembled using a walkie talkie and some spare parts. He'd bought all of his supplies from separate stores under separate names all with cash. It would eliminate any trace of him being there whatsoever. After the Judge was tied to his chair, Krótos would broadcast the hostage situation live, hoping to garner the attention of the Titan who lived in the old tower. It had been relatively quiet since he'd last visited. There appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary happening. Good. In a one vs. one situation, Krótos was more than confident in his abilities. Finally, he'd arranged with a local news anchor that if he turned the station's attention to channel 51 at exactly 3:15 in the afternoon, he would have the scoop of a lifetime. Krótos knew there would be some risk, the Judge's personal guards were stationed all over that place, they would be more than willing to cooperate with the city's weak police should their boss's life be in danger, still they were just regular people after all. Krótos could handle them easily. Krótos nodded to himself, his plan was perfect. No loopholes, no real threats. After he was done killing the Judge, he would dispatch the Titan. It would be simple, easy really. Once the city had seen who he was and what he was capable of, they would be forced to muster up and become strong. If not, he would destroy the whole thing. He would just burn the place to the ground, fence them all in, and watch Jump City eat itself alive. Krótos nodded with grim satisfaction.

After he had triple checked all of his equipment, Krótos suited up. He pulled on his plated jumpsuit and his utility belt. Next he laced up his shoes and tied them tight. He placed every ounce of equipment he might need at a moment's notice on his belt and the rest went into an unmarked messenger bag. He made sure he had his detonator, all his weapons, some spares just in case, and a few new toys. A titanium wire net of his own design, some smoke bombs, duct tape, some rope, a few freezing bombs, and some new knives that he could add to his scythe for added efficiency. The wire was rated against a semi in full reverse. It held for three hours before breaking. Krótos figured it would be strong enough to contain the thrashing of a fully grown Bull African Elephant for just as long. The freezing bomb's first prototype had flash frozen a small pond of about twenty gallons of water in exactly .6533 of a second and didn't thaw until the next day. Unfortunately, Krótos only had three, the first prototype had been sacrificed for science though Krótos knew it would work flawlessly. Krótos smiled, still, it had been better to check anyway. After checking for the fourth time, Krótos pulled on his mask and his tear away bailiff suit. At that, Krótos left his apartment and locked the door behind him, not knowing that today would change his life forever.

After travelling unmolested to the courthouse, despite his mask, Krótos sat through the proceeds in complete and utter boredom. His only use was to escort the Justice to his next hearing as well as escort the defendant to and from the vehicle he arrived in. Krótos sighed, he knew anyway that the filth being prosecuted would get off anyway, the judge had been bribed by the thug's peers, he'd get off with a warning and some community service, hardly a just punishment for armed robbery and three counts of manslaughter. Finally, after it was done, the defendant got away, as Krótos had predicted. Krótos fought every urge in his body to not kill the scum as he escorted him back to the safety of his armored transport. Krótos smiled under his mask as he shoved the rat into his vehicle, waving as he drove away. Krótos had bigger fish to fry.

As soon as Krótos got back to the courtroom, he walked straight up to the judge, planning on doing something... fun. Luckily, there were no pulsations of footfalls within the room, Krótos would get away with this scott free. The judge made some conversation at him, which Krótos deftly ignored, stepping straight up to the heinous fiend and smashing his fist into his face as hard as he could, knocking him to the ground and sending him flying a good three feet. "What the hell?" The man exclaimed through a broken nose and a fat lip, Krótos heard the pitter patter of blood spraying out of his mouth as he spoke. "Unless you didn't know, you piece of shit, I'm a Justice of the Peace, assaulting me is like asking to go to jail!" The corpulent fungus proclaimed. "Luckily for me," Krótos said, his voice heavy with dark undertones. "I'm not here for a Justice of the Peace. I'm here for garbage. After all, the city's refuse needs to be managed." With that, Krótos ripped off his disguise and replaced it with his regular black trench coat. "I am Krótos, and I'm here to cause a real... bang." Krótos said, reaching into his bag and pulling out his duct tape. After the Judge had been properly detained in his own throne of lies, Krótos got to work. He barred all the doors, pulled the fire alarm, and set up his camera and transmitter. After a few moments of tense waiting, it was finally 3:15 in the afternoon. "Showtime" Krótos said, tilting his head slightly to the left and pulling out both his detonator and his newest kukiri. It was long, sharp, and as black as obsidian.



