Four in one week... I'm quite pleased. I've begun to work out what I'm going to do for the season finale and I'm really excited.
"So, what does this one do?" I ask, pointing to another one of his gadgets. Robin and I are seated on the couch, Robin's utility belt laying on the coffee table.
Robin gives a chuckle at my interest. "This one is used to freeze my opponents," he explains, and my eyes widen.
"Oh!" I exclaim. "Like you did to Plasmas!"
"Like I did to Plasmas," Robin agrees. "Although it's more useful when it actually works."
"Well, they make excellent throwing stars," I say.
"I'm sure they do," Robin replies, placing them back in their respective pocket. Suddenly, both of our communicators ring out, alerting us to a trouble. I groan as I open it, Robin shooting up from his seat out of the corner of my eye.
"We have to go get the others," he says quickly, dashing through the hall. I run after him, and bump into him when he stops at the sound of Starfire yelling.
"—clorbag varblernelk!" Stafire shouts, and I peer around the corner to see Starfire soaked in motor oil.
"I'm a what-bag?" Beast Boy asks.
"You heard the lady," Cyborg says matter-of-factly.
"You are such a clorbag," Raven adds, shaking her head.
"Come on, you guys," Beast Boy says, and Robin shakes his head. I remember why we're here and back away from his person. "Can't anybody take a joke?"
"Titans! Trouble!" Robin says, his face hidden by the lightning. When it ceases, his face is revealed, and they look up at us, Starfire blasting the oil off her face with her eyes, and run after us in a hurry.
~~~
"May we have fun here, brother?" The blue one asks.
"Of course!" The yellow one replies cheerfully. "We are Thunder and Lightning. We may do whatever we please! Look, brother! I command the sparks to dance!" At his command, sparks of electricity run up the bridge, causing me to levitate in my place to stop the sparks from hitting me on my position at the top of the bridge.
"Amusing," the blue one, who I presume is Thunder, comments. "Now listen as I make music!" He lifts his hands and a ball of blue energy circulates around him and Lightning before expanding and ripping the bridges support off.
Lightning carves a lightning bolt in the truck nearby. "Let all who pass this was know Lightning was here!"
"And Thunder, too!" Thunder says, pushing his hands together and making the ground crumble. I lift my hands and use earth to steady it before anyone gets hurt.
They cackle in unison, and Thunder places his hand on Lightning's shoulder. "Most amusing," Lightning says, not noticing my effect on Thunder's attack. I jump down with the others, who were all situated on different parts of the bridge. We stand on the truck until Robin speaks up.
"Hate to break it to you," he says. "But you guys have a lousy sense of humour! This ends now!"
"No one gives orders to Thunder and Lightning!" Lightning says, readying himself to fight. "Taste my power!" We all jump out of the way as his energy blasts a hole in the truck, right where we were standing. Starfire readies her starbolts and flies at the duo, her starbolts aimed at Lightning's feet. He runs on cars to avoid her blasts before throwing some at her. He hits her and sends her flying.
Cyborg runs at Thunder and throws a punch, which is avoided easily. Thunder throws his fists at Cyborg, but he catches them. He frees one hand and focuses energy in it, causing Cyborg to get out his Sonic Cannon. They blast each other at the same time and both get knocked back. Thunder next attacks Robin, who leaps back with every blast. He tightropes along the railing of the bridge before jumping onto Thunder's back and throwing him back.
Raven grunts as she narrowly avoids Lightning's blasts, before sending multiple kicks his way. The villain uses his forearms to block the attacks before blasting her when she least expects it. Beast Boy turns into a panda and engulfs Lightning, but gets electrocuted in the process.
"Your powers are strong," Lightning says. "But mine are stronger!"
Thunder makes his way over to Beast Boy, who sits on the ground. "Your power of the animals is impressive, green one," he says. "Rise so we may do battle."
"Why are you doing this?" Beast Boy asks as Thunder's hands ignite with his energy.
"Because it is not sporting to attack an unready opponent," Thunder replies.
"No," Beast Boy says, standing up. "Why are you wrecking everything?"
"Uh... because it is amusing."
