Former Teen Titans Superboy and Wonder Girl were called back into action to stop Harm and his assembled team of Dark Titans from stealing the powers of the Specter. Having triumphed over Harm, the two decided to reform the Teen Titans with new members Vince Kennedy, Ravager and Mindwarp.
Together these five have started an uneasy alliance as the newest incarnation of the Teen Titans!
Somewhere close to the California shore
“I don't wish to harm you,” said Seren, the underwater hero known as Aquaboy. He was wielding his trident as he stood on the beach, wearing a darker version of Aquaman's first costume. People were running away, being driven off by the creature who'd arrived earlier intending to harm people on the beach.”But I will not allow you to harm the surface dwellers.”
“If you think you can stop me, bring it on,” said Aquaboy's opponent, who had the appearance of a human, but the features of a spiked puffer fish. Aquaboy twirled his trident and rushed forward to attack the strange creature.
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#5
DEC 12 |
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“Team Bonding”
Titans Tower
Titans Island, off the coast of California
Superboy was in the sky making needed repairs to the tower. If the new team was going to be staying there, it would need a lot of renovation. Focusing on the steel beams, a small burst of heat vision filtered out to weld it. He was still learning to use his powers little by little and was hoping to have all of his powers working at full strength someday.
In the training room, Jay Young was lifting small weights as he sat on the bench. He'd been really quiet in the few days that he'd been accepted into the Teen Titans, although that didn't stop others from talking to him.
“So, what exactly is your power?” asked Vince Kennedy as he floated above the ground. The Specter had granted him her powers that she once held as the Secret so he could do some good in the world. It was his reward after sacrificing his life to keep Darkseid from gaining the anti-life equation.
Jay put down the weights and focused on Vince's mind. “Apparently it doesn't work on guys like you, but I've got psychic powers. I can read and alter minds, and I can do this.”
Jay's body went limp as his astral form rose out of him. He stood up and looked down at his human body. “I'm pretty much indestructible in this form, but my body's not. If something happens to my body...well, I'd rather not have anything happen to it.”
“Cool, we can be soul buddies!” Vince shouted as he went to high five Jay, who just stood there, staring blankly at Vince.
“...I'm going back to my body now,” Jay told him.
Wonder Girl was sitting in the monitor womb, trying to find any trace of Robin or Impulse. So far she was having no luck. She had been searching all morning in the hopes of having the founding members together, but there had been no word or sign from either in six months.
“It's like neither of them wants to be found,” Cassie said as she continued searching. “Come on, guys, where are you?”
“What's the matter, can't handle being on a team without something telling you what to do?” asked Ravager as she looked at a monitor of Gotham, then over at the one for Keystone City. “Or bugging the hell out of you?”
“Robin and Impulse are our friends, they deserve a chance to join this team if they want,” Wonder Girl replied as she continued looking at the screens in front of her. “Unlike some people who just push their way in.”
“You really have a problem with me being here, don't you?” asked Ravager with a devious grin. “You think I'm eyeing your boy toy.”
“Superboy is not my 'boy toy',” Wonder Girl remarked bitterly. “We're just friends, that's all.”
“So you wouldn't mind if I went after him?” asked Ravager, seeing how far she could push her new teammate. “Someone that cute shouldn't be allowed to be single for too long.”
“Superboy has no interest in someone like you,” Wonder Girl replied as she rolled her eyes. “You're definitely not his type.”
“Let me guess what his type is,” Ravager said as she got closer. “Blonde? Big rack? Dumb as a brick?”
Wonder Girl finally gave up out of frustration and stormed out of the room as Ravager laughed. She sat down at the monitors and started playing around with them. Within minutes, she had clear visuals of both Robin and Impulse.
“Dumb as a brick...,”
Wonder Girl stormed past Superboy as he was coming back into the tower.
“Hey, Cassie, I need to go pick up some bricks and a new rack for the–,” Superboy said as Wonder Girl shoved him into the wall as she stormed out the door. “What'd I say?”
Vince was outside floating close to the ocean as he saw Wonder Girl flying away toward the mainland. He reached a hand down toward the water, but found he couldn't feel the coldness of it.
“Going for a swim?” asked Jay as he walked up to Vince. “It seems like nice enough weather.”
“Do you think we're going to cut it on this team?” asked Vince as he stared out over the ocean. “I mean, we're nobodies. In my case, quite literally. What are we supposed to do on a team with Superboy and Wonder Girl?”
“Hey, if you've got someplace better to be, go for it,” Jay told him. “Me? I'd rather be on this beautiful island than a gloomy orphanage. I might just take a dip myself. It'll be good surfing weather soon.”
“You lived in an orphanage?” asked Vince. “Mind if I ask–?”
“Yes,” Jay interupted quickly.
“Hey, what's that?” asked Vince, changing the subject as he saw something moving under the water. The two Titans moved closer as Aquaboy emerged from under the water, crawling up to the land before hitting the sand face first. “Dude, it's a dude!”
“Are you alright?” asked Jay as he rushed over to kneel beside Aquaboy.