At exactly 3:17 pm, the news flashed onto everyone's televisions, even when some of them weren't on. This type of thing was done only in emergencies, and well... now was the time to use it. The local news's theme played and the regular anchor panned into view. "Hello I'm Clark Adams, we interrupted your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this breaking news. We go now to Larry Jenkins in the field, live at the Jump City Courthouse where a hostage situation is taking place. Larry."

"Thank you Clark. What started today, like any other day at the courthouse, was the sound of local Judge Ramirez banging his gavel in support of the crime conversion program. What some might call violent criminals, Ramirez calls tender souls. Ramirez has always been an advocate of innocence, saying that if you don't fix the situation that creates these criminals, you're not actually fixing the problem. Ramirez's leniency has been the topic of local debate for years due to it's patchy results and otherwise unsettling verdicts. It appears one such criminal, or hero as he calls himself, has decided to, as he describes it, 'punish the corrupt.' He is broadcasting live material of what is going on inside the heavily barricaded courtroom, and before we switch over to it, I must warn you, the content is shocking."

At that, the view switches to a dark courthouse. The lights are all turned off, the only real sources of light are the semi-drawn shades, creating a feeling of darkness and general eeriness. Suddenly there is a sound of grunting, followed by a heavy thud, and finally, a voice, clear as a bell. "Ahh... It appears I'm live. Welcome, Jump City, to my courtroom. As you can see, court is now in session." The lights flick on and camera is focused on a heavily beaten Judge Ramirez. "I see you've found our defendant today." The same voice says, its owner unseen by the camera which bobs slightly, as if it's being held. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Krótos." With that, the camera appears to be set down and Krótos steps into the picture. "Hello Jump City, so glad you could join me." Krótos says slyly. "We are here today for the case of the people vs. Judge Ramirez. How does the defendant plead?" Krótos asks, turning to the judge, sitting in his own chair, but very clearly tied up, and gagged with duct tape. He grunts a few times before Krótos interrupts him. "Guilty? A wise decision. Then let us review the evidence." At that, Krótos strolls nonchalantly over to his bag, reaches inside and pulls out a multitude of papers which he throws into the air, allowing them to settle where they may. "I have here." Krótos states, regally walking about the room. "A river of pleas, requests, and general approvals of my action against you. That is, accounts of your cruelty, corruption, and general filth. This choir of innocent voices wishes for me to destroy you Mister Ramirez, how does that make you feel." Again, Ramirez makes to shout, but his cries are muffled by the gag. "ENOUGH!" Krótos roars at the man in an entirely different tone of voice, one filled with anger. He deftly jumps all the way up to the Judge's podium before back handing the slime across his face, silencing him immediately. "Shush now, little one, the adults are talking. These papers are all filled with eyewitness accounts of you accepting bribes, both of currency and the flesh. Accounts of you overriding a jury's findings due to inconclusiveness are also rampant. Finally, there are even accounts of abuse and assault against minors who come to you pleading for their parents. You, my dear Piece of trash, are the lowest scum in this city and it will be my personal honor to watch the life leave your eyes." Once more Krótos smashes his fist into the face and gut of the man in the chair, knocking him unconscious. He jumps down from the podium and walks over to the camera, picking it up and holding it in front of his face, allowing the viewers a perfect shot of Krótos mask, his long hair tied up in a ponytail behind his head, falling all the way down to his shoulders. "I now turn my attention directly to you, little inhabitant of the old Titan's Tower. I know you are in there, and I want you to come here, personally. If anyone other than the Titan arrives at my door, I will kill this piece of shit and destroy the entire building. Krótos waved his detonator in front of the camera for added effect. "The clock is ticking little Titan. Unless you get here within twenty minutes, before four o'clock, I will kill the man, destroy this corrupted house of justice, and leave, striking again as often as I feel necessary. My name is Krótos, remember me now? At my hands, this city will come Crashing to its knees. Ta-ta little one." At that, Krótos turned the camera off and jumped up onto the podium, sitting with his legs crossed, waiting for the Titan to show up, not expecting the chaos of the situation that will unfold shortly.