"Do they look amused?" Beast Boy gestures to the scared citizens hiding behind cars, their eyes wide with fear of the duo.
"I—" Thunder begins, but Beast Boy cuts him off before he can explain himself.
"This isn't funny! It's wrong!" Beast Boy yells, and I shoot flame at the blue villain. He falls on top of Beast Boy, and I lower my hands. The second I do this, I feel a blast of energy on my back, and yelp as I get flung across the bridge. From my spot. I watch Lightning blast Beast Boy and stand next to Thunder.
"Ah, the thrill of victory," I hear the yellow one say. "Come, Thunder. We shall seek more amusement." I run over to where the other Titans are.
"Okay, team," Robin says once we've all regrouped. "We have to find those guys before they do any more damage. Cyborg, search the west side. Raven, the east. Ember, you and I will take downtown. Beast Boy, you and Star scan from the skies."
Beast B0y looks at Starfire cautiously, who's turned her back from him in anger. "Um... maybe Cyborg should come with me instead," he says.
Robin looks at him like he's the dumbest person on the planet. "Cyborg can't fly," he states.
"Oh. Yeah," Beast Boy says sadly.
Cyborg walks over to him and pokes his shoulder. "Have a nice flight, my little clorbag," he says. I share a look at Robin, and open my mouth to speak when he nudges me.
"Raven," I ask. "What's a—?"
"Doesn't matter. Just go," she warns, and I study each of the four Titans before Robin whizzes past and grabs my hand, causing me to let out a shout.
"What are you—?" I ask quickly, clawing on both the motorcycle and Robin himself.
He lets out a small grunt and turns around to help me on. "Picking you up. We have places to be."
I release my grip on Robin's shoulders. "I could have just—"
Robin nods, turning back to the road. "We need to stay together. Whoever these people are, I doubt they're friendly," he says, and I clamp my mouth shut, stopping the last word from leaving my mouth.
"So..." Robin asks. "What happened between Beast Boy and Starfire?"
I shrug. "I don't know. I was with you." I smile at Robin, even though he can't see. "Do you, by any chance, know what a clorbag is?" I ask.
Robin shakes his head. "If I had to guess, it'd be some kind of insult from Starfire's home language," he says, and I nod.
"That makes a lot of—" I begin, but something catches my eye. "Look! Lightning!" A blast of lightning strikes the skies, unmistakably the villains.
The R-Cycle stops in its tracks, turning around to face the lightning. "Let's go," Robin says before the vehicle takes off, it's engine mimicking the thunder. We get halfway there before all of a sudden, Robin turns the vehicle uptown and drives that way.
"Where are you going?" I ask.
Robin points at the hill, which has flames erupting from it. "Lightning and Thunder. Tell the others."
I nod, getting out my communicator. "Titans," I say. "Head to the hill uptown. We think Lightning and Thunder are there."
There's a crackle in the communicator, before Cyborg shows up on the screen. "I'm on my way," he says.
Raven appears once Cyborg disappears, and she places her hood back on her head before speaking. "Me too," she answers.
The screen is black for a second then Beast Boy and Starfire are shown. "Got it," Beast Boy says before shutting it off.
~~~
We meet at the top of the mountain, hidden from the duos view. With them is an old man, hidden in the darkness by his hat.
"Who is he?" I ask in a hushed whisper.
Beast Boy is the one to answer. "We don't know," he says. "He arrived at the fight and took them away to have more of their 'fun.'"
We're cut off by the old man's words. "That won't be necessary," he says in a low voice. "You've done quite enough." He throws a coin into the air and it spins around before shining a white light on the flames. They connect before burning in unison, "Rise," the old one commands as a fire monster emerges from the flames. "Burn, Fire! Burn it all!"
"Didn't anyone ever tell you?" "Play with fire, you're going to get burned." I narrow my eyes as the fire monster shoots flames at us. Everyone except myself jumps back, whilst I hold it back with flames of my own. Eventually, the fire monster wins out and I am thrown back.
"Good," I hear the old man mumble. "Very good."
"Brother, what have we done?" Thunder asks as the fire monster treks down the hill.