“P- poisoned,” Aquaboy whispered after Jay had rolled him over.
“By what?” asked Jay as Vince saw something else moving under the waves and it was then that the person who'd attacked Aquaboy jumped up from the water, landing on the beach.
“By me,” said Puff as he inflated his face and shot several poisoned darts at Jay and Vince. While Jay dived out of the way, the darts merely flew through Vince's smoke form.
“What the hell is that thing?” asked Jay as he saw Aquaboy was still holding his trident. He picked it up and rushed toward the creature to try to fight it off.
“It looks like a puffer fish!” Vince told him as he rushed toward Puff as well, using his smoke form to distract him. “Watch out, those darts are poisonous! That's probably what took out that other guy!”
Superboy was getting ready to head back outside to finish the repairs on the tower as he saw Rose coming out of the monitor womb.
“What'd you say to Cassie? She seemed pretty pissed when she left earlier,” Superboy said as Ravager smirked.
“Just a little girl talk,” Rose told him. “Look at you, you're dirty from all that hard work. Maybe you could use a nice long, hot shower.”
“Now that you mention it, I think I will after I'm done,” Superboy told her.
“Would you like some company?” Rose asked as Superboy stared blankly at her. He was about to respond when he heard noises coming from outside. He rushed to the window and saw the fight on the beach.
“The guys are in trouble!” Superboy shouted as he flew out the window. Rose sighed as she pulled on her mask and grabbed her swords.
“I hate seafood!” Jay shouted as he tried to avoid Puff's poisonous stingers.
“Really?” asked Vince as he continued to try to blind Puff's vision. “I always loved hitting up Red Lobster when I was alive.”
Superboy started flying toward the fight when Puff grabbed Jay and tossed him into the air, knocking Superboy out of the sky and onto the beach. Puff saw Ravager racing toward him and shot several stingers at her. Without pausing, Ravager used her swords to knock all the stingers out of the air before they could hit her without even slowing her down. Taking a running jump, Ravager held her sword out as she came flying down, ready to strike as Puff was pulled out of the line of fire by Wonder Girl's lasso.
“Are you insane?” asked Wonder Girl as she used a small burst of lighting to weaken Puff before knocking him out. “You were going to kill him?”
“He came looking for a fight and he got one,” Ravager replied. “I play to win.”
“What about him?” asked Jay as he stood up and nodded at Seren. “He's been poisoned.”
Ravager sighed as she picked Seren up and headed toward the tower. “Let's get him inside. I can try to fix this.”
“You?” asked Wonder Girl with a laugh. “You were just trying to kill someone.”
“My father has an extensive knowledge of poisons, including that of the pufferfish,” Ravager said without looking back. “I'm the best equipped to help this guy, unless you just want to stand around arguing while he dies. Your call.”
“Cass, we have no choice, let her help him,” Superboy said as he flew after, with Vince and Jay following behind. Wonder Girl shook her head as she dragged the unconscious Puff behind her.
Seren was laying in the medbay, still unconscious, as Ravager walked back out to Superboy and Vince.
“He's got a strong immune system, he didn't even need me to do anything,” Ravager told them. “He is, however, weakened from all the poison so he'll be down for a while.”
“So, where'd the freak come from that did this?” asked Superboy as he pounded his fist into his palm. “And what if there's any more guys like this headed this way?”
“Can you read his mind?” asked Wonder Girl as she watched Jay kneeling by Puff, who was still bound by the lasso.
“It's hard,” Jay told her. “With normal humans, and a few meta-humans, it's easy. But I'm not that experienced with mind reading, so the stronger the mind, the harder it is to read. All I'm getting from him is a city. Dakota.”
“Dakota? North or South?” asked Wonder Girl.
“Neither, just Dakota,” replied Jay as he stood up. “Whatever's going on there, it's bad. It scared even this guy, but I can't get a fix on it. But it's big.”
“Then we need to go to Dakota and find out what's so bad that it's scaring the bad guys away,” Wonder Girl told him as the others came into the room.
“Aw, yeah! Titans road trip!” Superboy shouted as he pumped his fist. “We'll drop this ugly ass dude off and take in the sights.”
“Do we really want to all go charging in?” asked Wonder Girl. “And what about Seren? We just can't leave him here by himself.”
“Then stay behind and watch him,” Ravager said as she walked in while polishing her sword. “We can handle this.”
“Since I seem to be the only one who can contain this psycho,” Wonder Girl replied as she looked at Ravager, “I'm going.”
“I'll stay,” Vince told them with a sadness in his voice. “I'll watch your friend for you. I'm sure you probably don't need me, anyway. I don't even have any useful powers.”
“I'll stay, too,” Jay told them as he looked at Vince. He saw his teammate briefly smile as he said that. “You know, to guard the tower in case something happens.”
“Suit yourselves,” Superboy told them. “We're heading to Dakota to kick some ass and take in the–wait, what's in Dakota?”
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Next: In Teen Titans #6: What's in Dakota? The Teen Titans, that's what! Plus the DCA debut of the one and only Static!
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