Yawning, Sprouse stretched his arms and sat back into the couch which had obviously seen better days. In front of it was a television set that, unlike the couch, appeared to be newer and not built in the dinosaur ages. “4-D” was written on the front of it, advertising that if something was playing in the right format, it could give you a 4-D experience. These years, such a thing was quite often. Technology had advanced, you know?

It was late in the afternoon and Sprouse had just woken up. The night before, he had investigated the place, and found all the essentials to surviving here; the bathroom, his bedroom, and the kitchen. The latter was, unfortunately, lacking in much to eat, so he did not eat breakfast just yet. And though it made him feel old, he grabbed a cup, and had set it down before stretching like previously mentioned. But why did our hero wake up so late? Well, to be honest….

…he fucking loved that bed. God was it comfy! Normally, he didn’t really sleep in an bed, but a couch that made this one look expensive. So, of course, the bed was so appealing and comfortable, that he slept in rather late.

Today would be a lazy day. Ah, yes, waking this late, there would be no real reason to get productive and do anything unless he absolutely had to. And if Mel started bugging him to actively look for trouble, then she’d have another thing coming! He would sit right here and watch high-definition television until he felt like doing otherwise. And he didn’t.

*Fwwwp!*

The television made an odd sound as it turned on and the logo displayed. This was probably purposeful and made into the set by the company.

“Now, to find something decent to watch.” He stated to himself as he begin flipping through the channels.

*STATIC*

"B-b-b-b-bouncer kill! B-b-bubblegum bouncer kill!"

*STATIC*

"Ha, gaaaaay!"

*STATIC*

"Porkchop Sandwhichs!"

And then, oddly, the channel flipped again without his doing. The news turned on, and an anchorman started to say, Hello I'm Clark Adams, we interrupted your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this breaking news. We go now to Larry Jenkins in the field, live at the Jump City Courthouse where a hostage situation is taking place. Larry."
The broadcast only continued from there, showing the Judge getting struck by the aggressor who, in all appearances, was reading a comic book before he had committed this crime. Sprouse sighed, shook his head and complained with an audible “Fuck…” before then yelling to everyone in the house. “Hey, you guys see this? Party at the courtyardand we’re invited!”