"Titans! Go!" Robin yells as the other Titans run at the fire monster. I lift myself up begrudgingly and catch up. Robin throws some smoke bombs, blinding the fire monster.
"Flames can't spread if there's nothing to burn," Raven calls. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She pulls trees out from the ground and flings them away.
"Good idea, Raven," Robin comments. "Ember! Beast Boy! Starfire! Help her out!"
"I can try to control it," I say as my fingers create flames. "I can hold it back!"
"Be careful, Ember," Robin says as I turn around to face the villain. Cyborg punches the ground, sending a wave of dirt up in the air. I summon the earth and send the dirt in the fire monster's face, almost smothering it.
"Is he out?" Beast Boy asks as the monster flickers to life.
"You had to ask," Raven comments. I look at Robin, who's staring at the top of the hill. He runs off and I look back before following after him.
The Titan leader sends a kick at the old man, sending his stick flying. The old man holds his hand out and it comes back to him. "Robin. We meet at last," he says.
"Who are you?" Robin asks curiously, and I look back at the destruction made before flying off. Robin can handle himself, I know that. I just need to focus on saving the city.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" I hear Raven yell as her dark magic envelopes the monster, eradicating it of flames. Cracks form in its body before the fire escapes again, and Raven lets out a gasp.
"You're not the only one with the power of fire," I say, drawing its attention to me. I let out a scream and hold out my hand, causing the fire to slowly trickle out of the cracks and disappear on the ground. The monster is almost rid of flames when I feel a familiar blast of energy on my side, making me lose my focus and hit a tree.
"Stand aside, green one!" I hear Thunder tell Beast Boy in tiger form. "I do not wish to harm you."
"But you want to destroy homes and innocent lives?" Beast Boy replies, now back in his human form, and I walk over to the pair. They've both stopped moving, and stand still.
"No," Thunder says, thinking it over.
"Then what are you fighting for?"
"My brother and I... the old one says we are unique, gifted, better."
"Gifts don't make you better, just different. It's how you use them that counts," Beast Boy pulls through with his seemingly wise words.
"It seems your power has its limit," Lightning says, pulling me out of my daze. "But mine has none." I run at the yellow villain and use the earth to whack him with some rocks. Thunder's power blasts his brother and causes him to look up. "You betray me?"
"We have done wrong, my brother. Our fun must stop."
"No one commands Lightning..." He readies his power. "Not even Thunder!"
I run downhill where the other Titans are. "Those houses go, the whole city could go! We gotta stop the fire!" Cyborg says, and I look around.
"How?" Raven asks.
"Any way we can," Cyborg replies. I lift myself in the air and shoot water at the fire. The fire flickers, catching its last breath, before dying out. Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg look at me before getting water themselves. Beast Boy changes into an elephant to shoot it out, Raven uses her telekinetic powers, and Cyborg busts a fire hydrant, sending the water in the monster's face.
It's not enough, and the fire slowly gains on us until it's reached the other side of the road. The fire monster howls in victory, when all of a sudden, it rains. I laugh and look up in the sky as the rain extinguishes the monster.
"Ah, yeah!"
"That's what I mean! Very nice!" Cyborg shouts.
"I am sorry for the trouble we have made," Thunder says as he and his brother approach us.
"I am... also sorry," Lightning says, uncrossing his arms and bowing before Beast Boy.
"You have taught us much, green one. Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Thank the person who taught me," Beast Boy says as he gestures towards Starfire, who walks forward and bows before them.
"And thank you for helping to defeat the flame monster," she says. I watch as Robin walks down the hill, holding the yellow disc. When I look at him he shakes his head in defeat.
~~~
The colours of the rainbow shine brightly behind Titans Tower as I look in awe. My attention is drawn back to Robin, who hands Cyborg the disc from his fight with Slade.
"So, Slade wants to destroy the city," Cyborg says to Robin and I. "Question is, why?"
"I don't know, but I will find out, and he won't get away with it," Robin says, full of determination.
"No. Because we're the ones after him," I grin at the two boys to my right before we head back to the Tower, where I know all attention will be focused on the mysterious disc in the half robot's hand.