The Night Watcher was sitting in his study relaxing when his security systems started going off like crazy. He ran to the security rooms and checked the monitors. They had picked up a broadcast from the courthouse. He presses a few buttons on one of they keyboards and a picture came up on the largest monitor. -- The lights are all turned off, the only real sources of light are the semi-drawn shades, creating a feeling of darkness and general eeriness. Suddenly there is a sound of grunting, followed by a heavy thud, and finally, a voice, clear as a bell. "Ahh... It appears I'm live. Welcome, Jump City, to my courtroom. As you can see, court is now in session." The lights flick on and camera is focused on a heavily beaten Judge Ramirez. "I see you've found our defendant today." The same voice says, its owner unseen by the camera which bobs slightly, as if it's being held. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Krótos." With that, the camera appears to be set down and Krótos steps into the picture. "Hello Jump City, so glad you could join me." Krótos says slyly. "We are here today for the case of the people vs. Judge Ramirez. How does the defendant plead?" -- As the video continues to play The Night Watcher starts to type on one of his other keyboards and begins searching for this Krótos. He checks every database he has access to and finds nothing. He thinks for a minute realizing that the only database he hasn't checked yet is Titan Tower. He knows it is going to be hard so he turns back to the broadcast retrieving information the old fashioned way. -- Ramirez makes to shout, but his cries are muffled by the gag. "ENOUGH!" Krótos roars at the man in an entirely different tone of voice, one filled with anger. He deftly jumps all the way up to the Judge's podium before back handing the slime across his face, silencing him immediately. "Shush now, little one, the adults are talking. These papers are all filled with eyewitness accounts of you accepting bribes, both of currency and the flesh. Accounts of you overriding a jury's findings due to inconclusiveness are also rampant. Finally, there are even accounts of abuse and assault against minors who come to you pleading for their parents. You, my dear Piece of trash, are the lowest scum in this city and it will be my personal honor to watch the life leave your eyes." Once more Krótos smashes his fist into the face and gut of the man in the chair, knocking him unconscious. He jumps down from the podium and walks over to the camera, picking it up and holding it in front of his face, allowing the viewers a perfect shot of Krótos mask, his long hair tied up in a ponytail behind his head, falling all the way down to his shoulders. "I now turn my attention directly to you, little inhabitant of the old Titan's Tower. I know you are in there, and I want you to come here, personally. If anyone other than the Titan arrives at my door, I will kill this piece of shit and destroy the entire building. Krótos waved his detonator in front of the camera for added effect. "The clock is ticking little Titan. Unless you get here within twenty minutes, before four o'clock, I will kill the man, destroy this corrupted house of justice, and leave, striking again as often as I feel necessary. My name is Krótos, remember me now? At my hands, this city will come Crashing to its knees. Ta-ta little one." -- at that the screen turned to static. "So he has a flair for the theatrics and he's interested in the Tower as well, now I can be almost certain that there is information in the tower. It might be easier to hack if I wait until the tower is vacant." He says to himself. He begins to type away at the keyboards again, setting up his systems to search and retrieve any file or folder that mentions the word Krótos from Titan Tower, the program will activate at his command. And at that he leaves the Observatory and begins moving through the city on rooftops. He approaches the Courthouse but stays back a bit, the ground is covered in police officers outside the building. I suppose I'll wait here to watch the show. He sits low to the roof appearing to anyone below as nothing but a slight shadow as he watches the events unfold.

Aura was stuck in the usual scene, being repeated over and over again...

It was nice out. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. They were chatting, when an earsplitting siren sounded. The two whom were strolling down the street looked around confused. An loud BANG rang through the air, and Aura's mother's knees buckled. Screaming filled the air. Pitiful, strained screaming. It came from Aura. Tears stung the back of her eyes, when her head whipped around, staring at a man with a pistol.

Aura launched her entire body at him, tackling him to the ground. The man was screeching in pain as his skin began to sizzle and melt off his bones. Aura was sobbing while she had her arms wrapped around him.

Suddenly, everything went dark. The sound of gun shots rang through Aura's head multiple times. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

"STOP IT!" Aura screamed, sitting up abruptly from her bed. The blanked was blasted off of her body, and hit the ground with a soft thump. Aura was confused and scared, waking up in a strange place, again. She felt tears burn the her eyes, and flow out, blurring her vision. "Wh-where am I? He-hello?" She whimpered, looking around, whipping her head back and forth. Aura could tell this wasn't a hospital, she couldn't smell the cleaning alcohol. She sat on the bed, with her legs crossed, and her head hung from her sagging shoulders, and she cried like a lost little girl, which was practically what she was.

“Hey, you guys see this? Party at the courtyardand we’re invited!” Melanie heard Pulse yell, a small note of urgency in his normally smooth voice. She hurried into the room just as the news came on, and what she saw she was horrified by.

Krótos.

Melanie knew from the moment he started talking.

"Ahh... It appears I'm live." he said coolly, "Welcome, Jump City, to my courtroom. As you can see, court is now in session." The lights flick on and camera is focused on a heavily beaten Judge Ramirez whom Melanie recognized from newspaper articles. He spoke alot about fixing the crime infestation by fixing what caused it in the first place, but she herself had seen very litle effort. In fact, quite the opposite, but still... "I see you've found our defendant today." Though she could not see him, she knew all too well who was behind the held camera. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Krótos." The camera was set down and Melanie watched in revulsion has the familiar mask came into view.

"Hello Jump City, so glad you could join me. We are here today for the case of the people vs. Judge Ramirez. How does the defendant plead?" Krótos asked mockingly, turning to the judge, bound and gagged to a chair in the background. He grunts a few times before Krótos interrupts him. "Guilty? A wise decision. Then let us review the evidence." At that, Krótos walked over to his bag and pulled out a multitude of papers which he then tosses carelessly into the air, motionless as they flutter down all around him to settle on the floor. "I have here; a river of pleas, requests, and general approvals of my action against you. That is, accounts of your cruelty, corruption, and general filth. This choir of innocent voices wishes for me to destroy you Mister Ramirez; how does that make you feel?" Krótos asked, taunting the man who then tries desterately to defend himself but cannot speak past the gag.

"ENOUGH!" Krótos roars, suddenly infuriated, lunging at the frantically struggling man and slapping him in the face hard enough that red marks are already appearing and he goes silent. "Shush now, little one, the adults are talking. These papers are all filled with eyewitness accounts of you accepting bribes, both of currency and the flesh. Accounts of you overriding a jury's findings due to inconclusiveness are also rampant. Finally, there are even accounts of abuse and assault against minors who come to you pleading for their parents." Krótos spoke so matter-of-factly that it might have seemed hard to tell who was the judge on the screen.

"You, my dear Piece of trash, are the lowest scum in this city and it will be my personal honor to watch the life leave your eyes." Once more Krótos smashes his fist into the face and gut of the man in the chair who slumps over, knocked out. Sadisfied, Krótos walks over to the camera, picking it up and holding it in front of his face, the face Melanie had already burned into her hardrive. "I now turn my attention directly to you, little inhabitant of the old Titan's Tower. I know you are in there, and I want you to come here, personally. If anyone other than the Titan arrives at my door, I will kill this piece of shit and destroy the entire building." Krótos waved what seemed to be a detonator in front of the camera mockingly.

"The clock is ticking little Titan. Unless you get here within twenty minutes, before four o'clock, I will kill the man, destroy this corrupted house of justice, and leave, striking again as often as I feel necessary." Though she couldn't see his face, Melanie could almost hear the sneer in his voice. "My name is Krótos. Remember me now? At my hands, this city will come crashing to its knees. Ta-ta little one."

Melanie's finger twitched slightly and the news shut off abruptly as if someone had reatched out and turned the TV off. Melanie was ridged and she looked warily at each of her little team members who also stood in the room, obviously each one of them aware of the gravity this messege held.

"Krótos." Melanie said finally, breaking the silence. "I guess you all know what we have to do. He's visited our home before, and threated us similarly, but this... this is more than I had anticipated." She sighed slightly, a small huff that reveiled a note of panic. "See for yourselves. You might as well, since now he's a threat to not only us but also Jump City." Walking over to the TV she fiddled with it for a moment before the security footage from two nights ago came on.

The dark masked figure they all now knew as Krótos was still speaking to himself. "It matters not anymore whether you are bright now, your darkness was revealed to me once. I will purge it. I will purge this corrupt city of both its law-keepers and law-breakers, only the innocent will survive. After that, they will have to grow strong." He reatched up and removed his mask, but his back was to the camera and she could not see his face. "Did you hear me?" He asked, addressing the camera aimed at him. "This is the last time I will visit your little tower as a neutral bystander. Now, I'm coming for you, little Titan. As a symbol of the City's corruption and dependence on useless heroes, you will be first." Then he turned, the mask on and again hiding his face, which he lowered to stare into the camera's lense, a challenge in his voice. "Prepare yourself, little Titan. My name is Krótos. Remember it. For what little time you have left will be haunted by it." With that his hand came up and the video turned to static. Melanie quickly shut it off (this time with an actually remote so as not to raise suspition).

"So it sounds like he sort of has the right idea, you know, to help the city and all that, which I suppose is something he's got going for him. But he's going about bringing justice as if he too were a criminal. We can't let him go around killing people, even if it's for the greater good, but since we don't exactly abide by those particular standereds, he's decided we've got to go too." Melanie said, standing infront of her team, "But by the sound of the video though, he doesn't know about any of you yet. So we can take him by surprise. We'll show up and I'll confront him, then I'll call you all in when the fight starts getting out of hand." Glancing at the clock on the wall she witheld a small gasp.

3:29

"We need to hurry if we're going to make it there in time! Get what ever you need but make it fast! Also, someone needs to check on Aurora and let her know what's going on so she can decide if she wants to come along." Then, feeling a strange compulsion, she added with urgency, "Titans- GO!"

Pulse was lying on Livewires floor, rolling around in pain on top of a ceiling panel.

Earlier, he had woken up by, like now, falling off of something. In this case his hammock. After getting back up, he gave himself a good scratch, ate an orange from a mysterious canvas bag, and checked the positioning of The Ultistars Satellite Bay on a computer system he had salvaged from his drop pod. It would be available in about an hour, and if the boosters activated, it could either rush, or stick around for half an hour. Orbits and trajectory were so precise sometimes.

Below him, he heard a T.V. turn on, probably Livewire, but Pulse couldn't be too sure about that. He lifted a cold, hard, steel floor plate off of it's frame, revealing a web of wiring. Carefully, he weaved them apart, finding a ceiling panel. After failing to get it off by grabbing it, he resorted to pushing it down. After that didn't work, he decided that he was going to jump on it. The moment he stood on it, it collapsed beneath him, dropping him into Livewires room.

"ARGGGGGHHHHHHH" he rolled around on the plate screaming like a child, curling up into a ball. Something on the T.V. that he could see through the fury though was confusing. There was a man with a mask threatening somebody else. It seemed that the man he was holding hostage was corrupt or some nonsense, but it looked like he was going to kill him. Not cleanly either. Barbarian.

Melanie's voice was heard as he started to get up again. "So it sounds like he sort of has the right idea, you know, to help the city and all that, which I suppose is something he's got going for him. But he's going about bringing justice as if he too were a criminal. We can't let him go around killing people, even if it's for the greater good, but since we don't exactly abide by those particular standards, he's decided we've got to go too, but by the sound of the video though, he doesn't know about any of you yet. So we can take him by surprise. We'll show up and I'll confront him, then I'll call you all in when the fight starts getting out of hand. We need to hurry if we're going to make it there in time! Get whatever you need but make it fast! Also, someone needs to check on Aurora and let her know what's going on so she can decide if she wants to come along."

This was serious, Somebody could die, somebody could be saved, he could go wake up Aurora...

Somebody is going to die here plug-freak

He could go be a team player... and show off the Ultistar...

Yes. He was going to do this, the moment just needed a little something, a catchphrase to set them off.

"Titans- GO!"

Oh yeah, that was it. He bolted, jumping up through the ceiling, climbing into his room. Strange, as he shouldn't be able to do that on a bad day.
"This must be one hell of a good day then." He grabbed his suit, the pads to protect his plugs easily removable in the need be situation of Mech entry. He summoned the didgeridoos with his technological wizardry embedded inside of him. Next, he burst through his door, and ran over to Aurora's room, flinging the door open to see her... crying. He immediately, closed it, pulling back on the handle just before it slammed so it wouldn't make a noise. Maybe he could talk to her though.

"Err, Aura, there's a job that needs, err doing." He could hear his accent slipping away, which was weird, as that didn't usually happen. "I don't think we can do it without you and you're crazy-ass fire powers."